I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 98. Going Home
"Alright, Mom~ We can't possibly eat all this!" Yao Jinping said helplessly as her mother brought out two large sacks of vegetables from the house.

"What do you know? All the vegetables in the city are covered in pesticides. These are for Xiao Fan!"

Because a long stretch of the road out of the village had no streetlights, and people were worried about the safety of walking after dark, the adults were already packing up their belongings to take home before six o'clock, just after the election ended.

Grandpa Yao Shulun was successfully elected as the village chief of Chuxi Village. According to Yao Jinping's conversation after returning, Yao Jiankun learned that the group had thrown away the roast chicken he bought. He immediately overturned the table and turned hostile. Knowing that his chances of running for village chief were hopeless, he slunk away with the money.

If Yao Jiankun knew what his departure meant, he would probably sell everything he owned to become the village chief.

Unfortunately, he didn't have that kind of mind, and he never imagined that he would become a billionaire twenty years later.

Many of the people who got rich in this era did not make their fortunes through their own wisdom. Their success was due to two words: boldness.

Xu Qingfan felt as if he were the mastermind behind everything in a fantasy world, capable of killing one person in ten steps and leaving no trace for a thousand miles.

Only he himself knows that because of his rebirth, Chuxi Village will never again experience the history of being polluted and destroyed.

"Goodbye, Grandma!" After everyone got into the car, the women rolled down the windows and said goodbye to Lai Manyao with reluctance.

"Hey~ Goodbye, girls! Remember to come back to the countryside next time!"

"Grandma, I'll bring you some chocolate next time!"

"Goodbye, mother-in-law!"

The taxi slowly started moving, and the figures of my grandparents and uncle quickly became a small dot until they could no longer be seen.

The five of them turned their heads back and leaned lazily together.

"Brother Qingfan, here's some for you, Ningning is so full~" Lin Wanning patted her round belly with her little hand, tilted her head and handed the half-eaten sweet potato to Xu Qingfan.

"Wipe your mouth, it's all covered in ash!" He took the sweet potato Lin Wanning handed him, pulled out half a tissue from his pocket, and wiped her face with a smile.

"Here you go!" Xia Xiaoxiao followed suit and handed him the sweet potato she had left over.

"I'm not a big yellow dog, don't give me all the leftovers!" He finished the small half of the sweet potato in his hand in a few bites, opened the car window and threw the sweet potato peel out.

"Brother Fan, you litter!" Xiao Ruanwen scolded weakly.

"Don't just throw things around! There are fields on both sides of the road. I didn't throw plastic. These are fallen petals, not heartless things!" Xu Qingfan said while eating the half-eaten sweet potato that Xia Xiaoxiao had left.

"What does 'fallen petals are not heartless things' mean?" Xia Xiaoxiao thought carefully for a moment, and after confirming that she had not seen it in the textbook, she asked Xu Qingfan.

Xu Qingfan was taken aback, then remembered that he had only learned the Miscellaneous Poems of the Year of Ji Hai in junior high school. He smiled and explained, "The complete poem is 'Fallen petals are not heartless things, they turn into spring mud to protect the flowers.' It means that flowers falling to the ground do not mean they are useless; they can be turned into spring mud to continue to nurture flowers."

"How could flowers turn into soil? Brother Qingfan, you're trying to lie to me again." Lin Wanning leaned against Xu Qingfan's shoulder, half asleep, and retorted softly.

"Why do flowers turn into soil? The reason why flowers turn into soil is..." Xu Qingfan explained at length from both biological and chemical perspectives for several minutes. "Do you understand?"

He turned his head to look at the four little ones and found that they had fallen asleep with their eyes closed at some point.

Xu Qingfan smiled faintly and closed his eyes as well.

"Wake up, we're home!"

After an unknown amount of time, Xu Qingfan felt someone slapping his face.

When he groggily opened his eyes, the car was pitch black, and it was already dark outside.

"We're here. Where are Wan Ning and the others?" He yawned wearily, stretched, and asked Xia Xiaoxiao next door.

"You got off the bus a long time ago, and you're sleeping like a log!" Xia Xiaoxiao pushed away Xu Qingfan's hand that was resting on her shoulder with disgust and pointed out the wet patch on it to him.

However, the little girl soon realized that she was doing something futile, as the carriage was pitch black and Xu Qingfan could not see anything.

"You got off the bus? Mom, what time is it now?" Xu Qingfan asked, patting his slightly numb thigh.

"It's almost eight o'clock, are you hungry? I'll cook you some noodles when we get home."

"I'm not hungry, I'm so full."

"It's good that you're not hungry. If you're not hungry, you can stay in the shop and watch it. Lingyu has been watching it all day!"

Xu Qingfan:
"Then what are you going to do?" he asked.

“You’ve eaten the kiln-roasted chicken and sweet potatoes, but your mother hasn’t eaten yet. You stay here in the shop and I’ll come over after I finish eating at home!” Yao Jinping turned around and gave Xu Qingfan a flick on the forehead.

"Oh, little one, want to come along?"

Xia Xiaoxiao pursed her lips and thought for a moment. There was nothing to do at home anyway, so she agreed, "Okay."

He recalled a joke from his past life and blurted out, "No."

"What did you say?" Xia Xiaoxiao tilted her head and looked at him in confusion.

"You look so beautiful today!" He chuckled and patted the little girl's head. "Let Dad drop us off up ahead, so you don't have to go through the trouble of taking a detour!"

"Get some lychees from the trunk for your Aunt Wu!" Yao Jinping reminded her.

"understood."

After getting off the bus at Licheng No. 3 Primary School, where they had studied in their previous life, the two held hands and watched the car drive away.

Looking at the school where he had lived and studied for six years, Xu Qingfan suddenly felt a little nostalgic. "Let me ask you a question." The two walked hand in hand on the sidewalk lined with hardware stores on both sides, and Xu Qingfan suddenly spoke.

"Ask." Xia Xiaoxiao answered simply as always.

"If I hadn't gotten into the Experimental Primary School last year, would you still have gone to study there?"

"How could you possibly fail to get into Experimental Primary School!" Xia Xiaoxiao glanced at him sideways.

"If I hadn't gotten into the Experimental Primary School last year and had instead gone to Licheng No. 3 Primary School, where would you have gone to school?"

Xia Xiaoxiao lowered her head and thought for a long time, "Where to go to school is decided by my mother, I have no say in it!"

Xu Qingfan suddenly smiled with relief, "Okay, forget I asked."

"That's weird!"

"Supernatural and bizarre!"

Xia Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at him and replied, "You're incredibly powerful!"

"Great wisdom appears as foolishness!" Xu Qingfan grinned smugly.

"Utterly foolish!" he continued, seeing that the little girl didn't understand.

"Enjoy life while you can!" Xia Xiaoxiao retorted defiantly. "Enjoy life to the fullest and forget all your troubles!"

"Shushu, I can't believe it!" Xia Xiaoxiao pouted in frustration.

"You didn't even think of that? Shu is simple, isn't he? Let me teach you one!"

"what?"

"Shushu, my duck!"

"What do you mean by 'Shu Shu'? That's ridiculous!" Xia Xiaoxiao tilted her head and looked at him, rolling her eyes in disgust.

"A stroke of genius!"

"You're coming again!!!"

"There is ample time!"

"Xu Qingfan, aren't you bored?!"

"It's better than nothing!"

Xia Xiaoxiao:
The little girl completely shut down.

"Say something, Xiaoxiao, why aren't you saying anything?" Xu Qingfan turned around and walked in front of Xia Xiaoxiao, hopping from side to side.

The little girl turned her head to the side, too lazy to pay attention to her neurotic childhood friend.

"bump!"

"Damn it, Xiaoxiao, why didn't you remind me?" Xu Qingfan complained, rubbing his head where he had hit a lamppost.

"Serves you right!" Xia Xiaoxiao had a smug smile on her face, mouthing the words but not making a sound.

"You're asking for it!" He swung his hand and slapped the little girl's bottom hard, then ran away.

"Xu Qingfan!!!"

"You mere mortal!" Xu Qingfan shouted back at Xia Xiaoxiao after running seven or eight meters.

"Xu Qingfan, are you a dog?!" Xia Xiaoxiao chased after him, embarrassed and angry.

Xu Qingfan was speechless for a moment; he really couldn't respond to that "ba".

"Go on, why aren't you saying anything? Surely no one doesn't know how to respond!" The little girl shook her body triumphantly.

"Boring." Xu Qingfan gave her a taste of her own medicine, and after saying that, he took her hand again and started walking.

Xia Xiaoxiao: "???"

[It's clearly you who's being silly, Xu Qingfan, you're a stinky dog, a bad dog, a lapdog!] The little girl thought angrily to herself.

When they returned to the shop, only Wu Lingyu and her daughter Li Meijuan were sitting there.

"Auntie, Xiaoyu!"

"Hey~ Xiao Fan and Xiao Xiao, you're back! Did you have fun in the countryside? Have you eaten? Auntie's going to fry some skewers for you!" Li Meijuan, who was tidying up the shelves, poked her head out enthusiastically.

"Auntie, we've already eaten. We're here to hand over our shift. Thank you for your help," Xu Qingfan said with a smile as he walked to the cashier.

Wu Lingyu, who was sitting at the cashier with "Happy Summer Vacation" written on her name, nodded timidly to them. "Please sit down," she said, getting up from her seat.

"These are lychees, longans, and wampee that we brought for you. We picked them ourselves." Xu Qingfan reached out and grabbed Wu Lingyu's hand, smiling as he hung the plastic bag in her hand.

"Thank you." The little girl gave him a grateful look.

"What's there to thank me for? If you really want to thank me, then just lend me your completed 'Happy Summer Vacation' book to copy. Don't be like Xiaoxiao, who won't let me copy it!"

"Hmph, if you dare to copy my homework, I'll tell Auntie. Auntie said the feather duster at home hasn't been replaced in ages!" Xia Xiaoxiao angrily pinched his soft flesh.

"Hiss~ You're going to die!"

"I'm sorry... Fan-ge, you should write it yourself. Copying homework is not good!" Wu Lingyu mustered up her courage and refused.

“That’s right, Xiao Fan, students can’t copy homework. I’ve heard that the summer vacation for first graders is the most terrifying. Don’t let your guard down,” Li Meijuan said after hearing their conversation.

"Pfft~"

He suddenly remembered what he had seen on a marketing account in his previous life: the summer vacation of grade xx was the most terrifying, blah blah blah, and then they would try to get you to buy their summer courses. It turns out that this kind of trick was already popular in 03.

"Okay, Auntie, I'll definitely finish my homework carefully. Auntie, don't be busy, come and have some fruit. It's freshly picked from the tree!"

"Okay, thank you all."

"You're welcome!" He picked up Wu Lingyu's "Happy Summer Vacation" book and saw that it was already three-quarters finished. "How did you write so fast? The vacation has only been going on for a little over ten days!"

"After finishing this, I still have to do the math olympiad problems the teacher gave us. I'm not as smart as you guys; it takes me a long time to figure those out."

"Did the teacher give out any math olympiad problems?" Xu Qingfan asked Xia Xiaoxiao with a puzzled look.

"Hmph, yours is in my room! The teacher said we'll be participating in the city's math Olympiad next semester, so we need to do our best!" Xia Xiaoxiao punched Xu Qingfan in exasperation.

It seems there really is such a thing. Xu Qingfan smiled with narrowed eyes, "Lingyu and I have something to talk about privately!"

He opened the door to the storage room behind the cashier, pulled Wu Lingyu inside, and locked the door.

"What's so great about it!" Xia Xiaoxiao bared her teeth at the closed door with a fierce yet cute expression.

"How about we make a deal? You help me with the Happy Summer Vacation project, and I'll teach you how to do advanced math problems!" He pinned Wu Lingyu against the door and said with a smile.

"Lingyu, you don't want to come in last place in the city's math Olympiad, do you?"

"But...but..." Wu Lingyu stammered.

"But what? Tell me, are there any questions from the Happy Summer Vacation assignment that I can't answer?"

"I think there probably isn't," Wu Lingyu replied hesitantly, recalling how Xu Qingfan often came up with answers faster than the teacher during his math Olympiad tutoring sessions.

"That's settled then, this is called mutual benefit, I'll give you a happy summer vacation tomorrow!" Xu Qingfan happily patted Wu Lingyu's head.

"Okay"

Thank you to Shangxue Mengshang for the 100 Qidian coins.

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(End of this chapter)