Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

Under the personal supervision of Song Dongsheng, with special arrangements, the accessible restroom that Lin Wanning needed was completed by the afternoon.

As a gesture of returning a favor, Xu Qingfan donated another one million to the school's scholarship fund. Since he was already doing a good deed, he was happy to extend some extra care to his alma mater.

...

The whole day of classes was quite dull, and by the time school ended in the afternoon, Xu Qingfan felt like his body had become light, with a sensation of turning into a bird, ready to fly.

"Let's go, we're skipping the remaining evening self-study sessions this semester to take care of the injured." He pulled up Xiao Ruawen, who had just put on her backpack, eager to go outside and breathe some fresh air.

"Take it easy, Brother Fan..."

Wang Xuan watched the two leave gracefully and sighed, "How nice."

"Who doesn't think so? Makes me want to switch to being a day student again, such freedom!"

"It reminds me of a line from The Shawshank Redemption, that there are some birds that aren't meant to be caged."

Wu Shichong and Lai Chenglang shook their heads in admiration; Brother Fan's everyday life, their dream.

...

Winter days have shorter daylight hours, and it was only a little past five in the afternoon, yet the sky was already covered in a layer of golden light.

After leaving the campus, the hurried pedestrians on the sidewalk and the noisy, fast-moving vehicles on the street suddenly gave a surreal feeling of being in two different worlds.

The nearest market was more than a kilometer away from the school, but since it was a rare leisurely moment, they didn't have the driver pick them up; instead, they walked slowly on the sidewalk.

The scenery along the way was ordinary, but still quite beautiful.

Xu Qingfan walked ahead with Lin Wanning, while four girls laughed and chatted behind.

"Hahaha, when we're all ancient, who do you think will be the first to end up in a wheelchair?" Xiao Ruawen's laughter seemed magical, carefree, always making listeners feel relaxed.

Wu Lingyu didn't answer, but her gaze instinctively turned to Xu Qingfan.

[Brother Fan is so greedy, wonder what he'll do in the future.]

"It won't be me, that's for sure! I'm fit as a fiddle, full of energy even at a hundred." Xu Qingfan turned his head and said.

"I bet it'll be you, Brother Fan. Scientific research shows that we women have a longer average lifespan than men!" Xiao Ruawen put her hands on her hips, looking at Xu Qingfan as if she had already foreseen his miserable paralysis in old age.

She thought of some mischievous idea, and began to giggle to herself.

Xu Qingfan was about to speak, but seeing her like this, he just wagged his forefinger a bit and shook his head, turning back around.

Lin Wanning, since she didn't have to watch the road, kept turning her head to look at Xiao Ruawen.

She asked, "Hehe~ Ruan Wen, what are you laughing about?"

"Pfft... hey, I just suddenly thought about whether we could race in wheelchairs when we're older." Xiao Ruawen snapped back to reality and scratched her head apologetically.

"Cough..."

Even though they'd long been used to Xiao Ruawen's whimsical thoughts, the four girls were still taken aback by her absurd idea.

Xu Qingfan just wanted to say, "It's just like you."

"Maybe in the future, wheelchairs can fly, haha, I'll fly right over Brother Fan's head."

"Haha, flying over Brother Fan's head playing leapfrog, haha, goose goose goose..."

Xiao Ruawen imagined the scenario and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

After exchanging speechless glances for a few seconds, they quickly joined in the laughter.

The laughter carried far down the empty street, and one wonders if those far off, upon hearing it, might also recall a carefree and happy time.

...

After switching to evening self-study at home, time seemed to speed up; it felt like only a few days had passed, yet in the blink of an eye, it was Friday.

Upon learning of Lin Wanning's ankle injury, except for Li Mei Juan, who was in Hong Kong and inconvenienced, the four other mothers all paid a visit one by one.

A week of varied, delicious nourishing soups and various tasty treats made Xu Qingfan feel like he'd put on some weight recently.

"Next week is New Year's holiday, if we're not traveling this year, will we just be staying home playing games?"

"I wonder if Licheng Square will have the iron flower show again this year; though it's crowded, I guess you could still see it from Brother Fan's apartment upstairs?"

After getting in the car, Xiao Ruawen started chattering non-stop.

"The weekend hasn't even started and you're thinking about next week already. By the way, aren't you going to your uncle's to watch the show this year?" Xu Qingfan shot her a curious glance.

"It's not much fun, I don't want to go, it's the same every year, making dumplings, and singing 'Green Flower in the Army'." Xiao Ruawen stuck out her tongue, as she grew older, she no longer missed her dad as she did when she was little.

Xu Qingfan held back a laugh and said, "Your dad must miss you a lot then."

"Doesn't matter, doesn't matter, we'll meet during Chinese New Year anyway, and we often video chat." Xiao Ruawen shook her head.

When she was little, she thought that telling other kids her dad was a soldier was a very proud thing.

Although she still feels proud now, after witnessing her mom helpless alone many times, she couldn't help but harbor some resentment towards her dad.

Especially after Xiao Jianbiao firmly opposed Zhao Yue Min's proposal to transfer jobs, a crack had formed in Xiao Ruawen's heart.

I guess people's thoughts change at different stages in life.

Xiao Ruawen never talked about these things, so Xu Qingfan naturally didn't know, otherwise, he wouldn't have said what he did earlier.

"Oh, right, can you accompany me back home for New Year's?" Xia Xiaoxiao suddenly remembered something and said.