NOVPUBToday was the day Xu Qingfan and his classmates were going to participate in the city’s math competition. He and Xia Xiaoxiao took the first school bus back to their class early in the morning, only to find Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi already seated and waiting for them.
"Brother Qing Fan, give me five!" Lin Wanning stood up excitedly as she saw Xu Qingfan coming in, stretching out both hands for a high five.
"How come you’re so early today, give me five!" Xu Qingfan reached out his hand for a high five with Lin Wanning, and then with Zhang Yiyi as well.
"Brother, good luck!" Zhang Yiyi adorably pressed her little fists against her face and said to Xu Qingfan.
"Xiao Xiao, give a high five too!" Noticing that Xia Xiaoxiao didn’t greet anyone and just sat down at her place, Lin Wanning turned to the little girl and said.
"Mhm, mhm." Xia Xiaoxiao nodded perfunctorily and reached out her hand for a brief touch.
"This morning when Ningning was leaving the house, she high-fived with a four-leaf clover. The four-leaf clover will bless Brother Qing Fan and Xiao Xiao to score full marks on the test!" Lin Wanning said proudly, shaking her hand.
The four-leaf clover that was dug up under the banyan tree was taken home by Lin Wanning, who devoted a special patch of soil to its care. Worried that a downpour might damage the delicate plant, she put on a cute act to persuade Lin Qiaoshan to build a transparent rain shelter for it.
After Xia Xiaoxiao heard about the four-leaf clover, she envied it for a long time but was unable to find another clover with four leaves when she searched again. Now, that spot had reverted to a barren patch.
"Then thank you, Ningning!" Xu Qingfan smiled and patted her head.
"Hurry up and pack your things, the teacher said we’re meeting before 7:30. Wanning, can you turn in my homework for me?" Xia Xiaoxiao took out everything she didn’t need from her backpack and handed over her homework to Lin Wanning.
"Leave it to me, no problem at all!" Lin Wanning patted her chest and took Xia Xiaoxiao’s homework.
"Goodbye, Ningning, goodbye, Yiyi!" Xu Qingfan, having packed his pencil box and admission ticket into his backpack, patted the two little girls on the head to say farewell.
"Good luck!" Zhang Yiyi cheered with her small clenched fists.
"Whimper, Ningning also wants to go out and play!" Realizing she wouldn’t see Xu Qingfan for almost an entire day, Lin Wanning suddenly felt a bit reluctant.
"One punch for each whimper monster! I’ll be back in the afternoon. Pay attention in class at school and don’t sneak off while I’m gone. Let’s go!" Xu Qingfan put on his backpack and pulled Xia Xiaoxiao out the door.
"Brother Qing Fan, remember to bring Ningning a gift!" Lin Wanning pressed her body to the window and called out to Xu Qingfan as he walked away.
"Got it, got it," Xu Qingfan waved his hand but didn’t look back.
"Do you think we can pass this time? If we pass again, we’ll go to Yanjing for the national math competition." As they descended the stairs, Xia Xiaoxiao asked nervously.
She was actually worried that she might not pass because she scored eight or nine points lower than Xu Qingfan in last semester’s district math competition. However, in math competitions, ranking matters more than scores, with the top ten all receiving first-place awards. Xia Xiaoxiao was ranked ninth in the district, while Xu Qingfan was first, which is why both were able to participate in the city-level competition as first-place winners.
"Relax, the last time we competed, we were only in the first grade. It’s normal not to beat those second graders. Now we are in the second grade, and we can wreak havoc!" Xu Qingfan patted her shoulder consolingly.
The competition Xu Qingfan and his friends were participating in this time was called the "Spring Cup," in which students from two adjacent grades in elementary school took the exam together. Originally, the preliminaries were scheduled for November or December, but they were cancelled last year due to the pandemic, and so the competition was moved up this year.
Xu Qingfan had no recollection of this competition from his past life. The national math competition he remembered clearly was the Hua Luogeng Cup.
It made sense that he didn’t remember it since the competition, hosted by the Yanjing Education Bureau, was discontinued in 2011 due to cheating issues.
The original purpose of the competition was merely to facilitate the exchange of favors. After all, a national honor would come in handy for admissions into middle school, high school, or even university.
These students who qualified from all around the country, unless they are show-offs like Xu Qingfan, are merely there to keep the prince company in his studies.
The comfort provided by Xu Qingfan indeed had its effect, Xia Xiaoxiao nodded firmly, "We will go to the Capital together for the finals!"
"Alright!"
The two ran downstairs hand in hand and when they arrived at the school gate’s square, the teacher leading the team was already waving and waiting for them.
Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao signed in and then boarded the bus, Wu Lingyu sat alone in the middle of the bus, her eyes lighting up instantly with excitement when she saw Xu Qingfan get on the bus, nodding at him.
"It’s so annoying, I was supposed to be in the lower grades group, and now I have to compete against the fourth graders, how can I beat them!"
"Exactly, if I didn’t want to stay in school, I wouldn’t have come."
Inside the bus, the third graders whispered among themselves.
"Xu Qingfan you’re lucky, you were always the top contender among us, and now you’re only competing against second graders!" Seeing Xu Qingfan board the bus, everyone immediately turned their heads.
"Brother Fan, if you go to Yanjing for the finals, remember to bring us some local specialties back!"
Since the two grades attended tutoring classes together, everyone was fairly familiar with each other. Students with good grades at this age tend to be more outgoing, and a bunch on the bus teased Xu Qingfan.
Xu Qingfan waved his hands awkwardly, "Let’s talk about that after qualifying, after qualifying!"
Xia Xiaoxiao pouted and looked at the few remaining empty seats on the bus, choosing to sit behind Wu Lingyu.
Xu Qingfan looked at Wu Lingyu, then at Xia Xiaoxiao, and eventually chose to sit next to Xia Xiaoxiao.
As Xu Qingfan passed by her, Wu Lingyu was so nervous she forgot to breathe. After he sat down, the brightness in the little girl’s eyes suddenly dimmed.
[They were together from the start.] Wu Lingyu comforted herself internally.
In fact, Xu Qingfan hadn’t thought too much about it, Xia Xiaoxiao was sitting on the outside, and Wu Lingyu was on the inside. He had always had an aversion to the smell inside buses and needed to open the window for fresh air. If he were on one of those fully enclosed long-distance buses or tour coaches, it would nearly kill him.
Xia Xiaoxiao either knew about his issue, or she really just liked sitting on the outside. It seemed, as long as he could remember, they always maintained this unspoken understanding whenever they rode together.
"Any questions you still don’t understand?" Xu Qingfan asked after sitting down, patting Wu Lingyu’s head in front of him.
"I understand them all now!" The little girl, having managed her disappointment, turned around and said.
"Go for it!" Xu Qingfan smiled at her.
"Yeah!" Seeing the smile on Xu Qingfan’s face, Wu Lingyu suddenly felt as if the world was filled with color again, gathering her courage, she said to Xu Qingfan, "You too!"
"Yeah." Xu Qingfan nodded with a smile.
Wu Lingyu turned her head back around, her right hand tightly clutching the school badge on her blazer, because that was over her heart.
He opened the window, the sky outside was blue with white clouds, "The weather today is really nice~" Xu Qingfan murmured softly to himself.
