NOVPUB"Love me then stay by my side, love me then kiss me, love me then praise me, love me then hug me..."
Ever since Yao Jiping put two kiddie rides in front of the convenience store, Xu Qingfan’s head hadn’t been quiet for a moment.
"What is daddy’s daddy called..."
"Here we go again!" Xu Qingfan watched as a parent placed their child onto the kiddie ride, his face expressing helplessness.
"Brother Fan... I can’t do this problem." Wu Lingyu said, shyly handing him the test paper she was holding.
"Let me see... A patch of grass grows uniformly every day. This patch can feed 27 cows for 6 weeks or 23 cows for 9 weeks, so how many weeks can it feed 21 cows?" After reading the problem, Xu Qingfan had a constipated look, hesitating to look at Wu Lingyu.
"Brother Fan... you don’t know it either?" Wu Lingyu felt embarrassed under his gaze and unconsciously shifted her eyes to the ground.
"Cough cough... hold on, I’ll figure it out soon!" Xu Qingfan mentally complained about the problem setter, [Why don’t they follow the normal format, this would require a system of three linear equations, right?]
"Mhm, Brother Fan, take your time." Wu Lingyu stood by obediently.
"How about you learn the system of three linear equations?" He had thought for a long time and still couldn’t think of the conventional method to solve it, slightly embarrassed, he said to Wu Lingyu.
"Is that the method where you set x and y?" Wu Lingyu asked.
Brother Biao had mentioned systems of two linear equations in class, but since many students couldn’t understand who should be x, who should be y, and couldn’t grasp how to form the equations, not many mastered it.
"Yeah, yeah, pretty much pretty much." Xu Qingfan looked at her.
"Then maybe I’ll think about it some more..." Wu Lingyu reached out to take back her test paper, still preferring the traditional methods due to habit.
"Then you think it over, I can only solve it using equations." Xu Qingfan didn’t insist and returned the paper to her.
He thought the brain was a fascinating thing. When Xu Qingfan was in elementary school, he also couldn’t learn systems of two linear equations no matter how hard he tried; then, when he reached middle school, as if he had suddenly seen the light, he just got it.
After all, not everyone is Xia Xiaoxiao, Xu Qingfan didn’t force knowledge inappropriate for her age onto Wu Lingyu.
"Little buddy, give me a pack of Five Leaves God!" A middle-aged man walked into the store, handing Xu Qingfan a red-inked bill.
"Soft Red?" Xu Qingfan glanced at him and asked casually.
"Yes!"
Xu Qingfan took the money, felt the pattern on his tie, which had a sandblasted feel, and then shone a laser pointer on the watermark, it was there.
"Twenty-five, your change is seventy-five!"
Just as he was about to put the money into the cash register, the man suddenly said, "Nevermind, I think I have some change, let me give you the change."
Xu Qingfan just quietly watched him, and the man looked back at Xu Qingfan, seeing that Xu Qingfan didn’t return the money, the man, annoyed and embarrassed, said, "What are you, a wretched kid trying to do, give me my money back, I’ll give you change!"
With a scornful smile, Xu Qingfan returned the hundred-dollar bill to him, and sure enough, after searching his wallet for a while, the middle-aged man said, "Forget it, I’ve only got about ten or so in change, just take the hundred."
No need to ask, this bill was definitely counterfeit.
Xu Qingfan pointed to the surveillance camera above, "Uncle, we have surveillance here, if you really want to buy the cigarettes, give the real money you just had, it would be embarrassing for you when the police come knocking."
The middle-aged man followed where Xu Qingfan was pointing and looked up, indeed seeing a camera focused on him. He muttered something in Hakka dialect and walked away cursively.
Sometimes business is like this, you know the other person has given you counterfeit money, but you can’t really confront them head-on because you can’t gamble on whether they would hold a grudge after getting fined or detained and maybe seek revenge.
Of course, the premise of ’good relations bring wealth’ is that your interests are not harmed. If they are, you have to stand your ground, otherwise, people will think you are easy to bully, and they’ll come bully you again.
"Whew~ Brother Fan, how did you know that bill was counterfeit?" Wu Lingyu, who had stood by silently the whole time, asked in relief after the man left.
"Thieves’ eyes and rat’s eyebrows, it’s obvious he’s no good. It’s an old trick of swindlers, the first bill is real to lower your guard, then they ask for it back and switch it with a counterfeit. Be careful when you take money in the future." Xu Qingfan explained.
"Mhm! Brother Fan, I got it." Wu Lingyu nodded eagerly three times.
[Brother Fan really knows a lot.] The little girl looked up at him with adoring eyes, she thought.
Not long after, Yao Jiping, who had gone home to cook, returned carrying a thermos and shouted to him, "Alright, you’re not needed here anymore, go home for dinner!"
"Yeah, see you Yu." Xu Qingfan waved his hand as he walked out the door, plugged in headphones, and walked home with a stride as if he owed nothing to anyone.
"Auntie, just now..." After he left, Wu Lingyu told Yao Jiping about Xu Qingfan driving off the swindler.
"Oh! You mean that, recently several shops around here have been swindled, didn’t expect this wily kid to be so clever, truly worthy of being my son!" Yao Jiping nodded in approval, "Yu’er too, without your reminder, he would have definitely been swindled!"
"Auntie, I didn’t... I was too scared to even speak." Wu Lingyu shyly lowered her head as Yao Jiping stroked her hair.
"Still, our Yu’er is good, always telling everything to auntie, not like that mischievous kid, just slaps his butt and leaves." Yao Jiping changed her approach to praise, "Too bad you’re not my daughter."
