NOVPUBXu Qingfan was dumbfounded; at twelve years old and five feet tall, he wasn’t short at all. Yet somehow, Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi seemed fine, while he was treated like a child every single day.
As the group walked into the photo booth sectioned off with red cloth, the girls couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Xu Qingfan, with a menacing look, tapped each of their heads, "Hurry up and take the picture, there’s a time limit, only 2000 seconds!" After saying that, he couldn’t help but join in the laughter.
"Haha~ Who made you, Brother Fan, have such fair skin? You look more delicate than us girls, like a porcelain doll."
The fair skin genes in Xu Qingfan’s family were indeed quite impressive. Take his uncle Yao Jianjun, for example. He had farmed for decades and by all rights should have been tanned to a crisp, but after starting a factory and staying indoors for over half a year, his skin had gradually become fair again.
Xu Qingfan operated the photobooth machine, switching between various non-mainstream patterns and texts for the others to choose from.
"Let’s go with this one, this one looks good!" Xiao Ruawen exclaimed when she saw a pattern featuring Patrick Star and SpongeBob SquarePants at the bottom of the frame.
"Looks good, who wants to go first?" Xu Qingfan confirmed the selection and quickly entered the ten-second countdown for the photo.
"Hey~ what are you starting so quickly for!"
Seeing that the time was about to run out, everyone hurriedly struck their poses.
The image was finally frozen, capturing Xiao Ruawen, who was rushing to press the pause button on the screen, Xia Xiaoxiao standing gracefully, Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi each holding one of Xu Qingfan’s arms, and Wu Lingyu, who was standing on the edge, looking at Xu Qingfan.
"It’s all your fault, Brother Fan, you wasted a chance!" Xiao Ruawen couldn’t help but complain when she saw how silly she looked in the photo.
"Where was it wasted? I think it looks pretty good!"
"Everyone looks good, just me who looks ugly!"
"Hahaha~"
The group randomly split up inside the photo studio, and soon the computer showed that there was only one photo opportunity left.
"The last one has to be a group photo!" Lin Wanning declared, raising her little fist.
"Choose a blank one, let’s all stand behind Xu Qingfan!" Xia Xiaoxiao suddenly had a mischievous idea and suggested.
Xu Qingfan looked up at her and pressed the camera button; then, all five girls ran behind him.
When the countdown on the screen reached 3, Xia Xiaoxiao suddenly put her hand on Xu Qingfan’s head, and the rest, as if by telepathy, stacked their hands on top of it.
The five girls laughed innocently from behind him, while Xu Qingfan alone, due to the pressure on his head, comically shrunk his neck.
"Not bad, really good-looking!" Xia Xiaoxiao nodded her head in satisfaction after seeing the result.
"Brother Fan, you only look four feet six inches tall now, hahaha!"
"Brother Qing Fan’s expression looks just like that funny meme from the forums!"
After hearing Lin Wanning’s words, everyone involuntarily made the same mental connection, and then they couldn’t go back to seriousness anymore, as laughter filled the small photo studio.
The photo was eventually made into a puzzle and placed in Xu Qingfan’s bedroom, serving as a memorial to their youth, which they owned, were experiencing, and were gradually leaving behind.
...
The six of them finished taking photos and came down from Gualv Square, and it wasn’t even four in the afternoon yet.
They had originally planned to watch a movie together, and after the movie, it would be just past five o’clock, time for everyone to head home for dinner. But now, they didn’t know where else to go.
In early April, Li City was already experiencing the heat of summer, and it didn’t take long after leaving the mall for them to start sweating from their foreheads.
"Brother Qing Fan, what are we going to do now?" Lin Wanning opened a pack of tissues, handed one to each person, and asked while wiping her sweat.
"The boys in our class really crack me up, claiming they’ve watched a movie that just came out in May back in March—I wouldn’t even dare go that far!" Qingfan’s mentality could no longer return to what it once was; it was hard for him to understand what teenage boys gained by boasting like that.
"My two teammates talk about Michael Jackson every single day in the group, and it drives me speechless. Their English grades combined don’t even make eighty, yet somehow chasing a foreign celebrity as an idol seems so cool to them," Ruan Wen nodded in agreement.
"That’s nothing; the two idiots in our group keep asking me if I want a permanent Renault, asking for my QQ and password," Xia Xiaoxiao chimed into the venting session.
"Huh? Can you really get a permanent Renault?"
"Pfft—" When Xiaxiaoxiao said it, Qingfan didn’t think much of it, but Wanning’s "Huh?" truly made him burst out.
"What are you thinking? All those car scams are just cheaters cheating, be careful or scammers will scam you out of your underpants!" Qingfan slapped Wanning on the head.
"Ouch~ Always hitting me on the head, I’m gonna get dumb from all the hits," Wanning pouted and complained, then indignantly continued, "If I get scammed out of everything, I’ll just wear yours, Brother Fan!"
This time, everyone just lost it. "Hahaha~"
Only then did Wanning realize what ridiculous thing she had just said, her face turning red as she cupped her cheeks, "Hey! You guys can’t laugh, I didn’t mean to say that!"
The crisp laughter echoed down the street as the group gradually moved away.
"Brother Qingfan wants coffee!" Wanning pointed to the Starbucks that had opened in Li City at some unknown time.
Qingfan looked at the others, who seemed indifferent, "Then let’s have coffee."
"I... I’ll treat!" Lingyu quickly stepped forward, moving in front of the group, her eyes earnest.
Just as Qingfan was about to say it wasn’t necessary, the genuine desire in the young girl’s eyes made him change his mind, "Then it’s on you!"
"Thank you, Yu!"
"Long live Yu!"
The girls, none low in emotional intelligence, immediately surrounded Wu Lingyu, expressing their gratitude.
"It’s nothing, you guys always treat me..." Wu Lingyu said somewhat shyly, scratching the back of her head.
Although Good Flavor Duck Necks was still in a strategic loss phase, far from a dividend payout, Wu Dahuo’s annual salary and bonuses combined were more than enough to buy a small apartment in Hong Kong right now.
The family had more than enough money to cover Wu Suowei’s medical expenses, but to save for an unforeseen kidney transplant surgery, Wu Lingyu’s family was still renting a house.
Perhaps to make up for the previous years’ shortcomings with his daughter, once the family’s situation improved, besides living expenses, Wu Lingyu got an additional five hundred yuan a month in pocket money, which was quite high among children in 2008.
After placing their orders and finding a table, although the one hundred plus yuan for six cups of coffee didn’t match Wu Lingyu’s spending philosophy, she still felt happy spending for her friends.
Over the years, every time they went out, it had been a rotation for paying, each one’s turn might only stretch to buying water or lollipops; Wu Lingyu felt moved and very much wanted to give more.
So, she would help Yao Jinping at the store, do chores for both families, and join in playing online games, even though she didn’t find gaming as interesting as studying.
Wu Lingyu was always willing to give that bit extra, otherwise, she’d feel undeserving of the fortune she had received...
"It tastes good, but it’s also honestly expensive," Xiao Ruawen couldn’t help but complain after sipping her Strawberry Frappuccino.
"One day, let Aunt Zhang take you to Beautiful Country for coffee, where it’s... erm... more or less the same price. But considering their overall cost of living is higher, it’s roughly the equivalent of a McDonald’s Coke back here." Qingfan explained.
"A McDonald’s Coke is only eight yuan, why is Starbucks so expensive, when both are international brands!" Wanning asked curiously.
"Because we have Wallace here, three burgers for ten yuan, and it has competitors like KFC, so naturally, they can’t price too high," Qingfan explained. 𝖓𝔬𝖛𝔭𝔲𝖇.𝔠𝔬𝖒
"Oh~ I get it now, Starbucks charges so much because it has no competitors. When I grow up, I want to open a chain of coffee shops like Qingqing, so everyone can enjoy affordable coffee!" Wanning declared, waving her little pink fists.
Everyone thought Wanning was just speaking off the cuff, only Qingfan’s eyes lit up, [Could Luckin Coffee also cut in?]
