NOVPUBXia Xiaoxiao started with selecting a hairstyle, choosing a white one that caught her eye before switching back to her own game screen. Satisfied, she nodded and clicked "permanently purchase."
For clothes, Xia Xiaoxiao wore a white princess dress and crystal shoes. Mirroring her own choices, she picked out a white suit and white shoes for Xu Qingfan.
"What are you doing? You’re not trying to make us wear matching couple outfits, are you?" Xu Qingfan felt he had discovered some incredible secret and said.
Xia Xiaoxiao was startled, for that was indeed her plan.
[He actually figured it out!]
"Xu Qingfan, stop flattering yourself, will you? I just think this set of clothes looks great on me. I couldn’t be bothered to pick for you, so I just copied mine over!" Xia Xiaoxiao scrunched up her nose and glared at him menacingly.
"Ah, yes, yes, yes!"
"Hmph~ At best we’re dressed as father and daughter, ptooey ptooey ptooey... At most it’s mother-son outfits!"
"Hahaha!" Xu Qingfan pointed at the girl who got her words mixed up and laughed, "So it’s father-daughter outfits, huh? Good girl!"
"It’s mother-daughter... I mean mother-son outfits!!!" Xia Xiaoxiao narrowed her eyes menacingly at him, her attractive under-eye crescents smoky and alluring.
"Hahaha~" Xu Qingfan clutched his stomach and laughed unrestrainedly, "Mother-daughter outfits, haha..."
"Xu Qingfan!!!"
Seeing him laughing so hard he was almost collapsing to the ground, Xia Xiaoxiao, annoyed, pushed him down onto the bed, pinned his shoulders, and mounted him.
"Haha~ what are you doing... You’re such an idiot!"
"Don’t laugh!" Xia Xiaoxiao looked down at him from her superior position, scanning the room for any item suitable to punish him with.
"Haha... I won’t laugh... I’ve stopped laughing... just get off me!" Xu Qingfan ceased his laughter, but as his eyes met Xia Xiaoxiao’s, they inevitably wandered elsewhere.
Xia Xiaoxiao was wearing just a loose T-shirt that day and as she bent forward, the neckline inevitably followed suit, revealing just the tips of her small budding chest, which didn’t elicit much of a reaction from Xu Qingfan; after all, Mr. Xu was no pervert.
"Who’s the dad and who’s the son?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked fiercely.
"White."
"Huh?" Xia Xiaoxiao blinked in confusion and followed Xu Qingfan’s gaze down, "Xu Qingfan, you’re such a pervert!" The next second, she sprung up and retreated three meters from the little creep.
"Tsk tsk tsk~ The world is in moral decay, men must protect themselves when out and about, being pinned down and asked to call someone daddy, there are too many perverts in society!" Xu Qingfan covered himself with a blanket, feigning an appearance of having been tainted.
"Get lost!" Xia Xiaoxiao was so irritated she laughed, grabbing a tissue from the table and throwing it at him.
The two of them frolicked around the room again, and it ended with Xu Qingfan once more subdued on the bed by Xia Xiaoxiao. 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓅𝓊𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
"Let me go! Xia Xiaoxiao, mark my words, you might enjoy this for a couple of years, but when I pin you down in a few years, it’ll be your turn to lose face!" Xu Qingfan’s face was pressed against the board of the bed, Xia Xiaoxiao sitting on his waist, occasionally smacking his butt.
"Asking for it!"
"Smack!" The girl slapped his bottom hard.
"Xia Xiaoxiao, you must be a dog!"
"Smack!"
"Let me go, I apologize, okay? I can show you in return!"
"Smack!"
"Xia Xiaoxiao!!!" Xu Qingfan activated his berserk mode and tried to rise, but it was to no avail.
The only time he could overpower Xia Xiaoxiao was when he was between six and ten years old. Missing that four-year window left him at her mercy.
"Call me Mom!"
"Do you believe I will tell your mom?"
"Smack!"
"I was wrong, okay? What if I show you in return?"
"Could you be any less shameless, Xu Qingfan!" Xia Xiaoxiao continued to smack him seven or eight times more before getting up from him and lying down beside him, panting as if tired from the beating.
Xu Qingfan was also a bit tired, so he turned over and lay on the bed to catch his breath.
"Don’t you know that men and women shouldn’t be so close? Get off my bed!" he said, kicking Xia Xiaoxiao.
"Then why do you always get all close and cozy with Lin Wanning in class every day!" Xia Xiaoxiao kicked him back, unwilling to be outdone.
Xu Qingfan choked, "Wanning is different, and we were just whispering to each other, it’s not like we do that all the time!"
"Then I..."
Xia Xiaoxiao was about to defiantly say that she would also whisper with the boys in her group when she got back, but then she thought again, why should she inconvenience herself? She was still quite averse to physical contact with any male other than Xu Qingfan.
"Then Extinction, the nun, will catch you two for puppy love and drag you both to the office for a lecture!"
"She wouldn’t dare. I am the three-time national math Olympiad gold medalist; even the principal wouldn’t dare raise his voice at me!"
"Why are you so annoying? In any case, you shouldn’t be having such close contact with the opposite sex. You’re grown up now, not a child anymore, and Lin Wanning is no exception!" Xia Xiaoxiao slapped the mattress and got up from the bed.
"Then what about you, squishing me just now!"
"I... I... It’s different for us!"
Xu Qingfan: ???
"Are you annoying or what? Aunt Yao asked me to keep an eye on you, so I might as well be your stand-in mom!"
"Pfft~ Aunt Lin also asked me to keep an eye on you, so what, I’m your stand-in dad?" Xu Qingfan couldn’t hold back and said.
"Keep dreaming. Talk to me when you’re taller than me!" Xia Xiaoxiao glared at him and sat back down in front of the computer.
"Remember, when I’m taller than you, you have to call me dad!" Xu Qingfan also got up from the bed and said.
"Keep dreaming, unless you call me mom before that!" Xia Xiaoxiao was cunningly planning inside her head; when that day came, she could just deny it. She had to secure the benefits first.
"Get lost!" Xu Qingfan wasn’t fooled.
He glanced at the time on the computer; it was already past ten in the morning. "You’re really not going to the lunch Zhang Yiyi’s uncle is hosting?"
"No, I don’t know them. I’ll eat at home!" the girl shook her head.
"Zhang Yiyi and Lin Wanning are also going. Are you sure you don’t want to go?"
"No, no. If you’re going, then go by yourself, don’t disturb my gaming!" Xia Xiaoxiao maximized the game screen and soon started another game.
"Suit yourself then, I’ll bring you some takeaway if there’s anything good." Xu Qingfan opened a drawer to find a pair of clean socks.
Three years ago, Zhang Chaoqun was promoted because of a comic called Hilarious Daily, which then drew the attention of the higher-ups.
The distribution of the comic quickly expanded from just the Hong Kong area to the whole province and then to the entire country.
The anti-fraud series continued with five more issues, but all this no longer had much to do with the three of them. They had licensed the IP to the officials, and the national team personally took over the work of Xu Qingfan, Lin Wanning, and Zhang Yiyi.
It seemed like they had lost out, but in fact the opposite was true.
Because they held the copyright IP for Hilarious Daily, the value of the IP increased as the popularity of the animated characters grew.
Take the simple example of the character merchandise; just from licensing to toy factories, they made several million over the years, and that didn’t include other intangible assets.
As Hilarious Daily became well-known, it also boosted sales of the earlier official books, adding another few million in revenue.
Xu Qingfan had entrusted Zhang Chunxue to invest all the money in his bank account either in stocks or into the Good Taste Duck Necks business. By now, Xu Qingfan couldn’t even say how much he actually had; and the most absurd part was he had done so much without his parents even knowing.
Xu Qingfan was clear about his own capabilities; his achievements would not have been possible without Zhang Chunxue’s help. Although he had also helped her a lot, Xu Qingfan was still very grateful to her.
Zhang Chaoqun climbed the ranks step by step due to his excellent promotional work—nobody would normally believe that this achievement could have been made by three kids, so naturally, the credit went to Zhang Chaoqun.
Now, three years later, with the opportunity of a reshuffle, Zhang Chaoqun was about to be promoted again.
With a few days left before going for training at the Party School, Zhang Chaoqun wanted to take the opportunity at the farewell family dinner to thank the three of them.
...
