NOVPUBXu Qingfan looked back at the class plaque of Grade 6 Class 16 and then followed the crowd forward.
They had to take a total of two graduation photos: one with the school leaders sitting in the front and another with only the subject teachers in the front.
"It would be great if Teacher Guan could also come..."
"I really miss Teacher Guan!"
Guan Biyue had taught their class for three years, and many students couldn’t help but mention her during the photo session.
However, this was naturally wishful thinking, as Good Taste Duck Necks was currently busy expanding into the northern market. Guan Biyue was here today and might be in another city tomorrow,
Fortunately, she had already taken a graduation photo with them when they were still naive third graders, so at least they could cherish that memory.
After the graduation photos were taken, there were only five days left until the graduation exam.
But because there was no pressure of progressing to the next level, the students were relaxed and still talked and laughed when they returned to their class.
"Wouldn’t it be nice to go traveling after our exams?" Xiao Ruawen, sitting on the box Xu Qingfan used for miscellaneous items, discussed summer plans with them.
"Don’t you need to visit your dad?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked curiously.
"I’ll visit him after the trip, we break up on the 18th, there are two and a half months!"
"What about Yiyi, are you going abroad this summer vacation?" Xu Qingfan asked.
Zhang Yiyi shook his head, pointing to his ear with the hearing aid, "Technology, the best there is. Mom said a bit bigger, then cochlear implant surgery!"
"Alright, alright, let’s go traveling, how about watching the Olympic Games opening ceremony in Yanjing!"
"The Olympics will be near the start of school. If we’re traveling, it definitely has to be right after the exams finish. They haven’t even started their holidays by then, we can travel off-peak and avoid the crowds!" Xu Qingfan flicked Lin Wanning’s forehead.
"Alrighty~"
"So, Brother Fan, where should we go?" Xiao Ruawen kicked the question back to Xu Qingfan.
"Potala Palace, Cang Mountain and Erhai, the misty rains of Jiang Nan in Wuzhen, or maybe next door to the landscapes of Guilin!" Xu Qingfan listed, counting on his fingers.
"Wuzhen’s a no-go, too many mosquitoes and people, pass pass!" Xiao Ruawen shook her head repeatedly.
"Then you tell me where to go, if you can’t decide, we are all going to Flame Kingdom!" Xu Qingfan said, none too pleased.
"Brother Qing Fan, what country is Flame Kingdom?" Lin Wanning blinked, unable to recall such a country on Earth.
"Pfft~ Wanning, he’s talking about that Flame Kingdom from Speedy Kart!"
Lin Wanning blushed, "I thought it was some foreign country, Brother Qing Fan you’re so bad, my account is in Gale Kingdom!"
"Hahaha~" Everyone was laughing at Lin Wanning’s reaction.
...
Three days flashed by, and this would be their last weekend off during their primary school years.
Although they knew everyone would be at the same middle school and there was no pressure about progressing to the next level, to be closer to each other’s student numbers, the six friends still agreed to meet in the library to review over the holidays.
"In ’Water Margin,’ which two leaders firmly opposed amnesty?" In the children’s book area where they could discuss, Xu Qingfan read from the review materials and quizzed them.
"I know, I know, it’s Wu Song and Li Kui, the ones advocating amnesty were Song Jiang and Lu Junyi!" Xiao Ruawen hurriedly answered, spouting off the remaining test points as well.
"I asked you to write it down, not blurt it out!" Xu Qingfan playfully slapped Xiao Ruawen who had revealed the answer.
"Hehe, sorry, I spoke too quickly."
"How do you write the character ’Kui’ in Li Kui?"
After Xu Qingfan finished speaking, all five girls picked up their pens to write on paper.
"Soil, eight, soil... done, Brother Qing Fan check mine!" Lin Wanning was the first to finish and handed her draft paper to him to check.
"Well done," Xu Qingfan glanced at it and then continued, "Next question, what are the Four Great Classical Novels, and write down the names of their respective authors!"
"Ah~ that’s too hard!"
"Don’t peek at others, I’m watching you!"
...
June 16, Monday.
The 2008 batch of primary to middle school graduation exams in Li Cheng District were scheduled for this day.
The exams lasted two days, with Chinese language and mathematics on the first day, and English and Science and Nature on the second day.
Time had passed so long that when he touched the Chinese and math exam papers again, he had no memory of them, yet this did not stop him from finishing the exam in half an hour, daydreaming for the next half, and then turning in his paper half an hour early.
Since the examination site was at the Experimental Primary School and all the examinees were students from the same school, there was no need to torture the people in the same classroom as one might for a competition exam outside, so Xu Qingfan made sure to turn the pages gently to not disturb his classmates.
The English exam’s essay entailed introducing whales in five sentences, Xu Qingfan translated the outline provided in Chinese and then added two more sentences himself, figuring a full score was likely.
The afternoon’s science and nature exam lasted only one hour, and as soon as the bell rang indicating the end of the exam, a familiar announcement came over the intercom: "The examination time has ended, please cease answering."
When the proctor had collected the exam papers, scratch paper, and answer sheets and announced they could leave, the students burst out of the classrooms like Huskies freed after two days, roaring and running through the corridors.
Xu Qingfan put on his backpack, which he had left in the corridor before the exam, pulled out the camera he brought to the school, and started recording in DV mode.
The blurry quality mirrored innocent faces, Xu Qingfan wandered through time like a traveler, capturing these precious moments.
"Brother Fan!" Wu Lingyu, having taken the exam on the same floor, spotted Xu Qingfan from afar and excitedly ran against the flow of students toward him.
"Let’s interview our Yu, how do you feel after finishing the exam?" Xu Qingfan pressed the camera in front of the girl and asked.
"Ah?" Wu Lingyu blinked in confusion, "I’m just really happy, everyone is graduating from primary school, everyone has grown up, and as soon as I walked out of the exam room, I saw Brother Fan."
Wu Lingyu, somewhat shy in front of the camera, ducked behind Xu Qingfan after speaking, clutching his backpack and watching the footage with him.
Xu Qingfan carried the camera and continued walking, interviewing classmates along the way.
"Blast it in CrossFire!"
"Definitely have to catch a level six mount bear!"
"Brother Fan, you’re recording a video!"
"I want to go to college soon, my brother is a college student, he just eats and sleeps all day at home, in college you can just play carefree!"
"Ah ah ah~"
"..."
The classmates spoke freely in front of the camera, some making funny faces and others taking their interviews seriously.
Xu Qingfan departed from Yu on the second floor and reopened the video he had paused after reaching the fifth floor.
"Everyone, look here!" Xu Qingfan shouted at the doorway of his class.
The girls, shy upon seeing the camera, hid under the desks, while the boys excitedly made all sorts of exaggerated expressions.
"Graduated now, what do you want to say, Yiyi?" Starting with Zhang Yiyi, Xu Qingfan held the camera and asked.
"I hope everyone is always happy and stays together forever!" Zhang Yiyi spoke sweetly to the camera.
"It’s my turn, I hope that in middle school, high school, and college, and even after that, we can all stay together!" Lin Wanning swayed her head from side to side in front of Xu Qingfan.
"And you?" Xu Qingfan turned the camera toward Xia Xiaoxiao.
"I hope whoever hears this can always be happy." Xia Xiaoxiao rarely smiled, she said.
"Then I hope Xiaoxiao’s hope comes true!" Xiao Ruawen shouted from the third row, waving toward them.
Xu Qingfan turned the camera to himself, "Then I hope Xiao Ruawen’s hope for Xia Xiaoxiao’s hope to come true, comes true!"
"The carrying pole is wide, the stool is long, Brother Qing Fan, what are you rhyming about?"
"Hahaha~"
"Classmates, shall we all shout ’Happy Graduation’ on three-two-one and throw our red scarves into the air? Can we?" Xu Qingfan stood in front of the podium and addressed everyone.
"Yes!!!"
"Three, two, one, Happy Graduation!"
"Hahahaha..."
Those memories that couldn’t grow up pinned down by the schoolyard, those innocent times that lingered through the years.
The laughter under the banyan tree, the playful chasing in the corridors, hands red from clapping on the tiles, marbles rolling across the concrete... they made up the best pictures of childhood.
...
The car drove into the campus and took away the traces of their six years of school life.
In September, a new group of students would arrive in this class, sitting in their old seats, embarking on a six-year journey known as primary school.
Happy Graduation.
