NOVPUB"Yu, you don’t need to wake up early to make breakfast for us; we could have slept a bit more and just gone out to grab some ducks!" As Lin Wanning took spoonfuls of the noodle soup, which was served at just the right temperature from the thermal container, she said.
"Yeah, we could have slept in and just bought some buns from the breakfast stall on the street corner. There’s really no need to wake up early; we already don’t get enough sleep," Xu Qingfan also said, patting the back of the girl’s hand.
Wu Lingyu glanced at Xu Qingfan with a somewhat guilty look, shook her head, and said, "It’s alright, I wake up naturally as soon as it’s light out, and during winter, I won’t be making it for you guys at all!" The girl then smiled wryly after finishing her sentence.
"Then Qingfan will do the dishes after school, and we three will clean the stove!" Xia Xiaoxiao said, sipping her milk tea.
"Right, it’s Yu’s turn to be in charge!" Lin Wanning raised her fist and said.
"Hahaha~" Everyone in the room burst into laughter.
Since it was usually Xu Qingfan who took care of the cooking, after buying groceries he would assign tasks to everyone. Once he finished assigning, Xia Xiaoxiao noticed he would just lean back with his legs crossed and watch TV, so she asked, "So what are you in charge of?"
Xu Qingfan answered, "I am in charge of being in charge."
After breakfast, as time neared 6:45 am, the sound of Xiao Ruawen playing with the dog could also be heard coming from the yard.
They wiped down the table and put away the dishes in the sink; these dishes could only be left until they came back from school at noon to be washed.
The six teenagers shouldered their bags and walked on the road to school. The ratio of boarding to day students at Licheng Middle School was about 1:3, so along the way, they frequently saw students in Licheng Middle School uniforms, either cycling or walking.
All six of them were still wearing Experimental Primary School uniforms because they had missed the distribution due to their trip; their middle school uniforms were still wandering somewhere unknown.
The summer uniform for girls at Experimental Primary School consists of a white blouse and a black knee-length skirt, so as they entered the school campus, they inevitably became the focal point of everyone’s attention.
Fortunately, they carried their student ID cards that were distributed at the beginning of the school year, so the six of them showed their IDs to the guard and smoothly entered the campus.
"It’s so weird, we’re the only ones wearing the Experimental Primary’s uniform!" As the six walked to the staircase corner, Xiao Ruawen couldn’t help but say.
"Brother Fan?" Just as Xu Qingfan was about to respond to Xiao Ruawen, a student he did not recognize suddenly patted his shoulder and called out.
"Uh... hello." Xu Qingfan was used to being greeted by strangers on the street, so he nodded subconsciously in reply.
"Awesome!" The guy gave Xu Qingfan a thumbs-up as he walked away.
Including Xu Qingfan and the five girls, everyone was baffled, unable to understand when Xu Qingfan’s fervent fans had infiltrated Licheng Middle School.
Even though Xu Qingfan had a bit of internet fame and had published a wildly popular comic book, how would strangers know what he looked like? Fewer than twenty students who graduated from Experimental Primary and went to Licheng Middle School for junior high, spread across twenty classes in the entire grade.
Students who could afford this primary school typically chose to study in Hong Kong for junior high, and out of the dozen or so students who came to Licheng Middle School, Xu Qingfan could recognize almost all of them, but definitely not the one from just now.
Xu Qingfan shrugged his shoulders, showing that he had no clue either.
The six soon arrived at Class 6, Year 7. The class, just as boisterous as it had been a week ago, fell silent instantly as they made their entrance. Xu Qingfan led the way into the class, which hadn’t changed much since a week before.
Quiet whispers began to spread through the class:
"Do you think they really went to Kun City to eat mushrooms?"
"Was that Qzone post truly written by him?"
"It’s got to be true; my friend has his QQ, and they saw pictures of their trip to Kun City on his Qzone!"
"I bought a copy of Hilarious Daily back in primary school, was it really drawn by them?"
"They seem so cool, I really want to be part of their group!"
"..."
Unlike when they had left a week ago, walking into the classroom again, although their classmates still gazed at them, the looks in their eyes had transformed from disdain and disgust a week earlier to admiration and respect now.
The story actually begins during a computer class when a student accidentally stumbled upon the "Licheng Middle School Shan Fengtao" post on QQ Space.
QQ Space was already the most popular social media platform among students, and since it was gossip about their own school, the story spread like a virus from that student, infecting the entire school.
Boarders have limited entertainment options, so such a piece of gossip quickly went from one person to ten, then from ten to a hundred, becoming common knowledge throughout the school within a couple of days of the essay’s posting.
All the students were looking forward to their class’s computer class session, eager to catch a glimpse of the actual content of the mini-essay.
Then a student who had graduated from the Experimental Primary School recognized that the author’s ID was actually Xu Qingfan, and proudly introduced to those around him their primary school’s idol.
From that moment on, Xu Qingfan’s numerous glorious deeds began to circulate in Licheng Middle School, from standing up for bullied students since first grade, helping an elderly woman who was being scammed and counterclaiming thirty thousand yuan, publishing "Hilarious Daily" comics, getting punished to read a statement before the whole school and then immediately winning an award on stage, to a variety of competition gold medals... 𝚗o𝚟pub.𝚌𝚘𝚖
Combined with the QQ Space post and their impromptu trip, an image of a brave figure who stood up to authority and fought for his classmates’ interests against the homeroom teacher emerged.
He was like a fearless young hero in Jin Yong’s novels, honing his sword for ten years without testing it until today, when he would show it to anyone who faced injustice!
What middle schooler going through an adolescent phase of delusions of grandeur wouldn’t adore such a towering image?
It was just like in a Zhou Xingchi movie: "Do you think by hiding here, I won’t be able to find you? Useless. A man as outstanding as you, no matter where he hides, is like a firefly in the dark, so bright and so outstanding!"
Winning the entire school of Experimental Primary School’s recognition of his great name, Xu Qingfan, had taken half a semester, but at Licheng Middle School, it only took a week.
Listening to the surrounding discussions, Xu Qingfan and the five girls probably understood what was going on.
After the six of them sat down, they exchanged smiles; for their little group, many things could be communicated with just a look.
After being away for a week, their drawers had accumulated over a dozen incomplete test papers, and three sets of school uniforms, two for summer and one for winter, were also stuffed in the drawers.
The uniforms had been distributed on Thursday, and thankfully so, because by then the mini-essay had already spread throughout the school and Shan Fengtao had been suspended, preventing any mischievous students from tampering with their uniforms.
Don’t ask how Xu Qingfan knew this because many of the test papers in the drawer were crumpled up, clearly not spared from mistreatment, while the later-issued uniforms on top were pristine and creaseless.
They took out the clothes, tidied up the drawers, and at that moment, the bell for morning reading rang.
The class leader and English representative appointed by Shan Fengtao last week went up to the podium with an English book to lead the morning reading.
English was the first lesson in the morning, and Xu Qingfan wondered if, with Shan Fengtao taken down by him, anyone would be there to teach their English class.
The answer came quickly as the bell for the first class rang, signaling the same class representative to ascend the podium.
"We’ll continue with self-study this period, no talking or discussing below!"
Xu Qingfan had already flipped through the Grade 7 English textbook, the content of which was not only trivial for him, considering his experience in two lifetimes, but also a breeze for Lin Wanning, even as the one with the relatively weakest grades in their little team.
Having been taught Cambridge English at Experimental Primary School, top-performing students like Xu Qingfan usually passed Cambridge Level 3 by the sixth grade, and with his foundation from studying English literature in a past life, he breezed through Level 4.
"Do you want to hear me teach?" Xu Qingfan suddenly asked the five girls in a low voice, not waiting for their reply before he took the English book and went up to the podium.
"I’m sorry for causing everyone’s English class to be self-study, I apologize. To show my regret, let’s have me take over the English class for now," Xu Qingfan bowed slightly to the class before continuing, "Class begin!"
The students in the class were at first stunned, and then they saw the five girls from Group Eight get up with giggling smiles and say, "Good morning, teacher!"
Perhaps because of the many legends they had heard, students began to stand up in twos and threes, and more and more stood up until everyone was on their feet, loudly repeating, "Good morning, teacher!"
"Sit down, please!"
Xu Qingfan quickly figured out what content to cover: "This class, let’s start with phonetics. Turn to the first page of the word list in your textbooks..."
