NOVPUB"We’ll have to go back in the afternoon, anyway, it is the school sports day, and the teacher will definitely assign weekend homework. Unless you guys don’t want to submit your homework," Xu Qingfan replied without much thought.
"Middle school sports days are so boring. Those class committee members just sign up for everything themselves without even telling us!" Xiao Ruawen complained, pouting.
"Exactly, Brother Qing Fan could definitely win a place in the sprints, but they don’t even give us the sign-up sheet!" Lin Wanning added in agreement.
"A bunch of people who can only talk big," Xia Xiaoxiao said with contempt, recalling some indecent jokes about them circulating in the class.
Zhang Yiyi and Wu Lingyu, although silent, nodded in agreement.
The girls were obviously dissatisfied with the new circles in middle school, but it was inevitable. After all, their six people’s fresh hairstyles stood out amidst a crowd of thick bangs like pot lids.
The only topic they could still get along with their classmates was probably QQ Speed, but their various year-long membership icons lit up on QQ would be privately called showing off, so actually, there wasn’t much to talk about.
However, attending Licheng Middle School wasn’t without its benefits. At least they could cohabitate like now, whereas in unfamiliar places, parents would never be comfortable with their children not staying at the school dormitory.
The group was sitting in the living room, eating McDonald’s and watching TV, when suddenly, the sound of a door opening came from the yard, followed by the "tap tap" of high heels walking.
The six of them were startled, looking at the McDonald’s spread out on the table and then at the pajamas they were all still wearing, they were in big trouble!
Even though they moved here to live, the adults in their families would often come to visit, and now skipping class to eat junk food was about to be caught red-handed!
All six looked toward the doorway in terror, their hearts simultaneously jumping to their throats.
"Xiao Fan, Yiyi, mom’s here to see you!"
When they saw that the person pushing the door open was Zhang Chunxue, their alarmed hearts finally relaxed.
"Mom!" Zhang Yiyi put down her burger and ran excitedly toward Zhang Chunxue.
"Auntie!" Seeing this, the others also stood up quickly.
"Missed mom, huh?" Zhang Chunxue pressed her head against her daughter’s forehead, affectionately rubbing it.
"Yeah!" Zhang Yiyi said sweetly, digging out slippers from the shoe cabinet for Zhang Chunxue to put on.
"Hm? Why are you eating McDonald’s at noon? Xiao Fan, weren’t you cooking? That’s not what you promised Auntie!" Upon seeing that they were eating McDonald’s, Zhang Chunxue chided them.
"Just this once," Xu Qingfan pleaded, holding up one finger, "School is off for sports days on Thursday and Friday. We stayed home to play and got up too late in the morning, so we ate McDonald’s."
Xu Qingfan told the truth to Zhang Chunxue, explaining exactly what happened.
"Really, just this once. Yesterday Brother Qing Fan even cooked us claypot rice!" Lin Wanning rushed over to support Zhang Chunxue’s other arm, seeing the situation.
"And lotus root and pork rib soup!" Xiao Ruawen raised her hand to add.
"Mom, just once!"
"Okay, okay, no need to pull the wool over my eyes. I brought over two braised Lion Goose Heads for you. Xiao Fan, you said last time you loved it, right?" Zhang Chunxue smiled as she handed the box to Xu Qingfan.
Upon hearing it was Lion Goose Head, Xu Qingfan swallowed his saliva. He happily took it, "Thank you, Auntie!"
"Thank you, Auntie!"
"Thank you, Mom!"
Seeing this, the five girls also spoke out one after another.
As Xu Qingfan opened it, he noticed that this time the goose head was even larger than the ones they had before, and he asked curiously, "Auntie, how come this goose head seems bigger than the last ones?"
Having been exposed to various experiences by Zhang Chunxue, Lion Goose Head was something he had eaten several times before.
"The ones before were thirty-six months old; this one has been raised for over five years."
"No wonder it’s so big." Xu Qingfan picked up a goose head and brought it to Zhang Chunxue’s mouth, "Auntie, you eat first."
"I’ve already eaten, you guys go ahead," Zhang Chunxue smiled, shook her head in refusal, and seeing Xu Qingfan still holding out his hand and the five girls staring intently at her without moving their chopsticks, Zhang Chunxue could only helplessly bow her head and take a bite of the meat lump under the goose crown, "There, Auntie has eaten."
"Heehee~"
McDonald’s suddenly lost its appeal, as the girls, with smiling faces, put on gloves, and began tending to the Lion Goose Head before them.
The tastiest part of the Lion Goose Head is the meat lump underneath, with just over ten grams of such neck meat on a goose; eating a mouthful costs more than an equivalent amount of gold.
The meat is both chewy and firm, somewhat like jellied meat, leaving a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth.
However, to say it’s worth its weight in gold is actually an overstatement; if Xu Qingfan were still living at his past life’s standards, he definitely wouldn’t spend the money on it.
Domesticated geese normally don’t live beyond a year, and even breeding geese seldom last more than three, which is why their scarcity makes them precious. As for a five-year Lion Goose Head, one could probably trade it for a dialysis machine, and it would still be in short supply.
After lunch, they took Zhang Chunxue to see traces of their life in the house.
The kitchen was tidied up neatly and clean, the toilet was in order without any unpleasant smell, the bin for dirty clothes was spotless, and there were no unwashed clothes left in the washing machine.
The balcony and bedroom were also impeccable, and the quilt Xu Qingfan hadn’t folded upon waking was neatly folded by Wu Lingyu after she saw it.
"Meow~" Zhang Chunxue picked up her little brother again to sniff him; he smelled fresh and not at all bad, "Not bad, it seems like you all are living quite comfortably."
"Of course, we clean every day!" Lin Wanning said proudly, with her hands on her hips.
"That’s good, I had wanted to find you a domestic helper, but since you are all so capable, Auntie can save some money," Zhang Chunxue said with a smile, patting Lin Wanning’s head.
"No need for a domestic helper, it’s troublesome if something gets lost. We usually leave our money downstairs; whoever needs it can just take it from there," Xu Qingfan shook his head, declining Zhang Chunxue’s suggestion.
"You, you, have you been spending all your effort looking after them? That’s the only reason you ranked sixth in the midterm exams," Zhang Chunxue said affectionately, pinching Xu Qingfan’s cheek, pitying that it no longer had the chubby feel of his childhood, "The feel was better when you were little."
"No, it’s because the middle school questions are all too simple, that’s why Brother Qingfan didn’t get first place!" Lin Wanning spoke up for Xu Qingfan.
"Alright, you all should be getting to school, Auntie has to go to work and can’t chat with you any longer," Zhang Chunxue patted their heads one by one, feeling her mood lifted from her visit here.
Of course, this was also related to the fact that all six of them were very fond of Zhang Chunxue, and the interactions that didn’t bring any pressure on either side felt very comfortable.
Moreover, if you feel extremely comfortable around someone, it can only mean that person’s emotional intelligence is a whole dimension above yours.
After seeing Zhang Chunxue off at the door, the six looked at each other and smiled.
"It’s a good thing it was Aunt Zhang, otherwise, we’d get another bashing session," Xiao Ruawen patted her chest and laughed.
"Isn’t there one goose head left? I’ll take it!" Xu Qingfan suddenly ran back and said.
"I want to eat too!"
"That one’s mine!"
"Brother Qingfan, share a bite with me!"
The six chased each other back to the living room, and the last goose head became even tastier amidst their scramble.
....
At two in the afternoon, they changed back into their Licheng Middle School uniforms and returned to school.
The classroom was empty, so they went back downstairs to the sports field.
The last 4x100 relay race was fiercely underway. When they arrived at the base of Class 76, the classmates did not react much; everyone was still busy with their own things.
After the relay race ended, the total scores of each class were quickly tallied. Because the few participants from their class were selected based on good relations with class committee members, it wasn’t surprising that Class 76 scored last among the sixteen classes in the grade.
The classmates were indifferent to this outcome, and the kind of unity that Class 16 had was hard to come by again.
With the principal’s closing remarks, the sports meet came to a perfect end, and so did the six students’ two-day special break.
