I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 100. Wu Lingyu's Little Thoughts

“Look at this problem: 12 willow trees are lined up in a row, and 3 peach trees are planted between every two willow trees. How many peach trees are there? Isn’t this a typical tree planting problem? Just pay attention to whether to add one or subtract one, understand?” Xu Qingfan put down his pen and turned to look at Wu Lingyu.

"I understand. We need to subtract one from this question. Three trees mean two holes, and twelve trees mean eleven holes. 11 × 3 = 33, so the answer is 33 trees!" The little girl nodded in response.

"Great! You can do this type of question now, right?"

"I've got it all figured out, thank you, Brother Fanfan. I can do the rest myself." Wu Lingyu nodded vigorously, speaking somewhat shyly.

"Okay, that's all for today's lesson. By the way, where's your dad?" Xu Qingfan patted the little girl's head and stood up to stretch his limbs.

“Dad and Grandpa rented a house next to the hospital.”

"Oh, so it's just you and your mother living here?" He looked around the layout of the house, a small place of about 20 square meters with a living room and a bathroom.

Because the location is in an urban village, surrounded by densely packed residential buildings, even during the day, you can't see a ray of sunlight inside the house.

"Hmm." Wu Lingyu was afraid that Xu Qingfan was looking down on their family's conditions, so she unconsciously lowered her voice.

Xu Qingfan was considering persuading Li Meijuan to move to a different house, since the security in the urban village was not good. He remembered that there had been murders there, and petty theft was commonplace.

However, thinking about their family's current situation, Xu Qingfan swallowed back what he wanted to say.

Xu Qingfan noticed the little girl's sensitive emotions and patiently stepped forward to comfort her: "Why are you always looking down? Are you afraid the car will see you and give you a flat tire?" He swept Wu Lingyu's bangs behind her head and tied them into a single ponytail in his palm.

"Pfft~ No. I'm not looking down anymore." Wu Lingyu remembered what the boys in her class often said: "Everyone loves her, flowers bloom when they see her, and cars get flat tires when they see her." The little bit of inferiority on her face was quickly replaced by a smile.

"You look beautiful when you smile, so smile for me more often!" Xu Qingfan said with a smile, pinching her cheek.

“My grandfather lives in Xiguan, and I can only see him once a month.” Because her face was being pinched, Wu Lingyu’s voice was distorted.

Xu Qingfan was taken aback for a moment, then realized what the other person meant and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Did I say something wrong?" Wu Lingyu originally wanted to ask Xu Qingfan what he was laughing about, but thinking that he was so capable, he must have his reasons for laughing, so she asked him with shame instead.

"No, it's nothing. I just had a brain fart. Come on, let's go to my house and I'll show you something interesting!" Xu Qingfan suppressed a smile and pulled Wu Lingyu to leave.

"I haven't brought my keys yet!"

After the two left with their keys, Xu Qingfan reminded them, "Remember, if Xia Xiaoxiao asks..."

“We met on the street; we weren’t taking math tutoring at home!” Wu Lingyu answered quickly.

"Remove that last sentence!" Xu Qingfan tapped the other person on the head.

"I know, I'm not a fool!"

"Your parents are from Sichuan or Chongqing?" Xu Qingfan asked curiously.

My grandfather was from Sichuan or Chongqing.

As the two were chatting, a large cockroach flew towards them from the dark and damp alley.

"Damn it!" Xu Qingfan pulled Wu Lingyu down to squat, barely managing to dodge the opponent's flying trajectory.

"You scared me! It's a mutant, isn't it? It's so big!" He exclaimed as he pulled the little girl out of the alley.

"Brother Fan, are you afraid of cockroaches?" Wu Lingyu looked at him curiously, as if she had discovered a new continent.

"Tsk~ Let me tell you, it's not a matter of being scared or not, it's really one of those cockroaches that are so big, you rarely see them!"

"I see!"

"What do you know now?" Xu Qingfan was baffled.

"I won't tell anyone that Brother Fan is afraid of stealing oil ladies!"

"Huh? What's a 'oil thief'?" Xu Qingfan was stunned.

"The oil-stealing woman is just a cockroach!"

"Huh?" Xu Qingfan tilted his head and stared at her. "Which of these three words has anything to do with cockroaches? You're not just making this up, are you?"

"No, no! 'Oil-stealing woman' means cockroach. My grandpa said it's because cockroaches always like to steal sesame oil, so they're called 'oil-stealing woman'!" Wu Lingyu felt wronged and pouted a little aggrievedly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Xu Qingfan said, patting the little girl's head reassuringly before continuing to ask, "Then why is it the old woman who stole oil and not the old man who stole oil?"

"Because...because..." Wu Lingyu thought about it seriously for a long time. It seemed that the little girl had always been called that in her memory, and she didn't know why.

"I'm sorry, I...I didn't know." Wu Lingyu lowered her head in shame, as if she was worried about being scolded by Xu Qingfan.

"Looking down again! Be careful you grow up with a hunchback, hunchbacks are so ugly!" Xu Qingfan pinched her shoulders and straightened her back. "If you don't know, you don't know. Why apologize? When has Xia Xiaoxiao ever apologized to me?"

"I understand."

Seeing that the other person was acting shy and hesitant again, Xu Qingfan sighed and gave up trying to correct them.

Seeing that Xu Qingfan didn't speak again, Wu Lingyu secretly looked up at him, as if worried about being discovered, and then quickly lowered her head again.

[Xiao Xiao is so smart and pretty, how can I compare to her? Xiao Xiao and Fan Ge have known each other since they were little.] She looked down at the sandals she was wearing at the street stall, and thinking of the various pretty dresses that Xia Xiao Xiao wore every day, she couldn't help but lower her head even further.

Several times, Xu Qingfan invited her to go to Lin Wanning's house to play, but Wu Lingyu declined with excuses such as doing homework or helping her mother at the shop.

It wasn't that she didn't want to go, but the cloth shoes she usually wore had come unglued and squeaked when she walked. Wu Lingyu felt from the bottom of her heart that it was inappropriate for her to appear in such a palatial room with such worn-out shoes.

Of course, she envied the children who wore shoes that cost hundreds or thousands of yuan a pair, and envied Xia Xiaoxiao and Lin Wanning who could wear different clothes every day. But she knew even more about her mother's hardships, and never made any material demands except for buying stationery and books.

Just like this time, when her mother found out that her shoes were broken and wanted to take her to buy a new pair, Wu Lingyu only chose a pair of uncomfortable sandals that cost only seven or eight yuan, and even defended herself by saying, "Sandals are comfortable to wear in summer!"

The little girl was so sensible it was heartbreaking. "Brother Fan, I want to go and watch the store for Mom." When they reached the opposite side of the convenience store, Wu Lingyu wanted to go over, but Xu Qingfan still held her hand.

"Why are you looking at any shops? It won't make a difference if you wait a little while. Come home with me, and I'll show you something nice!" Xu Qingfan gripped her left hand even tighter.

“Okay.” Wu Lingyu glanced back at the shop and quickened her pace to catch up with Xu Qingfan.

When the two arrived at the third floor of the Lotus Courtyard, the doors of both the Xia and Xu families were locked. Xu Qingfan pretended not to know and said casually, "Xia Xiaoxiao has run off to play somewhere again."

He took out his keys to open the door, but then said loudly, "Oh no, my shoelace came undone. Lingyu, can you open the door for me?"

Wu Lingyu didn't question why the other person was tying their shoelaces at the front door. She nodded and took the keys: "Okay!"

The door lock clicked open, and the little girl instinctively pushed the door open. The next second...

"Wow!"

"Happy birthday!!"

The mechanism set on top of the door was triggered, and colorful fireworks rained down from the sky.

Inside the room, Zhang Yiyi, Lin Wanning, Xia Xiaoxiao, and Xiao Ruanwen stood in a row from left to right, each holding a beautifully packaged gift box.

Wu Lingyu's eyes instantly reddened. She stood at the door in disbelief, her little nose twitching, her expression shifting from bewilderment and surprise to delight and emotion.

"Happy birthday." Xu Qingfan got up, took Wu Lingyu's hand, and led her to sit down at the dining table in the living room.

"Waaah~ Thank you all." Looking at the cake with seven candles in front of her, Wu Lingyu could no longer hold back her tears and burst into tears.

"Why are you crying on your birthday? Have you forgotten what I told you before? Give everyone a smile!" Xu Qingfan wiped away the tears on the other person's face with a tissue.

Wu Lingyu burst into laughter through her tears: "Hehe~ Thank you everyone!"

"Quickly blow out the candles, Brother Qingfan, light them quickly!" Seeing Wu Lingyu smile, Lin Wanning clapped his hands.

"Here it comes." Xu Qingfan took the lighter from the kitchen and lit all seven candles.

"Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~" Everyone clapped and sang the birthday song rhythmically.

"Xiaoyu, quickly close your eyes and make a wish!" Xiao Ruanwen reminded her when she saw that the other girl was still sitting on the stool in a daze.

"Oh, oh." Wu Lingyu realized what was happening and hurriedly closed her eyes to pray.

[I hope Dad gets better soon, I hope Mom won't have to work so hard anymore, and I hope everyone will always be well!] Amidst the uniform music, Wu Lingyu made her first wish in life.

As the song ended, Wu Lingyu blew out the candles amidst everyone's anticipation.

"Happy birthday!!!" everyone shouted in unison.

"Time to eat cake, Xiaoyu, hurry up and cut the cake!" Xiaowan Ning, who had been eyeing the cake for a long time, said.

"Oh, oh, oh!" The little girl, who had never eaten cake before, had no idea how to cut it and seemed completely at a loss.

Xu Qingfan picked up a small plastic knife, put his arm around Wu Lingyu from behind, and helped her divide the cake into six pieces.

Xia Xiaoxiao pouted in a huff when she saw what was happening, but didn't say anything.

"Thank you everyone!" Wu Lingyu sniffled as she distributed the cake to everyone.

"Time to eat cake~ Brother Qingfan~ Open your mouth!" Lin Wanning poked an orange off his cake and fed it to Xu Qingfan.

"You gave me the food you didn't want to eat!" Xu Qingfan stretched out his head, opened his mouth, and bit it.

"Xu Qingfan!" Xia Xiaoxiao also picked up a piece of strawberry and handed it to him.

"Weren't you eating strawberries?" Xu Qingfan looked at him questioningly, but still obediently ate the strawberries.

"This is a gift for you, Xiaoyu, hurry up and open it!"

"Gifts, everyone!"

"The blue one is Ningning's!"

"This one is mine."

After finishing the cake, the four women pointed to the gift box on the table and said to Wu Lingyu.

"Mmm~ Thank you all!" Wu Lingyu felt her eyes welling up with tears again as she opened the gift box in front of everyone.

She opened the first one, which was empty. Wu Lingyu blinked in confusion, then opened the second one, which was also empty.

"Hahaha~" Seeing Wu Lingyu's adorable expression, Xiao Ruanwen couldn't help but burst out laughing first, and then everyone laughed one after another, with joyful sounds rising and falling in the room.

"This is the real gift for you, a gift we all put together for you!" Xu Qingfan said with a smile, pulling out a gift box that had been placed under the table.

"Huh? Okay." Wu Lingyu took the huge gift box from Xu Qingfan with a blank expression.

She opened it in front of everyone, and a shoebox with a familiar logo appeared before the little girl's eyes.

When Wu Lingyu opened the shoebox and saw the beautiful pink shoes lying quietly inside, her eyes were already filled with tears, and a warm current seemed to flow through her heart.

"Thank you so much, sob sob sob."

"Crybaby, quickly try on these shoes to see if they fit. This is a gift from all of us to you, you can't refuse!" Xu Qingfan squatted down, took off the sandals from the little girl's feet, put on plastic bags for trying them on, and then helped her put on the shoes.

The little girl suddenly had a strange feeling that she was Cinderella in a fairy tale, and the prince was helping her put on her exquisite glass slippers.
[Unfortunately, the prince already has Snow White by his side.] Wu Lingyu looked up at the girls in the room and suppressed this unrealistic fantasy.

(End of this chapter)