I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 9. Cheers!
That's all for today's lesson. See you next week, kids!

"goodbye teacher!"

I spent the whole afternoon idly spacing out, and finally made it through the last two classes.

Kindergarten also has homework, even though the teachers don't care whether you do it or not.

To appease his parents, Xu Qingfan grabbed a few notebooks and stuffed them into his Superman backpack.

"Did you take your painting back?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked Xu Qingfan, who was waiting beside her, as she calmly put on her schoolbag.

"I took it. It's the first gift I've ever received from a girl. I'll frame it when I get home."

"Show-off!" Xia Xiaoxiao stared at his schoolbag thoughtfully.

When the two walked out the door, Lin Wanning was already waiting outside.

"Lin Wanning and Xia Xiaoxiao are my neighbors," Xu Qingfan introduced them.

[Neighbor???]
Xia Xiaoxiao glanced at Xu Qingfan, and although she knew there was nothing wrong with the introduction, she still felt inexplicably annoyed.

"Hello, my name is Lin Wanning," Lin Wanning said first.

"Hmm," Xia Xiaoxiao replied indifferently.

"Let's go, let's chat as we walk." Xu Qingfan pushed the two of their schoolbags forward, one in each hand.

"Oh, right, Xiaoxiao, I'm going to visit Wanning's family later. You'll be going home with my dad by yourself." Xu Qingfan only remembered that he hadn't told Xia Xiaoxiao about this when they were almost at the kindergarten gate.

"What!" Xia Xiaoxiao was startled, but quickly calmed down: "What are you doing at someone else's house!"

It should have been a question, but Xia Xiaoxiao's tone made it sound like a statement.

Lin Qiaoshan was standing at the kindergarten gate. Just as Xu Qingfan was about to speak, Lin Wanning suddenly ran out.

"father!"

"Hey!" Lin Qiaoshan picked up his daughter and held her in one hand.

Xu Qingfan took Xia Xiaoxiao's hand and jogged after her.

"Hello, uncle."

"Hello, uncle."

"Little student, we meet again! And who is this?"

"I'm his sister!" Xia Xiaoxiao said, grabbing Xu Qingfan's arm with both hands before Lin Qiaoshan could finish speaking.

Xu Qingfan looked at Xia Xiaoxiao in surprise, then nodded and said, "Yes, she is my sister, Xia Xiaoxiao."

"Then come to my house as a guest. By the way, little student, I don't know your name yet. Your uncle's name is Lin Qiaoshan."

"Uncle, my name is Xu Qingfan. My dad is still waiting over there. I need to tell him first."

"Yes, yes, let's go together."

After the two adults met, Lin Qiaoshan showered Xu Qingfan with compliments, praising him as one of the best in the world, and vividly recounted the famous scene where Xu Qingfan confronted the old woman.

Mr. Xu patted his son on the shoulder and said with a smile, "It's all right, it's what he should do. If I find out he saw it and stood by and did nothing, I'll whip him with a belt!"

Xu Qingfan stood to the side, his toes practically digging out of their sockets in embarrassment.

Lin Qiaoshan sported a slicked-back hairstyle, dressed in dress pants, a shirt, and high-end leather shoes, looking every bit the successful man.

Knowing he and the other man were not on the same page, Mr. Xu finished talking to the child, gave him a word of advice to be careful, and then rode away on his motorcycle.

After the four watched the motorcycle leave, Lin Qiaoshan took out his key and pressed a button, and a black sedan parked across the street started ringing.

Xu Qingfan didn't know much about cars, but he recognized the round car logo.

The three of them sat in the back row one after another. Having been used to ride-hailing cars in their previous lives, they didn't find anything special about this car. The earthy yellow interior actually gave them the feeling of cheap goods from a street stall.

It was Xia Xiaoxiao's first time riding in a car, and she was quite curious. However, seeing that the two people next to her were sitting quietly, she managed to control her emotions well.

Lin Qiaoshan, who was driving, was slightly surprised to see the two sitting calmly in the car.

Back in the early 2000s, cars were still a rarity; the money to buy one was enough to buy three or four houses in the county.

With a businessman's intuition, Lin Qiaoshan asked calmly, "What do Xiao Fan's family do?"

"My parents sell sweet soup at a stall," Xu Qingfan said truthfully.

Lin Qiaoshan was slightly disappointed, but after thinking about it, he felt relieved. Given his performance in the office, it was normal for him to remain calm in the face of honor and disgrace.

[The Xu family certainly has good upbringing.] Lin Qiaoshan thought to himself.

The car drove for more than ten minutes before finally entering Bige Garden.

This is the first commercial building project in the district. When it opened, it was marketed as a "city garden" and attracted a large number of wealthy people to buy it.

The car meandered through the streets before finally stopping at a villa area. Xu Qingfan had worked a tutoring job during his university years, and coincidentally, the place where he had received tutoring was right in front of this villa.

The osmanthus tree that would grow to over three meters tall in the future is now less than his shoulder, and the succulents that used to be everywhere in the yard have turned into a patch of green mugwort.

Xu Qingfan suddenly understood the feeling of "now it stands tall and majestic like a canopy" in the ancient text "The Record of Xiangji Pavilion", only in reverse.

The future owners of this place are a middle-aged couple who run a furniture business, and their son, whose junior high school grades were not ideal.

Lin Wanning enthusiastically found two new pairs of slippers for the two of them and jogged into the kitchen to bring out snacks and drinks.

Digimon has been airing on TVB Jade for a while now, and Xu Qingfan knew that Xia Xiaoxiao watched it every day, so he thoughtfully turned on the TV for her.

Fortunately, there were no set-top boxes like this in this era. If it were a TV set twenty years from now, it would take forever to figure out how to turn it on.

There were many jeans piled up in the first-floor hallway. Xu Qingfan vaguely guessed what Lin Wanning's father did for a living, and also guessed why they sold the house later.

Xu Qingfan lived in a suburb below the port city. There was a town in the district that specialized in producing jeans. It's no exaggeration to say that seven out of every ten pairs of jeans in China come from there.

Domestic demand accounts for only a small portion; most of the jeans produced here are for export.

In 01, China joined the WTO, and with the dividends of the times, doing foreign trade was as easy as picking up money.

The easier it is to pick up money now, the more severe the financial crisis of 08 was.

[Making money is possible, but managing hundreds of people and constantly expanding the customer base is much more practical than opening a print shop.]
He decisively rejected the idea of ​​persuading his parents to open a clothing factory.

A short while later, another car pulled up in front of the gate.

A young woman dressed casually opened the door and walked in.

The woman was slightly taken aback when she saw the two unfamiliar children sitting in the living room, but then she remembered what her husband had said the night before and quickly felt relieved.

Xu Qingfan could naturally guess the woman's identity, but that didn't stop him from being sweet-talking: "Wan Ning, this is your sister, right? Uncle, your sister is back!"

Lin Wanning's word "Mom" was forced back down his throat.

Lin Qiaoshan walked out of the kitchen with a spatula in his hand and a puzzled look on his face, thinking: Where did this sister come from?
"You brat, this is my wife, call her Auntie!"

Wen Wanqing chuckled and gave her husband a shy, reproachful look: "Go cook your meal."

"Okay."

[Are all men in Hong Kong henpecked? My own father is, Uncle Xia is, and now even Uncle Lin is.]
Xu Qingfan was puzzled.

"What's your name, little one?" Wen Wanqing lifted her daughter onto her lap and sat her down where Lin Wanning had been sitting.

"Sister, my name is Xu Qingfan, and this is my younger sister, Xia Xiaoxiao."

"Hello, Auntie." Xia Xiaoxiao couldn't be as shameless as Xu Qingfan. She hesitated for a moment before finally calling him Auntie.

Wen Wanqing chuckled at his use of the word "sister" and asked with a smile, "So how old do you think your sister is this year?"

When Wen Wanqing referred to herself as "older sister" in front of her daughter's classmates, her face flushed.

"I don't know, but she looks no older than the girls in our high school!" Xu Qingfan wasn't really going to guess.

Wen Wanqing has a naturally youthful face, which makes her look very young. Lin Wanning's resemblance to Rikka Takanashi is also thanks to her mother.

Xia Xiaoxiao decided to ignore it and gave the flirtatious 'brother' a disdainful look before focusing intently on watching Digimon.

"It's time to eat!"

Lin Qiaoshan opened the kitchen door, and a rich aroma of curry wafted out.

The three little ones washed their hands and sat in a row.

"You two will be starting elementary school soon, have you decided which elementary school you want to go to?" Lin Qiaoshan felt that Xu Qingfan was a reliable guy, and he didn't have to worry about his daughter being bullied if he arranged for her to be in the same school and class as him.

"I should go to the Experimental Primary School." Xia Xiaoxiao had no difficulty passing the exam, so he thought for a moment and then answered.

"What a coincidence! Wan Ning is also preparing for the exam there. The three of you can study together when you have time," Wen Wanqing said with delight.

Lin Wanning was also secretly delighted. Her last bit of worry about going to school was gone, and she couldn't wait to start first grade.

"I'll try to find a way to put the three of you in the same class."

Upon hearing this, both little girls looked at Lin Qiaoshan with shining eyes.

"Thank you in advance, Uncle. Cheers to our elementary school classmates!" Xu Qingfan raised the glass full of cola above his head.

Xia Xiaoxiao and Lin Wanning picked up their respective cups and came over.

"cheers!"

"cheers!"

(End of this chapter)