Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

"There are so many people over there, let's go take a look!" At noon, as school let out, several students passed by the school's newspaper column on their way to the cafeteria. A small area was packed with people, three layers deep inside and three layers outside. Lin Wanning, always one to love a crowd, grabbed Zhang Yiyi's hand and tried to squeeze in for a better look, Xu Qingfan grabbed the other's backpack and asked two passing students, "Seniors, what are they all looking at? Why are there so many people!" The two upperclassmen, seeing that Xu Qingfan and his group were all good-looking, stopped and patiently explained, "You're in the first grade, right? Last semester, wasn't there a girl in your grade who was bullied by her classmates at kindergarten? Yangcheng Evening News reported that the kindergarten couldn't attract students this semester and has recently closed down." "Yay, yay! Brother Qing Fan, it really shut down!" Lin Wanning couldn't wait to pull out a small notebook from Zhang Yiyi's pocket and wrote down this great news to tell her. "You are Xu Qingfan?" The upperclassman, surprised by Lin Wanning's reference, pointed at him. "Yes, thank you, seniors." Xu Qingfan gave a wry smile, waved goodbye to the two seniors, and pulled Lin Wanning away by her backpack. Hearing the news of Sunflower Kindergarten closing down, Zhang Yiyi seemed very calm, her smile appearing more because Lin Wanning was happy than for any other reason. Xu Qingfan spent fifty cents at a stationery store to buy a copy of Yangcheng Evening News, which carried the news on the front page headline in bold, "Reflecting on the Various Disasters of the Education Sector Through the Closure of a Kindergarten." Xu Qingfan skimmed the article. The issue of student bullying that he cared about most wasn't mentioned; instead, the blame was entirely placed on the inaction of teachers, before segueing into issues of inadequate qualifications and low quality of teachers at many private schools. Xu Qingfan could tell that Sunflower Kindergarten was just a pretext, the real target of the article being the uneven standards of private schools. The deeper implications were not for Xu Qingfan, an insignificant figure, to guess; he handed the finished newspaper to Lin Wanning, "There's nothing much to see, it just says Sunflower Kindergarten closed because it couldn't attract new students." "Such bad schools should have closed long ago! Yangcheng Evening News is a good newspaper; Ningning should buy it every day from now on!" Lin Wanning spread the newspaper out on the dining table and eagerly started reading it with Zhang Yiyi. The innocence of children is truly simple. Xu Qingfan laughed it off, figuring it's not easy to change societal values that have been formed over a long time. After all, they're just kids, what bad intentions could they have? "Stop reading, the line has gotten shorter, let's go get some food!" Xu Qingfan ruffled the two little girls' heads and pulled them to join the queue. During the meal, Lin Wanning, while picking out unwanted green peppers into Xu Qingfan's bowl, asked, "Brother Qingfan, will the newspaper pay you a fee for this article too?" "Definitely not! What are you thinking?" It turned out that last time, the Yangcheng Evening News had reprinted an article written by Xu Qingfan about his five-year-old daughter, and the fee had been sent to Zhang Chunxue's place, who then gave it to him when she came to school. The fee wasn't much, only a hundred and twenty yuan, which Xu Qingfan calculated was probably given at fifty per thousand words. "Then Brother Qing Fan is the most amazing!" Lin Wanning chewed her food, her words muffled and unclear. Even though Zhang Yiyi couldn't hear what Xu Qingfan and Lin Wanning were saying, just watching them talk and observing the expressions on their faces made her feel exceptionally peaceful, truly hoping that these moments could last forever, forever. ... A single small newspaper had reminded the students at Experimental Primary School of the fun times from last semester when they ganged up to whip a corpse. It's unknown who started it, but the classes that had bullied Zhang Yiyi once again became a hot spot for clocking in. Then came the familiar scenario: parents creating a scene, the school mediating, and immediately issuing a new school rule: students from different grades are forbidden from going to other floors without permission, violators to be penalized! Unfortunately, the effect was minimal. Students from higher grades indeed stopped coming to watch, but those from the same grade still ran over after each class to gawk at the students who were talked about. In the office, Xu Qingfan was undergoing a third-degree interrogation. "This mess was caused by you, you must take responsibility and resolve it!" Xu Qingfan curled his lips, wanting to retort, but thinking of his current status, he decided against it. "Why keep such a student in the school? Expel him! If you don't expel him, I'm transferring my daughter right now!" the parents of several children said indignantly. "This parent, you shouldn't ask me to resolve this, you should let your son or daughter handle it. Have they apologized to Zhang Yiyi? Has Zhang Yiyi forgiven them?" Xu Qingfan said impatiently. [If you want to transfer, just go ahead. I'm the top student in the grade; expel me? Are you even worthy!] "Stop dragging others into this; we're discussing your issue right now!" The principal pressed down his hand, signaling the parents to calm down, "Please rest assured, parents, the school will definitely handle this matter thoroughly. As for Xu Qingfan, he was already punished last semester, and this incident has nothing to do with him. As the saying goes, 'the bell's ringer must untie it,' I think what Xu Qingfan just said was very apt..." [If it has nothing to do with me, why drag me into this?!] Xu Qingfan silently rolled his eyes. After the principal promised to handle the incident perfectly, the seven or eight disruptive parents finally left. Watching the last parent leave, the principal finally let out a long sigh of relief, but his mood soured again when he caught sight of Xu Qingfan fiddling with his fingers, "This afternoon, you'll come with me to each class to apologize to the parties involved!" "Oh." Xu Qingfan obediently agreed. As long as those people recognized their mistakes and sincerely apologized to Zhang Yiyi, he didn't mind setting an example for the rest of the class. After all, from tidbits gathered through various channels, those people had indeed been bullied miserably over the past six months; this was retribution, perhaps. The first class in the afternoon. The principal, grade leader, and Mr. Guan, with Zhang Yiyi and Xu Qingfan, started visiting each class from the second floor. Zhang Yiyi seemed to have truly let go of her past bullying experiences; faced with the bullies' apologies, the little girl just smiled and nodded. What Xu Qingfan didn't know was that Zhang Yiyi's courage to stand there came from never letting go of his hand. This seemed to be a happy ending for all, as the former bullies apologized to Zhang Yiyi, then received apologies from Xu Qingfan and their classmates. Students, parents, and the principal—all had their grievances addressed. But! When will they finally clear my record?!