Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

It wasn't long before three police cars raced over, with eight or nine fully armed officers filing out. Xu Qingfan was startled by the commotion, and the arriving officers were just as confused. Hadn't the dispatcher said it was a "daylight robbery with multiple people involved"? So, where were the culprits? The truth was that Xu Qingfan had spoken in such a rush that he hadn't made himself clear, causing the dispatcher to worry about a miscommunication from a child and didn't dare take it lightly, so they sent out the entire police station's force. "Brother Xu!" One of the young men seemed to recognize Xu Aiguo and called out excitedly. "Ah? Xiaohai!" Xu Aiguo squinted and sure enough, it was an old comrade-in-arms! "When did you get discharged?" Xu Aiguo took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered one. "Just got out last year. I'm on a mission now, can't smoke," Fang Xiaohai waved his hand. "What's the situation here?" The team leader looked at the clear signs of vandalism on the ground and asked Xu Aiguo. Xu's father had no idea what was going on either; he had just arrived himself and had only seen Wu Lingyu and her daughter being bullied, "I've just got here myself..." He repeated what he had seen to the police officers and pointed towards the neighboring fried skewer stalls, indicating that the assailants were over there. It was an old lady with a warm heart who stepped forward to tell the truth: "Their mother and daughter were just selling skewers here, and when others followed suit and opened skewer stalls out of envy for their good business, they falsely accused her of adding poppy flowers to her sauce. They chased away customers, hit people, and vandalized the stall; what kind of people are they!" The old lady was filled with righteous indignation, shaking her head as she spoke. Xu Qingfan recognized this lady; she was the one who had helped take Wu Lingyu's mother to the hospital last time. After hearing the full story, both Xu Qingfan and Xu Aiguo were fuming with anger. In contrast, the police officers seemed quite indifferent, probably accustomed to such incidents. Disputes over stealing business and fighting over positions like this were not unusual for them; not dealing with three to five such cases a day would be abnormal. This reminded Xu Qingfan of a story he had read in his previous life, about a Jew who opened a successful gas station somewhere, followed by another Jew who opened a restaurant next to it, and then a third Jew who started a car wash. Countless Jews came, and decades later, they turned the place into a town. But in China, if you open a popular gas station, within a month, people will be clamoring to open gas stations all around you, until in the end, no one gets any business. Although Jewish people are often accused of being unscrupulous, the Chinese have a deep-rooted love for internal strife. In his previous life, when his college's philosophy and moral education teacher asked for an 800-word essay, a whole bunch of fools wrote up to 3,000 words just to get good grades! Handling such cases, the police had a familiar procedure already in place, and they summoned the women involved in the vandalism along with Wu Lingyu's mother back to the station; Xu Aiguo and the kind-hearted old lady followed as eyewitnesses. The three police cars arrived in a hurry and left just as hurriedly, leaving the previously crowded street empty except for scattered debris and an injured little girl. Since there wasn't enough room in the police cars, the five little ones also stayed behind. Wu Lingyu wiped away tears while picking up the skewers from the ground, a sight that tugged at the heartstrings of Xu Qingfan and the others. They exchanged glances and joined in to help. "Don't cry now, we'll buy all of these, and nothing will go to waste!" Lin Wanning handed her pink wallet to Wu Lingyu, comforting her with a soft voice. The little girl looked up at Lin Wanning with tear-filled eyes, shook her head, and bowed again to pick up her things. [Kids really don't know how to comfort people.] Xu Qingfan stepped forward, ruffled Lin Wanning's hair, and put her wallet into his own pocket. "Those bad people will definitely be punished, and your aunt will be back soon!" Xiao Ruawen added. "Cough cough, yeah..." Wu Lingyu's throat was choked, and although she tried to speak, all that came out was coughing. The six of them worked together, and the fried skewer stall that was once a mess was quickly spruced up, but sadly the skewers that had fallen to the ground were wasted. Even though they could be washed and eaten, if you want to stay in business for the long term, it's best to throw them away. Once your reputation is damaged, it's incredibly hard to restore it. "What do we do now?" Several little girls looked at Xu Qingfan together. "I'll make a call to ask," Xu Qingfan said, pulling out his mobile phone to call Xu Aiguo. The phone rang for over ten seconds before it was answered, "Son, that little girl classmate of yours is still there, right? Let her answer the phone." [What does he mean 'that little girl classmate of mine'?] Xu Qingfan imperceptibly curled his lips and handed the phone to Wu Lingyu, "It's your mother's call." Wu Lingyu, afraid of damaging the phone, took it cautiously and gently pressed it to her ear. "Mmm... Mmm... Mmm..." The little girl's eyes shimmered with tears as she sniffled in response to the person on the other end of the call. "Thank you." After a short conversation, she handed the phone back to Xu Qingfan. Xu Qingfan checked the screen; the call was still connected. After waiting for a while looking at the screen, Xu Aiguo's voice came through the speaker, "Son, take that girl classmate to our house for a while. Dad can't come that quickly, that... that woman says I hit her and wants to go to the hospital for an examination." "Alright, I understand, Dad. You go on with your work," Xu Qingfan hung up the call. The girls once again turned their gazes toward him in unison. "Brother Qing Fan, what do we do now, and what about those bad people?" "When will Uncle Xu and the others come back?" Scratching his head, Xu Qingfan pointed at the unspoiled skewers and said, "Eat fried skewers, I'll fry them for you to eat! Is that okay?" His gaze turned to Wu Lingyu. Wu Lingyu, no longer crying but with a hoarse throat unable to speak, nodded hastily, worried that Xu Qingfan might think she disagreed. "Brother Fan, you know how to fry skewers too?" Xiao Ruawen asked in surprise. "Of course!" Xu Qingfan turned on the gas, igniting the fire to heat the vegetable oil in the iron pot. The four little girls clustered around Wu Lingyu like comforting sunshine, soon chasing away the unhappy mood. Considering that Wu Lingyu couldn't eat fried skewers, after serving the ready skewers, he went to a nearby convenience store to buy snacks, drinks, and bottled water. "Hold out your hands!" Xu Qingfan held up a 2L bottle of water and addressed everyone. "Brother Qing Fan, pour it quickly, Ningning is hungry!" Lin Wanning couldn't wait and stretched out her hands to receive the water. Seeing Wu Lingyu too shy, the little girls helped each other, then used bottled water to moisten napkins helping wipe her tear-stained face clean. Wu Lingyu, like a wooden puppet, let Xiao Xiao and the others fuss over her, her vacant eyes finally regaining focus. "Have something to drink." Xu Qingfan inserted a straw into a bottle of Wong Lo Kat and handed it to Wu Lingyu. "Mmm." "Brother Fan, why did you buy only Wong Lo Kat for the drinks?" Xiao Ruawen pointed at the drinks on the table and asked. "Isn't eating fried skewers heaty?" Xu Qingfan blinked. "Drinking Wong Lo Kat won't help with the heatiness. Didn't the ads say, if you're afraid of getting heaty, drink Wong Lo Kat, it can have a psychological effect," Xiao Ruawen said, then burst into roaring laughter. The rest looked at each other, blinked in unison. "Isn't it funny, hahaha afraid of getting heaty hahaha drink Wong Lo Kat! Hahahaha(≧ｗ≦;)" Then, everyone realized Xiao Ruawen was making a joke!? "Hahahaha~" Listening to Xiao Ruawen's infectious laughter, then quite shamelessly, everyone laughed along. Seeing everyone's smiles and sipping on the Wong Lo Kat, Wu Lingyu suddenly found that the beverage in her hand seemed sweeter than any she had drunk before.