Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

"Brother Qing Fan, do you think this is okay?" Lin Wanning showed Xu Qingfan the character draft she and Yiyi had drawn over the weekend. "Don't make it so cute, you can draw the eyes, nose, and mouth a bit bigger, it should be comical!" Xu Qingfan pointed at the character on the paper labeled 'Clueless' and commented. "That's so ugly!" Lin Wanning pouted and whispered. Xu Qingfan gave her a death glare. "What's with the glare? If it's comical, it's comical, Brother Qing Fan is a big meanie!" Lin Wanning took out an eraser and immediately began to alter the drawing as per the client's request. He continued flipping through, and apart from 'Clueless Dad' needing some revisions, the other characters were mostly fine. Xu Qingfan remembered that A-Mart Comic started after 2008, but he unexpectedly found out during his early research that it had begun serialization back in 2001, although the volumes hadn't been published yet at that time. His plan to borrow ideas from the other party fell through, so Xu Qingfan resorted to another comic he had seen in his previous life—'Hilarious Campus.' Although the comic's popularity wasn't as high as A-Mart Comic and it was full of crude humor like poop and fart jokes, no one could deny its success. After confirming that this anime had not yet started serialization at this time, Xu Qingfan decided on it! Although his remaining memories only retained impressions of Clueless, Clueless Dad, and Fortune Dog, with such a simple storyline, he, who had joined the drama club in college in his previous life, could easily make it up as he went along. Not to mention, this was a perfect opportunity to subtly include some reflections on school bullying in the book. If this comic really took off, thereby raising awareness about school bullying, Xu Qingfan's rebirth would not be in vain. "Thanks for the hard work, Wanning and Yiyi!" Xu Qingfan handed back the manuscript to Lin Wanning, patting the girls' heads encouragingly. "This is the script for the first volume, take a look at it when you get home and see how you can draw it." Xu Qingfan handed them two printed A4 papers. "Brother Qing Fan, do you think our comic could be as popular as Doraemon?" Lin Wanning joyfully took the manuscript, fondling the cover of the paper while daydreaming. Xu Qingfan naturally wouldn't say anything discouraging, "Just keep at it and definitely you can!" "Okay!" Lin Wanning lifted her little fists in encouragement. Zhang Yiyi burst out laughing after reading the first short story. The story was about fixing an air conditioner which Clueless had broken. After scheduling a repairman to visit, the repairman rang the bell, and Clueless asked who it was, to which the repairman replied he was there to fix the air conditioner. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang again, and it was still the same repairman, now bruised, and Clueless asked again who it was. The man replied he was there to fix the air conditioner, and Clueless said, "Eh, someone just came earlier?" The repairman said, "That was me, damn it, I accidentally fell down." The two girls hid the A4 paper behind their language books, thoroughly enjoying it throughout the Morning Reading session, occasionally coughing to suppress their laughter. [Making them laugh like this, it shouldn't be a problem to win over elementary school students.] Seeing the joyful expressions on the faces of Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi, Xu Qingfan gained confidence in his own manuscript. As the morning reading session ended, just as Xu Qingfan was about to head to the water dispenser, he saw Wu Lingyu coming toward him from a distance. Seeing Xu Qingfan in the hallway, Wu Lingyu's eyes lit up, and she sped up her pace to run toward him. "Huff huff huff~ This one... huff huff huff~ Here, take this!" Wu Lingyu, out of breath, handed the red plastic bag she was carrying to him. "Duck necks again?" Xu Qingfan asked, surprised and delighted as he took it. Wu Lingyu gasped heavily, "Huff huff~ Yes! Thank you all." "And thank your mom too, the duck necks are delicious!" Xu Qingfan laughed. Seeing the smile on Xu Qingfan's face, Wu Lingyu also smiled genuinely, "I'm glad you like them. It's all... my family can offer to thank you." Her voice dropped significantly as she said the latter part. Xu Aiguo naturally wouldn't accept the ten thousand yuan and found a moment to return it to Li Mei Juan when he worked on Sunday. Just as Xu Qingfan had predicted, the money in the envelope was intentionally left by Li Mei Juan because she felt it was all obtained through Xu Aiguo's connections and it didn't really involve her, so she couldn't take it! A tug-of-war ensued between the two, and as more and more onlookers gathered, various comments were made. Xu Aiguo's face turned red, and he threw the envelope onto Li Mei Juan's lap with a slap before fleeing in his car. It was also Li Mei Juan who had instilled in her the idea that their family owed a lot to Xu Qingfan's family, which always made the little girl feel quite inferior when facing Xu Qingfan. "Not at all, this stewed duck is so tasty, I wouldn't trade it for a fortune!" Xu Qingfan held the plastic bag tightly with both hands, pretending to guard his food. "Yeah!" Wu Lingyu nodded vigorously, feeling affirmed, "I'll go back first then, thank you!" The little girl came in a rush and left in a hurry, and Wu Lingyu's figure quickly disappeared down the corridor. The plastic bag was obviously at least twice as heavy as before. Xu Qingfan thought to himself: If gratitude could be measured by duck necks, this time it would be twice as precious as before. After fetching water, Xu Qingfan discreetly carried the plastic bag back to the classroom. "Brother Qing Fan, what's in the plastic bag?" Lin Wanning spotted it instantly and asked curiously. "Shh!" Xu Qingfan put his finger over Lin Wanning's mouth, "The same duck necks from last time, made by Wu Lingyu's mom. Let's divide it after school and everyone can take a share home for their parents to try." "Oh~" Lin Wanning cooperated and immediately whispered, "No problem, let's keep our voices down so no one else knows! Brother Qing Fan, can Ningning try one first?" Xu Qingfan flicked the little girl's forehead lightly, "Eat it at home. If we open it here, other classmates will smell it and come over to grab some!" "Whine~ Alright, but no hitting Ningning!" Lin Wanning sulkily covered her forehead where she'd just been flicked. "Our Ningning is the best, aren't you? Have you finished looking through the manuscript? Can you draw it out?" Xu Qingfan moved her hand away and blew lightly on the spot he had just flicked. "Definitely! No problem at all!!" Little Wanning tilted her head up and looked at Xu Qingfan.