Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

"Auntie, I want a copy of 'Hilarious Daily' comic book." On Sunday morning, after breakfast, Xia Xiaoxiao walked to the newsstand at the entrance of the street. "Sorry, kid, 'Hilarious Daily' is out of stock. Someone just bought the last ten copies!" The lady owner cheerfully tidied up the banknotes in the drawer, smiling as she spoke to Xia Xiaoxiao. "What?" Xia Xiaoxiao gasped in surprise. It wasn't even nine o'clock yet, the newsstand had opened at seven, and it had sold out in less than two hours? "Yes, hehehe~ Kid, you might want to check elsewhere." Feeling dejected, Xia Xiaoxiao took the ten yuan in her hand and went back to the compound, not daring to venture too far without her little partner in crime. [Hmph, it's nine o'clock and still sleeping in! It's not my comic book, I don't care about you!] The more Xia Xiaoxiao thought, the angrier she got, and upon returning to the third floor, she went straight to Xu Qingfan's bedroom. "Loser, it's past eleven and you're still sleeping, better to have birthed a piece of barbecued pork than you!" Hearing this familiar deathly voice, Xu Qingfan jumped up from the bed with a start. Instead of his mom who he expected, it was Xia Xiaoxiao glaring angrily at him. "Darn, why are you scaring me for no reason!" Xu Qingfan thought Xia Xiaoxiao was mimicking his mom and complained while rubbing his eyes. It seemed that Xu Qingfan's voice had been heard, as Yao Jiping yelled from the living room: "You rascal, still not getting up? Not even eating breakfast, just sleeping all vacation long!" Xu Qingfan laughed in relief. Xia Xiaoxiao couldn't possibly mimic his mom's voice that accurately, it must be his just-woke-up brain not functioning. "It's that early?" He awkwardly greeted Xia Xiaoxiao standing by the door. "Hmph, you don't even care about your own book, still here sleeping in!" Xia Xiaoxiao turned her head away with a snobbish air. "Really, did you go to buy it?" Remembering the comic book that started selling this morning, Xu Qingfan suddenly became anxious. "It's sold out at the newsstand at the gate, didn't get it!" Xia Xiaoxiao answered truthfully. "What? It's sold out??" Xu Qingfan exclaimed as he shot up. "Ah!! Xu Qingfan, you pervert!!!" Xia Xiaoxiao's face flushed red all of a sudden, and she turned and slammed the door shut. Xu Qingfan felt a sting in his lower abdomen and looked down. "Er..." His pajama pants had somehow kicked down to the floor, he recalled now that in the middle of the night, annoyed by the tightness, he had kicked them down to his ankles and then continued sleeping. How was he supposed to explain this, clearly it was his own loss! Embarrassed, Xu Qingfan quickly dressed and walked out of the bedroom. Seeing Xia Xiaoxiao sitting on the couch, both embarrassed and annoyed, Xu Qingfan was on the verge of saying something but hesitated. "What are you staring at! Clearly, you saw everything, I'm clearly the one at a loss here!" "You...you...you!" Xia Xiaoxiao was left utterly speechless by Xu Qingfan's shameless proclamation. "What do you mean, 'you'? Be thankful I didn't ask you to look back! Do you know how traumatizing it is for a seven-year-old kid to be seen naked? You don't understand anything; you only care about yourself!" Xia Xiaoxiao was left dumbfounded by Xu Qingfan's relentless barrage of excuses, thinking: [Could this actually be my fault?] "I'll forgive you this time, I'm going to brush my teeth now, let's go check out the newsstand together later." Xu Qingfan boasted as he turned around and dashed into the bathroom. "Xu Qingfan, you're a dog!! Stinky dog, bad dog, big stupid dog!!!" Xia Xiaoxiao yelled after his retreating figure. [The internet really is a place where you can learn knowledge, "Trees without bark will die undoubtedly; people without shame are invincible."] Xu Qingfan couldn't help but snicker as he recalled the worn-out joke he saw while surfing the internet. ... "Why are you staying so far from me!" On the sidewalk, Xu Qingfan reached out and pulled Xia Xiaoxiao to his side. "Don't touch me!" Xia Xiaoxiao disgustingly shook him off. Xu Qingfan kept pulling, and Xia Xiaoxiao kept resisting, repeating this exchange over a dozen times. Perhaps unable to stand Xu Qingfan's shamelessness, Xia Xiaoxiao finally stopped shaking off the little troublemaker's hand. "Auntie, do you sell 'Hilarious Daily' comics here?" The two approached the fifth newsstand of their journey, and Xu Qingfan asked. "Is this 'Daily' really that interesting? I've had over a dozen people ask for it this morning alone, and it's out of stock. If you want it, kids, come back tomorrow. I've already called to restock!" "Out of stock again?" Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao looked at each other, both reading disbelief in the other's eyes. "Yes, a bit after nine o'clock, a kid around your age bought all the remaining stock," the lady owner explained cheerfully. "What's he doing buying so much?" Xu Qingfan muttered to himself. "Who knows, haha~ But this book really sells well. I should have stocked more!" Going to another newsstand would be too far, so the two small hands held together and walked back toward home. "Does this mean your comic is selling really well?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked curiously. "It's hard to say... we have to see how it's selling in other areas. After all, Yiyi's mom placed the most ads here in Li City." Though he said that, Xu Qingfan had a hunch their trio's comic was about to explode in popularity. "Then you might make a lot of money, right? Even more than selling crawfish?" "It's not that easy. Aunt Zhang says we each make one yuan for every comic sold. Even if we sold ten thousand copies, that's only ten thousand yuan, not even enough to cover tuition for a year." "We don't even have to pay tuition! Mom said we are still students, and studying is our main job. Don't let drawing comics interfere with your studies. Just wait until third grade when we start learning English, then see what you can do!" Xiaoxiao the little mentor began her lecture again. "I know, I know, more naggy than my mom!" Xu Qingfan playfully bumped heads with the little girl. "You're done for, Xu Qingfan. I'm going to tell Aunt Yao you called her naggy!" Xia Xiaoxiao, clutching the spot she was bumped, glared at Xu Qingfan, visibly annoyed. ┭┮﹏┭┮ "Whoops~ I was wrong. Please don't tell my mom, okay? I'll grant you a small wish!" Xu Qingfan pleaded adorably. Who said only little girls can act cute? Xu Qingfan might have once been a 26-year-old research junkie, but deep down, he was always a little girl. "Hmph, I'm going to tell!" Xia Xiaoxiao haughtily turned her head away. "Come on, whatever you want, I'll agree to it." Xu Qingfan tried Lin Wanning's killing move, grabbing Xia Xiaoxiao's hand and shaking it. "You have to spend an hour with me on homework after school every day!" Xia Xiaoxiao revealed her intent. "Ahaha~ See that cloud over there? Doesn't it look like Da Huang's dog head?" Xu Qingfan let go of Xia Xiaoxiao's hand and began to spout nonsense pointing at the sky. [Now she's demanding I join her for homework sessions, what's next, asking for my phone?] Xu Qingfan grew increasingly agitated as he thought about it. If you want the stars, I'll pluck them for you. If you desire the moon, I'll snatch it for you. Whatever you want, I'll give you. What? You want my phone? Sorry, no! "Xu Qingfan!" Xia Xiaoxiao stomped her foot in frustration and after glaring at him for a while, she jogged to catch up.