Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

When the three little ones arrived at the convenience store, Xu Aiguo's taxi was already parked at the entrance. "I remember you, you're the class monitor from Xiao Fan's class, right?" As soon as the three little ones entered, Yao Jiping pointed at the newcomer Xiao Ruawen with a smile. "Hello, Auntie, my name is Xiao Ruawen!" Xiao Ruawen greeted Yao's mother with a sweet smile. "Has that rascal Xu Qingfan been causing any trouble at school lately? If he's done something bad again, you tell Auntie!" Yao Jiping warmly held Xiao Ruawen's hand in a friendly chat. Xu Qingfan: ... "Mom, you can give it a rest. Having a son like me, you should count your blessings!" Xu Qingfan rolled his eyes in resignation. The other customers in the store couldn't help but laugh at this remark. "Hahaha!" "Your son is hilarious, boss lady!" "You little rascal, don't be disrespectful!" Xu Aiguo reprimanded with a smile on his face. If only Xu Aiguo surfed the internet, he might have been compelled to say, "I should have shot you onto the wall!" Wu Lingyu was sitting at the fried skewer stall, doing her homework. Seeing Xu Qingfan looking at her, the little girl's eyes dodged away, and she timidly nodded at him. "Oh! Yu, your family's fried skewer stall has moved here!" Xiao Ruawen exclaimed upon seeing the fried skewer shop in the corner and Wu Lingyu tending to the business. "Yes, do you want some skewers? My mom will be back soon," Wu Lingyu said, looking down at the ground in a timid voice. Just as she finished speaking, Li Mei Juan pushed a cart with a large box of marinated pork chops into the store. "Auntie, the business is booming today, you've sold out another box?" Xu Qingfan joked with a smile. Li Mei Juan used those large, transparent food preservation boxes for marinating the pork chops. One box could hold over a hundred pieces, and at five yuan each, selling out meant five hundred yuan! "Yes! It's Children's Day today, so the business is good. Do you want some pork chops? Auntie will fry them for you," Li Mei Juan said in a clearly good mood, and Xu Qingfan saw the light in her eyes. When a person is full of hope for life, there really is a light in their eyes. Unfortunately, this kind of light is more often found in those who don't have to go to school or work. "No need, Auntie, we're going to play at a classmate's place later. Yu, do you want to come with us?" Xu Qingfan waved off the offer with a smile. "No need," Wu Lingyu said, not daring to look him in the eyes, shaking her head while glancing at her mother's cart. "If you want to go out and play, go ahead. Mom can manage on her own," Li Mei Juan said, stroking her daughter's forehead affectionately. "No need, Mom, I still haven't finished my homework..." "Come on, what homework on a holiday!" "Exactly, let's all go together and continue our last game of hopscotch!" Xu Qingfan and Xiao Ruawen invited in unison. Wu Lingyu looked up at her mother, then at Xu Qingfan and the others, but still shook her head, "No need... you guys go ahead and have fun." Deep down, Wu Lingyu actually wanted to go, but these past few days were humid, and the socks she had dried the day before yesterday were even damper than when she had just washed them. Today, she had no choice but to wear mismatched socks, one of which had a hole where the big toe went through. [They're definitely going to laugh at my socks if we have to take our shoes off at someone's house...] The little girl kept her worries to herself. Li Mei Juan remembered what the teacher had told her, "Lingyu is just under too much pressure, you as a parent should guide her appropriately." "Go have fun with Xiao Fan and the others. Mom doesn't need you here," she said with a smile, rubbing her daughter's cheek. "Yeah, let's go together, and let's not keep Uncle Xu waiting too long!" Xiao Ruawen took Wu Lingyu's arm, ready to lead her out. And just like that, Wu Lingyu was semi-pushed, semi-pulled into the taxi. "Don't worry, you know everyone, like Zhang Yiyi and Lin Wanning. We played hopscotch together last time, don't be nervous!" Xu Qingfan comforted her as he saw Wu Lingyu looking restless in the rearview mirror. "Okay," Wu Lingyu acknowledged, looking through the rearview mirror at the others, nodding her head in an awkward manner. [What should I do! They're definitely going to make fun of me, I wish I wore my wet socks today!] As they drew closer to their destination, Wu Lingyu's anxiety only increased. "Uncle Xu..." "What's up?" "Nothing... It's nothing..." She originally wanted to excuse herself to go home feeling unwell, but couldn't bring herself to say it when it came down to it. In the end, the car still arrived at its destination, and Wu Lingyu's last chance to get back home was gone. "Call me when you're ready to go home, bye now," Xu Aiguo instructed as he rolled down his window for the few little ones. "Got it, Dad. You should hurry to work. It's Children's Day, so I bet there's good business near the park!" Xu Qingfan waved goodbye. "Haha, you little rascal!" Xu Aiguo laughed, shook his head, and drove away with a smooth U-turn. After watching Xu Aiguo disappear into the distance, they walked hand in hand into the Bijui Garden complex. Looking at the impressive front gate before her, Wu Lingyu's heart sank to the bottom: [Maybe after today they won't consider me a friend anymore....just like my roommates...] Wu Lingyu, with the resolve of Jing Ke on his assassination mission, followed the others over the threshold. "Auntie, open the door, we're here!" Xu Qingfan said into the intercom after pressing the doorbell. "Come up and have a seat, Auntie has prepared some juice and snacks for you." The front door of the first floor "clicked" open, and the kids pushed the door to enter. "Brother Qing Fan!" "Brother Qing Fan!!" The first cry of "Brother Qing Fan" came from within the security gate, the second from the staircase corridor, followed quickly by the sight of Lin Wanning holding Zhang Yiyi's hand on the second-floor corridor. "Why did you come down?" "I missed you (p≧w≦q)!" Lin Wanning said, her face lighting up with joy as she held her cheeks in her hands. "Wow! Yu is here too!" After the surprise, little Wanning noticed the additional presence of Wu Lingyu. "You..you guys hi there." Wu Lingyu nodded, but her gaze remained fixed on her own pair of canvas shoes. The kids chattered and exchanged pleasantries in the stairwell, delaying them for quite a while before they continued upstairs. On the third floor, Zhang Chunxue was waiting patiently at the door for them. "Hello, Auntie!" "Eh~ come in and sit down," Zhang Chunxue greeted them warmly, patting each head, but paused when she got to Wu Lingyu at the end of the line, "Huh? Who is this little friend? Xiao Fan, aren't you going to introduce her to Auntie?" "Auntie, her name is Wu Lingyu; she's also from Experimental Primary School. Last semester, the three of us dominated all the honorable mentions with top grades!" Xu Qingfan grabbed Wu Lingyu's hand and waved it, explaining earnestly. "Auntie remembers now, the grade leader mentioned your name at the last parent-teacher meeting!" The reminder brought a sense of realization to her. Zhang Chunxue then took a pair of new slippers from the shoe cabinet: "Come in and sit down, no need to be nervous, just make yourself at home!" The rest had already changed their shoes and were waiting inside, only Xu Qingfan and Wu Lingyu were still at the doorway. Xu Qingfan pulled Wu Lingyu inside, stumbling over their feet as they slipped off their shoes. "Hahaha~ Brother Qing Fan, why are you wearing mismatched socks!" Lin Wanning pointed at Xu Qingfan's feet— one black sock, one yellow— and laughed. "What do you know, this is called fashion. It's how they wear them in fashion magazines, right, Auntie?" "Hehe~ Auntie doesn't pay attention to fashion; I think you just wore the wrong socks by mistake, silly boy!" Zhang Chunxue covered her mouth, giggling. The others all had smiles on their faces, yet Wu Lingyu, standing behind Xu Qingfan, wore a look of astonishment. "Alright, alright, I admit it, it's because of the returning south weather. The socks I dried last Friday were still wet this morning when I took them down! I wouldn't have any socks to wear if not for these!" Xu Qingfan raised his hands in surrender, starting to laugh along as he saw everyone else laughing too. "Don't be so formal, little student, just make yourself at home!" Seeing Wu Lingyu still standing stiffly in place, Zhang Chunxue squatted down to help her take off her shoes. "Auntie I..I can do it myself." Wu Lingyu mustered the courage to squat down and take off her shoes, exposing one black and one yellow sock, out in the open. Fearing ridicule, she dared not look up into the eyes of Xu Qingfan and the others, but the more she avoided, the more she felt they were sizing her up with peculiar glances. Despite Xu Qingfan's company, deep down Wu Lingyu still felt she could not compare to him; after all, he was so outstanding... Ever since her classmates found out she knew Xu Qingfan, the roommates who once isolated her started to befriend her too. [He is different...] "What a coincidence, our socks just happen to make a pair!" Xu Qingfan caught on to Wu Lingyu's apprehensions and spoke up to ease the tension. "Yeah, yeah! Exactly, Brother Qing Fan's black sock is for the left foot, and Yu's black sock is for the right foot!" Wu Lingyu's face felt as hot as a burning cloud; in a quiet voice, she said, "Returning south weather...socks didn't dry..." "I wore mismatched socks last week too!" Xiao Ruawen also raised her hand to lighten the mood. "The returning south weather is like that, Ningning's underwear from the day before yesterday didn't dry, so she just wore..." "Pfft cough cough cough!" Xu Qingfan couldn't hold back and burst into a violent cough. [Is this something you can say?!] Xu Qingfan criticised internally while coughing. "Brother Qing Fan, what's wrong with you?" "How can you choke on words, come sit down on the sofa." Wu Lingyu looked gratefully at everyone in the room; the tension and unease she had felt vanished into thin air. [Good friends won't mock you for wearing mismatched socks!] she thought to herself.