Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

On July 10th, today was the day for the election of the village chief in Chuxi Village. "Wow! A water buffalo, a big water buffalo!" On the ride back to the village, Lin Wanning excitedly rested her head against the window and kept shouting. "That's a yellow cow!" Xu Qingfan chuckled as he corrected her. "Then why is it in the water, huh?" "Wanning, don't listen to this stinky kid. That is a water buffalo. Yellow cows don't stay in the water," Yao Jiping said, casting her gaze to the distant herd of cows, almost dying of laughter at her son's ignorance. Xu Qingfan rubbed his eyes and, after refocusing, indeed saw clearly that the water buffalo was wrapped in a layer of yellow mud, which he had mistaken for a yellow cow. "Forget I said anything," Xu Qingfan said, scratching his head awkwardly. "Hahaha~ Brother Fan, you're so lame. Yellow cow's horns are not that big!" Xiao Ruawen mocked him loudly, giving a thumbs up towards Xu Qingfan. "I just didn't see clearly earlier; I saw it was yellow and subconsciously thought it was a yellow cow," he shrugged helplessly. Since Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi had never been to the countryside and learned that Xu Qingfan was going back to the village today, the two little ones insisted on coming along. Upon hearing the news, Xia Xiaoxiao also said she wanted to come and brought her good friend Xiao Ruawen along. Luckily, they were all still young. Although it was a bit cramped with five of them in the back seat, they managed to fit, and Xu Qingfan didn't have to be squeezed into the rear compartment. "A big rooster! Wow! It's flying, Brother Qing Fan, look!" Lin Wanning pointed excitedly at the distant scenery. Following her direction, they indeed saw a magnificent rooster flapping its wings and soaring into the sky. "Chickens can even fly .... pff~" "Ah!!!" Just as Xu Qingfan was about to ask how a chicken could fly, the rooster turned and flew onto an electric pole. Its wings touched the adjacent wire, creating a circuit, and after sparking, it met its end. "Chickens can actually fly; it's just that domesticated chickens don't because we clip the feathers on their wings. Otherwise, just like that one, no amount of chickens would suffice," Yao Jiping explained, seizing the opportunity to teach. "Oh~" The five little ones cooperated fully, showing a look of sudden realization. "Let me tell you another piece of trivia: if a group of chickens goes too long without a rooster, do you know what happens?" "They won't have baby chicks!" Lin Wanning was the first to raise her hand and speak. The others also thought the same, so they didn't speak, waiting for Yao Jiping to continue. "Wrong. If there are only hens in a group of chickens, over time, one of the hens will slowly turn into a rooster, and the group can continue to have baby chicks," Yao Jiping said with a smile. "What?" Including Xu Aiguo, who was driving, everyone opened their mouths in surprise. "Really? I've never heard of that before," Xu Aiguo slowed down the car and pulled out a cigarette to put in his mouth. "Pssh~ What do you, who has never been to the countryside, know? Making a big deal over nothing!" "Auntie, can the hen that turns into a rooster still lay eggs?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked, curious. "It can before it grows a comb, but after it grows a comb, it can't lay eggs anymore." "An egg-laying rooster, the fighter among roosters, oh yeah!" Xu Qingfan suddenly blurted out a rhyming chant, startling everyone in the car. "Oh yeah your head, you scared me!" Yao Jiping reached over and smacked Xu Qingfan on his head. "Sorry, sorry, Mom, go on," Xu Qingfan said sheepishly, thinking to himself that when they see Zhao Benshan and Song Dandan perform sketches in a few more years' Spring Festival Gala, he wondered if they would still remember this day. "Auntie, does a hen need to transform to become a rooster?" Lin Wanning asked, tilting her head. "Huh? Ningning, can you clarify? I don't quite understand," she replied. "I mean, does the hen need to sing to transform into a rooster, like Sailor Moon?" "Pfft—hahahaha...." When Sailor Moon was released, Yao Jiping was still in the prime of youth, a beautiful girl who had of course watched the animated series. Hearing Lin Wanning phrase it this way, the image of a hen singing to transform instantly popped into her mind, making her burst out laughing. "Hahaha—the transformation from hen to rooster is a long process, it's not something that happens just by singing a song. The comb on their head grows little by little," she explained while laughing. "How come the chickens my mom raises back in the village never turned into roosters?" Xu Aiguo was still skeptical, stubbornly asking. Yao Jiping rolled her eyes in exasperation: "None of the chickens my mom raised ever made it through the year; they all ended up in your stomach, so how could they turn into roosters!" "Qingfan, Brother!" Zhang Yiyi seemed to have thought of something, pointing at Xu Qingfan and saying, "Brother, a girl!" "What girl, Yiyi, what are you trying to say? I'm a boy, a real man!" Xu Qingfan said, scratching his head in confusion. Zhang Yiyi made hand gestures, but the ideas she wanted to convey were too complex. After trying for a while, the little girl decisively gave up and pulled out a pen and notebook she carried with her. "This, this!" Zhang Yiyi handed the notebook she had written in to Xu Qingfan. [Could Brother Qingfan become a girl since he's always with us?] "Pfft—I'm not a chicken, I'm a person, how could I become a girl!" Xu Qingfan, hand to forehead, was utterly defeated by Zhang Yiyi's wild imagination. "Hahahaha!" The others took turns reading the content on the notebook, and the car was suddenly immersed in a sea of laughter. Suddenly, Yao Jiping became alert, thinking, [The kids around the courtyard who are about the same age as mine all play just with boys of their age. If Xiao Xiao is the exception, what's the deal with these three little girls?] "Other kids your age all play with a bunch of boys, my naughty boy, how come you don't have any boy friends?" "Mom, don't slander me, I'm very popular. Wu Dongsong, Zhao Hao, Zhao Wumian, Wang Junze... I know lots of boys, okay!" Xu Qingfan silently rolled his eyes at his mother, thinking, [Who was it that hinted every time I came home during my postgraduate holidays about someone's family having a chubby baby boy, or someone else getting remarried, and now suddenly you start picking?] "Then how come I've never seen them come over to play at our house?" Yao Jiping still doubted. "Our class boys are very trendy, they all meet online, Mom you should really catch up and learn how to use the computer before you fall behind!" "What's the use of learning that thing, I don't see what's valuable about it, it's just a few pieces of metal and they cost more than eight thousand yuan," his mother said indifferently. "Auntie, computers are really useful, you can chat on them! Ningning, Yiyi, and Brother Qingfan have a group on QQ, and if they want to hang out, they just post a message there and everyone can see it!" Lin Wanning chimed in. "Is that so? Then Auntie will find some time to learn, Ningning, you come teach me!" Yao Jiping's tone instantly softened when it came to her little treasure. "Hehe, okay!" Xu Qingfan's arm and waist suddenly found themselves grasped by two small hands, which twisted the flesh there with vigor. "Hiss~" Xu Qingfan sucked in a breath of cold air from the pain. "What's the matter, Brother Qingfan?" "No... nothing... this Hershey's Mint Candy is just too cool, it's a bit spicy for the throat!"