The second class was in session, and a bored Xu Qingfan taught Lin Wanning how to play tic-tac-toe.
On the simple grid, they took turns writing "○" and "×," thoroughly enjoying themselves.
To make Wanning feel more involved, after winning a round, Xu Qingfan deliberately lost the next, keeping their win rates even.
"Hee hee, I won again!" Wanning happily drew an "×" on the grid, successfully aligning it into a straight line.
With quick reflexes, Xu Qingfan flipped to the last page of his notebook and began seriously explaining mathematics to Wanning.
"You need to do this first, then this, and finally this... Got it?"
When the teacher walked over and saw the two discussing problems, he returned to the podium.
Once the teacher had left, Wanning patted her chest with a scared expression, "You scared me. I'm glad we didn't get caught by Bald Strong!"
Bald Strong was a nickname coined by Xu Qingfan, simply because the resemblance was too uncanny.
"School's almost out, should we stop playing?"
"Let's stop, let's stop," said the little girl guiltily, glancing at the teacher on the podium. "Brother Fan, have you ever tried crayfish? They're so delicious!"
Xu Qingfan turned to look at the girl, "My mom sells crayfish. If you like them, I can make some for you this weekend."
"Ah! You can cook crayfish?" Lin Wanning noticed the teacher staring her down and quickly covered her mouth in panic, slumping over the desk like an ostrich.
"Lin Wanning, answer this problem!"
The little girl stood up nervously, looked at the blackboard, which may as well have been inscribed with ancient hieroglyphs, and had no idea which problem the teacher was referring to.
Xu Qingfan pinched Wanning's hand and wrote on the draft paper with his right hand: The pattern is to add the previous number to the next one, the answer is 13.
"The... the pattern is to add the... previous to the next?... The answer is... thirteen!" Wanning stuttered out the contents of the draft paper.
"Sit down!" The teacher, who glanced at Xu Qingfan, said, "Students who have already mastered the material should study other content on their own and not disturb others. Those who don't understand should pay attention and study hard!"
[Why be so serious, they're still just kindergarten kids.] Xu Qingfan didn't take the teacher's glaring to heart. If Wanning's family circumstances were like his, he would've offered to tutor her himself, aiming to tackle even the hardest questions.
But she lived in a big villa, drove luxury cars, and certainly wasn't lacking the tuition fees. Why shoulder so much academic burden at such a young age?
"Brother Fan, where do you live? I'll come over this weekend to play with you and Xiao Xiao!" Wanning whispered, seeing that the teacher had begun lecturing again.
"I live in Lianhua Courtyard, 303, Second Street. I'll show you something really cool then!"
"Great! I'll ask my mom to take me. Dad and mom never spend time with me, it's so boring during the holidays!" Realizing her voice was getting louder, she sneakily glanced at the podium.
"What do you usually do on the weekends?" Xu Qingfan ruffled Wanning's hair, inquiring.
"Saturday is for drawing lessons, Sunday for piano, and mom also enrolled me in a math tutoring class, but I never went. Hee hee, I'm so awesome! When we got to the tutoring center, I just clung to my mom's leg and cried, refusing to let go. After about fifteen minutes, mom took me back home."
As he listened, Xu Qingfan suddenly remembered the scene of his own hysterical crying during his first day of kindergarten.
He too clung to his mom's leg, crying his heart out, until eventually it was Xia Xiaoxiao who led him by the hand into the kindergarten gates.
Why didn't Xia Xiaoxiao worry about her parents abandoning her back then?
She always seemed so independent, whether it was rejecting Qingbei or quietly applying to study abroad.
"Wanning is really great." Xu Qingfan gazed at Xia Xiaoxiao's retreating figure, no longer hearing what Wanning was saying.
Time quickly passed until the end of school. Xia Xiaoxiao shouldered her bag, gave the two a glare, and was ready to leave when Xu Qingfan grabbed her.
"What are you doing?"
"Where are you going? Today you're riding home with Wanning." Seeing the stubborn expression on Xia Xiaoxiao's face, Xu Qingfan couldn't help but burst into laughter.
He reached out and pinched the little girl's face, "So cute!"
Xia Xiaoxiao, annoyed, swatted away Xu Qingfan's stinky hand, but didn't leave first.
He led them out of the school, holding the hands of the two girls, one in each hand.
Lin Wanning swung their joined hands to and fro, causing Xu Qingfan to unconsciously start swinging his other hand as well.
"Childish!" Xia Xiaoxiao kept her hand straight, refusing to let Xu Qingfan move it.
Because he was busy dealing with crawfish that week, Xu Qingfan's dad was up and down the mountains, and Xu Qingfan's mom also had to go door-to-door taking orders.
The task of picking up the two little ones, therefore, fell on Lin Jing.
However, since there was a teachers' meeting at the primary school on Friday, Lin Jing entrusted Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao to Lin Qiaoshan.
Due to both having the surname Lin, the two had chatted for quite a while the day before and exchanged phone numbers.
Xu Qingfan had once read a report in his past life which said that the parents of kindergarteners had the highest chance of having affairs. With Uncle Xia away three to five days at a time, he better not...
In his previous life, during middle school, Uncle Xia and Aunt Lin had had a period when they were considering divorce, but later they reconciled.
The specific reason was something Xu Qingfan had overheard Lin Jing crying about to his mom.
It seemed that Uncle Xia had met a restaurant owner when he was driving a truck. Her husband abused her, so Uncle Xia played the hero, and after she got divorced, one thing led to another.
At the time, Xia Xiaoxiao asked him, "Do you think my parents should get a divorce?"
Xu Qingfan, just starting ninth grade then, naturally thought it best for a family to stay together all in one piece.
He couldn't remember what exactly he said that day, but it seemed that from ninth grade on, Xia Xiaoxiao and he weren't as close as before.
The three hadn't even left the school gates when they saw Lin Qiaoshan and Wen Wanqing waiting at the entrance. Lin Wanning broke into a jog, and Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao were pulled into running along.
"Mommy, Daddy!"
"Hello Sister, hello Uncle Qiaoshan."
Xia Xiaoxiao was once again at a loss for words, and after quite some time, she finally said, "Hello Uncle, hello Auntie."
"Eh!"
"You little brat, who are you calling Sister?"
Once inside the car, Lin Wanning eagerly opened the KFC that was on the back seat.
"Ah, thank you, Mommy!"
Lin Qiaoshan felt a sour twist in his heart, "Sweetie, Daddy bought that."
"Hehe, thank you, Daddy!"
"Let's eat together!" Lin Wanning grabbed a piece of original recipe chicken in her hand and passed the family bucket to Xu Qingfan, who was sitting in the middle.
Xu Qingfan also took a piece of the original recipe chicken and, worried that Xia Xiaoxiao might be too shy, took a grilled Orleans chicken wing as well.
"Sister, you guys eat." He passed the family bucket to Wen Wanqing, who was sitting in the passenger seat.
"No need, we've already eaten. We bought it for the three of you to eat," they responded.
Xia Xiaoxiao sat up straight, hands resting on her lap, indifferent to the chicken wing Xu Qingfan extended toward her.
Xu Qingfan brought the chicken wing right up to her mouth, and, smelling the tantalizing fried chicken scent, Xia Xiaoxiao couldn't help but swallow her saliva.
Seeing that Wen Wanqing was also watching her, she reluctantly took the chicken wing from Xu Qingfan's hand.
[I even let her use my water bottle this afternoon, I'll just have to treat her next time!] Xia Xiaoxiao thought to herself while munching on the chicken wing.