Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

Chapter 111 - 110. Sealed Memories_2

"One by one, be careful not to get pinched!" Wang Wenbiao reminded.

Wu Lingyu, imitating Xu Qingfan’s movements, placed the sensing plate on the screen. Seemingly worried about getting pinched, she dashed through the door as soon as it opened.

Xu Qingfan noticed that Wu Lingyu kept looking at the ticket booth and asked curiously, "Why do you keep looking over there?"

"I want to see how they buy tickets, so next time I can take the subway with Mom to see Dad!" The little girl said, scratching her head embarrassedly.

Xu Qingfan suddenly recalled the first time he had gone home during the National Day holiday in his freshman year of college, when Xia Xiaoxiao had painstakingly taught him how to take the subway.

"Is there something on my face?" Xia Xiaoxiao, noticing Xu Qingfan staring at her, rubbed her face in confusion.

Xu Qingfan shook his head, "Taking the subway is actually quite simple, you just do this..." he explained patiently to Wu Lingyu.

"Speechless~" Xia Xiaoxiao pursed her lips in disdain, muttering under her breath.

"When you exit, you just need to drop this coin-like thing in here, see, the gate opens!" when they reached the exit of the subway, Xu Qingfan dropped the token in, and the sensing gate immediately opened.

"Brother Fan, thank you, I’ve got it!" Wu Lingyu said, her face breaking into a radiant smile.

After walking another seven to eight hundred meters, the group arrived at a dim sum restaurant. When they entered, the place was already full of students dressed in Experimental Primary School uniforms, with nearly forty students from the third, fourth, and fifth grades combined.

"Six people per table, sit wherever you like!" Wang Wenbiao called to his students to sit down, then made his way to the teachers’ table.

"Let’s sit there!" Xu Qingfan pointed to a spot by the window, pulling the other two with him.

"Brother Fan, we’ll sit with you!"

It seemed the dishes had been ordered in advance; while they were still washing their chopsticks and bowls, the waiter served up garlic ribs, chicken feet, shrimp dumplings, and other dim sum items.

Xu Qingfan’s table, aside from him, consisted only of girls. Thus, unlike the other tables where they were fighting over food with their hands, his table was quite calm.

"Teacher, do we have any activities after lunch?" A higher-grade student asked loudly after they had eaten their fill.

"Teacher, I want to go to the Up and Down Nine!"

"There’s nothing fun about walking streets; better to visit Zhengjia Square, they have authentic Gundam models for sale!" another child immediately retorted.

"I want to go to Chimelong Zoo!"

"Teacher, I..."

Wu Lingyu seemed to think of something, her eyes suddenly lit up, but then dimmed quickly, thinking no one would agree with her suggestion.

[If only I could go see Dad!] she thought to herself.

Wu Lingyu unconsciously picked up the teacup to drink, but the freshly poured hot water scalded her, "Ah~"

"What are you doing, did you burn your mouth?" Xu Qingfan quickly grabbed a napkin to soak up the spilled hot water on the table.

"No... no problem..." Wu Lingyu licked the place where she had been scalded, looking dispirited.

"Waiter, could you bring some ice over, my classmate’s mouth got scalded by the tea!" Xu Qingfan waved to get attention.

"How is it, the tea’s alright?" a teacher immediately stood up to ask.

"Pfft~ Hahaha!"

Everyone hadn’t realized what Xu Qingfan had just blurted out, but after the teacher’s comment, everyone burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Hahaha~ Yu, are you okay, did the tea scald you?" a girl at Wu Lingyu’s table joked, laughing.

"No... no problem..." the little girl, embarrassed, scratched the back of her head, looking sheepish.

"What were you thinking about, so lost in thought. Keep ice in your mouth," Xu Qingfan handed her a cup filled with ice cubes, brought by the waiter.

Under Xu Qingfan’s meaningful glance, Wu Lingyu put the ice cubes in her mouth, "Thinking about Dad..." she mumbled unclearly.

Xu Qingfan suddenly understood, remembering what Wu Lingyu had told him, ’Dad has rented a flat near the hospital.’

"Right, your dad is here for treatment, I’ll go and talk to the teacher!" he said, getting ready to get up.

"No need..." Wu Lingyu tried to hold him back, but failed.

"Brother Biao, I have something to discuss with you, can you come out with me for a moment?" Concerned that Wu Lingyu wouldn’t want too many people to know her dad was sick, Xu Qingfan called Wang Wenbiao outside.

"Sure, I’ll take you guys there, it won’t take much time!" Wang Wenbiao agreed immediately after hearing the full story.

"Then I’ll thank the teacher for Yu!" Xu Qingfan smiled and gave an ’ok’ sign to Wu Lingyu through the glass.

[It’s so great to know you!] Wu Lingyu pressed her face against the glass, beaming brightly.

In the end, the group split into two, Xu Qingfan’s trio along with Wang Wenbiao went to visit Wu Lingyu’s father, while the other classmates walked to Zhengjia Square to watch a movie.

"Thank you all," Wu Lingyu said gratefully on the subway to Renmin Hospital.

She felt it was because of her that Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao couldn’t watch the movie, and she felt an indescribable sense of guilt.

"Why be so formal all the time? There’s nothing good about September movies anyway. It’s just a place to sleep, better to go out, right Xiaoxiao!" Xu Qingfan said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, domestic movies aren’t good." Xia Xiaoxiao nodded seriously.

"Lingyu, can you contact your dad first using the teacher’s phone?" Wang Wenbiao handed over his phone.

Wu Lingyu shook her head, feeling guilty: "I’m sorry, teacher, my dad doesn’t have a mobile phone."

"It’s okay, it’s the same if we go directly," Wang Wenbiao quickly added, worried he might hurt the child’s self-esteem.

"Let’s call your aunt then, Brother Biao give me the phone!" Xu Qingfan reached out for the phone.

"The aunt you’re talking about is Lingyu’s mom? You even know her phone number?" Wang Wenbiao asked, surprised.

"Yes." Xu Qingfan didn’t bother to explain the complexities and took the phone to dial the store’s landline.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Mom, it’s Xu Qingfan, is Aunt Li there? Yu needs her, please let her take the phone."

"Naughty boy~ How did your exams go? Are you still in Hong Kong? Meijuan, it’s your phone... your daughter!"

"It went okay, still in Hong Kong, Mom, I’m giving the phone to Lingyu." After saying that, Xu Qingfan handed the phone to Wu Lingyu.

"Mom, we’re going to see Dad... Okay, got it... Okay, okay... Yeah!" Wu Lingyu spoke, and then Li Meijuan took over the conversation. A few minutes later, the young girl hung up the phone.

Seeing everyone looking at her, Wu Lingyu said nervously, "Dad is receiving treatment at Renmin Hospital. My mom said she doesn’t know which room."

"No worries, once we get there, we can ask the reception nurse." Xu Qingfan reassured her.

"Right, knowing which hospital is enough." Wang Wenbiao also said.

"Yeah!" The young girl nodded gratefully.

Renmin Hospital was only a few subway stops away from where they had eaten, and after a few minutes’ walk after exiting the subway, they quickly arrived at their destination.

Wang Wenbiao led them to a fruit shop opposite the hospital where they bought two kilograms of apples and entered the hospital with the fruits.

"Hello, we’re here to visit someone, but we don’t know in which ward the patient is."

"Name." The middle-aged woman at the reception asked, glancing up.

"What’s your dad’s name, Lingyu?" Wang Wenbiao asked, looking down.

"Wu Suowei." Wu Lingyu spoke in a voice neither loud nor soft, but it struck Xu Qingfan like lightning.

"Write it down." The middle-aged nurse continued in a flat tone.

As Xu Qingfan watched the young girl neatly write down "Wu Suowei" on the paper, he was completely petrified.

Countless long-buried memories surged into his mind: the hospital, the suicide, the urban village, the mother and daughter, the charcoal-burning suicide...

"Wait!" Xu Qingfan, as if bewitched, unexpectedly grabbed Wu Lingyu’s wrist.

"Xu Qingfan, what are you doing?" Everyone was startled by his reaction, and Xia Xiaoxiao was the first to regain her composure, slapping the back of his head.

"No..." He looked at Wu Lingyu with a complex expression, and explained with a forced smile, "I just saw someone running a red light and almost getting hit by a car."

"Idiot!" Xia Xiaoxiao pursed her lips and pulled his hand away from Wu Lingyu’s wrist.

"Don’t make noise in the hospital, the patient is in room 732 on the seventh floor!" The nurse scolded Xu Qingfan and directed them.

"Sorry, thank you!" Xu Qingfan rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, his glance involuntarily shifting towards Wu Lingyu.

Wu Lingyu was also looking at him. She instinctively felt that Xu Qingfan’s earlier ’wait’ was meant for her, and his gaze was different from usual.

[What’s up with Brother Fan?] The young girl wondered internally.