Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

Chapter 271 - 187. Winter vacation is approaching

Half a month had passed in the blink of an eye.

Since New Year’s Day, Xia Xiaoxiao had always been in a cold war with him, which included but was not limited to not sitting next to Xu Qingfan, not being alone with him in a room, and her ever unchanging proud expression had disappeared, replaced by a shy demeanor.

The four girls all noticed the recent oddity in Xia Xiaoxiao, and when they asked her why she seemed like a different person, she stubbornly insisted that she was always like this, "It’s you who are mistaken!"

Xu Qingfan wasn’t a mind reader, he didn’t know what exactly was going on in Xia Xiaoxiao’s mind, and just let her be.

This year’s Spring Festival came very early; they had finished their term-end exams for the first semester of seventh grade on the sixteenth, and it was just ten days until the new year.

January the nineteenth.

Today was the day they returned to school for the dismissal ceremony, and at eight in the morning, they gathered at the Lianhua Courtyard entrance’s rice noodle shop for breakfast.

"I’m so nervous, don’t know if we can all stay in the top six of the grade this time." Lin Wanning hadn’t been able to sleep since last night due to nervousness, and even now at breakfast, couldn’t stop shaking his leg.

"Let it be, no matter how many points we scored, we did our best, don’t overthink it!" he patted Lin Wanning’s shoulder in comfort.

"Exactly, we’ll know soon after the graduation ceremony, we agreed to go sing together, and you can’t cancel!" Xiao Ruawen was very confident about her performance in this exam. She also patted Xia Xiaoxiao’s shoulder, saying, "Especially you, Xiao Xiao, you’re not allowed to run home and play QQ Speed!"

Xia Xiaoxiao put down the steamed rice noodles she was holding mid-air, and with a plaintive look, glared at her best friend, evidently very dissatisfied with her distrust.

"Oh come on, all you do is play games every day, if you don’t go out and play, you’ll turn into four-eyed Xiao Xiao soon!" Xiao Ruawen put her arm around Xia Xiaoxiao’s waist, her ample chest heaving as she laughed.

The girl clearly inherited her mother’s genes perfectly, already notably burgeoning at the age of thirteen, with a chest difference of about 13 cm, and a height that had shot up to 166 cm, threatening to become the next long-legged beauty in their small group after Xia Xiaoxiao.

Lin Wanning, Zhang Yiyi, and Wu Lingyu, although they had also grown taller, still had quite a gap compared to the other two. Lin Wanning’s most recent height measurement was 155 cm, Zhang Yiyi was 154 cm, and Wu Lingyu was 156 cm, as for chest size, the three were all pitifully stuck at a flat A.

Xu Qingfan’s height hadn’t increased much, maintaining at 158 cm, which was normal for boys his age, at least he didn’t need to be mistaken for a primary school student anymore on the streets.

[Glasses girl Xia Xiaoxiao?] Xu Qingfan was imagining in his mind what Xia Xiaoxiao would look like wearing glasses, and somehow it shifted into her wearing a black silk pencil skirt, palm holding a ruler, chastising Xu Qingfan, the disobedient bad student.

[What am I even thinking!] He quickly shook his head fiercely, trying to expel certain adult-rated images from his mind.

"Brother Fan, what’s up with you?" Wu Lingyu had been sneakily watching Xu Qingfan, and seeing him shaking his head inexplicably, she asked with concern.

Zhang Yiyi, although silent, was similarly attentive towards him.

"Ah?... Oh, it’s nothing, just got some water in my ears while washing my face this morning." Xu Qingfan guiltily sneak-glanced at Xia Xiaoxiao and said as if nothing were wrong.

"Brother Qing Fan, you should do this!" Lin Wanning tilted his head ninety degrees to one side, stood up, and jumped on the spot, "This will get the water out indeed!"

Xu Qingfan was amused by this adorable scene, saying, "Listen to what Wanning said."

"Teehee~ it always works for me, the water comes out in no time!"

After finishing their breakfast and leaving the shop, Xu Qingfan took responsibility for paying, "It’s still one yuan for two yuan pieces, right?" he intended to say one yuan for the minced pork rice noodle and two yuan for the Vitasoy.

Having done business with him for so many years, the owner immediately understood and explained with a smile, "Prices have gone up, rice noodles are now two yuan each, Vitasoy has also increased by fifty cents, prices are rising, and business isn’t easy."

Xu Qingfan was slightly stunned, he had never quite figured out when the price of the rice noodles had quietly increased, because he always remembered them being one yuan, but by the time he returned to eat here in high school, they were already five yuan each.

"Okay, ten plus twelve point five, twenty-two yuan and fifty cents." He came back to his senses and pulled out twenty-three yuan from his pocket to give to the owner.

"Twenty-two is fine." The owner took the money from his hand, leaving a new one yuan bill unexactened.

Xu Qingfan smiled as a sign, securing his money before leaving with his hands in his pockets.

The five girls waited for him under the banyan tree, where the outside sunshine was just perfect, the morning sun at eight or nine a.m. was vibrant, just like their current age.

The gentle sunlight spilled under the banyan tree, the leaves and the breeze separated the shadows of the girls, the air was permeated with the essence of youth.

"Let’s go." Xu Qingfan snapped his fingers to signal them to follow, leading the way ahead.

"Coming!" Th...