Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

"Every time it’s like this, if you don’t get up early tomorrow, I won’t wait for you!" Xia Xiaoxiao stood with her hands on her hips, waiting at the door for Xu Qingfan to put on his shoes.

"Let’s go, let’s go, isn’t there still another bus, what’s the rush." Xu Qingfan slung his backpack over one shoulder and grabbed Xia Xiaoxiao’s hand to dash downstairs.

They ran all the way to the entrance of the compound, where he handed two one-yuan bills to the rice noodle shop owner, panting, "Boss, two portions of minced meat rice noodles to go, one with pickled long beans and the other without green onions."

"Alright, kids, why are you so late again today? Your soy milk is ready," the shop owner said with a smile, pointing at a few bags of soy milk hanging nearby.

"Here, take these, your school bus is here!"

"Thank you, Uncle." Xu Qingfan took the packed rice noodles and led Xia Xiaoxiao onto the school bus.

Once they got on the bus, the two sat in the last row, and Xu Qingfan handed the rice noodles and soy milk to Xia Xiaoxiao.

"What class committee are you thinking of joining, by the way, is your math Olympiad class fun?" Xu Qingfan asked while eating his rice noodles.

"Not joining, it’s quite interesting. If you don’t come, I’ll surpass you in math very soon!" Xia Xiaoxiao recalled the past few days of racking her brain over Olympiad problems and said.

"So what if you surpass me, as long as it gets me out of tuition fees, besides, you’re already smart," he looked at Xia Xiaoxiao sideways, "smarter than me."

Xia Xiaoxiao’s movement of eating rice noodles paused for a moment, suddenly feeling a sense of recognition, and her heart warmed.

In elective classes, math Olympiad is an option, motivated by the desire to get ahead at the starting line, it’s the subject with the most students in the class.

But Qingfan didn’t know how many of them chose it voluntarily.

When they returned to Class 16, the bell for morning reading had just started ringing.

"Heaven and Earth, You and I, They."

"One two three four five, Metal Wood Water Fire Earth."

"Heaven and Earth distinguished above and below, Sun and Moon shine through ancient and modern times."

The clear sound of class reading rose in the classroom, Xu Qingfan glanced at his group members, Zhang Yiyi was serious, reading from the textbook with precision.

Perhaps worried about being mocked, the little girl usually didn’t talk much, only willing to speak out during group readings.

Xu Qingfan had always harbored a misconception, thinking that once wearing a hearing aid, a deaf person’s hearing would return to normal.

But after interacting with Zhang Yiyi, he realized this was far from true. According to the little girl’s writing, wearing a hearing aid only amplified all kinds of noise, and voices had to be listened to very carefully to be distinguished.

Seeing his interest, Zhang Yiyi enthusiastically put her hearing aid on his ear, and in just one second, Xu Qingfan couldn’t bear it anymore, the various noises pounding inside his head, causing a headache.

Watching Zhang Yiyi speak earnestly, Xu Qingfan’s face unconsciously revealed a tender fatherly smile.

...

"Class, stand up!"

"Good morning, Teacher!"

"Good morning, students, please sit down."

"Students, please turn your textbooks to page thirteen. This class we will study the rhyming song!

Follow the teacher and read together."

"Cloud opposite to rain."

"Cloud opposite to rain!"

"Snow opposite to wind."

"Snow opposite to wind!"

"..."

"Willow tree matched with peach blossom!"

"Starting from the first row, everyone will read one line each," the language arts teacher said, putting down the teaching guide.

Xu Qingfan quickly patted Zhang Yiyi’s arm and wrote in the textbook: Teacher wants you to read this line.

Zhang Yiyi nodded her head and stood up to read: "Cloud... opposite... rain!"

Although the pronunciation sounded a bit strange, since it was a short phrase, one could still clearly hear what the girl read if they listened carefully.

Xu Qingfan gave her a thumbs up and also stood up to say: "Snow opposite wind."

"Flower opposite tree."

"Bird opposite bug!"

The kids in the back followed one after another.

"Abba abba abba~" However, the second-to-last kid, for some reason, began to mumble unclearly, mimicking the way Zhang Yiyi spoke.

"Hahaha hahaha hahaha!"

"Haha mute mute!"

"Two mutes!"

Instantly, many people laughed so hard they leaned back and forth.

Xu Qingfan’s brows were tightly furrowed, as if afraid that whatever could happen would happen.

"Smack!" He slapped the wooden desk hard, but it couldn’t override the mocking laughter in the class. Instead, the classmates sitting near him jumped in fright.

"Sorry to bother you, Teacher, just need a moment of your time," Xu Qingfan stood up and said.

Without waiting for the Chinese language teacher to respond, he took big strides towards the student acting the clown.

Xu Qingfan arrived at his seat, grabbed his collar, and yanked him up, his face menacing.

"What were you barking just now?" he asked, suppressing the anger in his chest.

The classroom abruptly fell into a silence as if death engulfed it, many still had their smiles frozen on their faces, holding their breath as they watched Xu Qingfan suddenly lose his temper.

"What’s so funny? Do you think it’s funny?" Xu Qingfan yelled.

The little rascal he pulled up came back to his senses with Xu Qingfan’s shout, "Wah~ what are you doing~," instinctively trying to hit him.

"Smack!"

Xu Qingfan backhanded the kid with a big slap, and as the other side tried to fight back, the Chinese language teacher had already run down to pull them apart.

"Xu Qingfan, why did you hit someone? Get out and stand as punishment!" The Chinese language teacher hadn’t been aware of Zhang Yiyi’s deafness as school had just started.

Xu Qingfan glanced impassively at the Chinese teacher, walked straight up to the podium, and spoke into the microphone, "My teammate, Zhang Yiyi, has trouble speaking due to her hearing impairment, but that shouldn’t be a reason for you all to mock her.

If you mock her speech today, will others mock you for other reasons tomorrow?

In our class, some students are poor at sports, some have short stature, and some have plain looks. Everyone has their own shortcomings. Today you lead the jeering at Yiyi, tomorrow someone will lead it against you!

I’m done!"

Xu Qingfan left the classroom without looking back and stood in the hallway.

Chinese Language Teacher: ???

[Yiyi is deaf? I really screwed up!]

"You go stand outside too!" Dan Xiuhong disdainfully distanced herself from the student who was just hit and walked back to the podium.

"What Xu Qingfan just said is very correct. Here I must apologize to Zhang Yiyi. I only just found out that Yiyi is hearing impaired. No one in the world is perfect, and only bad kids would mock others for their shortcomings. Tell me, are you bad kids?"

"No!" Many students proudly puffed out their chests, and those who had been the loudest in jeering were now shamefully bowing their heads.

"However, hitting someone is always wrong, so I’m punishing Xu Qingfan by making him stand outside. Do you think I’m correct in this?"

"Yes!"

"No! Brother Fan isn’t wrong!" Only Lin Wanning stubbornly contradicted them.

Dan Xiuhong could only pretend not to hear since she actually felt inside that Xu Qingfan hadn’t done anything wrong. A child with such a sense of justice was endearing.

"Alright, let’s continue with the lesson."

Zhang Yiyi turned and leaned on the window, gazing at Xu Qingfan’s silhouette for a long time, a very long time.

...

In the office.

"Has Qin Tianhao realized his mistake?"

"Sob~ yes... I have."

"What did you do wrong?"

"I... I shouldn’t have... imitated Zhang Yiyi’s speech."

"Is there anything else?"

"I shouldn’t have laughed at my classmate."

"This time I’ll give you one chance, but if there’s a next time, I’ll have to call your parents. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

After sending Qin Tianhao off, Guan Biyue’s gaze fell on Xu Qingfan, her facial expression rich.

"Stand properly. What’s with you, always causing problems? Getting into a fight over a soccer game, and now fighting in class again!" Guan Biyue looked at him, both annoyed and amused.

"Teacher, haven’t I explained the soccer incident already? That guy... that person wasn’t playing properly, pushing people with his hands, and I didn’t hit him..."

"You didn’t hit him, but your kick landed on his face, and he lost two front teeth!" Guan Biyue said, half angry, half embarrassed.

"What’s the big deal, I lost my front teeth too." He moved closer to show his teeth to the headteacher.

Guan Biyue covered her face with her hands, "You’re going to be the death of me. Go back, go back. The next class is mine, don’t you dare slack off!"

"Thank you, Teacher, thank you so much," Xu Qingfan dashed out of the office.

"Stinking kid!" Guan Biyue laughed suddenly, "No wonder he’s so popular with the girls."