Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

"Xu Qingfan, can you answer this question? If the elevator you're riding in suddenly malfunctions and starts to fall, what is the most correct course of action?"

In the last physics class of the afternoon, Xu Qingfan was called on to answer a question.

The previously drowsy female classmate suddenly heard the name she cared about and perked up instantly.

Xu Qingfan stood up from his seat, holding his workbook in one hand, and answered, "For this question choose B, quickly press all the floor and alarm buttons, while keeping your body in a half-squat to mitigate the potential great impact force that might come."

"Ah?"

Clearly, not many in the class had chosen B, so as soon as he finished speaking, a chorus of surprised "ah"s filled the room.

Xu Qingfan smiled and continued, "Nobody chose A, did they? Jumping up at the moment before the elevator hits the ground to try to reduce the speed of descent?"

"Otherwise, doesn't it seem very reasonable?"

"This question, even the King of Heaven would pick A!"

"Haha, exactly!"

The previously drowsy class seemed to be revitalized, and the physics teacher standing at the podium felt it the most.

She covered her mouth, chuckling for a while before saying through the microphone, "The correct answer is B. Qingfan, can you explain it to everyone?"

"Ah?"

"Nani?"

Obviously, the class wasn't just playing around with memes; they really thought the answer should be A, like going for a slide tackle when encountering a tiger.

"When the elevator is falling, even if it's not completely in free fall, the pressure on a person standing inside is practically gone, so at the last moment before hitting the ground, in all likelihood, you wouldn't be able to jump.

Even if you did manage to jump up a bit, after converting kinetic and potential energy, would it slow down the fall? Sure, but not by much, unless you're Superman. In reality, if you encounter this situation, you should choose B."

After finishing, Xu Qingfan sat down again, and sparse applause broke out in the class.

"I'd like to add something—even if you are Superman, jumping too high will still result in you hitting the ceiling, so everyone should just listen to what Qingfan has said, okay?"

"Hahaha!"

The atmosphere became lively, and the remaining half of the class seemed to fly by.

Xiao Ruawen placed his workbook on his desk, copying the formulas he had used to solve the problems into his own workbook.

"Lying on the playground of your school, watching the stars~ The lights are still on in the classroom, it means you haven't left♫" he hummed the melody of the song, the same one that Xu Qingfan had written for him that morning, "Waiting for You to Finish Class."

Xu Qingfan glanced at the clock on the wall; there were five minutes left until the end of class.

With Xiao Ruawen's singing in his ears, he suddenly felt that life as a high school student wasn't too bad after all.

[Ding Ding Ding——]

"That's it for this class. Class rep, come to my office after class to collect tonight's test papers. Class dismissed."

Xu Qingfan and Xiao Ruawen stretched simultaneously, their hands touching briefly before retracting.

Many students in the class had already started to pack their bags. The last period on Monday afternoon was club activity day; from four o'clock when school ended until half-past seven in the evening, the three and a half hours were everybody's free time.

However, Xu Qingfan had not joined any clubs. After stretching, he picked up his workbook again and continued working through it.

"Brother Fan, we're going to check out the student council. You sit tight and do your homework here, and I'll bring you back some oranges," Xiao Ruawen said as she got up and slung her backpack on, messing up his hair with both hands.

Xu Qingfan stopped writing and flashed a fist, "I'll give you one chance to rephrase that."

"Lalala~ Wang Xuan, let's get out of here!" After pulling a face at him, Xiao Ruawen grabbed Wang Xuan and Chen Qi's arms and bolted, "Hahaha, bye-bye, Stinky Brother Fan!"

"Alright Brother Fan, we're heading out too. Are you sure you don't want to come have a look at the student council?"

"Yeah, our whole group is going!"

Without lifting his head, Xu Qingfan replied, "You all go ahead, and if you keep passing messages to the senior girl, there will be consequences for you!"

"What senior girl, we're not even close!"

"Exactly, exactly. Bye Brother Fan, see ya!"

Soon, the two 'silly dogs' also left, pushing and shoving their way out. Xu Qingfan shook his head and continued with his homework.

Just when he thought he could finally concentrate on his problems without interruption, the light in front of him suddenly dimmed.

"Um... Brother Fan, I don't understand this problem, could you teach me?"

When he looked up, he saw He Caiting standing in front of him, holding her physics workbook.

"Sure."

Seeing the nod from her crush, He Caiting was overjoyed and took a seat at Lai Chenglang's desk.

Though she really wanted to sit next to Brother Fan, she was quite afraid of Xiao Ruawen, and coming on too strong seemed inappropriate.

"For this problem, first do this, then this, this, and lastly this. Get it?" Xu Qingfan explained earnestly.

"Ah? Oh, oh... got it, got it! So that's how it's done!" He Caiting looked as if she had an epiphany.

"Good, that's settled. I need to continue with my homework." He nodded and promptly buried his head back into his papers.

Ever since He Caiting had embarrassed him during her self-introduction in the military training, she hadn't actively approached him anymore. Qingfan couldn't tell if it was due to the adverse situation or some other reason, but he didn't place too much importance on it.

Seeing the male god start doing problems again, He Caiting pouted in disappointment, but she didn't plan to leave, and instead, she sat down in her seat to study as well.

After a while, He Caiting suddenly spoke up, "By the way, Brother Fan, your two friends joined the campus radio station, did you know that?"

"Hmm?" Xu Qingfan was clearly drawn into attention and looked up.

"It's Wanning and Yiyi, I know."

"Ah? Oh... you know, then it's nothing, I also joined the campus radio station, I thought you didn't know." The girl was obviously not expecting this answer, and she was momentarily flustered.

This was actually easy to guess. For Qingfan, who understood the personalities of the five girls very well, it hardly took any time to think before saying their names.

[She probably wanted to surprise me, I guess I'll continue to pretend I don't know.] His lips curled up slightly as he thought to himself.

The conversation topic that He Caiting had thought about for so long was thus ended. It felt like when you tell your crush a joke you've crafted carefully and they only reply with a simple: "I'm going to take a shower."

However, her spirits were quickly lifted, and she whispered excitedly, "Brother Fan, the freshman mentioned by the principal this morning, that's you, right?"

[Damn!]

This clearly shocked Xu Qingfan, but thankfully his Qi Cultivation Technique was impressive. "Why would you think that?" he asked calmly, his gaze suggesting how absurd he thought the idea was.

"Hehe~" He Caiting's eyes curved into smiles, "Because I know that the Haowei Group is your family's company, my mom is the director of Ku Mao Music, and you met with my mom during the summer holiday!"

[So this is where it leaked.]

Xu Qingfan nodded straightforwardly, his eyes fixed on her: "Then, Caiting, you'll keep my secret, won't you?"

He Caiting had never been subjected to such a beautiful man's charm; she nodded frantically, promising, "Rest assured, Brother Fan, I haven't told anyone, I swear to keep your secret!"

"I believe you," said Xu Qingfan, flashing a teeth-baring smile.

[Ahh~ Brother Fan smiled at me, Brother Fan smiled at me!]

[Hehehehe...]

Seeing He Caiting standing there dazed, Xu Qingfan blinked in wonder before promptly returning to his homework.

Not much later.

"Huff huff huff~ Who is Xu Qingfan?" A young teacher ran to the classroom door, inquiring the seven or eight people left in the class.

[Can't someone study in peace?!]

Although he was internally grumbling, he still stood up, patiently asking, "I am, what is it?"

He wasn't sure if the person was really a teacher, for he looked too young, and could easily pass off as a high school student in uniform.

"I'm Li Tiance, the student council's advising teacher. Qingfan, why is your phone unreachable? I've been looking for you for half a day!" Li Tiance reached out to grab Xu Qingfan's shoulder, clearly intending to take him along.

"Ah? I set my phone to silent during class, and didn't check it while doing homework." Xu Qingfan instinctively dodged; who knew if this wasn't some prank by Nantong?

"Qingfan, you need to come with me for an interview; everyone's waiting for you!" Li Tiance, still out of breath, gestured for him to follow.

"Ah?"

"What interview?"

Now, Xu Qingfan was truly baffled. He hoped he wasn't being called for some academic competition interview—he valued his high school time too much for that.

"It's the student council interview, hurry up, everyone is waiting for you!" Li Tiance's expression was one of not having time to explain, just get in the car, which only confused Xu Qingfan more.

"But teacher, I didn't plan to join the student council, why am I being called for an interview?" He was genuinely perplexed, wondering if this was some kind of joke the five girls were pulling on him.

"What interview? You are the vice president!" Li Tiance looked more bewildered than Xu Qingfan.

[Damn, you've been appointed vice president by Principal Song himself, and you're telling me you didn't plan to join the student council?]

"You're the vice president of the student council, Principal Song said so himself, didn't you know?" His face was full of disbelief.

Xu Qingfan's face mirrored the disbelief, and so did He Caiting's.

"Then... what am I interviewing for?"

"You're supposed to interview the freshmen, come on, ask questions on the way!" The back and forth had already cost them nearly five minutes, and Li Tiance, without another word, grabbed his hand to leave.

"No, no... what's all this about?" Even as he was being pulled out of the classroom, Xu Qingfan was still clueless.

[Damn you, Principal Song, I just asked for a cigarette to smoke, are you playing me like this?!]

Xu Qingfan didn't believe the principal had kindly arranged for him to be the vice president—it was clear he just wanted to fleece him further!

[Damn you, Principal Song, next time I see you I'll swipe your lighter too!]

After staring dumbfounded for a while, He Caiting also got up and chased after them.

[I'm going to join the student council too!]

...