Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

It wasn't until they had walked quite a distance that Xiao Ruawen couldn't help but burst into laughter, draping her arm over his shoulder, "Goose, goose, goose~ Brother Fan, when that guy said you were 'dumb as a feather,' why didn't you cuss him out?"

Xu Qingfan pressed her head down, "Please, address me as handsome!"

"Hahaha....."

They clocked back into the classroom at seven sharp, just in time for the morning reading bell.

"Brother Qing Fan, you're leading the morning reading for the first Chinese class!" Lin Wanning sat down and glanced at the blackboard.

Their rule for morning reading was to read from the subject of the first class of the day.

After the election for the class committee in the second year, each of them had landed some sort of position: Xu Qingfan was the Chinese class representative, Xia Xiaoxiao was for mathematics, Wu Lingyu for English, Xiao Ruawen for music, Zhang Yiyi for politics, and Lin Wanning for art.

It wasn't that the teachers were deliberately playing favorites, the role of class representative in junior high was inherently tied to academic performance, and their group perpetually dominated the top six rankings in the class, making it unreasonable for them not to be elected to student leadership positions.

"Alright, show some respect and study properly. Xia Xiaoxiao, you're not allowed to do anything else." Xu Qingfan searched his drawer for the Chinese textbook and, on his way out, thumped Xia Xiaoxiao on the head with it rolled into a cylinder.

"Tsk!"

Not giving the girl a chance to get mad, Xu Qingfan had already scurried to the podium.

"Take out your Chinese book and open to page 151, Prelude to the Water Melody. 'When will the moon be clear and bright...' Su Shi. Get ready... Read!"

"Prelude to the Water Melody..."

The classroom began with a sparse chorus of recitation, which soon became unified and orderly.

From the corner of his eye, Xu Qingfan caught a glimpse of the head teacher standing outside the window.

...

"Asking for leave? Why are you requesting time off, didn't we just have the National Day break?" Inside the office, the head teacher was baffled by Xu Qingfan's leave request.

"Don't tell me the mushrooms in Kun City are ripe again, and you guys plan to go eat them, right?" She didn't even wait for Xu Qingfan to explain before adding this.

"Hehehe...."

A friendly chuckle instantly filled the office, as their impromptu trip to Kun City during their first year was hardly a secret among all the teachers and students at school.

It seemed likely that even after the six of them graduated from junior high, the teachers would continue to pass down the story from one generation to the next.

The teachers in the office had a relatively amiable way of speaking, after all, Xu Qingfan was, by any account, a top-notch student who consistently ranked within the top three of his year, and it seemed that his background was somewhat intimidating as well.

"Remember to bring back some extra for us to try," one teacher said.

"After all, Qingfan and the others could get into Huafu with self-study alone. I reckon, Teacher Liang, you should approve the leave as fast as you can. You might even get to share some of those mushrooms," another added.

"That makes sense!"

Xu Qingfan awkwardly fiddled with his toes on the spot and only after a cough did he explain, "Cough cough... it's not about eating mushrooms. The Asian Games Torch is passing through Li City in a few days, and we're going to be torchbearers."

"What?"

The teachers all seemed to think they had misheard, looking incredulously wide-eyed.

"You're going to be torchbearers? As in the torchbearers I am thinking of?" asked the head teacher, Liang Yulan, seeking confirmation.

"Yeah, me, Wanning, and Yiyi, the three of us will be torchbearers. It's not really a big deal, just running a few hundred meters," Xu Qingfan nodded in affirmation.

The teachers exchanged glances before one of them couldn't contain their curiosity and blurted out, "How did you three get selected to be torchbearers? I thought only celebrities could be chosen for that?"

Indeed, the participants in the torch relay were usually representatives from various fields, such as athletes or cultural artists, and these three junior high students obviously didn't fit the profile.

Xu Qingfan shrugged, "Me, Wanning, and Yiyi published a comic book in primary school and later made a bit of a contribution to the prevention of fraud, so we were selected."

He was, of course, being modest; after all, Zhang Chaoqun would be in a position of great influence in a year or two, and it's worth noting that he is only in his early forties now.

The officials originally wanted to place them as the final torchbearers at the Hong Kong station—three junior high students who are authors of a best-selling comic book and have made significant contributions to fraud prevention, all of which was more than enough to greet the world on behalf of Hong Kong.

However, Xu Qingfan and Zhang Chunxue thought that would be too ostentatious, so with the help of a pair of invisible hands, they were shifted to the Li City station in Sankara.

Apart from the starting and finishing stations, which would draw large crowds of journalists and spectators, the traffic at the other stops would be much less, and the TV footage, after editing, would probably boil down to barely two seconds.

Xu Qingfan went on to explain that the comic they drew was called "Hilarious Daily," and the teachers' gazes towards him shifted as they now realized this book could be found in their very own office drawers—some confiscated from students and others distributed by the school.

"Why do Xia Xiaoxiao, Lingyu, and Ruan Wen also need to take leaves? Are they going to be torchbearers as well?" Liang Yulan asked with a puzzled look while writing the fourth leave request.

"Oh, they, uh, they're going to be volunteers," Xu Qingfan blurted out, casually fabricating an excuse—he certainly couldn't say they just wanted to take a day off, teachers need to save face too.

"Hmm," Liang Yulan continued, her head down, and very quickly, she finished writing six leave requests with swift strokes.

After obtaining the six leave requests, he waved his hand in satisfaction and left: "Thank you, teacher, I'll go back to class now."

Usually unassuming, Xu Qingfan successfully put on a grand act in front of several subject teachers.

It was only after he left that the teachers started to whisper among themselves.

"I always said these kids were no ordinary bunch, they're bound to do great things in the future. I bet it won't be long before they return and the principal himself will have to receive them."

"Then you better hurry up and grab onto his coattails—if you have a daughter or a relative, introduce her quickly."

"Come on, could your daughter or relative be prettier than his five teammates?"

"Hahaha..."

...

"Ta-da!"

Xu Qingfan, returning triumphantly, slapped the six leave requests in the middle of the table.

"Wow~ Brother Fan, I love you to death!" Seeing her own name on one of them, Xiao Ruanwen instantly kissed the leave request with excitement.

"You don't find it dirty?" Xia Xiaoxiao said disdainfully, poking her on the head.

"Hee hee~ One day of class, two days off, no need to make up time later, it's so great!" Lin Wanning wrapped her arms around Xu Qingfan's arm and swung her little head from side to side after he sat down.

"Yeah!" Zhang Yiyi and Wu Lingyu both had joyful expressions on their faces.

The last day of the National Day holiday was Thursday. Without taking leave, they would have to attend class for eight consecutive days over this and the next week—a makeup schedule that could drive anyone crazy.

After taking leave, the six of them would have a regular double weekend after today's classes and then everything would return to normal. In two words—comfortable!

Xiao Ruanwen had more to say, but the homeroom teacher came in at that moment, so the six of them had to look at each other and smile tacitly, taking out their English books to start the lesson.

...

Perhaps it was the blessing of having tomorrow off, but the whole day flew by quickly.

When the afternoon school bell rang, the six of them didn't bother with any homework; they packed up their backpacks and rushed out of the classroom like jubilant kids.

"Charge!"

"Yay~ I'm the first one to race home!"

Lin Wanning was the first to rush into the yard and touched Little White's head.

"Don't run that fast tomorrow, there's a time limit," Xu Qingfan said, flicking her silly hair.

"Hee hee~ Of course, I know! I'll be right beside Brother Qing Fan tomorrow!"

"I'll be right beside Brother Fan too!"

"We'll take pictures and videos for you guys tomorrow!"

"The clothes are dry, try them on first," Wu Lingyu pointed to the three sets of bright red sportswear fluttering on the second-floor balcony.

"Yeah!"

Xia Xiaoxiao, watching the three of them run home hand in hand, bit her lower lip lightly. She was still very envious of the opportunity to achieve something together with Xu Qingfan and stand together in the spotlight after.

[I must also work hard, help him in other ways in the future, and then stand together in the spotlight!]

"Xiao Xiao, what are you still standing at the door for? Come on in!"

"Okay!"

...