Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

The parent-teacher meeting for the first year of high school in the school's studio had reached its conclusion.

"Win with grace, lose with dignity, a single exam doesn't represent much, and I believe that all children who were admitted into Licheng Middle School are exceptional. Even if they slack off momentarily, they will quickly catch up.

Therefore, I hope parents can be more relaxed, provide robust logistical support to their children as much as possible, and trust our teachers and most importantly, trust your children themselves.

I am convinced that three years from now, the students will definitely present perfect scores."

The principal silently read the closing remarks that were older than him, and a round of applause filled the hall.

Parents started to leave one by one, and soon, Zhang Chunxue and her group gathered at the studio door.

"It wasn't bad at all, Xiao Fan, Xiao Xiao, and Yu have consistently maintained their performance. Future exams for Qingbei should pose no problem," Lin Qiaoshan stated to everyone after coming out.

During the meeting, the principal had specifically mentioned these three students — the district's top three scorers in the middle school examination, and their midterm results, almost perfect scores in every subject, had proved the teaching quality at Licheng Middle School was superb.

"The three kids have been taking turns ranking in the top three since they were young. I didn't expect this to continue in high school too," Zhao Yuemin added with a laugh.

"I'm not too fixated on Qingbei or whatnot. Seeing my daughter just once a week in high school already makes me miss her terribly. If she goes away to university, we might only see each other maybe once every six months."

There was a time Lin Jing had entertained the idea of Xia Xiaoxiao skipping grades to attend Tsinghua or Peking University. After experiencing loneliness over the years, she had let go of that vanity.

"That's true. If Xiao Fan decides to go to college in Yanjing, my girl will certainly follow him, I can't bear to see her only once every few months," Wen Wanqing said, laughing in agreement.

Yao Jinping still rather hoped her own troublemaker could get into Qingbei, if only to stick it to her brother — see, the Yao family has scholarly potential too!

But since Lin Jing and Wen Wanqing had just expressed how much they'd miss their daughters if they went far away for college, Yao Jinping could only say, "It's too early to talk about this, we still have two and a half years of high school left. Who knows, my rascal loves tinkering so much, he might decide to focus on something other than studying one day."

"I didn't finish elementary school myself, and I don't understand much about academic matters. I think the principal was quite right; manage the logistics for the kids, and as for the rest, this mom will avoid adding any chaos," Lin Meijuan, who had been listening all along, couldn't help sharing her thoughts when the conversation steered this way.

"Meijuan has a point!"

"Exactly, let the children themselves decide which university they want to attend, we non-experts should not interfere."

"Right."

...

When the adults returned to their meeting point, Xu Qingfan and others had also finished their showers and changed back into their uniforms, waiting in the living room.

"Mom, did the teacher praise us?" Xiao Ruawen ran up, hugging Zhao Yuemin's arm.

"You weren't the top scorer, nor the runner-up, nor the third. The teacher praised Xiao Fan and the other two, saying their performance never faltered," Zhao YueMin gently tapped her daughter's forehead with her finger.

"I didn't fall back either, okay? We improved too, it's Brother Fan and the others who are marking time!" Xiao Ruawen pouted playfully.

"Ruwen is right. Let's improve further by the end of the term and overtake Xiao Fan and the others' rankings," Wen Wanqing encouraged with a smile.

Xiao Ruawen gave Wen Wanqing a stunned look; such jokes were not to be made.

"Um... Auntie, what are you joking about? Let me go, how could I possibly score better than Brother Fan, Xiao Xiao, and Yu... cough."

Asking her to outdo Brother Fan was like asking a beginner to challenge the ultimate boss — what's the difference?

"Hahaha..." Laughter soon filled the room.

...

Dinner was had at a restaurant that served Shunde raw fish but, since Xu Qingfan absolutely couldn't stand raw fish, they opted for a fish meat hotpot instead.

The perfectly cooked fish meat, complemented with shredded green onions and soy sauce, was almost as delicious as the raw fish itself, if not overly concerned about texture.

After dinner, they strolled back to school, and the parents went their separate ways.

"I don't see what's so tasty about raw fish, I get a stomach ache just looking at it," Xu Qingfan, still holding an unfinished bottle of Heaven and Earth, shook his head and complained.

"And I don't understand how someone dare have five wives, just thinking about it seems unbelievable," Xia Xiaoxiao shot him a look, mimicking the way he had just spoken.

Xu Qingfan:...

After finishing his apple juice, he tossed the paper cup toward a nearby trash can. It missed, so he ran over, picked up the trash, and properly placed it in the bin.

When he rejoined the group of five girls, Xu Qingfan had already pretended as if Xia Xiaoxiao's earlier comment hadn't been made at all and casually changed the topic, "There's the school sports event on Thursday, have you guys signed up for any events?"

"Hmm~" Xia Xiaoxiao glanced at him, not holding on to the previous topic, "I signed up for the 100 meters."

"Wow Xiao Xiao, I signed up for the 100 meters too. Hey, if we meet in the finals, is Brother Fan going to cheer for you or for me.... um...." Xiao Ruawen hadn't finished speaking, suddenly becoming silent.

[What am I blabbering about, aren't I just inviting suspicion?]

"Brother Qing Fan, Yiyi also signed up for the 100 meters; I'm not good at this. Let's cheer for Yiyi together then!" Luckily, Lin Wanning quickly followed up, saving Xiao Ruawen from an awkward situation.