Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

Nighttime.

After returning home, Xu Qingfan lay on his bed and opened his phone.

He recalled the string of messages he received in the afternoon, first opening the Small Pink Book, and then, "Who's got so much money they don't know where to spend it, sending me over thirty big cakes?"

Xu Qingfan clicked on the profile picture of the user who sent him the gifts, It was a girl with a cat as her avatar, and her name was quite amusing, called "The World."

Why was it amusing? Because Xu Qingfan's alternate account name was "Brother Sei," and his avatar was none other than the grandmaster Ito Sei.

Xu Qingfan clicked into her homepage to check it out, and it was empty, fitting his stereotype of the big shots—quietly reading without a peep, then suddenly giving you a reward like an Alliance Hierarch.

Xu Qingfan clicked to follow her back because, after all, she spent real money in the thousands, buying a slot on the friend list wouldn't be too much, right?

He returned to the WeChat chat page, and within two minutes, the Small Pink Book notified him someone sent him a message again.

Xu Qingfan clicked to enter quickly, and as expected, it was the user named "The World" sending him a private message.

[Teacher, could I ask you some questions?]

"The nonsense stuff I write, and now I'm being called a teacher?" Xu Qingfan found it somewhat amusing.

[Sure, go ahead and ask.] He replied.

[Teacher, here's the thing, my boyfriend, he has more than just me as a girlfriend...]

Xu Qingfan: ?

...

The February spring breeze is like scissors, blowing across a page, winter goes and spring comes.

This year's Spring Festival ended early, and the school start date was also moved up; on February sixth, the Lantern Festival ended, and by February twelfth, Sunday, we had to report back to school.

The entire winter break, no one returned to the secret high school base here; even though they'd closed the windows and turned off the water and electricity before leaving, there was still a lot of cleaning up to do.

After doing a thorough cleaning of the whole place and washing and airing the bedding, they were busy for the morning and half of the afternoon, six people finally managed to lie down and take a break.

The floor was wet after being mopped, but they were too lazy to wipe it dry with a cloth, leaving the doors and windows open with the air conditioner at full blast, it'll dry quickly.

"No holidays in February, March... also no holidays, wow, the next long holiday won't be until April for Qingming and May Day." Xiao Ruawen said after checking the calendar on her phone, feeling suddenly hopeless.

"You're the only one thinking about vacations when classes haven't even started yet." Xu Qingfan tapped his fingers on Lin Wanning's arm, originally wanting to leap over to tap Xiao Ruawen's head, but he didn't feel like moving.

"Can't wait for class assignments, I want to be in the same class as Brother Qingfan!" Lin Wanning said, puffing.

"Eh? Wanning, do you want to choose science subjects?" Xiao Ruawen asked curiously.

Only then did everyone remember they hadn't really discussed whether to choose humanities or sciences for their second year.

"Yeah, yeah, there's too much memorizing in humanities, I don't want to memorize." Lin Wanning nodded.

Her end-of-term exam ranking was 201st in the grade, which wasn't bad; she could choose either humanities or sciences.

"My parents also advised me to choose sciences for a better choice in majors later on, though they told me to go back and ask..." Xiao Ruawen looked at Xu Qingfan, the ask was clear.

"Then let's all choose sciences, figure out how to get some extra credit from awards, getting into university shouldn't be difficult." Xu Qingfan's perspective shifted, no longer seeing the college entrance exam as a big deal.

As long as the score isn't two or three hundred, it's easy to meet the minimum line for a top school, there are countless ways to get into a prestigious 985 institution.

He still remembered in his notebook for safekeeping, a few years' worth of exam papers for future college entrance exams, he'd find time to burn them all; otherwise, it could cause problems.

If you choose sciences, for subjects you don't understand, we can all help tutor." Xia Xiaoxiao also said.

In high school, she and Lingyu were in the same class, she hoped they would be like middle school again, all six of them as a group.

"Choose it! Choose it!" Even though it's next semester's issue, Xiao Ruawen had decided, choosing sciences, she'd tackle it!

But it's not exactly a next semester issue either, considering many students who decided on sciences in the first year no longer study politics, history, geography after school starts, skipping those assignments directly and working on other subjects during class.

"Bro, next semester are we randomly assigned classes?" Zhang Yiyi nudged him with her hand, asking.

In middle school, she believed his nonsense about needing their own social circles, and what happened? This bad bro scattered us around, then broke us down one by one!

Wu Lingyu cast her gaze first, Brother Fan had promised they'd be in the same class in the second year, would he break his word?

"Brother Qingfan, let's be in the same class, just like middle school!" Before he could answer, Lin Wanning shook his arm, sweet-talking.

"I'll think about it, give you an answer once I decide." Xu Qingfan wasn't sure if he should promise, choosing to stall with everything possible.

"Bro~"

"Brother Qingfan~"

Xu Qingfan shook his head, indifferent.

Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi both seemed to give up; at the key moment, Xia Xiaoxiao stepped up.

"How long are you going to think?" She asked.

"Think...before the end of the semester, tell you before it ends." Xu Qingfan thought about it, he had to drag out the decision as long as he could.

"Before midterm exams, tell us once you decide." Like a big sister, Xia Xiaoxiao commanded.

"Alright...fine." Xu Qingfan thought since there's no rush to answer now, he agreed.

"Yay!"

"Go Xia Xiaoxiao!"

The girls clapped in celebration, Xu Qingfan's compromise made it seem as if he'd already agreed to be in the same class in the second year.

Xu Qingfan sighed inwardly, he was mainly worried that being in the same class with the girls would reveal his relationships before even getting to college.

[If you follow the rules at school, there's nothing to fear about being in the same class...]

...

After having dinner at home, everyone returned to school in the evening.

Lin Wanning's sprained foot had recovered. She had no problem walking normally, but it was best to rest for another half month before engaging in intense activities.

Xu Qingfan and Zhang Yiyi each held her hand on one side to prevent her from getting carried away hopping around as soon as she was out of the wheelchair.

"If you keep walking like this, and sprain your foot again, I won't carry you next time!" Xu Qingfan said, tugging at her unruly hair.

"I forgot... Brother Qingfan, I know I was wrong," Lin Wanning admitted obediently, meeting Xu Qingfan's eyes.

Everyone exchanged smiles. When it came to splitting classes, just the absence of Lin Wanning would take away a lot of joy.

Suddenly, there was a sensation of water droplets falling on his head, and Xu Qingfan looked up to observe. A large bunch of raindrops was coming their way.

"Oh no, run quick, why is it suddenly raining?" After complaining, Xu Qingfan hastily carried Lin Wanning on his back.

No reminders were needed as the four girls started running, while Xu Qingfan and Lin Wanning fell behind.

In Jiangnan, February is full of fragrant grass, with spring in the drizzling rain.

...

The spring rain was as thin as silk, only lightly wetting the clothes. A blow of the wind dried them naturally in a few minutes.

The classroom was the same as last semester's. When Xu Qingfan and Xiao Ruawen arrived at the entrance of Class Sixteen, the class teacher was already standing on the podium.

The classroom had been cleaned and refreshed before they arrived, and there were still damp marks from the cloth wiping on the blackboard.

After they returned to their seats, the class teacher continued, "In the new semester, the class leader will assign someone to pick up the new textbooks from the usual place later. During the evening self-study, we will reorganize the groups. The top nine students in last semester's final exam will be the group leaders for this semester."

After the final exams of last semester, they stayed in school for two more days before officially starting the vacation. Hence, everyone knew who the top nine students in the class were.

Guo Youcai didn't bother to explain much. After giving all the necessary instructions, he took his thermos cup and left the classroom.

After more than a month without seeing each other, everyone was eager to talk. As soon as the class teacher showed signs of leaving, the classroom became as noisy as a marketplace.

"Brother Fan, what's the plan for our group? Are we sticking to the formation?"

"Yeah, or is Brother Fan looking for new companions? Brother Fan, say something!"

Xu Qingfan directly ignored them and instead turned to Wang Xuan and Chen Qi, asking, "What about you guys? Have you made any arrangements with classmates, or is it still the same guidance?"

For once, Brother Fan actually spoke to her!

"Well... in the new semester, Chen Qi and I still ask everyone to continue advising us," Wang Xuan said generously.

"Good!"

"Guide us, guide us, keep guiding us!"

The atmosphere team of Wu Shichong and Lai Chenglang clapped their hands enthusiastically.

"It's a pity that Xiao Ruawen filled out the English answer sheet incorrectly. Otherwise, with the extra twenty points for reading comprehension and cloze test, she would have been in the top nine of the class," Wang Xuan mentioned again.

"Oh well~ it doesn't matter, as long as I don't fill it out wrong during the college entrance examination, let's just forget it this time." Xiao Ruawen waved her hand indifferently.

"Honestly, it's a good thing the class leader made a mistake filling it out. Otherwise, being in the top nine would mean not being in the same group!" Wu Shichong said.

Xu Qingfan gave Xiao Ruawen a meaningful look. He had been suspicious last semester.

"Ah, I almost forgot. We still need to move the books. Who can help me?" Xiao Ruawen sensed his gaze and awkwardly changed the subject.

"Class leader, I'll go with you!"

"I'll come too!"

The entire group mobilized, and as they passed by, Wu Shichong and Lai Chenglang dragged a few more classmates along for fun. Eight or nine people were enough to move the class's books.

Xu Qingfan and Xiao Ruawen fell behind the group by a body length, walking side by side.

When they reached the junction on the third floor, where they should continue down the stairs, Xu Qingfan took advantage of the moment when the crowd hadn't reacted and pulled Xiao Ruawen towards the experimental building.

Xiao Ruawen couldn't react in time, and by inertia was pulled along for more than ten meters. When they stopped, she realized she was tricked by Brother Chou Fan into the seldom-visited experimental building.

"What do you want!" Xiao Ruawen defensively placed her hand over her chest.

"I want to!" Xu Qingfan nodded and nodded.

"?"

...

On the other side.

A group of Wu Shichong's friends arrived at the storeroom downstairs, initially planning to wait for Xiao Ruawen to negotiate with the staff. When they turned around, they realized neither of them was in sight!

"Wait, where are Brother Fan and the class leader?"

"Huh, they're gone?"

"Did anyone see them?"

"Nope."

After exchanging puzzled glances, they had no choice but to take more books and carry them back themselves.

...