"Why do we have to start at eight even in kindergarten?" Xu Qingfan lay on the desk, weakly complaining.
Last night, he stayed up past one in the morning recalling the college entrance exam questions from 2014. Now he felt as sleepy as a husband in an island movie.
Listening to the noisy surroundings, Xu Qingfan unknowingly fell asleep on the desk.
"Someone is here for you, wake up!"
He slept for a long time, and in his dream, Xu Qingfan returned to the night Xia Xiaoxiao said goodbye to him.
In the next moment, he found himself sitting on the rooftop of his high school campus. The setting sun elongated his silhouette, and the broadcast played his favorite song, "Waiting for You to Finish Class."
Suddenly, Xu Qingfan felt someone push him from behind, and the weightlessness of stepping into the void instantly pulled him back to reality from his dream.
Xu Qingfan's body trembled, and he sprang up from the desk like a carp.
Xia Xiaoxiao was clearly startled by his sudden movement, her body shaking uncontrollably.
"What are you doing? Someone is looking for you!" She glared at Xu Qingfan with annoyance and pointed towards the door.
Xu Qingfan rubbed his eyes and looked over. Lin Wanning was hiding cautiously behind the door, peeking at him with half of her head sticking out.
In his past life, he was a pure-hearted warrior, so he had a good impression of Lin Wanning, whose look resembled Lily Swirl.
After coming out, Xu Qingfan held Lin Wanning's small hand and brought her to the stairway. He asked with concern, "Are they still bullying you?"
The little girl shook her head and handed Xu Qingfan a rolled-up sheet of paper tied with a carefully made bow.
"This is for you. Thank you."
Lin Wanning shyly scratched her face. "Mm-hmm."
After untying the bow, the rolled-up paper unfurled itself due to the counteracting force, revealing a colorful drawing to his eyes.
The drawing seemed to depict Class B's classroom. On the ground lay three monster creatures with animal heads and human bodies. A little boy in a cape and holding a sword stepped on the head of a pig-faced monster.
It was so vivid and lifelike that Xu Qingfan burst into laughter instantly.
"Is this me?" he asked, pointing at the little boy.
Lin Wanning's gaze shifted from the drawing to his face, and she shyly nodded.
"Thank you for the gift; I really like it."
Little Wanning was just too adorable. In his previous life, he must have saved the galaxy to have such a lovely daughter!
[Old Deng, is my ghost fire safe parked downstairs?]
Xu Qingfan couldn't help but think wickedly.
After receiving a positive response, Lin Wanning's smile became radiant.
"Mm-hmm, my daddy wants to invite you to our house," the little girl said, tapping her index fingers together in front of her chest in a rhythmic manner.
"Sure, when?" He playfully tugged on the little tuft of hair on top of Lin Wanning's head with his little hand.
The little girl pursed her lips and glared at him coyly.
"Sorry, I couldn't help it."
Lin Wanning raised her hand and touched her little tuft of hair. [There's nothing special about it. I don't know why daddy and mommy like to pull it so much. And now he does too!]
"It's okay, my daddy said you can come anytime you're free."
"How about this afternoon?" Since it was already Friday, and remembering he needed to spend a couple of days in the countryside over the weekend, Xu Qingfan asked.
"Sure!" Lin Wanning's face lit up with joy.
After setting the time, they returned to their respective classes.
During the last music class, Teacher Xiaoyu continued to lead the class in practicing "Peninsula Iron Box."
With the monotonous melody filling his ears, he gave up on the idea of sleeping and started reading through the printed review materials.
[Running a print shop doesn't seem like a bad idea.]
Even before he was reborn, print shops had always been a highly profitable business.
You ask for the price before printing, but after printing, you ask again, and it's two yuan per sheet. Take it or leave it. It's always been this price!
Some unreasonable shop owners would even mock you sarcastically: "It's been two yuan per sheet for so many years. How is it expensive? Don't speak nonsense. Sometimes it's good to reflect on yourself. Have your wages increased these years? Have you worked diligently?"
He once read a report that a place called Xinhua monopolized over 90% of the printing business nationwide. If you really wanted to get into this industry, you couldn't go wrong by buying second-hand machines directly from Xinhua.
While Xu Qingfan was staring at the photocopied A4 paper, lost in thought, Xia Xiaoxiao, his deskmate, was stealing glances at his desk drawer.
Lin Wanning's drawing was in there, and after a few times, Xu Qingfan couldn't ignore it anymore.
[This little girl actually cares quite a bit about me!]
He felt a sense of satisfaction, imagining his childhood sweetheart becoming jealous for him.
Sometimes he was puzzled. Weren't they close friends when they were little? How did it end up with her studying abroad?
Xu Qingfan had revisited the memories countless times but never figured out what exactly caused the growing distance between them.
Living this life again, Xu Qingfan understood many things.
All that stuff about love transcending mountains and seas, making all things possible, was nonsense portrayed in movies.
In reality, it was enough to have seen the flowers bloom. Who cares to whom the flowers belong?
"Here, take a look." He took the drawing out of the drawer and handed it to Xia Xiaoxiao.
"What's so interesting?" The little proud girl said she didn't want to see it, but her hands honestly took the drawing.
A look of surprise crossed the little girl's face. Lin Wanning's drawing skills were obviously practiced. Even a middle school student might not have drawn such three-dimensional shapes so well with colored pencils.
Xia Xiaoxiao inexplicably felt a sense of loss. First, Xu Qingfan easily solved the difficult math problem, and now Lin Wanning's lifelike drawing skills made her realize she was no longer the smartest kid in kindergarten!
"Here, take it back." Xia Xiaoxiao dejectedly lay on the desk.
Xu Qingfan had a confused look on his face.
[Hmph! Mommy said temporary leads don't mean anything. Keep going, Xia Xiaoxiao, you are the best!]
Suddenly, Xia Xiaoxiao, filled with renewed energy, sat up straight and grabbed Xu Qingfan's printed materials to start studying them.