NOVPUBThe two of them resumed their walk and soon arrived near Licheng Middle School.
"Weren’t you going to buy milk tea? Why are we here?" Seeing Xia Xiaoxiao heading towards a residential building, Xu Qingfan couldn’t help but ask again.
But this time, the girl did not reply to him, and continued walking without looking back.
"This isn’t... Huh? This cat looks so much like Little Brother!" Xu Qingfan picked up the big white cat sunbathing at the yard gate, and the white cat responded with "meow meow meow" upon hearing his voice.
"It really is Little Brother, how did you end up at Zhang Yiyi’s place?" He held the cat in a way people hold babies, puzzledly looking at Xia Xiaoxiao.
The girl held her head high, gesturing Xu Qingfan to open the door and go in.
Xu Qingfan held the cat in one hand and opened the door with the other, the iron gate of the yard was indeed unlocked and opened easily as he reached in.
"What prank are you pulling now." Xu Qingfan cast a reproachful glance at Xia Xiaoxiao and walked into the yard.
"Lin Wanning, I can see you at the window, come out now!" He meant to startle whoever was inside, but Lin Wanning was not fooled, or perhaps there was no one in the house at all.
He looked back at Xia Xiaoxiao again, and she still just smiled and said nothing, continuing to gesture with her head for him to move forward.
"Anyone there?" Xu Qingfan reached the door and freed his hand to knock, and with a nudge, the iron door opened slightly.
"Hm?" He pushed the door fully open with his hand, and the next second.
"Brother Fan, happy birthday!"
"Brother Qing Fan, happy birthday!"
"Brother, happy, birthday!"
Countless sparklers fell from the sky as four girls inside shouted their blessings.
Before Xu Qingfan could say a word, Lin Wanning’s big white dog excitedly pounced on him, causing Xu Qingfan to lose his balance and plop down on the ground with a jolt.
"Hahaha~"
"Little White, stop making trouble!" Lin Wanning walked up with a giggly smile and pulled her dog back, patting its head twice as punishment.
Xia Xiaoxiao walked up to Xu Qingfan and extended her hand, looking down at him from above, "You’re so dumb you can’t even remember your own birthday, happy birthday, Xu Qingfan!"
Xu Qingfan grabbed Xia Xiaoxiao’s hand and stood up again, "Haha, yeah, I used to celebrate my birthday while at school, so I sort of forgot after such a long holiday." He laughed, scratching the back of his head.
Wu Lingyu wiped her hands on the apron in front of her, stepped forward, and removed the streamers hanging in Xu Qingfan’s hair, with the other girls soon joining in to help.
"Brother Qing Fan, you’re really silly, you remember everyone else’s birthday, just not your own!"
Xu Qingfan wanted to say it was only to put up with their whining that he remembered at all, he rarely celebrated his own birthday in his last life, only realizing when Alipay reminded him, "Ah~ so today’s my birthday!"
"Time to wash up and eat! We all busied ourselves cooking since early in the morning, you’ve got to say it’s delicious no matter how bad it tastes!" Xiao Ruawen said cheerfully.
It turned out that the five girls had arranged to surprise Xu Qingfan on the 29th. Wu Lingyu, who was in Hong Kong, had secretly come back, and the five had woken up early to go to the market together and cook.
When it was almost eleven-thirty, Xia Xiaoxiao went back home to wake Xu Qingfan up.
And this two-story detached residential building in front of them had been purchased by Zhang Chunxue to make lunch breaks more convenient for Zhang Yi during middle school, located just over twenty meters from Licheng Middle School. Since they usually lived in the Bijui Garden home, this place naturally became their secret base for the six of them.
After washing his hands, Xu Qingfan was seated by the girls, who didn’t allow him to do any work, just waited for the dishes to be served at the dining table.
"This potato dish must have been made by Wu Lingyu, but what about this blackish braised pork? Don’t tell me you made it?" Xu Qingfan pointed at a dish of braised pork that clearly had too much dark soy sauce added, looking at Xia Xiaoxiao.
Xia Xiaoxiao was irritated, but when she caught sight of the not much better-looking scrambled eggs with leeks beside her, the girl chose to remain silent.
"Eh yay~ Brother Qing Fan, that was made by me and Yiyi, Xiao Xiao made the dish next to it!" Lin Wanning covered her face shyly with her hands, but her eyes were wide open, watching Xu Qingfan intently.
"Hehe~ Brother Fan, I made the boiled shrimp, isn’t this carrot flower pretty?" Xiao Ruawen pointed to the beautifully plated boiled shrimp.
"Let’s eat, when it comes to cooking, being delicious is what counts most, what to start with..." Xu Qingfan held his chopsticks in the air, his face showing hesitation about where to start eating.
All five girls watched eagerly, hoping Xu Qingfan would taste the dish they had made first.
"Let’s have a strawberry to clear the palate first!" To their surprise, he abruptly changed the topic and picked up a strawberry from the fruit plate.
"Brother Fan, how could you!"
"Brother Qing Fan, you’re teasing us!"
Without saying another word, Xia Xiaoxiao stood up and walked into the kitchen, coming back with a large stainless steel bowl in hand and "plop" set it down in front of him.
The girls didn’t understand what Xia Xiaoxiao was planning until they saw her transfer the scrambled eggs with leeks she made into the bowl.
The other girls brightened up and followed suit, and soon the stainless steel bowl in front of them built up into a small mountain.
"Er... actually..." Xu Qingfan wanted to say that he had just eaten four meat buns and wasn’t very hungry, but when he saw the look the five girls gave him, he closed his mouth again.
He simply covered the rice in his porcelain bowl with the massive mix in the steel basin and began scarfing down the meal.
"Not bad, it’s delicious!" After trying a bit of everything, Xu Qingfan gave a thumbs-up and praised them.
