NOVPUB"Do we not have to go together?" Xiao Ruawen asked curiously.
"Yeah, aren’t we going to catch the bad guys together?" Lin Wanning showed an innocent and cute look in her eyes.
Xu Qingfan’s forehead turned dark, he grabbed the girl’s hair and smacked her on the back of the head.
"Thanks to Uncle Xiaohai for your trouble, we’ll head home first, so as not to delay your work," Xu Qingfan waved goodbye to Fang Xiaohai.
"Yep, be safe on your way," Fang Xiaohai was still busy with police work, he saw them out of the station and then went back in.
"Wah wah wah~ Brother Qing Fan, why did you hit me just now!" Lin Wanning held her head with both hands, saying in a pitiful tone.
"You want to join in on everything. What if the swindler finds out it was us who called the police and comes after us for revenge when they get out!" Xu Qingfan glared at her fiercely.
"That’s true, huh!" Lin Wanning gaped, as if she had just realized this fact.
"Hahaha..." Nobody could hold back and they all burst into laughter at her reaction.
"Where are we going now?" After the laughter, Xiao Ruawen asked.
"It’s almost ten, let’s go to the market first to buy some groceries for lunch, watch some TV at home, and in the afternoon we’ll think of somewhere to go when Yu gets back," he said.
"Oh~ Right, my mom asked me to invite you guys over for lunch, I almost forgot!" With the mention of lunch, Xiao Ruawen suddenly remembered what her mom had reminded her before leaving the house.
"Then let’s go!" Xu Qingfan held his head high, signaling her to lead the way.
"Are we going back so soon?" Xiao Ruawen had just sneaked out and didn’t want to return home so quickly.
"Let’s go, we’ve known each other for so long and I haven’t even visited your house," Xu Qingfan pushed Xiao Ruawen to move forward.
Because they felt uneasy with adults around when they hung out, they generally gathered at Xu Qingfan or Lin Wanning’s place, and now that they had bought a house next to the school, they just directly met up at their secret base.
They had never been to Xiao Ruawen’s place since her grandparents were usually at home.
"Yeah, we’ve never been to the class leader’s house!"
"Alright then~" Xiao Ruawen’s home was tidied up nicely, so she wouldn’t be embarrassed to have friends visit.
After buying two pounds of fresh mangosteens from a nearby fruit stand, Xu Qingfan carried the bag and followed Xiao Ruawen home.
Soon, the five of them arrived at an old-style residential complex that showed its age, following Xiao Ruawen up to the fifth floor.
Just as she was about to take out her keys, the second door opened from the inside.
"Grandpa," Xiao Ruawen looked up to see it was her grandpa and politely nodded in greeting.
"Hello, Grandpa." They also greeted him.
"You must be Er Ya’s classmates, come in and sit," Xiao Lijian said with a kind smile.
"Pfft~ Yes, hello, Grandpa!" They struggled to hold back their laughter, nodding vigorously.
Xiao Ruawen covered her forehead, feeling the urge to live on another planet, as her secret pet name that she had concealed for twelve years was finally out.
"Hello, Grandma!" Once inside, an elderly grandma with half-white hair was watching opera on the TV.
"Hello, young students, you’re welcome to visit Er Ya’s home, Grandma will get you something to eat!" Xiao Ruawen’s grandmother spoke with vigor, not needing any assistance to get up.
"Grandma, where’s mom?" Xiao Ruawen got shoes for everyone and after looking around the living room without seeing her mother, she asked.
"She went to buy groceries and should be back soon. Grandma made water chestnut cake herself, try it, kids, it’s delicious!" She took a box of water chestnut cake from the refrigerator and handed it to Xu Qingfan.
"Thank you, Grandma." Xu Qingfan nodded politely.
Meeting Xiao Ruawen’s grandparents for the first time, the four of them felt a bit awkward, sitting up straight in the living room, watching the opera on TV which they didn’t understand.
"It’s Xiao Fan, right? Come and look at this character I wrote!" Xiao Lijian was practicing calligraphy with a brush on the balcony and, remembering the couplets Xu Qingfan wrote for them each year, he signaled for him to come over.
"Ah?... Okay."
Xiao Ruawen covered her mouth to stifle a laugh and quickly pulled Xia Xiaoxiao, Lin Wanning, and Zhang Yiyi back to her room.
"Pfft~" Xu Qingfan had assumed that an elderly person who still practiced calligraphy would be good at it, but he almost burst out laughing when he saw the scribbles that were supposed to be characters.
"Such a spirited piece of cursive script, from afar it resembles Zhang Zhi, and up close, Wang Xizhi, grandpa really is talented!" Xu Qingfan adjusted his facial muscles, his face not turning red nor his heart skipping a beat as he raised his thumb in praise.
"The kid knows his stuff, I’ve been writing cursive script for over a decade, and it all started with imitating Zhang Zhi and Wang Xizhi!" Xiao Lijian said with a laugh, stroking his beard.
"Old fart, have some shame, the dogs back home piss in the dirt and it looks better than your writing!" Xiao Ruawen’s grandmother couldn’t hold back her swearing after hearing her husband’s shameless boasting.
"Go sing your opera, what would you know about a scholar’s pursuits!" Xiao Lijian retorted in annoyance.
"Pah!"
Xu Qingfan: ...
"Come here, kid, let’s not bother with him, take another look at this piece of mine, it’s my pride and joy!" Xiao Lijian pulled out another mounted piece of writing from his box for Xu Qingfan to see. n𝚘𝚟𝚙𝚞𝚋.𝚌o𝚖
"Tsk tsk tsk—the form and style of the characters, all created with a single brush, occasionally disconnected yet the essence flows uninterrupted, wonderful, wonderful!" Xu Qingfan applauded and praised.
"Hahaha!" Xiao Lijian, feeling old yet gratified, handed Xu Qingfan a brush, "Come on, you write the character ’zhi’, let grandpa give you some pointers!"
"Okay... okay..." Xu Qingfan took the brush and carelessly wrote the character ’zhi’.
"No no, this won’t do, your writing is not good, you should do it this way, listen to grandpa..." Xiao Lijian immediately started to critique and instruct.
After being tormented for over an hour, Xiao Ruawen’s mother finally finished preparing lunch.
"Everyone, come out for lunch!" Zhao YueMin called out after placing the last dish on the table.
"Grandpa, let’s eat first," Xu Qingfan awkwardly pointed towards the direction of the dining table and said.
"Okay, Xiao Fan, you have a natural talent for cursive script, let’s continue after we eat!" Xiao Lijian, with his emotional needs vented, said laughingly.
"Umm..."
"Brother Fan, you’ve finished practicing your writing!" Xiao Ruawen heard the call and pulled her three younger sisters out of their room,
"Learn from your classmate, not a trace of delicacy in a girl’s house, complaining of tiredness after just half an hour of writing!" Xiao Lijian patted Xu Qingfan on the shoulder and then sat at the head of the table after washing his hands.
Xiao Ruawen playfully stuck out her tongue and ignored her grandfather, picking up a piece of squid with her chopsticks and popping it into her mouth.
"Ah~"
"No manners!" Xiao Lijian turned his chopsticks upside down to hit his granddaughter’s hand and patted the stool next to him, signaling Xu Qingfan to come sit, "Xiao Fan, come sit next to grandpa!"
"Alright!"
Obviously, if this were a battle to win over the old father-in-law, Xu Qingfan had already completely won over Xiao Ruawen’s grandfather.
Because she had invited her daughter’s classmate over, Zhao YueMin prepared a very lavish lunch—spiral shells, little green dragons, stir-fried squid with Dutch beans, chicken and pig stomach soup... it was almost like celebrating the New Year.
[Paparazzi have spotted Zhou Huimin and a mysterious man trying on wedding dresses, is the pure girl sect leader getting married? Let’s have a look!] Facing the TV, after the opera was finished, Xiao Ruawen turned the channel to Jade Channel; they were airing the midday news, with the host speaking in Cantonese.
"Nonsense, even a performer’s gossip can make the news, change the channel, Er Ya!" Xiao Lijian furrowed his brows and shouted at Xiao Ruawen.
"Oh!" The young girl shrugged and switched the TV to CCTV Channel One.
After the brief interlude, the family continued to enjoy a noisy lunch.
"How about it, is auntie’s cooking delicious, or is Xiao Fan’s cooking better?" Seeing her daughter’s classmate tucking into the meal, Zhao YueMin asked with a sly smile.
"Auntie’s is delicious!" The three girls, with high emotional intelligence, said in unison.
"Hahaha, if it’s good, eat more! Xiao Fan’s cooking is also very good; I’ll come over and mooch off you guys some other day!" Zhao YueMin was charmed by their flattery and broke into a smile.
"You are welcome to come over anytime, auntie!"
After lunch, the girls helped to clear the table as if they were at home, Xu Qingfan wanted to help, but.
"Xiao Fan, let’s continue, we’ve only discussed six of the eight ways to write ’zhi’!" Xiao Lijian said with a friendly smile, patting Xu Qingfan’s shoulder.
He instantly made a bitter face, and all four girls covered their mouths to stifle their laughter upon seeing it.
"Here we go...."
