NOVPUBA cold front passed through, and Hong Kong was hit with a significant drop in temperature.
With the temperature at only three degrees Celsius, Xu Qingfan shivered uncontrollably, and even his usually solitary little brother crawled into his quilt.
Sure, the air conditioning could also provide heat, but the air it blew was too stuffy, and he could only tolerate it for a short while.
Moreover, sleeping in on a cold day was a supreme delight, and using the heater just didn’t have the same ambiance.
He slept until after ten in the morning, his stomach growling with hunger, but he still clung to the bed, unwilling to get up.
Lying in bed, he scrolled through his phone for a while; soon, he heard "tap tap tap" footsteps at the door.
Just by the sound, Xu Qingfan knew it was Xia Xiaoxiao. He reluctantly picked up the remote control by the bed and turned on the air conditioning.
"Xu Qingfan, are you still not getting up!" As soon as her words ended, the bedroom door was twisted open by the girl.
"Can you have some sense of boundaries? What if I was changing in here?" He poked his head out from the quilt and gave Xia Xiaoxiao a disdainful look.
"Pssh, skinny arms and skinny legs, what’s good looking about that!" The girl sat down on the bed unconcerned, and upon seeing the little brother popping out his head, she excitedly said, "Little brother~ why are you here?"
"Meow~"
"Is it too cold?" Xia Xiaoxiao talked face to face with the cat.
"Meow!"
"Want some dried fish?"
"Meow!!"
Seeing that Xia Xiaoxiao was about to speak again, Xu Qingfan said irritably, "Can you stop tormenting it? Our little brother urgently needs to use the toilet, he can’t hold it in. Hurry up and let him go, or he’ll end up peeing in my room!"
Sure enough, as soon as Xia Xiaoxiao let go, the white cat leaped off the bed and dashed out in a hundred-meter sprint.
"A bad influence corrupts good character, little brother is learning bad habits hanging around you!" Xia Xiaoxiao was embarrassed for a moment but quickly threw the blame onto him.
"How about you go buy the groceries alone? I’ll cook when you get back." The heater had just started, and the room’s temperature hadn’t risen yet, so Xu Qingfan’s difficulty in getting out of bed persisted.
"No way, I’m craving lamb stew. You come with me to buy lamb chops; I don’t know how to choose." Xia Xiaoxiao rubbed her somewhat cold hands, and finding it ineffective, simply shoved her hands under the quilt.
Perhaps it was luck, but her small hand found its way straight under Xu Qingfan’s pajama top, and placing both hands on his stomach to warm up felt incredibly comfortable.
"Hiss~ Are you trying to kill me, Xia Xiaoxiao!" Xu Qingfan recoiled like a shrimp, startled by the cold.
"Hmph~ If you don’t get up, I’ll just keep them there!" After being dodged, the girl put her hands back on his back.
Xia Xiaoxiao pretended to be perfectly calm on the surface, but in her heart, she felt quite shy, especially since she had unexpectedly touched the well-defined eight-pack abs a moment ago.
Every time Xu Qingfan walked around the house shirtless, she would act disdainful and turn her head away, although she always stole glances from the corner of her eye.
Xu Qingfan’s physique was that kind that appeared slim when clothed but muscular when undressed, his properly proportioned muscles didn’t repel girls, paired with a face that had well-defined features yet still retained a youthful innocence—it was downright unfair!
All five of the girls had experienced this, so they strictly forbade Xu Qingfan from taking off his shirt while playing basketball at school.
"Hurry up and get up, it’s eleven o’clock. If we go too late, all the good lamb will be gone!" After her hands got warm, Xia Xiaoxiao turned into a pile driver and kept pushing him to get out of bed relentlessly.
"I really want to move out, far away from you," Xu Qingfan, unable to endure the torment any longer, stretched out a hand and dragged the clothes from the headboard into the quilt.
As soon as she heard this, Xia Xiaoxiao suddenly felt unhappy, a sense of loss from being rejected by someone she cared about swirling at the tip of her heart, and she didn’t feel like saying anything anymore.
[I’m just trying to get you up for breakfast, dead man, stinky dog, bad dog, slobbering dog. I’m never buying you breakfast again!!!]
Seeing that Xia Xiaoxiao hadn’t spoken for quite a while, Xu Qingfan suddenly thought: Could it be that Xia Xiaoxiao is angry? Can’t she tell that what I just said was sarcastic?
"Hey," he said as he got up and nudged her.
"What do you want!" The girl, as if loaded with gunpowder, yelled fiercely.
"I was just joking earlier, you didn’t take it seriously, did you? You didn’t, right?" He knew from his long association with Xia Xiaoxiao that the more he apologized in this odd and eerie manner, the quicker she would cool down.
"Xu Qingfan, have you no shame? I was just wondering what to eat for lunch!"
"Oh, is that so? Seems I worried for nothing." He put on his shoes as if nothing had happened and walked out of the bedroom. 𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘱𝘶𝘣.𝘤𝘰𝑚
Watching the lousy dog’s back, Xia Xiaoxiao bared her teeth fiercely, [Once I move, I’ll ask Auntie for the keys and bother you for a lifetime!]
After freshening up and coming out of the bathroom, Xia Xiaoxiao somehow produced two breakfasts out of nowhere: steamed buns and soy milk, both ’piping hot.’
"When did you buy these, and how come they’re still so hot?" Xu Qingfan asked as the two of them ate breakfast on their way to buy groceries.
"I kept them warm in the rice cooker, saved some for you because I couldn’t finish," said Xia Xiaoxiao, offering him the last two buns as she used to do when she was younger.
In the moment he took the buns, he suddenly felt a bit dazed, finding it hard to tell whether the Xia Xiaoxiao in front of him was from this life or the previous one.
"Do you want them or not?" Seeing Xu Qingfan standing still and daydreaming, the girl looked up and asked.
"Your appetite really has never changed," Xu Qingfan came back to his senses and smiled as he accepted the steamed buns.
[Who cares!]
The two bought all the ingredients needed for a lamb stew at the market, and Xu Qingfan pointed at the black hairs on the lamb leg to explain to the girl, "You see these black hairs? This is from a black goat, make sure to buy this kind when you get lamb."
After explaining, he turned to the vendor and said, "Boss, I’ll take four pounds of the front rack, and those lamb kidneys as well."
It’s the dead of winter, time to nourish the body properly!
"Alright, young man, you know your stuff," the vendor glanced at Xia Xiaoxiao next to him and gave a sleazy smile that all men understand.
Without bothering to offer any explanation, Xu Qingfan let the vendor handle the meat, paid, and then pulled Xia Xiaoxiao away with him.
"What was that sheep meat vendor laughing about just now?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked on the way back.
"He was just envious to see a beauty by my side, what else could he be laughing about," Xu Qingfan shrugged.
"Psh~ Don’t think I don’t know, it’s definitely that kind of thing again. Those lamb kidneys you bought are for strengthening the kidneys, Xu Qingfan, do you have kidney deficiency?"
The girl looked at him with an all-knowing, wise expression, only to be hit on the head by Xu Qingfan the very next second.
"Xu Qingfan, are you trying to kill me!"
Seeing Xu Qingfan raise his hand again, Xia Xiaoxiao quickly covered her head with both hands.
"You should spend less time on those online forums, knowing too much is only going to hurt you," he said, feeling helpless with this Xia Xiaoxiao, who had somehow become so dirty-minded this lifetime.
Where had the cool, white-skinned, top-student girl from his previous life gone?
Walking silently on the pavement, Xia Xiaoxiao suddenly whispered in his ear, "I won’t despise you, that’s not a big deal."
"Xia Xiaoxiao!"
"I heard that soaking your feet can help alleviate it, you should try it when you get back!" The girl finished speaking and bolted away.
PS: Additional chapter for monthly votes (1/4)
