NOVPUBAt five o’clock in the afternoon, Xu Qingfan’s alarm clock rang.
The two woke up to the sound of Zhang Yunjing’s "Prefer," their pupils clear in the light and shadow, revealing the sight of each other.
The sky outside was still overcast, and because the curtains had been drawn before sleep, the room was pitch dark.
"Ha~" Xu Qingfan yawned tiredly, having slept for almost three hours; the longer he slept for his nap, the more exhausted he felt.
He bumped his head against Lin Wanning’s, saying, "Alright, let me go, it’s time to get up."
"Don’t wanna!" Lin Wanning, acting like a little girl whining to her dad, buried her head into his chest and rubbed vigorously.
If Lin Qiaoshan saw this, he’d probably faint on the bed, screaming for his wife to bring the kitchen knife!
"Not obeying, huh? If you don’t listen, I won’t give you a massage next time." He withdrew his hand, which had been resting on the girl’s stomach for who knows how long, and smacked her butt hard.
"Ouch~ Brother Qing Fan is bullying me." Lin Wanning sniffed his pleasant scent a bit more before reluctantly letting go of him.
He got up, dressed, turned on the room’s light and air conditioning, and then sat back down on the bed to ask, "Does your stomach still feel uncomfortable?"
Lin Wanning paused to feel, no longer sensing any pain, she smiled and said, "It’s gone, my stomach stopped hurting after Brother Qing Fan massaged it."
"Good to hear that. These next few days you must avoid cold, spicy food, better not to eat chocolate either, and don’t drink cold beverages."
"I got it~ Brother Qing Fan, you’re such a nagging old man." The girl mimicked the accent of an amusement prince as she spoke.
Xu Qingfan glared at her and suddenly remembered something, saying, "You need to change your sanitary pad, or it will breed bacteria."
"Brother Qing Fan, you change it for me!" Lin Wanning blurted out without thinking.
Xu Qingfan eyed her sideways, making the girl realize her blunder and stick out her tongue in embarrassment; that was something Brother Qing Fan couldn’t really help with.
"Just kidding~ Brother Qing Fan, don’t be mad!" Lin Wanning said playfully.
"Go change it," Xu Qingfan said, both amused and exasperated, as he glanced at her.
"Okay!" The girl got dressed and scurried into the bathroom.
She knew how to change a sanitary pad, so she immediately filled the sink with hot water and sat on the toilet to take off her pants.
But when she saw that even the unwrapped part of the sanitary pad was dirty, she opened her mouth in confusion, wondering if her mother had bought counterfeit products?
After all, when Zhang Yiyi first changed her pad, Lin Wanning helped her, and remembered that all she had to do was wipe the touched part clean, roll it up, and throw it in the trash, then simply put on a new one.
[Why are my pants wet too?] The girl was puzzled.
"Brother Qing Fan!" The next second, Lin Wanning called for backup.
"What’s wrong?" Xu Qingfan ran to the bathroom door upon hearing her voice.
"My underwear is dirty; can you get me a new pair from my room, in the middle drawer at the bottom of the wardrobe?" Since Xu Qingfan sometimes helped wash their underwear, Lin Wanning wasn’t shy about it.
"Just wait." Xu Qingfan quickly returned with the panties and handed them to the girl inside.
Lin Wanning didn’t take long to change and wash her hands before coming out of the bathroom, and the two returned to the living room together.
"Brother Qing Fan, it’s still raining outside, do you want to stay for dinner? I can ask Dad to drive you home when the rain stops." Lin Wanning sipped on the brown sugar water Xu Qingfan had made her, inviting him while blowing on her drink.
Xu Qingfan glanced at the window; the rain wasn’t too heavy, but the accumulated water was a bother, as stepping out would mean wet shoes, which would be uncomfortable.
Just as he was about to agree to Wanning, his phone rang at the same time, and it felt like déjà vu.
It was a call from the home landline. Xu Qingfan picked up and immediately heard Xia Xiaoxiao’s chilly voice: "Auntie is asking if you’re coming back for dinner!"
"Um..." Only then did he remember that he had promised Xia Xiaoxiao he’d be home for dinner before he left.
"’Um’ what? Speak up!"
"Eat up, have Mom cook for you... Hello, hello?"
"Hmph!" Xu Qingfan hadn’t even finished speaking when Xia Xiaoxiao had already hung up the phone.
"This Xia Xiaoxiao." He stared at the ended call, speechless for quite a while.
"Brother Fan, are you leaving?" Lin Wanning clutched at his sleeve with an expression that showed she didn’t want him to leave.
"I’ll leave after your dad and mom get back," he said, ruffling the girl’s hair with a smile.
"Okay!" Being able to spend more time alone with Brother Fan made Lin Wanning very satisfied.
The two of them watched TV in the living room. Xu Qingfan habitually opened QQ to check if there were any missed messages.
At the top of the friends list prominently was Xia Xiaoxiao’s avatar, with twelve red dots indicating there were twelve unread messages.
He clicked on the avatar to open the chat window. At 14:50, Xia Xiaoxiao asked:
[Have you arrived? Is Wanning okay?]
With no one replying, and half an hour later, at 15:20, she asked again:
[Xu Qingfan, what are you doing?]
[Hello! Talk to me!]
However, at that time, he and Lin Wanning were sleeping, so naturally, he didn’t reply to her.
More than an hour later, at around 16:50, the girl sent another message:
[Auntie is asking when you’re coming home!]
[Dead person, smelly dog, talk to me!]
[Liar dog!]
[Smelly idiot Xu Qingfan!]
After hurling numerous insults at him, the girl finally left three angry and knife emoji stickers.
Xu Qingfan nearly laughed out loud. This Xia Xiaoxiao seemed more and more like a fawning dog, although the flavor was a bit off.
He typed out a message and then deleted it, eventually sending only a simple one:
[On my way back.]
Luckily Xia Xiaoxiao hadn’t blocked him, and the message successfully went through.
As for why he said ’on my way back’ but hadn’t actually set off yet—it wasn’t the rain and waiting for a taxi, was it? Anyway, there were plenty of excuses. Why not tell a white lie, right?
"Brother Fan, I’m hungry!"
"Still hungry after drinking brown sugar water?"
"Hungry!" Lin Wanning’s words had barely left her mouth when her stomach cooperated by growling on cue.
Embarrassed, the girl blushed while Xu Qingfan couldn’t help but laugh. "Your uncle and auntie really, they can’t finish making money, could they not come back earlier to cook? I’ll make you some noodles," he said.
"Hehe, great!"
There were noodles in the fridge. Xu Qingfan simply cooked a fried egg in clear broth with noodles. Not long after the two finished eating, Wen Wanqing and Lin Qiaoshan came back together.
When Wen Wanqing found out her daughter was feeling unwell and had her period, and that Xu Qingfan had specially come over to take care of her, she expressed her gratitude. However, Lin Qiaoshan felt rather displeased inside.
[Can’t you call Dad if you’re not feeling well? Dad can come back to take care of you too, you know!]
After picking up the strawberries and cherries that Wen Wanqing had thanked him with, Lin Qiaoshan drove him home.
