NOVPUB"Mom, look, do you still feel uncomfortable?" After her husband and Xu Qingfan had left, Wen Wanqing hugged her daughter and asked.
"Hehe, not at all, Mom. Brother Qing Fan gave me a massage and also some brown sugar water, and then the pain completely went away," Lin Wanning said proudly while being held by her mother.
"Xiao Fan knows how to do that too?" Wen Wanqing found it quite novel.
"Absolutely, Brother Qing Fan can do housework, cook, give massages, get good grades, and also write songs and comics, he’s amazing!" Lin Wanning counted these talents off on her fingers to her mother boastfully.
"And furthermore, Brother Qing Fan doesn’t smoke or drink. Some boys at our school hide in the bathrooms to smoke, and it smells awful when I walk by. Brother Qing Fan smells wonderful, and he even has six-pack abs!"
Wen Wanqing watched her daughter’s eyes sparkle as she talked about Xu Qingfan, feeling both helpless and amused. But the more she listened, the more bizarre it seemed, thinking, ’What’s this about smelling wonderful and six-pack abs?’
She narrowed her eyes at her daughter and asked, "Does our Ningning like Xiao Fan?"
"Of course not... no way, Brother Qing Fan is just a brother, and he says that middle schoolers shouldn’t date and should focus on their studies!" Lin Wanning stuttered at first but quickly corrected herself.
Wen Wanqing just smiled and did not expose her daughter’s poor acting. Moreover, she quite liked the kid Xu Qingfan, not to mention that he had also helped their family’s clothing factory through tough times.
[If it were Xiao Fan, he should be able to handle it... It’s just that he has too many female classmates around him.] Wen Wanqing couldn’t help but think the same.
"So it’s a brotherly affection, huh." She patted her daughter’s back and then said, "Mom’s going to cook now, I’ll make you something delicious."
"Mmm!" Lin Wanning nodded vigorously, secretly pleased with her own quick wits.
Meanwhile, Xu Qingfan, who had just returned home, was also having a tough time.
"Humph!" From the moment she entered the house, Xia Xiaoxiao turned her head away, not showing a welcoming face.
"Xiao Fan is back! Dinner’s not ready yet. What’s that you’re carrying in your hand?" Just then, Lin Jing stepped out of the kitchen and asked curiously, seeing the gift bag in Xu Qingfan’s hand.
"This? Cherries and strawberries. You know, our family has that big cherry fan," he said, referring to Xia Xiaoxiao.
"Oh, so it’s for Xiaoxiao, huh? Sweetie, aren’t you going to thank Xiao Fan?" Lin Jing teased with a smile.
"I don’t even like cherries, why should it matter to me?" Xia Xiaoxiao said defensively, arms crossed.
Lin Jing realized the two had fought again over something trivial but knew they were used to their frequent little spats and big fights. She just shook her head and returned to the kitchen.
"So there’s someone who doesn’t like cherries, huh? Perfect, I’ll eat more myself. These are triple-A graded fruits," Xu Qingfan said as he sat on the couch, pulled out a cherry from the gift box that was almost as big as three and a half fingers.
Xia Xiaoxiao involuntarily glanced at the cherry in the "Smelly Dog’s" hand but turned her head away again when she saw his taunting smirk. 𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑝𝑢𝘣.𝘤𝑜𝘮
"Humph!"
Two lifetimes together, knowing Xia Xiaoxiao’s personality well, he felt as if he could see above her head: Xia Xiaoxiao Capture Progress 10%.
"It started raining when I went there. I accidentally dropped my phone, and because there was water on the road, I was afraid it might explode, so I turned it off. When I got to Wanning’s place, I dried my phone and didn’t turn it on until five o’clock," Xu Qingfan lied effortlessly, admiring his own cunning.
"Oh, was anything wrong with Wanning?" The naive Xia Xiaoxiao clearly believed him and asked.
"She was having menstrual pain. When I arrived, her face was all pale with pain, so I massaged her for a while, and after she had some brown sugar water, it wasn’t so bad. It’s just that she doesn’t exercise much and loves cold drinks," Xu Qingfan explained.
"Oh... how was Wanning after that?" Xia Xiaoxiao suddenly felt guilty; she had gotten angry without any reason, and the "Smelly Dog" must have thought her unreasonable.
[How could I think like that about Wanning this afternoon? She’s my good friend; my first thought should have been concern, not suspicion. Ah, I’m not a bad woman...]
The more Xia Xiaoxiao thought about it, the more guilty she felt, wishing she could hide in a corner and slap herself.
The girl was clearly duped already, and she believed every word Xu Qingfan said.
"How would I know? I haven’t even had my period yet. Anyway, she wasn’t in pain anymore when I left. I don’t know if it will come back tomorrow."
"Hmm, if she still feels unwell tomorrow, I’ll go with you," Xia Xiaoxiao said.
Xu Qingfan gave her a suspicious look, not understanding why Xia Xiaoxiao had suddenly become so agreeable, "Sure, we can play League of Legends at Wanning’s house then."
The North American server of League of Legends had been out for a while, and Xu Qingfan’s favorite thing was to drag a few girls to team up for five-player matches. He would jungle, Xia Xiaoxiao would take mid, Xiao Ruawen would top, Zhang Yiyi and Lin Wanning would go bot lane.
As for Wu Lingyu, her biggest pleasure was sitting next to Xu Qingfan and watching them play games. She was one of the earliest live-stream viewers.
Xia Xiaoxiao glared at him, thinking, [Really, what a klutz, always just thinking about playing games. Can’t we go shopping together!?]
"Then what?"
"What then?" Xu Qingfan asked puzzledly.
"You gave her a massage, and then what?"
"Then Lin Wanning went back to her room for a nap, and I slept at her house too," Xu Qingfan stated truthfully.
"Did you sleep together?" the girl asked again.
"What are you thinking? Her house is a big mansion with many rooms, not like my house which only has two rooms."
Xia Xiaoxiao, covering the spot where she had just been hit, said annoyed, "Who knows with you."
After saying that, she ignored Xu Qingfan and bent down to pick up some cherries, running into the bathroom to wash and eat them.
[Xia Xiaoxiao is so easy to placate.]
Xu Qingfan just smiled and said nothing more. Although he had no intention of manipulating Xia Xiaoxiao, deceiving girls had indeed become much easier for him in this life.
Not long after, Xu’s dad came home and during dinner, he brought up a funny story he heard while driving passengers today.
"Do you know? This year Valentine’s Day falls on the same day as Chinese New Year. What a coincidence."
"Oh? Dad, are you thinking of going on a road trip with mom or just spending time as a couple? Don’t worry about me, I can take care of myself," Xu Qingfan said, pausing as he picked up some vegetables with his chopsticks.
"Huh? How did you know I was planning to take your mom on a road trip to the salt lake?"
"Is it the salt lake where we first met?" Yao Jinping was obviously kept in the dark and asked in surprise.
"Yeah, what do you think? We, as an old married couple, might as well learn from the youngsters and go on a spontaneous trip!" Xu Aiguo said with a grin.
"Sure, we haven’t gone in so many years," Yao Jinping responded with a radiant smile.
"It’s not..."
"Shut up!" The couple said in unison.
Xu Qingfan: ???
Turns out I’m the joke?
