NOVPUBTo celebrate the first official day of school, they wandered around the market for a long time until everyone’s hands were full of bags, then they made their way back to their secret base.
"Grilled chicken wings~ I love to eat them." Lin Wanning, as on many past occasions, hopped and skipped along at the front, humming an unrecognizable song.
When they returned home, Little White was inexplicably already tied up at the door, probably Lin Qiaoshan or Wen Wanqing had been over in the afternoon.
"Little White!"
"When did you get here, Little White?"
Several girls took turns teasing the white dog as Xu Qingfan shook his head and took out his keys to open the door.
As he opened the door, he found many big and small bags on the living room coffee table. Upon opening them, there were oranges and bananas, all seasonal fruits.
After putting away the groceries in the kitchen and opening the refrigerator, he found it stuffed with various vegetables and fruits— it looked like they wouldn’t need to shop for the next couple of days.
Before long, Wu Lingyu came in wearing an apron to help, and the familiar sound of the television drifted from the living room. This was the feeling, a homey atmosphere.
A few young women took turns checking on the meal’s progress in the kitchen. When it was Xia Xiaoxiao’s turn, Wu Lingyu tilted her head and asked, "Xiao Xiao, do you want to give Brother Fan a hand? Last time you said you wanted to learn to cook."
Obviously, Wu Lingyu still remembered the incident at Lianhua Courtyard the day before yesterday; she wanted to go help the aunt out, but Xia Xiaoxiao had said she wanted to learn to cook instead, telling her to rest in the living room.
Xia Xiaoxiao blinked her eyes, clearly remembering that day’s events, and thought to herself: I just wanted to accompany the auntie to make her like me more, what’s the point of helping this stinky dog cook and getting scolded for it!
She smiled and shook her head, "You being here is just fine, Yu. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’d just get on someone’s nerves with my clumsiness!" After speaking, she even gave Xu Qingfan a glare.
"Hoh~ so someone does have some self-awareness after all." Xu Qingfan poured a bottle of rice wine into the wok. As he tossed the contents, a flames soared up several dozen centimeters high. He spoke without turning his head.
"Hmph~" Xia Xiaoxiao bared her teeth at him and closed the door again as she went out.
Dinner was ready before long, a lavish spread of six dishes and a soup, with Orleans grilled chicken wings being taken out of the oven last, immediately filling the room with the aroma of barbecued meat.
"Wow~ my grilled chicken wings!" Lin Wanning couldn’t wait to poke at the wings on the baking tray with her chopsticks. Once the wings didn’t stick to it anymore, she swiftly snatched them into her bowl.
Their family meals didn’t have the kind of ceremonial feeling depicted in Japanese dramas, where everyone had to wait until everyone was seated before saying "Let’s eat" to start the meal. As long as everyone arrived in the living room, they could start eating.
"Physics is so hard in the second year of junior high. I got a headache just flipping through a few pages, and don’t even get me started on math!" While eating, Xiao Ruawen couldn’t help but complain, shaking her head as she spoke, clearly in real pain.
"Yeah, I wonder if we can still make it to the top six in our grade this term!" Lin Wanning, putting down her half-eaten chicken wing, asserted with determination.
Obviously, regardless of how difficult the subjects got, receiving awards onstage with Brother Qing Fan was a goal she was determined to achieve.
But this wasn’t actually a very difficult task, because the quality of education resources and teachers in Li City weren’t very strong compared to Hong Kong’s junior high schools.
All Lin Wanning and Xiao Ruawen needed to do was try to score as high as possible in other subjects. Even if they got just over seventy in physics and only a hundred and ten in math, their total score would still make it into the top six of their grade.
It just showed up in the overall score that there was a stark difference of several tens of points between them and the first tier, where Xu Qingfan and his peers were.
"Then you’ll have to work even harder this term," Xu Qingfan said as he placed two peeled shrimp from his bowl into theirs, encouraging them.
"Hehe~ thanks, Brother Fan."
"Yes, Brother Qing Fan, I’ll definitely work hard!" Lin Wanning nodded earnestly.
Xia Xiaoxiao imperceptibly pouted, catching sight of another peeled shrimp in his bowl with the corner of her eye, and with a swift movement of her chopsticks, snatched it into her own bowl.
"Damn it~ Xia Xiaoxiao, I’m really impressed with you." Xu Qingfan had been about to eat when his chopsticks grasped at air. It was only when he looked down that he realized the shrimp had already found its way into the girl’s mouth.
"Thanks." Xia Xiaoxiao smirked arrogantly, proudly shrugging her shoulders.
Xu Qingfan rolled his eyes at her again, then decided to be equally generous, peeling another two shrimp and placing them respectively into Wu Lingyu and Zhang Yiyi’s bowls.
"Thanks, Brother Fan."
"Thanks, Brother."
All five girls enjoyed the shrimp Xu Qingfan peeled for them, finding them even tastier than usual.
Midway through the meal, Xu Qingfan suddenly remembered the confrontation with Ruan Wen’s great-aunt from the day before.
Afterwards, he had felt some regret; after all, it happened at Ruan Wen’s house. There’s a saying about respecting the owner before beating the dog, and speaking ill of someone’s relative like that was naturally very impolite.
Xu Qingfan, given his emotional intelligence, would certainly not make such a low-level mistake, but he just couldn’t stand that great-aunt’s disdainful and contemptuous look when she looked at Xiao Ruawen, and in the heat of the moment, he retorted.
All five girls had been pampered by him since they were little, and he himself couldn’t bear to see them suffer the slightest grievance, let alone from outsiders.
Truth be told, Xu Qingfan really doted on all five as if they were his daughters and younger sisters, fulfilling the dream he had in his previous life when looking at his "little sister."
Of course, he didn’t harbor any improper thoughts, at least not at this current stage.
"Xiao Ruawen was right, how did things turn out with your great-aunt yesterday? I was a bit impulsive then, so I owe you an apology," Xu Qingfan said as he put down his chopsticks and looked at Xiao Ruawen.
"Pfft~" Xiao Ruawen coquettishly rolled her eyes at him and said, "Brother Fan, what are you talking about? I won’t allow you to talk down about yourself!"
Xu Qingfan tilted his head in confusion, blinking as he waited for her to continue; the other four girls also stopped eating, anticipating Xiao Ruawen’s next words.
"I should be thanking you, Brother Fan, what apology!" She complained, "That great-aunt was so annoying. She’s disliked my mom since I was little, saying my mom looks like a vixen or something. I actually hate her too!"
"Ah?" After exchanging glances, everyone looked back at Xiao Ruawen, waiting for the juicy details to continue.
"In our family, only my dad was successful. My great-aunt wanted to arrange a marriage for him, but he was already with my mom, so he refused. Basically, it’s all sorts of messed up situations."
"And then there’s my cousin, my cousin is quite nice actually, good to me too, but she seems to be, you know," Xiao Ruawen pointed to her own head, "not very bright. I heard when I was small, she wanted to join some sort of Starlight Avenue talent show, and she borrowed a lot of money from our family, which she hasn’t paid back even now."
The group listened with relish to the gossip, and their rice suddenly seemed less appetizing.
"Oh, I get it now!" Lin Wanning suddenly spoke up.
Everyone turned their gazes to her, curious about what Lin Wanning had figured out.
"Ruan Wen, when you said last time that your family opposed your participation in the talent show, was it because of your cousin’s incident?" The girl made a detective Conan’s signature gesture, pretending to have solved a great mystery.
"Pretty much," Xiao Ruawen nodded her head. As for the scam that tricked her cousin out of money and affection, she decided it was best not to share that with everyone.
"So, Brother Fan, I’m really thankful to you, for standing up for me in front of everyone that day. I was truly touched!" Xiao Ruawen looked earnestly at Xu Qingfan’s face, her eyes reddening slightly.
Now it was Xu Qingfan’s turn to feel embarrassed. He laughed and said, "Ah, it’s nothing, I’d do the same for any of you. I also believe that if a similar situation happened to me, you all would do the same."
"Of course, duck. If anyone dares to bully Brother Qingfan, I, Wanning, will be the first to disagree!" Lin Wanning raised her little pink fist in a vow.
Seeing everyone’s attention in the room turning back to her, she withdrew her hand and added meekly, "Unless it’s Brother Fan’s mom and dad, then forget it."
"Hahaha..."
After the laughter, Xiao Ruawen got up from the dining table, walked over to Xu Qingfan, bent down, and kissed him on the cheek.
In everyone’s surprised gaze, she sat back down in her seat and said, "Brother Fan, thank you for your tolerance and care all this time. When I was little, I said that when you want to thank someone, you should give them a kiss on the cheek."
She said it calmly, but for some reason, her heart was pounding fast.
"Then I need to thank Brother Qing Fan too, you’re the best!" Lin Wanning, who was sitting next to Xu Qingfan, kissed the other side of his face as soon as she saw it.
Zhang Yiyi also didn’t hesitate, rising up to kiss the same spot Lin Wanning had just kissed, "Thank you, brother!"
Then it was Wu Lingyu’s turn; she mustered up the courage to kiss Xu Qingfan’s cheek, "Brother Fan, thank you!"
The pressure suddenly mounted on Xia Xiaoxiao. Seeing everyone looking at her, she complained with a pout, "What’s all this about?"
While speaking, she kissed Xu Qingfan’s right cheek very reluctantly, "Thank you, lah."
Now feeling like a winner in life, Xu Qingfan was somewhat dumbfounded. He shook his head and laughed, "Why are you all looking at me? The food’s getting cold, let’s eat!" 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
"Yeah!"
"Hehe~"
Looking at the five beautiful girls in front of him, Mr. Xu felt extremely content.
"Here’s to the best Brother Fan in the world. Cheers, everyone!"
"Cheers!"
...
