I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 188. When I Become a Big Star

Even if Ponyo were a half-mermaid, would you accept her?

Upon hearing the Ocean Goddess's question to Sosuke, Xu Qingfan thought to himself: Why am I getting even more excited?

Lin Wanning gripped his clothes tightly with her small hands, even forgetting to eat the potato chips that had been open for a long time.

Whether Ponyo is a fish, a mermaid, or a human, I love her all the time!

After hearing Zongjie's unreserved declaration of love, she looked at Xu Qingfan, hoping that they could be like in the movies, with Qingfan saying to her, "Whether Wanning is a fish, a mermaid, or a human, I love her all the time!"

As she thought about it, a silly smile appeared on the girl's face. She rested her head on Xu Qingfan's shoulder and continued watching the movie.

Xia Xiaoxiao didn't have so many strange ideas, because she didn't concentrate on the entire movie which was over an hour long.

Having not had those intimate dreams for over a week, the girl wondered if she could return to her old relationship with Xu Qingfan.

That's why I hesitated to sit next to him just now, under the guise of desensitization training.

But when their skin touched, the feeling of being in a state of turmoil returned. Smelling the unique hormonal scent emanating from the opposite sex, Xia Xiaoxiao felt her face start to burn again. She even forgot to change to a more comfortable sitting position because her thighs were numb from sitting for so long.

She persevered with great willpower until the end of the movie, but she hardly listened to anything the movie was about.

"Ha~" After the movie ended, Xu Qingfan stood up, patted his back which had been sitting for too long, and said, "Let's go, let's go eat and sing karaoke, it's almost midnight."

"Come on, let's go! What are we having for lunch?" Xiao Ruanwen eagerly got up to respond.

Wu Lingyu bent down to put the empty cups back on the tray from the coffee table. Seeing that Xia Xiaoxiao was still sitting motionless, she asked with concern, "Xiaoxiao, are you feeling unwell?"

"My legs went numb from sitting for too long," Xia Xiaoxiao said, her eyes darting away.

"Let me give you a massage." Wu Lingyu put down the tray in her hand, sat down next to Xia Xiaoxiao, and gently massaged her thighs.

"Hmm," she said guiltily, glancing at Xu Qingfan who was taking a tray into the kitchen to wash the dishes, and then remained silent.

After locking the doors and windows and getting ready to go, the six of them soon arrived at Guagreen Square.

"Ponyo on the cliff is so healing! I'm going to change my QQ profile picture to Ponyo when I get back!" Xiao Ruanwen walked ahead hand in hand with Xia Xiaoxiao, sharing her thoughts on anime with Xia Xiaoxiao with great enthusiasm.

"Ah."

“I love the picture of them holding hands as they enter the tunnel. Which picture do you like best, little one?” Xiao Ruanwen seemed oblivious to the other’s discomfort and continued to press for an answer.

"Patrolling."

"Yes, yes, and the part where they were rowing was also incredibly heartwarming!"

"Um"

Behind them, Lin Wanning was also chatting with Xu Qingfan: "Brother Qingfan, I heard that Ponyo is all hand-painted. What do you think if we start drawing now, can we make a movie when we're eighteen?"

"What are you thinking about? Aren't you going to study?" Xu Qingfan flicked her tuft of hair in annoyance. "Even Miyazaki Hayao has a team, you know. A single animation has over 100,000 frames. If you and Yi Yi drew one frame a day, it would still take over a hundred years!"

"Huh?" Lin Wanning's mouth gaped open, big enough to fit a whole egg. "What should we do then?"

Zhang Yiyi tilted her head and looked at him. Xu Qingfan smiled and said, "After we graduate from high school, why don't we start an animation company together? Then you two can be big bosses like Aunt Zhang, directing your underlings!"

"What about brother?"

"Yeah, Brother Qingfan, what about you?"

"Me?" Xu Qingfan pointed at himself and laughed, "The doctor said I have a bad stomach, so I'll have to cling to you guys and live off your kindness!"

"Brother Fan, when did you go to see a doctor? Are you alright?" Wu Lingyu doesn't usually surf the internet, so she didn't know this reference. After Xu Qingfan finished the first part of his story, she asked with concern.

Because her father was a patient, the girl naturally had a fear of hospitals and never imagined that someone would joke about her body.

The three of them were taken aback at first, then pointed at Wu Lingyu and burst into laughter.

Haha~ Xiaoyu, you're so cute!

"So cute!"

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Xiao Ruanwen and Xia Xiaoxiao, who were walking in front, turned around and asked when they heard the commotion behind them.

Lin Wanning immediately told the two of them about the joke Xu Qingfan had just made, and then recounted how Wu Lingyu hadn't understood the joke. In an instant, the number of people laughing at them increased from three to five.

Wu Lingyu scratched the back of her head, somewhat embarrassed, wondering what was so funny about what she had just said.

Once a relationship reaches a certain level of closeness, jokes like these become insignificant and can even enhance the friendship in daily life.

"Oh my gosh~ Xiaoyu, how can you be so cute!" Xiao Ruanwen hugged Wu Lingyu and rubbed her face against hers like she was petting a cat.

Xu Qingfan swallowed hard; it would be a lie to say he wasn't envious.

Lin Wanning, Zhang Yiyi, and Wu Lingyu hadn't even started puberty yet, so he viewed them no differently than when they were children, and he couldn't muster even a criminal thought, after all, he, Xu, wasn't a pervert.

However, Xia Xiaoxiao and Xiao Ruanwen's figures are now similar to those of many high school seniors. Moreover, southern girls are naturally graceful in appearance, and it is no exaggeration to say that more than 80% of female college students from the south are like that.

Although Xu Qingfan was still a pitiful white elephant, sometimes when he saw them running around in the living room in shorts and pajamas, he couldn't help but get a slight erection as a sign of respect.

After Xiao Ruanwen explained the joke, Wu Lingyu, for once, looked up seriously and stared into Xu Qingfan's eyes, saying, "Brother Fan, let's not joke around with our health, okay? My mom said good things don't always come true, but bad things do!"

She spoke in the tone of a mother disciplining a child who had made a mistake, and her eyes held a hint of unwavering determination that Xu Qingfan wouldn't give up until he agreed.

"Alright, alright, I'll listen to Xiaoyu. I won't make those silly jokes anymore!" Xu Qingfan raised his hand and slapped himself in the mouth three times. "Slap yourself in the mouth!"

"Okay!" After Xu Qingfan agreed, the girl's serious expression turned into a smile, a smile as bright and charming as a spring breeze in March.

"Exactly, it's not funny at all, Fan-ge, you're so boring!" Xiao Ruanwen clung to Wu Lingyu's arm, looking as if she was determined to distance herself from Xu Qingfan.

"Brother Qingfan, your joke just now wasn't funny at all!" Wu Lingyu was their group's darling, and Lin Wanning was the second to turn on him and criticize him.

"Brother, you're bad!"

"Xu Qingfan is just that boring. Let's go and ignore him!" Xia Xiaoxiao was pleased to see Xu Qingfan get the short end of the stick.

Just as Wu Lingyu was about to speak up for Xu Qingfan, the four girls pushed her forward like stars around the moon, leaving Xu Qingfan alone to stand in place as punishment.

[It would be nice if they could stay this close.] Xu Qingfan smiled and shook his head before chasing after them, calling out, "Wait for me!"

"Run!"

"The Big Bad Wolf is coming!"

"Hahaha~"

They staged a dramatic scene in the square: she fled, he chased, and they were trapped. Because they had just attended the closing ceremony, all six of them were still wearing their school uniforms. As they ran, the wind rushed into their sleeves, creating large gaps. Passersby stopped and reminisced; the spirit of youthful exuberance was more precious than gold.

Since they were going to sing karaoke in the afternoon, they had a light lunch. After a simple, budget-friendly Pizza Hut meal at Saizeriya, they went straight to the fifth floor of Guagreen Plaza to sing karaoke.

We ordered a medium-sized private room for 50 yuan for four hours, and the six of us were led to the room by the staff.

In the early 2000s, KTVs still used mice and keyboards to select songs. There were no convenient touchscreen systems like they are today. The computers seemed to have just been unearthed from the Qing Dynasty, and sometimes searching or turning pages could take forever.

Wu Lingyu took out the bottled water and snacks they had brought before leaving home from her schoolbag. A 500ml bottle of Coke costs ten yuan here.

They may be rich, but there's no need for them to be taken advantage of.

Xiao Ruanwen first requested Faye Wong's "Red Bean," and after moistening her throat, she began to sing.

"I haven't even had a chance to properly appreciate the weather of the snowflakes blooming yet~" A soft, melodious voice immediately echoed in the private room.

After selecting a few songs she wanted to sing, Xia Xiaoxiao picked up another microphone and joined in, singing the lyrics from the TV screen: "Sometimes~sometimes~I believe everything has an end~"

When it was Lin Wanning's turn to request a song, she first found Xu Song among the male singers, and then selected his songs "Funeral of Roses," "Broken Bridge in Snow," and "What's Wrong?"

"Brother Qingfan, I've chosen 'Funeral of Roses' for you!" After confirming, the girl turned to Xu Qingfan and said, "And Little Dimples, shall we sing it together?"

"Okay~ Tell me when it's our turn." He gave Lin Wanning a doting smile and pulled Wu Lingyu and Zhang Yiyi, who had their microphones off, to play dice.

"I have five twos, what do you say?"

“I’ll add four twos!” Wu Lingyu said earnestly, clearly not one to lie.

Zhang Yi shook his head, indicating that he would go first.

When it was Xu Qingfan's turn, if he also passed, it would be a tie and they would have to start over, but he only had three twos in his dice cup.

"Haha~ You got tricked, didn't you? I only have three twos!" He reached out to open Wu Lingyu's phone, but then he was dumbfounded.

"Why are they all 1s? You're not cheating, are you?!"

"Good luck." The girl stuck out her tongue cutely at him, bent the steel ruler, and was about to flick his forehead.

"Gently." Xu Qingfan pretended to close his eyes, afraid of pain, because he knew Wu Lingyu would not use force.

"Sigh~"

However, the next second the steel ruler struck his forehead with full force. Xu Qingfan cried out in pain and opened his eyes in disbelief to see Xia Xiaoxiao quickly returning the steel ruler to Wu Lingyu, trying to destroy the evidence.

"Xia Xiaoxiao!"

"A little bit~"

Chaos erupted inside the private room.

"You pervert!" A moment later, Xia Xiaoxiao covered her bottom, which had just been slapped, and glared at him with a mixture of shame and anger.

"Brother Qingfan, I want to play dice too!"

"Come on, let's continue!" Xu Qingfan gave Xia Xiaoxiao a provocative look, confirming that the girl from before had indeed returned.

Xia Xiaoxiao's face started to burn again, but fortunately the private room was dimly lit, so no one noticed her embarrassment.

The girl picked up a bottle of mineral water from the coffee table, took a sip to calm her nerves, and then pretended to sing to the TV as if nothing had happened, but her eyes were always watching Xu Qingfan's every move.

"The little yellow flower of the story... but in the end, it seems you still said goodbye." The karaoke session ended perfectly with everyone singing "Sunny Day" together.

After gathering their belongings, they took the elevator and left Guagreen Square. The elevator's exterior was a transparent plastic shell, and from the fifth floor, they could see a large stage set up not far away. Even though it was already past five o'clock, many people were still gathered there.

"What's going on over there? It wasn't there when we came!" Xiao Ruanwen asked curiously, pointing to the crowd in the distance.

"Go and see for yourself." Xu Qingfan shrugged.

"I can't stay out too late. I told my mom I'd be home before six!" Lin Wanning glanced at her watch; it was already 5:30.

"Just take a look, I'll call my dad to send you back." He reached out and patted Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi on the head respectively.

"Ok!"

After the elevator doors opened, the six people excitedly rushed towards the crowd.

"Yes, yes, it's Happy Girl!" Xiao Ruanwen pointed at the huge poster and was too excited to speak. "Brother Fan, this isn't a scam, is it?" After calming down, she asked Xu Qingfan, having been bitten by a snake once, once bitten.

Xu Qingfan tilted his head and thought for a moment. It seemed that Hunan TV did hold a Super Girl competition in 09, but that season didn't generate much buzz. At least, he couldn't name any of the contestants. Hunan TV never held it again after that.

"This should be true. What's up? You want to participate?" Xu Qingfan asked, amused.

"Ruan Wen sings really well, she'll definitely advance if she participates!"

"Sounds good!"

“My parents watched the New Year’s Day video and praised Ruan Wen for her singing. Ruan Wen will definitely become a big star in the future!” Wu Lingyu also said.

Their New Year's Day video was uploaded to Youku and Tudou by Xu Qingfan, and has now accumulated nearly 200,000 views. In recent weeks, the girls' favorite thing to do is to open Tudou after school every day to see how many views have increased and to read the words of praise for them in the comments section.

"It's not as good as you all say," the girl said, blushing at the praise.

"Participants must be at least 18 years old. Participants who are 16 years old but under 18 years old must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to participate!" Xu Qingfan read out the age requirement to Xiao Ruanwen.

"I never said I was going to participate, so mind your own business when it comes to our corn flour!" Xiao Ruanwen rolled her eyes at him.

"You can wait until you go to high school. We'll all be your support team then!" Xia Xiaoxiao said, patting her shoulder.

Although Xia Xiaoxiao also likes to sing, she is not very interested in becoming a singer or star. She doesn't like living in the spotlight.

"Mmm!" Xiao Ruanwen smiled sweetly at her, the slight disappointment in her heart well concealed by the girl.

"Let's go, big star, time to go home!"

Xiao Ruanwen glanced back at the stage and followed without stopping.

"When I become a big star, I will..."

"You only love me?"

"You think beautiful!"

"Hahaha"

(End of this chapter)