I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 193. Fatalism?
The soft sunlight shone through the gaps in the curtains, not glaring at all; it was probably only six or seven o'clock.

The air conditioner in the room wasn't turned on before bed last night. Six people squeezed onto one bed, and although it was spacious enough, the girls were still so hot that they kicked off their blankets.

Her pajamas were pulled up to her left atrium, revealing a light-colored bra.

Xia Xiaoxiao and Zhang Yiyi were sleeping on his left and right sides, respectively. The latter was fine; apart from her pajamas being a little wrinkled, everything was neat and tidy.

It was just Xia Xiaoxiao.
Looking at the half of the ruby, which resembled a priceless treasure, Xu Qingfan's heart almost stopped.

[I didn't do this, did I?]
"Hiss~" He gasped, hesitating whether to deny it to the death and leave, or to help the other party recover first and then make a hasty retreat.

Xu Qingfan pretended to be thinking, his eyes glued to the screen, his heart pounding and his saliva gushing out.

He raised his hand and slapped himself, then bent down slightly to help the girl put her clothes back on. During this process, he vaguely noticed some water stains on the side.

Just as his heart was about to burst out of his chest, Xu Qingfan finally finished everything. The awkward scene of their eyes meeting, which often happens in melodramatic dramas, did not occur. He thought to himself that it was a close call and quickly left this place of trouble.

Before leaving, he tucked the five girls back into bed and turned on the air conditioner before rushing back to his room.

Xu Qingfan sat on the bed with his bare buttocks exposed, looking at the mess of his boxer shorts on the floor. Having lived two lives, he naturally knew what they were.

"Fuck your cotton candy, fuck your meat bun!" Xu Qingfan shook his head and slapped it a few times to clear his head.

After finding clean clothes to change into in the closet, he appeared in the bathroom on the first floor.

He couldn't quite remember what happened last night, nor how he was carried up to the second floor, but he remembered his dream clearly before he woke up this morning.

The sound, the smell, the touch—it all felt so real!
"Snapped!"

The next second, a loud commotion erupted in the bathroom.

That's a crime!!!
After turning down the water temperature of the showerhead and silently reciting the Great Compassion Mantra more than a dozen times, my restless heart finally calmed down.

Xu Qingfan squatted under the tap for seven or eight minutes washing his underwear. After hand-washing the underwear that the five girls had been soaking in the basin, he dried himself with a towel, got dressed, and went out again.

The clock on the living room showed 7:10 a.m. Although he had slept for less than five hours, Xu Qingfan showed no signs of fatigue; on the contrary, he was full of energy.

He went up to the second-floor balcony to hang the clothes he had washed the night before to dry, then took the money and keys and went to have breakfast nearby.

As the Lunar New Year approaches, less than half of the shops on the streets remain open. Restaurants like Lanzhou ramen, Shaxian snacks, and Guilin rice noodles have all closed down and gone home for the holiday long ago.

I ate a simple rice noodle roll and returned home. The once clean and tidy living room was now a mess again after last night's wreckage.

His gaze was fixed on the tatami mats on the floor, as if the scene of playing games last night was still vivid in his mind.

Thinking back to what happened that morning, Xu Qingfan felt inexplicably guilty, with a sense of remorse for wanting to do something for the family.

Without hesitation, he rolled up his sleeves and began cleaning the living room.

I put the scattered snacks and cans into a trash bag, swept the floor and mopped it again, and finally took the blanket on the tatami mat into the bathroom to wash it.

After air-drying it again, nearly three hours had passed.

Looking at the newly renovated house, Xu Qingfan's guilt inexplicably lessened.

Feeling that the girls were almost awake, Xu Qingfan went to the kitchen and used the leftover ingredients from last night's cooking to fry a bacon and egg sandwich for them.

Sure enough, just as the bacon was sizzling in the oil, footsteps came from the living room.

Good morning, Brother Fan!

"Ha~ Brother Qingfan, you're up early!"

"Brother Fan, are you making breakfast for us? That's so nice!"

"Brother, good morning!"

Xu Qingfan turned around and saw that all four girls except Xia Xiaoxiao had come down. He breathed a sigh of relief and asked guiltily, "Where's Xia Xiaoxiao?"

"Xiao Xiao said she had a bit of an upset stomach and was going to the toilet," Xiao Ruanwen said.

"Oh, really? It's easy to feel unwell if your stomach gets cold." Xu Qingfan nodded. "Go brush your teeth, we'll be eating soon!"

"Hehe, okay!"

Ten minutes later, Xu Qingfan finished preparing breakfast, and Xia Xiaoxiao came down from the second floor.

The five girls sat at the table eating breakfast. Although Xu Qingfan had already eaten, he drank hot milk tea with them.

"What are you looking at!" Xia Xiaoxiao glared and scolded when she saw Xu Qingfan staring at her.

He turned his head back and silently drank his milk, unaware that Xia Xiaoxiao's heart was pounding wildly.

[It seems Xia Xiaoxiao didn't notice!] Xu Qingfan was relieved.

Two weeks after the last incident, the girl had those embarrassing dreams again, and this time the plot had even evolved from touching her stomach to...
[I absolutely mustn't let anyone else know!] Xia Xiaoxiao thought to herself.

The two sat at the dining table eating breakfast, each with their own thoughts. Xiao Ruanwen looked at the spotless living room and praised, "Brother Fan, you're so kind of you! You even cleaned the living room in advance!"

"It's nothing, I had nothing else to do after waking up anyway," Xu Qingfan said with a shake of his head and a smile.

"Brother Qingfan, when did you get up? I've forgotten how I fell asleep last night, and when I got up to the second floor!" Lin Wanning recalled the last moments before he got drunk last night, but he couldn't remember them anymore.

"It was Yi Yi and I who helped you upstairs, along with Brother Fan." Wu Lingyu looked at Xu Qingfan, and couldn't quite remember whether she took him back to her room or theirs.

"You guys are amazing, you drank so many cans of beer and didn't get drunk at all. Fan and Wanning are so lame, hahaha~" Xiao Ruanwen laughed, thinking that Xu Qingfan and Lin Wanning were the first to get drunk last night.

"Hehe~" Lin Wanning didn't refute, but instead felt quite happy to have Xu Qingfan with her.

Xu Qingfan expressed his helplessness, saying he had no idea his underage body couldn't handle alcohol. He thought he drank four or five cans of Budweiser last night before getting drunk, otherwise, the subsequent events wouldn't have happened.
"See you after the New Year!"

See you after the New Year!

See you after the New Year!

"Goodbye, Brother Qingfan!"

"."

After seeing the others home one by one, only he and Xia Xiaoxiao remained, walking side by side back to the Lotus Courtyard. "Oh, right."

"you"

The atmosphere became inexplicably awkward, and the two spoke at the same time.

"You speak first."

"You speak first."

He and Xia Xiaoxiao exchanged a glance, and finally the girl spoke first: "When are you coming back at the beginning of the year?"

Xu Qingfan thought for a moment. He would definitely spend New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in Chuxi Village. It would be his uncle's first Spring Festival after his marriage. He would probably visit his wife's family on the second day of the New Year. "How about the third day of the New Year?"

Xia Xiaoxiao glanced at him: "It's nothing. Come back soon."

Xu Qingfan sensed a hint of loneliness in the other person's eyes. Since her parents' divorce, Xia Xiaoxiao only went back to her maternal grandparents' house for the Lunar New Year on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. However, in recent years, her family had been arranging blind dates for Lin Jing, which both she and Xia Xiaoxiao found unbearable, so they went back less and less often.

"Hmm!" He nodded and nudged Xia Xiaoxiao with his body.

Xia Xiaoxiao was equally defiant, bumping him with her shoulder in return.

The two bickered and teased their way back to the third floor. Xu Qingfan, interrupted like this, forgot what he had just wanted to say to Xia Xiao, and the girl obviously forgot to ask either.

On the 28th of the lunar year, we stayed home to do a thorough cleaning. On the 29th, the two families sat down together for a meal, and before we knew it, it was New Year's Eve.

I've already registered Xu Aiguo's car, and because I know someone there, the license plate number is the auspicious 16888.

In the afternoon, after dropping Lin Jing and Xia Xiaoxiao off at the entrance of Shilong Village next door, they turned back to Chuxi Village.

As for why they didn't drive the car into the village, well, those who know, know.

On the way back to the village, you can see cars from time to time. Although they are all inexpensive cars such as Xiali and Alto, it is undeniable that the villagers' wallets have become fuller because of the benefits of eating delicious duck necks.

He hadn't been back for half a year, and many of the original one-story houses had added another floor. So, in Xu Qingfan's eyes, the village was still the same village, but something just didn't feel right.

Nowadays, people from neighboring villages are proud to marry into Chuxi Village, because marrying into the village means being able to work in a factory under the Haowei Group. Even as a simple cleaning lady, the salary is more than twice the local average.

Of course, the premise of generously distributing money is that employees must strictly abide by the labor rules set by the company. As long as the money is distributed enough, even those who are not talented can become talented.

When employees know that if they don't work hard, they will lose their job and never have another chance to earn this salary, they will unleash 200% of their work enthusiasm.

This practice of piling up employee turnover costs to an infinitely high level, as if afraid the company would abandon them, is not unique to Haowei Duck Neck. Two other private companies had done the same thing before: one was called Yaoyao Lingxian, and the other was a supermarket.

The new car had a slightly pungent leather smell. Xu Qingfan rolled down the window and leaned over it. Suddenly, he noticed a group of people walking by with gongs and drums not far away. After seeing the white coins thrown into the air, he knew what was going on.

"It's the New Year, how can I pay?" He didn't finish the sentence, after all, birth, aging, sickness and death are inevitable.

“Close the window, it’s bad luck!” Yao Jinping turned around and glared at him.

"Okay!" Xu Qingfan obediently did as instructed.

The car soon drove into the newly built villa of his maternal grandfather. After parking the car, Xu Qingfan couldn't wait to get out.

"Father-in-law and mother-in-law, eldest brother's wife!"

"Xiao Fan, are you hungry? Grandma just fried some longevity peaches!"

"Do you have fried dumplings? I want peanut filling!"

"Yes~"

After exchanging pleasantries, the group returned to the living room on the first floor.

The TV series was showing Peking Opera, which Grandpa loved to watch. Xu Aiguo couldn't sit still, so he put his things down and went to the door to play with the dog. Yao Jinping was chatting with her brother and sister-in-law, Song Zhujun, about gossip.

While eating fried dumplings and water chestnut cakes, Xu Qingfan looked around at everyone in the room.

My maternal grandfather was wearing a simple, unpretentious leather jacket, and if he were carrying a thermos, he would at least be a department-level official; my maternal uncle was wearing a floral shirt, and it can only be said that he has become more and more flamboyant since getting married. Judging by his appearance alone, you would think he was a middle-aged man in his thirties.

Thinking of the funeral procession he had seen on the way here, he asked his grandfather curiously, "Grandpa, has anyone in the village passed away? We saw people banging gongs and drums when we came here!"

Yao Shulun shook his head: "It was Yao Jiankun. He was diagnosed with cancer in the first half of the year and didn't make it to the end of the year after a few months." Because his family couldn't afford the hospitalization, the village committee paid for it. His grandfather knew this very well, and he said with regret.

Xu Qingfan stared wide-eyed in disbelief. Seeing that her grandson remained silent for a long time, Yao Shulun nodded and put on her reading glasses again to continue reading the newspaper.

In the original timeline, Xu Qingfan remembered clearly that his maternal grandfather passed away around the Spring Festival of that year.

This time, however, it was Yao Jiankun who died of cancer, and a strange thought lingered in his mind.

Xu Qingfan did not study medicine in his previous life, but he remembered a female classmate who studied medicine in high school once told him, "The human immune system is not only related to lifestyle, but also closely related to emotions. If you can always maintain an optimistic and cheerful attitude, then you are less likely to get sick."

Knowing in advance that his maternal grandfather would pass away from cancer when he was in junior high school, Xu Qingfan started taking his whole family to a large hospital for a full physical examination every year from the third grade.

However, the results showed that, apart from his father Xu Aiguo, who had a mild herniated disc (whether from fishing or driving), the rest of the people had perfectly healthy medical results.

After all, his grandfather's living conditions had improved significantly long ago, so Xu Qingfan felt it was reasonable that he didn't get cancer.

But today, he suddenly learned that Yao Jiankun, who had always been at odds with his grandfather, had passed away from cancer. He suddenly had the absurd illusion that Yao Jiankun had helped his grandfather escape a calamity.

After all, such a bizarre thing as rebirth had happened, Xu Qingfan inevitably began to become superstitious.

It's like worshipping gods at home in a secret base on the 27th of the lunar year. If it were my past self, he would definitely not do it. It's feudal superstition. Anyone who does it is an idiot!
Having been reborn, he hoped that all five girls would be well, and even more so that everyone he cared about would be well. So, despite not knowing the meaning of worshipping the gods during the Lunar New Year, Xu Qingfan still did it.

In an instant, Xu Qingfan thought of many things. He thought of Wu Lingyu's family, whose fate he had already changed, and Xia Xiaoxiao, who died far from home in her previous life. Of course, he also thought of himself, the scientific researcher who died suddenly in the laboratory.

Xu Qingfan immediately got up and went to the ancestral tablet of the Yao family, lit three incense sticks, closed his eyes, and prayed for the future:

May our ancestors bless everyone in the house with good health, and may Xia Xiaoxiao, Xiao Ruanwen, Lin Wanning, Zhang Yiyi, and Wu Lingyu also be healthy.
Thinking of Zhang Chunxue and Lin Jing, who had always been kind to him, he added, "[And Aunt Zhang and Aunt Lin too.]"
After adding seven or eight names, Xu Qingfan finally put the incense sticks in the burner with satisfaction.

As for Xia Xiaoxiao and the others, they are all outsiders. How can the Yao family's ancestors protect them?
Xu Qingfan said he didn't care, he could just marry her and she would be no stranger to him!
"Xiao Fan, you also need to offer incense at the stove and the door!" Grandma Lai Manyao reminded Xu Qingfan when he suddenly started worshipping his ancestors.

"Grandma knows!" Xu Qingfan took out incense from the drawer and lit it.

After finally worshipping the Kitchen God and the Door God, he felt that his whole body was filled with mysterious Eastern power, and he was now immune to all magic.

(End of this chapter)