I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 228. It's about keeping the cat company, not waiting for you!
Silent all night.

The next day, Xu Qingfan was awakened by the sound of firecrackers outside his window.

Celebrating the Spring Festival in the countryside is great in every way, except for one thing: the firecrackers in front of every household go off non-stop from seven or eight in the morning. He tried to fall back asleep several times but couldn't, so he had no choice but to get up.

This year's Spring Festival was the coldest in recent years. After getting dressed in bed, Xu Qingfan got up, grabbed his phone, and went out.

The DVD player on the first floor was playing a New Year's song CD, "Gong Xi Fa Cai" (Wishing You Prosperity), which had completely lost its sound quality. He could still hear it even with the bathroom door closed.

While brushing his teeth, Xu Qingfan opened QQ on his phone to check if he had missed any important messages that morning.

Many people sent him New Year's greetings, but there were so many that he didn't have time to reply to them all.

However, he still had to reply to the messages from the five girls. He first clicked on Lin Wanning's profile picture because she was the only one who had sent him more than twenty messages early in the morning.

[Brother Qingfan, are you awake yet?]

[Brother Qingfan, quickly watch the video above!]

Almost all the posts were about these two messages. Xu Qingfan smiled and swiped his finger to the top, where a video of more than a minute appeared.

The video was filmed by the girl herself. She held the phone in her left hand, first lying on the bed with her eyes closed and sleeping, then slowly opening her eyes as if she had just woken up.

Then, as if she had discovered something that surprised her, Lin Wanning's pupils dilated, and she slowly stood up, getting closer and closer to the camera.

next second.

"Good morning, Xiao Fanfan!" After saying that, the girl gave the camera a kiss, as if she had kissed Xu Qingfan on the cheek.

The video ends here. Below is Lin Wanning's comment:

[Brother Qingfan, is this duck Xiaofan's wish?]

"Cough cough." Xu Qingfan was watching a video while brushing her teeth and couldn't help but smile like an aunt, then she choked on the toothpaste foam.

He swallowed a mouthful of water to spit out the foam, then fixed his phone and continued playing the video.

A wonderful day begins with watching Wan Ning's personalized short videos.

He finished brushing his teeth and went downstairs not long after. He didn't get up until after nine o'clock, so he obviously didn't have breakfast. After all, the adults were already busy preparing lunch in the kitchen.

Xu Qingfan casually opened a jar of cookies meant for gifting and devoured all the biscuits with raisins inside.

With unreliable parents around, he not only has to receive red envelopes this year, but he also has to help his parents give out red envelopes.

Because he had consistently ranked first in his grade, Xu Qingfan would suddenly become like a war god during every New Year's gathering.

Whenever a relative asks him why their child's grades are always at the bottom of the class, he can always pinpoint the problem.

This is why many children would stay far away from him when they saw him, missing out on a lot of the fun of playing cards to trick others into giving them New Year's money.

However, this year the focus of attention for the Yao family is obviously on their newborn cousin, and not many people are paying attention to him.

Xu Qingfan spent money to treat a group of relatives and kids to drinks and firecrackers, finally managing to restore his credibility.

He used his money to become the leader of the kids, spending an afternoon leading a group of seven- or eight-year-olds to blow up cow dung, scare chickens and geese, and chase dogs. Time passed quite quickly.

After dinner, Xu Qingfan treated a group of kids to Coke, and finally, with them seeing him off for miles, he boarded a tractor that happened to be leaving the village.

"You guys go back now. Tell my grandma I'm going home." Xu Qingfan waved to signal them not to follow him anymore.

"When will you take us to play again, cousin?" The tractor was moving very slowly, so the children could chat as they chased it without any problem.

"Next time I take you guys to bomb a public toilet, once you've all gone home, don't chase after us anymore. Remember to tell my grandma I'm leaving."

"Goodbye cousin!"

"Goodbye, Uncle!"

"."

The kids stopped following him and waved goodbye, shouting all sorts of things.

The tractor's clattering sound was deafening, and the incompletely burned diesel fuel drifted through the air, the black smoke staining his face. Xu Qingfan leaned back against a pile of thatch, watching the smoke rising from distant houses, which even added color to the otherwise uneventful sky.

The birch trees lining both sides of the road are straight and symmetrical, and when viewed side by side, it looks like walking on an endless road.

But even the longest road eventually comes to an end. After thanking the villagers who had given him a ride out of the village, Xu Qingfan put on his backpack and waited for the bus by the roadside.

As for why he didn't say goodbye to his maternal grandparents?
If he told his grandparents directly that he wanted to go back, given their personalities, they would definitely try to keep him there. "There's no one in the house, why would I go back!"

The bus arrived shortly afterward. After the conductor collected his fare, he sat alone in the back row by the window, enjoying the breeze.

Perhaps because his parents weren't here this year, Xu Qingfan suddenly felt that the festive atmosphere of the New Year wasn't as strong as it used to be. Of course, it could also be because he had grown up.

The period from three to thirteen years old is when the festive atmosphere of the New Year is strongest. Too young to remember things, and too old to fully enjoy the New Year.

Xu Qingfan had heard a saying that the reason you feel the New Year's atmosphere has faded is because you have gradually grown from being one of those who experience the New Year's atmosphere to one of those who create it.

He quite agreed with this view, after all, the group of kids who followed him to play today must have been very happy.

The bus soon took him back to Guailu Square in Licheng. It was already past 8 p.m. when Xu Qingfan got off the bus.

With the Lunar New Year's Day coinciding with Valentine's Day, there were an unusually large number of people in the square tonight, and the rose vendors were still open for business.

The little girl and her family who sold him flowers yesterday were still setting up their stall. When Xu Qingfan got out of the car, the little girl saw him, and he saw the little girl in return.

Xu Qingfan waved to her, smiled, and then crossed the road and left.

The little girl originally wanted to chase after him to talk to him, but seeing that he had already crossed the road and walked away, she could only stand there dumbly.

The kind older brother figure who appeared in her childhood will likely be someone she remembers for a very long time.

When he returned to the Lotus Courtyard, he looked up and saw that the lights were on in both families on the third floor.

Xu Qingfan smiled and couldn't wait to run home.

"Ta-da! Surprise! Xia Xiaoxiao, your dad is back!" Xu Qingfan appeared at his front door in the next second, where Xia Xiaoxiao was watching TV in his living room.

Xia Xiaoxiao was initially very surprised, and the expression on her face was genuine. Just as she was hesitating whether to go up and give the stinky dog ​​a big hug, she heard him finish the second half of his sentence.

"Go to hell!" She threw a pillow off the sofa like a heart-shaped boomerang.

"What kind of attitude is this? I took the bus back late at night for you, and you didn't even offer me a cup of hot tea!" Xu Qingfan caught the pillow and threw it back at her. After changing into his slippers, he leaned casually against the girl.

Xia Xiaoxiao was very happy to hear this, but she still complained, "It's dirty and smelly, go away, go away!"

"Doesn't it smell like diesel? Hahaha. I rode a tractor out of the village, how awesome is that!" Xu Qingfan said, resting his head on the girl's lap.

Xia Xiaoxiao scratched his face with her index finger, and a black layer of dirt instantly appeared on the fingerprint.

"You're filthy, go take a shower!" She disgustedly wiped the filth onto the boy's relatively clean neck.

"Take a rest. Where's your mother?"

Xu Qingfan stubbornly refused to get up, and the girl couldn't do anything about it.

"Going to play mahjong."

"Why didn't you go with them? You'd get a red envelope."

"Mind your own business!" Xia Xiaoxiao punched him on the head in embarrassment and anger.

[I'm just waiting for you, you stinking dog, to come home!]
"Oh~ I know, you were waiting for me at home, right?" Xu Qingfan said, pretending to suddenly realize something.

"I'm not waiting for you, I just... just want to stay home with my little brother!" the girl said, seeing the white cat sitting next to her.

"Okay, I guess I was overthinking it. I'm going to take a shower first, and we'll go out and play together later."

"Humph!"

Watching Xu Qingfan's departing figure, the girl picked up the cat resting nearby and secretly smiled.

(End of this chapter)