I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 231. Your child is so cute!
the next day.

After waking up, Xia Xiaoxiao said that her leg no longer hurt, so the two of them had breakfast and then waited for the bus to go back to her grandparents' house.

Xu Qingfan hadn't expected the girl to lie to him. After boarding the bus, the two sat down in a double seat, and he casually asked Xia Xiaoxiao, "How long has it been since you went back?"

"It's been six or seven years, right? What's wrong?"

“We’re quite alike then. I haven’t been back to Congshi for six or seven years either,” Xu Qingfan said with a smile.

Xia Xiaoxiao said it was a boring topic and closed her eyes, ignoring him.

Perhaps because yesterday was Valentine's Day, there weren't many pedestrians on the streets early in the morning. Even during the Spring Festival, sanitation workers didn't stop, sweeping up the discarded flowers into a pile with large brooms.

In his previous life, Xu Qingfan had heard that some simps would hide their phones and cash inside flowers to present to their goddesses, only for the goddesses to then throw the flowers into the trash. He hoped that the hardworking sanitation workers would find gold coins.

The bus quickly drove away from Licheng. Xia Xiaoxiao stared blankly out the window, lost in thought.

Just then, her phone rang. She picked it up and frowned almost imperceptibly after seeing the number displayed.

"Answer that person's call." Xia Xiaoxiao handed him the phone.

Xu Qingfan was already used to it; that person naturally referred to Xia Guofu.

"Hello, is this Uncle Xia? Xiaoxiao and I are already on the bus," Xu Qingfan said after answering the phone.

"Haha, it's Xiaofan! Where are you? Uncle will drive to the village entrance to pick you up." Xia Guofu must be in a good mood, after all, his daughter has finally agreed to come back to see him.

Although Xia Guofu's extramarital affair was extremely immoral, he had helped his family a lot in his previous life, so Xu Qingfan still treated him with respect.

"We'll be there in about half an hour. Uncle Xia, no need to trouble yourself. I'll flag down a tricycle with Xiao Xiao later."

"No way, I'll drive over and pick you up in a bit!"

[Is Daddy's phone number my sister's? Let me hear it!]

A little boy's voice came through the microphone, and the next second it reached Xu Qingfan's ears: "Is that you, sister? I'm Xia Tian, ​​I'm five and a half years old!"

"Not older sister, older brother." Xu Qingfan glanced at the girl sitting next to him, and seeing that she didn't react, he spoke into the microphone.

"Who are you? Let your sister answer the phone!" A childish voice shouted into the receiver, but then disappeared again. Xia Guofu smiled sheepishly and said, "Xiao Fan, I'm sorry. I've only seen Xiao Tian's picture and I miss his sister."

"it's okay no problem."

"Um... Is Xiaoxiao busy? Could you let her answer the phone? I haven't heard her voice in a long time," Xia Guofu suddenly softened his tone and asked cautiously.

"Uh," Xu Qingfan patted Xia Xiaoxiao and gestured with his hand as if he were answering a phone call.

The girl shook her head, clearly refusing.

"Uncle, Xiaoxiao probably didn't sleep well last night. She fell asleep after getting on the bus. Should I wake her up for you?"

"No need, no need, let Xiaoxiao rest well. I'll meet you at the village entrance later."

"Ah."

After ending the call, he returned the phone to Xia Xiaoxiao: "I support whatever you want to do, but Uncle Xia was very good to me when I was a child, so I still have to respect him."

Xia Xiaoxiao stared blankly at Xu Qingfan for three seconds. She originally thought that he wanted to persuade her to reconcile with Xia Guofu.

"No matter what I do, you'll support me"—what girl wouldn't be confused by that?

"Oh." She didn't know how to express her gratitude, so she could only use outward indifference to mask her inner feelings of being touched.

"What's that little boy's name? Xia Yutian? Hahaha." Seeing that Xia Xiaoxiao didn't smile, Xu Qingfan told a lame joke.

“Boring, let’s call you Summer.” The girl reached out and pinched his arm.

"Are you trying to die, you brat Xia!" Xu Qingfan retorted, pinching the other's thigh back.

"Ouch~ You pinched me so hard!" Xia Xiaoxiao glared at him angrily, while pinching his thigh back with even more force.

"Hiss~ You're using even more force than I am."

"You stinky Xu Qingfan, I'm not playing with you anymore!" Seeing that Xu Qingfan was about to pinch her again, the girl quickly put her hands in front of her.

"You think you can just quit like that?"

"go away!"

"."

"Xia Xiaoxiao, you're back again!"

The bus arrived at its stop shortly after. Before boarding, their clothes and pants were perfectly wrinkle-free, but after getting off, they were all creased and messy, and their hair looked as if they had just woken up.

If they hadn't been on a bus, it would be hard to imagine what the two of them had been doing on the bus.

"Boring!" Xia Xiaoxiao combed her hair in front of the mirror. Xu Qingfan was in the same frame as her in the mirror, patting the clothes and pants that she had just crumpled.

"You?"

"you!"

Xia Guofu saw a young couple in the distance who looked like his daughter and Xiao Fan. He got out of the car and jogged over. When he got closer, he realized it was indeed them.

"Girls, Xiaofan, why aren't you crossing the road? Happy New Year, here are your red envelopes." Xia Guofu awkwardly pulled out two red envelopes he had prepared beforehand from his trousers and handed them to the two of them at the same time.

Xia Xiaoxiao simply nodded, showing no intention of accepting his red envelope.

"Congratulations on your fortune, thank you Uncle Xia. Xiaoxiao's dress doesn't have pockets, so I'll keep the red envelopes for her." Xu Qingfan acted as a peacemaker, taking the two red envelopes. As for the money inside, he would absolutely not return it to Xia Xiaoxiao.

"Haha, right, right, Xiao Fan, you keep it safe. Let's cross the street. Are you hungry? You've grown so much taller in the past year." Xia Guofu had no choice but to put his arm around Xu Qingfan's shoulder to ease the awkwardness.

“Your grandparents have been missing you a lot. They’ve been making your favorite sweet and sour pork and osmanthus cake for lunch whenever they have time. Your grandma dried them last year but hasn’t been able to eat them yet, just waiting for you to come back.” Xia Guofu had been talking the whole time since they got in the car. He was observing his daughter’s expression in the rearview mirror, and he would immediately change the subject whenever he saw her frown.

"Ah."

Based on Xu Qingfan's understanding of Xia Xiaoxiao, if she were just angry, she would probably say some harsh and sarcastic things. But her calm nod in response like this probably means she really treats Xia Guofu as a stranger.

The car returned to Xia Guofu's home in the countryside in just a few minutes. The five-story tiled building was the tallest house in the village.

Before they even got out of the car, the entrance was already crowded with all sorts of aunts and uncles, who all seemed to have come out to see Xia Xiaoxiao.

Among the people inside, Xu Qingfan only knew Xia Xiaoxiao's grandparents and the mistress who had been his mistress for many years.

As soon as Xia Xiaoxiao got out of the car, her grandmother came up and hugged her emotionally, murmuring, "My little Xiaoxiao, you haven't come back to see Grandma for so many years. Grandma misses you so much that she can't sleep!"

"Xiaoxiao, do you still remember your second aunt? This is your cousin Tingyu."

"Little one, come back and visit your grandparents more often when you have time."

Xu Qingfan awkwardly stepped aside; he really couldn't handle this inexplicable family reunion.

"Grandma." Xia Xiaoxiao instantly recalled countless heartwarming moments from her childhood, and she was equally excited.

Just as a tearful scene was about to unfold, someone in the audience suddenly said, "That woman is really something, she hasn't let Xiaoxiao come back to see us all these years!"

Xia Xiaoxiao heard this, and she gently broke free from her grandmother's embrace. She then said loudly to the person who had just spoken, "It's my own fault for not wanting to come back. It has nothing to do with my mother. She calls me to come back every year, but I just don't want to."

Silence fell, a deathly silence descending upon the scene.

Xia Xiaoxiao knew she had said the wrong thing as soon as she opened her mouth, but she didn't regret it. No one could slander her mother!
[How can Xia Xiaoxiao be so brave!] Xu Qingfan stood there so embarrassed that he wanted to call himself a liar.

"Haha~ Ah, Uncle Xia, this little boy must be a tiny little brother, right? He's so cute. What's his name?" He asked, pointing to the child clinging to Xia Guofu's leg.

"Haha, yes, his name is Xia Tian, ​​he's five and a half years old. Xia Tian, ​​quickly greet him, this is your brother Fan." Xia Guofu hurriedly chimed in, seeing that there was a way to ease the tension.

The child was wearing a tiger hat similar to the one in Stephen Chow's "Royal Tramp," and because of his young age, he looked very well-behaved and cute.

"Oh, so your name is Xia Tian. Are you in first grade yet? Come here to your big brother, tsk tsk tsk." Xu Qingfan clapped his hands, performing a series of actions to summon the puppy.

The already silent atmosphere became even more so, with everyone turning their attention from Xia Xiaoxiao to him.

Xu Qingfan was still unaware of his problem, continuing to make sucking noises to amuse the child.

The next second, looking at his outstretched hands, he suddenly realized something.

"Hiss~" He seemed to only just realize what was happening and immediately covered his mouth with his hand.

"Ahem. The little one is so cute, hahaha. Summer is a great name, hahaha, it's a very nice name, yes, that's right."

Xia Xiaoxiao watched the stinky dog ​​awkwardly muttering to itself, and suddenly smiled brightly.

"Grandma, I want to eat osmanthus cake," she said.

"Okay, Grandma will get it for you right away!"

[What a silly dog!] The girl glared at Xu Qingfan and walked towards the door.

The group of relatives gave him strange looks and then followed him into the house.

Xu Qingfan glanced back at the direction leading out of the village, which was several kilometers away. He gritted his teeth and followed them into the house.

(End of this chapter)