I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 268. At what age is it allowed?

With the referee's final whistle, the 90-minute football match came to an end, with Argentina narrowly defeating Nigeria 1-0.

Xu Qingfan finished the last bit of juice, burped, and said to the others, "Burp~ See? I told you we were 100% guaranteed to win."

"Well, it's good that you won." Wu Lingyu finally felt relieved. Even though she won money, she still believed that gambling was bad. If given another chance, the girl would still only buy one yuan worth of bets as a token gesture.

"Hehe~ Although I don't understand the rules, it looks quite interesting. Let's play football sometime!" Xiao Ruanwen kicked her legs on the bed with great enthusiasm.

"Let's get ready for bed. We're going to Ocean Park tomorrow," Xia Xiaoxiao said, patting the girl's mischievous feet and yawning.

"Okay, get some rest. Wan Ning is so sleepy she's fallen asleep." Xu Qingfan glanced at the girl who was fast asleep with her arm around his, and habitually reached out to gently stroke her nose.

However, the hot breath Lin Wanning exhaled from his nose startled him. In the air-conditioned room, he could clearly feel that the other person's breath was much hotter than normal.

"Wan Ning?" Xu Qingfan subconsciously reached out to feel her forehead temperature. "Holy crap!" Her body temperature of thirty-eight or thirty-nine degrees Celsius almost scared him to death.

"Brother Qingfan." The girl opened her eyes groggily. The room light was too bright for her, and she could only cling to Xu Qingfan and whisper, "I feel uncomfortable... cough cough."

"Why didn't you say you had a fever sooner? Xiaoxiao, call the front desk to call a car. Yiyi, bring a Wanning jacket." Xu Qingfan didn't even have a second to think before he picked up the girl in a princess carry.

Lin Wanning naturally wrapped his arms around her neck. The girl's consciousness was already somewhat blurred, and she vaguely asked, "Brother Qingfan...where are we going?"

"I'm going to take you to the doctor!" He only had time to put on the slippers provided by the hotel before he ran off with the girl in his arms without looking back.

Before leaving, he seemed to remember something and shouted into the house, "Go to my room and take my wallet!"

While the four girls were still in a daze, Xu Qingfan and Lin Wanning, who had just been watching the game together, had already disappeared from the room.

Xia Xiaoxiao was the first to come to her senses and picked up the landline phone by the bed to call the front desk.

The three of them then gradually realized what was happening. Zhang Yi went to find clothes, Wu Lingyu went to get her wallet, and Xiao Ruanwen anxiously paced around in circles.

On the other side, Xu Qingfan had already carried the girl to the elevator entrance. After waiting for a moment, he touched Lin Wanning's forehead to check her temperature again. This time, he felt it even more clearly; it was definitely a high fever of over 38°C!

The average normal human body temperature is between 36 and 37°C. A temperature above 37.3°C is considered a low-grade fever. Xu Qingfan was so anxious that he kept taking deep breaths. Fortunately, the elevator arrived at that moment, and he quickly carried the girl inside.

Although fever is something everyone experiences, prolonged high fever can cause enormous damage to the body, and in severe cases, it can even damage the brain and cause shock.

When Xu Qingfan arrived at the lobby in the elevator, the receptionist was already waiting at the elevator entrance after receiving a call.

"Is the car ready? It's burning badly." Because he was too anxious, his tone wasn't very good.

"It'll be ready soon. We've already notified the driver. Let's put a cooling patch on this lady first." The receptionist was always very helpful, handing over the cooling patch that had been prepared earlier.

"Thank you, you've gone to so much trouble." Xu Qingfan helped Lin Wanning sit on the sofa, tore open the packaging of the cooling patch, and stuck it on the girl's forehead.

Soon, Zhang Yiyi and Xiao Ruanwen came running down the stairs, panting. Perhaps because the elevator wait was too long, the two couldn't wait and ran down from the sixth floor.

"Is Wan Ning alright?" The two of them were still out of breath, their concerned eyes fixed on the girl in Xu Qingfan's arms.

"It's so cold." Lin Wanning instinctively shivered and clung tightly to Xu Qingfan's neck.

"Clothes, clothes." Zhang Yi hurriedly helped Lin Wanning put on his coat.

"So hot. So cold. So hot and uncomfortable," the girl murmured, clearly running a high fever, sometimes saying she was hot and sometimes saying she was cold.

A moment later, Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu also jogged over from the stairwell.

"How is Wan Ning, Fanfan?" The two of them were also concerned about Lin Wan Ning's condition at the first opportunity.

"Her temperature is a little high. I don't know the exact temperature without a thermometer. We'll have to see a doctor first." Knowing that everyone has their own expertise, Xu Qingfan didn't dare give the girl fever-reducing medication haphazardly.

After all, anyone who has studied a little biology knows that the human body develops a high fever in order to eliminate invading pathogens, but in this process, it often fails to distinguish between friend and foe.

He took the wallet from Wu Lingyu, opened it, took out two 500-yuan bills, and waved for Xia Xiaoxiao to get busy.

Xia Xiaoxiao turned her head and glanced in the direction Xu Qingfan had just indicated. She nodded in tacit agreement, took the money, and then jogged to the front desk.

The girls' attention was immediately drawn to Xia Xiaoxiao. The receptionist initially waved her hand in refusal, but after a brief conversation, the receptionist's face lit up with joy, and she politely accepted the money.

When Xia Xiaoxiao returned, the receptionist picked up the phone again.

A few minutes later, she came over and politely said, "The car is already parked at the entrance." She then guided them to the car before returning to the lobby.

"Driver, please take us to the nearest private hospital. It's so late at night, thank you for your trouble." Xu Qingfan said as he sat in the passenger seat and fastened his seatbelt.

"It's nothing. You're tourists from inland, right? Medical expenses here aren't cheap." The middle-aged driver nodded and started the car.

"Yes, I've already told my family." He nodded slightly and said tactfully.

The car sped along and soon arrived at the hospital entrance. Before getting out of the car, Xu Qingfan took out several thousand yuan from his wallet and placed it in the groove next to the control lever: "Thank you for your hard work, driver. I may have to trouble you again tonight."

The middle-aged man was taken aback, clearly not expecting this young man to be so cooperative. He searched in the car seat for a moment, then handed over a business card and said with a hearty laugh, "No problem, just call this number when you're ready."

Xu Qingfan nodded and took it. After getting out of the car, he picked up Lin Wanning, who was being supported by several women, and ran towards the hospital.

Fortunately, there weren't many people at night, so the group skipped the registration process and found the doctor on duty directly with the help of a nurse.

The other party was a middle-aged woman in her forties or fifties. Her resume at the door stated that she was a PhD graduate from Stanford University and had more than 20 years of medical experience.

The other party first used a heat gun to scan Lin Wanning's forehead, and the originally black and white screen instantly lit up red, displaying the number 38.9℃.

Because the girl was already delirious, Xu Qingfan had to relay the cause of her illness: "She didn't cover herself with a blanket all night, and the air conditioner was set to 16 degrees Celsius. I suspect she caught a cold. Also, we ate a lot of hot food at Disneyland today, and had snacks for dinner." Xia Xiaoxiao glanced at Xu Qingfan out of the corner of her eye, thinking: [He said he was here to wake her up, but he knows perfectly well that she didn't cover herself with a blanket all night!]
[Hmph! All you ever do is try to smooth things over, huh? Now look what you've done!]
The girl felt a mix of resentment and worry. If she had just stayed in her room and slept well, would all of this have happened?
However, Lin Wanning was sick after all, so she couldn't possibly voice her thoughts. She could only stare at Xu Qingfan's back with a look of disdain.

"Any drug allergies? Let's do a skin test and get an IV drip first. Don't be too nervous." The female doctor then used a stethoscope to probe around Lin Wanning's abdomen. Seeing Xu Qingfan's anxious expression, she spoke calmly.

"No drug allergies, thank you doctor." After taking the medical record with its scribbles from the other person, Xu Qingfan picked up the girl and rushed to the next stop without stopping.

Lin Wanning was busy until after 1 a.m. before she finally got an IV drip.

The girls were all extremely sleepy and were slumped in their chairs, half asleep.

After paying the bill, Xu Qingfan returned to the place where the IV drips were being administered. Seeing that all five girls were safe and sound, he finally let out a heavy sigh of relief.

Looking at the bill in his hand, Xu Qingfan finally understood why the driver had specifically reminded him: private hospitals in Hong Kong are damn expensive.

Take circumcision as an example. If you have the surgery and several days of hospitalization at the best public hospital in the port city, it will probably cost less than three thousand. But here, circumcision will cost more than one hundred thousand.

The five girls stood head to head, like a row of toppled dominoes.

Xu Qingfan took out his phone and took a picture of them before sitting down next to Lin Wanning.

The hospital was deserted in the early hours of the morning, as quiet as a scene from a Hong Kong horror movie. A gust of cold wind blew by, and the girls couldn't help but shiver.

He got up and closed the doors and windows before sitting back down.

Xu Qingfan was already feeling sleepy, but he had to stay awake to keep watch. He imitated Xia Xiaoxiao's usual actions and gave his thigh a good rub. His eyes instantly cleared up.

There were three IV drips above my head, and I reckon it was past 3 a.m. when they were all finished.

Xu Qingfan was somewhat glad that he had slipped the driver several thousand yuan as a late-night snack fee before getting out of the car; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to get back to the hotel so late at night after getting an IV drip.

It was past 2 a.m. when the first bottle was finished. Xu Qingfan called the nurse on duty to help Lin Wanning change her dressing. It is estimated that the nurse's movements disturbed the girl. She tried to open her eyes, but the glaring incandescent light made her squint into a slit.

"Brother Qingfan." She squinted and looked around, and only after vaguely recognizing the person in front of her as Xu Qingfan did her heart settle down.

"Are you still feeling unwell? We're at the hospital," he asked softly.

The girl first shook her head, then nodded, "I'm hungry." Her stomach growled as she spoke.

"Wait a minute, let me ask the nurse for you." Xu Qingfan smiled gently and affectionately reached out to rub her head.

"Then I won't eat, Brother Qingfan, don't go!" Seeing Xu Qingfan about to leave, Lin Wanning, despite her weakness, reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"It'll be over soon, be good, listen to me." He gently pried open the girl's hand that was gripping him.

"Brother Qingfan, please come back quickly. Ningning is scared." Lin Wanning's face showed a weak and helpless expression.

"it is good."

Fortunately, private hospitals have a variety of ways to generate revenue. After Xu Qingfan told the nurse about his needs, she handed him a menu, from the simplest white porridge to the complicated "three-no-stick" soup, he could buy anything.

He ordered a bowl of congee for Lin Wanning and some other things for the four girls, then handed the card to them and quickly ran back to Lin Wanning's side.

Seeing that her brother Qingfan had returned, the girl gave a tired smile. After Xu Qingfan sat down again, she said, "Brother Qingfan, I'm sorry, it's all my fault, cough cough cough."

"It's really your fault, I'm fed up with you. Not covering yourself with a blanket doesn't mean you're in bed, how did you come up with such a twisted logic?" Xu Qingfan glared at her angrily.

Lin Wanning had no choice but to weakly tuck her head into her neck. "Not covering myself with a blanket... it's not like I'm going to crawl into bed in the first place," she said softly.

"Then you're going to ruin your health? You're not exactly smart to begin with, what if you damage your brain?" Xu Qingfan sighed, letting the girl rest her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

"What's the use of apologizing to me? Apologize to your own body."

"My body... I'm sorry." Lin Wanning had indeed lost his mind, and actually did as he was told.

"Pfft~"

After composing himself, he said seriously, "Don't do this again. Do you know how much it hurts me to see you like this?"

"I understand." Lin Wanning felt a warm feeling in her heart.

Xu Qingfan added, "I know Wan Ning might like me, but you're still young. You can't tell if it's more like a younger sister liking her older brother, or something else. So let's not do that anymore. We can think about those things after high school."

[So it turns out Qingfan knows I like his duck. Yiyi also likes Qingfan, but I wonder if he knows that.]
"It's not just liking, it's absolutely liking him. I like Qingfan the most." As she said this, she felt her heart beating very fast.

Xu Qingfan was clearly surprised by the girl's response, as it was essentially a confession.

He raised his hand and tapped Lin Wanning on the head, saying, "Whether you like him or really like him, it's not appropriate at your age, you know?"

"When would be a good time?" Lin Wanning suddenly looked at his face very seriously.

"Uh..." Xu Qingfan tilted his head, blinked and thought for a moment. The legal age for girls to get married is twenty, so they should be at least seventeen or eighteen years old before they can start dating, right?
He said, "She should be at least seventeen or eighteen years old. What do middle school students know about love and romance!" He poked Lin Wanning's forehead with his index finger.

"Hmm!" Lin Wanning closed his eyes again, silently calculating how many days were left until his seventeenth birthday.

She desperately wanted to be with Qingfan and couldn't wait a moment longer!
Additional updates for monthly tickets (10/13)

(End of this chapter)