I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 321. The only mistake was liking you at the same time.

After hanging up the phone, Xu Qingfan put his phone away again and looked at Zhang Chunxue with a frustrated expression: "Is that enough? They'll be back soon."

After he recognized Xia Xiaoxiao's voice, he originally wanted to give her a good scolding to avenge the arrow he had shot that morning.

But when he met his aunt's reproachful gaze, Xu Qingfan immediately lost his temper and could only change to speaking in a neutral tone.

"That's a good boy! Go and tidy up the table. I can't wait to eat the feast Xiao Fan made!" Zhang Chunxue rubbed her hands together and looked at him with a smile.

Lin Wanning was the happiest when she heard that Xiaoxiao and everyone else were coming back. After all, she always thought that the argument was caused by her. If everyone could make up, her birthday wish could come true ahead of time.

"Hehe~ Let's go get the bowls!" Lin Wanning pulled Zhang Yiyi along and skipped and hopped towards the kitchen.

For a brief moment, only Xu Qingfan and Zhang Chunxue remained in the living room. He wanted to go to the shoe cabinet to get slippers for his aunt, but he was stopped.

"Tell me the whole story after dinner," Zhang Chunxue said sternly, adopting an adult's demeanor.

Xu Qingfan had the same idea. He felt that he was becoming more and more awkward around the five girls as he grew up. If he didn't solve this problem, even if he made up with Xia Xiaoxiao this time, he would probably start arguing with her again over other things before long.

As a woman herself, and with no generation gap between them, Zhang Chunxue would obviously be a good listener.

Xu Qingfan turned around and winked playfully: "Okay, I love chatting with Auntie the most."

"Pfft~" Zhang Chunxue glared at him, her phoenix eyes sparkling.

Xu Qingfan jogged to the shoe cabinet, grabbed a pair of slippers, and then jogged back. Before the aunt could even take off her shoes, he returned, squatted down, and helped her remove her original black leather high heels and put on comfortable, cool rubber slippers.

"Mmm~" Zhang Chunxue sat comfortably on the sofa, leaned her head back, and squinted her eyes to enjoy the warmth of home at this moment.

Why did I come back here as soon as my business trip ended? Besides Yi Yi, a large part of the reason is the boy in front of me.

Compared to her home in the port city, where everything was about profit, she always felt that the atmosphere Xiao Fan created for her was more like the warmth of home.

When Zhang Chunxue opened her eyes again, Xu Qingfan had already helped her change her shoes and put her high heels back in the shoe cabinet.

"Go wash your hands!" Zhang Chunxue frowned and scolded him when she saw him raise his hand to touch his nose.

"Oh, oh." Xu Qingfan's expression turned awkward; he didn't want his aunt to misunderstand.

He didn't really have any strange thoughts; it was just that his aunt's feet didn't smell, and his nose happened to be itchy at that moment.

Xu Qingfan wiped his nose with his sleeve and was about to go outside to wash his hands when he heard a familiar voice in the distance.

"Brother Fan, we're back!"

A dozen meters away, Xiao Ruanwen was pulling Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu along as they rushed towards them.

When Xia Xiaoxiao saw that the person standing at the door was Xu Qingfan, she lowered her head guiltily and dared not look at him again.

After all, she had just said something so resolute a few hours ago, "Never see each other again in this lifetime," but then she came running back as soon as it was mealtime. Doesn't Xia Xiaoxiao have any pride?

It's like a child who's upset with their parents and decides to run away from home, only to wander around aimlessly for an afternoon before sheepishly returning home at mealtime.

A few moments later, the three returned to the courtyard, where Little White wagged its tail enthusiastically in welcome.

"Brother Fan, is dinner ready? I'm starving!" Xiao Ruanwen jumped around like a monkey on Mount Emei, eager to eat, waving her arms and legs excitedly.

"Brother Fan." Wu Lingyu felt ashamed and blushed, realizing she hadn't done a good job as a little spy.

As for Xia Xiaoxiao, the girl was looking down at the bluestone floor, silently thinking: As long as I'm not embarrassed, I'm not the one who's embarrassed!

Xu Qingfan glanced at Xia Xiaoxiao first, noticing the scabbed bloodstains on her right arm, but didn't say anything.

"We've been waiting for you all. Yi-yi's mom is here too. Come in and eat." He flicked the remaining water droplets from his hands to Xiaobai, then turned and led the way into the house.

Wow~ Aunt Zhang is here too!

“Yes, aren’t you welcoming Auntie?” Zhang Chunxue stood up and opened her arms to greet the three of them.

"Hello, Auntie!" Xiao Ruanwen paused in her rush to the dining table and instead embraced Aunt Zhang.

"Hello, Auntie." Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu followed suit and greeted her.

"Ruan Wen is still so beautiful." Zhang Chunxue gently patted her back and let go of her hand, saying this.

"Auntie is truly beautiful!" Xiao Ruanwen glanced at the dining table out of the corner of her eye, which was full of her favorite dishes, and her voice involuntarily rose a few decibels.

Hearing the noise, Zhang Yiyi and Lin Wanning came out of the kitchen and ran towards them in surprise.

Lin Wanning had a lot of happy things to say, but when he saw Xia Xiaoxiao's indifferent face, he forgot everything he wanted to say in an instant.

"The soup is ready, everyone. It's lotus root and pork rib soup." She nervously scratched her face and pointed towards the dining table.

Zhang Chunxue hugged Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu again, pretending not to know about the conflict between them, and said, "Let's eat first, I'm starving."

"it is good!"

In the past, Xia Xiaoxiao would pretend to sit down next to Xu Qingfan casually at this time, but this time she did not move first.

Xia Xiaoxiao originally wanted to wait until everyone was seated before she sat down in the last empty seat, trying to stay as far away from the stinky dog ​​as possible.

However, she quickly regretted it, because the last remaining seat was next to Xu Qingfan's, which was obviously a result of the four girls' tacit cooperation.

"Xiaoxiao, what are you still standing there for? Come and drink the soup!" Xiao Ruanwen waved and called her over.

"Oh," Xia Xiaoxiao took a breath, held her breath, and came to sit down next to Xu Qingfan.

To her relief, Xu Qingfan didn't make sarcastic remarks about her.

But to her dismay, Xu Qingfan completely ignored her.

"Auntie, try this wasabi shrimp, Wanning's mantis shrimp. Xiaoyu, try this squid roll." Xu Qingfan paid attention to everyone, but forgot about Xia Xiaoxiao.

Even though all the dishes in front of her were her favorite foods, the girl suddenly felt a loss of appetite.

Xia Xiaoxiao felt like she was being a fool. On the one hand, she didn't want Xu Qingfan to pay attention to her, but on the other hand, she wanted Xu Qingfan to serve her food.

"Why didn't you peel one for Xiaoxiao too?" Zhang Chunxue was eating the mantis shrimp that Xu Qingfan had peeled when she noticed Xia Xiaoxiao's sullen expression and tapped his hand with the tip of her chopsticks.

Xu Qingfan rolled his eyes and had no choice but to pick up another mantis shrimp and put it in his own bowl. After peeling it, he quietly put it in Xia Xiaoxiao's bowl.

"Thank you." Xia Xiaoxiao didn't dare to look at him, looking down at the extra mantis shrimp in the bowl, and said softly.

Xu Qingfan smiled enigmatically, but still didn't speak.

Xia Xiaoxiao was initially happy to eat shrimp, but the stinky dog ​​ignored her, which made her unhappy.

To be honest, it was really unpleasant to feel like Xu Qingfan was treating me like I didn't exist.

She desperately wanted to tell herself, "If you ignore me, then I'll ignore you too!" But the reality was, she felt like a piece of her heart had been ripped out. If she continued like this for a day, a week, or even a month, Xia Xiaoxiao felt she would definitely go crazy.

[If he's willing to give me an out, I'll apologize. I'm not a spoiled brat!]
Xia Xiaoxiao mistook the mantis shrimp in her mouth for a stinky dog, taking big bites to vent her grievances.

Zhang Chunxue's gaze swept over them, observing the expressions on the six people's faces with great interest.

Xiao Ruanwen is a glutton, ignore her;
Wu Lingyu always pays attention to who needs more rice or drinks; she's clearly a virtuous and capable wife.

Her daughter glanced at Xiao Fan one moment and then at Wan Ning the next, looking blissful.

Lin Wanning's heart was completely focused on Xiao Fan; his eyes sparkled like little stars.

Xia Xiaoxiao was currently munching on a mantis shrimp, looking utterly defeated.

The term "loser dog" was taught to her by Xu Qingfan. In order to avoid a generation gap with them, Aunt Zhang would watch anime and watch 2D movies in her spare time.

As for Xu Qingfan, he was pretending to deliberately ignore Xia Xiaoxiao, but in fact he had been stealing glances at her countless times out of the corner of his eye.

We'll find out why they were arguing soon enough.
We ate lunch until after 1 p.m.

After asking Aunt Zhang if she was free all day, everyone decided to save the birthday cake for the evening, since blowing out the candles after dark would create a better atmosphere.

Xu Qingfan cooks, and the five girls wash the dishes; this has always been a tradition in this family.

After finishing their meal, the five girls worked together seamlessly to clean up the mess.

As if to prove she wasn't a giant baby, Xia Xiaoxiao worked exceptionally hard, and today she was equivalent to three to five normal people.

Therefore, Xu Qingfan and Zhang Chunxue were soon the only two people left to relax in the living room.

After a meal, nothing beats eating watermelon to aid digestion.

Zhang Chunxue pointed to the swing chair outside the yard and waved for Xu Qingfan to come out with her, "Let's go outside and chat for a while."

"Okay, okay." He naturally listened to his aunt and followed behind her.

Because it had rained in the morning, the afternoon temperature remained at a pleasant 20 degrees Celsius. The glaring sunlight was filtered out by the lush banyan trees, making it very pleasant to sit in the courtyard and relax.

"Tell me, how did you quarrel with Xiaoxiao?" Although Zhang Chunxue could imagine the whole process from what had just happened, it was nothing compared to hearing Xiaofan tell the story in person.

Xu Qingfan sat next to Zhang Chunxue on the rattan chair. His thighs, clad in shorts, touched the aunt's black stockings, feeling as if he were touching silk, cool and smooth.

He leaned his head lazily on his aunt's shoulder and said, "This matter is a bit complicated."

Xu Qingfan felt that if he wanted Zhang Chunxue's advice, it would be better not to hide anything. He decided to wrap up the storyline and start from the first year of junior high school.

“It just so happens that I promised Xiaoxiao last time that I wouldn’t let Wanning get into bed with me. She probably felt that I didn’t keep my word, so she got very angry. I was wronged at the time, and I was also very angry. In a fit of emotion, I yelled at her. Then Xiaoxiao also lost her temper, threw things, said a lot of angry things, and then ran out of the house in the rain.”

"Wait, stop for a moment." Zhang Chunxue suddenly interrupted his story.

"What's wrong?" Xu Qingfan asked, looking up.

"You said Xiaoxiao said a lot of angry things. Tell me what exactly she said." Zhang Chunxue just wanted to watch the drama unfold, but her tone made it sound like she really cared about it.

"Um," Xu Qingfan tilted his head and thought for a moment. He still remembered this: "Anyway, it was just some angry words, saying that he never wanted to see me again, never liked me again, and never bothered me again, etc."

[Xu Qingfan, I don't like you anymore!] Zhang Chunxue imagined this scene, and a maternal smile unconsciously appeared on her face.

After her smile faded, she spoke again: "So, you didn't notice anything?"

"What did you find?" Xu Qingfan looked up at her.

Zhang Chunxue looked at his blank and ignorant expression, as if he really didn't know.

[Little Xiao is jealous of Wan Ning, and she likes you. What does this have to do with keeping promises? Little Xiao is clearly angry because she's jealous and then you yelled at her. Xiao Fan isn't a very smart person, how could she not realize this?]
Zhang Chunxue looked at him hesitantly, but ultimately chose not to tell the boy the truth: "Alright, continue."

Xu Qingfan felt a little uneasy under his gaze, nodded, and then filled in the second half of the story where he texted Xiaoxiao that she was a giant baby.

"That's all there is to it. Auntie, you also think Xia Xiaoxiao is being unreasonable, right?"

"Sigh~" Zhang Chunxue patted his head and sighed deeply.

[It's all my fault as his mother. I only taught him how to deal with business people, but I never taught Xiaofan how to deal with women.]
"Auntie, why are you sighing? It can't be that I'm at fault, can it? I didn't mean for her to see that text message. Besides, she was the one who misunderstood me first this morning!" Xu Qingfan thought Zhang Chunxue was going to side with Xia Xiaoxiao, and he immediately became anxious.

"Xiao Fan is right."

Xu Qingfan had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his aunt say again, "Xiaoxiao is not wrong either."

"It's not my fault, and it's not a small mistake either. It can't be Wan Ning's fault!" Xu Qingfan immediately objected. How could Wan Ning be involved?
“Wan Ning is even more correct.” Zhang Chunxue continued to pat his head with amusement.

"Then whose fault is it anyway!" Xu Qingfan was speechless. Was his aunt playing a riddle game with him?

Zhang Chunxue really wanted to say, "Their mistake was that they both fell in love with you at the same time!"

But this was obviously something that couldn't be told to Xu Qingfan, since this little Fan was so clueless and didn't seem to have realized it yet.

"Not all arguments have right or wrong, nor do all arguments have winners or losers. Xiao Fan, you're probably annoyed that Xiao Xiao is meddling in your affairs too much."

Xu Qingfan's eyes lit up instantly, because that's exactly what he felt. Xia Xiaoxiao isn't anyone to him, so why should she want to control everything?

"Um, Auntie, what happened next?"

"And then, just as you said, you're all grown up now, and it's definitely not okay to get along like you did when you were little. After all, there are six of you living together, so you have to consider Xiao Xiao's feelings."

"Oh." Xu Qingfan was unhappy with what his aunt said, but he couldn't find any point to refute it.

"How you make up with Xiaoxiao is your own business, I won't interfere~" Zhang Chunxue patted his head and said meaningfully, "But, Xiaofan, don't you think that now, besides studying, you are the center of the girls' lives? You are so smart, think about it carefully."

"Auntie, do you mean you want me?"

Before Xu Qingfan could finish speaking, Zhang Chunxue covered his mouth with her index finger.

"I didn't say anything, don't frame me, or Wan Ning and the others will come to complain to me." She playfully closed her right eye and gave Xu Qingfan a wink.

"Then should I..."

"I don't know, I don't know, I'm going back to take a nap." Zhang Chunxue didn't let him finish speaking, got up, patted her bottom, and slipped away.

"No."

Xu Qingfan watched Zhang Chunxue's departing figure, speechless for a long time.

Bonus chapter for monthly pass subscribers: (12/16)

(End of this chapter)