I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 323. It's good to admit your mistakes.
Whether it was secretly shedding tiny pearls or having snot hanging from her face, Xia Xiaoxiao didn't want Xu Qingfan to see it.

Therefore, she had no choice but to run away.

Taking too big a step caused her bruised toes to ache from the pressure, but Xia Xiaoxiao was worried that Xu Qingfan would catch up, so she could only force herself to continue running away.

At the same time, a warm feeling welled up in the girl's heart. The stinky dog ​​pretended to ignore her, but when it saw that she hadn't returned after taking out the trash for so long, it was worried and anxiously came out to look for her.

[Can't you speak properly? You're the one squatting there taking a dump!]
Xia Xiaoxiao pouted coquettishly, feeling contempt for that guy who was just as hypocritical as her.

[If he had just come up and comforted me, saying it was my fault for not crying, I would have snuggled into his arms and apologized.]
In the short time she was lost in her daydreams, the yard of her home was already in sight.

Xia Xiaoxiao smiled when she saw Xiaobai chasing her tail in circles. She glanced furtively behind her to make sure Xu Qingfan wasn't following, and then calmly washed her face in the pond in the yard.

"Sigh~"

She didn't feel anything when she was lost in thought, but now that she's walking again, she realizes her feet are hurting terribly.

Xia Xiaoxiao looked down at her feet. Compared to her left foot's pink and cute toes, her right foot was noticeably swollen, and even the slightest movement made her wince in pain.

The athletic star Xia Xiaoxiao disappeared, replaced by a girl limping home.

In the living room, Zhang Chunxue and four girls were sitting in a row on the sofa eating fruit. When they saw her staggering and disheveled appearance, they all went over to check on her.

"Little one, what's wrong?"

Where is your foot injured?

"Ah~ Little one, your toes are so swollen!"

Soon, Xia Xiaoxiao's shoulders were lifted and she was helped to sit on the sofa.

After Wu Lingyu brought the first-aid kit, she squatted down like the others to check the girl's toe injury.

"How could you be so careless? There's a bruise now." Zhang Chunxue said with concern, holding her ankle and looking her over.

Xiao Ruanwen's dark eyes darted around, and a brilliant idea suddenly came to her mind.

"If there's bruising, then Brother Fan will have to handle it. He can massage to reduce swelling and drain the bruising."

Zhang Chunxue looked up at the girl but didn't say anything, while the other three girls started talking all at once.

"There's bruising; I need my brother to come."

"Let Brother Qingfan give me a little massage and then apply the medicine, and the pain will subside quickly!"

"Brother Fan is definitely fine."

Xu Qingfan happened to walk in at that moment and heard Xiaoyu praising him, saying "no problem".

"Of course I have no problem, so what's the problem?"

His voice came from the direction of the door, and the group looked over in surprise.

"Brother Qingfan!"

"elder brother!"

"Brother Fan!"

"Brother Qingfan, this is Xiaoxiao. Xiaoxiao accidentally bumped her toe while taking out the trash and needs you to massage it to reduce the swelling." Lin Wanning ran up to him, grabbed his arm, and pulled him towards the sofa.

Xu Qingfan quickly noticed the girl's toes, which were swollen like "three plums," and the scene of Xia Xiaoxiao limping not long ago instantly flashed into his mind.

"Pfft!" Xu Qingfan suppressed his laughter, after all, he had received professional training.

Xia Xiaoxiao turned her head away in shame. Even though she didn't look, she could feel the bad dog's gaze sweeping over her.

At the same time, she was also quite looking forward to it, because then the stinky dog ​​would massage her legs!
Xu Qingfan's gaze lingered on Xia Xiaoxiao's face. Since she had washed her face beforehand, he couldn't find any traces of her crying.

[If you weren't secretly dropping pearls, did you really squat there to poop?]
[And his feet are so swollen, yet he was walking briskly just now.]
He muttered a few complaints to himself, and his tall figure quickly squatted down.

He took Zhang Chunxue's place, reached out and supported the girl's ankle, and said with disdain, "You can even make a mess of taking out the trash. You're so clumsy."

The people present held their breath instantly, afraid that Xia Xiaoxiao would get angry and retort, making the situation, which had already shown signs of improvement, fall apart again.

However, Xia Xiaoxiao's reaction was beyond everyone's expectations. She only trembled slightly the moment Xu Qingfan grabbed her ankle, and then she did not move at all.

Xu Qingfan looked up at her in surprise. He wondered if it was just his imagination, but looking up, he felt that the girl's neck and cheeks were slightly flushed.

He looked away, raised his leg to his face, and observed it closely for a while before saying, "Apply ice first, then apply safflower oil. Don't wash your feet for the next couple of days."

Seeing that the two were not arguing, the four girls secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll go get the ice!" Upon hearing Xu Qingfan's words, Wu Lingyu immediately responded and ran off.

Zhang Chunxue put on a motherly smile again and left the living room unnoticed by the others.

Xia Xiaoxiao noticed that her aunt was going upstairs because she turned her head and was facing the stairs, but she was too shy to speak at the moment.

Wu Lingyu quickly returned with the ice, and thoughtfully wrapped it in a cloth.

"Hiss~" The moment the ice pack touched the wound, Xia Xiaoxiao immediately kicked forward sensitively.

"What do you want to do!" Luckily, Xu Qingfan held on firmly, and the pink soles of her feet almost stepped on his face.

He tilted his head back in disgust, and used it to firmly hold Xia Xiaoxiao's feet in place again.

"Don't move."

Xia Xiaoxiao felt her face burning hot, and she apologized in a voice barely audible: "I'm so sorry."

Xu Qingfan was a little unaccustomed to this arrogant girl suddenly becoming so easy to talk to. He looked up at Xia Xiaoxiao again. In the light, the girl had lowered her eyebrows and ears, and her face was as beautiful as a peach blossom.

Humans are indeed visual creatures. Faced with Xia Xiaoxiao in this state, Xu Qingfan suddenly felt less resentful.

He spoke in a gentler tone: "It's okay, just try not to move."

"Ah."

The four girls watching the show behind them all had smiles on their faces; the two bickering lovers were finally going to make up.

Afraid of accidentally eating smelly feet again, Xu Qingfan inserted his left index finger into the gap between Xia Xiaoxiao's toes, both to hold it in place and to expose the bruised side.

"Hmm~"

Xia Xiaoxiao's body was already sensitive, and this caused her to tremble on the sofa.

She clenched her teeth to keep herself from making a sound, unaware that the more suppressed her breathing, the more irresistible it became.

Perhaps because the air conditioning was on, Xia Xiaoxiao's feet felt cool to the touch, and the beautiful arches of her feet were not marred by the small red and swollen patch.

Although Xu Qingfan didn't have any strange thoughts, when he touched such a pair of jade-like feet, his fingers couldn't help but gently brush across the girl's smooth instep.

However, this caused trouble for our little girl. The girl was ticklish, and with her feet being touched like this, she couldn't bear it. She let out soft moans, which were hard to distinguish as pain or pleasure, coming from her mouth and nose intermittently.

Xiao Ruanwen, Wu Lingyu, and Zhang Yiyi didn't notice anything unusual, but Lin Wanning was lost in thought.

[Xiaoxiao's voice now sounds so much like the one she used to say to Qingfan the other day.]
However, she quickly shook her head, "[That shouldn't be the case. Qingfan and I only massaged our feet a little, how could it be...]"
"Are you alright?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked, her face flushed and her voice trembling.

Xu Qingfan then realized that he had been applying ice to a small spot on his toe for almost ten minutes.

He pretended nothing was wrong and withdrew his hand, changing his squatting position to kneeling on his right knee. He said slowly, "That's about enough. Now I'll apply some safflower oil to you."

"Um"

Xu Qingfan dried Xia Xiaoxiao's feet, then poured the safflower oil Wu Lingyu handed him onto the back of her hand, rubbed it to warm it, and gently massaged it into her skin to help with the bruising. "Ah~"

This time, Xia Xiaoxiao finally couldn't help but cry out in pain. Every time Xu Qingfan's thumb pushed against her foot, her screams of pain grew louder and louder.

"I don't want it anymore... Ah... It hurts so much!"

After five minutes of massage to remove blood stasis, Xia Xiaoxiao was already drenched in sweat and collapsed onto the sofa.

Noticing that Xu Qingfan had finally withdrawn his hand, she looked at the person in front of her with hazy eyes.

"Alright, one more time tonight should be enough." Xu Qingfan said, taking the towel Wu Lingyu handed him and wiping his hands.

After a brief eye contact with him, Xia Xiaoxiao immediately lowered her head in embarrassment.

"Yeah, thank you."

It was a rare treat to hear the word "thank you" from Xia Xiaoxiao, and Xu Qingfan smiled sincerely.

He handed the towel back to Xiaoyu, stood up, and patted Xia Xiaoxiao's head: "Be more careful when you walk next time."

"Oh"

As soon as Xu Qingfan went into the restroom, Xiao Ruanwen excitedly pounced on him: "Hahahaha, I don't want it anymore, it hurts!"

Xia Xiaoxiao instantly pictured it, and, embarrassed and annoyed, hugged her head: "Ahhh~ You're not allowed to say that!"

Wu Lingyu put the first-aid kit back in its place. Lin Wanning and Zhang Yi exchanged a glance, both of them beaming with joy.

Although Xiaoxiao may become their rival in winning over Qingfan in the future, she is also their family and friend.

Therefore, Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi disdained to use any schemes or tricks; a family should naturally be together!
When Xu Qingfan returned to the living room, Xia Xiaoxiao and Xiao Ruanwen's playful fight had stopped.

Lin Wanning immediately skipped over and grabbed his arm, asking, "Brother Qingfan, it's almost two o'clock! Are we still going to school this afternoon?"

Upon hearing this, everyone subconsciously glanced at the wall clock in the living room, and sure enough, there were less than five minutes left until 2 p.m.

"Brother Fan's little leg is injured, it's inconvenient for him to go to school!" Having skipped class all morning, Xiao Ruanwen was also feeling restless and didn't want to go to school either.

Seeing that Xu Qingfan was about to look in her direction, Xia Xiaoxiao immediately turned her head away guiltily.

"Then I'll send another text to the homeroom teacher and say that we still have food poisoning and need to stay home this afternoon," Xu Qingfan said with a smile, taking out his phone.

"Great!!!"

The living room was instantly filled with shouts of "Yay!"

Everyone's relationship is back to normal, and they don't have to go to class this afternoon, not to mention it's Wan Ning's birthday and Aunt Zhang is visiting the set today.

All the happiness combined made them feel incredibly good at that moment.

The six of them sat side by side on the sofa, and the TV was playing "72 Tenants" on Pearl River TV.

Xu Qingfan sat for a while before realizing that Zhang Chunxue was missing. He asked in confusion, "Where's Auntie?"

Xia Xiaoxiao sat down next to him, hesitated for a few seconds, and then answered, "Going upstairs."

"Ah."

The living room returned to silence, with only the sound of 369's usual cursing phrase, "You're just a dead man and a beheaded ghost," coming from the television.

Xu Qingfan didn't really know if this counted as making up with Xia Xiaoxiao. He originally thought that if she didn't apologize, he wouldn't forgive her!

But now that you've said the words and touched my foot, using that same passive-aggressive approach would seem childish.

Moreover, Xia Xiaoxiao suddenly became very polite, so he had no reason to continue being sarcastic.

However, Xu Qingfan was still unhappy, after all, she hadn't apologized to him yet!

[This isn't a matter of being petty or not; it's a matter of principle, and an apology is necessary!]
Xu Qingfan made up his mind that if Xia Xiaoxiao didn't apologize to him for what happened today, then he would have to treat her one level lower than other girls in the future!
[If Wanning eats rice while you drink porridge, and Wanning eats Magnum ice cream, Xia Xiaoxiao will at most eat pudding!]
Xu Qingfan imagined the scene of torturing Xia Xiaoxiao in his mind, and couldn't help but giggle.

"Brother Fan, what's wrong?"

"Brother Qingfan, what are you laughing at?"

Lin Wanning waved his hand in front of his eyes, and Xu Qingfan reacted instantly. When he came to his senses, he realized that the five girls were staring at him with puzzled looks.

"Haha, don't you guys think it was hilarious that Prince Bing was being scolded just now?" he said, scratching his head awkwardly.

"Forehead"

After a moment of silence, Xiao Ruanwen was the first to cover her mouth and laugh in a sarcastic tone: "Hahaha, so funny, it's hilarious!"

"Hahaha!" In no time, the other four people joined in.

Seeing Xia Xiaoxiao laughing so happily, and remembering the idea he had just come up with about "Wanning eating watermelon and Xiaoxiao eating watermelon rinds," Xu Qingfan laughed again.

Suddenly hearing the stinky dog's laughter, Xia Xiaoxiao felt a chill run down her spine for some reason.

Despite having no evidence, she felt that Xu Qingfan was laughing at her, both just now and now.

[Hmph~ Laugh if you want, whatever makes you happy.]
The six of them laughed for about five minutes before stopping, leaning against each other crookedly, their bodies twitching from time to time.

The show "72 Tenants" has finished airing, and right now its ending theme song is playing on the TV. Whenever I hear it, I feel like taking a nap.

"I'm sleepy, let's go upstairs and take a nap," Lin Wanning said, leaning on Xu Qingfan's shoulder and squinting.

"Okay, everyone go upstairs to sleep. We'll go to the market together when you wake up!" Xu Qingfan snapped his fingers, signaling everyone to get up quickly.

"Xiaoxiao, does your foot still hurt? Is there any problem walking?" Xiao Ruanwen secretly pinched Xia Xiaoxiao's waist, giving her frantic hints.

"Oh, I didn't."

Xia Xiaoxiao was about to say that she was fine when Xiao Ruanwen interrupted, "Brother Fan, why don't you carry Xiaoxiao up? Walking will put pressure on the wound."

Xia Xiaoxiao immediately fell silent, shutting her mouth like an ostrich.

Xu Qingfan shrugged, stood up, and squatted down in front of the girl: "Help her up."

"Ok!"

Xia Xiaoxiao was quickly helped onto his back by several girls. Xu Qingfan held her thighs firmly with both hands, bounced her up and down, and then stepped upstairs.

Xia Xiaoxiao buried her face in Xu Qingfan's neck, wondering whether she should take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to apologize, or apologize later under the covers.

She was thinking about what had happened that morning, and although only a few hours had passed, it felt like months had gone by.

Hugging Xu Qingfan's neck, Xia Xiaoxiao's head gradually began to feel dizzy. She hadn't been able to fall asleep during her morning nap, and she was actually quite sleepy by now.

Xu Qingfan quickly carried her up to the second floor. After seeing that they were alright, the group ran to the front and went into the room first.

Seeing that Xu Qingfan was about to carry her inside, Xia Xiaoxiao finally mustered up her courage and whispered in his ear, "I'm sorry, I know I was wrong."

Although the sound was very soft, Xu Qingfan clearly heard it at such close proximity that he paused in his walking motion.

A surge of warmth welled up in Xu Qingfan's heart, and he couldn't quite describe how he felt. Suddenly, he couldn't bring himself to hate the girl behind him anymore.

He patted Xia Xiaoxiao's bottom lightly and continued walking forward.

"Just acknowledge your mistake."

(End of this chapter)