I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 329. Christmas Tree

Seemingly worried that the children would feel uncomfortable with adults around, Wu Suowei and Li Meijuan placed the fried pork, brown sugar glutinous rice cakes, and dried fruit slices they had fed them on the coffee table before returning to their bedroom, leaving the living room space for the six of them.

"And milk tea." Wu Lingyu carried food back and forth from the kitchen refrigerator, and soon the coffee table was filled with all kinds of snacks.

"Alright, stop taking it. Sit down and eat." Seeing that she wanted to turn back after putting down the milk tea, Xu Qingfan reached out and pulled Xiaoyu, who was about to leave, to sit down next to him.

"I didn't... the refrigerator was still open, I didn't take it." Wu Lingyu bit her lower lip, feeling wronged.

"Sit still and drink your milk tea, I'll go turn it off." Xu Qingfan inserted a straw into the bubble tea and forcefully shoved it into the girl's hand.

"Oh"

Lin Wanning took a bite of the pork chop on the bamboo skewer, and his pupils dilated instantly after chewing.

She waved her half-eaten pork chop, waiting for Xu Qingfan to come back so she could hand it to him: "Brother Qingfan, this pork chop is so delicious! It tastes just like before. Come and eat!"

Xia Xiaoxiao glanced sideways at the pork chop in her hand, but didn't say anything. Instead, she naturally picked up a cup of milk tea, poked it open, and took a sip.

Her gaze remained fixed on Xu Qingfan. When he returned, she handed him the cup of milk tea that she had only taken a sip of: "I wasn't feeling well in the car just now, could you drink it for me?"

"Why didn't you say so earlier? Do you want me to give you some medicated oil to massage you?" Xu Qingfan believed him and asked with concern after taking the milk tea.

"I'll go get the medicated oil!" Wu Lingyu immediately got up and responded.

"Oh, Xiaoyu, no need. I was just looking at my phone. I'll rest for a bit," Xia Xiaoxiao explained, taking the girl's hand.

Lin Wanning glanced down at the pork chop in her hand, pouted, and then continued eating it herself. While eating, she didn't forget to care about Xiaoxiao: "Xiaoxiao, you should rest well. Don't play on your phone when you go back."

"Yes, it's easy to get dizzy if you use your phone while riding in a car. I started to feel dizzy just now, so I stopped using it."

"We still have motion sickness medicine at home, Xiaoxiao, would you like some?"

"Eating sour vegetables might help."

Everyone chimed in with their own opinions.

Xia Xiaoxiao pretended to be dizzy, holding her forehead and waving her hand to refuse Wu Lingyu's kindness.

But secretly, the girl was already smug, because she had successfully gotten Xu Qingfan to drink the milk tea she had drunk without attracting anyone's attention.

[If you get into bed, I'll get into bed too; if you feed me, I'll feed me too!]
After a silent confrontation, the group, having finished their meal, went to Wu Lingyu's room.

Last time, because he was the only boy, it wasn't convenient for him to enter Xiaoyu's room, but this time he made up for it.

Unlike most girls who like to decorate their rooms in pink, Wu Lingyu's room is decorated in warm blue and white tones, which gives a relaxing feeling.

The room was decorated almost entirely with gifts they had given to the girl over the years, and Wu Lingyu had kept them all neatly in her room without losing a single one.

"Hey~ This wind chime was a birthday gift I gave to Xiaoyu when I was in second grade, and it's still here!" Xiao Ruanwen saw the wind chime hanging by the window and excitedly ran over to pull it, making a crisp tapping sound.

"Wow~ This is a gift I gave to Xiaoyu when I was in third grade!"

"This is a gift from me!"

Wu Lingyu's room was quite large, over ten square meters, and the group quickly dispersed to search for Easter eggs inside.

A Christmas tree in the glass case caught Xu Qingfan's attention. It was one of those bare paper trees covered in a solution; the paper absorbed the potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution through capillary action, and after a day or two, the water evaporated naturally, leaving beautiful white crystalline flowers on the trunk. These Christmas trees were very popular when he was in elementary school, selling for five cents a pack. However, the crystals on the trunk of this particular tree had long since fallen off, yet it was still carefully preserved in a glass case, which piqued Xu Qingfan's interest.

"All the frost on this Christmas tree has fallen off, why are you still keeping it in the cabinet?" He pointed to the bare Christmas tree in the cabinet and asked curiously.

The others gathered around when they heard his voice, and sure enough, they saw a bare Christmas tree.

Only Wu Lingyu stood behind everyone, her face beaming with happiness: "Because this was a gift from you, Brother Fan."

"I gave it to you?" Xu Qingfan blinked in confusion, clearly not remembering it.

"Wow~ Brother Qingfan, you've never given me a Christmas tree!" Lin Wanning said this, but she wasn't envious at all, because she and Yiyi had four-leaf clovers given to them by Brother Qingfan, four-leaf clovers that were unique in the whole world.

Seeing everyone looking at her, eager to hear the story behind the Christmas tree, Wu Lingyu put her hands together, squinted her eyes and recalled for a while before slowly recounting: "Actually, it's nothing much. It happened when I was in first grade. I don't know why Fan bought so many of these Christmas trees, dozens of packs of them."

Wu Lingyu gestured with her hands, indicating that Xu Qingfan was holding a bunch of Christmas trees like this back then.

"Then Fan accidentally dropped a bag on the ground. I happened to be passing by, so I ran over to pick it up and return it to Fan."

"I know, I know, that must be what Brother Fan is thinking!" Xiao Ruanwen pretended to be Brother Fan who was called over by Xiaoyu, imitating Xu Qingfan's actions and expressions at that time, and turned around to say with sharp eyes, "This bag is for you."

"Mmm." Wu Lingyu nodded blankly.

"Haha, I knew it! Fan-ge loves to show off!"

"Quiet down and let Xiaoyu finish speaking." Xu Qingfan pretended to hit her, and Xiao Ruanwen immediately hid behind Xia Xiaoxiao, looking aggrieved.

"Xiaoyu, what happened next? What else did Brother Qingfan say?" Lin Wanning imagined the scene, just like the first encounter between the male and female leads in a campus idol drama.

"Brother Fan said back then, 'Today is Christmas, this bag is for you. I'm Xu Qingfan from Class 16. Merry Christmas!'" A sweet smile appeared on Wu Lingyu's face. The little moments she shared with Xu Qingfan were the most precious memories of her life.

"And then what?" Xiao Ruanwen continued to press.

"That's all. Before I could even say anything, Brother Fan ran off." Wu Lingyu pouted like a little girl.

"Hahaha!"

Everyone instantly imagined the scene, because it was so Xu Qingfan.

"I remember now, when we were in first grade, all the girls in our class gave you greeting cards, and you returned the favor with a Christmas tree!" Long-buried memories were awakened, and Xia Xiaoxiao could picture it all.

"Oh, it's that Christmas tree duck! I left it in my dorm, but I don't know where it went!"

"Can not remember."

"That must have been the first semester of first grade, right? So Xiaoyu already knew Brother Fan back then!" Xiao Ruanwen exclaimed excitedly, having discovered the key point.

"Mmm." Wu Lingyu looked at Xu Qingfan shyly.

"It means we were destined to meet in our past lives. Otherwise, why would I give it to Xiaoyu when there are so many teachers and students in the whole school?" He rubbed the girl's head, his gaze fixed on the Christmas tree in the glass display case.

Although he didn't remember it, listening to Wu Lingyu's story still brought him an indescribable joy.

Just because it was a gift from Xu Qingfan, the girl preserved an ordinary Christmas tree for nine years, and there will be countless nine years in the future. With such dedication, who could not be moved?
(End of this chapter)