I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 340. I like you, do you even know it?

For the next month or so, the Asian Games fever swept across Lingnan, and the mascot of the Five Rams and the well-known phrase "Heavy rain, flooded streets" became ubiquitous signs on the streets.

The future "Asian Flying Man" Su Shen showed her talent, the women's volleyball team made a stunning comeback from 0-2 down to defeat the Koreans, and the legendary badminton player Lin Shen won the championship, achieving a Grand Slam in her career and winning the honor of Asian Games MVP.

With a commanding lead in the number of gold medals, the Chinese team sent a message to the world about the great nation with five thousand years of history. Many moving stories unfolded in this inclusive and friendly city.

Somehow, word got out that they had been chosen as Asian Games torchbearers and the whole school knew about it. This didn't really affect the six of them's final year of junior high; it just added another brilliant chapter to their already legendary story.

I gave a speech during the flag-raising ceremony on Monday, and then life returned to normal.

The final days of junior high school were uneventful yet warm, lacking the unbridled freedom and adventures of wandering scholars, and devoid of the turbulent and tumultuous world of chivalrous heroes.

All that remains are countless alarm clocks ringing and turning off at six in the morning, the leisurely figures of six friends chatting while eating breakfast on their way to school, looking up to see the most beautiful sunset hanging high in the sky, and drawing one's sword and looking around to find one's best friends by one's side.

With the arrival of winter, the port city experienced a once-in-fifty-year temperature drop.

The daytime high was only five degrees Celsius, and people dug out their thermal underwear and down jackets from the bottom of their closets. People going out wished they could wrap themselves up like dumplings.

People in Hong Kong who have seen many storms in the future may scoff at the idea of ​​a once-in-fifty-years or even once-in-a-century event.

But in 2010, when El Niño first appeared, everyone was freezing cold.

During their leisure time in the afternoon, Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao comfortably snuggled under a blanket watching TV, while four or five hot water bottles radiating heat worked diligently.

[I'm stuck here, too afraid to go any further]

Let sadness never happen.

The mournful melody of the erhu, accompanied by poignant lyrics, played as the ending theme song of "Scarlet Heart," which was being rebroadcast on Hunan TV, began to play.

Xia Xiaoxiao lazily tucked her feet in, letting her icy soles press against the smelly dog's thigh to warm them up.

The girl tilted her body slightly so that her head could comfortably rest on his shoulder.

Her toes playfully tapped on his body, and Xia Xiaoxiao squinted her eyes contentedly.

Today is Sunday, and we have to go back to the secret base to gather in the afternoon. After lunch, the afternoon is a rare time for the two of us to be alone.

If only time could stand still forever!
She thought to herself.

Time cannot stand still, of course. After switching channels several times without finding any good TV dramas, Xu Qingfan was already planning to get up and go back to his room.

"Here, here you go."

Xu Qingfan grabbed the girl's little feet, which were warming themselves on his thighs, and helped her put the hot water bottle on her like a shoe.

"Hmm~ Where are you going?" Xia Xiaoxiao's cheeks flushed slightly as she looked up and asked.

"Go back to your room." Xu Qingfan didn't say much, put on his coat, and went straight back to his room.

"Hmph~" Xia Xiaoxiao wrapped her arms around her knees and curled up on the sofa, her gaze never leaving his back.

To Xia Xiaoxiao's surprise, Xu Qingfan only stayed in the room for a short time before coming out again.

"Want to go for a walk?" he invited, throwing a pair of wool socks at the girl's head.

"It's freezing outside." Xia Xiaoxiao said this, but her body still obediently started putting on her socks.

She pulled the down jacket that was placed beside her into the blanket and put it on. She shivered instantly as she left the warm bed.

Xia Xiaoxiao asked, her breath hot, "Where are we going?"

"Just sunbathing." Xu Qingfan shrugged and turned to leave first.

"Speechless!" Xia Xiaoxiao glared at the stinky dog ​​that was trying to look cool, tied on her scarf, and jogged after it.

Although the air in Licheng was cold, the sun was exceptionally bright today, so dazzling that it was hard to open one's eyes when looking up.

"Where are you going?" The girl had both her small hands hidden in the pockets of her down jacket, and as she ran, strands of her black hair danced in the wind.

Xu Qingfan paused for a moment, waiting for Xia Xiaoxiao to walk beside him before continuing.

"Let's go up to the rooftop and soak up some sun," he said, pointing to the bright sun overhead and smiling at the girl.

"Oh." Xia Xiaoxiao felt quite comfortable basking in the sun on such a cold day, especially being alone with the stinky dog, and obediently followed him upstairs.

The two quickly arrived at the eighth-floor rooftop, where the soft sunlight bathed them, instantly making them feel warm all over.

Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao have come here to play many times since they were little.

After finding their usual spot, the two leaned against the concrete pillar in a relaxed state, lost in thought.

Xia Xiaoxiao assumed that Xu Qingfan had genuinely come up to sunbathe. She opened Kuwo Music on her phone and played "Three Inches of the World," a song she had only heard half of earlier.

Xu Qingfan habitually put his hand on the girl's shoulder, and Xia Xiaoxiao subtly moved closer to him so that she could lean tightly against him.

Unfortunately, the height difference between them was only five centimeters, so the girl couldn't comfortably rest her head on his shoulder. The music played softly, and neither of them spoke.

After the song ended, Xu Qingfan finally spoke, saying, "Tomorrow is your birthday, right?"

"Hmm." Xia Xiao's heart skipped a beat. She suddenly realized why Xu Qingfan had called her up.

If there were people across the street, from a distance, the two of them would look like a happy young couple cuddling together, and they do look like that up close.

Xu Qingfan calmly reached into his pocket, and when he opened it again, a keychain appeared in his palm as if by magic.

"Here's a birthday present for you," he said casually.

Xia Xiaoxiao was so nervous that she forgot to breathe, but when she looked down, what she saw was not the little dinosaur keychain she had been longing for.

Xia Xiaoxiao guessed the beginning, but not the ending.

A wave of despondency washed over me as I plummeted from the heights of success to the depths of despair. Even though the keychain was exquisite, I imagined it must be incredibly expensive.

But no matter how exquisite or expensive the keychain is, it can't compare to even a fraction of the value of the little dinosaur keychain in her heart.

"Oh, thank you." Xia Xiaoxiao's eyes reddened instantly, and her trembling left hand picked up her birthday present.

"The old one can't be put back together, this one is newly made, I hope it doesn't break again."

Xia Xiaoxiao's vision was blurry, and she only heard the first half of his sentence.

[The previous one couldn't be pieced back together, so they gave me a new one. And sure enough...]
"This is something I made by melting down some fragments from before. Press its head and it will talk. You can try it." Xu Qingfan spoke in an extremely calm tone, as if this were just an insignificant matter.

But deep down, he was already feeling incredibly smug and superior.

[Haha, Xia Xiaoxiao, aren't you moved to tears by my words!]
However, the scene that Xia Xiaoxiao had expected—hugging and kissing him passionately—did not happen; the girl's reaction was much calmer than his.

[That shouldn't be the case?]
Xu Qingfan turned his head in confusion and saw that Xia Xiaoxiao had already been crying for some time.

"No, why are you crying? Even if you like someone a lot, there's no need to cry, right?" He blinked frantically, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.

Xia Xiaoxiao looked up at him pitifully, her tear-streaked face evoking pity.

"Waaah... I don't want this keychain! I just want my old little dinosaur back!" she cried, clutching the keychain tightly in her hand.

"Where are the old little dinosaurs? I melted them all down. Isn't this the one you're holding now?" Xu Qingfan said helplessly, thinking the girl didn't like the one he made.

[What kind of aesthetic sense is this? My little brother is a million times better looking than a dinosaur!]
Yes, Xu Qingfan specially commissioned someone to make a mold in the likeness of his younger brother for this keychain. As for the subsequent steps such as casting, they were naturally not difficult tasks for him, a top chemistry student in his previous life.

"what?"

Xia Xiaoxiao stopped crying. Had she misheard? Was the keychain made from a melted-down dinosaur?

Xu Qingfan was amused by her adorable expression and reached out to snatch the kitten back: "What 'ah'? The little dinosaur has melted away, now there's only the kitten. If you don't like it, give it back to me."

Xia Xiaoxiao was now certain that what she was holding was a little dinosaur, only it had been transformed into a kitten!

"Who says I don't like it? I absolutely love it!!!"

She immediately forgot about crying and quickly hid the keychain under her arm.

"So you were crying just now?" Xu Qingfan asked with a smile, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes with his fingers.

"I-I. Humph!"

Xia Xiaoxiao had no time to pay attention to him anymore, and was focused on looking down at the new keychain.

Upon closer inspection, she realized that the keychain looked remarkably like her younger brother, even sharing one blue and one yellow eye.

Xia Xiaoxiao's face instantly blossomed into a charming smile as she lovingly played with the keychain in her hand.

She doesn't know anything about little dinosaurs; she only loves kittens!
Remembering what Xu Qingfan had just said, Xia Xiaoxiao placed her finger on the kitten's head, but couldn't find any buttons.

Just as she was about to ask, the kitten spoke up: "I like it!"

Xia Xiaoxiao's eyes widened. It was that voice!

"The buttons were prone to breaking, so I had someone add some programming to make them pressure-sensitive," Xu Qingfan explained.

Not counting the effort spent, the design alone cost over a thousand yuan, but it made Xia Xiaoxiao both cry and laugh, so it was definitely worth it.

"Ok!"

Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she kept pressing her little brother's head, repeatedly saying "I like you" in Japanese.

Neither of them spoke, only the kitten kept saying "I like you".

"大好き好きだよ!"

[I like you, I like you, I like you, do you even know that?!]
(End of this chapter)