I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 439. When Will We Meet Under the Bed?
Good morning, boss!

"Ruo~ you're back! It's been almost half a year since I last saw you. Still the same minced meat sausage?" The owner was wiping the table when his eyes lit up when he saw the three people who suddenly appeared in the store.

"Yes, one serving without scallions, and two servings of pickled green beans." Xu Qingfan exchanged a knowing smile with the owner and skillfully filled the free bowl of congee.

Wu Lingyu and Xia Xiaoxiao simply nodded slightly, sat down, and picked up their teacups and chopsticks to rinse them.

Perhaps because it was the weekend, the breakfast shop was already full of people by 8 a.m., including many residents of Lianhua Courtyard.

"You're in high school now, right? How's your studying?"

"It feels like the last time I saw Xiaofan was when he was wearing open-crotch pants. How come he's grown up so much in the blink of an eye?"

"You should both go to Licheng High School. You'll definitely be successful in the future!"

Xu Qingfan politely responded to each of the elderly men and women. He didn't engage in any large conversations. After exchanging a few pleasantries, everyone went back to eating their own breakfast.

"Here you go, Brother Fan." Wu Lingyu handed the hot tableware to Xu Qingfan, with chopsticks stuck in the teacup.

"Thank you, Xiaoyu." He took the cup and poured himself a cup of tea.

Xu Qingfan never knew what kind of tea was used to brew the large pot of tea in the breakfast shop, but almost all the old shops that had been around for a long time used this tea.

The color is a light brown, and it doesn't taste like green tea or black tea. If you were to call it herbal tea, it wouldn't be that bitter.

"Your rice noodle rolls are ready. The minced meat sausage has gone up in price by one yuan," the owner reminded him as he left.

Xu Qingfan smiled at him: "Okay."

He has always used rice noodle rolls as a reference point to judge prices.

When I first came back in 02, minced meat sausages sold for one yuan. In 08, the price increased by one yuan, and now, 11 years later, it has increased by one yuan again.

Before Xu Qingfan was reborn, the price of minced meat sausage had risen to six yuan, which seemed to correspond to a housing price increase of more than three times.

"What are you thinking about, Brother Fan?" Wu Lingyu asked curiously when she saw him staring blankly at his chopsticks.

Xu Qingfan shook his head: "I was thinking about when we first met, rice noodle rolls only cost one yuan. In the blink of an eye, they've become the same age as us, and the price has tripled."

Xia Xiaoxiao glanced at him and thought with a touch of smugness: We've known each other since we were born, it's not three times!
"I met Brother Fan when I was six years old, not even three times his age yet." Despite saying this, Wu Lingyu was still very happy.

"We'll have it when you're in your senior year of high school. Let's eat rice noodle rolls." Xu Qingfan rubbed her head.

Feeling he couldn't neglect Xia Xiaoxiao too much, he added, "After dinner, do you want to go back and check on the stone you gave me? It's still at home."

Xia Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at him: So you still remember the stone I gave you at home? I thought you had forgotten!
Last time she moved, she asked this stinky dog ​​to take the stones with it, but Xu Qingfan said they were too heavy and he would come back to get them next time, and then nothing happened.

"Whatever." Although Xia Xiaoxiao also wanted to go home to visit, she said indifferently.

The three reminisced about the funny things that happened when they were in elementary school, and the plate of rice noodle rolls was quickly emptied.

Sweep the bits of meat that have fallen onto the plate onto the white porridge, stir it up, and you'll have another delicious bowl of lean meat porridge.

After getting tired of the food, finish with a cup of the tea I just mentioned. Only people from the port city truly understand the value of this breakfast.

After paying, Xu Qingfan picked up the bottle containing toothpicks, took one, and put it in his mouth.

It's not that I just ate rice noodle rolls and they got stuck in my teeth; it's just that after eating anything, even porridge, I feel uncomfortable if I don't have a toothpick in my mouth.

"Goodbye, boss." Xu Qingfan waved with a smile.

"Come again often." The owner nodded and continued busying himself with steaming rice noodle rolls.

After leaving the breakfast shop, the three turned right and arrived directly at the main gate of Lotus Courtyard.

The banyan tree is still lush and green, and the courtyard still looks the same as I remember it. Only the dog dozing on the cement ground and the old man cooling off under the banyan tree are no longer there.

The yard was already like this before they moved away, so the three of them weren't particularly moved by what they saw.

"Ruan Wen said she's coming to see us, she's leaving now." Xia Xiaoxiao put her phone away again after reading the message in the group chat.

The group chat wasn't very active; apart from Xiao Ruanwen asking where they were and saying she wanted to come too, no one else spoke.

"Wan Ning and Yi Yi are probably still asleep and haven't checked their phones yet," Xu Qingfan said, glancing at his phone and making a reasonable deduction since Wan Ning and Yi Yi hadn't shown up yet.

"Oh right, Ruan Wen promised to treat us to a big meal, didn't she? I almost forgot about something so important." He patted his forehead, looking like he had just remembered.

"Why don't we buy the groceries and cook ourselves?" Wu Lingyu suggested.

It wasn't that she wanted to save money for Xiao Ruanwen, but rather that in this small, remote place like Licheng, the only place that could be considered a gourmet meal seemed to be the farmhouses, which were also in the same remote area.

“We haven’t cooked for ourselves in a long time,” Xiaoyu added.

The three of them walked and talked, and soon arrived at the third floor.

"Tell Ruan Wen that if we're cooking at home, I'll definitely buy grouper and king crab." Xu Qingfan reached out and pinched Xiaoyu's cheeks before turning around to take out his keys and open the door.

Xia Xiaoxiao also came in. She was determined to make sure Xu Qingfan brought the stone home this time!
"Looks like my mom wasn't really being lazy after all. The house is actually quite clean." Xu Qingfan pinched his nose, expecting a cloud of dust to hit him, but the house was even cleaner than his bedroom.

"You're talking badly about Auntie again!" Xia Xiaoxiao slapped him in annoyance.

All the furniture and TVs in the new house were newly bought. Except for some changes of clothes and daily necessities that I brought with me, the house here has been kept exactly as it was.

Looking at everything here, Wu Lingyu inevitably recalled her old house, but she was no longer sad. She was only happy for Fan Ge.

“It’s still the same as before,” she said.

"Mmm." Xu Qingfan rubbed Xiaoyu's head and put his arm around her shoulder as they went into the room.

"?"

Xia Xiaoxiao: 6
After tilting her head and standing still for three seconds, Xia Xiaoxiao followed the two into the room.

The room was empty, but for some reason, all three of them saw the same scene: the little boy and the little girl were engrossed in playing a game, while another little girl was intently watching the little boy.

"Want to play a round?" Xu Qingfan kicked the power button on the computer and turned to look at the two of them.

"I'm torturing you!" Xia Xiaoxiao raised her little pink fist.

Wu Lingyu smiled and quietly sat down next to Xu Qingfan.

The rogue 360 ​​security software popped up a notification: Your computer took 48 seconds to boot up, exceeding the time of 99% of users.

Xu Qingfan closed the pop-up window, opened the browser, and skillfully typed in 4399.

They started with a game of badminton stick figures, which Xu Qingfan won easily.

In Boxing King 98, Xia Xiaoxiao used the unconventional pioneer, August God, to kill Xu Qingfan.

Bleach and Naruto, and the chibi-style Bubble Fighter, ultimately all lead to playing Fireboy and Watergirl.
"You're so stupid, Xia Xiaoxiao! You should step on the trap first and let me through!"

"Okay, stop yelling!"

"Xu Qingfan, why are you pushing your suitcase so early!"

"What are you yelling for? It's not like we can't start over!"

When Xiao Ruanwen arrived, Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao, who both complained that the other was bad at the game, had already finished their game time.

The three of them were sharing a blanket in the living room, watching "Hail the Judge," a show they had watched countless times before.

"Fan-ge, Xiao-xiao, and Xiao-yu, I'm here!" Xiao Ruan-wen excitedly ran in, carrying milk tea and delicious duck necks.

However, the scene she had envisioned—where everyone would stand up and warmly welcome her—did not happen.

Xia Xiaoxiao, Xu Qingfan, and Wu Lingyu all sat motionless on the sofa, calling her name as a greeting. "Ruan Wen."

"Coming."

"I bought milk tea and duck necks! Haven't Wan Ning and Yi Yi arrived yet? I've bought everyone's!" Fortunately, Xiao Ruanwen wasn't easily offended and said with great enthusiasm.

"Ouch~ cough cough I don't know, we've been watching TV and haven't checked our phones. We don't know if Wan Ningyi is up yet." Xu Qingfan had to let go of the two girls' hands after his soft flesh was pinched.

After being "liberated," Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu immediately got up and resumed their previous enthusiasm.

"Ruan Wen!"

"Hehe~ Little Jade!"

The three of them, in front of Xu Qingfan, were having a cute girl sticker session in the living room.

On TV, one of the famous scenes from "Hail the Judge" was playing right then and there—"I want them all!"
Xu Qingfan shifted his gaze from the television to the three girls, secretly vowing in his heart: I want them all!

Two more little white rabbits hadn't arrived yet, so he took out his phone to check.

Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi also posted online not long ago, having gotten up around the same time.

10:18
[Lin Wanning: Brother Qingfan, wait for me and Yi Yi Ya, we're coming right now! ＾ω＾]

10:20
[Zhang Yiyi: We'll be there soon! (＞y＜)]

Xu Qingfan looked at the smiley face emojis the two sent and couldn't help but smile too. He typed a reply: "We're at Lotus Courtyard. No rush, remember to eat breakfast!"

"Hey~ Brother Fan, here's your Yakult passion fruit drink." Xiao Ruanwen put a straw in his milk tea and handed it to him.

"Thanks." Xu Qingfan took a slurp first, then took it with his hand.

But soon, he didn't really want to thank Xiao Ruanwen anymore.

Ruan Wen is great at buying milk tea, but Ruan Wen is terrible at buying duck necks!

Because everyone wanted to eat duck necks, they couldn't stay under the covers anymore, and Xu Qingfan couldn't continue to secretly hold both of their hands under the covers at the same time.

"Hahaha, this is hilarious!"

When the movie showed Sister Pomegranate arguing with Fat Woman, Xiao Ruanwen still burst into laughter, even though she had seen it many times before.

The movie "Hail the Judge" features a memorable scene almost every few minutes, such as the well-known lines like "Chang Wei, you still say you don't know martial arts," "If I don't pay, it won't count as prostitution," and "I've never heard of such a request before."

However, Xu Qingfan's favorite part was the "Animal Chess" scene—the three of them meeting under Ruyan's bed.

Believe it or not, last week Xia Xiaoxiao was in bed and Wu Lingyu was under the bed. If Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi had also spent the night at home that night, they probably would have been able to have an epic meeting.

"Pfft," he couldn't help but laugh out loud as he thought about it.

Xu Qingfan's sudden laughter caught the attention of the three women, because the television was showing an advertisement for Shenbao tablets!

"No, Brother Fan, what are you laughing at? What's so funny?" Xiao Ruanwen asked with a suspicious look.

[If he's doing well, I'm doing well too!]

Eason Chan's "A Steady Happiness" is deafening.

Xu Qingfan instantly stopped smiling: "What, what are you doing?"

"I was thinking of something happy. What are you thinking about?"

"You don't think I laughed at the ad, do you? No way, no way?"

Xu Qingfan's classic three-question combo instantly stumped Xiao Ruanwen, leaving her speechless.

"Forehead"

"Hmph~ Let's ignore him!" Xia Xiaoxiao glared at him and picked up a duck heart to feed Xiao Ruanwen.

"Yes, you crazy Fan-ge, I'm ignoring you!" Xiao Ruanwen finished eating the duck heart and rested her head on Xia Xiaoxiao's shoulder again.

Wu Lingyu was about to speak when Xu Qingfan squeezed her palm, and Xiaoyu immediately swallowed back what she wanted to say.

"Brother Fan is eating duck neck."

"Okay, thank you, Xiaoyu!"

Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi arrived at the Lotus Courtyard around 11 o'clock.

After the six finished the last bit of duck neck and were cleaning up to leave, Xia Xiaoxiao suddenly turned around and went back into the room, then stuffed a stone into Xu Qingfan's hand.

Xu Qingfan wanted to say "I'll definitely do it next time," but seeing Xia Xiaoxiao's angry little expression, he didn't say anything.

[If Xia Xiaoxiao gets tortured later, let's be kinder to her.]
Xia Xiaoxiao only showed a happy expression after he found a bag and put it in.

"Brother Qingfan, what kind of duck is in your bag?" Upon seeing Xu Qingfan, Lin Wanning immediately turned into a clingy little devil.

"Oh, this is a birthday present Xia Xiaoxiao gave me when I was little. It's a tattered piece I picked up by the river. It has quite a sentimental value." He felt a chill on the back of his neck, but the feeling disappeared immediately after he changed his words.

"Ah~ I seem to remember this. Wasn't it the gift I gave Qingfan in the first year I met him? I folded a thousand little stars for him!"

The reason Lin Wanning remembered it so vividly was not only because it was the first birthday she had spent with Xu Qingfan, but also because Xia Xiaoxiao cried that day.

The reason was that Lin Wanning had carefully prepared a birthday gift, while she hadn't prepared anything.

Xia Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth secretly. It seemed that from that day on, more and more girls began to gather around Xu Qingfan.

But that's fine too. If Xu Qingfan really only knew Lin Wanning, then that girl would probably become her lifelong enemy.

How can a tsundere hit a naive girl? They're asking for trouble!

“Yes, it’s not a thousand, it’s a thousand and one. Wan Ning must have miscounted.” Xu Qingfan tugged at her ahoge (cowlick).

"Duck~ Brother Qingfan, you know what I mean, it's 1001. Because I wrote something on one of them, that one is the most special, so it doesn't count!"

Even though it was almost ten years ago, Lin Wanning was still overjoyed to learn how much the little boy cherished the gift she gave him.

"What did you write? Did you read it, Brother Fan?" Xiao Ruanwen had been listening the whole time, and now she was helping Xiao Xiao gather information.

Wu Lingyu and Zhang Yiyi also listened attentively, since they had known Xu Qingfan for half a year longer.
Among a thousand blue stars, a pink one appeared, which naturally drew his attention.

"There wasn't anything special written on it. Wan Ning wrote on the note, 'I am Ultraman, and I fight monsters.'" Xu Qingfan smiled at the five of them.

"No, no, no, no~" Lin Wanning shook his head like a rattle drum.

"That's exactly what I wrote!"

"It was clearly Brother Qingfan who was Ultraman, chasing away the little monsters that were bullying Ningning!"

Xu Qingfan laughed loudly, knowing full well the answer, and asked, "Haha, isn't that the same thing?"

"of course not!"

"Why not?"

"Because...because anyway, it's not true!" Lin Wanning said with a wronged, bitter face.

"Ha ha ha ha."

(End of this chapter)