I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 510. Caught.

When Xu Qingfan came out of the kitchen, there was only one dish left: stir-fried greens and marinating the deep-fried ribs. Yao Jinping and Lin Jing quickly finished the remaining dishes and tidied up the stove area.

Before the meal, everyone was given a bowl of braised pig's feet in vinegar, with a piece of pig's feet and an egg. Taking a small sip warmed the body and stomach.

"Do you guys think it tastes good?" Xu Qingfan still felt that the taste wasn't as good as his mother's cooking, so he asked the others curiously.

“Delicious!”

"Good."

"Brother Qingfan, your duck is delicious!"

The five girls didn't seem to think so, probably because they had been drinking Xu Qingfan's pig's feet vinegar since they were little, just as often as they did at home.

Xu Qingfan stopped thinking about such metaphysical questions, finished a bowl of pig's feet with ginger, and then got some rice and vegetables.

"Wanning loves to eat duck, Yiyi loves to eat fish, Xiaoxiao loves to eat shrimp, Xiaoyu loves to eat chicken, and Ruanwen loves to eat sweet and sour pork ribs." Yao Jinping remembered each of their preferences and put food into the girls' bowls one by one.

"Thank you, aunt!"

Xu Qingfan glanced sideways at his mother's outrageous behavior. He thought that if this really went wrong in the future, his mother would probably be the happiest person besides him.

[Forget it, don't overthink it. Maybe Mom just likes girls.]
He unconsciously smacked his lips while thinking, and unsurprisingly, he was criticized by Yao Jinping.

"Just eat, why are you making those tsk-tsk noises?"

Xu Qingfan looked embarrassed, raised his hand, and then sat down to eat again.

"Brother Qingfan is probably...maybe he's thinking about something. He's not usually like this when he eats," Lin Wanning tried to explain, chuckling.

"Okay, Auntie understands. Wanning, eat more vegetables." Yao Jinping smiled and put another piece of vegetables into her bowl.

"Well, thank you, auntie!"

"It's rare to have everyone here today, how about we celebrate Xiaoxiao's birthday again?" Lin Jing suddenly said during the meal.

Xia Xiaoxiao had already celebrated her birthday at school a few days ago. Because Lin Wanning injured his foot, they simply ate a meal and had a birthday cake at home.

However, if we're talking about unforgettable experiences, there really are some.

They ate lunch at the school cafeteria. Xu Qingfan stood up, went to Xia Xiaoxiao's side, pulled her up as well, and shouted in front of everyone in the cafeteria:

"Today is the birthday of the most important person in my life, Xia Xiaoxiao. Shall we all sing a happy birthday song together for her?"

"Happy birthday to you."

After Xu Qingfan started it, hundreds of people soon joined in singing "Happy Birthday" in the cafeteria.

After their duet, which consisted of only four lines of lyrics, he and Xia Xiaoxiao received a standing ovation.

Xu Qingfan wasn't sure if Xia Xiaoxiao was moved, but she certainly didn't dare to move at the time; it was too terrifying!
"No need, someone already approved it for me!" Xia Xiaoxiao recalled the minute she was dominated by Xu Qingfan and rolled her eyes at him speechlessly.

Even without Xia Xiaoxiao saying it, Lin Jing knew who "someone" referred to. She wiped her mouth and smiled, "So it's already been done. Mom thought you didn't do it at school and wanted to do it on Saturday."

"Haha, Auntie, let me tell you, Brother Fan is so awesome! At lunchtime in the cafeteria, he actually pulled Xiao Xiao up in front of everyone and made everyone sing 'Happy Birthday' together!"

Xiao Ruanwen almost swore in front of her aunt because she spoke too quickly.

"what?"

The three adults imagined the scene and could only say that the young people really know how to have fun.

"No wonder Xiaoxiao didn't want to celebrate her birthday; it turns out there's already a masterpiece to follow," Lin Jing said with a smile.

"Oh my god, I'm so embarrassed," Xia Xiaoxiao said softly, her head down.

To be honest, she was quite pleased with the surprise she received from the stinky dog.

"Hey, if you'd told me you didn't like it, I would have kept the idea for my team members. *cough cough*" Before Xu Qingfan could finish speaking, Xia Xiaoxiao's hand was already on his waist.

Everyone knew what had happened, but Xia Xiaoxiao was shy, so no one teased them anymore.

After lunch.

The three adults probably felt uncomfortable at home, so they soon made up various excuses to leave.

The six people sat in a row on the sofa watching TV. The little brother walked past them one by one, and finally lay down on Xiao Ruanwen's lap to take a nap.

Xiao Ruanwen flicks the cat's ears, and the little brother shakes his head. Flicking and shaking, it's very stress-relieving.

"We're just killing time this afternoon, what should we do?" Xu Qingfan wasn't interested in The Legend of Zhen Huan, so he put down his phone and asked the others.

"What?" Xiao Ruanwen asked back.

"Is Brother Qingfan going out to play?" Lin Wanning asked.

"Where can we go for fun?" Xu Qingfan sat next to her, pinched her cheek and asked, "How about playing mahjong? Wan Ning and I will team up, and Xiao Xiao and Ruan Wen can team up?"

“Great! I’m open to playing mahjong!” Xiao Ruanwen’s eyes lit up immediately.

Those who have never played mahjong may not understand, but this card game that combines arrangement, card drawing, and luck is really addictive.

However, Xiao Ruanwen is someone who is bad at cooking but has a huge addiction to it.

“I’ll team up with Yi, and Ruan Wen and Xiao Xiao will play together,” Wu Lingyu said after exchanging a glance with Zhang Yi.

Xu Qingfan didn't care who teamed up with whom. He picked Lin Wanning up in his arms and left without a word: "Then it's decided. I'll go set up the stage, and you guys go to the kitchen to get the food!"

"Hee hee~"

The gameplay of Gangcheng Mahjong is relatively simple. There is no "eating" or "discarding" (winning by discarding a tile that allows another player to win). You can only win by drawing the winning tile yourself.

There are no hands like Pure One Suit, Flush, or Last Tile Draw, as these don't count towards the score. Even a "chicken hand" (a hand with only one suit) is still a win. After winning, you randomly draw some tiles, and you get as many as you can. There's also a "Wild Card" variation, where after everyone has received their tiles, the next tile is revealed, and the tile following it is the "Wild Card".

For example, if the flipped-over is a one of bamboo, then the wild card is a two of bamboo.

Lin Wanning was addicted to the game, so Xu Qingfan let him play first in the first round.

"Make a fortune." Starting with smashing sweet potatoes—Lin Wanning knew exactly what to do.

"Hey, Wan Ning, you..."

"bump!"

Before Xu Qingfan could finish his reminder, Xiao Ruanwen slammed her fist on the ground with a loud "bang."

"Ahem, Ruan Wen is a ghost, why are you still touching it?" Wu Lingyu pointed at the red lotus flower that had been turned out and reminded her.

"East, South, West, North, and the Red Dragon, oh my god!" Xiao Ruanwen counted on her fingers, and the next card after the Red Dragon really was going to bring wealth.

"Hey, what are you doing? You've already touched it, there's no going back now, don't you understand!" Seeing that Xiao Ruanwen was trying to back out, Xu Qingfan pointed at her and said.

"Hmph~ Fine, I'll take it. I'm not cheating, I'll draw eight tiles!" Xiao Ruanwen angrily threw out an East tile.

They agreed that if there was a ghost (a player who wins by drawing a winning tile), they would draw six tiles; if there was no ghost, they would draw two more.

Lin Wanning was initially annoyed at accidentally playing a joker, but after seeing that Ruan Wen was in an even worse situation, she immediately stopped being annoyed.

"Brother Qingfan, shall we play this card?" Soon it was Lin Wanning's turn to play again. She pointed to a One of Bamboo, and only played it after Xu Qingfan nodded. "Little Bird."

"Let's make this clear first, what's the punishment for losing?" Xu Qingfan acted as a caretaker, helping Lin Wanning, who had difficulty walking, to draw cards.

"What punishment? If we win, Brother Fan will give us a massage. If we lose, Brother Fan will still give us a massage." Xiao Ruanwen teased him.

To be honest, giving massages to five girls wasn't really a punishment for Xu Qingfan.

"Right? I recently watched a video and learned how to do a spa treatment, the kind where you take off all your clothes. Do you want to try it?" He said, glancing sideways at Xiao Ruanwen.

"You wish, Fan-ge," Xiao Ruanwen subconsciously covered her chest with both hands. "What video can teach you about SPA? I bet Fan-ge has been watching those unhealthy videos!"

Xia Xiaoxiao glanced at him after hearing this, realizing she would have to check his browser history that night.

"Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand. I kindly learned how to massage you guys when you're soaking in the hot springs. Next week I'll massage Wan Ning and Xiao Yu, but I won't massage you," Xu Qingfan glared at her.

Xiao Ruanwen made a face at him, just as it was her turn to draw a card.

"Hahaha, it's still because I won!"

"Brother Fan, do you submit?"

She pushed her mahjong tiles to the side and overturned them, and sure enough, she won by self-draw.

"Stop looking, there's no 'bomb'!" Xiao Ruanwen said smugly, hands on her hips.

"Don't call me that, Sanqi Xibaiban, Moma." Xu Qingfan rolled his eyes at her.

"Win eight! Win eight!"

"Damn it~ I didn't win a single one, minimum spend required!"

Xiao Ruanwen's cool demeanor lasted only three seconds; her smile didn't disappear, it just shifted elsewhere.

"Hahahaha!"

"Let you pop the champagne at halftime."

After a round, Wu Lingyu and Zhang Yiyi won two rounds, Xia Xiaoxiao and Xiao Ruanwen each won one round, while Lin Wanning kept losing chips.

"Brother Qingfan, you play, I'm too bad at this, boohoo~" Lin Wanning said, seeing that half of the chips in the drawer had disappeared.

"Watch me wreak havoc." Xu Qingfan ruffled the girl's hair and carried her to his seat.

"See you go to jail!" Xiao Ruanwen stretched, seemingly intending to interfere with Xu Qingfan's plans.

Their mahjong table is covered by a red cloth. After playing, they simply put the red cloth over the table to keep it dust-free, which is very convenient.

Xu Qingfan glanced at Xiao Ruanwen and suddenly remembered a plot from a novel he had once read, where the male protagonist played mahjong with three female protagonists, and then all four of them secretly engaged in flirtatious behavior under the table.

He had just started to have an idea when suddenly, Xu Qingfan noticed someone tickling his calf with their foot.

[No, who is it?]
Xu Qingfan was immediately shocked. He had thought about it, but he wasn't that bold!

"Brother Fan, what are you doing? Play your card!" Xiao Ruanwen urged.

"Brother, give it to me to touch." Zhang Yiyi smiled and watched.

"Oh, oh... ninety thousand." Xu Qingfan absentmindedly played a ninety thousand card.

"Pong, eighty thousand." Xia Xiaoxiao flipped out two ninety thousand bills and then played an eighty thousand bill.

In an instant, it was Xu Qingfan's turn to draw a tile, and it was another nine of wan.

"Still nine thousand." He casually played a nine thousand, and while everyone was distracted, he suddenly squeezed the leg that was teasing him tightly.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

"Ruan Wen, what's wrong with you?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked, puzzled.

"It's impossible that someone is missing me." Xiao Ruanwen waved her hand awkwardly, lowering her head and not daring to look at Xu Qingfan.

[Ruan Wen?]
Xu Qingfan looked completely bewildered, yet also slightly surprised.

(End of this chapter)