I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 517. It's so good!
After returning home, the five girls took a shower first.

Xu Qingfan could finish his shower in five minutes, so he wasn't in a hurry. After carrying Lin Wanning upstairs, he went back down to the kitchen to cook a late-night snack.

Stir-fried instant noodles, salt and pepper mantis shrimp, and seafood porridge. The first two dishes were fine and didn't take much time, but the porridge took almost half an hour to cook because I hadn't soaked the rice in advance and there were no leftovers.

Xu Qingfan set out the bowls and chopsticks, and found a TV program to watch while eating. It was just past 10:30 p.m.

"Fan-ge, we're all done. Come upstairs and give Wan-ning a hug." Wu Ling-yu jogged down from the third floor, her face still wet from her shower.

"Okay, the porridge is almost done cooking. I'll put the seafood in and bring it up." Xu Qingfan smiled and nodded.

In order to fully bring out the freshness of the ingredients, the congee in Hong Kong is made by first cooking the congee in advance or cooking leftover rice with water, and then adding the desired ingredients after reheating.

Wu Lingyu needed to dry her hair, and after giving her instructions, she went back upstairs.

Xu Qingfan poured the ingredients, such as blue crab, dried scallops, and dried winter vegetables, into the white porridge, turned the heat from medium to high, covered the pot, and then sprinkled a ring of white wine around the edge of the lid.

When the blowtorch is ignited, a ring of flames instantly rises from the surface of the clay pot, maximizing its temperature.

With the help of baijiu (Chinese liquor), the seafood inside could be cooked in less than a minute. He was afraid that the porridge in the casserole would overflow if he left for a short while, so he turned off the heat and left the kitchen after it was almost done.

After having a waterproof mold customized from the manufacturer, Lin Wanning only needed to "lock" his injured right leg when taking a shower, making it relatively convenient for him to sit on a stool and shower.

When Xu Qingfan came up, Lin Wanning had already changed her clothes with the help of others and was sitting on the stool in the bathroom, waiting for him to hug her.

"Brother Qingfan!" Upon seeing Xu Qingfan, Lin Wanning revealed her sweet dimples and opened her arms for a hug.

Xu Qingfan fulfilled her wish first, giving her a tight hug before picking her up in a princess carry. "Don't move your feet, or you'll kick the door frame."

"Mmm!" Lin Wanning wrapped her arms around Qingfan's neck, deliberately pressing her face close to his. "When difficulties arise, please raise your left hand~"

"The left hand represents direction; it will not bow to difficulties."

Lin Wanning's voice has a special talent for singing the theme song "Left Hand Right Hand" for the song "The Tiger's Might and Power," which can make people feel at ease for no reason when they hear the song.

"Hurry up and finish this so we can go downstairs for a late-night snack. It'll get cold in winter." Xu Qingfan knocked on the bedroom door as he walked to remind the four girls.

"immediately."

"It's almost ready."

Zhang Yiyi and Wu Lingyu spoke at the same time.

Xiao Ruanwen was still thinking about what happened that night, so she didn't give Xu Qingfan a friendly look and ignored him.

"Xia Xiaoxiao, hurry up and put on your coat, you'll get cold soon!"

"know."

After Xia Xiaoxiao obediently put on her coat, Xu Qingfan carried Lin Wanning downstairs.

After he placed Lin Wanning on the sofa, the girl did not let go of his neck. With a little force, their lips met.

"Hehe~ Thank you, Brother Qingfan." After giving the reward, Lin Wanning finally let go of Xu Qingfan.

Xu Qingfan patted the girl's head, handed her the remote control, and then went into the kitchen to bring out the late-night snack.

"Using your hands again? Aren't there chopsticks?" When he brought out the last pot of porridge, Lin Wanning was holding a shredded ham and putting it into his mouth.

"Let's eat together." Lin Wanning stuck out her tongue and put her finger in her mouth in front of him.

Four girls happened to come downstairs at that moment. After overhearing the conversation between the two, Xiao Ruanwen said, "Wan Ning cheated on me, I heard it!"

"Ruan Wen didn't see it. If Brother Qingfan said he didn't see it, then he didn't!" Lin Wanning puffed out her cheeks and retorted cutely.

We didn't buy a coffee table; instead, there's a Japanese-style kotatsu table in front of the sofa. You can stretch your legs out while sitting on the floor; it's warm and comfortable.

Xu Qingfan quickly realized that there was another pair of legs on top of his own, like a game of Jenga, with another pair of legs on top of his own.

Compared to playing mahjong last time, this kind of environment is actually more suitable for doing bad things. However, it seems that Xu Qingfan's desire to unlock new maps and new achievements is still a long way off.

He opened the lid of the casserole, and the aroma that had been compressed in the enclosed space was released instantly, arousing the appetite of everyone present.

"Whoever wants to drink porridge first, and if you want noodles, please help yourselves." Xu Qingfan served Lin Wanning porridge first, as she was sitting on the sofa, quite far from the table.

No one touched their bowls or chopsticks, all staring intently at the bright red seafood porridge on the clay pot. Stir-fried noodles with shredded vegetables can be eaten anytime, but hot and spicy seafood porridge is always the most delicious.

Each of the six people had their own bowl for eating, which they made themselves when they went to make pottery last time. After Xu Qingfan served Lin Wanning porridge, he served Zhang Yiyi, then Wu Lingyu and Xia Xiaoxiao. He served himself second to last, deliberately leaving Xiao Ruanwen to serve last.

Normally, Xiao Ruanwen would have been yelling at the top of her lungs, "Where's mine? Where's mine? Brother Fan, where's mine?"

But the girl was unusually quiet tonight. She glanced at the fried noodles placed next to her, and although she was reluctant to eat the handout, she still found it delicious.

"Here, it's yours."

Xu Qingfan handed her the porridge he had prepared, and even winked in a rather flamboyant manner. Xiao Ruanwen didn't say anything, rolled her eyes, and took the porridge.

[They're up to something again, I wonder what mischief they're up to.]
Xiao Ruanwen blew on the surface of the porridge, then picked up a spoon and casually drank the porridge.

[Um? ]
[Why is there so much crab meat?]
After discovering that half of the porridge was made of crab leg meat, Xiao Ruanwen subconsciously looked up at Xu Qingfan, only to see the stinky man grinning at her with his big front teeth.

Xiao Ruanwen glared at him and immediately looked away.

Don't think you can bribe me like that.
After a while.

"Hey~ Ruan Wen, there are so many crab legs in your bowl!" Wu Lingyu pointed to the crab legs on Ruan Wen's plate that had been sucked out, which were much taller than the others.

"Yes, Ruan Wen's bowl has so many ingredients!"

"Wow, Brother Qingfan is biased!"

Xia Xiaoxiao glanced at Xu Qingfan but did not offer any opinion.

Xiao Ruanwen quietly drank her porridge, a slight smile playing on her lips, wanting to see how Brother Chou Fan would explain himself.

But I have to say, it feels pretty good to be treated like this.

"I was worried there wouldn't be enough to go around, so I gave the last one to Ruan Wen, which is why she got a little more," Xu Qingfan said calmly, shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh, is that so? Brother Qingfan, I want to eat mantis shrimp!"

"Okay." Xu Qingfan picked up a mantis shrimp and put it in her bowl.

Xiao Ruanwen had a gut feeling that Brother Fan was deliberately putting on an act for her.

Well, it can't even be called intuition, after all, he was blinking and staring at her, those little actions already said it all.

[Hmph~ I'll let it go this time, but if you dare drag me to the lab building again next time, I...I'll kill you!]
After Xu Qingfan looked over, Xiao Ruanwen gestured with her fist in front of him.

[Kill that stinky Fan Ge!]
For the next few days, Xiao Ruanwen remained vigilant towards Xu Qingfan and resolutely refused to be alone with him.

Perhaps he didn't find an opportunity, or perhaps Xu Qingfan gave up, but the scoundrel remained well-behaved. Even his usual gesture of putting his arm around Xiao Ruanwen's shoulder changed to holding her schoolbag.

Wednesday arrived quickly. Tomorrow night was the New Year's Eve party, followed by a three-day holiday after school on Friday. The entire campus was enveloped in a sweltering atmosphere.

"We won't delay your rehearsal time. Do your best at the New Year's Eve party tomorrow. School's out!" As soon as the bell rang, the teacher immediately announced the end of get out of class into the microphone.

The students didn't all rush out of the classroom. After the teacher left, many students who were already quite familiar with each other gathered around Xu Qingfan and his group in the first group.

"Class monitor, what number is our class performing?"

"Shall we go walk the stage now?"

Is there anything I can help you with?

Xiao Ruanwen seemed to be in a good mood, after all, she could hold a "concert" tomorrow, and she would be forming a band with Fan Ge and singing the new songs written by Fan Ge.

"Our class is the thirteenth. I've calculated the time; it'll probably start around nine o'clock in the evening."

The New Year's Eve party starts at 8 p.m. and ends at 10:30 p.m. Each grade will present eight performances, plus the school teachers' annual repertoire of the Eight Pieces of Brocade, for a total of twenty-five performances.

Based on this, estimating their class's performance time shouldn't be too difficult.

"Let's go, let's go see the stage the school has set up. I heard the screen is huge, I wonder how big it is." Wu Shichong couldn't wait to see the performance stage.

Xu Qingfan and Xiao Ruanwen walked side by side in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by the various discussions of their classmates.

"After you called me a loser, what's the next thing you'll say?"

"Why isn't the song titled 'Choose B'? I didn't know the last multiple-choice question on my midterm physics exam, but I guessed B and got it right."

"I guessed two A's in the English reading section and got them right!"

"Are you stupid? There's A, B, and C, of ​​course you'd choose C! Those who know, know!"

"Then why didn't you choose D? The class monitor has D, right?"

Although the person speaking deliberately lowered their voice, Xu Qingfan and Xiao Ruanwen still heard it. He nudged Xiao Ruanwen with his elbow, but the girl ignored him.

The stage for the New Year's Eve gala performance was set up in the large square at the school gate, a space of several dozen acres, which could comfortably accommodate more than 3,000 teachers and students from the entire school.

From early morning, all kinds of building materials were transported in truckload after truck and piled up haphazardly on the ground.

Now, a huge stage with a main screen and two secondary screens has been set up and is in everyone's sight.

The square was quite lively, with nearly half of the students from the entire school coming to watch the excitement. Even when clubs were recruiting new members at the beginning of the semester, there weren't this many people.

Xu Qingfan spotted Lin Wanning immediately. Zhang Yiyi wasn't with the girl; she must have gone to sign in with the teacher.

Xiao Ruanwen looked at the stage in front of her, which was more magnificent than any gala she had ever participated in since she was a child.

"Let's go find the teacher to sign in first." Xu Qingfan squeezed her hand, planning to find Lin Wanning and the others after he finished his work.

"Mm!" Xiao Ruanwen nodded, looking straight ahead, a fine layer of sweat unconsciously appearing on her forehead.

The classmates who came with them went off to find their own performances, while Xu Qingfan and Xiao Ruanwen went to the stage to sign in with the teacher in charge of the event.

"I remember you, Class 16 of Grade 1, the singing class." Before Xu Qingfan could even introduce his class, the teacher in charge had already ticked their name. "Alright, line up over there. Your singing was great, keep it up."

"Thank you, teacher," Xu Qingfan and Xiao Ruanwen said one after the other.

Perhaps out of fear of stage accidents, the planning of the New Year's Eve party was not handed over to the student council. After all, attracting advertisers and contacting staff to build the stage is not something that ordinary high school students can handle.

Xu Qingfan and Xiao Ruanwen lined up on the other side of the stage, and Wu Shichong, Lai Chenglang and He Caiting soon returned to their side.

"Class monitor Fan, I just asked a senior in the second year of high school, and I heard that there will be people from the TV station coming to broadcast live tomorrow!" Lai Chenglang said.

"There will definitely be a rebroadcast on Friday. I'll go home tomorrow and watch Licheng TV. I'll record our performance on my phone!" Wu Shichong said excitedly.

He Caiting glanced at Xu Qingfan and Xiao Ruanwen, then at their hands clasped together, and bit her lower lip without saying a word.

Rehearsals were soon on their turn; they only needed to go through the process briefly to avoid making mistakes in a rush during the actual performance the next day.

Xu Qingfan pulled Xiao Ruanwen onto the stage, and Wu Shichong and the others followed behind as they stepped onto the stairs.

The stage was still empty for the time being. Staff members came up to tell them that a drum set would be placed here tomorrow, an electronic keyboard would be placed here, the lead singer would stand here, and so on.

"Alright, remember your positions. Arrive at the waiting room ten minutes early tomorrow, in case the instruments need tuning." After they took their positions, the staff quickly waved them away, as they were still waiting to go home.

Xu Qingfan and his group were herded like ducks; from the moment they stepped onto the stage to the moment they left, it took them less than three minutes.

"We still need to keep them company. If you're busy, go eat first." After stepping off the stage, Xu Qingfan pointed to Xia Xiaoxiao and Zhang Yiyi, who were queuing up, and said to the three of them.

"Hey, I don't have an appetite right now, of course I'll follow you, Brother Fan!"

"I don't have an appetite. I'll just have a late-night snack, or even instant noodles."

"I...I still need to take a shower, I'll go back first." He Caiting watched as Xu Qingfan took Xiao Ruanwen's hand again, and the words she wanted to say got stuck in her throat.

"Okay, bye-bye." Xu Qingfan waved.

"Bye-bye." He Caiting nodded, turned around and left.

After everyone left, Xiao Ruanwen subtly withdrew her hand from Xu Qingfan's grasp and ran off to find Xia Xiaoxiao.

"Xiaoxiao, what number performance are you in? We're thirteenth." She knew all of Xia Xiaoxiao's classmates, and after a brief greeting, she put her arm around Xia Xiaoxiao and started chatting.

"We're second to last, we'll have to wait until the flowers have withered," a girl in Xia Xiaoxiao's class said with a laugh.

"It's fine to be the grand finale, I'll send Xiaoxiao flowers then!" Xiao Ruanwen glanced at Chou Fan, who was chatting with Lin Wanning, and said.

After chatting with Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi for a few minutes, Xu Qingfan came to Xia Xiaoxiao and Xiao Ruanwen's side.

"They're the twentieth performer. Are you the last or second to last?" He asked curiously when he saw that there was no one in line behind Xia Xiaoxiao.

"Brother Fan, we're second to last."

"Are you going to send flowers to Xiaoxiao tomorrow?"

"Yes, send flowers!"

Xia Xiaoxiao pursed her lips, wanting to see how Xu Qingfan would respond.

Xu Qingfan stroked his chin: "Then I'll reluctantly deliver it."

"How rare!" Xia Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes.

"Hahaha!"

This couple is really adorable; most of the girls in Xia Xiaoxiao's class probably think the same way.

(End of this chapter)