I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 57. Weekend Time
Saturday.

The blinding sunlight streamed into the room through the gauze curtains and shone on Xu Qingfan's face.

The thick quilt had been kicked to the ground at some point.

On the bed, Xu Qingfan was sleeping sprawled out, until the sunlight became unbearable, and he struggled to open his eyes.

After a tired yawn, he picked up the alarm clock from the bedside table and saw that it was exactly nine o'clock in the morning, still early!
Xu Qingfan unconsciously let go of the alarm clock and fell asleep immediately.

Yao Jinping returned from the market and, as usual, opened Xu Qingfan's bedroom door. Seeing the blankets kicked to the floor and her son still asleep, she inexplicably became furious and yelled in Cantonese:

"You little rascal, it's past 11 o'clock and you're still sleeping. I'd rather give birth to a piece of char siu than to you!"

Xu Qingfan jolted awake from his deep sleep, only to find the door wide open and Yao Jinping already gone.

He picked up the alarm clock that had fallen to the ground at some point and looked at it; it was 9:58!

[Mom, you're amazing!]
After irritably scratching his hair for a while, Xu Qingfan folded the blankets and left the bedroom.

After more than a week of continuous rainy days, the sky began to clear up, becoming a clear, deep blue without a trace of cloudiness, as if all impurities had been filtered out, shining brilliantly.

Yesterday it was still so cold that even wearing two pairs of cotton pants felt chilly, but when I woke up, people on the street were already wearing short sleeves and shorts.

It's a pity that the ancient saying about being exiled three thousand miles away meant being banished to Xu Qingfan's hometown, so now there's no one to write a poem to fit the occasion.

After brushing his teeth and eating two eggs and drinking a bottle of milk for breakfast, Xu Qingfan idly wandered over to Xia Xiaoxiao's house.

Xia Xiaoxiao was doing her weekend homework in the living room when Xu Qingfan sat down next to her and said, "Good morning. It's so hot today, why are you wearing a jacket?"

Xia Xiaoxiao glanced at Xu Qingfan: "I like it."

"Let me copy your homework after you finish it, okay? I love my little one the most." Xu Qingfan pinched the little girl's cheek and left with a smile.

"Humph!"

[Go ahead and copy me, I'll surpass you sooner or later!]
During the transition from spring to winter, a stroll through the streets of Gangcheng truly allows you to witness biodiversity.

Xu Qingfan was strolling along the street with several large dogs on his leash. Along the way, there were people wearing shorts and short sleeves, as well as long pants and long sleeves, and countless others fully bundled up in thermal underwear and down jackets.

He stopped in a sunny spot with his dogs, and after a few minutes of sunbathing, he felt warm all over. He couldn't imagine how comfortable it would be to photosynthesize in such an environment.

Many neighbors brought out their winter quilts to air them out, beating them with wooden sticks to stir up dust, which, when filtered through the light, created a beautiful Tyndall effect.

Watching the flowers bloom and fade, Xu Qingfan couldn't help but think how wonderful it was to have such a time.

In his previous life, Xu Qingfan was recommended for postgraduate studies at the same university after graduating with a bachelor's degree. At first glance, he seemed to have a bright future ahead of him.

That was indeed the case at first. In his first year of graduate school, thanks to the care of his supervisor and the affection of his senior classmates, Xu Qingfan easily published an excellent paper with an impact factor of 6.0 in SCI Q1.

however.

From the second year onwards, when Xu Qingfan started choosing his own research topics and conducting experiments, it was as if he was cursed. Everything went wrong. Experimental data that he could produce the last time would become completely different when repeated.

It was the same batch of reagents, and all the other fellow students said they worked well, but he couldn't get them.

The school's requirement for graduating from the combined master's and doctoral program is to publish at least three papers in core journals with a cumulative impact factor of 15. With graduation time approaching, the second paper was still not published. Xu Qingfan spent day and night in the laboratory. When he woke up, he found himself inexplicably back in the summer of twenty years ago.

Biochemistry, Environmental Science and Materials Science are bottomless pits, run!

“If I ever touch scientific research again in this lifetime, I’ll be your brother, you know that?” Xu Qingfan squatted down and said to the dogs who were lying on the ground sunbathing.

"Wang?"

After lunch, Xu Qingfan ran to Xia Xiaoxiao's house: "I'm going to Zhang Yi's house later, are you coming?" "I'm going to the library with Xiao Ruanwen later."

Xu Qingfan remembered that Zhang Chunxue had asked him last time why Xia Xiaoxiao and Xiao Ruanwen hadn't come, so he suggested, "That's perfect, let's go to Zhang Yi's house together first, and then go to the library together."

It just so happens that Xu Qingfan needs to return the several drawing books he borrowed last semester. He has recorded the essential parts of them on his computer and is just waiting to ask Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi to put them into practice.

"Alright then," Xia Xiaoxiao agreed after a long pause.

Around 1 p.m., Xiao Ruanwen arrived as promised on her bicycle.

"Good afternoon, class monitor," Xu Qingfan greeted with a smile.

"Good afternoon, Brother Fan. Are you coming to the library with us too?" Xiao Ruanwen smiled.

"He said we'd go to Zhang Yi's house first, then go to the library and eat fried skewers together," Xia Xiaoxiao explained.

Upon hearing that they were going to Zhang Yi's house and would be eating fried skewers, Xiao Ruanwen's eyes lit up: "Great! What are we waiting for!"

"I'll be waiting for you." Xu Qingfan smiled, slung Xia Xiaoxiao's schoolbag over his shoulder, and got on the bus.

Because they had already called Lin Wanning before setting off, the little girl pulled Zhang Yiyi along as soon as the three of them rode to the street where Lin Wanning's villa was located.

"Brother Qingfan!"

Xiao Ruanwen greeted the two with a smile: "Wanning, good afternoon."

Zhang Yiyi first looked at Xu Qingfan, and after receiving his affirmative nod, she said, "Good afternoon, everyone!"

"Hehe, come visit me! It's so hot today!" Lin Wanning plopped down on the back of Xu Qingfan's bicycle and urged him to drive off quickly.

"Your parents aren't home?" Xiao Ruanwen asked, puzzled, seeing that the living room was empty.

"Brother Qingfan, come get Ningning a drink. Mom went out after dinner and isn't home." Lin Wanning's voice came from the kitchen.

Xu Qingfan got up and went to the kitchen to help her carry the washed cups to the living room. Lin Wanning was holding a 2L bottle of Mr. Juice.

"Why did you buy this?" Xu Qingfan asked, pointing to the grape juice in her hand.

"Brother Qingfan said this was delicious last time, so Wanning asked Mom and Dad to buy it. Now you can have delicious juice at Ningning's house too!" Lin Wanning took out frozen ice cubes from the freezer and turned around with a smile.

"Okay, thank you, Ningning." Xu Qingfan stepped forward and patted the little girl's head.

Lin Wanning made two trips back and forth, and then placed the strawberries and small cakes from the refrigerator on the dining table.

"Thank you, Wan Ning!" Xiao Ruanwen said, clasping her hands together in gratitude.

"Hehe, it's nothing, we're all good friends!"

"So happy!" Xiao Ruanwen scooped a spoonful of cake into her mouth and squinted her eyes, revealing an expression of enjoyment.

"If you like it, I'll ask Mom to buy it again next time!"

"No need, it's fine to have it occasionally. My mom says that eating too many sweets will make you fat."

“It’s okay, you look good even if you’re chubby,” Xu Qingfan said abruptly.

The four girls stared at him, and Xu Qingfan felt immense pressure. After wiping away imaginary sweat, he added, "Xiao Xiao Wanning and Yi Yi, you too, good-looking people are still good-looking even when they're fat!"

"Yeah."×4
[What's causing this inexplicable sense of oppression?]
(End of this chapter)