Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

"Yeah, isn't the admin building great? I went there once; the ladies' room is super clean, like new."

Xiao Ruawen swallowed her food and smacked her lips as she spoke.

"Without Xu Qingfan carrying you, it'd take forever in a wheelchair," Xia Xiaoxiao reminded.

"Oh, right, that's true. Never mind then. The bathroom in the lab building is just as far, and the ones in the teaching building are crowded and dirty."

Seeing everyone at a loss, Xu Qingfan could only rub Lin Wanning's head and say, "If it really doesn't work out, just go to the admin building's bathroom. It doesn't really matter; you can come back to class a bit later."

"Sorry to trouble everyone," Lin Wanning said, embarrassed.

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Exactly!"

The five girls shared a moment of love and affection, and Xu Qingfan thought:

[It'd be great if things could always be this harmonious.]

...

The bubbling hotpot drove away the winter chill as the six of them ate heartily, left with only thermal base layers on.

The plates of ingredients were almost empty, and after cooking the instant noodles, there was barely any water left in the pot.

The six of them ate hotpot from six until nearly eight o'clock. If it weren't for the homework they had to do, chatting until nine wouldn't have been an issue.

Xu Qingfan finished his soda and let out a burp: "Hic~ Is there a lot of homework tonight? Let's do what's due tomorrow first; the rest can be done slowly when we get back to school."

In high school, teachers no longer collected homework; doing it or not was entirely up to the students.

"Brother Fan, your workbook was already finished a while ago. You don't have any homework, so I didn't bring anything back for you," Xiao Ruawen said, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her full belly like she was pregnant.

Near the end of the semester, Xu Qingfan had finished all his workbooks early and spent his classroom time reviewing content from the second and third years.

"Okay, did you guys take the dog for a walk when you came back this afternoon? I'll walk the dog after taking out the trash," Xu Qingfan said, standing up to help Wu Lingyu clear the table.

Only then did Zhang Yiyi remember that they hadn't walked the dog at noon either.

"Not yet, brother, go quickly! Xiaobai hasn't been to the bathroom all day!" she suddenly stopped and urgently said.

"I forgot at noon!"

"Shoot, poor Bai!"

"Wait, you didn't walk the dog at noon either?"

Xu Qingfan was hurriedly dragged out by Xia Xiaoxiao and Xiao Ruawen, and when they reached the yard, Xiaobai was already anxiously pacing in circles.

Without another word, Xu Qingfan unclipped the leash, and as soon as the gate was open, Xiaobai shot out without needing a command.

The three exchanged glances and quickened their pace to follow, soon seeing Xiaobai dash into a nearby bush and not come out for a good while.

Seeing them standing at the gate, Xiaobai, who originally wanted to sniff around some more, ran back immediately.

"Good dog, you'll get a big chicken leg for dinner," Xu Qingfan said, patting the dog's head. The rustic dog considered its territory its home and wouldn't relieve itself inside.

"Brother Fan, you can take your time walking the dog; Xiaoxiao and I will head back first," Xiao Ruawen said, bending down to pet the dog's head before leading Xia Xiaoxiao away.

The chores at home didn't require Xu Qingfan, and just as he was about to take out the trash, Zhang Yiyi came out of the house with a garbage bag.

"Yi, want to take out the trash with me?" Xu Qingfan extended his hand in invitation.

"Mm!" she smiled and placed her hand in his.

Hand in hand with the dog, they strolled through the peaceful neighborhood. Sometimes they would run into school teachers on the road, though tonight was an exception.

The winter night was so cold that Xiaobai's teeth began to chatter after just a short walk.

The sky was dotted with stars, and away from the city, more stars could be seen overhead.

After disposing of the trash at the recycling station, Zhang Yiyi washed her hands at a nearby faucet.

Xu Qingfan took her wet hand and warmed it in his pocket.

"Yi, when you suddenly rushed into the classroom this morning, you scared me with your urgent tone." Xiaobai wanted to go home, but Xu Qingfan pulled in the opposite direction.

"I thought Wanning had a situation like last time, though it was close," Zhang Yiyi stuck out her tongue.

"Are you cold?" Xu Qingfan noticed her shiver, unzipped his down jacket, and wrapped it around her inside.

"Is this better?" He asked with a smile after zipping it back up.

"Mm."

Zhang Yiyi adjusted her hands to hug him from the front, resting her head on Xu Qingfan's shoulder. She asked, "Brother, coming back so late this afternoon, were you and Wanning secretly up to no good at home?"

Xu Qingfan laughed and let his hand drop gently from hugging her, saying, "What are you talking about? The traffic was awful; what mischief could we have gotten into?"

He knew that the excuse of a traffic jam could fool Xiao Ruawen, but not Zhang Yiyi, since her house was just by Bijui Garden.

"Brother, stop lying. There wouldn't be traffic from the company to Bijui Garden, nor from Bijui Garden to school." Zhang Yiyi ruthlessly exposed him.

"Okay, okay, actually we forgot to lock the door when we left, so we turned back halfway. We were afraid of being laughed at by you, so we didn't say anything."

Xu Qingfan felt uneasy, but still kept his mind clear enough to come up with another excuse.

"Brother isn't telling the truth. Before I came out, I already asked Wanning, and Wanning didn't say it like that." Zhang Yiyi looked into his eyes, preventing the scoundrel from escaping.

Xu Qingfan's throat moved, and he somehow thought of what Lin Wanning had said in her sleep during her nap.

He said, "Yiyi, you know, Wanning talked in her sleep during her nap. She said you two agreed to both marry me when you grow up. Is that true?"

"Uh..."

Zhang Yiyi had originally planned to gradually pressure him, but she was stunned by Xu Qingfan's sudden comment.

"You can't take sleep talk seriously." She didn't admit whether it was true or false, just said that.

"Although sleep talk can't be taken seriously, if Wanning really thinks that way, what about you, Yiyi?" This time it was Xu Qingfan's turn to stare, without blinking.

[Brother is so cunning!]

Zhang Yiyi criticized the deceitful brother in her heart, but this didn't affect her follow-up actions. Her original plan was to have Xu Qingfan admit his fickle behavior so she could handle it.

Even now, she could still maneuver.

She pretended to think deeply and then replied, "I... I just want everyone to be okay. I don't want Wanning to get hurt."

From Xu Qingfan's perspective, he thought his fickle behavior was still unexposed, so he showed a smile after hearing it.

He said, "Wanning is important to me, and so is Yiyi. I don't want either of you to be hurt."

Zhang Yiyi thought: [Bad brother finally admitted it!]

"So, was brother really doing something bad at home with Wanning this afternoon?" Zhang Yiyi delivered the killing blow.

"Uh....."

Xu Qingfan's mind was racing, calculating the pros and cons of admitting this to Zhang Yiyi.

Firstly, the gain was obviously that he was quite confident in persuading the two girls, that the three of them living their lives well together was more important than anything else!

But there were also losses. At least the downfall of his scoundrel persona, as the morally condemned party, his future words to woo Xiao Ruawen would be harder to justify.

"Brother, why are you not speaking?"

"Did you do something bad?"

"Brother, tell the truth, I won't be mad."

Seeing Xu Qingfan silent for so long, Zhang Yiyi spoke again.

"I...." Xu Qingfan looked into her eyes, thinking it's do or die, confessing sooner or later is inevitable, it's better to do it now.

"Mm."

He nodded sheepishly, and in the next second, indeed saw shock and anger on Zhang Yiyi's face.

Xu Qingfan thought she was really angry, but actually Zhang Yiyi was just pretending.

"Yiyi, I'm sorry, I really like both of you too much, I don't want to lose either one of you."

"Yiyi, I... I know I'm wrong to be like this, but I really don't want there to come a day in the future when the three of us will gradually drift apart and no longer be close."

"Yiyi, can you forgive me?"

The cheater began his glib talk, originally thinking that even if Zhang Yiyi wouldn't fly into a rage upon hearing this, she should at least give him a cold stare.

But miraculously, the anger on the girl's face disappeared, replaced with determination and only determination.

"Then, will brother go and mess with other girls again?" She watched Xu Qingfan intently, asking the biggest question of the night.

"In my world, having you is enough. Other girls, I don't care for." Xu Qingfan said.

"You" naturally referred to the five girls, which was reasonable enough.

Afraid that Zhang Yiyi would continue to press, asking if "you" meant her and Wanning, Xu Qingfan said no more and sealed her lips.

"Mmm... ah..."

Under the streetlight, their shadows merged into one.

Little White, shivering from the cold, looked wordlessly at his two owners.

...

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