I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 120. Arrival
It was almost five o'clock when I got off the plane. The setting sun was leaving only a last glimmer of light, and a light snow was falling outside.

The sky was overcast and gray. Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu held tightly to Xu Qingfan's small hands, feeling both unfamiliar and curious about the world outside the hall.

The temperature on the plane remained a comfortable 20-something degrees Celsius. Xu Qingfan, Xia Xiaoxiao, and Wu Lingyu were only wearing thin long-sleeved shirts after getting off the plane. Fortunately, the airport terminal was heated, so none of them felt cold.

"Put your clothes on first, it's below zero outside, it's so cold!" Guan Bianyue reminded the others as she put on her clothes.

"Ok!"

The three little ones nodded, put on a sweater knitted by their mother, and then put on their down jackets.

"Hahaha~"

The down jackets worn by all three of them were bought by Yao Jinping. Looking at the style of the jackets, Xu Qingfan couldn't help but laugh, wondering how they could have been made so uniform across the country.

"What?" Xia Xiaoxiao saw Xu Qingfan staring at her and smiling, and thought that she had put her clothes on wrong, so she looked down and checked carefully.

“I thought of something happy. You can use your scarf as a hat if you tie it like this. Let me show you.” Xu Qingfan stopped smiling and took out his scarf from his bag to demonstrate.

"First, fold it in half like this and wrap it around your neck. Then pull these two straps to the front and pass them through like this," Xu Qingfan demonstrated in slow motion. "Then you pull it from the back, and a little hat appears."

"Impressive, isn't it!" Xu Qingfan said with a smug smile, seeing the others staring in disbelief.

"I don't understand, can you help me?" Xia Xiaoxiao handed her cute pink scarf to Xu Qingfan.

"You're so stupid. Look at this. You do it like this first." Xu Qingfan stood carefully in front of Xia Xiaoxiao, tying the scarf around her neck.

"Humph~"

"Xiao Fan, your way of tying the scarf is great, it saves you the money for earmuffs." Guan Bianyue also made herself a small hat, and then took out a mirror to make a face.

After helping Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu, Xu Qingfan put on gloves and, fully armed, walked out of the terminal hand in hand.

A gust of cold wind swept over him, and Xu Qingfan instinctively exhaled a breath of warm air, "It's so cold~"

A thin layer of snow covered the bare tree branches, and bright red lanterns for bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new year were hung all over the trees on both sides of the sidewalk, creating a fantastic world of red and white.

The snow on the ground melted before it could accumulate, so Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu, both southerners seeing snow for the first time, weren't particularly impressed.

"Why are there so many taxis in Yanjing?" Xu Qingfan exclaimed, looking at the red taxis that could be seen everywhere on the road.

"That's a bit much." Guan Bianyue casually waved his hand, and immediately three taxis with good eyesight drove over.

After the group randomly got into a car, Guan Bianyue said to the driver in fluent old Beijing dialect, "Driver, to the Green Garden Hotel."

What do you guys want to eat later?

Xu Qingfan found the Beijing dialect strangely funny, and he imitated Guan Bianyue's tone, saying, "I won't let the old Japanese get away with this!" (Teacher, I don't know!)

"Speak properly!" Guan Bianyue was amused by his broken Beijing dialect.

"Stir-fried pork belly with eggs." (Stir-fried tomatoes with eggs.)
"Xu Qingfan!" Guan Bianyue glared at him angrily.

"I want to eat mutton hot pot," Xu Qingfan said with a shrug.

"what about you?"

“Teacher, I’m fine with anything,” Wu Lingyu said softly.

Xia Xiaoxiao remembered what Xu Qingfan had told her at home. The cooked mutton was put into a bowl full of sesame sauce. The little girl swallowed hard and said, "Teacher, I want to eat mutton hot pot too."

"Let's go eat hot pot!" Having been away from this city for three years, Guan Bianyue also misses the days when she and her roommates used to eat hot pot together in the winter.

The car soon arrived at the Green Garden Hotel, and the group took their belongings, paid the fare, and got out of the car.

After Guan Bianyue presented their competition certificates, the staff quickly helped them with the check-in process.

"Sister, you're so beautiful. Could you please arrange two rooms for us that have windows and are far from the corridor?" Xu Qingfan said sweetly.

"Of course, no problem!" The receptionist covered her mouth in surprise and changed the 501 and 502 she had selected on the computer to 509 and 510. "These are your room cards. You can contact me using the room phone if you have any questions. The children are so cute." The receptionist politely handed the two access cards to Guan Bianyue.

Guan Bianyue accepted the room key with a polite smile, and only after entering the elevator did she speak to Xu Qingfan, saying, "This brat is actually quite useful after all~"

[Hmph, so glib!] Xia Xiaoxiao secretly reached out and pinched Xu Qingfan's soft waist. Xu Qingfan caught Xia Xiaoxiao's mischievous hand on his body, then suddenly slapped his forehead, "I forgot to let my family know I'm safe."

“Oh right!” Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu also looked as if they had just remembered.

After arriving at the end of the fifth floor, the group quickly opened two rooms: 509 was a triple room, and 510 was a single room.

"Here's your room key. Don't lose it. Aren't you worried about living alone?" Guan Bianyue teased as she handed him the room key.

"Haha!" Xu Qingfan shrugged and walked into his room with his bag on his back.

After putting his schoolbag away, Xu Qingfan went to the restroom first to check if there was hot water.

The bathroom used an old-fashioned fire-heated water heater, which could easily cause carbon monoxide poisoning if you showered for too long. Xu Qingfan's family used the same type before, but they switched to an electric water heater after they became rich.

After confirming that there was hot water, Xu Qingfan picked up the landline phone in the room and called his mother to let her know he was safe.

After Yao Jinping gave him repeated instructions, Xu Qingfan hung up the phone.

After his mother finished calling, he thought for a moment and then called Lin Wanning's home. The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.

"Hello, who are you?" Lin Wanning's childish voice came through the microphone.

"It's me, Ningning. Have you had dinner yet?"

"Ah! Brother Qingfan, you've arrived in Yanjing!!" Lin Wanning's voice instantly went from listless to overjoyed.

"Yes, I just checked into the hotel. Did you fall this morning?"

"No, hehe~ Brother Qingfan, have you had dinner yet!"

Even over the phone, Xu Qingfan could imagine Lin Wanning holding the microphone with both hands, grinning, "Let's go eat mutton later, it's freezing here."

"Yes, Ningning had stir-fried beef with tomatoes and roasted chicken wings for dinner!"

"Stay home and don't run around. The streets will be very chaotic around the Lunar New Year," Xu Qingfan instructed.

"Okay, Ningning stayed home all day and was just painting our four-wheel drive car. Brother Qingfan, hurry up and come back after your exam~" The little girl said in a long, cute voice.

"I'll be back on the 14th with a gift for you. I have to go eat now, remember the snacks the stranger gave me."

Before Xu Qingfan could finish speaking, Lin Wanning interrupted, "No, no!"

"A stranger knocking on the door?"

"No, no, we won't open it!"

"I'll hang up now, I'll call you back when I have time," Xu Qingfan said with a smile.

"Ah! Brother Qingfan, wait a moment before hanging up. Ningning will go get a pen and notebook to write down your number!"

"No need to write it down, this is the hotel's phone number. It's too much trouble to transfer calls."

"Ah~ okay then." Lin Wanning pouted, sounding aggrieved, on the other end of the phone.

"I'll call you once a day, okay?" Xu Qingfan said, trying to comfort him.

"Good ear. If not, I want it twice!"

"Then twice, and you really died." Xu Qingfan shook his head with amusement.

"Okay, it starts today. Remember to call Ningning tonight, Qingfan!"

"I remember!" Xu Qingfan smiled and shook his head before hanging up the phone.

Thank you Qingrongsheng for the 100 Qidian coins.

Thank you Shangxue Mengshang for the 100 Qidian coins.

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(End of this chapter)