I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 177. The Versatile Little Jade (Happy New Year)
“Look at the character ‘之’ I wrote. The dot is like a horizontal stroke, the left-falling stroke is rounded, and the right-falling stroke is restrained and the tip is drawn inward. Kid, you try to imitate it!” After being tormented by Xiao Ruanwen’s grandfather for another hour, his address to Xu Qingfan was successfully upgraded from “Xiao Fan” to the more affectionate “kid”.

"Yes, yes." Xu Qingfan frantically winked at the four women sitting on the sofa watching from the sidelines, urging them to quickly find an excuse to slip away.

Xiao Ruanwen covered her mouth and chuckled, saying, "Grandpa, we need to go back this afternoon to preview tomorrow's lessons, so we should leave soon."

"What's the rush? Let's finish practicing this last character first. Here, you need to tighten the hook!" Xiao Lijian held up the character that Xu Qingfan had just copied, admiring it in the light. "Haha, not bad, not bad at all. It already has seven or eight tenths of Grandpa's spirit. Come visit again next time, I also have a lot of insights into Xiao's calligraphy!"

After putting down the Xuan paper, he patted Xu Qingfan on the shoulder and laughed heartily.

Xu Qingfan:
"Okay, okay, I'll come whenever I have time. Grandpa, we'll go back and study now." Xu Qingfan smiled wryly.

"Go on, go on, I'll see you off." Xiao Lijian escorted them all the way downstairs before stopping and saying, "Young man, come visit us often, Grandpa likes you very much."

"Mmm-hmm-hmm." Xu Qingfan nodded vigorously.

Only after the five people left the Zhongjian Haoting residential complex did the four women finally stop suppressing their laughter and burst into wild hysteria.

"Haha goose goose goose!" The goose monster has appeared again.

"Hehe, Fan-ge, don't mind... Haha, my grandpa is always like this. During the New Year, even the relatives' kids don't dare to ask him for red envelopes!" Xiao Ruanwen put her hand on Xu Qingfan's shoulder and laughed non-stop while clutching her stomach.

"Er Ya, you're still laughing, Er Ya? Are you alright, Er Ya?" Xu Qingfan said, raising his hand to ruffle Xiao Ruanwen's hair.

The girl instantly vanished from her smile, her deadpan gaze fixed on Xu Qingfan.

The smile didn't disappear; it simply shifted to other people.

"Hahaha," now it was Xu Qingfan and the others' turn to point at Xiao Ruanwen and laugh nonstop.

"Hey, don't laugh!" Xiao Ruanwen reached out to cover their mouths, but she wasn't a thousand-armed Guanyin, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't cover four mouths with two hands.

In the end, the girl herself laughed. After a long while, when everyone set sail again, she explained, "My older cousin was born half a month before me and was called 'Big Girl,' and then when it was my turn, my family called me 'Second Girl.'"

"It's okay, it's okay. Actually, as long as it's not about the hem of your pants, it sounds pretty good." Xu Qingfan patted her shoulder to comfort her.

"You stinky Fan, prepare to die!" Xiao Ruanwen swung her claws and charged straight at his center.

"The demonic witch actually wants to destroy my dantian! Guardians, come quickly to my aid!" Xu Qingfan jumped back a big step and struck the signature pose of Ip Man of Wing Chun.

"Whoa~ Witch, take this!" Upon hearing Xu Qingfan's distress signal, Lin Wanning immediately opened his automatic parasol and assumed an attack stance.

Xia Xiaoxiao helplessly wiped her forehead, really wanting to run across the street and pretend she didn't know these three.

Zhang Yiyi stood quietly in place, watching them with a faint smile on her lips.

"Hehehe~ Is this all the strength you have?" Xiao Ruanwen jumped left and right, knocking the two of them back step by step.

"The enemy is too strong. It seems I have no choice but to use my ultimate move, Wan Ning!" Xu Qingfan picked up a tree branch from the ground and made a sword incantation with his hand.

"Wan Ning received, Hundred Steps Flying Sword!" The girl put the umbrella away and held it upright in front of her.

"Spanning all directions!" At the same time, Xu Qingfan also placed the tree branch horizontally in front of his chest.

"Hiss~ It's actually the legendary Twin Swords Combined, the Alliance of Strategists!" Xiao Ruanwen gasped in shock, her hands forming a hand seal as she shouted, "Behold my Six Soul Terror Curse!"

The three chased each other, exchanging blows from side to side, their expressions suggesting they were truly engaged in a life-or-death battle.

"Pfft—I'll be back!" Xiao Ruanwen spat out a mouthful of blood and fled in a disheveled state.

"Hahaha, Brother Qingfan, we won!" Lin Wanning was still immersed in his role-playing. When he saw Xiao Ruanwen running away, his first thought was to chase after her and finish her off.

"Don't pursue a desperate enemy! Don't pursue a desperate enemy!" Xu Qingfan shouted, grabbing her arm.

"I'll listen to Brother Qingfan!"

Zhang Yiyi and Xia Xiaoxiao exchanged a knowing smile, both reading the same thought in each other's eyes.

The five of them soon returned to their secret base. Little White, who had been hungry all morning, was so excited that he burst into tears, and his panting was as pitiful as could be.

"It's just that you haven't eaten a meal yet, look at all that fat on your body!" Xu Qingfan said, kicking the dog's chubby belly after adding dog food and water to its bowl.

"Awooo~" Little White cursed.

In comparison, the younger brother is much easier to feed; he eats when there's food and sleeps when there isn't.

After Xu Qingfan added cat food to its bowl, the little guy remained comfortably lying on Xia Xiaoxiao's lap, enjoying the massage service from the beautiful girls.

"Alright, stop petting the cat and come do your homework!" He clapped his hands and gave the order.

"Coming~" Lin Wanning said, while his hand was still scratching the cat's chin.

Zhang Yiyi was the first to respond and sit down at the table. Xu Qingfan patted her head encouragingly, and the girl smiled in response.

When it comes to midterms and finals, they prefer to lazily lie on the tatami mat to review their study materials, but when doing homework, they are more efficient sitting upright.

Xu Qingfan came out of the kitchen after washing the fruit and making tea. The four girls were already engrossed in their homework, not even looking up.

Light a stick of incense, and you don't need to listen to music. The chirping of birds outside the window and the soft rustling of the curtains in the wind are the best instrumental music.

In such an environment, learning can also be an enjoyable experience.

Perhaps more than ten years from now, the girl will have grown into a woman and will sigh as she recalls her youthful days, "Back then, I thought it was just an ordinary day."

"Brother Qingfan, is there a mistake in this question?" Lin Wanning circled a question on the test paper and pushed it to Xu Qingfan to see.

"You're biting your pen again!" He moved the test paper in front of his seat and tapped the girl on the head.

Lin Wanning has a habit of biting his pen when he's thinking, a habit that Xu Qingfan has told him to break many times, but he just can't get rid of it. "Waaah~"

He ignored the girl's pitiful and cute act, looked down at the area he had circled, and asked, "Is there a problem with this question? Her dream is to be a nurse."

The question Lin Wanning circled for him was an English fill-in-the-blank question, which gave him two words: nurse and doctor, and asked him to choose the correct one.

"Why can't it be a doctor?" Lin Wanning retorted.

"Uh..." Xu Qingfan was stunned by the question, because he really hadn't thought about it before. "Because nurses are generally female, the question says 'she,' and that's the point of the test."

“But there are also many female doctors, like Grandma Tu Youyou and Aunt Li Lanjuan,” Lin Wanning said, counting on his fingers.

“Exactly, I think so too. And I think being a nurse is just an ideal. It’s not difficult. You can become one after graduating from junior high school and going to a nursing school. The question uses ‘dream’ here, but I think you should choose ‘doctor’ instead!” Xiao Ruanwen chimed in.

“You’re absolutely right. The teacher who set the question is an idiot. The high school entrance exam wouldn’t be set like this!” Xu Qingfan found his English test paper, crossed out “nurse” and changed it to “doctor”.

"Hehe~ Then I'll fill in 'doctor' too!" Lin Wanning took back her test paper and filled in "doctor" on it.

"Hehe, I'll go with you guys." Although Xiao Ruanwen had just spoken eloquently, she actually understood the logic. Sure enough, when she found the test paper, the answer was "nurse." To show her determination to stick together, she also found Xia Xiaoxiao's English test paper, only to find that it was neither "nurse" nor "doctor," but three big question marks.

Xia Xiaoxiao raised her eyebrows at her smugly.

"Goose, goose, goose, as expected of Little One!" Xiao Ruanwen couldn't help but call out again when she saw such a spirited little goose.

"Seriously, Xiaoyu will be here soon. If you don't finish your homework, you'll be left home alone!" Seeing that Xiao Ruanwen was trying to lead everyone astray again, Xu Qingfan slapped her on the head and scolded her impatiently.

"Goose... I'll write... goose." The girl covered her mouth with both hands, her body twitching as she tried to suppress her laughter.

Seeing her struggling to suppress her laughter, everyone eventually couldn't help but be led astray.

Fortunately, they were efficient enough to finish their homework, and by 5 p.m. they had completed all the lessons they had missed over the weekend.

As for Wu Lingyu, she was the most self-aware among the six, so Xu Qingfan wasn't worried at all.

Around five o'clock, Wu Lingyu came in through the door carrying large and small bags of luggage. "I'm back!"

"Xiaoyu!" Upon seeing Wu Lingyu standing at the door, the four girls jumped up in surprise and ran away.

Perhaps it's because Wu Lingyu has a gentle and mild personality, and she gets along very well with everyone.

She's like a universal catalyst in chemistry, able to react with every girl in the group.

They helped Wu Lingyu take the bag she was carrying and put it in their own hands, then returned to the living room surrounded by admirers.

"Brother Fan!" The girl's pupils lit up almost imperceptibly when she saw Xu Qingfan, and she called out shyly.

"What food did you bring back this time?" Xu Qingfan nodded, then stood up and opened the bags the girl had brought back one by one.

"Brother Fan, what you're holding is beef sauce, this is chili sauce, and this is fermented bean paste," Wu Lingyu introduced them.

Every time Wu Lingyu goes home, her mother prepares a lot of homemade chili sauce for her to bring back; this has almost become a tradition.

"Clean up the table, we're going to buy groceries now. Xiaoyu, can you take the last one for me?" Xu Qingfan held two glass jars of chili sauce, preparing to put them back in the refrigerator.

Chili sauce is a little better, but homemade fermented bean paste and beef sauce like this, because they don't contain preservatives, will basically spoil in a day or two at room temperature in the summer.

"Okay!" the five girls said in unison.

After the last piece of the puzzle was returned, they locked the door and went for a walk together to Fu Peng Market to buy groceries.

White clouds drift lazily in the sky, and pedestrians stroll leisurely on the ground.

Normally, if I have to go to school on Monday, I always feel a little anxious on Sunday evening.

But clearly, none of the six of them experienced similar anxiety, because the only time they could be together was when they were at school, and going to school had gradually become something they looked forward to.

When I returned from grocery shopping, it was already getting dark. The dim streetlights along the roadside had been lit up early, and an annoying army of mosquitoes gathered below, buzzing incessantly.

They turned on the lights in the yard, making it one of the many lights in the house, and sat around on the stone benches preparing the ingredients for their dinner barbecue.

[Braces girl~ So beautiful~ This girl has such amazing legs~]

Xu Qingfan was massaging chicken wings while wearing gloves when his cell phone suddenly rang in his pocket.

"Brother Fan, can you please change your ringtone?" Xiao Ruanwen complained speechlessly.

"What do you know?" Xu Qingfan rolled his eyes at him, took off his disposable gloves, and answered the phone.

After recognizing that the person displayed above was Uncle Xiaohai, he turned on speakerphone.

"Uncle Xiao Hai!"

"Xiao Fan, have you eaten? The swindler has been taken into custody. The specific verdict will have to wait for the court. You can rest assured."

The five girls clapped their hands in celebration with delight.

"What did Uncle do wrong? Why do we have to wait for a court verdict?"

"Yes, this beast drugged and molested several female students, and even filmed the incident to threaten the victims. We caught him red-handed on this trip." Fang Xiaohai's tone changed from amiable to furious.

"Okay, okay, thank you, Uncle Xiaohai. We haven't eaten yet, and we're having a barbecue tonight. Would you like to come along, Uncle Xiaohai?"

Fang Xiaohai realized that his tone had been a bit harsh, so he softened it and said, "It's me who should thank you. We won't have the barbecue. This is clearly a sophisticated scam. I suspect there's a big case going on. I have to continue the interrogation tonight. After this is all over, I'll treat you to a meal at the Licheng Hotel to thank you!"

"Okay, Uncle Xiaohai, you're busy. We'll wait for your triumphant return!"

"Haha~ Great!" Fang Xiaohai laughed heartily at Xu Qingfan's triumphant words.

After hanging up the phone again, Xu Qingfan glared fiercely at Xiao Ruanwen, "Did you hear that? It's a scammer. Don't be stupid enough to get scammed again next time, and don't even film a video!"

Xiao Ruanwen cowered and weakly admitted her mistake.

"That's right, that's right, Ruan Wen, you need to watch more of the hilarious daily anti-fraud episodes!" Lin Wanning chimed in, hands on his hips, wielding his authority as if it were an order.

"How dare you talk about her like that? Who was it this morning who wanted to go and catch the bad guys?" Xu Qingfan said irritably, grabbing the girl's tuft of hair.

"Waaah~ Brother Qingfan, I know I was wrong."

"Hahaha"

Xu Qingfan was surprised to actually catch such a big fish. [It seems I really am a benefactor to Uncle Hai's career.] he thought to himself.

By 7 p.m., it was completely dark.

Under the dim light of the incandescent bulbs, the glowing red charcoal added a vibrant touch to the night, and the sizzling sound of dripping fat from the roasting meat echoed through the darkness.

After the girls grilled their own batch, they insisted on eating Xu Qingfan's grilled food.

Five girls sat around the grill watching Xu Qingfan barbecue.

"Is Brother Qingfan ready? I'm starving!"

When will Fan Ge's oysters be ready?

"Xu Qingfan, can you check if these chicken wings are cooked through?"

"Brother, open your mouth."

"Brother Fan's honey water is here!"

(End of this chapter)