Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

The next day.

In the morning, six people reviewed in the old house, and after having lunch and resting for a while at noon, it was time to take the bus back to school.

The table was not yet cleaned up with their study materials scattered about, about a third of which belonged to Xiao Ruawen alone.

When packing up their schoolbags, Xiao Ruawen eagerly helped Xu Qingfan with his, and only then leisurely stuffed her own books back into her bag.

Pointing to her backpack stuffed with textbooks, she grinned and said, "Hey~ Thanks, Brother Fan!"

"How much did you look at?" Xu Qingfan gave Xiao Ruawen a glaring look, handing his backpack to her.

"Uh... that... haha, I've reviewed everything that's on the test for tomorrow!" Xiao Ruawen said with neither confidence nor strength in her voice.

"Why do I find that so hard to believe?" Xu Qingfan gave her another look of disbelief just as the car arriving to pick them up stopped at the door, "Let's go, we'll talk more in the car."

"Okay!" The five girls either nodded or softly murmured in agreement.

After checking all doors and windows were closed, Xu Qingfan lastly turned off the main water and power supply, took along Little White who was sprawled sleeping in the yard, and the six of them plus the little dog quickly left the old house by car.

After this week, it would be November, with autumn nearing its end, Li City finally started to feel like it was in the fiery heat of July.

Many people were still wearing shorts and short sleeves the day before, but by morning they had already switched to long sleeves and pants.

With the temperature around twenty degrees, there was no need for air conditioning, and wearing the winter school uniform open was just right.

This was the most comfortable month of the year in Li City, with gentle breezes and cloudy skies; this pleasant weather would probably last for half a month to a month.

...

After leaving the old house, the six of them, as usual, made a trip to the supermarket to replenish their supplies.

"Still buying ice cream? The temperature's dropped," Lin Wanning had just reached into the freezer when in the next second, Xu Qingfan's punishing fist appeared atop her head.

"I just wanted to touch it, I didn't say I was going to buy it, Brother Qing Fan is hitting me!" Lin Wanning pouted in aggrievance, her simple curiosity could not resist the urge to touch the ice at the sight of it.

Xu Qingfan was about to apologize when unexpectedly, in the next moment, Lin Wanning flipped her face at lightning speed and put the ice shavings she had in her hand onto his neck.

"Hiss~ Lin, Wan, Ning!"

"Ow ow~ Brother Qing Fan, don't hit me, Wanning knows she's wrong!" Up ahead was a wide road, and Lin Wanning quickly fled with the shopping cart.

"Don't run too fast, be careful not to bump into someone!" After shouting this, Xu Qingfan looked helplessly at Zhang Yiyi, and the two exchanged smiles.

To save time, they browsed the second floor snack area; Xia Xiaoxiao, Xiao Ruawen, and Wu Lingyu shopped in the first floor fruit and fresh produce area, meeting at the cashier's when everything was bought.

"Ruan Wen and Xiao Xiao like this cucumber-flavored chips, grab a few more bags," he said and then took four more packs of Lay's potato chips from the shelf, with Lin Wanning having returned by then with the shopping cart.

"Brother Qing Fan, I want to eat that Panpan potato chips, the tomato flavor!" Lin Wanning pointed with a little hand, and Xu Qingfan quickly threw two more bags of chips into the cart.

The three of them hit the road again, with Xu Qingfan taking over pushing the cart and Zhang Yiyi and Lin Wanning on either side of him.

"We have exams next week, we still need to buy candies!" Passing a candy shelf, Lin Wanning picked out many candies that she and Yiyi liked to eat.

Every time there were major exams, Lin Wanning would have a candy in her mouth, not because she had the habit of chewing on a pen while thinking but because she remembered seeing somewhere on a TV show that eating sweets could help with thinking, and she took it to heart.

"Alright, alright, it's just three days of exams, why buy so much? Want your teeth to rot?" Seeing Lin Wanning still wanting to pick more, Xu Qingfan pulled her back.

"Hehe~ Brother Qing Fan, eat duck!" Lin Wanning was not annoyed, instead she took his arm with a backhand, looking up at him with a smile.

Xu Qingfan held her hand and continued to stroll around; he couldn't control the direction with one hand on the cart so Zhang Yiyi very timely lent a hand.

The sly man suddenly felt that now was a good opportunity, with only the three of them present, it was the perfect chance to probe a bit.

"Panpan potato chips, Wangwang shrimp strips, Poli seaweed, and these Dr. Bear gummies, the snacks you two like are exactly the same. If you end up at different universities in the future, you two won't be able to share a bag of snacks together anymore."

Xu Qingfan suddenly spoke up.

Zhang Yiyi surreptitiously blinked a few times, stealing a glance at the brother next to her, but did not speak first.

"Why would we need to go to different universities, duck? Yiyi and I will definitely go to the same university, duck, and so will Brother Qing Fan!" Lin Wanning was the most naïve, not hesitating before she replied.

"Yiyi and I both have such good grades, what if Wanning's score isn't enough when the time comes?" Xu Qingfan pinched Lin Wanning's chubby little face affectionately.

"Ah... I... I will try my best, and if that doesn't work, I'll apply as an art student, so I won't need to score as high!" Lin Wanning clearly had thought about this issue before, so she quickly provided an answer.

As long as Xu Qingfan wasn't aiming for Qingbei, she was confident that she wouldn't hold him back.

"Okay, okay, I was just teasing you. I won't go out of the province for university, so I will most likely go to Hong Kong University. All Wanning needs to do is try a tiny bit harder," Xu Qingfan gestured a tiny universe with his fingers, "and getting into Hong Kong University will definitely be no problem!"

"Mm!"

"Hong Kong University, brother Qingfan, I will work hard!"

Lin Wanning nodded very seriously, truly very seriously.

"I believe in Wanning!"

Their conversation suddenly left Zhang Yiyi bewildered, thinking to herself: [Uh, is brother really talking about university?]

Just as she thought this, she heard Xu Qingfan suddenly change the subject: "But after we all go to university, after we graduate and start working, we'll have to part ways, right? We can't keep living together like we are now."

"Why can't we?"

"Brother Qingfan, we made a promise!"

Lin Wanning stuck out her little finger, her big eyes blinking rapidly: "Wanning, Yiyi, Brother Qingfan, a promise for a hundred years, not allowed to change, we'll always be together!"

The girl's sincerity moved them both, and time seemed to be pulled back to the spring of 2002, when the little boy and girl made a promise under the sun to never part ways.

Suddenly, Xu Qingfan felt there was no need to test any further. If it weren't for the circumstances, he really would have liked to come clean right now, to be honest with Wanning and Yiyi about his actions.

"Wanning is right, we made a pinky promise never to part, and liars are little dogs." The man scooped up the two girls into his arms, one in each hand.

Zhang Yiyi obediently nestled in her brother's arms, as clever as she was, she didn't press the issue, wondering why Brother had just asked those questions?

Lin Wanning was the same, smiling contently: "Brother Qingfan can't lie. If you lie, you'll become a little dog!"

From Lin Wanning's point of view, she and Yiyi would definitely not lie, so naturally, the only one who might was Xu Qingfan.

Unfortunately, the emotionally disturbed man did not catch this verbal slip-up.

"Mm, let's go; it's time to meet up with the others," Xu Qingfan nodded and released his hold on the two girls.

"Mm!"

...

After descending in the elevator and rejoining Xia Xiaoxiao, Wu Lingyu, and Xiao Ruawen, the three transferred the fruits and yogurts in their shopping carts into Xu Qingfan's, and all pushed it together to the checkout.

At three in the afternoon, the six of them returned to the new house.

The house had been left untouched for only a day and a half and was still immaculate, requiring no additional cleaning.

After arranging the fruits and snacks into the refrigerator and storage boxes, the five girls, exhausted, promptly slumped over the sofa to relax.

Xu Qingfan had to go to the balcony to collect the laundry they had hung out last Friday, folding it neatly and placing it back into their respective storage boxes.

Having lived together for so long, Xu Qingfan could now judge whose underwear was whose just by looking at the size with his eyes.

Well, actually, he could remember even just by the style and color.

When he returned to the living room, the short time he was away had been enough for the five girls to return to their studying mode.

Watching their silhouettes studying, Xu Qingfan suddenly pondered: [Do we really need to study together in university? Isn't that a bit of a hindrance to my showcasing my skills?]

But he wasn't too worried about that, as Hong Kong University was truly vast, covering over 8,000 acres. The aunty selling pancakes at the west gate would have to break up with the uncle working as a security guard at the east gate because they couldn't handle a long-distance relationship.

[Still, I'll need to be more discreet on campus. If I'm not careful and get secretly photographed, my glorious deeds will be outed in the dorm group chats, and it will be all over for me.]

"Let's keep dinner simple. I'll fry up a few steaks and pair it with some fruit yogurt for our evening meal," he told the five of them.

The six had dined out for lunch, and at past three, they were still somewhat full.

"Okay!" The five girls didn't even lift their heads, continuing to study diligently.

...