Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

The winter's roadside trees had shed many of their leaves, and at a glance, the road was a straight line without an end in sight.

Xia Xiaoxiao wished that the stinky dog could lead her to keep walking, and Xu Qingfan wished the same.

Unfortunately, the call from Yao Jiping summoning them back for dinner disrupted this atmosphere.

"No choice, let's take a cab back, my mom is calling us back for dinner," Xu Qingfan said as he hung up the phone and gave a shrug to Xia Xiaoxiao.

"Okay," Xia Xiaoxiao nodded, making a mental note of their current coordinates.

[Next time we have a chance, let's start our walk from here!]

After hailing a taxi, Xia Xiaoxiao took a longing look toward the end of the road, quickly following Xu Qingfan into the back seat of the taxi.

The starting price for Li City taxis was ten yuan for two kilometers; from here to Donghui City was just under two kilometers, exactly the amount left from the ten yuan they had after the dollar store.

"It would be convenient if there were shared electric scooters," Xu Qingfan mumbled as they got off the cab.

"Shared electric scooters?" Xia Xiaoxiao looked at him with confusion.

"Never mind, just a sudden idea. Imagine electric scooters at every corner of the city, and you could just scan with your phone to ride them," Xu Qingfan explained.

"The scooters are put out in the morning, the wheels are stolen at night," Xia Xiaoxiao said with a rare attempt at humor.

Indeed, this fitted well with the current situation, as even the tulips planted in the flowerbeds of their residential area were dug up in the middle of the night.

And also, the big carp in the pond had disappeared, stolen by some unscrupulous thief.

"Once surveillance covers the whole city, it won't be so easy to steal things. Besides, we could start with university campuses where the students have higher standards," Xu Qingfan reasoned, messing up her hair with his left hand while not having let go of her hand since getting in the cab.

Facing him with her signature dead-fish eyes, Xia Xiaoxiao only spoke disdainfully after he stopped, "Stop dawdling, or auntie will scold you."

Xu Qingfan raised one hand in surrender and pulled her into the elevator to head home.

...

"I knitted sweaters for you both. Take them to school this week. The weather forecast says a cold front is coming next week," Yao Jiping suddenly said at the dinner table.

Xu Qingfan immediately became vigilant. He asked casually, "Mom, how many did you knit?"

Xia Xiaoxiao also pricked up her ears to listen.

"How many? Just two. I knitted them with pure wool, warmer than a down jacket," Yao Jiping, oblivious to her son's implications, continued to promote the warmth of her knitwear.

"Thank you, auntie!" Xia Xiaoxiao beamed with joy, placing her bowl down to express her gratitude with a smile.

Seeing this, Xu Qingfan could only sheepishly close his mouth.

He could already picture the scene of Xiao Ruawen curiously asking later, "Wow~ Xiao Xiao, is your sweater hand-knitted?"

Xia Xiaoxiao would show off subtly, "Yep yep, auntie knitted it and it's super warm!"

[Mom, isn't this just making my battlefield even more difficult?]

"Xiao Fan just wanted to ask if you knitted any for Yu and the others, right? Your mom started last month and has only finished two so far," Lin Jing said with a suppressed smile.

"Yeah, if this winter were a bit longer, Yu and the others would probably get to wear the sweaters I've knitted too," Yao Jiping nodded.

Speaking of which, aside from Xu Qingfan's sweater, the remaining ones for five girls were all one size. If Wu Lingyu had been sitting here eating dinner instead of Xia Xiaoxiao, Yao Jiping would have said the sweater was knitted for Yu.

"Hehehe..." Xu Qingfan laughed awkwardly and continued to eat without lifting his head.

...

After dinner, the two of them tried on the sweaters knitted by Yao Jiping.

After trying on her sweater, Xia Xiaoxiao removed it and held it in her hands, not wanting to let it go.

"Aren't you going to try yours on, Xu Qingfan?" Xia Xiaoxiao lay on Xu Qingfan's bed, turned her head, and looked at him working at his computer.

"If my mom got the size wrong even for the sweater she knitted for me, I would have had to consider getting a new mom," Xu Qingfan joked while continuing to type and handle documents, chatting with Xia Xiaoxiao.

Xia Xiaoxiao felt that made sense and didn't pursue the topic any further.

She turned over and lay on Xu Qingfan's bed, checked the time on her phone, and began a three-minute plank exercise.

After a minute, Xia Xiaoxiao started to feel tired, and to distract herself, she carefully examined Xu Qingfan's pillow for hairs from Yu or anyone else.

And indeed, upon closer inspection, she actually found a hair that wasn't Xu Qingfan's.

"Hmm..."

After persisting for the final minute, Xia Xiaoxiao immediately picked up the hair to examine it.

It was just an ordinary black hair. When Xia Xiaoxiao compared it with her own, she couldn't tell if the hair was hers, Yu's, or someone else's.

But that didn't stop Xia Xiaoxiao from teasing him about it.

"Xu Qingfan, why is there a hair from Yu on your pillow?" She confronted Xu Qingfan, holding up the hair.

The dog of a man was suddenly questioned, and his heart skipped a beat. After all, he had truly done something shameful with Yu in bed just last week.

"There's nothing strange about finding Yu's hair. You guys always love to lounge on my bed," Xu Qingfan replied without even glancing, maintaining his composure.

"Is that so?" Xia Xiaoxiao eyed him suspiciously, didn't notice anything amiss, and reluctantly tossed the hair into the trash can.

Xu Qingfan heaved a sigh of relief and casually asked, "Are you going to sleep here tonight, or in the next room?"

"I... I'll sleep here," Xia Xiaoxiao thought for a moment before responding.

Xu Qingfan understood. It would be another battle night.

...

Speaking of which, since that time she and Yu took turns night raiding Xu Qingfan's bedroom, Xia Xiaoxiao hadn't sneaked into Xu Qingfan's bed for a long time.

This was known to Xu Qingfan.

But what he didn't know was that last month, Xia Xiaoxiao intended to secretly attack Xu Qingfan after everyone had gone to sleep. No sooner had she stealthily left her room than Wu Lingyu also came out of her door.

"Ah!" Xia Xiaoxiao screamed in fright.

"Xiao Xiao?" The rabbit-waiting Yu was also startled, then pretended to be surprised.

"I... I'm going to the bathroom, Yu," Xia Xiaoxiao said, then slipped away to the bathroom, barefoot and holding her slippers.

Wu Lingyu stood in place, watching her embarrassed retreat and covered her mouth to giggle covertly.

...

Guilt-ridden Xia Xiaoxiao was caught red-handed, luckily she could excuse herself as needing to use the bathroom. However, she was still scared to death.

So, post-PTSD, whenever Wu Lingyu was home, Xia Xiaoxiao dared not seek out Xu Qingfan anymore.

And Xia Xiaoxiao had also realized that since it was not her who was being comforted, why should she be the one to initiate the night raids every time? She wouldn't go, and she would see who would crack first!

Xia Xiaoxiao withdrew her gaze from Xu Qingfan, absent-mindedly swiping on her phone.

[In any case, I definitely won't leave my bedroom tonight. Whether you come or not is up to you!]

[Better not come!]

[Hmph~ Locking the door will infuriate you!]

Just thinking about Xu Qingfan trying to open her bedroom door in the middle of the night, full of excitement, only to find it locked, Xia Xiaoxiao couldn't help laughing.

Xu Qingfan glanced at the girl foolishly giggling on his bed and shook his head: this child is beyond saving.

...

Midnight.

Xia Xiaoxiao lay on her own bed tossing and turning, worried she might miss the sound of Xu Qingfan opening the door, she kept her ears pricked up, fully focused.

But more than half an hour after bedtime had passed, there wasn't the sound of a door opening, not even a mosquito.

In Xu Qingfan's room, the rascal lay on his bed tossing and turning similarly.

"It's already midnight; if that Xia Xiaoxiao doesn't come soon, I'm really going to sleep," Xu Qingfan kicked off the covers, feeling unbearably hot even without the heater on.

...

One in the morning.

"Why hasn't he come yet? Could he be asleep?" Xia Xiaoxiao got up, looked at the bedroom door, and after some thought, she still got up, slipped on her slippers, and unlocked the door.

But that was as far as she would go. If he thought she would make the move, no chance!

Similarly.

"Why hasn't Xia Xiaoxiao come? Could she be asleep?" Xu Qingfan glanced at the time on his phone and sat up, looking in the direction of the door.

...

Two in the morning.

[If you're not coming, then forget it. Sleep!]

[Could she really be asleep?]

...

Three in the morning.

"Xu Qingfan, you're such a dog..."

"Xia Xiaoxiao, you really are a dog..."

...