Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts-Chapter 472 - 340. Do you even know that I like you?!

Over the next month, the Asian Games craze swept across Lingnan land, with the Five Rams mascot and the well-known "Heavy rain, streets flood" becoming omnipresent symbols in every street and alley.

The "Asian Sprint King" Su Shen first showed his looming talent, the women's volleyball team performed a miraculous comeback from two sets down to win in three, cutting down the Korean team beneath their horses, and the legendary badminton player Lin Shen triumphantly won the championship, achieving a grand slam in his career and also bagging the prestigious Asian Games MVP award.

The Huaxia Team announced its presence to the world with a staggering lead in gold medals, echoing the voice of a great nation with a 5,000-year expanse, as one touching story after another unfolded in this city of tolerance and fraternity.

Somehow the news had leaked, and their selection as Asian Games Torchbearers became known throughout the school. This didn't really affect the last part of their final year in junior high. It just added a richly coloured stroke to the legend of their already legendary deeds.

They made a speech during the flag-raising ceremony on Monday, and life returned to its peaceful routine.

...

The last part of junior high was mundane and dull yet with a touch of warmth; it lacked the reckless abandon of wandering scholars roaming through mountains and rivers, nor did it have the tumultuous and smoky battles of martial heroes.

What was there was the sound of countless alarms at six in the morning being turned off again, the relaxed silhouettes of the six of them chatting while having breakfast on their way to school, looking up to see the most beautiful sunset sky, and the presence of the best friends to "unsheathe the sword" and stand by one's side.

...

With the arrival of winter, Hong Kong faced a once-in-fifty-years cold snap.

The highest daytime temperature was only five degrees Celsius, and people dug out their long underwear and down jackets from the bottoms of their trunks, wrapping themselves up as if they were making zongzi.

Future generations familiar with harsher weather might scoff at the so-called once-in-fifty or even once-in-a-hundred-years occurrences.

But in 2010, the beginning of El Niño, everyone was frozen like dogs.

In the leisurely time of the afternoon, Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao comfortably curled up under a blanket watching TV, with four or five hot water bags working hard to emit heat.

["Stopping here, afraid to go on♫"]

["Preventing sorrow from taking the stage♫"]

The sad melody of the erhu, accompanied by melancholic lyrics, played as Mango Channel rebroadcast the ending song of "Heart-stopping Steps."

Xia Xiaoxiao lazily tucked in her feet, warming her cold soles against this stinky dog's thigh.

The girl then shifted slightly to rest her head more comfortably on his shoulder.

Her toes playfully plucked at his body like a piano, and Xia Xiaoxiao contentedly squinted her eyes.

Today was Sunday, and they had to regroup at the secret base in the afternoon. The post-lunch hours were a rare alone time for the two of them.

[If only time could stand still forever!]

She thought to herself.

Time standing still was, of course, impossible. After Xu Qingfan switched through a few channels without finding any good shows, he prepared to get up and return to his room.

"Here, for you."

Xu Qingfan grabbed the girl's small feet which were warming themselves on his thigh and slipped the hot water bag over them like a shoe.

"Mmm~ what are you going to do?" Xia Xiaoxiao's cheeks blushed as she looked up to ask.

"Going back to my room." Xu Qingfan didn't say much more; he put on his jacket and headed straight back to his room.

"Hmph~" Xia Xiaoxiao hugged her knees and curled up on the sofa, her gaze never leaving his retreating figure.

Contrary to Xia Xiaoxiao's expectation, Xu Qingfan only stayed in his room for a short while before coming out again.

"Take a walk?" He tossed a pair of wool socks onto the girl's head and invited her.

"It's freezing outside." Even though Xia Xiaoxiao said this, her body honestly began putting on the socks.

She pulled her down jacket into the blanket to dress, and the moment she left the cozy bed, she shivered instantly.

Xia Xiaoxiao, exhaling warm breath, asked, "Going where?"

"Catch some sun." Xu Qingfan shrugged his shoulders and left the house first.

"Speechless!" Xia Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at a certain cool-acting stinky dog and quickly chased after him, buttoning up her scarf.

Even though Li City's air felt cold, the sunshine today was especially brilliant, nearly blinding when looking up.

This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.

"What are you going to do?" the girl asked, with both her small hands tucked into the pockets of her down jacket, her silky hair dancing in the wind as she ran.

Xu Qingfan paused for a moment on the spot, waiting for Xia Xiaoxiao to catch up beside him before continuing on.

"Just going up to the rooftop to soak up some sun," he said, pointing to the glaring sun above and smilingly turned to the girl.

"Oh." Xia Xiaoxiao felt that basking in the sun on a cold day was quite comfortable, especially when alone with the stinky dog, and obediently followed him upstairs.

They quickly arrived at the rooftop on the eighth floor, the gentle sunlight falling on them, making them feel instantly warm all over.

From childhood, Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao had often come up here to play.

Finding their usual spot, they leaned against the cement pillar and spaced out with ease.

Xia Xiaoxiao thought Xu Qingfan truly came up just to bask in the sun. She turned on her phone's Kuwo Music app and hit play, resuming the song "Three Inches of the World" that they only got halfway through earlier.

Xu Qingfan habitually placed his hand on the girl's shoulder, and Xia Xiaoxiao imperceptibly shifted closer to him to snuggle tightly against him.

Regrettably, the current height difference between them was only five centimeters, and the girl couldn't comfortably rest her head on his shoulder.

As the music slowly played, neither of them spoke.

The duration of a song had ended before Xu Qingfan finally spoke, "Tomorrow is your birthday, right?"

"Yeah." Xia Xiaoxiao's heartbeat skipped a beat when she suddenly realized why Xu Qingfan had asked her to come up.

If someone across the building were looking, the way the two were positioned at the moment would resemble a happy couple snuggled up together—and indeed, it looked just like that up close.

Xu Qingfan calmly reached into his pocket and, when he spread his hand open again, there magically appeared a keychain in his palm.

"A birthday gift for you," he said, sounding very casual.

Xia Xiaoxiao forgot to breathe in her nervousness, but when she looked down, the keychain before her was not the little dinosaur keychain she had been longing for.

Xia Xiaoxiao had guessed the beginning but not the ending of the story.

A feeling of desolation surged from cloud nine to the abyss in an instant. Although the keychain was exquisite and surely very expensive...

...No amount of exquisiteness or expense could make this keychain worth one ten-millionth of the little dinosaur keychain in her heart.

"Oh... Thank you." Xia Xiaoxiao's eyes reddened instantly as her trembling left hand picked up her birthday gift.

"The previous one couldn't be put back together, so this is a newly made one. Don't break it again," he said.

Xia Xiaoxiao's vision blurred, and her ears only heard the first half of his statement.

[The previous one couldn't be put back together... so he gave me a new one... As expected...]

"This one is made from melting down the previous pieces. It can talk if you press its head, give it a try," Xu Qingfan spoke as if it was a matter of no importance.

But in his heart, well, he was quite self-satisfied.

[Haha, Xia Xiaoxiao, you are surely moved to tears by me!]

However, the scene he had envisioned of Xia Xiaoxiao hugging him and showering him with kisses didn't happen; the girl's reaction was much more subdued than his own.

[Shouldn't it be?]

Puzzled, Xu Qingfan tilted his head to look and saw that somewhere along the line, Xia Xiaoxiao had started crying profusely.

"No, why are you crying? Even if you like it that much, there's no need to cry, right?" he said, rapidly blinking his eyes, hesitant to continue.

Xia Xiaoxiao lifted her head to meet his gaze, looking pitiful and as if she'd just been caught in a shower.

"Sob... I don't want this keychain... I... I just want my old little dinosaur back!" she said, clutching the keychain tightly in her hands.

"Where can you find the old little dinosaur? I've melted it down. What you are holding now is it, isn't it?" Xu Qingfan thought she didn't like the new design he had made and said helplessly.

[What kind of aesthetic is this? Doesn't this little brother look a million times better than the little dinosaur!]

Yes, this keychain was specially molded in the likeness of a little brother by Xu Qingfan, and the subsequent steps such as casting were no difficult task for someone with his chemistry expertise from his previous life.

"Ah?"

Xia Xiaoxiao's crying faltered as she questioned whether she had heard him incorrectly. Was the keychain made by melting down the little dinosaur?

Xu Qingfan couldn't help but laugh at her bewildered expression and reached out to snatch back the little kitty, "What do you mean 'ah'? The little dinosaur has already been melted. Now there is only a little kitty. If you don't like it, give it back to me."

Now Xia Xiaoxiao was certain. What she held in her hands was indeed the little dinosaur, only it had been transformed into a little kitty!

"Who says I don't like it? I love it!!!"

Immediately forgetting to cry, she quickly tucked the keychain under her arm.

"Then why were you just crying?" Xu Qingfan teased as he wiped away the tear stains from the corners of her eyes with his fingers.

"I... I... Hmph!"

Xia Xiaoxiao no longer had the time to bother with him, focusing intently on her new keychain instead.

Only now did she notice the keychain looked incredibly like their family's little brother, even the eyes had one blue and one yellow heterochromatic pupil.

Xia Xiaoxiao's face instantly lit up with an enchanting smile as she fondly played with the keychain in her hands.

That little dinosaur really didn't matter; she only loved the little kitty!

Remembering what Xu Qingfan had said earlier, Xia Xiaoxiao pressed her finger on the little kitty's head, but didn't find any button.

Just as she was about to ask, the little kitty spoke, "Suki da yo!"

Xia Xiaoxiao's eyes widened—it was that voice!

"Button switches are too easy to break, so I had someone program a pressure sensor instead," Xu Qingfan explained.

Not counting the effort, just paying for the design cost him over a thousand yuan, but seeing Xia Xiaoxiao both crying and laughing, it seemed worth every penny.

"Hmm!"

Her eyes sparkled like stars as she kept pressing the little brother's head, and the Japanese phrase for 'I like you' kept playing.

Neither of them spoke, only the little kitty kept saying I like you.

"Daisuki... Suki da yo!"

[I like you, I like you, I like you, do you even know?]

...