It was the first time Xiao Ruoyan had seen such a large house. She looked around with great curiosity. In the three years she had been in Jincheng, she had basically never left the school gate and was quite unfamiliar with the bustling city outside.
Upon entering the spacious living room, the coffee table was filled with all sorts of fruits and snacks; Xu Xiu had brought out every single snack and fruit he could find in the house.
Xiao Ruoyan stared in disbelief, she had never seen so much delicious food before. Xu Xiu turned on the 100-inch TV in the living room and invited everyone to have some snacks and fruit first, while he went to prepare the dishes.
Xu Xiu didn't give Xiao Ruoyan any special treatment but treated her like an ordinary classmate. He didn't want to put too much pressure on her.
Ning Bufan was a frequent visitor, so he wasn't being polite at all and had already started picking out snacks. He ate while watching TV, while Xiao Ruoyan sat to the side like a wooden doll, looking very nervous.
Wang Mengqi sat down next to Xiao Ruoyan and helped her choose snacks. "Ruoyan, this chocolate is delicious, and this imported popcorn is also great."
Then, Wang Mengqi began to enthusiastically introduce the snacks on the table. Xu Xiu was busy in the kitchen while keeping a close eye on Xiao Ruoyan's every move in the living room.
Seeing that Xiao Ruoyan wouldn't eat the snacks offered to her, Wang Mengqi had no choice but to open them for her and feed them to her. This time, Xiao Ruoyan couldn't refuse.
After taking a bite, he seemed to taste something heavenly, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up slightly. This scene was captured by Xu Xiu, who was walking over.
He placed the cut fruit in front of everyone and smiled, saying, "You're not leaving until you finish all these snacks."
"If we really can't finish it, we'll pack it up and eat it after evening self-study."
He even came up with an excuse to pack Xiao Ruoyan's things that night.
Looking at the wide variety of fruits, such as cherries, grapes, and dragon fruit, Ning Bufan couldn't resist starting to eat. If he didn't need to save room for lunch, he would have eaten them all. Fruits are not easy to pack, and many of them were already cut open.
Seeing Ning Bufan wolfing down his food, Xu Xiu's face darkened. He cursed inwardly, "This kid has no manners at all. If Xiao Ruoyan hadn't been here today, I would have given him a good beating."
He called out to Ning Bufan, "Xiao Fan, eat more. It's rare for you to come to our house."
"But I'll control it a little, I'll have to try my cooking at noon later."
Ning Bufan lowered his head and responded, but something felt off. He had never been this polite when visiting Xu Xiu's house before. He secretly glanced at Xu Xiu and saw that Xu Xiu was making a throat-slitting gesture at him.
Ning Bufan finally understood, and quickly restrained himself, also showing great tact by urging Xiao Ruoyan and Wang Mengqi to eat more.
Looking at the delicious snacks and fruits, Xiao Ruoyan thought of her grandfather back in her hometown. When she was in junior high school, her grandfather would always buy her a small bag of snacks from the corner store whenever he came to pick her up. She wondered how her grandfather's health was.
I didn't go home for Chinese New Year this year to save on travel expenses. My mother kept saying on the phone that everything was fine at home, but I knew how could things possibly be fine there.
As she thought about it, the pain in her heart became indescribable, and tears welled up in her eyes. Ning Bufan and Wang Mengqi, who were sitting next to her, were dumbfounded. She was eating and then suddenly started crying.
Xu Xiu came out of the kitchen, took out a cell phone, and handed it to Xiao Ruoyan, comforting her, "Missing Grandpa? Call home! You can talk for as long as you want, this phone is free to make calls."
As soon as he finished speaking, he winked at Ning Bufan and Wang Mengqi. The two immediately understood and echoed him. Xiao Ruoyan looked at Xu Xiu in disbelief. How did he know that she missed her grandfather? And how did he know that I had a grandfather?
It seems she hasn't told anyone about her family situation.
Yes, you never told anyone, but you wrote it all down in your diary in your past life. Coincidentally, Xu Xiu was the one who read your diary by heart and could recite it backwards.
Xu Xiu told Xiao Ruoyan to take her phone to the guest room next door to make the call, then turned around and went back to the kitchen to continue working, acting as if he didn't care about the matter at all, everything was so natural.
Xiao Ruoyan carefully took her phone and walked into the guest room. Ning Bufan and Wang Mengqi exchanged glances, then looked at Xu Xiu in the kitchen. They both felt that something was wrong, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it.
After a long while, Xiao Ruoyan came out of the guest room with red eyes. Wang Mengqi quickly stepped forward to comfort her, saying, "Ruoyan, just take this phone with you. Calling is free anyway."
"Oh, this isn't a good idea!"
“What’s wrong with that? Xu Xiu isn’t the kind of person who’s petty.”
After saying that, she asked Xu Xiu a question. Xu Xiu was surprised and thought to himself, "This best friend is worth getting along with. She's practically my wingman. She's much more reliable than some other people."
She quickly replied, "Mengqi, what are you saying? Do you think I'm that kind of stingy person? Isn't the point of classmates to help each other out?"
Ning Bufan stared blankly at the two performing a charade, feeling as if he had missed something.
Xiao Ruoyan couldn't help but bow to the two of them, almost causing Xu Xiu to cut his finger. Wang Mengqi also quickly stepped aside, as she couldn't accept such a grand gesture.
Seeing that Xiao Ruoyan had accepted the phone, Xu Xiu quickly went to find a charger. It was just an old Nokia phone; young people these days all buy smartphones.
Xiao Ruoyan carefully placed the phone and charger away, afraid of bumping or damaging them, since she would have to return them later.
After making that phone call, Xiao Ruoyan felt much better and started picking out snacks for herself, but she only looked for loose or small-packaged snacks.
Soon it was lunchtime, and Ning Bufan and Wang Mengqi were dumbfounded when they saw the four dishes and one soup on the table. Ning Bufan, in particular, had been to Xu Xiu's house many times, but he had never seen Xu Xiu cook a meal before.
Moreover, in his memory, Xu Xiu didn't seem to know how to cook. When he brought food for Xiao Ruoyan, he kept wondering if it was cooked by her aunt.
Seeing Xu Xiu cook for himself today, I realized that the meals I've had these past few days were indeed cooked by Xu Xiu himself.
Wang Mengqi couldn't wait to try a few bites and found that it tasted even better than the food she brought to school. The takeout was indeed not as good as eating in the restaurant.
Xu Xiu took out a bottle of juice and poured it for everyone, providing excellent service. He and Ning Bufan sat on one side, while Xiao Ruoyan and Wang Mengqi sat on the other. Just as everyone raised their glasses to clink, they heard the doorbell ring.
Xu Xiu stood up in confusion and walked towards the door, thinking to himself, "Who would come to my house at this hour?"
As a result, Liu Qianxue's figure was seen outside the door on the smart lock's display screen, which put the door in an awkward position: should it be opened or not?
After hesitating for a moment, he turned around and asked everyone, "Who told Liu Qianxue that we were having a get-together today?"
When he saw the looks on everyone's faces, as if they thought he was an idiot, he suddenly realized that he had let it slip yesterday. If he didn't have time, he didn't have time to say so much.
He hadn't expected Liu Qianxue to come to him on her own. Just as he was hesitating, Liu Qianxue outside the door shouted, "Xu Xiu, if you don't open the door, I'll tell Auntie that you're bullying me."
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