Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

Expensive things generally have only one flaw: they're expensive.

Take this apartment, for instance, which is twice as pricey as the surrounding properties. Aside from overlooking the Pearl River and the Lie De Bridge, its soundproofing is recording studio-quality.

Xu Qingfan held up a soaking wet hoodie for her to see, estimating that with a wring, it could still drip water. "What should I do?"

Zhang Yiyi turned over, responding to him with the back of her head.

[Naughty evil brother!]

The sleeves of the hoodie were still dry. Xu Qingfan casually wiped his face with them, then folded the clothes neatly and placed them on the ground.

"You… Brother, what are you doing?" Zhang Yiyi hadn't mentally prepared herself yet when Xu Qingfan, after folding the clothes, suddenly lay down behind her.

"Shh, let's nap for a while." Xu Qingfan slipped under the blanket, wrapping an arm around the girl's waist from behind.

"But…."

"No buts, just sleep." Xu Qingfan threaded his arm under her neck, holding her in the most comfortable sleeping position for couples, which was, of course, also the most convenient position.

After a few minutes, seeing that the naughty brother kept his hands and feet quite controlled, Zhang Yiyi slowly loosened her grip on the bedsheet, turned around, and snuggled into Xu Qingfan's embrace.

Xu Qingfan gently wiped away a bit of jelly from the corner of the girl's mouth. In her sleep, Zhang Yiyi gave his chest a punch.

Having woken up early to catch a flight and recently being emotionally stirred, Zhang Yiyi was really exhausted, and within minutes, she began to emit soft snores.

It wouldn't quite be right to call them snores, just slightly louder than normal breathing.

Xu Qingfan lingered lazily in bed with her for another ten minutes, and only after Zhang Yiyi slipped into a deep sleep did he quietly leave the bed.

After putting his clothes back on, he gathered the girl's clothes scattered around, folded them, and placed them at the head of the bed.

Taking the well-worn hoodie, Xu Qingfan quietly left the bedroom.

Zhang Chunxue was still sleeping, and Xu Qingfan was a bit worried about making noise while cleaning would disturb Auntie, so he went over to close her door.

While closing the door, he took a peek inside; there wasn't much to see with the blanket covering everything, so he closed the door.

After a while, Zhang Chunxue turned over, and her exposed back seemed to be… unclothed?

...

After the Spring Festival, the weather in Hong Kong gradually warmed up, and by the sunny daytime, the temperature was nearly twenty degrees.

Predictably, the washbasin in the bathroom was once again filled with Zhang Chunxue's unwashed stockings, with lingerie in the basin next door.

Xu Qingfan was about to wash the hoodie, so he decided to help Auntie wash the clothes as well.

The dream he had last time had no follow-up, so he completely put it out of his mind. As a result, even though this black lace set was quite pretty, Xu Qingfan faced it with complete calm.

Patiently and meticulously lathering the soap, Zhang Chunxue appeared at the doorway, unbeknownst to Xu Qingfan.

"Xiao Fan, what are you doing?" Seeing Xu Qingfan holding her lace set up to examine it, Zhang Chunxue was startled.

"Auntie, you're up. I noticed a stain here and wanted to check if it's clean; it's hard to see on black fabric in water." Xu Qingfan explained openly.

"Ah… Oh, I just want to use the bathroom, Xiao Fan, could you step out for a moment?" The panic on Zhang Chunxue's face was fleeting, quick enough that Xu Qingfan didn't even notice.

"Okay, I'm just about to rinse." Xu Qingfan nodded, drying his hands on the clothes as he stood.

"Tsk, aren't there towels for drying your hands?" Zhang Chunxue tapped his head.

"Oh, Auntie, were you that impatient?" Xu Qingfan playfully retaliated and quickly dashed out, leaving a bewildered Zhang Chunxue standing there.

"He's getting more and more incorrigible." Zhang Chunxue shook her head helplessly, closing the bathroom door.

...

Xu Qingfan settled on the sofa in the living room. After about five minutes, Zhang Chunxue came out of the bathroom with her freshly washed stockings and lingerie in hand.

"Yiyi might be really exhausted from the flight and is still napping." Xu Qingfan pointed to the room and said.

"Xiao Fan, aren't you tired, doing housework the moment you came back?" Zhang Chunxue gave him a reproachful look and continued to the balcony to hang the clothes.

Xu Qingfan assumed Auntie was scolding him for the earlier head-tap, so he cheerfully got up to follow her. Once on the balcony, he leaned against the railing, gazing at the river view.

"Not tired at all, sixteen-year-old body, full of energy, beating two bulls with bare hands wouldn't be a problem." He said, showing off his biceps.

Zhang Chunxue glanced at his biceps briefly and quickly averted her gaze.

"I remember I didn't lock the door before sleeping. Was it Yiyi who helped to close it?" She asked seemingly casually.

"Oh, I closed it on my way. Why?" Xu Qingfan turned his head, switching from looking at the view to looking at her, though it seemed Auntie was the more beautiful view.

Zhang Chunxue stared into his eyes for two seconds, then smiled, "Nothing, I just saw the blanket was neatly covered when I woke up and thought maybe Yiyi helped cover it."

"Nope, when I closed the door, Auntie's blanket was already well covered."

"Hmm, maybe I slept more soundly today." Zhang Chunxue nodded at him and continued to hang the remaining clothes.

The last pair of stockings was clipped to the clothesline, swaying gently in the breeze.

"Auntie, I'll give you a massage later, or my mom will nag me when I get home." Xu Qingfan said, watching for a moment.

"Auntie?" After a few seconds without a reply, Xu Qingfan called out again.

"All right, Xiao Fan, you can give me a massage later." Zhang Chunxue agreed.

After they finished taking down the dried clothes, the two returned to the living room.