Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

After the kiss, the girls seemed to lack enthusiasm in the following rounds of the game, as if nothing could hold their interest anymore.

At three o'clock, Zhang Chunxue had to return to the company for work, the listless girls ended the game early.

Lying on the soft bed in Wu Lingyu's guest room, Xu Qingfan struggled to fall asleep for a long time.

His mind was like a projector, constantly replaying the scene where he had kissed Xiao Ruawen.

The touch of Xiao Ruawen's lips rippled in his heart, along with the soft surges of her impressive waves against his chest, which were fatal poisons to a 175 cm tall and purely innocent young man like him.

Xu Qingfan suddenly realized that he quite liked Xiao Ruawen, not only her personality and appearance but also her figure.

If that had been all, it wouldn't have been enough to trouble him. Xu Qingfan was truly troubled because he was horrified to find that in addition to liking Xiao Ruawen, he also liked Lin Wanning, Zhang Yiyi, and Wu Lingyu.

Although he was somewhat reluctant to admit that he liked Xia Xiaoxiao, he generally liked her as well.

"This really sucks!"

Xu Qingfan swore that he had never before harbored any nurturing thoughts; it was only with the arrival of fifteen years of age that everyone grew up day by day, and the secretion of puberty hormones gave rise to these thoughts.

Xu Qingfan found that his past and present lives were truly two extremes; in his past life, he was hopelessly hung on the distorted tree of Xia Xiaoxiao, while in this life, having too many choices bewildered him.

[Can't really pick all five, this isn't ancient times with a selection of concubines!]

Xu Qingfan admitted he was being a bit of a dog, but he didn't view himself as a bastard; though the thought crossed his mind, he was truly afraid to consider or act on such vulgarness.

Xu Qingfan wasn't narcissistic enough to think all five girls liked him and would only marry him, but from everyday interactions, it was inevitable that Lin Wanning liked him, and the other four girls' faint fondness for him was also undeniable.

Other than the unpredictable Xia Xiaoxiao, he felt that if he were willing to wholeheartedly pursue any of the girls, dating, establishing a relationship, or even achieving the final result wouldn't be difficult.

After all, they had known each other for so many years, including three years of living together in junior high school. If a relationship were established, assuming no surprises, they could get married after college graduation, fulfilling his biggest regret from his previous life.

But then again, with Lin Wanning, Zhang Yiyi, Xiao Ruawen, and Wu Lingyu all being so wonderful, whom should he choose?

Rarely once, apart from answering questions on Zhihu, Xu Qingfan really had a choice, but now he didn't know how to choose.

The words Zhang Chunxue had said recently resurfaced in his mind: "Don't you see that the five girls' lives now revolve around you?"

[Perhaps if we separate for a while, they might not depend on me so much, and the young excitement might disappear too. Maybe they'll even meet someone they like. I can then choose whoever continues to like me to the end.]

Xu Qingfan thought this was a good idea; how reliable could the heartbeats of adolescence be? After three to five years, a gust of wind and there's nothing left.

Not that he wanted to cut off ties with the five girls for three to five years, that was impossible.

Xu Qingfan thought maybe during high school, they didn't need to be in the same class and could even live separately.

Such physical separation might naturally lead to an answer after a while.

Having made up his mind, Xu Qingfan slowly closed his eyes.

...

Four-thirty in the afternoon.

After sleeping for an hour and a half, Xu Qingfan was awakened by the five girls from the bed.

"Brother Fan, get up!"

"Brother Qing Fan, wake up, wake up!"

"Lazy pig Brother, wake up!"

The five seemed not to have been affected by the recent kissing incident, as they cooperated in waking him up, some grabbing his hand, others pulling at his foot.

"Ha~ The alarm didn't ring yet, did it? What time is it?" Xu Qingfan had fallen asleep less than an hour ago and was still very sleepy; he turned over and buried his face in the pillow.

"It already rang!"

"Brother Qing Fan, it's four thirty-eight!"

"Brother Fan, get up quickly!"

After much pulling and tugging, Xu Qingfan finally got out of bed reluctantly as his blanket and pillow were snatched away.

"I'm up, I'm up, stop shaking me, my brain is about to be jumbled up," Xu Qingfan surrendered, raising his hands.

"Hehe~ Yay!"

Five people cheered as if they had won a battle and left his room one after the other after putting the pillows and blankets back in place.

Xu Qingfan watched their retreating figures and chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Still want them all, who can endure being tortured like this every day!"

By the time he came out of the restroom, the five girls had already applied sunscreen and were waiting for him at the door.

"Here I come."

Xu Qingfan waved his hand and jogged over. While he bent down to put on his shoes, several cold hands roamed over his face, neck, and arms—it was the five of them saving time by helping him apply sunscreen.

"Brother Qingfan's Adam's apple is getting bigger!"

"Really? Let me feel it!"

"Hehe~fun!"

"Cough, cough!" Xu Qingfan coughed sternly, shooing away the five handsy girls, "I don't need it, born with pale cool skin."

No one spoke, but they all pretended to be angry and stared at him.

"Alright, alright, I need it, I need it, thanks to the five fairy sisters!" Xu Qingfan had to raise his hands in surrender.

"Hehehe!"

"That's more like it!"

The six of them left the house, laughing and joking. The time was 4:50 PM.

In Hong Kong, the sunset time in October is at 5:40 PM, but to see the most beautiful sunset, they would need to wait until after 6:30 PM.

Wu Lingyu's home in the Emperor District was only a ten-minute walk to the Canton Tower, which meant they had plenty of time to wander around.

Although it was the last day of the National Holiday, the area near Lie De Bridge was still overcrowded, with long lines stretching dozens of meters at the congested subway entrance.

"Why are there still so many people!" Xiao Ruawen reluctantly folded her parasol, as constantly stretching her arms to dodge other people's umbrellas was problematic.

"What can we do when the view of Canton Tower is free," Xu Qingfan shrugged helplessly, "Let's take a boat to pass the time first, and head to Canton Tower to ride the ferris wheel around six."

He pointed to the nearby pier and told the five girls.

"Okay!"

Out and about, they naturally listened to him in everything.

Even though cruising the Pearl River at this time wasn't the best option, it seemed to be the only way to escape the crowds at the moment.

Back then, a cruise on the Pearl River wasn't too expensive, Xu Qingfan chose the most expensive ticket, and six tickets cost just over two hundred yuan.

After they boarded the vessel with tickets in hand, the cool river breeze slowly blew, giving them a sense of cruising on a breezy river.

Ironically, real Old Port City natives almost never spend money on the Canton Tower or cruising the Pearl River at night.

After all, with the prices being outrageously high.

Back in those years, two hundred yuan was enough to treat a family of five to a rural feast, truly no need to waste money on this.

Cruising the Pearl River in the afternoon, the scenery was so-so, but it had the merit of being undisturbed; the six of them sat around the table casually drinking milk tea and cracking sunflower seeds, indeed a rare moment of leisure.

At 6:10 PM, the boat returned to the pier on time, and after taking a group photo, the six of them gathered their things and left.

The sun had already begun to set, and perhaps the martyrs were still reminiscing about the glorious world of mortals, as the afterglow covered half the sky, merging with the autumn water.

Xu Qingfan thought of an ancient poem, "Sunset glows red half the sky, at night stars brighten the entire sky."

Perhaps because it was dinner time, the number of people lingering near Lie De Bridge was reduced by more than half; after all, endless overtime work awaited them the next day. With a gloomy mood, looking at any scenery seemed to have a dark filter added to it.

However, this clearly did not include their group of six. Whether going to school or on vacation, for them it was just living life in a different place.

"Let's go ride the ferris wheel!"

Lin Wanning excitedly ran ahead, leading as if it were just another ordinary chase.

"Slow down!"

...