After listening to those words, Tang Yuanyuan’s thoughts drifted into the distance. If I can start dating in high school, then get married after graduating from university… that doesn’t seem like a bad idea! Still, Yishu and I have an age gap between us. By the time I enter university, Yishu would be a university graduate! There’s no way we can spend every day together. Mulling over it, Tang Yuanyuan’s expression became slightly sad. What a pity…
On the other hand, Yuan Yuehan was still grabbing onto Tang Yuanyuan. Her thoughts had also drifted far into the distance, dreaming of a beautiful future.
“You have to come. Please come. It’s fine even if you aren’t looking for a guy. Just eat a little something at my birthday party; that’s enough to support me. It’s my birthday after all. I can’t have a low turnout, right?”
In the end, Tang Yuanyuan could only agree. “Alright, I’ll be there.”
“I love you so much, Yuanyuan!” Yuan Yuehan hugged her tightly. Then, she glanced over and spoke loudly to Meng Kefei, who was lying on the upper bunk bed, “Fei, you have to come with Yuanyuan too. Neither of you should be absent.”
Meng Kefei had yet to fall asleep. When she heard Yuan Yuehan talking to her, she couldn’t pretend to be sleeping. Thus, she replied, “I might be working then. If my boss allows me to take a day off, I’ll attend. Otherwise, you’ll have to excuse me.”
“Alright then, try to ask your boss for a day off. If you say something nice, he would probably allow you to attend.”
“Yeah, I’ll try.”
Afterward, the dormitory fell into silence and nobody said another word. They were deep in their thoughts when they fell asleep.
The next day, Tang Yuanyuan wanted to go and get a present for Yuan Yuehan. After all, she was going to attend her birthday party. She couldn’t show up empty-handed. Initially, she wanted to invite Meng Kefei to pick out a present together. Unfortunately, Meng Kefei was working again. Thus, Tang Yuanyuan had no choice but to go alone. As a result, she ran into Yuchi Yishu the moment she stepped out of the school gate. When she saw him, she ran toward him, feeling pleasantly surprised and happy. “Yishu, why are you here again?” Since their reconciliation, the other day, the frequency of him coming to find her had increased significantly!
“Again?” Yuchi Yishu narrowed his eyes slightly. “What do you mean by ‘again’? Could it be that you don’t want me to come and find you?”
“Of course not!” She shook her head. “It’s just that if you meet me every day, won’t it take up a lot of your time?”
“It won’t. How could spending time with you be considered a waste of time? What do you want to do today?”
Although they had not confessed to each other, nor confirmed that they were going to be in a relationship, the things they did right now were similar to the daily life of a couple. He would always accompany her to all sorts of places or have meals together with her as if he was working steadily toward getting together with her.
“I’m going to attend a friend’s birthday party in two days. So I wanted to buy her a present.”
“Birthday party? Which friend?” Yuchi Yishu had met all three of Tang Yuanyuan’s roommates. Apart from Meng Kefei, the other two seemed like they had bad intentions no matter how he looked at them.
“It’s the two roommates you’ve met previously. One of them is called Yuan Yuehan, and the other is called Zhang Xiaolu. By the way, they both have crushes on you, Yishu.”
Sure enough, it was them. He recalled the incident when they ate together last time and one of them had walked off. Then, he pursed his lips and held the young lady’s hand as he walked forward. “You can buy her a present, but you should limit it to just giving the present to her. Don’t attend the birthday party.”
She looked like she was in disbelief. “Why, Yishu?”
The young lady was far too naïve. He wanted to protect her pure heart, so he didn’t speak badly about those two in front of her. Instead, he said lightly, “If you attend the birthday party, who is going to eat with me?”
Naturally, she revealed a conflicted expression after hearing those words. “Is there no one to eat with you?”
“Yeah. If you don’t come, I can only eat alone.”
“Still, you used to…” Didn’t he eat alone all the time in the past? I never saw him complaining then. So, why is he acting like this today?
“The past is the past; how can it be the same as the present?” Yuchi Yishu reached out and gently flicked her on the forehead. “Or, are you saying that there might be other guys at the birthday party and you want to meet them?”
Tang Yuanyuan felt inexplicably guilty. These words were exactly what Yuan Yuehan had said to her last night and Yishu was saying these words as if he had been present at the scene.
“Yishu, how can you think like that? I don’t have those intentions. Fine, I won’t go.” If I were to go, Yishu would think that I’m deliberately going because I want to meet other guys. “Still, I already promised them last night. If I don’t attend, will they think that I’m untrustworthy and being too unreasonable?”
“They won’t.” Although trustworthiness was highly valued among interactions between people, these two did not harbor good intentions anyway. So, there was no need to worry about offending people like them. Even so, if he did not say anything, she would surely feel very conflicted by it. “Just say that something came up and you have to deal with it. Tell her you are sorry, then hand the present to her. You are sincere about it after all. If she gets mad at you over this…”
The rest of his sentence was left unsaid. She might be naïve, but she understood basic reasoning. Thus, she quickly understood what he meant. “I got it, Yishu. Let’s pick out a present first. I’ll explain it to her later.”
“Okay.”
Tang Yuanyuan didn’t know much about Yuan Yuehan. It could even be said that she didn’t know anything about Yuan Yuehan. After all, they got into a quarrel before, so she never bothered to figure out Yuan Yuehan’s likes and dislikes. Even so, there were some basic, fixed choices when it came to buying presents for girls. No matter what, it would all come down to those few choices. Tang Yuanyuan had been accustomed to using perfume since she was a child; she especially liked sweet, fruity scents. So, she decided to buy a perfume as Yuan Yuehan’s birthday gift.
Thus, Tang Yuanyuan dragged Yuchi Yishu over to the perfume counter. At first, the saleslady thought that the young lady was buying perfume for herself. Then, she straightforwardly said, “I’m buying it for a friend. What type of scents are more suitable for gifting to others?”
“If you’re giving it to somebody else, you need to know her preferences. Does she prefer a bolder scent or a milder scent?”
She pondered over it for a while, then realized she had no clue at all. So, she shook her head. “I’m not sure.”
“Hmmm. Since you aren’t sure, why don’t you choose something that is not too bold but not too mild either?”
The saleslady’s suggestion sounded like a good idea. Thus, Tang Yuanyuan nodded in response. “Okay. Can you wrap it up nicely for me, please? Also, I would like to write some birthday wishes. Does it come with a card?”
“We have those prepared. Would you like us to write it for you, or would you like to write it personally?”
Tang Yuanyuan immediately replied, “I’ll personally write it.” It was a gift, so there had to be a show of sincerity. Although she had no time to make the gift herself, she couldn’t leave everything to others—she could at least write in the card herself.
Yuchi Yishu stood by the side, watching the young lady intently writing her birthday wishes in the card. Then, he sighed in his heart. He wasn’t sure whether her overly innocent personality was good or bad. Still, such matters couldn’t be forced. She had to experience them herself before she could understand and grow up.
