Chapter 103: Invitation
“Yo, which girl sent you this gift?”
Lu Siyuan watched as Su Yu opened the package he had just brought into the dorm. The flowery, pink gift box immediately caught his eye, and he leaned over, asking jokingly.
“A birthday gift.”
“A birthday gift?” Lu Siyuan’s eyes widened, his tone a little reproachful. “Why didn’t you tell us it’s your birthday today?”
“I probably forgot.” Su Yu chuckled and brushed it off.
“Such a pink gift box. From a girl, right?”
“My childhood friend. She’s in her third year of high school at home. I won’t see her until winter break.”
Lu Siyuan pouted, complaining that Su Yu was being secretive. “How come I’ve never heard you mention you have a childhood friend?”
“Of course, it’s because she’s too pretty. I was afraid you guys would get ideas.”
Su Yu answered with a smile, untying the bow on the gift box. After he opened the lid, he saw a greeting card with elegant handwriting. The content was mostly birthday wishes. Underneath the card was a neatly folded scarf. He felt it. It seemed to have been handmade by that girl. Her skills were probably still a bit rough, as the texture was a bit loose and coarse.
The scarf was a deep sea blue. Although it wasn’t cold enough to wear a scarf yet, Su Yu put it on and had Lu Siyuan take a few pictures to send to He Mu Qing. That girl was probably waiting for him to praise her.
Many things had changed since his rebirth, but many things were still following their original path. Su Yu remembered the color, texture, and pattern of this scarf, because He Mu Qing had once given him an identical one.
That girl, who was always in a hurry, could actually sit quietly and knit a whole scarf.
Su Yu folded the scarf and was about to put it back in the gift box when he saw a familiar piece of paper at the bottom of the empty box. It was the report card that Yangming High School would send out after every major exam.
He suddenly understood something and smiled as he took out the paper and looked at it carefully. He Mu Qing’s name was neatly written in the name column. Su Yu only had a rough idea of the girl’s specific grades, but the glaring single-digit number in the class ranking made him laugh out loud.
“What’s wrong? You didn’t smile this happily when you received the scarf. A few numbers made you so happy?” Lu Siyuan was surprised. He looked down at the paper in Su Yu’s hand and saw a mark that had been circled and bolded with a red marker. “Math… seventh in the class? Is that very good?”
“Mm-hmm…” Su Yu nodded and happily put the report card in his notebook. “For her… it’s very good.”
“Are you really not celebrating? If you want, I can call the other two back, and we can go out and plan something tonight.”
“Forget it. I’ll just let it pass. No need to make a fuss.”
Su Yu shook his head. He had no intention of celebrating in a big way. He hadn’t told many people about his birthday. Besides a few close friends who had sent him some blessings today, there was nothing special.
The phone on the table vibrated. He looked up at the familiar profile picture, and his heart inexplicably skipped a few beats. He then nervously picked up the phone to read the message.
“Happy birthday. I’m downstairs at your dorm. I brought you a gift.”
He looked at the short message for a long time, carefully examining every word, as if he didn’t want to miss even a single punctuation mark.
“No wonder you didn’t let us celebrate. You already had a date. Then I won’t disturb you.”
Lu Siyuan was also familiar with that profile picture. He smiled ambiguously and patted Su Yu on the shoulder, signaling him to seize the opportunity.
But Su Yu just stared at those few simple words. A moment later, the phone slipped from his palm, and his entire body collapsed onto the chair as if he had lost all his strength, a look of deep astonishment still in his eyes.
…
“Happy birthday…”
Xia Qian Ge handed the beautifully wrapped gift box to Su Yu. She smiled and offered her birthday wishes, her eyes full of sincerity.
“Th-Thanks.”
Su Yu took the gift box. The not-so-heavy gift felt as if he was about to drop it. He hesitated, not knowing what to say. The words were stuck in his throat, like a little boy who only knew how to blush when he met a girl he liked. He didn’t blush, but he was even more pathetic.
“Um… the mall is having a sale these few days. I suddenly remembered your birthday. Is it a bit sudden?”
Xia Qian Ge tilted her head and curled her lips slightly, her eyes filled with a smile. She winked playfully, her voice as ethereal as a mountain spring, cool and clear.
“Yeah… it’s quite sudden. I thought you wouldn’t remember this kind of thing.”
Su Yu was stunned for a moment. His gaze shifted to the small path, which had just been swept but was now covered with a layer of fallen leaves. A few passersby looked at them curiously. The memories that had been gradually fading in his mind were rekindled, like dying embers. The girl at this moment actually overlapped with the impression she had left on him when he first met her. She had also looked at him and smiled like this, which had made him like her for three years.
“Haha, then this is the first time. There will be many more in the future.”
Xia Qian Ge chuckled and said something a little ambiguous. She looked at the boy’s seemingly calm and composed demeanor, her eyes filled with a charming smile.
“Want to have dinner together?”
She asked calmly, her tone so normal that one couldn’t detect any abnormality.
“Um… okay. Let’s go.”
Su Yu had no reason to refuse such a friendly invitation. He held the gift box in his hand, his expression calm, but his heart was pounding. He pretended to ask casually, “You spent money to buy me a gift, but on your birthday, I didn’t even give you a proper blessing.”
“It’s okay. It’s not like I only have one birthday. Didn’t you also give me chocolates before? Just consider it… a return gift.”
Xia Qian Ge answered with a calm expression, her pure black pupils without any impurities. Her eyes were really beautiful, without any affectation, as pure as a newborn beast’s first look at this brand new world.
“There’s one more thing. Siyi is coming to Qingchuan the day after tomorrow, with her boyfriend. I’m going too. What about you? It would be a bit awkward for me to be alone.”
Xia Qian Ge, who was walking a few steps ahead, suddenly turned to look at him, her invitation filled with a simple friendship. She looked at Su Yu sincerely, quietly waiting for his answer.
“I…” Su Yu’s voice was stuck, and he hesitated for a moment. His palms were sweaty, soaking the paper bag. He kicked a small stone by his foot and watched as it hit the curb and stopped. He hesitated and then nodded. “Oh… okay then. I haven’t seen Lin Siyi in a long time.”
“Mm-hmm, I’ll send you a message then.”
Xia Qian Ge nodded vigorously, the smile on her face seemingly brighter, or perhaps it was because of the sunset. She squinted at the horizon. The brilliant, warm sunset shone into her inky eyes, making her pupils glow faintly. She genuinely felt that today was a rare, beautiful day.
The two of them walked towards the cafeteria, their shadows stretching long on the path covered with fallen leaves. Xia Qian Ge silently followed beside the boy, and when he wasn’t looking, she gently rubbed the corners of her lips with her fingers, relieving the soreness in her muscles from smiling for too long.
