Appearing characters (ranked by votes): Third place, Lu Ziqing; fourth place, Song An’an.
What should one do on Valentine’s Day? Song An’an stood at the kitchen door with a bit of a headache. Today was Valentine’s Day, so naturally, she should make something delicious for A-Sheng. Just imagining A-Sheng devouring her homemade treats with gusto filled Song An’an with energy from head to toe.
When in doubt, ask Baidu. She pulled out her phone and typed in: What gift should I give the girl I like on Valentine’s Day? When she reached “the girl I like,” she hesitated and deleted it several times before blushing furiously and typing it out.
The search results were predictably unreliable. One guy suggested hiding a condom inside 99 roses—was this some kind of pay-for-play? Give a gift and score a night of passion? Though she really wanted to try that with A-Sheng… ugh! So embarrassing! Song An’an hurriedly skipped past it.
After scrolling for a while, she finally found a solid suggestion she could make herself: chocolate.
Brimming with enthusiasm, Song An’an tied on her apron and got ready to show off her skills.
The chocolates were done in no time. Song An’an packed them into a pretty little gift box, tied it with a pink ribbon, and hugged it close to her chest as she headed out to deliver it to A-Sheng. A-Sheng loves food so much, and my cooking is pretty tasty too—she’ll definitely love it~ Song An’an tried to suppress her grin, but her lips refused to cooperate, curving upward as if they wanted to soar to the sun.
When she reached A-Sheng’s front door, however, she spotted Lu Ziqing already there, pressing the doorbell. What? Was she here to steal A-Sheng away? Song An’an shot Lu Ziqing a wary glance.
Lu Ziqing had come to give A-Sheng a gift as well. She’d just arrived at the door and rung the bell when a pink-haired short-haired girl came dashing up. On closer inspection, it was Song An’an. Needless to say, their young miss was thoroughly annoyed.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Lu Ziqing struck first, looking down her nose arrogantly at the shorter girl.
Song An’an cursed her own short stature, which put her at a disadvantage in presence, but she still rose onto her tiptoes and glared right back. “I-I’m here to bring A-Sheng some yummy food. Got a problem with that?”
Lu Ziqing perked up at that. Perfect—she was here to bring A-Sheng food too.
“What’d you bring for A-Sheng?” she asked, eyeing the little gift box clutched in Song An’an’s arms.
Song An’an was wiser this time. She hugged the box even tighter and huffed. “Hmph, why should I tell you? You go first, and maybe I’ll think about it.”
“You…!” When had their Miss Lu ever endured such insolence?
The two were on the verge of blows when A-Sheng flung open her front door.
A-Sheng blinked in confusion at the sight of them both. What was this, a Valentine’s Day group tour of her house? Good lord, these two living ancestors showing up together spelled trouble—today was guaranteed to be utter chaos.
“Ahem, you two old… er, no, you two…” A-Sheng cleared her throat and composed herself before trying again. “Are you coming in, or do you have something to say? Spit it out and head home?”
“Inside!” they declared in perfect unison.
Black lines crept across A-Sheng’s forehead. At least these rivals agreed on something.
“Fine, come in then.” She didn’t dare kick them out or say no outright, so A-Sheng swallowed her irritation and ushered them inside.
Once in A-Sheng’s room, Lu Ziqing plopped right down on A-Sheng’s bed without a second thought. She unzipped her little purse and pulled out her prepared gift.
“Here you go, A-Sheng. I felt bad seeing you all single and lonely with nobody chasing you or giving you chocolates, so I bought some for you. No need to thank me—after all, you’re… kinda my friend or whatever.” Lu Ziqing’s voice trailed off, the last part mumbled so softly it embarrassed even her.
Was that supposed to be human speech? A-Sheng itched to let loose a string of curses.
Nobody chasing her? That morning, Gu Yuqi had rushed over with a massive teddy bear taller than A-Sheng herself before dashing off again. Then there was Hana, who wasn’t local and had mailed her a necklace that looked pricey. Mo Qingrou had given her a red string enchanted to make whoever you tied it to fall for you.
At noon, Liang Jin had shown up eagerly with armloads of snacks, cooing “big sis” all afternoon. And that was just the known ones—a bunch of unfamiliar male classmates, seniors, and former juniors she’d never met, had dropped off gifts too. Somehow they all knew her address. Valentine’s Day had really opened her eyes to her own unexpected popularity.
Seeing that Lu Ziqing’s gift was also chocolate made Song An’an anxious. She yanked out her own present. “A-Sheng, I made this one myself—way safer and healthier.”
A-Sheng accepted both with an awkward smile, about to play peacemaker.
“What kind of junk is that? You’re so cheap. Do you even know how much my chocolates cost? Heh, as if yours could taste anywhere near as good,” Lu Ziqing shot up, gazing down haughtily at Song An’an.
Song An’an bristled. “My cooking is delicious, okay! A-Sheng loves it. Isn’t that right, A-Sheng?”
“A-Sheng, hasn’t everything I’ve ever bought you been top-notch? Right?”
Lu Ziqing and Song An’an both fixed their stares on A-Sheng.
Here we go again. A-Sheng rubbed her forehead in helpless exasperation.
(End)
