"Bluetooth speaker." Yang Shuhuan took out a beautifully packaged box from his bag. Inside was a layer of corrugated cardboard, and on the surface was a small red and white Pokémon Ball speaker with its own base.
"It's beautiful." Xu Youluo took it out, examined it, and put it back in its original place, grinning. "If you hadn't told me, I would have thought it was a desktop ornament."
"This is a gift I'm giving you in advance," Wang Zehao said confidently, taking a gift box out of his bag and opening it.
Zhang Boyuan leaned closer and looked at it with a puzzled expression. "A razor gift set?"
"...You really were prepared." Jiang Wensong gave Wang Zehao a thumbs up, and the latter seemed quite pleased, asking in return, "And you, Song'er?"
“This.” Jiang Wensong took out a stack of books from his bag.
"Holy crap, a calligraphy copybook?" Wang Zehao took it and flipped through it a few times to confirm that it was a genuine calligraphy copybook. "Goodness, this isn't very harmful, but it's extremely insulting."
“Chen’s handwriting is a disadvantage in the college entrance examination.” Jiang Wensong pushed up his glasses seriously and took out a box from his bag. “Actually, the calligraphy book is secondary. I mainly want to give him this fountain pen.”
The others looked at him and nodded, "Oh, okay."
"What did you give me, Yu-ge?" Xu Youluo looked at Xiang Yu, who wasn't participating in the conversation, and circled around him nimbly, showing him her dimples. "What is it? Let me see."
The bag was bulging mainly because the scarf was taking up space, but he didn't want to take out that oddly shaped scarf in front of everyone right now. Luckily, he had prepared other gifts.
“This.” Xiang Yu took a box out of his backpack.
"A Polaroid?" Yang Shuhuan saw the picture on the packaging box.
“Yes,” Xiang Yu said, “He often takes photos at the orphanage and sends them to the children there; he can use this.”
"That's really nice." Xu Youluo tilted her head leisurely, looking at Xiang Yu's still bulging backpack. "So what's inside—sister~"
"Hmm." Xu Youqing came in from the door of Class 2, Arts. After school, she received a message from her younger brother saying that he was waiting for someone in the Arts 2 classroom. When she walked in, she saw that they were all carrying boxes, and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Let's see what gift you're giving Brother Chen." Wang Zehao was curious about what Xu Youqing was giving, and asked, "Sister Xu, what are you giving?"
"A watch." Xu Youqing simply took out a box that looked expensive just by looking at the packaging.
"Holy crap." Yang Shuhuan opened it, glanced at it, and quickly closed it again: "Brother Chen might not want this, it's too expensive."
“This was a gift from Xiao Luo and me.” Xu Youqing put the watch box back into her bag. “Just keep it. If you don’t wear it, you can treasure it. This thing will appreciate in value in the future, and you can make a fortune.”
"......"
Those present thought to themselves, "Is this what capitalists are like?"
Wang Zehao and Yang Shuhuan had already ordered the cake in advance and had it delivered directly to the restaurant. Since it gets dark early this time of year, it was already late when Gu Chen finished sending the text message.
Gu Chen was texting and chatting with the dean, who knew it was his birthday and had specially sent him a gift.
"Holy crap, what are these things?" The group chose to walk to the cafeteria after leaving the school, and Wang Zehao looked at the gift given to him by the dean on the way.
"High-Scoring Chinese Language Mock Tests," "Reading Comprehension Challenge," and "Five Years of College Entrance Examination, Three Years of Mock Tests"
"This is outrageous! I can't let the dean know it's my birthday," Zhang Boyuan said, expressing his fear.
Apart from Wang Zehao and Yang Shuhuan, everyone else present was celebrating Gu Chen's birthday for the first time, so they didn't know that Gu Chen liked the restaurants for his birthday celebrations.
It's a certain hot pot restaurant.
"..." Zhang's classmate and the Xu siblings stared wide-eyed at the huge signboard, their expressions gradually freezing.
At that moment, they wished they could stand rooted to the spot and stay right there at the shop entrance.
A certain hot pot restaurant is known in the catering industry for its high-quality service, attracting a large number of customers.
But! It's my birthday! Seriously! Don't come here!
"I've never seen anything like it before. This is the first time I've ever seen someone come here to celebrate their birthday."
The four-compartment hot pot on the table was steaming hot. Across a large table of hot pot restaurants, Zhang Boyuan lowered his voice, not daring to speak loudly, for fear that Gu Chen across from him would hear him.
"Mouse just went to find the waiter, he should be back soon. How about we make a quick trip to the bathroom?" Zhang Zitong suggested, when suddenly a hand reached out and slammed onto his shoulder.
Yang Shuhuan forced a smile at the thought of what was about to happen, looking at Zhang Zitong like an emotionless machine: "All of you stay put, don't even think about running away."
"......" Damn it.
Gu Chen seemed exceptionally excited after entering the store; his state could be described as hyperactive. Xiang Yu thought it might be because it was his birthday today.
"Hey, are you here to celebrate your birthday?" Gu Chen scooped out two large pieces of shrimp paste from the tomato broth and blanched two slices of refreshing baby bok choy for him.
Xiang Yu scooped up some shrimp paste with a spoon and blew on it. Because it was too hot, he only took a small bite. The surrounding environment was unusually lively, but so far he did not feel any discomfort.
Perhaps it was because he was also very happy.
"No." Xiang Yu swallowed the food and shook his head.
The tomato sauce smeared onto areas other than the corners of his lips, making his skin appear very white against the backdrop of the red sauce.
"Don't move." Gu Chen stared at him, took a napkin and gently wiped the soup from the corner of his mouth, then smiled. "It's fine now."
Chapter 44: A Corner: Mutual Affection? Excellent.
The group ate their fill of hot pot and cake, and after finishing, they went to a karaoke bar to belt out a couple of songs.
The cashier looked up and saw a group of students with backpacks rushing in.
"Hey! Where are you guys going?"
Wang Zehao was busy joking around with Zhang Boyuan when he was stopped and was taken aback for a moment. He asked her, "Sing?"
"Minors are not allowed in." Seeing that they looked like high school students and that there were both men and women, the waiter grabbed the "Minors are not allowed" sign at the front desk and slammed it against the table.
The group blinked at each other, looking at each other and asking questions.
"Rat, are you an adult yet?"
"That's obvious! Sister Xu is definitely an adult, but Luo, aren't you an adult?"
"My sister and I were born together!"
After a few inquiries, all the respondents were adults over 18 years old, making the situation somewhat awkward.
"So, Brother Chen just turned 18?" Zhang Boyuan leaned closer and asked in a low voice.
Wang Zehao said, "Yeah."
So he's underage himself, which is why he let us drink fruit beer when we ate together last time!
Zhang Boyuan didn't dare to shout out, afraid that Squad Leader Gu would reason with him.
It's no exaggeration to say that no one present could out-talk Brother Chen.
The KTV room was dimly lit, and the air was still filled with the lingering smell of alcohol from the previous group. The waiter went in and brought out a dozen beers. Wang Zehao and Zhang Boyuan were already tipsy before they even started drinking. They started arguing and pushing each other in front of the song selection table, both wanting to sing a song first.
Unable to compete with Wang Zehao's size, and with the mindset that no one could sing, Zhang Boyuan simply said, "Let's not argue. It's Brother Chen's birthday today, let him go first!"
"?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Wang Zehao looked at him incredulously, mouthing the question: "Are you crazy?"
This left Zhang Boyuan completely bewildered.
"Sing?" Gu Chen was busy peeling peanuts for his deskmate when he came in, and in just a short while, Xiang Yu's palm was full of peanut kernels.
"No problem, here, give me the microphone, what do you want to hear?"
Gu Chen sat down in front of the song request booth with the microphone in hand, crossed his long legs, and gave the audience behind him a side profile. The lighting in the room was sometimes bright and sometimes dim, which made him really look like an idol singer.
"Whatever, Chen-ge, sing whatever you want." Wang Zehao said with a dry laugh, "How about Happy Birthday? That's shorter."
"Tsk, don't sing a short one, I'm in a good mood today." Gu Chen walked past him and looked at Xiang Yu, "Classmate, you pick a song, and I'll sing it for you."
Xiang Yu was texting back to his mother in another province when she said that she still couldn't come to the parent-teacher conference. She had already told the teacher and that he could attend the conference on his own.
"Fine," Xiang Yu sighed, "I've gotten used to it."
When Gu Chen asked him to request a song, he couldn't think of anything he liked for a moment, so he picked a song that Grandma Hou often listened to.
Let's sing "Loyalty to the Country".
"Okay." Gu Chen agreed too readily, which made Xiang Yu wonder if he could actually sing.
The song "Loyalty to the Country" was playing on the song request stage. Gu Chen felt that singing this song should be serious, so he stood up.
Standing ramrod straight while staring at the screen, accompanied by this music, an aura of upright integrity emanates from him.
"You know what, it really does have that flavor," Zhang Zitong whispered to Jiang Wensong, who nodded.
"I'm going to the restroom." Yang Shuhuan looked at the song progress bar, struggled with his thoughts, and finally chose to follow his heart, silently putting down his wine glass and getting up.
Seeing that he was about to leave, Wang Zehao immediately followed, saying, "I'll go too."
Xu Youqing was chugging a beer from a bottle when she saw the two men open the door and run away faster than rabbits. She tilted her head and asked her younger brother, who was peeling nuts for her.
How well does your class monitor sing?
Xu Youlu peeled one for her sister and ate one herself. Upon hearing this, she said, "I've never heard of that."
As the powerful prelude came to an end, Gu Chen stared at the lyrics flowing on the screen and began to speak.
"Smoke rises from the sky, the land stretches northward, dragon banners unfurl, horses neigh, swords flash like frost."
Zhang Boyuan listened intently, and upon hearing the first sentence, he almost knelt down before Gu Chen on the spot.
The Xu siblings weren't much better off; they were simply frozen in place.
Gu Chen's singing was just as impactful as a certain hot pot restaurant's "Happy Birthday." Xiang Yu listened silently, put down the peanuts he hadn't finished eating, leaned back, stared at the ceiling above his head, and fell into endless thought.
He has so many things to think about tonight, his brain is a bit overwhelmed.
Zhang Zitong and Jiang Wensong ate their fruit platter, pondering how to stop their brother Chen from starting a second song.
Well, the accompaniment accompanies their own music, and Gu Chen sings his own. While they don't interfere with each other, Gu Chen's five notes each have their own ideas, and they sing their own songs, which is quite good.
At least they gave him face, and no one interrupted Gu Chen while he was singing.
"The mighty China deserves congratulations from all corners of the world!"
Only after the last note faded did Xu Youqing swallow the sip of beer she had drunk before the other person started singing, and softly utter a single word: "Damn."
Xu Youluo was in a bad mood, so she simply poured all the nuts she had peeled for her sister into her own mouth.
"Hey deskmate, how did I sing?" Gu Chen asked confidently, holding the microphone, his smile practically begging Xiang Yu to praise him.
"You sang really well." Xiang Yu shifted his gaze from the ceiling to Gu Chen's face, gave a stiff smile, snatched the microphone from Gu Chen's hand and tossed it to Zhang Boyuan, then grabbed a handful of unpeeled peanuts and shoved them at him. "Don't sing next time."
Yang Shuhuan and Wang Zehao returned after making a hasty trip to the bathroom, only to be met with disdain from everyone present.
Several boys, tired from singing, leaned together and drank heavily. Gu Chen himself didn't drink much, but he blocked many drinks offered to Xiang Yu. Now, he was resting his head on Xiang Yu's shoulder, complaining that he felt uncomfortable.