"She's your boss?"
Wen Tingxue stared, dumbfounded, at Lin Wanqing's retreating back. "She's just too beautiful!"
"Not as beautiful as my future wife," he said, his voice unhurried as he twirled his noodles with his chopsticks.
Wen Tingxue's face instantly flushed, recalling their conversation in the flower field not long ago. "Even eating noodles can't shut your mouth."
"Oh?" Yu Wenli raised an eyebrow at her. "Yiyi is so fierce today, are you jealous?"
"..."
"Who says," Wen Tingxue said, contradicting herself, "Am I the type to get jealous easily? Do you think everyone is as jealous as you are?"
Yu Wenli nodded. "Indeed. But how does the saying go?"
He paused dramatically for a few seconds, then suddenly lifted his gaze, his eyes burning into hers.
"'Near vermilion, one becomes red; near ink, one becomes black.' Does Yiyi think we're not close enough?"
"..."
Wen Tingxue instinctively pursed her lips, her defensive posture as if he were some great villain.
Yu Wenli chuckled. "Brother isn't going to kiss you. Brother just wants a birthday gift from you."
"Ah?" The little girl's eyes widened in alarm. "You want something? Then why didn't you say so earlier?
"I've asked you so many times, and you're only saying it now. It's too late, I've already prepared everything, I can't return it..."
After she finished rambling, Yu Wenli slowly finished a mouthful of noodles and said deliberately:
"The gift brother wants cannot be prepared in advance.
"It only works on the birthday itself."
"Hmm?" Wen Tingxue blinked suspiciously. "It sounds so magical, what is it?"
Yu Wenli put down his chopsticks and said solemnly:
"Be my future wife, the kind that gets on the household registration book."
Wen Tingxue's breath hitched, and she was speechless.
"Today is brother's eighteenth birthday, Yiyi isn't going to refuse, is she?"
His captivating peach blossom eyes gazed at her intently.
It was as if the world was vast, yet his eyes held only her.
***
Yu Wenli's birthday, like Wen Tingxue's, fell during the school term.
Therefore, the birthday banquet could only be held at noon.
Given the Yu family's status in Jiangcheng, Yu Wenli's birthday naturally attracted a throng of guests, including many distinguished visitors from the capital.
In addition to them were classmates from Class One and his childhood friends.
Que You had rushed back from afar to attend his coming-of-age ceremony.
A group of people were boisterously celebrating, oblivious to the gorgeously dressed youth standing outside the door.
"Is that the Wen something Xue who has him completely smitten?"
"Yes, young master. Wen Tingxue."
"Oh," Jiang Tu responded with an unreadable expression.
Seeing that he had no intention of leaving, the bodyguard couldn't help but ask, "Do you want to go in and take a look?"
Jiang Tu stepped forward, then hesitated and withdrew. "Never mind, Uncle told me not to cause trouble. I'll go chase girls instead."
After all, his uncle had said he had ways to deal with them, so he wouldn't have to dirty his own hands.
He would just watch with wide eyes.
Yu Wenli, there will come a day you'll beg me for help!
***
Before cutting the cake, Yu Wenli insisted on holding Wen Tingxue's hand to make a wish together.
"Oh my, oh my, oh my! Are we here to eat, or to be force-fed dog food!"
The surrounding crowd erupted in playful jeers.
Wen Tingxue's face turned crimson, but for once, she didn't pull away or let go.
Yu Wenli smiled and swept a glance at them.
Then, he took the cake knife and cut the cake with Wen Tingxue.
The cake was large and tall. The way it was cut, straight down, stunned everyone.
As the last layer was cut, Wen Tingxue's ear grew warm.
"I think the heavens have already acknowledged our relationship."
He was referring to how smoothly and perfectly the cake was cut.
Wen Tingxue paused, then turned her head. "But you don't believe in gods or ghosts, do you?"
Yu Wenli smiled, his eyes full of gentle warmth. "But I met you."
***
Late evening study was halfway through when the power suddenly went out.
The classroom was silent for less than half a minute before erupting in chaos.
Students shouted for school to end.
Wen Tingxue couldn't help but giggle. "Brother Yu, it's a birthday gift from the heavens for you~"
Frankly, Jiangcheng First High School had excellent facilities, and power outages were rare.
The last time the power went out was two years ago.
This time, it just happened to coincide with Yu Wenli's eighteenth birthday; it was too coincidental.
Yu Wenli agreed with a hum. Wen Tingxue felt something was amiss.
The next second, a familiar presence loomed near.
"Since the heavens have blessed us, why would I refuse?"
His scorching fingertips brushed across her cheek like a flame.
Wen Tingxue's heart raced. "You, don't do anything rash. This is school."
"Mmm," he replied. "Isn't that more interesting?"
Wen Tingxue: "..."
You are so perverted.
However, despite his words, he still held back, the kiss brief.
It was just that the candlelight seemed to be lit at the wrong time.
"Wow~!"
Almost the entire class could see the distinguished and aloof Yu, cornering the soft and sweet little girl... to coax her.
Truly, to coax her.
Under the eyes of everyone, Yu Wenli helplessly cupped the little girl's face and spoke in a low, pleading tone:
"Brother was wrong. Can you say something?"
***
The enormous sum of 750,000 yuan was impossible for Shang Ziqian to gather, no matter how hard he worked.
After much thought, he decided to sell his house.
Three days later, he went to the hospital with the remaining hundreds of thousands to pay Ah Hu's hospital fees.
As for the rest of the money, some was given to brothers in urgent need, and some was kept for himself.
He also bought a very big Barbie doll for Jiang Jiang.
When he delivered it, Jiang Jiang was overjoyed.
However, Jiang Jiang's father saw some clues. "Are you... leaving?"
"Yes," Shang Ziqian glanced at the little girl playing happily. "Don't tell her for now."
Jiang Jiang's father nodded. "Have you decided where you're going?"
"A child without a home has the world as their home. It doesn't matter where I go."
"That's not right," Jiang Jiang's father took a key from his pocket and handed it to him. "This is your home. You can come back anytime you want."
Shang Ziqian smiled but didn't take it.
It was an impulsive decision, no need to take it seriously.
***
November 15th was Xie Jinyi's birthday.
Although the Xie father and daughter were estranged, they still had to maintain appearances.
Moreover, given Xie Liangzhe's obsession with face, he had to go all out.
Xie Liangzhe gritted his teeth and booked the Jiangcheng Hotel.
However, to recoup his costs, he invited almost everyone he knew, and even those he hadn't contacted in centuries, all his distant relatives.
He sent out invitations to everyone.
As a result, when Wen Tingxue and the others arrived, the hotel was already bustling.
It was truly bustling, so noisy it hurt one's ears.
Xie Jinyi rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Ignore them, let's go to our private room."
They went all the way to 1115. Upon opening the door, everyone was stunned.
"You..."
Xie Jinyi's face drained of color as she looked at the young man who shouldn't have been in the private room.
"Surprised?" Shang Ziqian smiled and stood up.
With his hands in his pockets, he walked up to Xie Jinyi. "Knowing it's your eighteenth birthday today, I've specially come to give you a big gift."