Xu Che naturally didn't understand why Shen Yujing was acting crazy in the middle of the night, but Shen Yujing didn't need him to understand.
In his heart, he had already written off the conflict between himself and Xu Che, and unilaterally decided that from now on, Xu Che would be his best friend.
In this world, there couldn't possibly be a more upright guy who was worse with girls than Xu Che!
Of course, if Quan Le could guarantee he wouldn't fall for Song Yi, he might consider letting them tie for first place.
Meanwhile, at the Song residence.
After finishing a week of tutoring and completing all the school exam papers, there was still plenty of winter vacation homework left, so the tutoring sessions were temporarily put on hold.
Song Yi had a good night's sleep and didn't wake up until eleven in the morning.
For her, this marked the official start of her winter vacation.
When she got up today, there was hot breakfast waiting in the pot, but Song's Father was nowhere to be seen.
Song Yi walked to the living room and found a note on the table that read—
[Uncle Jiang's son has returned from abroad, and they're hosting several tables at his grandmother's house. They asked me to help with the cooking. If you wake up, come directly over for lunch at twelve.]
Uncle Jiang?
Song Yi furrowed her brow, taking a while to recall this person from her memories.
He seemed to be their former neighbor who had made some money in business and moved away.
But his parents were used to living here, so they never moved.
The Jiang family lived only a few hundred meters away, so there was no rush to leave.
So Song Yi brushed her teeth, grabbed a warm bun from the pot to fill her stomach, and went back to her room.
She had been so busy coming and going these past few days that she hadn't even opened her birthday presents.
Song Yi first opened a black bag, which was from Jiang Yiheng. It was filled with the most popular college entrance exam practice papers from recent years, including some rare authentic questions that were impossible to buy even with money.
Song Yi: "..."
This gift was very much in Jiang Yiheng's style.
The second was Quan Le's gift, a beautiful down jacket in taro purple that felt extremely nice to touch.
Song Yi tried it on immediately, standing in front of the mirror thinking she looked just like a taro snow mochi.
Song Yi loved this gift; it was both warm and pretty.
The third gift she opened was from Hang Feng, which turned out to be a handwritten notebook of difficult Olympic math problems.
Song Yi: "..."
Hang Feng and Jiang Yiheng should really be brothers.
Underneath the notebook was a box containing a Buddhist prayer bead bracelet and a safety charm, along with a card.
Song Yi curiously picked up the card, which read—
[Grandmother got these while praying at the temple.]
Song Yi looked at the card for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. She could already imagine how awkward Hang Feng must have looked while writing this.
Just a few days ago, she had talked to grandmother on the phone about this, and grandmother mentioned that Hang Feng had voluntarily offered to go to the temple and got safety charms and bracelets for both her and Xu Che.
Hang Feng really cared about his brother Xu Che, so for her it must be... gratitude?
Song Yi didn't think too deeply about it, but still placed the safety charm under her pillow and put on the bracelet.
Given that something like transmigrating into a book could happen, Song Yi naturally believed in spirits and ghosts, and respected them.
Murong Huan had given her a complete set of expensive skincare and makeup products, absolutely comprehensive, and clearly carefully curated rather than just buying whatever was expensive.
In stark contrast was Shen Yujing's gift, which was similar to Murong Huan's yet completely different.
A luxury brand lipstick set and a carefully packaged black box.
Song Yi opened it expecting typical male aesthetic choices like Barbie pink, only to find herself deep in thought upon seeing a rainbow of colors - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and others she couldn't imagine wearing on her lips.
Clearly, this was one of those luxury brand bundle sets designed to rip off rich fools.
Well, Shen Yujing did seem like a rich fool.
Song Yi then opened the other black box, and her expression became even more frozen.
As she turned it, the black box separated into many layers, revealing yet another cosmetic item.
When opened, each layer formed a petal shape, rotating 360 degrees in different directions, creating a flower shape when fully opened.
The first layer contained lipsticks, the second eyeshadows, the third blush, the fourth highlighters, the fifth powder compacts, the sixth...
Song Yi: "..."
Was this the legendary social media influencer's all-in-one fashion must-have blooming eyeshadow palette?
It looked just like a cheap children's makeup toy from a street stall, but the luxury brand logo on top told Song Yi this thing was actually very expensive.
She couldn't bear to look at it anymore, really couldn't.
Song Yi put it away, stuffing it into the bottom drawer of her desk, clearly disgusted.
And finally, there was Xu Che's gift.
A medium-sized box filled with candies.
Among these candies was a plastic capsule toy.
Song Yi was somewhat afraid, worried that it might be another mini blooming eyeshadow palette.
Taking a deep breath and gathering her courage, she opened it.
Inside was a bracelet with a moon design, very beautiful.
But...
Song Yi frowned at the bracelet, wondering why it was gold-colored.
Surely it couldn't be pure gold???
Just as Song Yi was pondering this, she noticed another card beside it.
[It's gold-plated. Bought it because the design looked nice. Happy birthday]
Song Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief and put away all the gifts.
It was about time for lunch, so to avoid oil stains, Song Yi changed into a long black down jacket, put on a hat, mask, and scarf, bundling herself up completely.
Having to go out in such cold weather for a meal made Song Yi feel tired, but she pressed forward against the cold wind.
Fortunately, Uncle Jiang's house wasn't far, and Song Yi arrived quickly.
Aunt Jiang recognized Song Yi and led her to sit in the courtyard, saying, "Your father's in the kitchen, food will be ready soon. Have some snacks first to tide you over."
The house had four tables set up, each seating more than ten people, not too crowded but lively.
They were all strangers to Song Yi, and she had no interest in talking to them, so she quietly sat in a corner eating peanuts from the fruit platter, occasionally pouring herself some hot water.
At some point, a young man with yellow hair stood not far from Song Yi, exchanged a few words with his friends, then walked over.
The yellow-haired youth pulled out a chair and sat in front of Song Yi, asking, "Which family are you from? I haven't seen you before."
Song Yi finally looked up. Her face was exceptionally fair, and her nose had turned slightly red from the cold during her walk, creating a striking contrast that only added to her cuteness.
Song Yi was still holding her cup of hot water and hadn't heard clearly what the young man said, so she looked at him with her beautiful almond eyes somewhat confusedly, asking, "Who are you?"
Under Song Yi's gaze, the young man couldn't help but swallow before saying, "I'm Jiang Qi, the son of the house owner. Who are you?"
Song Yi lowered her eyes again, carefully taking a sip of her hot water before answering, "I'm Song Yi. My father is helping cook for your family."
Only then did Jiang Qi realize that the girl before him was Uncle Song's child. In his memory, she had been a quiet little girl who always kept her head down and was too shy to talk to people, but after a few years...
She had become so beautiful.
This thought caused a moment of shock in the young man's eyes, and upon realizing this, he took out his phone.
He rubbed his nose, somewhat awkwardly saying, "Let's exchange WeChat then. I'm a student at Saint Yu Academy. Where do you go to school?"
Song Yi took another look at the young man before her.
He was decent-looking, not strikingly handsome but pleasant enough to look at, tall and thin.
But that yellow hair...
Song Yi frowned slightly. It was clearly carelessly styled, giving him a malnourished appearance, not looking like a good student at all.
So Song Yi directly answered, "No, thank you."
She was in her senior year of high school, and her goal was to study hard, not to hang out with people from outside school who didn't seem to take their studies seriously.
Jiang Qi was taken aback, his face showing visible discomfort as he clearly hadn't expected Song Yi to reject him so directly.
Laughter erupted from behind as two male students who had been watching from the sidelines approached. Due to the presence of adults, they kept their voices low.
"Little sister, you should know that before our brother Jiang Qi went abroad, he was ranked top 2 among the most popular guys at Saint Yu Academy!"
Song Yi, always quick to catch the important details, asked curiously, "Then who's top 1?"
"Well, that would be—"
Before the student could finish, the door opened, and he changed his words, "Speak of the devil, here comes top 1."
Song Yi looked up toward the doorway to see a young man in a black coat walking in with a lollipop in his mouth.
Song Yi found it amusing and thought to herself: Didn't he just get his teeth fixed? At this rate, he'll be back at the hospital in no time.
The moment Xu Che's eyes met Song Yi's, he instinctively reached to remove the lollipop from his mouth, but his hand froze awkwardly in mid-air, unsure where to put the candy.
Jiang Qi temporarily forgot about asking for Song Yi's WeChat contact and turned to look at Xu Che, saying with slight annoyance, "What took you so long? We've been waiting for you to start the game."
After a moment's hesitation, Xu Che walked past Song Yi and Jiang Qi, tossing the lollipop into a distant trash bin before walking back.
Jiang Qi was about to put his hand on Xu Che's shoulder but watched in surprise as Xu Che walked past him again, completely ignoring him.
Jiang Qi protested, "Hey, what are you—"
Before he could finish, he saw the same girl who had just given him the cold shoulder smile brightly at Xu Che, "What a coincidence, you're here too."
"Mm," Xu Che responded, pulling out a lollipop from his pocket and offering it to Song Yi, "Want one?"
Song Yi took it but still held out her hand, saying matter-of-factly, "Give me the rest too. You should eat less candy with your teeth like that. I'll help take care of them for you."
Without any hesitation, Xu Che emptied his pockets of all remaining candy, keeping none for himself, and gave everything to Song Yi.
Jiang Qi and the other two boys who had been watching from the side were completely bewildered.
One boy muttered in confusion, "What's going on?"
The other responded, "No idea, but she knows Brother Che? No wonder—who'd be interested in number two when they know number one?"
Hearing this, Jiang Qi's face instantly darkened.
