No!
No! No!
No! No! No!
Mu Yuwei turned her entire room upside down, but couldn’t find a single thing that Bai Shinan had given her. That was impossible. There had been so many holidays over the past three years—enough gifts to open a small general store.
She tried to recall what he gave her last Christmas. It seemed to be a scarf, but she couldn’t remember the color or style anymore. All she knew was that it was hand-knitted by Bai Shinan himself. There were plenty of girls who knitted scarves for boys, but this was the first time she had seen a boy knit one for a girl. So where was that scarf?
“Aunt An, did you see a scarf in my room?” Mu Yuwei rushed into the kitchen and hurriedly asked Aunt An, who was preparing dinner.
“A scarf? What does it look like?” Aunt An paused and asked with a puzzled expression. After all, Mu Yuwei’s room had more than enough scarves.
Mu Yuwei was momentarily speechless, her cheeks slightly flushed. She couldn’t describe it well. “It should be just a very plain scarf.”
Aunt An’s expression turned strange. What did she mean by a very plain scarf? But now that Mu Yuwei mentioned it, she did vaguely recall one. It was a tacky-looking scarf that didn’t match at all with the high-end, fashionable ones in Mu Yuwei’s wardrobe.
…
Mu Yuwei walked into the storage room. It was where her family kept old belongings—she could still find her elementary school textbooks in there. She opened a box that was half her height, filled to the brim with all sorts of gifts, some still unopened in their original packaging.
Mu Yuwei had always been attractive and came from a wealthy family. She was never short of admirers. Every birthday, she would receive countless gifts. Not accepting them seemed rude, but accepting them meant she had nowhere to put them. So, they created a box just to store them all.
But Mu Yuwei couldn’t blame Aunt An. Before tidying up, Aunt An always consulted her first.
Cough cough.
After rummaging through the box for a while, Mu Yuwei finally found the plain-looking white scarf. She didn’t mind the dust on it and immediately wrapped it around her neck, feeling a sense of calm settle in her heart.
“Ah…”
Thank goodness it was still here. Otherwise, if Bai Shinan asked her about it one day, she wouldn’t even know how to face him.
Come to think of it, her birthday was coming up soon. No matter how mad Bai Shinan was, he wouldn’t ignore her birthday, right?
She made up her mind. This year’s birthday wish would be to become Bai Shinan’s girlfriend.
That would give him an easy way out too, and he would probably reconcile with her then.
With that thought, Mu Yuwei’s anxiety eased a little. Her birthday was next Thursday. She just had to wait one more week, and everything would go back to normal.
Meanwhile, Bai Shinan—who had completely forgotten Mu Yuwei’s existence—was currently playing duo queue with Qiluo Yi, since he had to return to school the next day.
“Good brother, let’s play one more game, just one more, okay?” Qiluo Yi was once again acting coquettish over voice chat.
“You said that last time too. Don’t try to trick me again!” Bai Shinan glanced at the time. It was already 11:30 PM. If they kept going, it would be the next day.
“That last round, our teammates were awful. The game was no fun at all. If I hold this frustration in, I won’t be able to sleep tonight,” Qiluo Yi whined in a soft, delicate voice.
Bai Shinan felt his bones go soft at the sound of her sweet voice. Once he accepted the idea that Lao Luo was actually a girl, her Long-Legged Loli Voice, which once gave him goosebumps, now felt like a mind-melting drug.
“Lao Luo, let’s make a deal. I’ll play one more round with you, but can you please talk a little more normally from now on?” Bai Shinan really couldn’t take it anymore.
“How am I not talking normally? I’ve always talked to you like this, haven’t I?” Qiluo Yi narrowed her eyes slyly. New chapters come out on g.com first.
In truth, she had been quite reserved during their early voice chats. Nothing like the flirtatious tone she had now. It was all Bai Shinan’s fault. He kept insisting she was just some stinky guy scratching his feet at a rental room. No matter how she tried to explain, he didn’t believe her. So she gave up and went all in—if he thought her natural voice sounded fake, she’d show him what fake really sounded like!
Over time, she stopped feeling self-conscious about it. After all, she’d already thrown away all sense of shame with Bai Shinan.
“I admit I was wrong before. I actually miss how you used to be back when we first met—shy and sincere.” Bai Shinan could only swallow the bitter consequences of his own words now.
“Too late. I’ve already molded myself into your ideal, Brother Bai. You have to take responsibility for me now.” Qiluo Yi said wickedly in her innocent voice, her tone dripping with corrupted charm.
“Girls shouldn’t say such suggestive things. You should learn some self-respect, alright?” Bai Shinan was covered in black lines. If someone else overheard this, his reputation would be in ruins.
“Don’t worry, I only talk like this with you.” Qiluo Yi only dared to speak this way to Bai Shinan.
Bai Shinan had no more fight in him. To say he didn’t enjoy chatting this way would be a lie. Even if he knew Qiluo Yi was deliberately putting on that tone, the fact that she was willing to do it just to talk with him meant their relationship was close—close enough for her to let loose around him.
“Do as you like, but keep it down. If your family hears you, I’ll be seen as a total pervert.” Bai Shinan casually warned.
But soon he realized something was off—Qiluo Yi didn’t respond as usual. Instead, there was a long silence.
“I don’t have a family…” Qiluo Yi regretted saying that the moment the words left her mouth. She didn’t want Bai Shinan to pity her, and she definitely didn’t want to burden their friendship with heaviness. She quickly added, “I-I mean, I live alone, so you don’t have to worry about anyone overhearing.”
But Bai Shinan had lived two lives—how could he not hear the deeper meaning in her words? That familiar unease stirred again in his heart. He didn’t say anything. He simply sent Qiluo Yi another game invite.
Some things had to be taken slowly.