During their three years of high school, the whole class had shared countless group activities together but this was the very first time they were all gathered without wearing their school uniforms.
Di Zhe wasn’t as wild as the other students, he didn’t tear up textbooks or scream and shout in celebration.
The main reason was that he needed to maintain his composure as an outstanding Alpha in front of Shen Yandong.
When they parted at the school gate, surrounded by the noisy, chaotic crowd, Di Zhe grabbed Shen Yandong’s hand and asked, “Tonight the homeroom teacher is treating the class to dinner. Are you going?”
Shen Yandong didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he lowered his eyelashes and looked down at the hand Di Zhe was using to hold him.
He tried to pull his hand back but failed. After that, he simply stopped struggling.
Shen Yandong replied, “I’ll go.”
Di Zhe’s heartbeat sped up.
A powerful instinct seemed to pound inside his chest, telling him that this moment, right now, was the perfect opportunity.
It was time.
Time to confess.
Tonight.
This time, it would definitely succeed.
Afterward, he went home.
Di Zhe climbed into the car his parents had come to pick him up in. His father, who was driving, glanced back at him and froze for a moment before laughing.
“What’s this? Did you do really well on the exam? Yesterday morning you went out looking so grim and miserable. Your mom even told me not to say anything to you these past couple of days but now you’re smiling like a blooming flower.”
Di Zhe waved his hand dismissively and bragged, “Oh, the exam was nothing, it’s a small matter. You wouldn’t understand. I ran into something even more important than the exam. There might finally be some progress.”
Success in important matters comes from secrecy; too many words ruin things.
Di Zhe knew he absolutely shouldn’t say anything beforehand.
But he was simply too happy.
He really couldn’t control his loose tongue.
Revealing just a tiny little bit… that should be fine, right?
His mother turned around from the passenger seat and asked, “Did Xiao Shen finally agree to date you?”
Di Zhe froze.
“I never said Shen Yandong!”
His mother immediately replied, “I never said the ‘Xiao Shen’ I meant was ‘Shen Yandong,’ either!”
Di Zhe’s pursuit of love had been so loud and dramatic that it was practically accompanied by gongs and drums.
His parents had long known about Shen Yandong’s existence and they had heard countless bits and pieces about him through Di Zhe’s endless chatter.
In their minds, Shen Yandong was probably a hardworking, self reliant good child with a difficult background.
And they had seen him in person before.
His appearance was undeniably handsome.
Ever since Di Zhe met Shen Yandong, he had suddenly become incredibly motivated. Di Zhe’s parents didn’t even need to find someone to compare their birth charts, they were already convinced that this classmate Shen must bring good fortune to their silly son.
Just think about it.
The child he liked was so outstanding and could even push him to study harder.
What could be better than that?
So Di Zhe’s parents were more than happy about the possibility of the two children dating. In fact, they were deeply pleased.
After returning home, they asked a tutor to help estimate his exam score.
Once the calculation was finished, Di Zhe grabbed the past admission score lines for Z University and began comparing them carefully. The more he checked, the happier he became.
“Mom, I think I can apply to Z University!”
His mother looked surprised. “You’re applying to Z University?”
At this point, there was nothing left to hide.
Di Zhe said, “Yeah. Shen Yandong said he’s going to Z University, so… so I’ll go there too. He said he wants to become a civil servant. I was thinking that if university doesn’t work out, I could just join the same government institution as him later.”
His mother fell silent for a moment.
She had always known that her son had a romantic brain.
But she hadn’t expected it to be this extreme.
Still… perhaps having a romantic brain wasn’t such a bad thing.
He was aiming for a prestigious university.
He planned to become a civil servant.
Ideally, he would stay in their hometown, live a stable and peaceful life.
And he had already chosen a clever and beautiful future spouse.
What was this?
This was the highest level of filial devotion!
In the future, they would practically be able to walk sideways at family gatherings.
After calculating his score, Di Zhe was in an excellent mood. Feeling a little smug, he went into the walk in closet to pick out clothes for the evening. A Tshirt, jeans and sneakers.
He walked in front of the mirror and turned around once.
Handsome, yes but was it not formal enough?
After all, tonight he was going to confess his feelings!
Then he chose the custom made suit his parents had given him when he turned eighteen.
So he changed into it.
But now it seemed a little too serious.
Most of his classmates probably wouldn’t dress this formally.
In the end, however, Di Zhe still wore the formal suit as he walked from the closet into the living room.
His mother laughed with delight. “Are you going to dance with Xiao Shen tonight?”
His father, on the other hand, offered his own piece of experienced advice.
“You should hold back a little. If you’re already going all out like this, wearing a formal suit just to confess, then what are you planning to wear when you propose later?”
Di Zhe’s face flushed red yet the sincerity in his expression was unmistakable. He spoke with complete earnestness, “I don’t want to hold anything back. If you truly like someone, how could you possibly hold back? Going all in might not mean you’ll win… but if you keep something in reserve, you’ll definitely lose.”
His parents exchanged a glance, then smiled at each other.
His father stood up and said, “Alright. Dad supports you. I’ll be responsible for driving you to the hotel.”
His mother asked tentatively, “Then should I go change into a nicer dress too, so I can meet my future daughter in law?”
Di Zhe hurriedly stopped them. “Please don’t make things more chaotic. If you go too, I’m afraid you’ll scare him.”
Laughter immediately echoed through the Di family’s living room.
And so, dressed in a full, formal outfit and brimming with joy, Di Zhe headed to the hotel their homeroom teacher had reserved. Calling it a hotel was a bit generous; in reality it was just a local private kitchen restaurant. The prices weren’t high and the food was affordable and delicious. Their homeroom teacher was still young and didn’t have much money. Treating the entire class to a meal was already a huge expense for him.
The restaurant was located in the old part of town, along a narrow street paved with cement that had been patched again and again over the years.
The Di family car couldn’t drive inside, so it stopped outside the alley.
Di Zhe greeted his father before getting out. “They asked me to go pull an all nighter playing games with them tonight. I might not come back.”
His father teased him lightly, saying, “You’re quite the busy guy,” but he didn’t criticize him further. He simply turned the car around and drove away.
Di Zhe stood at the entrance of the alley, looking completely out of place.
At that moment, a classmate approached from not too far away, one of his juniors. From a distance the guy had already been staring at him, his eyes practically about to pop out of their sockets. When he got closer, he blurted out, “Big Brother, are you getting married today or something?”
Di Zhe couldn’t hide the smile on his face. Trying to cover it up, he said somewhat awkwardly, “Today… today isn’t it the last class gathering before graduation? What’s wrong with dressing a little more formally?”
His junior’s face clearly said: Give me a break.
He replied, “We all saw it. Yesterday, before the exam, sister in law even gave you candy.”
“If you really manage to win sister in law over, you have to treat us to another meal when the time comes.”
Di Zhe’s eyes were nearly crinkling shut from the smile he was trying so hard to suppress. “Well… well… well… that will still depend on whether your sister in law is willing when the time comes. Your sister in law is very shy.”
His brows danced with excitement as he spoke, the words flowing out of him rapidly. Before he could finish his sentence, as if guided by some kind of instinctive telepathy, he suddenly turned his head back and spotted a familiar figure.
“Your sister in law is here. I won’t say more for now! Keep yourselves in check tonight, don’t tease him. Don’t ruin things for me at the last moment!”
“Everything depends on this one attempt!”
“Hey, Big Brother !”
Before anyone could finish speaking, they saw that Di Zhe had already dashed off, like a little dog that had just slipped free of its collar, happily running straight toward Shen Yandong.
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
One tiny coffee. One very happy translator. ✦
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · Love at first sightChapter 2 · Lack of discretionChapter 3 · ShamelessChapter 4 · UnreasonableChapter 5 · PerseveranceChapter 6 · College Entrance Examination EndChapter 7 · Graduation dinnerChapter 8 · Confession nightChapter 9 · Pressing in step by stepChapter 10 · Enough is enoughChapter 11 · A huge blowChapter 12 · University start dateChapter 13 · Roommate meetingChapter 14 · Relentless harassmentChapter 15 · I’ll pick you upChapter 16 · It’s my vulnerable periodChapter 17 · Voluntary datingChapter 18 · Open your heartChapter 19 · Obedient to allChapter 20 · Not a virginChapter 21 · Swear to love meChapter 22 · Youthful DaydreamsChapter 23 · Teenage ThoughtsChapter 24 · EmptyChapter 25 · Extremely anxiousChapter 26 · Too lazy to struggleChapter 27 · From now on