Chapter 45

Mingxi realized that she was acting as if she had gnawed on a green apple. Her words came out sour before she could stop it. She was a little embarrassed and felt out of place suddenly, so she quickly changed the subject. “Wait, let me find the room card.”

She opened the door, raised her hand and inserted the room’s access card into the slot.

The lights turned on and the air conditioner buzzed.

Fu Yangxi followed in. He bent over and placed a large box of gifts on the floor by the wall.

Realizing that he had actually entered Zhao Mingxi's hotel room and that there must be a lot of clothes on the girl's bed, Fu Yangxi's ears went red and he dared not look up.

He stiffly returned to the door. As he was big and tall, his head was about to hit the upper frame of the door. He completely blocked the light outside the corridor.

"What in the world did you give?" When Mingxi came back and took off her coat and jacket, she couldn't help squatting over to open the present.

Fu Yangxi's heart jumped and he rushed over to hold the gift box. “Little Mask, you’re too impatient. Can't wait for me to leave before taking it apart? I'm still here—”

Before he finished speaking, both of them realized that the distance between them was a little too close.

Both felt the temperature of the other’s skin coming through the clothes and a thin layer of air.

“...”

Zhao Mingxi squatted there like a small ball. Fu Yangxi bent down from the top of her head to hold the box. If his posture was lower, his chin could touch the top of her hair.

How would it feel if my chin touches the top of a girl's hair? It should be gentle, like knocking on silk, right?

Fu Yangxi lowered his eyes and looked at her. From his point of view, he could see the tip of her pretty white nose, the thin sweater on her back and the outline of the girl's slender spine. Her black hair hung down with a little scent of shampoo.

C-Cute.

Fu Yangxi swallowed. The tip of his heart seemed to be swept away by her long hair, for it felt numb and itchy.

Meanwhile, Mingxi's fingers which were opening the box curled up into the shape of a lid. She stared at the outline of Fu Yangxi's shadow in front of her, feeling the hormonal breath of the boy behind her and his warm body.

His black down jacket was unzipped and the dry scent seemed to penetrate the tip of her nose, wrapping her from head to toe with warmth.

Mingxi felt a little dizzy and stiff as well.

If she hadn't noticed that she liked him before, she could still be open and honest, and she would act naturally despite being so close to him.

However, once she noticed it, every minute of every second of contact was like a little mouse stealing lamp oil, making her feel guilty.

—I’m acting so stiff and weird. Will he find out that I like him?

Mingxi's heart jumped to her throat.

She leaned aside quickly and got out from under the motion of him leaning over.

Mingxi's movements were a bit funny. She staggered and almost fell, but Fu Yangxi held her from the back.

However, in an atmosphere where the air was filled with stiff and hot factors, the two of them couldn't really be bothered anymore.

Fu Yangxi quickly released the hand holding her wrist. The tips of his ears were red. He turned to look away, not knowing where to put his eyes. Finally, his gaze landed on the ceiling. “The color of the ceiling is good.”

Mingxi: “...”

Fu Yangxi stumbled and said, “Then- Then I- I’ll go first.”

—You’re leaving just like that?

Ming-looking-down-xi said, “...Okay.”

Fu Yangxi said that he was leaving, but when he looked at Zhao Mingxi, he realized that his feet couldn’t move at all.

Mingxi licked her dry lips and looked up at him. Her eyes fell on the shadow of his handsome eyebrows. She did not urge him to leave.

The air became awkwardly quiet once more.

…

The two suddenly spoke at the same time.

Mingxi asked, "Are you free tomorrow?"

Fu Yangxi asked, "Do you want to eat together tomorrow?"

Mingxi said, "You go first."

Fu Yangxi said, "You go first."

Mingxi: “...”

Fu Yangxi: “...”

As their sentences kept on clashing, the atmosphere suddenly became more awkward.

The two hurriedly turned their heads to the opposite sides, their cheeks heating up into two red tomatoes.

Fu Yangxi stared at the door frame beside him, trying hard to study whether the door frame was made of composite material or steel plate. He put his hands in his pockets and tried to prop up the edges, pretending to be cold and nonchalant. “Isn't tomorrow Sunday? I happen to have something to do nearby. If you’re okay, we can have lunch together."

As he spoke, Fu Yangxi found an excuse. “Hey, don't misunderstand me, Little Mask. I just happened to be around here and I just remembered that I have never treated my desk mate to a meal. I'm usually very generous to my previous desk mates and would treat them all to a meal.”

Mingxi felt that he had lost his mind. Obviously she could feel that there was a loophole in Fu Yangxi's words— Since when has he ever had a desk mate? How did he treat his former ‘desk mates’ to a meal? But she just blushed and couldn't be bothered about it.

With a heated mind, she quickly agreed, "Okay."

When Fu Yangxi saw that Mingxi hadn't said a word for a long time, he thought she was going to refuse, so he was planning to mention Ke Chengwen or someone else. “Or we can call He Yang and Ke Chengwen—”

In the end, before he finished speaking, Zhao Mingxi agreed.

She agreed?!

A meal with just the two of us! She agreed.

Despite knowing each other for so long, the two of them have never eaten or done anything together. Ke Chengwen and others have always been a part of their activities. This was the first time.

The corner of Fu Yangxi's mouth was about to rise to the sky. He quickly glanced at Zhao Mingxi.

Mingxi stretched a happy smile and looked at him.

Fu Yangxi twisted his head quickly as if he was electrocuted and returned to his cold look. “Um, let's do this then. I’ll contact you tomorrow.”

Mingxi thought, eating together would also be considered a date. Thus, she quickly agreed without hesitation, "Okay!"

Fu Yangxi looked at her in surprise.

Why did Little Mask agree so cheerfully?!

Fu Yangxi's head became hot, almost thinking that Zhao Mingxi liked him again.

But after absorbing the experience from what happened last time, he no longer dared to think about it so easily.

Anyway, as long as she doesn’t like Shen Liyao, it’s progress— Fu Yangxi was already satisfied.

Fu Yangxi said, “Then I’ll get going.”

Fu Yangxi also felt a little stupid for saying this. He said twice in just 10 minutes that he was going to leave, but in the end he still stayed there. This was practically an open secret.

He appeared shy as he took two steps back and walked out the door. Then, he waved to Zhao Mingxi. “You don’t have to send me off.”

Mingxi's "I will send you downstairs" immediately got swallowed back into her throat. He made sense. Would it be possible for Fu Yangxi, a 1.88 meters tall male, to encounter danger when he goes downstairs? If I send him down myself, my intentions would be too obvious.

So Mingxi held back her shyness, pulled the door frame, nodded and said softly, "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." Fu Yangxi waved to Zhao Mingxi, his heart feeling as if it had been dipped in candy. He didn't forget to throw away the cake on the ground. He picked up the cake roughly and made a disgusted look. Then, he took two steps back while staring at her.

As a result, he retreated to the stairway diagonally across from him. He stepped into thin air, and with a flash of his tall body, he almost fell.

“Fu—”

Mingxi was taken aback. However, Fu Yangxi stood up straight again with amazing balance.

“...”

Fu Yangxi only felt embarrassed. He took one glance at Zhao Mingxi with a blushing face before he turned around and skipped downstairs.

Mingxi stood by the door for a while. She calmed down her fast beating heart and rubbed her face which was stiff but at the same time sore from the constant smiling. Then, she closed the door and returned to the room.

The first thing she did was to quickly open the present.

She didn't care about other people's gifts. She squatted in the corner and opened Fu Yangxi's big box first. When the big box opened, it revealed several small boxes. However, they were not too small— The large ones were as big as a basketball and the small ones were so delicate that they were just the size of her palm.

The boxes were not all the same. They were all tied with bows and the technique was similar to that of how Fu Yangxi tied her shoes.

Did he tie it himself?

When Mingxi guessed this, she couldn't help licking her lips again.

She counted. There were a total of 18 small boxes in the big box.

After staring at it for several seconds, Mingxi chose one of the silk-blue boxes and took it out. Just holding it in her hand, Mingxi already felt like a hot potato. Her heart was pounding. She was about to open it, but she felt that there was no sense of ritual squatting here to open it, so she threw herself on the bed joyfully while holding the present.

She untied the blue velvet silk ribbon on the box and smelled the faint fragrance inside.

Is it perfume—? Mingxi thought curiously.

Then, she opened it.

She discovered that it was a very delicate rattle used to amuse children.

The scent was the woody sandalwood fragrance of the rattle.

“...”

Mingxi: ???

What kind of gift is this? Why did he give me a rattle? I’m 18 years old, not 3 years old!

The expression on Mingxi's face was a bit dull for a moment.

However, she then found that the wooden bottom of the rattle seemed to be inscribed with something.

It was a few English words.

‘—stream two years old.’

Mingxi didn't understand what it meant for a while and subconsciously thought it was a trademark.

She turned back to open the other small boxes in the big box and found that there were many other things inside, including a golden watch with engraved feathers, a pen, a hairpin for children and a transparent emerald bottle of perfume.

Fu Yangxi may not be good at picking perfumes. It was not a girly perfume, but it exuded a light and cold fragrance, like a cello’s tune streaming through the air after the rain. The name of the perfume was also called ‘Cello Girl’.

The bottom of the perfume was engraved with several other English words.

‘—stream eighteen years old.’

Suddenly, a shocking revelation hit Mingxi. She immediately understood what Fu Yangxi had given.

From the age of 1 to 18, he gave her a birthday gift for every year he missed.

…

While Mingxi was holding the box, some subtle emotions indescribably smudged on the tip of her heart. It felt sour and itchy and she could clearly hear her heartbeat in this quiet room.

Again and again.

Heavily

Like raindrops crackling down.

—Why would he give such a thoughtful gift?

He can’t possibly like—

Mingxi's current mood was like an ant crawling to the tip of her heart, scratching the tip of her heart, making it feel itchy. However, the ant only scratched there and refused to fall.

She didn't dare to make such an arbitrary judgment.

Even so, Mingxi knew that this was the most cared-for and happiest birthday she had ever had since she was born.

She licked her lips and rolled on the bed while holding the perfume box. Her cheeks were still hot. She embarrassedly buried her face in the soft pillow and rolled for a while. Then, she took another deep breath, but the restlessness in her heart still did not calm down.

I want to send him a message.

I want to chat with him.

Mingxi thought.

Anyway, it's already after 12am, so there’s no way I can still revise. It's better to ask him if he is home and just have a quick chat.

Mingxi glanced at the set of exercises spread out on the table next to her. Her heart was filled with guilt while she thought so and fished for the phone.

There was a mess of words in her head.

And while she didn't know what to post and was typing all the time.

A message was sent from the other.

—Hurry up and go to bed.

Mingxi was taken aback and felt extremely ashamed. Could it be that I was caught while typing? The question is how could Fu Yangxi know that I was typing? Unless he was staring at the phone!

Ahhhhh, Mingxi covered her face. She didn't dare to look at the phone anymore, so turned off the phone in a hurry and plunged her head into the pillow.

It’s so warm.

Her heart was beating too fast.

At the other side.

Fu Yangxi, who had been holding his phone, fell off the sofa and quickly got up.

There was no one nearby, so the corners of his mouth rose to the sky unscrupulously.

He just sat on the ground while staring at the phone. He waited for Zhao Mingxi to send something back— What did she want to say just now that she was constantly on typing mode?

…

In the end, Little Mask did not send a message on this night.

Fu Yangxi: “...”

The next day, Fu Yangxi, who had developed a pair of panda eyes, went to the bar to pour water in vain steps and turned on the phone to start searching:

—"Hurry up and go to bed", are these four words so direct that it will annoy girls?

ray’s note: It took me a while to understand what Fu Yangxi meant when he inscribed ‘stream () years old’ (he inscribed it in English). Then I realized that ‘stream’ in Mandarin is 溪 which is Mingxi’s ‘Xi’ and now I’m not okay