Jiang Yumo came out wearing Duan Ye’s hoodie, but everyone pretended not to see it because they were really busy!
In the kitchen, Zhou Ji had already regretted his actions. How much water had he let into his brain? Wasn’t it better to watch TV in the living room? Why did he have to come into the kitchen and be ordered to peel garlic?
He didn’t even know how many he had peeled.
In any case, his hands were already filled with the smell of garlic. He didn’t know if washing his hands with the handwash later would remove the scent.
Probably because his performance today was really good. For example, proactively offering to pay for their durian. For example, the cool way he swiped his card to settle the bill. For example, when he came to the kitchen and asked Ning Zhiyu if she needed help. After he had peeled a lot of garlic, Ning Zhiyu could say in natural tone, “Cut the garlic, not into minced garlic, but as small as possible so that it will be fragrant when stir-frying the clams.”
Zhou Ji : “…”
Fine!!
He took the knife and made a cut, but sent the garlic flying everywhere.
Ning Zhiyu was extremely helpless. This person really has no common sense about life!! She put down what she was doing and went to his side, taking the knife from his hand and reminding him, “It should be done like this, first flatten it with the back of the knife!”
*Smack—*
Zhou Ji was startled by her!
Ning Zhiyu, however, remained calm and flattened all the garlic he had peeled. “Actually, it’s easier to flatten the garlic first before peeling. Alright, now you can chop the garlic.”
Zhou Ji glanced at her, took the knife, and clumsily started cutting the garlic.
When Jiang Yumo and Duan Ye entered, this was the scene they saw. Duan Ye casually glanced at Jiang Yumo, but little did he know that her eyes were gleaming as if she had discovered some major news, with eagerness hidden in her gaze.
Duan Ye : “?”
He asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Yumo tugged at his sleeve, gesturing for him to lower his head. Duan Ye slightly bent down, bringing his ear close to her mouth, and heard her excitedly say, “Do you think Zhou Ji likes our Zhiyu?”
In that instant.
He didn’t know how to express it, but all his previous jealousy and suspicion instantly vanished.
Deep down, he already knew that she hadn’t fallen for someone else. If the day came when she did, he thought he would be the first to sense it even before her, because he knew all her emotions.
However, he couldn’t help but feel displeased with her gaze towards Zhou Ji.
He still minded her concern for someone else.
At this moment, he no longer wanted to investigate why she cared about Zhou Ji before. It didn’t really matter anymore.
Duan Ye’s expression carried a hint of delight, and he spoke softly, “I don’t know.”
Jiang Yumo pursed her lips, “It’s no fun gossiping with you.”
No wonder others say that gossip can only be shared with the same gender. If it were Yan Qing or Sun Mengting, they would have already analyzed Zhou Ji’s expression, his eyes, and speculated on his current psychological activities. That would be so exciting and interesting!
Ning Zhiyu turned her head and said, “We’re almost done.”
Jiang Yumo chuckled and leaned over to nudge Ning Zhiyu’s shoulder, playfully raising her eyebrows, “We? You two?”
Ning Zhiyu smiled helplessly, “Okay, then you all,” she emphasized the word “all,” “wait a bit longer.”
Zhou Ji didn’t even listen to the two girls’ words. He felt like he was about to die on the spot from the overwhelming smell of garlic.
He never wanted to peel garlic in his entire life. It was just too unbearable!
Ning Zhiyu remained modest.
Her spicy stir-fried clams stood out! After they were served on the table, they were quickly snatched up. Yan Qing didn’t hide her praise, saying, “How can there be such an amazing girl like you! Excellent grades, excellent cooking skills! When Mother Goddess created you, she must have put a lot of effort into it. As for us, we’re just the leftover clay she threw away.”
Jiang Yumo burst into laughter, “Hahaha, that analogy is very on point. I’ve always thought the same.”
Ning Zhiyu, rarely feeling shy, sat next to Jiang Yumo and picked out a clam for her, carefully picked away the green onions, “Don’t say that, it’s not true.”
Duan Ye glanced at Ning Zhiyu.
Ning Zhiyu is truly attentive in every aspect. As long as someone she cares about is involved, she remembers every action and movement of the other person.
For example, just now Duan Ye picked out the green onions for Jiang Yumo.
This was their first meal together, but Ning Zhiyu noticed it immediately and then picked out the green onions from the clams she picked for Jiang Yumo.
At the dinner table, everyone was talking about interesting things at school, creating a great atmosphere.
Even Zhou Ji, who doesn’t care about birthday parties at all, thought that this kind of birthday was not bad.
Zhou Ji doesn’t like celebrating his birthday.
Every year, his birthdays are boring and uninteresting, basically just an excuse for the adults to socialize. His dad is busy greeting others, his mom is busy dealing with those wealthy wives, and sometimes, by the end of the day, he doesn’t even hear a heartfelt “Happy birthday, son” from his parents.
Extremely boring.
His friends’ birthdays are the same, filled with socializing and personal gain.
All he wanted was to have a simple and happy birthday.
On Duan Ye’s birthday, there were no adults present, only classmates of the same age. The conversation had nothing to do with projects, companies, or stocks. Zhou Ji felt relaxed. This was how a birthday should be celebrated, with good friends.
“After we finish eating, let’s go out and have some fun!” Zhao Zheng suggested.
One of the boys from the basketball team hesitated and said, “But we should clean up here. We’ve made a mess of Brother Duan’s house.”
Guo Shichao smiled and said, “No worries, Zhao Zheng and I have already talked to the aunt upstairs. She’ll come and help us clean up later.”
The aunt living upstairs in Duan Ye’s house is relatively poor.
Duan Ye’s mother would often give money to the aunt upstairs to help with the cleaning. It was something his close friends knew.
“Yeah,” Duan Ye nodded, “I’ve already talked to Aunt Liu. We just need to take out the trash later.”
“Where should we go then?” Jiang Yumo asked.
‘Mic tyrant’ Yan Qing and Guo Shichao said in unison, “Let’s go karaoke!”
Jiang Yumo didn’t even hesitate, “No way! If we go, it’ll just be the two of you having a concert. That’s not fun!”
Zhao Zheng applauded, “Yes, you two are absolute experts at snatching the microphone. The others won’t sing so it’ll be boring, and there haven’t been any good new songs recently.”
Yan Qing looked disheartened.
Guo Shichao said, “What else would you do if not karaoke? Go shopping?”
Zhao Zheng remembered the terror of being dominated by a few girls during the National Day and shook his head like a rattle, “No, no, no!”
“Watch a movie?”
“There haven’t been many good movies lately, and sitting for two hours feels like a waste of time.”
For high school students in their third year, not having evening self-study on Saturday night was quite a joy.
They wished they could make every minute and second of this evening count. Two hours for a movie seemed too extravagant!
Then Sun Mengting had an idea and suggested, “The weather is nice today, not too cold. How about we go to the embankment and set off fireworks?”
She paused and looked at Jiang Yumo, smiling, “Didn’t Brother Duan set off fireworks on your birthday? Now that it’s Brother Duan’s birthday, let’s set off fireworks too.”
Jiang Yumo’s eyes lit up, “That sounds great!”
She looked at the others sitting at the table, “What do you think? It’s quite comfortable to go to the embankment now.”
Others followed suit—
“Sure!”
“The last time I played with fireworks was during the New Year. Let’s go!”
Everyone agreed to this suggestion.
They quickly tidied up the mess and headed out. It was easy to find a fireworks shop in the old city area. They bought various types of fireworks, and the shop owner, knowing it was someone’s birthday, happily gave them many sparklers. Even Ning Zhiyu, who never went out to play with others, had a happy and joyful smile on their face after lighting a sparkler on the embankment.
At first, Zhou Ji thought playing with fireworks was childish, especially when he was given a sparkler. He didn’t hide his disdain on his face.
But later on, maybe he was influenced by the atmosphere.
He started to feel very fun!!
Duan Ye kept an eye on Jiang Yumo, worried that she might get burned by a spark from the sparkler. He protected her all the time. The autumn wind blew on the embankment as the young students set off fireworks, laughing and playing around. Everyone let go of their inner pressures, forgetting about studying, the college entrance exam, and unpleasantness with their families. They immersed themselves in the joy that belonged only to them.
No one knew who started it, but someone shouted to the sky—
“Zhao Xuan, I really like you!”
It was a member of the basketball team who shouted.
After he shouted, everyone looked at him, and he started blushing.
“Pfft…”
“Li Shengyun, you’re so shameless. Do you like Zhao Xuan from your class?”
Li Shengyun felt embarrassed and said, “We were classmates in primary school, but we didn’t go to the same school in middle school. Then we attend the same school again in high school.”
As he continued speaking, he sounded a bit dejected. “But it seems like she has an online boyfriend.”
“Ah, how unfortunate.”