A little surprise on Christmas Eve

“I’m sorry…” Song Zhao said.

"..."

Upon hearing those three words, Nanqi was stunned, and a sense of guilt welled up within her.

"It was my fault, I shouldn't have said that to you..."

"Please forgive me."

Song Zhao's apology, word by word, was like a blade cutting into Nan Qi's face, leaving fine, tingling wounds that, while not fatal, were very painful.

She fumbled in her pocket, pulled out a tissue, and gently wiped away the tears from her beloved's face.

Nanqi said with deep regret, "Don't say that. It hurts me more than if you stabbed me with a knife. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have made you angry so early in the morning. I promise I won't do it again. Please don't be sad..."

“I didn’t mean to wrong you… I just felt really bad seeing you talking and behaving so intimately with other people…” Song Zhao choked up.

"Then I'll at least keep a distance of one person when I talk to others from now on, okay?"

"...You can't fool around with other people without my permission..."

"Yes, absolutely not."

Song Zhao wiped away her tears, "Then you're not allowed to... scold me anymore."

"Uh... my goodness, I didn't curse you, I just raised my voice a little."

"You already said 'fuck'..."

"Um..." Song Zhao said somewhat guiltily, "Then I won't swear at you anymore, okay?"

"Um."

Song Zhao buried her head in Nan Qi's collarbone, and tears welled up in her eyes again. "I was so scared just now, so scared that you would never talk to me again..." At this moment, she cried like a child who had been abandoned by his family.

Nanqi always thought that Song Zhao was angry and ignoring her, but she never expected that Song Zhao had the same worries as her, and even more worries than hers.

Nanqi hugged her tightly with both arms, as if protecting some priceless treasure.

“I made you feel insecure, didn’t I? I really regret it. Seeing you so sad, I really feel like I was a terrible person back then.”

Hearing Nanqi's comforting words, Song Zhao couldn't help but shed two more tears, this time with a feeling of happiness. "Then we agree that neither of us is allowed to ignore the other from now on. Even if we quarrel, we can't stay silent for more than 5 minutes."

Nanqi thought that Song Zhao had been angry with her for more than half an hour, so she joked, "Isn't 5 minutes too short? We'll have a hard time doing that."

"Ten minutes then, no more than that."

"Okay, I'll do as you say," Nanqi said with a smile.

The school corridors were bustling with people, their footsteps and voices never ceasing. The two girls embraced for a long time, occasionally attracting curious glances before hurrying off to the cafeteria. People were still quite naive back then, and no one would suspect any unusual feelings between the two girls embracing.

After reconciling with Song Zhao, Nan Qi wanted to do something for Song Zhao even more. After getting her phone back at noon, she sent a message to Li Jia, wanting to ask her how to coax a girl.

-Jiajia, if not

-say

If your partner makes you angry, how would you like them to make up with you?

- Ha, you fucking have a girlfriend? Why didn't you tell me!

-Screw you, can't I be the one asking for someone else?

Stop interrupting me, just tell me how to coax someone.

- Was that person's mistake serious?

- It wasn't a serious matter; I just yelled at my girlfriend a couple of times. It wasn't a matter of principle, and I've sincerely admitted my mistake. I even wanted to make it up to her during the holiday.

If I were that girl, and he held up flowers, arranged candles in a heart shape, and knelt down in the middle for me, I would consider forgiving him.

Don't you think this is too formalistic? Kneeling, how ridiculous!

- What I want is to be socially inept, to soften a girl's heart, and to teach the person who asked you a lesson.

Nanqi reluctantly put down her phone, pouted, and changed the subject, saying, "How about sending some food, like mung bean cakes? It's definitely better than sending flowers."

- It would be best to send both, but flowers are a must, and candles are also necessary to create the right atmosphere.

-But flowers and candles can't be eaten or used, just to look at them for a few moments?

-It's for happiness! What could be more important than happiness? You're really driving me crazy! Flowers and candles are the things that make girls happiest.

- Oh, (Nanqi suddenly realized), I must say, you know quite a lot.

-You think everyone is like you, a complete novice in love.

Get out! Get out of here.

Li Jia replied with an eye-rolling emoji.

Hearing Guo Chao and Li Jia say this, Nan Qi began to consider their suggestion. However, what made her hesitate was that she really felt that setting up candles in public was very embarrassing and would make her feel extremely ashamed.

Song Zhao said, "Let's go for a walk after school."

“Hmm…” Nanqi hesitated thoughtfully.

"What's wrong?"

She hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, and adopted a look of resignation. Then, she raised her face and said in a serious tone, "I just remembered, Li Jia needs to see me today. It shouldn't be too long. You go to Xinyue Shopping Mall and wait for me. I'll come over later."

"What's wrong with her? I can help her out."

“It’s just a little physical work, the two of us can finish it in no time. Besides, she hasn’t talked to me for a while, so she wanted to take this opportunity to vent to me.”

"Okay then, I'll wait for you at the bookstore over there. Don't rush, take your time."

"Okay, I'll try to be as quick as possible," Nanqi said with a smile.

Song Zhao ordered a milk tea at the bookstore, picked up a copy of "Rumors," and quietly flipped through the book by herself.

Soothing music can calm and relax people's moods. At this time, there are more couples than single people. They lean on each other and read a book together, quiet and sweet.

After a while, someone sat down next to her. Their shadow was reflected on her book, blocking part of the light. She turned her head curiously and saw a face that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

"Long time no see," the girl said with a smile and a wave.

Song Zhao's body stiffened slightly for a moment, then she forced a smile, hummed in agreement, and walked out of the bookstore.

Coincidentally, Nanqi also called her.

"Hey, where are you?"

"Still at the bookstore."

"Come out for a moment, come to the store entrance."

"Um?"

Just as Song Zhao was wondering, a little girl walked over and said, "Sister, this is for you."

It's a bouquet, a combination of 11 roses and baby's breath.

"Little sister, you've given it to the wrong person. This isn't what your older sister bought."

"Oh? A big sister told me to go to the bookstore entrance and find a big sister with short hair wearing a white down jacket, who is the prettiest in the whole store, and give her this flower. I thought it was you."

Upon hearing the explanation, Song Zhao suddenly realized and said, "Sister, I remember now, it's my flower. Thank you, go find Mom."

Song Zhao took the flowers and happily smelled them. This was indeed the first time in her life that she had received flowers. In the past, when she saw others holding flowers during festivals, she thought they were heavy and cumbersome. Today, when it was her turn to receive them, she was both surprised and delighted.

"Hello..." came the voice on the other end of the phone.

Holding the flowers, Song Zhao looked around and said with a smile as she walked, "Why did you suddenly give me flowers?"

"This is for my girlfriend, do you like it?"

"Yes, I like it, it's just too unexpected."

“There’s something even more unexpected,” Nanqi said.

Song Zhao was somewhat surprised: "Where are you? I want to see you."

"You can see me if you come out of Exit B of the mall and turn right."

"Okay, wait for me."

After hanging up the phone, Song Zhao briefly forgot about the little incident and walked happily towards the mall entrance.

As soon as Nanqi saw Song Zhao come out, she raised her hands above her head and waved to her, reminding her of her position.

Upon spotting her, Song Zhao quickened his pace, jogging towards Nan Qi. The closer he got, the brighter the flickering candlelight on the ground became.

Wearing a red hat and a red floral jacket, Nanqi made a heart shape with her arms and stood in the circle of candlelight, shouting loudly, "Merry Christmas Eve!"

"Come on, beautiful lady, with all this fuss tonight, I'd be in trouble if you didn't give me a hug," Nanqi joked.

"You even made a heart shape with your hands, why didn't you say 'I love you'?"

"Oh, I'll start again," she said, making a heart shape with her hands again, "Beautiful lady, I love you!"

He's such a fool.

Song Zhao held flowers in one hand and hooked his other arm around Nan Qi's waist, embracing her happily.

Nanqi then took out her phone and took a selfie of the two of them.

“This is the first holiday we’ve spent together, so we should commemorate it properly,” Nanqi said.

"Hmm... there's not much around now, so if you sneak a kiss on me, no one should see, right?" Nanqi said with a grin.

"Mmm." Song Zhao leaned in and gave him a light kiss. It was a happy kiss, just a little bit, but enough to leave a lasting impression.

"You made me wait for you just to prepare these things for me?"

"Well, just tell me if you like it or not?"

"dislike."

"ah?"

"Yeah, right," Song Zhao said playfully.

Song Zhao considered herself an unconventional person, but when someone actually did this for her, she still felt incredibly happy. The best part was that the person who did all this for her was Nan Qi.

Nanqi rolled her eyes. "Since you're in a good mood now, just forget about what I did to upset you during the day."

Song Zhao pushed her away and said, "Why are you haggling?"

"I'm just afraid you'll feel sad again someday if you think about it, so you should just forget about it."

"I can't control my memories."