Birthday Noodles

"Oh my god! I'm so scared. When did you get here? You walk without making any sound!" Yang Jinyang was holding a bowl and admiring his amazing craftsmanship. When he turned around, he saw a cell phone and was so scared that he almost dropped the bowl to pieces.

Zhou Xi put away his phone, leaned against the kitchen door, and looked at Yang Jinyang quietly.

"What are you doing? Are you taking a picture of me?! Stop playing innocent!"

Yang Jinyang knew what Zhou Xi did every time. He was always able to pretend nothing happened. What good could come from holding the phone horizontally? It must be that her hands were itching to play with him. If she wasn't holding the bowl, he would have snatched it away directly.

Zhou Xi saw that Yang Jingyang was holding a bowl of noodles topped with a soft-boiled egg and vegetables. It was a familiar combination. He followed Yang Jinyang and said, "Didn't you cook? Why…"

She suddenly thought of something and stopped talking. She opened her phone, edited the photo of Yang Jinyang and sent it to Fu Xuanhua.

"Yes, it was someone's birthday two days ago, so we still have to make up for it. Okay, sit down quickly. Don't be so ungrateful that you want me to keep urging you to treat you!" Yang Jinyang glanced at Zhou Xi, trying to dispel her wild thoughts.

"It's been so many years, I almost forgot about it." Zhou Xi picked up the noodles, steam came out, took a bite, and it still had the familiar taste.

Before Yang Jinyang went to college, he would make birthday noodles for her every year on her birthday. She thought Yang Jinyang had forgotten about it after so many years, but she didn't expect to eat it again this year.

"How about it? Are you touched? If you weren't still in school a few days ago and I had a lot of patients that day, I wouldn't have waited until today."

Yang Jinyang supported his chin, staring at the noodles covered with soup in a daze. The little follower in front of him, who always followed behind him, seemed to have grown up in an instant, became more quiet, and was not as fun as when he was a child.

"I don't know if my cooking skills have deteriorated after not cooking for a few years. You, don't even say you dislike it. Eat it all up, and you have to drink up the soup too. Do you hear me?"

“The technique for frying an egg hasn’t changed at all.”

Yang Jinyang received a satisfactory answer and went to the kitchen to get a lunch box: "That's right! I am recognized as a great chef abroad."

Zhou Xi looked up and saw Yang Jinyang putting food into the lunch box, then glanced down at his phone: "Sister Fu praised your beautiful clothes."

"What?" Yang Jinyang stuffed the lunch box full, closed the box, and was confused.

"What! Not only did you take the photo, you actually sent it to my wife! Oh my! This apron! Mom, you're ruining my reputation!"

Yang Jinyang packed the lunch box in a bag, took two bottles of milk from the refrigerator and put them in, then threw away her apron and sat down to eat.

Zhou Xi glanced at the kitten apron thrown in the corner, as if accusing Yang Jinyang. He was quite satisfied with it when he used it just now, but now he dislikes it so much.

"It's all my mom's fault! She brought this little pink apron home for a supermarket promotion. I'm 5'8" tall, and I look like a little wife in this apron. Come on, I'm wearing a white coat, ahhhhhh!"

"Brother, it's good to be a virtuous man. Sister Fu likes it." Zhou Xi smiled and said, "Don't worry, you look quite handsome in the photos. Don't worry."

"Forget it, as long as my wife likes it. By the way, it was your birthday two days ago. Didn't your friends give you anything? Except me. I never give you birthday gifts."

"You know I don't have a birthday, so why are you asking? I told them I don't have a birthday, so of course I don't have one."

Yang Jinyang sighed, he still couldn't let go of his sister.

Yes, on his birthday, his father died in a car accident. How could he forget that? How could he celebrate his birthday happily? He thought that after going to high school and making so many friends, things would get better. It seemed that things were getting better, but not much.

"Why are you looking so sad? I didn't say anything, but you've thought so much about me over the years. It's okay."

There was still a little soup left in the bowl. Zhou Xi picked up a piece of fish for Yang Jinyang and said, "Eat quickly. Don't you have to bring food to Sister Fu?"

"I suddenly remembered that a friend of mine sent me a painting. It's still on the way. It's the friend who went abroad."

Zhou Xi picked up the bowl. The soup was no longer hot and just the right amount for his mouth. It was Yang Jinyang's habit to add a strong soy sauce flavor to enhance the color.

"Really? Never mind, let's not talk about that. Come with me to the hospital later to see how Sister Fu is doing. She still misses you a lot."

Yang Jinyang felt that the atmosphere was not very good. If it continued, Zhou Xi would definitely be secretly sad again, so he quickly changed the subject.

"Okay, how's your house going?"

Zhou Xi knew that Yang Jinyang wanted to pull it apart, so he followed him and pulled it apart.

"Ah, the house is already renovated. We just need to leave it there for a while. I was thinking of taking my wife with me during the summer vacation to pick out furniture and decorate our future cozy home. When the time comes, you can come with us and help us choose."

Yang Jinyang had already made up his mind when he was planning to return to China, so after laying all his cards on the table, he and Fu Xuanhua agreed that they would not borrow money from their parents, and that the two of them would use their savings accumulated over the years to pay half of the house payment, and then work together to earn money to pay off the rest. This feeling made him feel warm and very excited, as he and Fu Xuanhua would soon have a little home of their own.

"What should I do there? To be a third wheel for you?" Zhou Xi was very self-aware and didn't want to be fed dog food. Seeing the happiness on Yang Jinyang's face now, she felt satisfied.

"You don't understand this, right? You're our military advisor. What if I don't understand my wife's thoughts right away? Please help me find out more about her thoughts. She's your future sister-in-law, and as her younger sister, you should help your brother!"

Zhou Xi smiled. She knew her brother was calculating well and was really taking great pains for his wife. "It shouldn't be possible. You came from Yuxiu. Didn't you forget that you have to take extra classes during the summer vacation?"

"Me! Damn it? I actually forgot about this. Yes, Yuxiu has to make up classes during both winter and summer vacations. That means she has to make up for it for a whole month during the summer vacation!" Yang Jinyang slammed the table and stood up, his teeth itching with anger.

"Oh! This school! Sister, you've suffered a lot. It's okay, I'll wait for you. After you finish your make-up classes, we can go in August. There's no rush, there's plenty of time!"

"hehe!"

Zhou Xi knew that they were both very busy, and that all the time was actually the same, but this guy was really a rip-off.

The hospital is always filled with the smell of disinfectant, and it even makes people feel that even the walls have been pickled with the smell over the years.

Yang Jinyang took Zhou Xi through the emergency room, pressed the elevator, and arrived at the floor. Colleagues on duty greeted him all the way, some asked about his beautiful sister, some showed off their love, and some brought food to the family members. Yang Jinyang never stopped smiling all the way, and Zhou Xi also gave her brother enough face.

"You sit here first, I'll go find your sister Fu!"

"good."

The lounge was not big, with only two bunk beds, two tables and two chairs. It was Zhou Xi's first time in the doctor's lounge, but he was not unfamiliar with the hospital at night.

The hospital is brightly lit at night, but it looks deserted and lonely.

Several times when Xu Shulan was ill and hospitalized, she stayed by her bedside at night, needing to remain vigilant at all times. Once, late at night, when the entire hospital was almost quiet, Zhou Xi, unable to sleep, secretly ran to the rooftop.

The wind on the rooftop was very strong, making her clothes wrinkled. She sat on the ground and let her hair be blown into a mess. Sometimes it would scratch her cheeks and it would feel a little itchy and painful.

She thought it would be very dark at night, but it was still bright, both in the sky and on the ground. The brightness in the sky wasn't from the stars, but from the moon. There weren't many stars in the city, and they weren't beautiful, not even close to the ones back home.

But the view from the rooftop is good. In the distance, you can see the bright neon lights on the main road and the lights on the high-rise buildings. They look very beautiful when strung together, as if there is a story hidden in every little bright spot, but the distance is too far to see clearly.

She thought at the time that the scenery on the rooftop was so beautiful, but it was a pity that there was no one to watch it with her, and in the end it was only left in the photo album on her mobile phone.

"Xiao Xi! Hey, what's wrong? Did you miss me? You've lost weight. Are you tired from studying at school..."

"I thought about it, Sister Fu."

Zhou Xi's thoughts were pulled back, and he moved the seats to make it easier for the three people to sit.

"You must be tired. I brought you some food."

While the two were chatting, Yang Jinyang opened the two lunch boxes, arranged the chopsticks, and unscrewed the lids of the drinks.

"Come on, Xuanxuan, eat quickly! Try what I made tonight!" Yang Jinyang stood up and turned up the air conditioner by two degrees.

"Hey, Xiaoxi, you guys..."

“Is it delicious?”

“Delicious, delicious!”

"Xiao Xi..."

"Have some yogurt."

"Okay, don't talk for now, just shut up."

Yang Jinyang wanted to ask more about how the dish was, but suddenly he stopped laughing, his eyes darted back and forth between the two of them, and he glared at Zhou Xi with dissatisfaction.

"Xuanxuan! Why are you ignoring me? You don't want a boyfriend anymore after seeing your sister..."

Fu Xuanhua was stunned. She had tasted green tea.

"Brother Chacha, that's enough..."

Zhou Xi laughed. She saw that Yang Jinyang was winking at her, but she pretended not to see it. She wanted to piss off her brother, but she couldn't help herself at this point.

Regarding the incident of someone jumping off the building, the school remained silent for two or three days, but gossip groups were full of rumors. Some people were discussing that it was because the college entrance examination was approaching and the school was under tremendous pressure to appease the parents. Some people said that it was the student's own problem and the school could only blame itself for its bad luck.

Some people also dug up information about that student, saying that her grades were poor, she was under a lot of pressure from the college entrance examination, and her family was putting a lot of pressure on her. They said that she had poor tolerance, anxiety, and couldn't sleep all night. They said that she was mentally twisted and had a perverted crush on that handsome teacher in the senior year of high school, and she threatened to commit suicide. There were all kinds of statements.

Zhou Xi looked at it a little on the first day, and after finding out that it was not Wu Yi, he didn't pay much attention to it. He just followed the school's schedule, getting up, going to bed, eating three meals a day, and quietly writing the test paper in the room.

For a moment or two, she even wondered if she was too indifferent. After all, it was a life...

After two or three days, they received a notice to return to school to prepare the examination room.

The college entrance examination is coming.

In the end, they had no idea how the matter was handled, and no one knew whether the rumors in the gossip group were true or not. It just became a small fragment in their lives, a topic of gossip after dinner, and it was insignificant.

On the day they went to school, they rarely had to wear school uniforms, and the campus was full of students running around in clothes of all colors.

Yang Wen drove with Zhou Xi. Zhou Xi sat in the back and saw that Yang Wen did not look well. He had been dealing with school accidents these days and came home very late every day. After he finished solving the problems, he immediately arranged matters for the college entrance examination. He was as busy as a top and could not stop.

"Uncle Yang, goodbye!"

"good!"

Zhou Xi got out of the car at the school gate, waved, and watched Yang Wen's car drive into the school.

The retractable door at the school gate was not closed, and the face-scanning gate was also open. In the past mornings, students would stand at the gate to check their appearance and uniforms, but today there was no obstruction.

A cordon has been set up inside the school, and white powder has been sprinkled on some places to mark restricted areas. Workers are also carrying large and small signboards.

"Wow! Your dorm is so far away!"

Lu Zisheng was carrying a bag stuffed to the brim and a pile of books in his hands. He felt like an ancient stone-carrying man with a thousand pounds of weight on his back.

“Almost.”

The boys' dormitory and the girls' dormitory are connected. Lu Zisheng and Gao Liyang's books are planned to be moved to Chen Yu's dormitory, and Gao Yuanyuan's to Zhou Xi's dormitory. Seeing that the two girls are not strong enough, the three boys feel obliged to lend a hand.

"I'm really fed up. Books aren't allowed in the teaching building. My mom and the others won't come to pick me up, and they won't give me any money. I can't even get a taxi. I have so many books, how can I carry them back on the bus? Yangyang! Help me with some more, I'm about to collapse!"

Gao Liyang nudged Lu Zisheng's shaky pile of books with his shoulder and straightened them. "I can't move them anymore. Take a break. Also, do you want to move them back? If you do, your mother will beat you to death if she sees your books."

"That's right. My books are a mess, and many of the test papers are still blank. As soon as I move the books back, she will definitely come and look through them!"

Lu Zisheng had many test papers with red crosses all over them, and he hadn't corrected them yet. He couldn't bear to look at one or two small test papers with low scores. If his mother saw them, she would laugh at him to death and deduct all his pocket money.

There were many people like them moving books on the road. Although it was cloudy today, the temperature was still very high and stuffy. As soon as they moved, they were covered in sweat.

Lu Zisheng sat down on the stone below the girls' dormitory, lifted up his clothes and wiped the sweat off his face: "Okay, you guys move in!"

Boys are not allowed to enter the girls' dormitory. Even if Lu Zisheng and the others are willing, Zhou Xi and Gao Yuanyuan can only move in by themselves.

"We're leaving. See you in the classroom."

Chen Yu unloaded some of Gao Yuanyuan's books and placed them on the ground. The boys' dormitory was a little further back.

Today it happened to be Zhou Xi, Gao Liyang and the other two's turn to clean the house. They were really lucky.

Chen Liuyan felt that the workload was too heavy for four people, so she called another group. After giving them careful instructions on cleaning matters, she left in a hurry.

When a few people finished moving the books and returned to the classroom, the floor was a mess. The trash can at the back of the classroom was already full, and the trash next to it was piled up like a small mountain. The desks were crooked, and the floor was full of waste paper and test papers. There were also pens, notebooks, sticky notes and other small things scattered all over the floor. No one knew whose they belonged to.

Several people selected thirty tables with fewer scratches and no writing on them. The extra tables and chairs were all moved to the bottom of the stairs and piled up. The lucky ones in the classroom were seated in five rows of six, with the tables turned upside down and evenly spaced apart, and arranged along the tile lines on the floor.

The class schedule, hygiene chart, and all kinds of things with words on them should be torn up if possible, and those that cannot be torn up should be covered with tape and white paper. Even the flower stickers on the wall should be torn down, and all the debris should be cleaned up.

"well!"

"well!"

"well!"

"Why! Why! I don't want to clean. It's too damn tiring!"

"Don't mention it. If I were taking the exam, it would be fine. I would be happy to move the desk for myself. But, it's not my exam, and now I have to move books and clean the place. I'm really doing someone else a favor!"

Someone came in, without saying a word, dragged a table that had been set up, stepped on it, took off the clock, ignored the table, and walked away with it.