Chapter 18 Strategy: Scare Your Boyfriend Away on the Eighteenth Day

At the same time, Xiang Di was also staring at her personal signature, but she wasn't trying to solve the mystery, because the one who created the mystery was herself.

The numbers are a nine-square grid representing the pinyin of Bai Jiangxin's name. The three emoticons following it are also related to him: a cypress tree, a landscape painting, and a star.

Cypress symbolizes uprightness and integrity, undaunted by wind and snow; River signifies a gentleman as vast and magnificent as the river; and Joy represents a hearty smile and happiness. When one admires and likes someone, even their name becomes perfect, like a piece of chewing gum that never gets old. Chewing it slowly in your mouth, you can always taste its unique flavor and interpret its various beautiful meanings.

Xiang Di looked at her profile picture again, a chubby, internet-famous orange cat. The reason she used it as her profile picture was because at the beginning of her senior year of high school, Qianqian added her to the class group chat, which included dozens of people in the class. As soon as she was added, the first thing Xiang Di did was to look for Bai Jiangxin's WeChat.

Bai Jiangxin's WeChat name is an abbreviation of the first letters of his name, a very lazy way of naming, which fits his genius persona and aloof personality. However, his profile picture is not the kind of cold and aloof male god she imagined he would use, such as the same old melancholy black or boring artistic landscape screenshots, but a handsome ragdoll cat.

He looked very expensive, and his deep blue eyes were as beautiful and profound as the sea. For some reason, after learning that Bai Jiangxin actually used a pet cat as his profile picture, she suddenly felt that he was no longer so aloof and unapproachable.

It turns out he also likes cute things and uses cute animals as his profile picture.

Because the cat was so beautiful, Xiang Di subconsciously thought it was a famous internet cat, so she even posted online to ask which internet cat it was, saying that it was the profile picture used by the boy she had a crush on. She asked netizens to help her figure out which famous internet cat it was.

Reading comprehension of every detail about that person is a basic skill for every person with a crush. Many enthusiastic women appeared under Xiang Di's post. They had all experienced crushes and were very empathetic towards her. They helped her identify and compare the images, and Xiang Di quickly found the answer.

- This must be the cat that the boy you have a crush on owns.

- Just add him directly, and then deliberately ask him which internet celebrity cat it is, and praise the cat for being cute. If it really is his cat, wouldn't you have something to talk about?

Netizens love stories of unrequited love turning into reality and offered her advice. At that moment, Xiang Di had a sudden thought and really had the urge to add him as a friend.

But in the end, she gave up. The reason she admires every brave person is because she doesn't have that kind of courage, not even the courage to add him as a friend.

Xiang Di collected many photos of Ragdoll cats, intending to use them as her profile picture. She had already changed it, but after thinking for a long time, she changed it back to this orange cat.

It's kind of the same profile picture as him... and it's not easy to spot, since so many people use cats and dogs as their profile pictures.

Xiang Di used this orange cat as her profile picture for an entire semester. Even Qianqian would sometimes ask her how she could endure it for so long without changing it.

Xiang Di only said that she didn't like changing her profile picture often, but in fact, before changing this profile picture, she was someone who would die if she didn't change her profile picture. Her record was changing her profile picture four times in one day.

Later, she painstakingly came up with a personal signature related to Bai Jiangxin, and she has never changed the signature.

To outsiders, their WeChat accounts seem completely unrelated, with the only commonality being that they both use cats as their profile pictures. But only Xiang Di knows that this is a carefully planned arrangement.

People who have a crush on someone often do meaningless things in the little things in life, afraid of being too obvious, yet also afraid of being too subtle.

If she really didn't want to be discovered, she could have posted a status update that only she could see, and no one would have noticed even if she posted 800 updates a day. But she chose to put it on her most prominent signature, which shows that she secretly hoped someone would find out about her.

Xiang Di harbored this contradictory crush until Bai Jiangxin came to ask her what her personal motto meant.

Will he discover that her signature is actually a riddle about his name?

Xiang Di felt her heart pounding. If he deciphered the code, how would he react? Would he tease her, reject her, or ignore her?

Nothing. Bai Jiangxin sent a simple moon emoji, indicating that he was going to sleep, and their conversation ended there.

Indeed, how could a privileged young man like him, who had never experienced the pain of unrequited love, possibly understand the inner turmoil and complexities of those who had experienced it?

Xiang Di let out a sigh of relief mixed with disappointment, then slumped onto the bed and turned around.

Are you worried about being discovered? You're overthinking it. The person in question doesn't have time to play childish puzzle games with you, okay? The people you have crushes on are just too dramatic.

How could Bai Jiangxin possibly analyze her personal signature word by word? He's not her, and he doesn't like her. The fact that he added her as a friend is already the greatest courtesy he can show. Do you expect him to do the same for her?

I guess we'd just added each other as friends, so I casually clicked on her profile picture, glanced at it, and thought her signature was meaningless, so I just asked her a question.

Wait a minute! Did he accidentally open her Moments too?

Xiang Di suddenly sat up in bed and quickly opened his WeChat Moments to check if there was anything inappropriate for him to see.

Fortunately, no. Her public persona is that of a reserved young lady, and her WeChat Moments are mostly posts from normal high school students complaining about school and exams. Occasionally, she follows a trending internet meme or shares some nice songs.

While she was checking, she suddenly received a notification on her WeChat Moments that someone had liked her post.

She clicked on it and saw a familiar Ragdoll cat icon.

Her heart pounded, and Xiang Di's eyes widened in surprise. Bai Jiangxin had liked her post?! Which one?! Which of her posts was so lucky to have earned his little red heart?

Xiang Di's WeChat Moments are only visible for the past six months. The earliest post was from six months ago, when the bakery downstairs from her home held a "like" contest, offering a free dessert from the store if enough people liked the post.

Didi Dadi: [Family members, please help! My child is so greedy! [poor face]~]

The post garnered a lot of likes within hours of being posted, and Qianqian even commented, reminding her to bring some to school for her to try.

Bai Jiangxin liked this post.

So he was helping her collect likes on a post she made six months ago?

Xiang Di collapsed onto the bed once again.

In other words, he scrolled through all of her WeChat Moments posts from the past six months until he saw her earliest post, and then he liked it.

...He really underestimates her interpersonal relationships. How could a post not have enough likes after half a year?

...He's so aloof! Of all her interesting posts on social media, he only liked the one that had the least substance.

...He's so kind! When he saw her asking for likes, he, who is usually so aloof, actually condescended to like her post.

No matter how much Xiang Di analyzed Bai Jiangxin's act of liking her post, she could only come to one conclusion: she really, really liked him. He had only seen her post on WeChat Moments and liked it, and she was already so happy that she didn't know what the world was like.

Xiang Di hugged her phone and giggled to herself, curled up in bed, feeling excited, shy, and thrilled. The thought that the boy she had a crush on had read through all her posts on social media gave her a strange feeling of being naked and exposed to his gaze.

Unable to contain herself any longer, she yelled at the ceiling.

"oh!"

No, I'm still so excited, Xiang Di started humming a song again.

"You are my little star, shining brightly in the sky. I've decided to love you, and I won't give up easily. Yay!"

They added some inexplicable vocal transitions, thinking they were very skillful, but it actually sounded quite funny.

Sure enough, the next second there was a knock on the door, and Xiang Sheng's nonchalant voice rang out from outside: "Hey, you little pop diva, can you be quiet for once? Are you putting on a concert while I'm doing my homework?"

"You're such a spoilsport." Xiang Di's face fell immediately. "Mind your own business."

Xiang Sheng: "I don't care how big you are. Go wash up and go to sleep. Don't expect me to wake you up tomorrow."

Xiang Di: "Sorry, tomorrow is Sunday, I'm on holiday."

"You're in your final year of high school and you still get holidays?" Xiang Sheng asked in surprise. "Your teachers didn't even require you to attend classes seven days a week. That's so irresponsible!"

Xiang Di gritted his teeth: "Are you even human?"

"I'm not human, so you'll have to figure out your own food tomorrow." Xiang Sheng said lazily. "Dad gave me five thousand yuan. You have a day off tomorrow. I was planning to take you out to eat something nice, but forget it."

Upon hearing that there was free food, Xiang Di's attitude immediately changed completely, and she ran over to open the door.

Xiang Sheng smiled, crossed his arms, leaned against the door, and looked down at her.

"Of course you're not human," Xiang Di said, first criticizing and then praising, "You're a super handsome guy."

Xiang Sheng snorted arrogantly, "Tell me how handsome you are? If you do, I might consider taking you out to a restaurant tomorrow."

Xiang Di said directly, "You're so handsome that I want to have an incestuous relationship with you."

Xiang Sheng's expression froze instantly.

Xiang Di smiled sweetly at him and said the most shocking things to him in the most innocent tone.

Any man with normal values ​​would not want to hear such words from his own sister. Even if he knew it was a joke, he would still be shocked.

Just moments ago, Xiang Sheng had been swaggering around in front of her younger sister, boasting about having five thousand yuan. Suddenly, she felt extremely uncomfortable, cursed "pervert," and turned to leave.

His younger sister is absolutely terrifying.

He started reading erotic novels in junior high school. When he was caught, he blamed it on his sister. Although he tried his best to explain to his parents, his sister could easily wink and pretend to be innocent, and his parents unconditionally believed her pure and naive face.

"Your sister doesn't understand anything! How could she possibly read those kinds of novels! Stop slandering your sister!"

Xiang Sheng has held a grudge about this matter ever since. Even though his sister is now eighteen years old and about to become a college student, his parents still think that their daughter doesn't understand anything and is still that naive little girl who believes that a man and a woman will get pregnant and have a baby as long as they kiss.

Because Xiang Di was so good at putting on an act in front of adults, not only did their parents think that way, but all their relatives thought the same way.

Only Xiang Sheng knew his sister's true colors—a complete Minion.

He had previously thought his sister was just a little lewd in her thinking, but he never expected that she was not only lewd, but also very perverted.

As an adult, Xiang Sheng occasionally watches some grotesque adult films for a thrill, but he would never touch the subject of incest between siblings. Once, a roommate saw a picture of his sister on his phone and teased him, saying, "You're something else, aren't you? Your sister is so cute, why don't you go for incest?"

He immediately retorted, calling his roommate disgusting.

Now, it's not someone else making fun of him about orthopedics, but his own sister.

Xiang Sheng felt worse than if he had swallowed a fly. He gritted his teeth and thought, "You little brat, you're disgusting your brother, aren't you? You're pretending to be innocent, aren't you? When you get a boyfriend in the future, I'll definitely tell him your true colors and scare him away. That's the price you pay for disgusting me."

-

On her hard-earned day off, Xiang Di had planned to sleep in, but she woke up naturally at eight o'clock.

That darn biological clock! After the college entrance exam, she's determined to sleep for three days and three nights straight.

With no other option, he got up and opened the door. The house was quiet. Xiang Sheng hadn't gotten up yet. Since his senior year of college, he had been living a completely reversed day-night life. He had stayed up all night again last night, and it was impossible for him to get up before noon.

Xiang Di had no choice but to go to the refrigerator to find something to eat. The cheese puffs that Bai Jiangxin had given her yesterday were still untouched. She thought about it for a while, but in the end, she couldn't bear to take them out and eat them.

After grabbing a quick bite to fill his stomach, Xiang Di did his homework while waiting for Xiang Sheng to wake up so he could take her out to eat.

They wrote until after midnight, but Xiang Sheng still hadn't made a move. Their brains were exhausted, and Xiang Di was hungry, so they had to get up and go outside to find something to eat.

As soon as the door opened, Xiang Sheng woke up sometime earlier, her hair a messy tangle, and she was lying on the sofa eating.

"Why didn't you wake me up when you woke up?" Xiang Di complained. "I've been waiting for you for ages, I'm starving."

"I thought you were focused on your homework, so I didn't bother you." Xiang Sheng waved to her. "Come and have something to eat first, then I'll get ready and take you out to a restaurant."

Xiang Di said "oh" and walked over, only to find that Xiang Sheng was actually eating her cheese puffs, and she had already eaten more than half of them, with only two left.

She suddenly became agitated: "Hey! Who told you to eat my cream puffs!"

Xiang Sheng frowned: "Why are you shouting so loudly? You put it in the refrigerator, and you didn't say it couldn't be eaten."

"you!"

Xiang Di gritted her teeth in anger and quickly snatched the last two cream puffs.

Xiang Sheng laughed when she saw her exaggeratedly possessive behavior towards her food, just like a puppy.

"Is it really necessary? It's just from the bakery downstairs. I can just buy you another one."

"You don't know anything!" Xiang Di yelled at him, "This is different, okay!"

"What's different?" Xiang Sheng smacked her lips, savoring the taste. "Did they put gold in this cream puff? I didn't find any."

Xiang Di couldn't say anything, so she could only stand there angrily. She turned around, stormed back to her room, and slammed the door shut.

Xiang Sheng was completely baffled.

After waiting for a long time, Xiang Di still didn't come out, looking like she was going to fight him to the end. Xiang Sheng had no choice but to apologize, saying that he wouldn't compensate her for the cream puffs, and that she could eat whatever she wanted today, he would take care of it.

After coaxing him for more than ten minutes, Xiang Di finally came out and said, "I can forgive you, but you have to promise me one thing."

Xiang Sheng: "Just tell me not to go too far."

It's not unreasonable. The cream puffs at the bakery downstairs are usually baked around 10 a.m., but by then Xiang Di has already gone to school, so she asked Xiang Sheng to bring her a cream puff to school on Monday.

Xiang Sheng found it a bit troublesome and said, "I'll buy you one today, and you can just take it to school to eat tomorrow."

"No," Xiang Di refused. "I want the freshest."

Xiang Sheng: "..."

Is she a dog? She only eats freshly excreted, hot poop.

Xiang Di: "Fine, if you don't agree, then I won't eat. Let me starve to death."

"I agree, I agree." Xiang Sheng compromised, "You are Yang Guifei, and I am your cream puff maker, okay? I promise to bring you the freshest cream puffs on Monday."

Xiang Di hummed softly.

I went out for a big meal, then spent the afternoon doing some homework, playing on my phone, and taking a nap. The sunlight gradually dimmed, and the orange glow of the sunset painted the windowsill. My short holiday passed by so suddenly.

The boarding students should have already returned to school half-dead with their suitcases by now. Xiang Di is a day student, so she doesn't need to go to evening self-study tonight.

Tomorrow is the start of school again. For others, it might be bad news, and they might wish tomorrow would never come. But for Xiang Di, it's something to look forward to.

Because she will be able to see Bai Jiangxin again tomorrow.

If it weren't for Bai Jiangxin, she wouldn't know how she would have been able to persevere through her senior year of high school. Having someone you like and think about constantly at school is a great motivation for studying.

However, once she gets to school tomorrow, she won't be able to sit next to Bai Jiangxin anymore, which makes her less motivated to study.

I hope that when the seating arrangement changes tomorrow, the teacher can arrange a seat for her where she can easily see him; that would be enough for her.

Xiang Di began to pray to God Mother and Buddha Father again.

-

On Monday, Xiang Di woke up to the cacophony of her alarm clock.

Another beautiful day has begun. Xiang Di quickly washed up, put on her schoolbag, and before leaving home, she went to Xiang Sheng's room and knocked on the door forcefully.

After knocking several times, the person inside finally responded.

"What the hell are you knocking on?! I didn't go to sleep until after 4 AM, you know that?!"

Xiang Di wasn't afraid of her brother at all, and pretended not to hear him, shouting through the door, "I'm going to school, don't forget to buy me cream puffs!"

To prevent her brother from coming out and beating her, Xiang Di quickly made her escape.

Her home is not far from the school, with direct subway and bus access. In the senior year of high school, every second counts, so Xiang Di usually takes the bus to save time by eating breakfast on the way.

The bus arrived at the school gate, and I had just finished breakfast. As soon as I got off the bus, I breathed in the fresh air at the school gate with a refreshed feeling and strode into the school.

As Xiang Di walked along the campus path, humming a tune in her heart, she suddenly saw a figure from behind ahead.

Her tall and slender figure, her habit of carrying a bag over one shoulder—even when she was wearing a school uniform, she was instantly recognizable.

Xiang Di took a deep breath. They were already WeChat friends. She should be able to say hello without any awkwardness, right?

Thinking this, she quickened her pace and finally got very close to him. She composed herself and said, "Hi, Bai Jiangxin."

The boy turned around, his handsome, aloof features revealing him to be Bai Jiangxin.

She thought of a very natural opening line: "Have you had breakfast?"

"have eaten."

"Did you buy it near the school gate?"

"No," Bai Jiangxin said. "It's breakfast made by the housekeeper at home."

"You have a housekeeper?"

"Um."

The conversation wasn't particularly meaningful, but Bai Jiangxin responded to every single one of them. He answered whatever Xiang Di asked, and the two of them walked side by side toward the teaching building without any awkward silence.

Xiang Di secretly rejoiced, thinking how clever she was to have obtained the opportunity to travel with Bai Jiangxin without lifting a finger.

However, after walking for a while, Bai Jiangxin suddenly stopped, looked down, and stared at her with a strange expression.

Xiang Di asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Bai Jiangxin frowned slightly and remained silent. The two of them suddenly stopped on the busy street.

The students behind them naturally bypassed them, but suddenly a few boys came running from behind, darting through the crowd like eels. One of the boys accidentally bumped into Xiang Di's backpack, shoving her forward.

Xiang Di leaned forward but didn't fall. Bai Jiangxin reacted quickly and stretched out his arm to catch her, preventing her from falling face-first to the ground.

The boy running forward realized he had bumped into someone, shouted "Sorry," and quickly disappeared from sight.

Before she could confront the boy, Xiang Di, still shaken, grabbed Bai Jiangxin's arm.

She felt relieved; damn, that was terrifying, she almost got disfigured.

Once she came to her senses, she realized she was holding Bai Jiangxin's arm, so she quickly stood up straight and let go of him.

As soon as she let go, Bai Jiangxin's brows furrowed even more tightly than before.

Seeing that his expression was a little strange, Xiang Di asked, "What's wrong?"

"...Nothing serious." Bai Jiangxin looked away. "Did you fall and hurt yourself?"

"No, no," Xiang Di said. "Thank goodness you caught me, thank you."

Bai Jiangxin: "It's alright, let's go."

The two walked side by side. It was rush hour for students going to school, and the road was packed with people. Bai Jiangxin's ears were filled with chattering sounds, but he couldn't hear Xiang Di's thoughts.

Xiang Di then asked him, "By the way, when are we going to find Teacher Chen today and ask him to change our seats?"

Bai Jiangxin's expression froze.