Chapter 76 The Gift

Reminded by Luo Xuan, Jiang Wan quickly put down her cup and reached for the knife.

They all forgot to explain their reasoning to Zhou Chong.

She didn't remember until the knife cut into the cake frosting, but everyone else was watching her cut the cake, and Zhou Chong hadn't asked, so she decided to let it go.

She cut a small triangular piece of cake and put it on a plate. She originally wanted to give it to Zhou Chong first, but when she turned around and saw the gazes of the others, she stopped and put the plate on her own seat.

"I'll give myself the first piece." Jiang Wan put down her plate and pointed to the left. "Then let's start from here and distribute them one by one."

Sun Qianyu, sitting to her right, was displeased upon hearing this. "Doesn't that mean I'll be the last one?"

"So what?" Jiang Wan retorted instinctively.

Sun Qianyu turned her head and silently mouthed four words to her: "Prioritize romance over friendship."

Jiang Wan pouted, but before she could say anything, she heard Zhou Chong beside her say, "Let's start with Sun Qianyu's group. I'll be last."

Since he had said so, Jiang Wan handed the piece of cake she had just cut to Sun Qianyu.

After distributing the cake to everyone in a circle, Sun Qianyu had already eaten most of it.

She licked the cream off her lips and solemnly took out a cardboard box from her bag. "Wanwan, this is a birthday present for you. It's full of sincerity."

Jiang Wan raised an eyebrow, took the box, and tried her best to look surprised.

It's no wonder she was pretending, because this was her second time celebrating her eighteenth birthday, and the second time she had received such a heartfelt gift from Sun Qianyu.

Without even opening the box, she knew there was a ceramic bowl inside.

The key point is that Sun Qianyu made this ceramic bowl herself.

According to her, she spent an afternoon at the pottery workshop during her winter vacation and waited two weeks for the coloring and firing before receiving the finished product before Jiang Wan's birthday.

However, she originally wanted to make a cup, symbolizing "a lifetime," but when she was sculpting the clay, she didn't control her strength well and the opening wasn't properly sealed.

So, the cup became a bowl.

It wasn't exactly a failure. Sun Qianyu thought for a moment, "Bowl" and "evening" are homophones, so giving Jiang Wan a bowl she made herself would be quite meaningful.

And that's how things turned out.

Because the experience was so funny, Jiang remembered it very clearly in her previous life, so much so that even ten years later, she still had the impression of it in this life.

Since her rebirth, many things have changed under her intervention, but some things remain the same, such as the bowl that Sun Qianyu gave her.

Jiang Wan opened the box and sure enough, she saw a bowl made of rough pottery, with even the stripes on the bowl's surface exactly the same as the bowl she had kept in the cabinet in her previous life.

"Thank you, I know it was made by you. I like it very much, and I will definitely keep it as a treasure when I take it home." Jiang Wan smiled sweetly at Sun Qianyu, her eyes crinkling into a smile.

Sun Qianyu was taken aback. "I didn't say anything, how did you know I made it myself?"

Jiang Wan paused for a moment, then pointed to the texture and cracks on the bowl and said, "Look, the handmade marks here are very obvious. I guessed it right away. It's full of sincerity."

"Smart, no wonder you're our academic princess." Sun Qianyu suddenly realized, and took Jiang Wan's hand. "Let me tell you, I originally wanted to make a cup..."

Sun Qianyu then repeated the story of turning a cup into a bowl in a long, rambling manner.

This time, not only Jiang Wan, but everyone at the table was left speechless with a mixture of laughter and tears.

Jiang Shengming, in particular, seemed to have thought of something, his lips pursed, his shoulders shaking as he tried to suppress a laugh.

After Sun Qianyu gave her gift, everyone else also gave their gifts.

There are fountain pens, desk lamps, crystal hair clips, aromatherapy ornaments, plush toys, and more.

What surprised Jiang Wan the most was the gift from Shi Leyao—

A hand-drawn journal she created herself.

There aren't many pages, but each page is beautifully made. There's also a blank half-page at the end. In addition, some pretty planner tools, washi tape, stickers, colored pens, etc., are included for Jiang Wan to try making her own planner.

It was truly a special gift, and Jiang Wan was touched by Shi Leyao's thoughtfulness.

Since her rebirth, Shi Leyao is the first new friend she has made in her class. In her previous life, she had almost no memory of Shi Leyao, but in this life, due to a chance encounter, she and Shi Leyao have more and more interactions.

She gradually discovered that Shi Leyao was a really good girl—well-behaved, quiet, gentle, and resilient. Jiang Wan felt very lucky to have such a good friend.

"I started drawing after receiving your invitation, but I didn't have much time, so I didn't draw many pages." Shi Leyao flipped through her notebook. "But I thought it wouldn't be interesting to see me draw too much, so I thought I'd give you some tools so you can play with them yourself."

She paused for a moment, then nodded very seriously. "It's a lot of fun. You should try it when you have time. When I get tired of studying, I sometimes draw, and it helps me relieve stress."

Jiang Wan carefully put away the notebook, holding it close to her chest. "Yes, I really like this gift. Thank you."

"I'm glad you like it." Shi Leyao smiled happily and walked back to her seat.

Zhang Chi had been watching from the side the whole time, and only after Shi Leyao left did he quietly ask Jiang Wan, "Can I take a look?"

Jiang Wan looked down and realized that Zhang Chi was asking about the notebook Shi Leyao had given her. She shook her head firmly, "No, this was a gift from Shi Leyao. I'm not showing it to you. What if you mess it up?"

"I won't break it, I promise I'll be very careful." Zhang Chi almost raised his right hand to swear.

Seeing his determined expression, as if he were about to join the Party, Jiang Wan suddenly thought of something and handed him the ledger. "Then let me take a look at it. Return it to me as soon as you're done."

"Okay." Zhang Chi took the ledger and slowly flipped through it.

Everyone else had given their gifts, except for Zhou Chong.

Jiang Wan looked at him expectantly.

She came with a schoolbag, so she must have brought a gift. Everyone else has prepared one, so Zhou Chong surely wouldn't have left her without one for her birthday.

Although she had been holding back from asking him, she had actually been looking forward to it for many days.

I've endured this long simply to maintain a semblance of composure and to allow myself some delayed gratification.

Under her expectant gaze, Zhou Chong unzipped his backpack and took out a square box wrapped in kraft paper, which could barely be called a... cardboard box.

Before Jiang Wan took it from him, she always thought that the square shape was the outer packaging of the gift box.

But once she got her hands on it, its heavy weight and slightly rough texture made her realize that things weren't so simple.

Seeing her questioning yet expectant look, Zhou Chong kindly said, "You can open it and take a look."

Jiang Wan didn't want to open Zhou Chong's gift in front of everyone, but she was really curious and was afraid she wouldn't be able to wait until she got home to reveal it, so after thinking about it, she still opened the outer kraft paper packaging as instructed.

A small piece of the wrapping paper was torn open, and Jiang Wan caught a glimpse of the character "物" (thing), and immediately felt a sense of unease.

She deftly unwrapped all the packaging paper, revealing several thick textbooks in front of her.

"Complete Analysis of the Final Questions in College Entrance Examination Physics", "Comprehensive Summary of High School Chemistry by Renowned Teachers (Upgraded Edition)", "Electromagnetism Special Topic (In-Depth Edition)"...

Jiang Wan's vision went black. Was this the birthday gift she had been waiting for for so long?