Chapter 77 is sweeter than I imagined

Lu Chi carried the insulated box and walked slowly forward along the road.

The summer night rain fell silently like a thin veil, and the streetlights were cut into fragmented spots of light by the raindrops.

He looked up at the sky, clutching the lunchbox to his chest, afraid that rainwater would seep in.

The branches of trees along the street crackled and popped in the wind.

He simply kept his head down and quickened his pace.

As I passed by a cake shop, the warm yellow light from the glass window suddenly caught my eye.

A small cream cake was displayed in the center of the shop window.

Lu Chi's steps slowed involuntarily, and he stopped at the door, staring blankly through the glass.

Upon seeing customers outside, the shop assistant warmly opened the door, a professional smile on their face, and politely asked, "Welcome! What kind of cake would you like? This is a new style this season, containing more than ten kinds of fruit!"

Lu Chi stared at the cream cake in the center of the display window for a few seconds.

"No...no need."

Then he shook his head and walked away quickly.

The sales clerk felt somewhat bewildered and turned to close the door.

No sooner had Lu Chi left than Yu Qing caught up with him, holding an umbrella and calling out breathlessly, "Lu Chi!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Lu Chi turned around and saw that it was Yu Qing. He asked in confusion, "Why are you out here?"

"I was wondering why you ran so fast, making me chase after you for ages."

Yu Qing was exhausted. She leaned against a tree by the roadside and took a few deep breaths before she could catch her breath. Then she handed over the umbrella in her hand: "Take it, don't get wet."

Lu Chi instinctively wanted to refuse, but rainwater was already streaming down his bangs, clinging coldly to his neck. He opened his mouth, but only managed to squeeze out two words: "Th...thank you..."

"What are you thanking me for? It's all about you helping me and me helping you. There's no need for such formalities." Yu Qing patted his shoulder. The two were very close, and Yu Qing could even smell the faint scent of laundry detergent on him, mixed with the freshness of the rain, which was inexplicably comforting.

Yu Qing suddenly remembered something, and leaned closer mysteriously, lowering her voice to ask, "By the way, what were you doing standing in front of the cake shop just now?"

"No... I didn't do anything," Lu Chi said慌张地.

"You saw it just now, why are you pretending to be stupid?" Yu Qing narrowed his eyes.

"I really...I didn't do anything."

"I have a feeling there's something strange about you." Yu Qing glanced at him suspiciously, then suppressed his curiosity.

"I'm leaving." Lu Chi hurriedly left, holding an umbrella in one hand and a thermos in the other.

Yu Qing stood there, watching Lu Chi's figure disappear into the rain.

Looking back at the cake shop, the warm yellow lights were still on, and the little cakes in the window lay quietly inside.

...

The next afternoon.

Lu Chi tutored Yu Qing at the agreed time.

When I entered, Yu Qing was sitting cross-legged on the floor, with test papers scattered all over the floor.

"Isn't Auntie here?" Lu Chi changed into slippers and neatly placed his schoolbag on the sofa.

"I went to work and didn't get back until very late." Yu Qing chewed on her pen and patted the empty seat next to her. "Come and help me see if I got this question wrong."

Lu Chi sat down, picked up the roll of paper on the table, and looked at it carefully: "The idea is correct, but the discriminant was copied incorrectly in the second step, which resulted in an extra 16 in the square root."

"Oh, I see. I understand now." Yu Qing suddenly realized.

Lu Chi took out a few test papers from his bag and handed them to Yu Qing: "Today's task is still to do practice questions. After we finish those, we'll focus on practicing the questions we got wrong yesterday."

"No problem!" Yu Qing readily took the test paper and began to concentrate on doing the questions.

Time flies.

The summer sun, like a layer of warm icing, thinly covered the two of them.

Yu Qing finished the last question with her head down, handed the paper to Lu Chi, rubbed her sore shoulders and said, "I'm so tired, but I'm finally done."

Lu Chi took his test paper and handed the newly prepared questions to Yu Qing: "These are the questions you got wrong yesterday. I changed the way the questions are presented, but the test points remain the same. You can review them again."

"Can't we take a break?" Yu Qing cried out.

"No," Lu Chi said calmly.

What a cold-blooded and ruthless fellow!

Yu Qing silently cursed in his heart, but had no choice but to accept his fate.

Lu Chi turned to pick up a water glass, but his elbow accidentally hit the edge of the table, and the red pen fell to the ground with a thud.

He quickly put down his cup, bent down to pick up the red pen that had rolled under the table, and as he stood up, his knee bumped into the drawer with a "clatter," revealing a corner of a dark blue notebook through the gap.

Lu Chi paused for a moment, then subconsciously reached out.

"Don't move!"

Yu Qing's voice came from behind, unusually urgent. He almost ran over, pressed one hand on the drawer, and then smiled: "I'm getting a draft notebook."

After saying that, he reached out and took out the dark blue notebook.

Lu Chi looked at him with a puzzled expression.

But he didn't say anything; he had only intended to reach into the drawer to close it.

Yu Qing breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, he reacted in time. If Lu Chi had seen the contents of the diary, he really wouldn't know how to explain it.

While working on the test paper, Yu Qing pretended to be making drafts in her notebook, but her eyes kept glancing at Lu Chi.

Lu Chi didn't notice Yu Qing's little actions; he just sat there quietly grading papers.

A short while later, Lu Chi stood up and went to the restroom.

Hearing the bathroom door close, Yu Qing immediately tore out all the pages from his notebook and put them in his pocket. As the bathroom flushed, he quickly smoothed out the bulge in his pocket, sat back on the floor, and pretended to do some calculations.

Night fell.

Another day has passed.

Yu Qing escorted Lu Chi downstairs.

As they parted, Yu Qing suddenly stuffed a white canvas bag into Lu Chi's arms. Lu Chi looked at him in confusion: "What's this?"

"You'll see when we get back, and then you'll know," Yu Qing said with a smile.

"Oh!" Lu Chi put away the canvas bag and turned to leave.

Yu Qing watched Lu Chi's departing figure, took out the few pieces of paper from her pocket, unfolded them, glanced at them, then tore them into pieces and threw them into the trash can next to her.

...

Lu Chi returned home.

The room had already been made a complete mess by the old man.

Lu Chi first cleaned the room carefully, then fed the old man his meal and medicine. Only after he finished all these tasks did he go to his own bedroom.

Open the canvas bag.

A small cake lay quietly inside.

A brand new cell phone was placed next to the cake.

A birthday card was stuck to my phone.

The greeting card read: Although you hid it well, I still found out. Didn't expect that, did you? Happy birthday, Lu Chi.

Lu Chi stood there, stunned.

It took me several seconds to come to my senses after staring at the greeting card.

The cake was encased in a transparent plastic shell, with strawberries forming a small sun. In the very center, pale yellow mango chunks formed curved eyes, symmetrically adorned with two blueberries, and the corners of the cake were curved with chocolate sauce, slightly upturned.

Lu Chi sat alone on the edge of the bed, taking small bites of cake with his head down.

The snow-white cream melts on the tip of your tongue.

It was sweeter than I expected.

It's warmer than I expected.