Chapter 74 A Relationship Begins with a Bouquet of Flowers: But a Small Cake

The night was deep when an aircraft stopped at a street corner, and a person stepped out.

She landed and stood firm, intending to turn around and say something to the car, when a hand reached out and pulled her closer, half of the body leaning out of the door to place a kiss on her forehead.

Tan Yicheng raised her hand and touched her forehead, forgetting everything she wanted to say; her mind was completely blank.

Xi Congshuang took her hand, held both of her hands together and then separated them, then swayed them back and forth. This action was very childish and unlike Xi Congshuang's, which made Tan Yicheng unable to help but laugh.

The slight embarrassment from just confessing her feelings was dispelled by this action. Tan Yicheng asked, "What's wrong? I'm about to go back."

Why do you look a little unhappy?

Xi Congshuang looked up, revealing a rather unhappy expression. Her usual polite, fake smile was gone, and her cheeks were slightly puffed out, as if she were sulking and somewhat annoyed.

Without saying a word, she just stared at her quietly with her smoky gray eyes. Tan Yicheng understood completely that she was sulking.

Although she didn't know what was bothering her, Tan Yicheng knew that Xi Congshuang didn't like to talk when she was unhappy.

Was she like this when she was growing up? She would be unhappy but wouldn't say anything, just stare at the other person with a sullen expression until the other person finally realized what was happening and corrected their behavior before she stopped being angry.

Tan Yicheng waved her hand in imitation, then burst out laughing at her own childishness: "If you don't say anything soon, I'm leaving, and then I won't be able to hear you anymore."

Xi Congshuang glanced at her, then suddenly tried to pull her hand away, but of course, she failed.

She reluctantly stopped smoking, as if she really couldn't do anything about it: "I don't want you to go back."

“But I have an early class tomorrow.” Tan Yicheng’s voice was straight as an A as soon as she opened her mouth.

Xi Congshuang: "..."

I almost got sidetracked by the alpha's straightforward thinking, and the ambiguous atmosphere I had painstakingly created was almost completely ruined.

Xi Congshuang could only say, "I mean, I can't bear to part with you."

Tan Yicheng was startled. She loosened her grip, letting the warmth slip away from her palms. Before she could instinctively reach out to grab the hands that had left, she heard her speak again.

Xi Congshuang said, "I'm still annoyed that I said it so quickly without being better prepared."

When Tan Yicheng heard the first half of the sentence, he was a little nervous, thinking that Xi Congshuang had changed her mind. But when he heard the second half, he couldn't help but laugh.

It turns out she didn't regret it; it's just that the young lady felt she hadn't done enough to maintain the proper ritual, and her "perfectionism" kicked in, making her unhappy.

"It's a pity I forgot to bring a bouquet of flowers when I confessed my feelings. I'll make up for it with a small cake first," Xi Congshuang said, and as if by magic, she produced a beautifully packaged box of small cakes from somewhere.

It seems a bit of a shame there weren't any flowers, but... Tan Yicheng asked curiously, "Why are you so insistent on giving me flowers?"

"It must have been a friend who said it. I always remember someone telling me that 'bringing a bouquet of flowers when you confess your feelings shows sincerity and that you're ready to start a new relationship.'" Xi Congshuang felt more and more that she hadn't done enough as she spoke, and wished she could use a time machine to go back to that point in time to remind herself to be well-prepared.

At this moment, her thoughts were completely different from when she was walking along the river. Reason and tasks had long been thrown to the winds, and all she could think about was the romance she had just started.

The cake box, still cool to the touch, was placed in Tan Yicheng's palm. Xi Congshuang pulled her elbow down and bent over, this time not on her forehead, but on her lips for a kiss.

Only then did they reluctantly let the person go back.

Back in the dormitory, Tan Yicheng took a shower and passed by the table, where the small cake that she hadn't put in was still on the table.

Inside the beautifully packaged cake is a small, sweet cake, about the size of a palm, pure white, decorated only with chocolate. It's delicate and petite, just the right amount for one person to finish.

The packaging box has a built-in preservation function, so you don't have to worry about it losing its taste if left out for too long.

With her freshly blow-dried hair, Tan Yicheng stared at the cake for a long time, seemingly reluctant to tear open and eat this work of art.

After thinking for a while, Tan Yicheng, as if inviting a deity, put the small cake into the refrigerator. She was still not ready to eat the love token cake.

It was getting late. Tan Yicheng lay on the bed, pulled the covers up, and closed her eyes in the dim light of the nightlight.

The room was quiet for a while, then the person who seemed to be asleep suddenly opened their eyes. Their eyes shone brightly in the nightlight. Slowly, like a rabbit going back to its burrow backwards, they tucked themselves into the blankets, creating a small mound that kept twisting.

What exactly happened tonight?

What did she do this time?

The excitement of being confessed to and kissed finally came crashing back after a long and winding thought process, leaving Tan Yicheng feeling embarrassed.

It was just that no one was around at night, otherwise she would have been as happy as that omega she saw in the restaurant, jumping up and down with joy, wishing she could tell everyone that she and Xi Congshuang were dating, and that all those restless AABBOOs would put away their smart devices and not be allowed to ask Xi Congshuang for contact information under any pretext.

As for the scene where she was asked for her contact information? That was completely ignored by this straightforward guy.

Tan Yicheng, who was in the midst of her excitement, never imagined that the day after she finally fell asleep, she would forget to tell her friends about it.

*

The moon rises to its highest point, freely showering all its light upon the central star.

Xi Congshuang was still awake. She had just arrived home and finished washing up, preparing to go back to her room to sleep.

A person, still damp from the cold, went out for a drink of water and paused as they passed the living room, feeling as if something had been added to the house.

Her gaze swept quickly across the entire living room, finally settling on a red shadow.

The red shadow was not large, and its body was round and plump. It was as red as a jewel, like the red apple that the queen gave away in Snow White, but this apple had a pair of pure white wings, unlike the apple in the queen's hand.

The winged red apple is looking at the data on the virtual screen.

The red apple that had powered her up finally came online, and she made eye contact with Xi Congshuang. She immediately abandoned the virtual screen in front of her and flew over like a happy little bird.

But compared to the size of a bird, this apple looks a bit bloated, like a red Angry Bird from some kind of throwing game.

This little bird talks a bit more than the Angry Bird.

Red Apple said excitedly, "I haven't been online much these past few days. I didn't expect you to pull off such a big heist. Tell me what you did?"

Xi Congshuang: "I confessed my feelings to Tan Yicheng. Is there any way to stay in this world a little longer?"

Red Apple: "..."

After a few seconds of silence, the red apple slowly landed: "I just crashed, I didn't hear you clearly, what did you say?"

It was as if some horror story flashed by quickly.

The red apple folded its pure white wings, blocking its eyes, unwilling to face reality.

#Don't look at this, it's a ghost story#

But the truth is not something Apple can avoid just because it doesn't want to face it. Xi Congshuang repeated her ghost story again in her usual tone.

Xi Congshuang repeated again: "I confessed my feelings to Yicheng. Is there any way for me to stay here a little longer, preferably to die peacefully in my old age?"

Red Apple: "…………"

It's like this again, just as I expected!

The recurrence of past mistakes may be late, but it has come nonetheless. When has anything changed?!

It's only been a few days since I last logged in, how come the progress bar suddenly changed from mutual hostility to mutual affection? Is this the power of love-hate relationship?

So, is the price of having enough to eat really selling your soul?

The red apple was heartbroken, the red apple shed tears, the red apple, after much agonizing thought, finally decided to give up the struggle.

Given the choice between going hungry and earning points, it chose points, even though it would earn fewer points than completing the mission on time and leaving the small world early.

It's better than nothing. Thinking back to the last little world, Xi Congshuang was truly capable of doing things she would love even to the point of death. Even after so long, Red Apple still feels lingering fear.

This is the downside of AI chips having such powerful storage capabilities; they can retrieve information and recreate the scene, recalling the feelings of that time.

Red Apple was prepared to accept everything. Having experienced it once, she found this time surprisingly easier to accept.

Looking at the Honkai value again, it's only this much left.

The Honkai value has dropped from a high of 90 to the current 22.95.

When exactly will that 0.95 be eliminated?

It's impossible to have everything in this world. Just bear with it for the sake of the Honkai value.

In the living room, Xi Congshuang looked down at the red apple that was wrapped in pure white wings. It had been quiet for a while, more than ten seconds.

She understood it, knew it couldn't keep quiet, and she had figured out how to threaten... no, persuade the red apple to agree.

Red Apple: "Never mind, you'll die peacefully here."

Xi Congshuang paused, her mind racing, and asked, "?"

It was rare to see Xi Congshuang get the short end of the stick, and Red Apple felt a strange sense of satisfaction: "Hmph, live well and enjoy your love!"

You've already paid the price, you fickle woman.

After saying that, it went offline again to rest and recuperate, converting that portion of energy into points.

As the old saying goes, even a small mosquito is still meat, and emotions, when converted into energy, are also points that, if accumulated, will eventually turn into a big chicken leg.

*

Qi Qianqian felt something was off today. This wasn't mysterious or hard to detect, but rather quite obvious.

Not only Qi Qianqian noticed, but Xiang Wei also noticed. He lost his appetite and seemed to be showing signs of restlessness.

Because Xi Congshuang was sitting opposite them, eating lunch quietly and politely, Tan Yicheng sat next to her, unusually abandoning his quick-fix nature and eating slowly and deliberately.

Judging from her attitude, she seemed quite used to it, as if it wasn't the first time she had eaten with Xi Congshuang.

Things turned out this way for no apparent reason. Before lunch, the three of them went to the cafeteria to get their food as usual, chatting as they ate, and then started queuing. Xi Congshuang arrived late but just in time to appear in the cafeteria.

Her appearance immediately attracted a lot of attention. According to everyone's conventional thinking, Xi Congshuang should have finished lunch and left long ago, instead of appearing at the beginning.

Amidst all the speculation, Xi Congshuang, carrying the ordered dishes, gracefully walked to the three-person table.

Before Xi Congshuang could ask a question, Tan Yicheng moved to give up his seat, and the person standing at the table sat down.

Xiang Wei, Qi Qianqian: oO?

This attracted stares from all directions, who were watching this place with curiosity and shock, both openly and secretly.

Since her identity was exposed, Xi Congshuang has not changed the name on her designer clothes back to Xi Zhaoxue.

But yesterday's news broadcast on StarNet completely confirmed the rumors that she is the future head of the pharmaceutical company. I thought she would quietly disappear from the campus.

To my surprise, it happened again today. I don't understand why she chose to stay instead of going back to the company.

Now that the feared uncle has been caught, shouldn't he return to the company to consolidate power, stage a real-life version of three years of forbearance before finally exploding to capture the ringleader and welcome the Dragon King back?

Therefore, in everyone's eyes, Xi Congshuang eating in the canteen now is no less than the richest man going to the countryside and eating with everyone in the canteen.

Given the seemingly limitless assets in Xi Congshuang's account, she could indeed secure a place on the interstellar rich list, truly deserving the title of the richest person on Red Tea Star.

Xi Congshuang, a woman with stars.

It's strange, but when facing her, Qi Qianqian always ignores the aura surrounding her, yet sometimes when she encounters her alone, she feels that the other person is frighteningly distant.

Qi Qianqian, who had lost her appetite, simply stopped eating and racked her brains trying to figure out why Xi Congshuang gave her such a disjointed feeling.

After some thought, and after mentally reviewing the control groups and eliminating them one by one using the method of controlling variables, Qi Qianqian turned her attention to Tan Yicheng, who was eating politely.

It's you, the variable in the controlled variable method.

When Chengzi is around, Xi Congshuang will still put on an act, making herself appear approachable and easy to get along with. As for the subtle sense of aloofness, it will be unconsciously ignored in front of her face.

Even though there are four people dining together, there are always two people who feel like they are superfluous.

The bustling cafeteria fell into a subtle silence within a five-meter radius of Xi Congshuang's table, but beyond that, the situation reversed, with hushed discussions constantly taking place.

Whether Xi Congshuang heard or not, she quietly finished her lunch, picked up her clean plate, and stood up: "I'm done eating. See you tonight."

Tan Yicheng nodded first, then said, "There's another practical training class tonight, it'll probably be later than the end of get out of class, so why don't you..."

She wanted to tell Xi Congshuang not to wait anymore, and that she could just go straight home after get off work.

However, the two had only recently established their relationship and were deeply in love, always wanting to be together. Sending Xi Congshuang back would make it seem like they would be "separated for too long".

This was the first time Tan Yicheng felt that her major's course load was too full.

Xi Congshuang: "Then I'll wait for you. I'll go back after we finish eating. Anyway, I don't have anything else to do."

If Gloria, thousands of miles away, heard such heartless words, she would surely wail and cry until the boss had a change of heart and gave her a raise.

Prior to this, the boss had already given two raises.

Upon hearing this, Tan Yicheng's eyes visibly lit up. Xi Congshuang raised her hand slightly, and if there weren't so many people around, she would have touched Tan Yicheng's eyes with her fingertips.

"I'll be going now, see you later."

"Okay, see you later."

Tan Yicheng felt fully revitalized and had energy for class again.

After Xi Congshuang left, Qi Qianqian and Tan Yicheng returned to the teaching building together to continue their classes.

Qi Qianqian pondered deeply along the way, but ultimately couldn't hold back any longer.

Clearing her throat, Qi Qianqian threw out a suggestion: "Chengzi, don't you think Assistant Xi... Assistant Xi is acting a little strange today?"

I don't know how to describe it, so let's just call him Assistant Xi again.

This sentence was like some kind of command. Tan Yicheng instinctively recalled all the details about Xi Congshuang since he met her. There were so many details that if he were to describe them verbally, Qi Qianqian would exclaim that it was terrifying and that the teacher was being perverted.

Then, Tan Yicheng shook his head: "No, she's perfectly normal."

She was still wearing light-colored clothes, with a casual and simple style, but she still thought Xi Congshuang looked better in a suit jacket and frameless glasses.

If the glasses Gloria found for that hospital visit had come with a built-in glasses chain, the visual appeal would have been even greater.

Qi Qianqian felt that there was a thousand words hidden in her words, but she couldn't find a suitable way to express them. Then she thought that with their relationship, why would they need to go through all those roundabout ways?

Qi Qianqian asked directly, jokingly saying, "When did you guys become so close? You even made plans to have dinner together. Speaking of which, I was a little surprised that she sat at the same table with us today."

To be honest, given Xi Congshuang's status, if she wanted to sit at the same table with her, she would need at least an invitation, and then have dinner with her at a table filled with music and covered with velvet.

Her congresswoman mother might still have a chance, but Qi Qianqian is still a student, so forget about it.

"Did I forget to tell you guys?" Tan Yicheng finally remembered what she had forgotten after getting up. It turned out that she had forgotten to tell them, "Xi Congshuang and I are dating. We officially became a couple yesterday."

She emphasized, "romantic relationship."

"..."

Xiang Wei, who was drinking water, coughed.

Qi Qianqian's expression went blank, and she gasped.

Tan Yicheng raised his hand and patted Xiang Wei's back: "Are you alright?"

The more he filmed, the more Xiang Wei coughed, turning his face red, and he kept waving his hands.

Xiang Wei, barely breathing, said, "Stop filming. Alphas have a strong grip; I think I'm about to die."

Tan Yicheng silently withdrew his hand: "I'm sorry."

Xiang Wei just shook her head. After she calmed down, the usually taciturn Xiang Wei said in shock, "You scared me to death."

Qi Qianqian engaged in mechanical movement, continuously walking forward with the same number of steps, thinking to herself, "Who isn't like that?"

The afternoon classes are mostly practical training classes. They always adhere to grueling training and uphold the philosophy that "if you are a little short now, you will be a little short on the battlefield in the future. What is the difference between you and cannon fodder?" As long as someone can still stand, they will train them to death.

Every student who emerged from the mecha looked as if they had been pulled out of the water, drenched in sweat.

Tan Yicheng, who usually has the best grades, is no exception. She is not as badly affected as her classmates. She can still stand steadily by holding onto the wall after getting off the ground, and her forehead is covered in sweat.

The mental energy required to pilot a mentally connected flying vehicle is not comparable to that required to pilot a mech. It's as intuitive as comparing how much water is needed to fill a cup versus a tank.

In the interstellar era, people with mental power are not many, and alphas with high mental power are even rarer, making up only a small portion of the vast population.

Most of these people work in the military and rarely appear in public.

Therefore, most aircraft on the market are not compatible with mental energy, while aircraft that can be connected to mental energy are several times more expensive.

If those two aircraft hadn't been outdated and unable to be connected to mental energy, Tan Yicheng could have used mental energy to force the two ambushing aircraft to land.

"Here you go." A bottle of water was handed over from the side.

Tan Yicheng took the water and unscrewed it. After just one sip, half of the water was gone. She stood to the side and leaned against the wall with Qi Qianqian, looking at the mecha on the wall.

Qi Qianqian asked, "Judging from the training progress, it feels like the next field training session is not far away. How about we team up then? I'll go to the Mechanical Engineering Department and ask for a good student to cooperate with."

Tan Yicheng nodded: "Okay."

This time, she did not refuse anyone's request to team up.

Qi Qianqian started to plan. Each field training session involved a team of four to six people, with spherical surveillance cameras following them throughout. All their actions would be seen by the teachers and instructors sent by the military.

Orange's academic achievements are evident to all. The students in the mecha repair department are not detached from reality either; everyone is here for good grades, so there will definitely be many people who want to team up.

They were determined to choose a suitable partner in all aspects, and then work together to dominate the market.

Qi Qianqian turned to talk to Tan Yicheng about her plan, only to see Tan Yicheng looking up at Xiang Wei in the center of the field, serious and focused.

Although Tan Yicheng had taken an extra year of classes, it wasn't necessarily true that the other seniors who had to repeat a year due to insufficient credits were any better than the students in this year's class. They still couldn't even sit still in their mechs, and after raising their arms for a few minutes, they would complain of headaches, feeling like their mental energy was depleted and they were going to die, and they would insist on getting off.

The truly capable one has always been Tan Yicheng.

As an A-grade alpha, he may need even more pheromones in the future.

The words that came out of her mouth suddenly took a turn: "Orange, if you really get together with Assistant Xi, what will happen to your pheromones?"

Tan Yicheng snapped out of her reverie and replied without hesitation, "Being with her would mean I'd have an endless supply of inhibitors."

For girlfriends only, efficient and free.

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Choosing a title is a difficult task; it's easy to come up with a bad one (yes, I'm terrible at naming things, I admit it [please]). I've decided, I'm not going to choose one! The moment I made that decision, I felt a sense of exhilarating freedom, like running naked (Sun Wukong jumping on the beach.jpg).