Jungle King

"No wonder he's so handsome. His parents are a perfect match made in heaven," Xu Yangyang whispered.

They too, Lin Luo thought.

"Lin Qiao, here you go." A boy passed by and threw a pack of tissues to her. She took it and said, "Thank you."

"Who is it?"

"He seems to be the English class representative of Class 17." Lin Luo wiped his face and gave the rest to Xu Yangyang, then remembered, "He was the one who gave me the strawberry candy."

"Does he like you?"

"Don't talk nonsense. He just wanted to thank me because I taught him some math problems last time."

Xu Yangyang leaned close to her ear and said, "I taught Zhu Changyu so many questions. Did you see him thank me? He must like you."

"Xu Yangyang, didn't you hear what Teacher Li said in her passionate speech on the podium just now?"

Xu Yangyang teased her, "What did you say?"

Tong Yun and Fu Xingchuan just walked in front of them. Lin Xiao held her breath and said, "I just want to study hard now. I don't have the heart to like anyone else. Please stop talking."

"Okay, I won't make trouble anymore." When Xu Yangyang saw the handsome guy, her eyes lit up and the corners of her mouth curled up inadvertently.

Lin Luo glanced at Fu Xingchuan. He had a blank expression on his face and looked unconcerned.

"Tong Yun, why don't you take off your adult hat? Aren't you hot?" Xu Yangyang asked, and she shook her head.

"Are you reluctant to part with it because it was Fu Xingchuan's mother who gave it to you?"

She hummed softly, and Lin Luo took a deep breath.

"So beautiful! I should have asked my mother to bring me a bouquet of flowers." Zhu Changyu walked to Fu Xingchuan and looked at the flowers in his arms.

"What kind of flower is this?" he asked.

"Phalaenopsis."

"So this is a Phalaenopsis orchid!" Xu Yangyang exclaimed, "I know its flower language."

"What is it?" Lin Luo was curious.

"Happiness comes naturally."

Lin Luo looked at the Phalaenopsis orchids. They really looked like butterflies, and it seemed as if they would take off and dance in the next second. "Wow! What a great meaning!"

Zhu Changyu touched the petals with his fingertips, and Fu Xingchuan handed it to him, "For you."

Zhu Changyu took it without hesitation, "I have to say, Mr. Zhu has a good eye. Our surnames are similar. This is fate destined by heaven!"

Xu Yangyang retorted: "It's not even a little bit off."

"You're flattering me too early." Fu Xingchuan patted his shoulder. His parents waved at him and he was about to leave. He said to them, "Let's go."

"Mr. Fu, you must keep Uncle Li's position for me!" Zhu Changyu said as he followed him, not forgetting to turn around and say to them: "You go back to the classroom first, I'll go say hello to my godfather and godmother who I have never met."

After saying that, he quickly walked forward, hooked his arm around Fu Xingchuan's shoulder and walked together.

It seemed like he hadn't spoken to Tong Yun alone for a long time. Lin Luo remembered that he had said before that he would bless her with a smile, and it seemed that he could really do it.

"I'm leaving now, I still have practice to do." Tong Yun said to them.

"Oh, okay."

The tassels on Tong Yun's hat swayed as she walked, and Lin Luo looked in the direction she left.

"Fu Xingchuan and Tong Yun should be talking!" Xu Yangyang's words woke her up.

"I don't know. Don't think too much about it." Lin Luo smiled bitterly, "Auntie is looking for you!"

"Oh! I have to listen to her nagging again." Xu Yangyang and Lin Luo separated and went to find their own mothers.

"I don't know where that brat Ruan Ye has gone again. I think he's been acting weird lately."

"What's strange about that?"

"He always has candy in his pocket."

"What's so strange about this? It's normal to eat candy to relieve stress." Du Yunyan said as she took out a few candies from her pocket and gave them to her. "I got them from Lin Luo."

Aunt Li took a look and asked in confusion, "Why are they all strawberry? Aren't there any other flavors?"

"Lin Qiao is allergic to strawberries. She gets a rash when she eats strawberry-flavored food."

"Oh, I didn't know that! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought she told you!" Du Yunyan put the candy in her hand. "Besides, she hates allergies. She usually takes care of herself! She won't touch anything with strawberries. We don't need to worry about it."

"Oh. This strawberry flavor is quite delicious. I see other little girls like to eat strawberries. It's a pity that our little girl can't have it."

"What's a pity? In life, there are gains and losses."

"Mom, Aunt Li, what are you talking about?" Lin Luo walked over to them.

"What's Xiaoxiao's favorite fruit?"

"Hmm... mango."

"I hate that thing the most. It's so troublesome to peel the skin." Du Yunyan complained in a low voice.

The voice got louder, "Lin Qiao, come out and eat some fruit."

"good."

There was no evening self-study on the night before the mock exam, so Lin Luo stayed in her room to review. As soon as she walked out of the room, she saw Du Yunyan peeling a mango.

She frowned, cut the mango into small pieces, put them on a plate and handed it to her.

Tang Muchen was folding paper on the sofa and ignored Du Yunyan. Lin Luo sat aside, eating silently, letting her eyes and brain relax temporarily.

She picked up a piece of mango with a toothpick and passed it to Tang Muchen's mouth to feed him, "What are you doing?"

He chewed something and mumbled, "gift"

Gift

"Who is it for?"

Tang Muchen pointed at her. Du Yunyan's phone rang and she walked to the balcony to answer it.

"Me? What gift? Why did you suddenly think of giving me a gift?" Lin Luo asked.

"March 5th is my sister's birthday." He pointed to the calendar hanging on the wall.

Lin Luo's eyes widened. That's right! Her birthday was coming up soon. Unfortunately, it happened to coincide with a mock exam, so she'd been so busy she'd forgotten.

She walked over to the calendar and looked at the dates. She had drawn a template for March 4th and 5th. In the square for number 5, there was a picture of a cake and a little girl with pigtails. In the square for number 1, there was a picture of a front tooth and a crying little boy. That was the day Tang Muchen's first teeth changed.

Lin Luo turned to the page for February, which also recorded the date of her first nosebleed. There was a laughing girl's face drawn on it, and a big snot was drawn next to it with a red pen.

These were all painted by Tang Heng.

"Sister, this is for you." Tang Muchen put the thing in her hand mysteriously. She opened her palm and saw that it was a tiger made of paper with the word "king" written on its forehead in red pen.

"Do you like it?" he asked, blinking.

Lin Xiao nodded, "I like it."

Although he is a paper tiger, he is still a king.

The next day, she sat in the exam room and wrote "Lin Qiao" on a piece of paper.

When she wrote the word "tiger" at the end, she said to herself: I am not a paper tiger, I am an ambitious king. I will use my pen as a gun to fight for my world.

Countless agonizing days and nights coalesced into every drop of ink, becoming bullets to strike down the enemy who threatened to crush her. The fleeting passage of time turned into a smokescreen, trying to blur her eyes, but she remained calmer, erasing her mistakes and clearing away the thick fog.

"The exam is over. Everyone put down your pens and leave the classroom first." After the invigilator finished speaking, Lin Luo walked out of the examination room.

After the exam, Xu Yangyang returned to the classroom and put the desks and chairs back in their original positions. She set up her and Lin Luo's desks and put all the answers in a drawer, pretending they hadn't seen them. They didn't have to attend evening self-study tonight. "The exam is finally over. I want to go home and have a good sleep."

"Why would I choose C?" Zhu Changyu sighed as he looked at the answer. "That's wrong. If I keep getting it right, I'm going to shut myself off. I'd better go to the internet cafe with Fu Xingchuan to play games."

Lin Luo sat in her seat, looking at them, not knowing how to tell them that today was her birthday, as they had all forgotten it.

In the end, she didn't say anything, but comforted herself, "Never mind, there's nothing good about birthdays, everyone is tired."

She dragged her heavy steps back home, wanting to take a walk. On the way, she met Ruan Ye, who took the initiative to speak, "My mother said today is your birthday."

Lin Luo looked at him, and he said indifferently: "Don't expect it, I don't have any gifts for you."

She curled her lips, and it was enough for Ruan Ye to remember it, "Oh."

"Is your relationship with Zhu Sui'an going well?" Lin Luo asked him with concern.

He was so cruel and ruthless, "Do I need to tell you this?"

"No." The two of them remained silent all the way.

When she got home, Du Yunyan was out delivering goods, Tang Heng hadn't returned from work yet, and Tang Muchen had gone somewhere else to play. The house was dark, with no lights on. Lin Luo felt a little lonely being alone.

She took out the test paper from her schoolbag to check the answers. She was scared every time she checked a question.

"Ring ring ring~" scared her.

It was Xu Yangyang who called and said that she had left her wallet in Qi Yao's store. Her ID card was in it and it would be very troublesome to get a new one if it was lost. She was out to eat with her mother and the distance was quite far, so she asked Lin Luo to help her look for it in Qi Yao's store.

As soon as she hung up the phone, Zhu Changyu also sent her a message, saying that he had left the test paper in Qi Yao's shop, and asked Lin Luo to help him get it when she passed by the dessert shop tomorrow morning. He also told her the location of the spare key of the dessert shop.

Lin Luo immediately went out to the dessert shop. It was already dark, and she arrived quickly after a few bus stops. She suddenly wondered if Xu Yangyang and the others had prepared a birthday surprise for her. It would be too much of a coincidence!

The dessert shop was locked, and Lin Luo, with a faint sense of anticipation, found a spare key from under a flowerpot and unlocked it. The door opened, but no one came out to celebrate her birthday. However, Fu Xingchuan emerged from the kitchen, holding a cake.

"Why are you here?" Fu Xingchuan seemed not to have expected her to come.

Lin Luo muttered quietly, "Isn't the cake prepared for me?"

Fu Xingchuan probably didn't hear it.

He walked towards her, and Lin Luo's eyes fell on the cake, which read: "Human Grass and Trees"

Isn't that the name of a book? And the cake was decorated with strawberries, so it definitely wasn't for her.

He explained: "Today is the birthday of the author of my favorite book and I make a cake every year at this time."

"I see." Lin Luo stood there in a daze, then remembered why she came here and said hurriedly, "I'm here to help Xu Yangyang and Zhu Changyu get their things."

Lin Luo was searching between the seats for her wallet and test papers. Fu Xingchuan knocked on the counter to signal her, "Here are the things. Qi Yao put them away."

She walked to the counter, picked up the two items, and wanted to say goodbye to him. Fu Xingchuan asked casually, "Do you want to stay and eat the cake? I have to share it with others anyway."

Lin Qi blinked and said, "Then...thank you."

After all, it was his cake.

Lin Luo sat across from him, watching him quietly as he took out the candle. It seemed he really liked the book, and it was full of ritual.

"When is your birthday?" Fu Xingchuan suddenly asked before lighting the candles.

Lin was stunned. How should he answer?

Finally, she told the truth, "March 5th."

"Isn't that today?"

"Um."

Fu Xingchuan held his hands in the air, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't get a chance to say it."

"...Then let's just use this cake. Do you mind?" Fu Xingchuan asked seriously.

Lin Luo shook her head.

"How old are you this year?"

"eighteen."

"Little girl, congratulations on becoming an adult." Fu Xingchuan smiled, his eyes bright as he stared at her and said.

Lin Luo hid her hands under the table and clenched them tightly.

She told herself that it was just a birthday celebration among friends and she shouldn't think too much about it.

"Thanks."

"There are not enough candles. I'll get some more." Fu Xingchuan stood up and Lin Qi breathed a sigh of relief.

I thought he would come back with eighteen candles, but he held the candle with the word eighteen in it, “I found this.”

It’s normal for a dessert shop to have this, so Lin Luo squeezed her hands even tighter.

He put in the candles and turned off the lights. "Happy birthday, make a wish!"

Lin Luo saw his face clearly through the light of the flames, as if the light was coming from him. She clasped her hands and closed her eyes.

The first wish: I hope I can become stronger.

The second wish: I hope we can all do well in the college entrance examination.

The third wish: I hope that everyone I love can be happy.