Chapter 28 Birthday Gift

With the parents' meeting over, winter vacation has officially begun.

During the first two days of the holiday, Peng Chengyi remembered to treat Chen Yubai better—replying to messages instantly, speaking obediently, and even sending him greeting emojis in the morning and evening.

But less than a week later, she returned to normal.

Not only did the greetings disappear, but when he sent her a "Good morning?" message in the morning, she didn't reply until the afternoon with a simple "Just woke up."

Chen Yubai: "Who are you kidding?"

Peng Chengyi: "Are you kidding me?"

Chen Yubai: "..."

Chen Yubai: "Is this your performance?"

Peng Chengyi: "No, my performance the past two days was great. I'm tired these past two days and want to take a break. Handsome Chen, could you approve that for me?"

Chen Yubai: "How long are you going to take leave?"

Peng Chengyi: "It should be at least as long as winter vacation."

Chen Yubai: "..."

Peng Chengyi: "Kneeling.jpg"

Chen Yubai: "Okay."

Peng Chengyi: "Thank you for your great favor.jpg"

Chen Yubai: "How are you planning to spend your birthday in a couple of days?"

Peng Chengyi thought for a moment: "Let's keep it the same way."

Chen Yubai: "OK"

Because they share the same birthday, they have always celebrated together since they were children.

Before Zhou Lifen resigned, they would usually go to each other's houses for dinner depending on whether she or Lin Qingying was off duty that day.

If both of them happen to be on duty, then it's Peng Weiguo's turn to cook. Although his cooking skills aren't exactly top-notch, they're still much better than Chen Jianye's, who can only cook instant noodles.

After Zhou Lifen resigned, Chen Yubai basically came to her house most of the time.

Actually, back in junior high, there was a time when it was very popular to invite a group of friends to KFC or McDonald's for a birthday celebration.

Peng Chengyi, of course, couldn't help but yearn for it too, but Zhou Lifen disagreed, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Moreover, she didn't have any other good friends besides Chen Yubai, so she couldn't gather that many people to go out and celebrate together.

But Chen Yubai was different. He was very popular at school, had many friends, and was almost unattended at home.

So that year, she couldn't help but ask him, with a hint of jealousy, if he was planning to spend his birthday at McDonald's with his friends.

To her surprise, he scoffed and simply said two words: "Vulgar."

Peng Chengyi was stunned for a moment, muttering "You don't understand fashion at all," but secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

However, after celebrating so many birthdays together, she couldn't think of any birthday gift to give him.

Especially since Chen Yubai is unlike her, with many hobbies that he changes frequently, she can only give him some ordinary daily necessities.

Keychains, water bottles, piggy banks, pajamas, eye masks... they gave away almost everything they could.

After racking her brains for a while, Peng Chengyi could only tentatively add another message: "However, how about we split the birthday presents this year? I really can't think of anything to give you..."

Chen Yubai quickly replied, "No, I've already bought it."

Peng Chengyi was utterly shocked: "...How could you move so fast?!"

Chen Yubai: "There are only two days left, isn't that fast?"

Well, now that you mention it, it seems she really was procrastinating.

If I order online now, it might not arrive in time for my birthday.

Peng Chengyi pursed her lips, hoping to glean inspiration from him, and asked, "So what did you buy? Can you give me some suggestions?"

Chen Yubai, however, remained completely tight-lipped: "Think about it yourself."

Peng Chengyi: "..."

He's stingy; he won't even share this with her.

Peng Chengyi pursed her lips, turned off her phone, put on her down jacket, and walked out of the room: "Mom, I'm going out for a bit."

Zhou Lifen, who was sitting on the sofa watching TV, looked up and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Let's go to the nearby stores and see if we can buy Chen Yubai a birthday present," Peng Chengyi replied while changing her shoes.

"Oh." Zhou Lifen hesitated for a few seconds, then asked cautiously, "Do you have enough pocket money? Do you want me to give you some more? So you can buy him a decent gift, after all, he tutored you and helped improve your grades so much..."

Upon hearing that she could get more money, Peng Chengyi didn't care whether Zhou Lifen was favoring Chen Yubai again, and quickly nodded and said, "Yes!"

And so, Peng Chengyi, with three hundred yuan in his pocket, rode his bicycle out the door.

-

After wandering around the nearby shops for a long time without seeing anything new, Peng Chengyi got increasingly frustrated, got on her bicycle, and thought she might as well go to a bigger shopping mall further away.

Halfway through her ride, while waiting at a red light at an intersection, she suddenly spotted a livehouse called Dream Music on the street. It had several posters advertising band performances on it, and it looked like a scene from the movie "Lonely Rock".

So she jumped off her bicycle, pushed her crutch, and went to the front of the livehouse.

Although she had never heard of any of the bands advertised on the poster, they seemed to be local underground bands.

But having never seen a live band performance before, she was still quite eager to try it out.

In particular, one of the bands, called Black Sugar, has a guitarist who is a cool-looking long-haired girl.

Just as I was staring at the poster, hesitating, the door of the livehouse suddenly opened, and a tall, thin boy walked out.

He was wearing a black down jacket, carrying a bass guitar, and his slightly long bangs covered half of his deep-set eyes.

He glanced at her briefly, and Peng Chengyi quickly took two steps back awkwardly, pretending that she was just passing by.

But perhaps her acting was too clumsy, because the boy suddenly called out to her, "Want to see the Black Sugar Band perform?"

Peng Chengyi was taken aback, then subconsciously nodded: "Mm..."

"They have a show next Saturday night at 8 pm. Tickets are 80 yuan, and they include a free drink. You can buy it at the bar inside." The boy said, raising his hand to point in the direction of the bar, his tone deliberately softening so that she could hear and remember.

"Oh..." Peng Chengyi pursed her lips shyly and whispered to him, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The boy smiled, his thin lips moving slightly, as if he wanted to chat with her a little longer.

But Peng Chengyi, unable to withstand the pressure of socializing with strangers, quickly slipped through the crack in the door he had pushed open, like a frightened cat.

The livehouse is not large, with a loft-style two-story design. The stage is next to the bar downstairs, and there are fewer than ten seats under the stage, with the rest being standing areas.

There were no performances or drinks during the day, but the faint sounds of guitars and drums could be heard.

It appears that a band is rehearsing in a room on the second floor.

Peng Chengyi looked around curiously and timidly before slowly walking to the bar.

Actually, she wasn't 100% sure she wanted to see the performance at first.

But now that she'd already come in and even made eye contact with the barista, she felt too embarrassed to leave.

I had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Hello, I'd like to buy tickets for the Black Sugar Band's performance next Saturday night."

"How many do you want?" the young lady asked.

Peng Chengyi thought for a moment and realized that she didn't have the courage to look at them alone, so she said, "Two."

"Okay, that's 160 in total. You can choose any drinks from this menu."

Peng Chengyi took out the two hundred-yuan bills that Zhou Lifen had given her before she left, and as she handed them over, she glanced down at the drinks menu that the young lady was pushing towards her.

Seeing that there were options for cola and orange juice, she breathed a slight sigh of relief.

After leaving the livehouse, she looked at the two tickets in her hand and thought that it might not be a bad idea to give them to Chen Yubai as a birthday present.

Even though it was her idea to watch it, it's still more creative than buying everyday items.

Moreover, this way she saved over 100 yuan in pocket money, which she could use to buy comics.

So she stuffed the ticket into her backpack, got on her bicycle, and turned around to go home.

"Have you bought the gift?" Zhou Lifen, who had already gone to the kitchen to prepare dinner, turned her head to look at Peng Chengyi as she entered the room.

"Um... I bought some things he likes." Peng Chengyi nodded vaguely, not daring to say that she had actually bought two tickets to the livehouse.

After all, Zhou Lifen didn't even want her to go to McDonald's, let alone a livehouse that provides drinks.

-

On my birthday.

Fearing Zhou Lifen would notice something amiss with her gift, Peng Chengyi messaged Chen Yubai early in the morning, asking, "Are you awake?"

She didn't receive his reply until almost noon: "Just opened my eyes."

Peng Chengyi glanced at Zhou Lifen, who was almost finished cooking, and hurriedly stood up while tapping her phone: "I'm here."

Chen Yubai: "...?"

Peng Chengyi: "I'm giving you a gift."

Chen Yubai: "Why are you so proactive this year?"

Peng Chengyi: "Because this year's gifts are quite special!"

Chen Yubai: "Oh, let me get out of bed."

Peng Chengyi: "I've already left."

Chen Yubai: "Then you can stand at the door for a while."

Peng Chengyi: "I've opened the door."

Chen Yubai: "...Don't come into my room."

Peng Chengyi paused, standing in the living room, and replied, "You're not sleeping naked, are you? That's so perverted."

Chen Yubai: "What's going on in your head?"

Peng Chengyi: "Then why won't you let me in?"

Chen Yubai: "Because I haven't wrapped the gift for you yet."

Peng Chengyi: "Oh"

He's been giving these gifts for so many years, and he still puts so much importance on the ceremony. Peng Chengyi glanced down at the band concert ticket in her hand and suddenly regretted not putting it in a nicer envelope.

After sitting on the sofa for a while, Chen Yubai opened the door to the room.

The house in the north was heated, yet he was still wearing a thin T-shirt and pajama bottoms, his hair sticking up and looking a bit messy.

But it's not a mess; instead, it has a layered feel, like it was created by hand.

With a languid look in his eyes, he casually greeted her, "Come in."

Given that he always managed to give her birthday gifts that suited her tastes in previous years, Peng Chengyi guessed that this year he might have bought her merchandise related to "Lonely Rock".

For example, figurines or badges/stands of Pochi-chan.

She entered his room with high hopes, but did not see any similar packaging on his desk.

"So what did you spend all day packing in your room?" She gave him a strange look.

Chen Yubai shrugged and asked her in return, "Where's the special gift you were so eager to give me?"

"Oh, this." Peng Chengyi reached into her pocket, pulled out a ticket, and handed it to him. "I'm treating you to a performance by the Black Sugar Band at the livehouse. How about that? Pretty special, right?"

"..." Chen Yubai glanced down at the crumpled ticket in her hand, then slowly lifted his eyelids. "Who is the Black Sugar Band?"

"They're a rising local punk band," Peng Chengyi said, holding up the description on the poster.

Chen Yubai: "You've listened to their albums before?"

“…No.” Peng Chengyi pursed her lips slightly.

"Then you'll give me tickets to their band?"

“It’s not too late to start listening now, there are still many days until next Saturday.” Peng Chengyi laughed awkwardly. “Besides, you’ve never experienced the atmosphere of a livehouse before, so I’m taking you to see what it’s like.”

Chen Yubai scoffed: "I think you're too scared to go alone, so you dragged me along."

Peng Chengyi, whose inner thoughts had been touched, paused for two seconds before forcibly changing the subject: "Then what about my birthday present? I haven't seen a trace of it."

Chen Yubai sighed almost inaudibly and gestured with his chin toward the wall.

Peng Chengyi then noticed the black guitar bag standing against the wall; it wasn't the one he usually carried, but a brand new backpack—

The material has a subtle matte finish, and the Ibanna logo is embroidered in the lower right corner.

It's exactly the same as the one that Boqi Jiang is carrying.

Her eyes lit up, and she rushed over excitedly: "I was wondering which 'Lonely Rock' merchandise you would buy for me, but I didn't expect you to pick out a guitar bag! This shouldn't be as expensive as my little Jigui, right?"

Chen Yubai: "No."

"That's fine as long as it's not there." Peng Chengyi's eyes crinkled into a smile. She had originally intended to pick it up and examine it closely, but then she noticed that the bag was surprisingly heavy. "Hey? Did you forget to take the guitar out?"

She glanced up and saw his Gibson still hanging on the wall above the bed.

"..."

Peng Chengyi was stunned for a moment, then turned incredulously to Chen Yubai, who was leaning lazily against the door frame: "Holy crap, you didn't also give me a guitar, did you?!"

"Why don't you open it and see?" he said casually, his hands in his pockets.

Peng Chengyi's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly bent down to open the guitar case—

Inside lay the same black guitar that Boqi Jiang had stared at for a long time in the music store.

“Heavens…” Peng Chengyi opened her mouth, too shocked to speak for a long time.

She remembered that although the violin wasn't worth tens of thousands of yuan, three or four thousand yuan was still a huge sum for a student like her.

He actually bought it and gave it to her.

Although he's not short of money, this gift of his was a hundred times more thoughtful than the ticket she received.

Peng Chengyi looked up with mixed feelings and awkwardly extended her hand to him: "Um, if you don't want to watch the performance, I can ask Chen Wei to come with me. I'll get you a different birthday present instead."

Chen Yubai smiled lazily: "Let's leave it at that. Who knows if you'll come up with another bizarre birthday present like last year?"

Peng Chengyi paused, then pouted, "How was my birthday present last year weird? It was the same eye mask as in Gintama, how interesting!"

"So childish." Chen Yubai scoffed softly.

Peng Chengyi: "Isn't that just a perfect match for you?"

Chen Yubai paused, his narrow eyes slightly narrowed: "You're calling me childish?"

Peng Chengyi: "Yeah, about the same as a primary school student."

Chen Yubai remained silent for a moment, then suddenly took a long stride and approached her.

Peng Chengyi's nerves tightened inexplicably, and she took a step back while clutching her guitar case: "Why are you suddenly so close to me?"

He took another step forward, his large, well-defined hand bracing against the wall behind her, his imposing figure looming over her.

He spoke in a deep voice, enunciating each word clearly: "Of course, I want you, little blind boy, to see clearly that I don't look like a primary school student at all."

-----------------------

Author's Note: [Facepalm peeking][Facepalm peeking][Facepalm peeking]

Thanks to uoow, ahrun, and 75981039 for the nutrient solution [lop-eared rabbit head].