Chapter 17 [VIP]

Chapter Summary: Yes, this was Yao Ye's first kiss.

After Christmas comes New Year's Day, and after New Year's Day comes... oh my god, final exams.

Every year at this time of year, Yao Ye always feels deeply that she is still a student, especially as a humanities major. During exams, she has to memorize long passages of material, so as she sits at the tulip counter with her textbook in hand, she feels as if she is sitting in a high school classroom.

Before her high school exams, she would mechanically stuff snacks into her mouth to stay awake while mumbling incoherently while reciting texts. Now, she's simply replaced the snacks with various drinks, yet she still finds herself drowsy while reciting, the words going in one ear and out the other.

Of course, there are differences.

In high school, I bought all my snacks with my allowance. Now, all the drinks on the table are printed with the same shop's name: Kazamado.

One cup was plum green tea. Yao Ye's comment on it was, "The taste is so mild, I was almost falling asleep while memorizing it!"

So Li Fengjian made another cup of extra-strong Hong Kong-style milk tea and brought it over. Yao Ye's comment was, "This is way too strong! One sip and my throat feels all sticky. Is there anything lighter? My brain is already a complete mess!"

So Li Fengjian brought over another cup of lemon black tea. Yao Ye's comment was, "Didn't you put sugar in it? It's so sour!"

Li Fengjian tried to explain, "Aren't you on a diet? That's why I didn't add much sugar."

Unexpectedly, Yao Ye's face hardened, "What time is it now? I'm already heartbroken enough that I can't memorize the text! If I fail the exam, I'll be half dead, why would I want to lose weight?"

Li Fengjian immediately replied, "Understood, understood, I'll make another cup!"

So he brought over a cup of orange-flavored Americano, which he had specially bought from the Hehe Cafe across the street. He thought this cup, with its moderate strength, refreshing taste, and perfect balance of sweet and sour, along with the invigorating properties of Americano, would surely satisfy Yao Ye.

Unexpectedly, Yao Ye's eyes welled up with tears when she saw the cup. "What do you mean? You're too lazy to make me a drink, so you're just trying to fool me with someone else's?"

Li Fengjian felt a sudden darkness before his eyes: Sigh, who told me to fall in love with a little girl? This is what I deserve.

………………

As Yao Ye's desk grew increasingly cluttered, the number of beverage cups even surpassed the number of textbooks, until even Yao Qin couldn't bear to look at it anymore. Seeing Li Fengjian, seemingly undeterred, preparing to return to Fengjian Hall, she couldn't help but step forward, pat him on the shoulder, and smile.

"Mr. Li, please don't mind. Actually, my sister wasn't like this before."

Indeed, Yao Ye has always been a carefree girl, and she has never been so spoiled and arrogant before. It seems that love really can change a person, but Yao Qin also has to remind her sister.

"Yao Ye, that's enough." She sat down next to Yao Ye again and saw that she had put her coffee aside and was still drinking the same cups from Kazamado.

"Sis, if you don't memorize these passages, you'll really fail."

"I'm not talking about the exam," Yao Qin said, pointing to a table full of milk tea.

"Ah..." Yao Ye was taken aback, then realized what was happening, but still muttered, "...I didn't say I had to make him redo it..."

Yao Qin smiled and patted her head. "I can see that Mr. Li has a good temper, but even the best-tempered man has his limits. Think about it yourself."

So, about ten minutes later, Li Fengjian came up again. This time he was smarter and made several cups in a row, all kinds of styles and different levels of sugar. He took them out one by one, as if to say, "Whichever one Miss Yao chooses is your good fortune."

"So fast?" Yao Ye picked up the cups one by one to look at them.

"Let Aunt Sun and the others give me priority," Li Fengjian said.

"Won't the other orders in the shop be too much to handle?" This should be the busiest time for Kazamado.

"It's alright." He pretended not to hear Aunt Sun and the others' complaints anyway. "I've been closing early these past few days, which is my way of giving back to them."

"All right."

"So, these few cups?" Li Fengjian looked at her hopefully.

Yao Ye picked out a cup of hot red wine milk tea, "This one will do..." She took a sip, "Hey, didn't you put any wine in it today?"

"I didn't add any, I was afraid you'd get sleepy while drinking it," Li Fengjian said. "What, doesn't it taste good? Should I make another one with red wine?"

Yao Ye, biting her straw, glanced at him but smiled and said, "No need. Hmm... you're so thoughtful."

After a busy night, Boss Li finally breathed a sigh of relief, completely satisfied.

………………

Of course, the remaining cups shouldn't be wasted, so Yao Ye picked them up and distributed them to the art class staff. Everyone smiled upon receiving them. Liu Yue, who was very close to the Yao sisters, took one and asked,

"Oh my, what's this?"

"It's Mr. Li who's treating everyone to drinks," Yao Ye said casually.

Unexpectedly, Liu Yue's eyes narrowed into a smile. "I see all my colleagues have them. Is Boss Li inviting the entire art class of teachers for tea? Could it be..." She laughed even more heartily, "that Boss Li has finally been promoted?"

Yao Ye was stunned, then her mouth dropped open in astonishment, a blush spreading across her cheeks. She remembered that Li Fengjian had said something inappropriate in front of her sister last time, mentioning that he would treat the Tulip employees to tea after he was officially promoted. Yao Qin must have told Liu Yue that.

Liu Yue was overjoyed, then whispered, "Your sister told me to keep a close eye on your relationship with Boss Li. After all, she's busy with her wedding and doesn't want to miss anything. But even if your sister doesn't say anything, do you think everyone doesn't know?"

Liu Yue took a sip of her milk tea. "Under the pretense of taking Xiaomin to art class, Boss Li would come up every few days and then stay at the front desk. After a while, everyone started to notice something was up." Then she praised, "It's delicious. Kazamado's taste is indeed very good."

He then called out to Li Fengjian, who was not far away, "Thank you for the treat, congratulations!"

Li Fengjian also overheard their conversation, raised his eyebrows and smiled, "You're welcome!"

Yao Ye hesitated whether to explain, but then all the employees around her who had received drinks echoed her sentiments. Amidst the chorus of "Congratulations, congratulations," Yao Ye could only blush and leave first, while Li Fengjian smiled like a groom.

The reason Kazama-do has been closing early these past few days is because Li Fengjian drives Yao Ye back to school every night. His home isn't far from Baili, so he doesn't usually drive. But for Yao Ye, who's been studying in a daze every day, he's become her chauffeur, picking her up and dropping her off every day.

"Ouch..." Yao Ye, in the passenger seat, yawned widely. "Su Yan and the others have almost finished memorizing it. I'm still a complete mess here."

When will the exam end?

"Next Monday. Then the results will all come out next Thursday. So I'm going to stay up for two more all-nighters and I absolutely have to memorize them all."

Li Fengjian felt a pang of heartache and couldn't help but sigh. The car stopped outside the school gate, and Yao Ye unbuckled her seatbelt. Before getting out of the car, she turned back and said, "By the way, I won't be coming to work tomorrow. I'll stay at school and cram with Su Yan and the others."

"knew."

"Then..." She licked her lips, her soul, drained by the exams, suddenly craving sweet words to soothe her soul. So she blinked expectantly, her voice softer than the night breeze, "If I don't come, will you miss me?"

Li Fengjian's ears caught the gentle night breeze, and his gaze softened. "So, I'm qualified to miss you now, aren't I?"

Yao Ye was taken aback, then said shyly, "I asked you a question, why are you asking me a question back? If you don't want to answer, fine, I'm leaving."

She was about to get out of the car when Li Fengjian suddenly grabbed her wrist.

Li Fengjian's gaze was fixed on her. "Just now, your colleagues were all congratulating me. They all misunderstood."

Yao Ye pouted, "Hmph, you know that much."

“They misunderstood and thought I had passed. But actually…” he smiled bitterly, “I’ve been taking the exam for so long, and I don’t know when I’ll know the results. Yao Ye…”

"Um?"

When will I be able to find out my results?

………………

Of course, that evening, facing Li Fengjian's intense and interrogative gaze, Yao Ye righteously declared, "Nothing is more important than the final exam; we'll talk about everything else later," before panicking and fleeing back to her dormitory.

In the days that followed, she indeed stopped coming to work at Tulip, but she still kept ordering Kazamado drinks. It was just a bit of a hassle for Mr. Li, as his service changed from "delivering the drinks upstairs" to "driving them to the school."

Seeing Yao Ye return to the dormitory carrying a full bag of takeout, she took out cups one by one and said, "Here, Su Yan. Xiao Dong also put in a lot of snacks; these are all for you."

Among the drinks was a bottle of "late-night tea" with a particularly eye-catching label for Yao Ye.

Full of curiosity, Yao Ye immediately inserted a straw and took a big gulp, then clicked her tongue and said, "What a strange taste, is it Chinese medicine?" She then silently tossed it aside.

After glancing at her phone, Su Yan was both amused and exasperated. "Xiao Dong said that Boss Li found the recipe and purchased ingredients like ginseng and goji berries, and started brewing it at Kazamado early this morning. It turned the milk tea shop into a traditional Chinese medicine shop, and customers who came in thought they had gone to the wrong place."

"Really!" Yao Ye smiled, and looking at the cup of tea for staying up all night, it seemed much more pleasing to the eye.

"So Xiao Dong specifically asked me to tell you: Boss Li knows you definitely don't like to drink, but you should drink a little bit!"

"Hmph, he's not even here with me, what right does he have to tell me whether I drink or not..." Yao Ye raised an eyebrow. "Let's continue memorizing. I think I've actually memorized those pages I stayed up all night last night..."

After saying that, she picked up the cup of tea meant for staying up late and gulped it down, muttering as she drank, "It tastes awful..."

………………

After cramming for a few more days, Yao Ye finally finished all her exams.

On Thursday evening, she sat nervously at the Tulip counter, until she gave the wrong discount price to two customers who came in for inquiries twice. Yao Qin had no choice but to sit down next to her, feeling both amused and exasperated.

"Although I haven't seen your report card yet, just by looking at your face, I know it must not be good."

"I think I should be able to pass without any problem..." Yao Ye said awkwardly. "I did quite well in a few subjects, so I might even get a 'good' grade."

Yao Qin sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation, "Back in my university days, I even got scholarships..."

"I remember, every time you received a scholarship, you would buy me a little gift! Long live my sister!"

"And now, my own sister actually said 'pass is everything'!" Yao Qin was both amused and annoyed. "I'm starting to worry about you. Have the results come out yet? My sister, Yao Qin's sister, can't possibly fail and have to retake the exam or even repeat the course!"

Yao Ye shrugged. "It should be soon..." She glanced at her phone. "Oh dear, the results are available now. Su Yan and Zhang Jiajia's results are already checked!"

Yao Qin quickly nudged her shoulder, "Hurry up, investigate right now, in front of me!"

“Okay…” Yao Ye’s palms were sweating. She opened the school’s official website on her phone, entered her student ID and password, and then pressed the confirmation button as if resigned to her fate.

The page popped up. She glanced at it first, then squinted to look closely, and finally, beaming, she grabbed her sister's hand and said, "Sis, look, look! I passed everything! Not only that, but one of them even got a 'Good' grade! I told you I did pretty well on this one!"

Yao Qin breathed a sigh of relief, but then her face hardened again. "'Passing is everything' isn't a compliment. You're this happy about just one 'good' grade? University may be free, but your transcript is important for your future job search. You need to be more careful..."

Yao Ye, beaming with delight, paid no attention to her sister's nagging. She was about to send a WeChat message to Li Fengjian when she saw him walking towards the elevator.

Her sister isn't the only one worried about her grades tonight.

"So, have the results come out yet?" Li Fengjian asked directly.

“It’s out, look!” Yao Ye then proudly stretched out her phone screen, right up to his nose.

Yao Qin wanted to complain, "Look at her, she only passed and she's so happy. You need to push her to study harder," but before she could say anything, she saw Li Fengjian's face light up with joy, and he excitedly grabbed Yao Ye's hand and said...

"Great! Great! We passed them all. All that hard work paid off!"

"Hmph, you should drink more goji berry tea to nourish your eyes," Yao Ye said, beaming like a peony, then added haughtily, "Take a closer look!"

"Wow!" Li Fengjian exclaimed as if he had discovered a new continent, "You even got 'Good' in one of your subjects! That's an extraordinary performance! I definitely have to treat you to a good meal to celebrate!"

"Hehe, I won't hold back when choosing a restaurant."

Listening to their enthusiastic back-and-forth banter, Yao Qin, both amused and exasperated, silently retreated to the side. Well, she had initially worried that Mr. Li wasn't sincere towards her sister, and then she worried about the generation gap caused by his eight-year age difference…

Now it seems... Yao Qin looked back and watched them flirting and getting closer and closer, thinking: I really was overthinking it.

………………

That evening, Li Fengjian drove her back to school again, as was his usual practice.

The car stopped at the school gate, and he took Yao Ye's hand, slowly walking towards the girls' dormitory area. Yao Ye was in a great mood, chattering away like a little magpie. One minute she was talking about how Zhang Jiajia was a true academic star, even having "Excellent" on her report card; the next she was talking about how Zhang Zhicheng regretted his decision and came to Su Yan to get back together, and how Su Yan had directly sent him a photo of herself and Xiao Dong; and then she was talking about…

Li Fengjian gently interrupted her chatter, because he also had something he needed to say that evening.

“Yao Ye…” He took her hand and solemnly stopped.

"Huh?" Yao Ye looked at him, puzzled.

"Your results are in," he said, taking a deep breath, "and mine?"

"Ah..." She blinked, suddenly realizing what he wanted to ask.

"When will my results be available?" Li Fengjian asked, his burning gaze fixed on her face. His fingertips held a gentle yet firm strength, as if telling her: he wouldn't let her go until he gave her her results tonight.

"I..." She swallowed unconsciously, too nervous to know how to answer.

Li Fengjian seemed to have anticipated her nervousness and shyness. He was neither impatient nor annoyed, but instead calmly curled the corners of his mouth and said, "Alright, since you are unwilling to tell me your grades, then I will have to check them myself."

"How...how do you want to check?" Yao Ye became even more nervous.

Because Li Fengjian's gaze suddenly changed, from holding her hand to wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace without giving her a chance to refuse. The sudden closeness almost made Yao Ye cry out, but she held back.

Not only because they were on campus and people could pass by at any moment; but also because Li Fengjian's face was slowly getting closer and closer and closer... His face was too close to hers, and even though Yao Ye had never been in a relationship, she understood what he wanted to do at this moment!

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Yao Ye's mind: Wait, is he going to kiss me? Does the onion in my rice bowl for dinner still taste good? Is the dead skin on my lips very noticeable? Ugh, I should have put on some lip balm! He's going to kiss me, why didn't he give me a heads-up?! How can he just suddenly steal someone's first kiss like that?! So slow, hasn't he kissed me yet?

That's right, this was Yao Ye's first kiss.

Before Li Fengjian could even kiss her, he smiled. His nose touched hers, and his whispered words quietly reached her ears, "Very good, I've found it."

"What?" Yao Ye opened her eyes in a daze.

"When you didn't push me away and naturally closed your eyes, I thought I had already found the score I wanted."

"Li Fengjian, how could you be so..." Before she could finish saying the last word, "deceitful," she was already overwhelmed by Li Fengjian's tenderness.

She accepted him without resistance, yielded to him, and followed him. Until their lips parted, she breathed softly against his chest.

Hearing Li Fengjian let out a satisfied murmur, he said, "It seems that my achievement is far more than just 'passing'..."

Yao Ye half-closed her eyes and silently punched his chest with her hand, "...You're so annoying..."

This winter is a winter filled with pink bubbles.

So, following the hot red wine milk tea, Kazamado launched another new product just before Valentine's Day.

May you find your own peach blossom after drinking our peach blossom milk tea.

………………