It looks like he is asleep.

Xiaoguo covered him with the quilt that he had rubbed off, and then left with the towel beside him.

After hearing the footsteps behind him leaving, Zhuangzhuang quietly opened his eyes and secretly wiped his tears with his little hands.

He couldn't cry. He had to be a good and obedient child. Xiaohua and Xiaohu deserved the gifts. He shouldn't be jealous. He had no reason to be jealous.

But...I still couldn't help crying out under the pretext of having a dream.

The more he thought about it, the more tears came. He wiped them away vigorously, trying to hold back the sobs, fearing that Xiaoguo would come back and find something unusual.

He needs to be a good boy. He is already a grown-up boy and cannot act capriciously and cause trouble.

Xiaoguo outside the door saw everything, frowned, slowly closed the door and sighed.

This silly boy, it seems that he really forgot what day it was soon...

Having such a clever and silly son makes me so...happy!

My dear son, cry, cry, the more miserable you are now, the happier you will be in a few days! Cry, cry, cry, little man~

Xiaoguo covered her mouth and laughed secretly. Afraid that Zhuangzhuang in the room would hear her, she hurried to Xiaozhu and Yuling's room.

The two were discussing something when they heard a knock on the door. They stopped talking and sighed.

"Have you slept yet?"

The two people's tense nerves relaxed at once, it turned out to be Sister Xiaoguo.

"No sleep~"

Soon, the door was opened from the outside, and when Xiaoguo came in, he couldn't help laughing.

Seeing the two people's strange expressions, he smiled and explained, "Zhuangzhuang seems to have forgotten his birthday. He just said that he didn't love him and didn't want to give him any gifts."

Yu Ling exclaimed in surprise, it was really hard to believe, "No way, aren't children very sensitive about their birthdays? I still remember when I was younger, I would get excited for a long time before my birthday every year."

"That's right, we were just discussing what gift to give him."

Xiaozhu thought for a moment and asked in a low voice, "Sister Xiaoguo, can my brother-in-law come back on time?"

"Probably." Xiao Guo nodded and said with a smile, "The letter said that we can get back on the same day."

"So what should we do? Should we buy some firecrackers?"

Yuling had never organized a party like Xiaoguo mentioned, so she was a little curious.

Xiao Guo smiled and said, "No need~ Just a simple meal for the group."

"But we have to keep everything a secret from Zhuangzhuang. Tomorrow I'll go to Yang's house to let her know. No matter how Zhuangzhuang reminds or asks us, we have to pretend that we don't know that he's having a birthday. On the day of the birthday, we'll all give him a big surprise. How do you think?"

The more Xiaoguo thought about it, the more excited she became. When she thought about Zhuangzhuang's reaction that day, she was extremely happy.

"Great! This is a surprise party? It's so fun~"

If Yuling hadn't been afraid of waking up Zhuangzhuang, she would have clapped her hands and shouted. It turned out that celebrating a birthday could be like this. It was so much fun.

"Sister Xiaoguo, what gift have you prepared for Zhuangzhuang?"

Xiaozhu was also very happy, but her head started to hurt when she thought about the gift. She had no idea what gift to give, so she wanted to get some information from her.

After hearing this, Xiao Guo was about to blurt out the answer before she could think it through. But suddenly, she saw the strange expressions on their faces and suddenly realized what was going on. She squinted at them with amusement, "Are you trying to trick me? No way."

Xiaozhu blinked twice, "Hehe ~ Just curious ~"

"Yes, yes, yes, just curious and inspired~" Yu Ling quickly added.

Afraid that Xiaoguo wouldn't believe them, the two of them quickly blinked their eyes to show their innocence.

Xiao Guo looked away suspiciously and spoke slowly, "So what gifts have you prepared?"

She also wanted to look at their gifts for inspiration.

"Ah~ I'm a little sleepy. We should take a break, right?"

"Yeah, that's right!" Xiaozhu reacted very quickly and yawned. "Look, tears are coming out. I have to go to sleep quickly~"

“……...”

Yu Ling looked at Xiao Guo who was unmoved and swallowed.

"Okay~ We haven't thought about it yet..."

Yuling lowered her head first, and Xiaozhu followed closely, looking at Xiaoguo pitifully. They were both penniless and had nothing, and the only thing they knew was to sew bellybands and purses.

The two of them wanted to make a set of clothes for Zhuangzhuang, but their craftsmanship was not up to par and they could only sew a belt.

Xiaoguo nodded, looking as if he understood.

She knew that the other party had no idea either, just like her...

It's all my fault for taking care of Zhuangzhuang too well. I seem to have everything I need. I still have a lot of unused papers, pens, and ink, as well as clothes and shoes. Many of them are new and have never been worn. Jiang Shanhe also gave me a jade pendant and bracelets, but I think I look too young for a girl and never wear any jewelry. I have enough food and drink.

So, she really didn't know what to give Zhuangzhuang.

Or buy him a few big pork elbows?

-

Zhuangzhuang's birthday is getting closer, and Xiaoguo still has no idea what gift to give him. However, the two little girls seem to have come up with an idea and started to get busy behind Xiaoguo's back.

Xiaoguo became more and more anxious, it seemed that she was the only one who had no idea.

But life still had to be normal, and as soon as Zhuangzhuang recovered, she sent him back to Confucius' house.

The villain doesn't seem to be very happy, or rather, he appears to be acting very normally, but he always sighs and complains about himself in private.

Xiaoguo saw it all and smiled in his heart.

Although it's a little pitiful, I'll bear with it for the surprise in the near future.

The little guy got off the donkey cart reluctantly, carrying his schoolbag. After taking two steps, he stopped, turned around and looked at Xiaoguo.

It seemed like he had a lot to say, but he didn't know how to start. He could only look at her, hoping that she would hug him tightly like before.

Xiaoguo moved his foot subconsciously, and then pulled it back abruptly. Everyone had worked so hard for so long, they couldn't let themselves be ruined.

Besides, Jiang Shanhe should be rushing home day and night at this time, and I can't ruin his surprise preparations.

She turned her head away stiffly, not looking at him, raised her hand and pretended nothing had happened, waving at him, "Go in, mom is leaving~"

"Mom~ In a few days, it will be..."

"Oh, I know. It will be a sunny day in two days. Mom will wash all the clothes for you to change. Don't worry."

After saying that, Xiao Guo quickly got on the donkey cart and whipped the whip to drive away, fearing that if she was late for another second, her heart would soften and she would tell him everything.

Zhuangzhuang looked at the donkey cart going away, the joy in his eyes slowly disappeared, he walked forward a few steps dejectedly, looking at the empty street without giving up.

No, it’s my birthday in a few days…

Mrs. Kong, who knew about the situation, felt so distressed that she couldn't bear to see him standing there stupidly, so she walked over and took him home.

Zhuangzhuang followed her into the house in a daze. Halfway through, he looked up at her and muttered something to himself.

Mrs. Kong thought she was hallucinating because of her age, so she didn't take it seriously.

Little did he know that this action almost made Zhuangzhuang do something uncalm.

It suddenly snowed heavily that night. After finishing his evening practice, Zhuangzhuang returned to his room.

He stood in the house, looked around, and finally calmly opened the window, letting the cold wind blow in.

Zhuangzhuang was standing by the window wearing only a thin coat, staring into the distance with an expressionless face.

Mrs. Kong was worried about the villain, so she walked towards him holding a candle.

I didn't expect to see this scene when I first arrived. I was shocked and quickly closed the window.

After the room became warm again, Zhuangzhuang came to his senses and looked confusedly at Mrs. Kong who was closing the window.

"Master's wife?"

"Hey, why is the window open? You just recovered from your cold, you can't get sick again, otherwise your mother will be very sad."

Mrs. Kong closed the window for him while speaking with concern.