Chapter 271 Thank You Chocolate
Walking all the way from the mount parking area at the entrance of Caiyun Wetland, Cuiqiao walked slowly for more than ten minutes before finally arriving at the door of the hut where Fang Ting's team was.
Although she didn't feel physically tired, the hours of tug-of-war with Mo He still made her feel a little tired mentally, so she took some time to stand in the dark and adjust her expression slightly to make sure no one could see the tiredness from her look. Then she silently untied the ritual and walked into the cabin.
Inside the house, the three juniors all gathered around the sofa, surrounding Xia Liang's phone. Cuiqiao could hear the music and conversation coming from the phone, and could also tell that they seemed to be watching some video, so she didn't make any noise when she entered the room. As a result, the juniors were completely unaware that someone had come in through the door.
Bai Jingxuan was the first person to notice the delphinium. She noticed it when she shifted her gaze because her eyes were tired from staring at the screen. Then, while the other two were still focusing on their phones, she rushed over, shouting "Teacher".
"Teacher, you're back so late!" Although she said words that sounded like a complaint, Bai Jingxuan had already put her hands on Cuique's arms. There was no hint of blame in her actions, so it looked like she was just acting coquettishly.
"Well, there were some unexpected circumstances that delayed us a bit."
Cuiqiao had no plans to tell the younger generations about Mo He, so she just briefly mentioned her itinerary and patted Bai Jingxuan on the arm, "How are you doing today? What are you doing now?"
“We are learning how to make eggs…”
Bai Jingxuan did not hide her actions at all and almost blurted out the whole story, but she was interrupted by Lin Xiaolu who was chasing her aggressively from behind.
——"Crispie, you're back!" While saying this, Lin Xiaolu secretly tugged at Bai Jingxuan's sleeves twice, signaling her to shut up.
"Welcome back, young senior." Xia Liang took this opportunity to stand on the other side of Cuique and expressed his welcome softly.
Such greetings have become a daily occurrence for Cui Que. When she is in Fangting City and comes home late due to work or patrol, the juniors will come to greet her in the living room. However, unlike what Cui Que remembers, they usually chat with her for a few minutes after greeting her and then go back to their own business. But today, especially Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang, they still gathered together after the greetings, as if they were waiting for something. The atmosphere was quite strange for a while.
The two of them looked at each other, as if everyone had something to say, but no one spoke first. Bai Jingxuan looked like she wanted to say something, but Lin Xiaolu held her tightly, so that the situation came to a stalemate.
This strange behavior was seen by Cuique, and naturally made her confused. However, she quickly remembered what day it was today, and what Lin Xiaolu had said in a message to Lin Yun during the day - the younger generations seemed to have made chocolates specifically for her.
She already had a deep understanding of the temperaments of these girls in front of her. After a little thought, she realized what they might have done. She thought that instead of waiting for Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang to waste time here, it would be better for her to take the initiative. In this somewhat weird atmosphere, she raised her hand and made a slightly downward gesture: "Ahem, wait for me here, I'll go get something."
Having said this, she turned and left amid the somewhat surprised gazes of her juniors, then walked to her own luggage cabinet, opened the door, and dug out a few rather exquisite packaging boxes.
She glanced at the boxes and confirmed that they were indeed what she had prepared. Then she took the boxes and walked back to the door, stuffing them into the hands of the juniors one by one:
"Here, chocolate."
She bought these boxes of chocolates yesterday when she was tasting them on the roadside, and also bought some Qiyun cakes for the memorial at the Martyrs' Cemetery. She used up the Qiyun cakes at the memorial cemetery, but she took the chocolates back to the hotel.
When she bought the chocolate, she didn't think too much about it. She just thought it tasted good and she could take it home for her children to taste. But after buying it, she remembered Valentine's Day, so after thinking about it, she decided to keep it for another day and give it out as a holiday gift on Valentine's Day.
"Because I bought it directly from a roadside dessert shop, it's not something that I'm particularly thoughtful about. Just treat it as a snack and try it casually."
As she handed over the chocolate, she explained, "Anyway, I personally think it tastes pretty good."
"Wow! The teacher gave me chocolate!" Bai Jingxuan showed a very simple happy emotion after receiving the chocolate.
"Thank you, young senior." Xia Liang acted like a good girl that had not been seen for a long time. She bowed politely to express her gratitude, and then put away the chocolate in an orderly manner.
Only Lin Xiaolu was silent at first, then a little happy, then confused, and finally surprised, "Eh? Wait a minute, why did Delphinium give me the chocolate first?"
"Why? Because today is Valentine's Day?"
Delphinium looked at Lin Xiaolu in confusion. After all, she knew that Lin Xiaolu had prepared chocolates "behind her back", so she must know the meaning of Valentine's Day. However, she did not point out Lin Xiaolu's plan. After all, it was a message she sent to Lin Yun. Delphinium had no reason to know that now: "Giving chocolates is a common etiquette."
"But, but theoretically speaking, chocolates on Valentine's Day should be given to the person you like?"
Lin Xiaolu's voice got smaller and smaller: "Although there should be nothing wrong with liking someone in a broad sense, when it comes to giving it as a gift, I still feel a little bit..."
"Ah, this one."
Although she still didn't understand why the other party would ask such a question at this point, Kuiqi gave a serious answer: "Although this festival was originally only for lovers and young men and women who wanted to confess their love to their crushes. But as time went by, customs evolved, and gradually it became a festival where chocolates can be given to friends, relatives, and even acquaintances. After all, if there are more people participating in the festival, it will be more lively."
"Besides, the Magic Kingdom is also a place where sweets are popular after all, and chocolate itself is a part of everyone's daily diet, so in the later stages of this festival, the biggest function is just a chocolate promotion day."
As she said this, she pointed to the box in Lin Xiaolu's hand and said, "As for the material world, although it has not evolved to the level of casualness in the magic kingdom, it is also a very common etiquette among magical girl teams to give chocolates. This etiquette is used to express gratitude to teammates for their care and to form an agreement to encourage each other."
"After all, most magical girls find it difficult to fall in love during their term of office in order to ensure that they complete their missions. Giving chocolates, a very exciting experience in adolescence, is out of their reach. Over time, teammates began to give each other chocolates to express their feelings of 'I understand you, let's work hard together'."
"Although the first magical girls who did this must have been trying to find joy in misery, as this behavior became more and more popular, it became a very inspiring and positive action that could symbolize teamwork. In the end, it unknowingly became a new tradition. People even called this kind of chocolate "thank you chocolate". That's basically it."
When Cuiqiao finished saying this, Bai Jingxuan had already opened the outer packaging, picked out a chocolate from it, and started eating it without hesitation.
Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang looked thoughtful, especially Lin Xiaolu, who commented with a complicated expression: "So that's how it is... Kuija really knows a lot of niche knowledge."
"It's not too unconventional, right? Of course, the reason I know this is because some of my former teammates like to study these things."
Delphinium crossed her arms, seeming to doubt her own conclusion: "This is how she explained it to me when I first learned about the concept of 'thank you chocolate'."
"……well."
Lin Xiaolu suddenly sighed.
She held the box given by Kuei-ching and looked at Xia Liang, her eyelids drooping as she said angrily, "It's all your fault. If you hadn't kept saying all these weird nonsense to me, I would have given the chocolates away long ago."
"Is it my fault?"
Xia Liang's eyes widened slightly, and then he couldn't help but smile bitterly: "It was you who suddenly told me that 'I didn't know how to explain why I wanted to give chocolates', and then you kept pestering me to speak for you, right?"
"Then you can just tell Delphinium that you don't want to."
Lin Xiaolu muttered, "I already let you go, but you were still trying to give way to me. Now it's all over, the atmosphere of surprise is gone."
"I don't know what to say..."
Xia Liang was helpless: "Who knows what the concept of thank-you chocolate is? It made me think for a long time how to explain that I wanted to give chocolate."
"When you tell me whether you like me or not, isn't it very smooth?" Lin Xiaolu glanced at the other person.
"That's different..." Xia Liang's breath paused, then he looked away.
The two of them kept throwing riddles at each other for a long time, leaving Delphinium completely confused. She could only hear that they seemed to be blaming each other for not asking for chocolates in time, but she had no idea what else they were arguing about.
"So, what are you two arguing about?" Having decided to play dumb, she might as well play dumb to the end, and continued to act as if she had no idea.
This time, the three juniors had no intention of hiding the secret any longer.
Lin Xiaolu let go of Bai Jingxuan's hand, and Bai Jingxuan, who had received the signal, spoke directly:
"We also made chocolate for the teacher!"
(End of this chapter)
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