Chapter 71 Birthday [VIP]
Chapter Summary: Is today just the Lunar New Year? Or isn't it also my little sister Xuyin's eighteenth birthday?
"After all, you little ungrateful wretch, who knows when we'll hear you say you want to have a meal together again."
Although it was clearly a complaint, it came out without blaming her. Instead, Fu Xianyin felt that Gu Linzhao was saying:
Look how spoiled you have become, so heartless.
Fu Xianyin protested softly, "When did I say I didn't want to have dinner with you?"
Honestly, they're just throwing accusations at her.
Gu Linzhao said, "Wait for me here for a while, I'll come find you."
After saying that, as if he was still worried, he added, "Put location services on my phone."
Fu Xianyin pouted: "I'm not going to run away."
Despite saying that, she still turned on location sharing.
After sitting down casually by the roadside, Fu Xianyin suddenly realized how casually she was dressed today.
She suddenly began to feel anxious.
Her heart was pounding. Fu Xianyin pinched her palm and told herself: It's nothing. Gu Linzhao has seen how pathetic she looked in her school uniform. It's nothing.
However, it doesn't seem to work very well.
She felt a little short of breath, and everything in sight was extremely glaring. Her pants were glaring, her shoes were glaring, and even the checkered scarf around her neck was unbearably glaring.
He gripped the scarf so tightly he almost poked a hole in it.
Fu Xianyin curled up, burying her head low, just to catch her breath.
After an unknown amount of time, a familiar voice came: "Why are you burying your head in the sand like an ostrich during the New Year?"
Fu Xianyin looked up and saw Gu Linzhao walking towards her with a smile.
He smiled and asked, "What kind of New Year's Eve dinner would you like, little ostrich sister?"
Ostrich is definitely not a compliment.
The moment Fu Xianyin heard the words "Ostrich Sister," she felt her heart slowly return to a normal beating.
She blinked and asked, "What are you planning to take Ostrich Sister to eat?"
Gu Linzhao mysteriously raised his index finger to his lips and said, "It's a secret."
The vehicle drove towards a place Fu Xianyin didn't recognize.
She suddenly tensed up, grabbed at her side haphazardly, and asked, "You're not going to take me to your house for New Year's Eve dinner, are you?"
Gu Linzhao said, "If you're willing, it's not impossible."
This means they have no such intention.
Fu Xianyin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I don't want to."
Gu Linzhao ran away from home to spend the New Year with her. Although she felt it was inappropriate, she was actually willing to do so.
But when it came to spending the New Year at Gu Linzhao's house, Fu Xianyin was absolutely unwilling.
As her tension gradually subsided, Fu Xianyin realized that when she was grabbing randomly, she had accidentally grabbed Gu Linzhao's hand.
He showed no intention of breaking free.
Fu Xianyin's fingers trembled, and before she could make any move, the hand under her suddenly flipped its wrist and grabbed her hand.
Fu Xianyin deftly flicked her fingers out from between Gu Linzhao's fingers and grabbed his little finger.
She rested her chin on her hand, watching the scenery recede by the window, while her other hand pinched Gu Linzhao's little finger, rubbing it repeatedly.
As the vehicle gradually drove away from the city center, Fu Xianyin watched helplessly as it entered the highway before finally realizing that something was amiss.
She's not a rule-abiding person; she's been doing outrageous things since she was a child.
She was still somewhat bewildered when she saw this scene.
Do we need to take the highway to have New Year's Eve dinner?
She tickled Gu Linzhao's palm, and when he didn't react, she poked his palm with her fingertip.
A low "hmm" escaped from the boy's throat.
Fu Xianyin pointed out the window and asked, "Are you trying to sell me?"
Gu Linzhao nodded, looked at her, and said with a smile, "I'll take you to the middle of nowhere and sell you."
Fu Xianyin thought she would argue with him, but to his surprise, the girl looked at him seriously, then nodded and said, "Okay, sell me then, I'm quite valuable."
Gu Linzhao asked, "You're being sold out and you're still helping them count the money?"
Fu Xianyin shook her head and said, "I'll count for you, I won't count for anyone else."
As the car drove further and further away, after about an hour, Fu Xianyin could even see the layered mountains on the side.
Suddenly, Gu Linzhao's words came to her mind:
"Have a New Year's Eve dinner, and... would you like to see the stars?"
So Gu Linzhao is actually going to take her to see the stars?
Fu Xianyin suddenly felt that everything was somewhat magical.
Her hand was still being held by Gu Linzhao. She struggled a little, and he quickly let go.
Fu Xianyin: ...
She watched as Gu Linzhao quickly released her hand and glared fiercely at him.
Gu Linzhao was somewhat puzzled.
His gaze fell on Fu Xianyin's hand in the middle, and he suddenly understood something, then chuckled to himself.
He misunderstood.
So he reached out again and touched Fu Xianyin's hand, but as soon as his fingertips touched the back of Fu Xianyin's hand, her hand quickly withdrew as if she had been electrocuted.
Gu Linzhao sighed.
This time, I really don't want to hold hands anymore.
He didn't impolitely reach his hand towards Fu Xianyin again, but simply placed it in the middle, palm up, fingers naturally relaxed and slightly curled upwards, creating a vague space.
About five minutes later.
Gu Linzhao felt a chill in his palm.
He looked down and saw Fu Xianyin placing her hand in his palm. Unlike before when their fingers were intertwined, she simply placed her hand on his palm lightly, casually and naturally, as if she had just accidentally let her hand down.
Seriously, so cute.
Gu Linzhao felt his heart being clenched into a ball, like a squeezed-out sponge, and then placed in warm water, slowly swelling up.
He looked up at Fu Xianyin.
She looked out the window, as if she had no idea what was happening, showing him only the back of her head.
Gu Linzhao suddenly chuckled.
Hearing the laughter that was neither too close nor too far, Fu Xianyin felt both ashamed and annoyed. She couldn't help but pinch Gu Linzhao's hand hard with her fingernail.
"hiss"
A soft gasp came from behind her, but Fu Xianyin still didn't turn around.
But her smiling eyes were reflected in the car window.
This interruption made Fu Xianyin forget to ask Gu Linzhao if he was going to take her to see the stars.
It wasn't until the car started driving on the winding mountain road that Fu Xianyin remembered the topic she had put out of her mind.
She gently struggled against Gu Linzhao's hand again.
This time, Gu Linzhao didn't move away; instead, he held her even tighter.
Gu Linzhao turned slightly to the side and asked, "What's wrong?"
Fu Xianyin pointed out the window with her other finger and asked, "Why are we going up the mountain?"
Gu Linzhao said, "Let's eat New Year's Eve dinner and look at the stars."
Fu Xianyin lowered her head, a small hint of happiness flashing across her face. But when she looked up again, that fleeting happiness had vanished completely.
She asked, "Do we really need to make such a big fuss for the New Year?"
Gu Linzhao suddenly turned his head and looked at her.
Fu Xianyin felt a pang in her heart as she was being stared at.
She subconsciously looked away, but then heard Gu Linzhao ask, "Is today just New Year's Day?"
"Isn't it still Tsurune's eighteenth birthday?"
It's Tsurune's eighteenth birthday.
These words struck Fu Xianyin's ears like a thud, making her eardrums throb.
It took her a while to find her voice: "So you're here to celebrate my birthday?"
Gu Linzhao was amused by her appearance.
I felt a mix of joy, caution, and disbelief.
He said, "What else?"
Fu Xianyin said, "My birthday is February 17th. I can celebrate it after school starts. I've never celebrated my lunar birthday before."
She only said half of what she meant, but the other half was something both of them knew perfectly well.
She never celebrated her birthday before.
No one ever celebrated her birthday.
Even though there was no disappointment or sadness in her tone, and she was just calmly stating a sentence, Gu Linzhao felt as if his heart had been squeezed hard.
Perhaps this is what love is—feeling sorry for any injustice or sadness that fate brings upon her.
She would hope that fate would bestow upon her all good fortune and favor.
It's as if this is the normal way, as if this is in accordance with the laws of nature.
Everything should have been this way.
"But I want to give it to you."
Gu Linzhao heard himself say this.
I want to celebrate your 18th birthday, but I want to do more than just celebrate your 18th birthday.
I want to give you every birthday from now on.
The car wound its way up the mountain, spiraling upwards in circles.
Fu Xianyin felt as if she was on her way to another world.
Past experiences have taught her that it's best not to have expectations of anything.
Just like you shouldn't expect Chen Huimei to save her, you shouldn't expect Fu Dongyuan to take care of her.
But things have already come to this point; Gu Linzhao has already gone this far.
Fu Xianyin said to herself, "Let's look forward to it a little."
The process of anticipation is also a beautiful emotion.
She hoped that she could maintain a positive mood throughout this short period of time.
The car drove all the way to the top of the mountain and then slowly stopped inside a small wooden cabin.
Fu Xianyin pushed open the door and was startled by what was inside.
I thought it was just a simple wooden cabin, but when I opened the door, I was surprised to find that it was a small, exquisitely decorated guesthouse.
The guesthouse's ceiling is decorated with a starry sky theme, and there's also a photo wall next to it, covered with pictures of various nebulae.
Seeing her interest, a staff member came over to explain: "These photos were taken in the small courtyard outside. We are a professional stargazing camp. If you're interested, you can use the telescopes outside to look at the stars later."
Fu Xianyin exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, the equipment is so advanced!"
The staff member said, "There's also the Centaurus meteor shower today. The weather is great, perfect for watching it."
The staff member asked, "Have you ever stargazed before?"
Fu Xianyin nodded and said, "Yes."
The staff member said, "Then I won't say any more. Have a pleasant stargazing experience later."
Gu Linzhao had reserved a table by the window, and a small candle was lit on the table, giving it the feel of a candlelight dinner.
It wasn't until the food was served and Gu Linzhao, wearing gloves, peeled a shrimp for her and placed it in her bowl that Fu Xianyin felt a little more like she was in reality.
She picked up the shrimp and ate it.
Gu Linzhao peeled six or seven eggs for her in a row, until even someone as shameless as Fu Xianyin started to feel a little embarrassed.
She rubbed the back of her foot against Gu Linzhao's calf and said, "Don't peel it, you eat it too."
“The last one,” Gu Linzhao said.
Since it was just the two of them, the portion of food wasn't large. Fu Xianyin looked at the New Year's Eve dinner in front of her, then at Gu Linzhao, and asked, "Do your family members agree that you're not eating at home for the New Year?"
In her memory, Gu Linzhao's family atmosphere was very good.
And the better the family atmosphere, the more they should value festivals like the Lunar New Year, which bring everyone together.
Gu Linzhao put down his chopsticks and smiled: "Originally, I disagreed."
"But after I said I wanted to celebrate your eighteenth birthday, they agreed."
Fu Xianyin: "Why did you..."
The conversation abruptly ended.
She suddenly realized that Gu Linzhao must not have said that exactly.
At least in front of his family, she was more than just Fu Xianyin; Gu Linzhao should add some adjectives to her name.
What adjective would it be?
What kind of adjectives would it take to persuade Gu Linzhao's family to let him out to spend the New Year and birthday with her?
And they even traveled a long way up the mountain to get here.
It must be a very important adjective, or even a very special adjective.
For example, a very good friend.
It doesn't seem important enough.
A very important friend?
It seems it's still a bit lacking.
A girl I like?
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Fu Xianyin felt a layer of heat rising from her cheeks.
She couldn't help but silently berate herself for being too narcissistic.
You're the one who likes her, so why are you describing yourself as the girl she likes?
Have some shame, Fu Xianyin. You can't be so shameless.
But why is she genuinely looking forward to this?
Fu Xianyin, do you really just like Gu Linzhao?
Is there really no other selfish motive mixed in with this affection?
If not, then why would you want to describe yourself in this way?
The heat rose up her cheeks and into her brain. Fu Xianyin, emboldened by some unknown source, suddenly blurted out:
"So you just told your family you were going to celebrate Fu Xianyin's birthday, and they let you out?"
Gu Linzhao was stunned for a moment.
A layer of red spread across the tips of her ears where Fu Xianyin couldn't see.
He gripped the cup in his hand even tighter and said, "Of course not."
"I told them I wanted to give myself."
"This fish is delicious."
Fu Xianyin suddenly picked up a piece of fish with her chopsticks and placed it in Gu Linzhao's bowl, saying, "Eat more."
A piece of snow-white fish meat landed in the bowl, with a noticeable bone still attached.
Gu Linzhao stared at the thorn and suddenly couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Fu Xianyin's hands were trembling.
He was brave for no more than three seconds.
The question had already been asked, and Gu Linzhao was about to answer it.
Why did she suddenly interrupt him?
Don't you want to know the answer?
I still... don't dare.
Fu Xianyin didn't even know what kind of answer she was expecting.
In that unspoken question, was it about importance, or simply liking?
Or perhaps it's nothing at all.
She was the one who asked the question first, but in the end, she was the one who fled in panic.
coward.
Fu Xianyin was a coward, a coward from beginning to end.
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