Chapter 27
Chapter 27: Her Gift
Exiting the corridor, Wen Yu followed Fu Chengque. The girl looked a bit lost staring at the moon.
“The moonlight is so bright, so beautiful.”
“Of course, around Mid-Autumn Festival is the best time to admire the moon.”
“I saw a cricket.”
“A cricket? Is that what they’re called?”
“In Jiangcheng, yes. Don’t you know?”
Fu Chengque turned around, her eyes somewhat proud, as if saying: I found another thing you don’t know.
Wen Yu said, “Oh~” in response.
Entering a small flower bed area, Fu Chengque stopped and turned around, handing over the gift box.
“Wen Yu, this is for you, happy birthday.”
“Thank you, Empress Fu!”
Wen Yu took it but didn’t open it.
Fu Chengque urged, “Don’t you want to see what’s inside?”
“I’ll look at it later when I go back?”
In the traditional culture of the country, it’s impolite to open a gift immediately upon receiving it.
“Oh come on, just open it now!”
After saying this, Fu Chengque blinked her big eyes at Wen Yu.
Seeing her eagerness, Wen Yu had no choice but to sit on the edge of the flower bed and start unwrapping the gift.
The rectangular box was somewhat heavy, making a thumping sound when shaken. Wen Yu was also curious about what Fu Chengque would give him.
As he opened the gift box, he felt the cold touch of glass.
Taking it out, he saw a glass jar.
The surface of the jar was dotted with fluorescence, and under the fluorescence, a scene was outlined in a contrasting light and dark manner.
It was a comet in the night sky, with a boy among the clouds.
Although the outdoor lighting was dim, Wen Yu immediately recognized the painting: it was the comet he had drawn on the big bulletin board.
The comet streaked across the jar, its tail swirling halfway.
Wen Yu rotated the jar.
On the other side of the jar, there was a strange scene painted. In the middle, there was a mountain, with a girl in a skirt standing on the summit, pointing to the sky, and a few crooked words written: “Empress Chengque, Ruler of the World”.
Beside the girl, there was a boy, with the words “Wen Yu” written on one side, and a small arrow pointing to the boy’s head.
Opening the jar, there were two ugly dolls inside.
Just swaying left and right a moment ago, their heads were now leaning against each other.
Wen Yu chuckled helplessly.
“What… what’s this? Hahaha.”
***
Fu Chengque’s heart was pounding.
She glanced at the task:
[Task: Present a birthday gift to Wen Yu. Perfect Reward Requirement: Prompt him to say “But I really like it” on his birthday without implying or forcing it. Can be done at any time.]
[Task Duration: 002h12m22s]
……
[Good Luck!]
So far, everything had been going according to her planned scenario.
But what lay ahead wasn’t easy or crucial was predicting what Wen Yu would say when he saw the gift.
When she heard Wen Yu laugh, Fu Chengque remained happy.
“This is the future I’ve drawn for you! When I become Empress, you’ll be the closest celebrity to Empress!”
Hands on hips.
“You’re painting castles in the air for me, aren’t you? Talking about the future.”
“What are you talking about! Don’t you want it?”
“Of course, everything you painted here is your own doing?”
“Of course… I had a hard time learning to paint inside the jar. It can even glow, you know. Today, I deliberately took it out and let it soak up the sun, but unfortunately, the light has almost faded by now…”
“So, the injury to your hand a few days ago was for this?”
“Ah… um.”
The girl’s face in the moonlight looked a bit nervous and a bit apprehensive.
Wen Yu was silently speechless. Some say moonlight is cold, but he suddenly felt that it was warm; they say moonlight is pale, but now he felt that it was peach-colored, one piece after another, with each piece about the distance from Fu Chengque’s cheek to her ear.
After a while, Fu Chengque asked nervously, “Wen Yu, don’t you like it?”
Wen Yu snapped out of it.
“Not at all.” He held up the jar and said seriously, “Fu Chengque, thank you. Although this gift is a bit strange, it’s the most precious gift I’ve ever received, and I will treasure it forever. Thank you.”
Huh?
Huh?!
Wrong!
Wrong!!!
Fu Chengque was initially delighted, but deep down, she felt a bit confused. What was going on? How could Wen Yu suddenly speak so sincerely…
Although she was very happy to hear this, but…
Eh!
She knew it. How could a task without punishment be so easy to get a perfect reward?
Rather than calling it a task, it’s more like a lucky draw. The process of the draw is just a random paragraph from Wen Yu, and if it matches, then the perfect reward is given.
It’s a pity, didn’t match.
In that case, she could only get some basic rewards for nothing.
Fu Chengque’s mood quickly changed. She looked at Wen Yu’s eyes with a strange feeling. Giving a carefully crafted birthday gift to a good friend, seeing his extremely happy expression, was much more satisfying than the slight increase brought by the task.
Her gift seemed to be especially liked by Wen Yu.
If he likes it, that’s good.
***
Wen Yu admired the jar for a while, then suddenly remembered something.
“Fu Chengque, I also have a gift for you.”
“Ah?”
Fu Chengque was confused. She had only heard of receiving gifts on birthdays, not giving them.
“What ah, here, for you.”
Without any packaging, it was an ugly notebook. The “Name” section read “Compilation of Midterm Exam Knowledge Points.”
Opening it, neatly and clearly written under the legible handwriting were various key points of knowledge, indicating where attention was needed and where memorization was required…
Fu Chengque was astonished. “Did you… make this for me?”
“Yes, haven’t you been busy with dance practice lately? I organized it for you. If you cooperate with the test paper, your efficiency should be much higher.”
Wen Yu’s voice was very soft, but it felt like a heavy drumbeat on Fu Chengque’s heart, pounding loudly.
She looked at this thick notebook, and her nose inexplicably felt a little sour.
Why would there be such a serious gift?
Compared to Wen Yu’s, the birthday gift she had produced, which was flashy but impractical, ugly and weird, was nothing at all.
“Wen Yu… give me back the gift.”
“???”
“Just give it back to me…”
“Are you crazy? There’s no reason to take back a gift once it’s given!”
“My gift is too lousy, I want to give you a new one.”
Fu Chengque rubbed the notebook and saw that the cover was a bit dirty, so she immediately wiped it clean with her sleeve.
“No need, I really like this jar.”
“I’ll give you something better than this. Something more thoughtful.”
“A handmade gift is enough to show your sincerity, besides, the gift itself isn’t important, but the fact that you gave it, that’s what matters.”
“Ah?”
Fu Chengque suddenly stopped her hand.
After a while, she said somewhat sadly, “But for your rare birthday gift, I gave you such a strange thing… Ah, I’m so stupid. At first, I was so pleased with myself. Am I really that clueless? I’m sorry.”
Wen Yu walked around with the jar, looking up at the moon hanging high in the sky.
The bright, solitary moon hung in the sky.
The moonlight was so beautiful.
Was today’s Wen Yu from a previous life watching the moon or thinking of someone?
“Fu Chengque, do you know? I once had a dream. In the dream, you were like an iceberg, tall, distant, and so cold.”
“I used to think you were like that, snowy, icy, and white, like something from heaven, born with talents and achievements, completely different from me.”
“Right… Since the second half of junior high, our relationship became like that, more and more distant.”
“In fact, I know that two years ago, I was just ordinary, mediocre, with no particular talent. Don’t worry, I’m not blaming myself.”
“According to that trajectory, if nothing unexpected happened, we should have gone our separate ways, each living a life as if the other didn’t exist.”
Fu Chengque opened her mouth but couldn’t speak.
“But in the past year and a half, your relationship with me has improved. Right?”
“Yeah…”
Actually, she couldn’t say for sure now whether she herself was willing or if it was because of the system task.
If there were no task, would she still choose to leave?
She didn’t know.
All she knew was that just thinking about it would fill her heart with regret, a feeling she seemed not to have had before.
“Regardless of the reason, the fact is, you are getting closer to me, within reach. I have seen your liveliness, your efforts, your energy.”
“You would play with me, share friends with me, and even give me a gift you made yourself…”
“The Fu Chengque who was drifting away before and the lively and cheerful Empress Fu now are clearly the same person, but so different and contradictory. You ask if I’m stupid or not, haha, well, now and then, you’re occasionally a little…”
Wen Yu stood still, looking directly at Fu Chengque’s eyes, which couldn’t hide her nervousness:
“But I really like you now, very much.”
“So, Fu Chengque, thank you for organizing my birthday party these past few days, and thank you for your gift.”
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