Chapter 57: Prepare a gift
Murong washed the vegetables and started shifting closer to Chi Yan, nudging him with his arm.
“Brother Chi, where’s your gift? Why haven’t you brought it out?”
Chi Yan casually glanced at him, with no intention of answering.
His gift was none of Murong’s business.
Always prying into everything, Murong was too curious.
“Brother Chi, you’re too slow. Qin Mingzhou has beaten you to it.” Murong shook his head; Brother Chi was usually so clever, why did he always drop the ball at the crucial moment?
“Wash your vegetables.” Chi Yan finally responded to him, but this response was almost worse than none at all.
“You’re not proactive at all. If someone snatches Little Galaxy away, you’ll regret it.” Murong gave him a disdainful look, then hurried to wash the vegetables before Chi Yan could make a move.
If he was a bit slower, he wouldn’t have gotten to wash the vegetables.
While they were busy in the kitchen, Su Yinhe spaced out in the living room for a while, took the gifts from Murong and Qin Mingzhou into her room, closed the door, and began unwrapping them.
Murong’s gift box was almost excessively large, piquing Su Yinhe’s curiosity, so she opened it first.
A woven grass rabbit, tightly crafted, with two large red Crystal Cores for eyes and parts painted in white.
From a distance, it really looked like a white rabbit.
Remembering the clump of grass from before, Su Yinhe thought that Murong’s rabbit-crafting skills had improved quickly.
Su Yinhe placed the rabbit next to her bed, even giving it a little cushion.
Next was Qin Mingzhou’s gift.
A bracelet, colorful, also strung with Crystal Cores where each core was nearly the same size.
Knowing that Crystal Cores from different zombies usually varied in size, finding so many of the same size wasn’t easy.
Su Yinhe didn’t usually wear bracelets, so she put it in her jewelry box.
After putting it away, Su Yinhe thought of Chi Yan.
They all gave gifts, why didn’t Chi Yan?
As she pondered, she recalled Chi Yan’s offer to give her a massage.
Combining that with the gifts, Su Yinhe’s thoughts started to drift…
In broad daylight, how could she be so impure?
Chi Yan was so proper, not that kind of person.
Su Yinhe sternly berated herself.
After unwrapping the gifts, Su Yinhe returned to the living room, where the hot pot was almost ready. She grabbed a few bottles of drinks, and they could start eating.
The last hot pot meal hadn’t gone well, and this one…
Didn’t seem to go much better either.
Whether by coincidence or not, her chopsticks kept colliding with Chi Yan’s.
Su Yinhe’s palms sweated a bit.
Eating hot pot on a rainy day was indeed delightful. Su Yinhe turned on the air conditioning, but after finishing the meal, everyone was still sweating.
Murong took a sip of his cola, “Refreshing.”
“Little Galaxy, when do we eat hot pot again?” Although they had just finished, Murong was already looking forward to the next time.
Murong eagerly looked at Su Yinhe.
Su Yinhe sipped her orange juice, “We’ll see next time.”
Su Yinhe: “Get lost.”
Eating hot pot twice in one day, had she gone mad?
After the hot pot, there was still work to do; Su Yinhe had them clean up the mess.
Of course, she only dared to boss around Qin Mingzhou and Murong.
She knew she could boss around Chi Yan too, but because of that dream, she felt oddly guilty.
After cleaning up, Su Yinhe turned on the TV, ready to digest while watching some melodramatic dramas.
Qin Mingzhou and Murong quickly got into it, eyes glued to the TV, which obviously offered a better and bigger display than their phones.
Chi Yan didn’t join in or play with his Rubik’s cube, he just stared at Su Yinhe’s profile in a trance.
Su Yinhe had been watching attentively, but under Chi Yan’s intense gaze, she became visibly uncomfortable.
She couldn’t continue watching the melodramatic show.
“I’m going to use the restroom.” Su Yinhe decided to make a run for it.
The two engrossed in the show didn’t pay much attention and casually acknowledged her.
Su Yinhe left but didn’t go to the restroom; instead, she ran back to her room.
Hugging her favorite stuffed toy, she pounded on it a bit.
Her heart was beating fast now, even more erratically than last night.
Su Yinhe decided to find something to do for herself.
Getting busy would stop her from overthinking.
She started preparing return gifts; Lin Murong’s was easy, she just cleared out the photos in her spare phone, downloaded a few standalone games, wrapped it up, and that was that.
For Qin Mingzhou, she prepared a bottle of red wine.
The red wine, a gift from someone else, had remained untouched.
The wine wasn’t in her room but in another; Su Yinhe sneaked out to get it and then sneaked back.
The more she thought about it, the more heartbroken she felt. It was her own house, why did she feel so small? Why had she had such an outrageous dream last night?
It made her avoid making eye contact with Chi Yan all day.
Though she lusted after his body and face, dreaming about it was too embarrassing.
She had finished preparing Qin Mingzhou’s gift and only had Chi Yan’s left.
Although Chi Yan hadn’t given anything, Su Yinhe had prepared a gift, mostly stored in her space.
If he had given something and she gave the others return gifts but not him, it would have been awkward.
So, Su Yinhe started pondering what to give to Chi Yan.
She couldn’t possibly give seafood again.
He liked sweets, maybe a cake?
But would it be inappropriate to only give him food?
Su Yinhe frowned, hitting her toy again.
She was really struggling.
After agonizing for a while, Su Yinhe chose a gift, wrapped it, and looking at the bow on top, felt it was somehow lopsided.
She decisively untied it, retied it, and again felt the bow wasn’t standard or symmetrical enough, so she untied it again…
It wasn’t great to leave the guests in the living room and hide in her room, but after finishing the gift, Su Yinhe put it in her space and slowly returned to her original spot to continue watching the show with them.
But her heart wasn’t in the storyline at all.
There were supposed to be four of them watching, but really only two were paying attention.
Eventually, when it was time, Su Yinhe escorted them out and handed the gifts to Lin Murong and Qin Mingzhou.
Only Chi Yan’s was left.
He hadn’t given anything, why should she?
Su Yinhe didn’t want to make a losing deal.
Lin Murong wasn’t expecting a gift, “Little Galaxy, you’re too kind.”
Qin Mingzhou looked proud as if to say, “My sister is the best, and I’m so proud of her.”
Chi Yan hadn’t received one, and both Lin Murong and Qin Mingzhou noticed.
Lin Murong secretly glanced at Chi Yan, visibly distressed, thinking, ‘Why fail at this moment, regretting it now?’
Qin Mingzhou would have been happy if Chi Yan didn’t get anything, he looked pleased.
“You guys go first,” Chi Yan started to hustle people out.
“What? Why? Are you…” Qin Mingzhou was about to mock when Lin Murong, very tactfully, pulled him away.
The best wingman ever!
With the two of them gone, only Su Yinhe and Chi Yan remained.
“Here,” Chi Yan presented his gift, personally handing it to Su Yinhe. Their fingertips touched, and Su Yinhe felt his warmth.