Chapter 109: Buying a Gift for Your Girlfriend
“Jiujiu, what are you thinking about?”
“Huh?” Lin Yuejiu snapped back to her senses, shook her head. “Nothing.”
The two of them chatted for a while longer before heading their separate ways. Lin Yuejiu returned to the dorm room with a pensive expression.
The others noticed immediately and asked, “Jiujiu, what’s wrong? You look like you’re brooding about something.”
Lin Yuejiu sighed.
Wu Lin asked, “Is it… about a man?”
Lin Yuejiu thought for a moment. Technically, yes. So she nodded.
The three girls exchanged shocked glances. “A man?! Did your boyfriend cheat on you?!”
“It’s not about my man. It’s about another man.”
They were even more shocked. “Another man?! You’re actually this troubled over another man?!” Their faces all showed the same expression: Jiujiu, you’re terrible.
Lin Yuejiu: “…??”
Did they misunderstand something?
She pressed her temples. “It’s not me—it’s my best friend.”
“???? Your best friend? What about her?”
“I’m asking you: if your best friend often brings up a certain guy, and she treats this guy differently from other men, doesn’t that mean she likes him?”
The three thought about it. “That’s not enough to confirm she’s in love, but yeah… sounds like it. At the very least, she treats him differently.”
Lin Yuejiu nodded in agreement. “Exactly. But the thing is, it seems like she likes him without realizing it herself.”
Wu Lin suddenly understood. “So you’re troubled because of the guy your best friend likes?”
“Yeah. She’s been saying she wants to fall in love, so I even helped her find a handsome guy. But she wasn’t ready, and I think maybe it’s because she already likes someone else and just hasn’t realized it yet.”
The others nodded. “Makes sense. So what are you going to do now?”
“That’s why I’m asking if you guys have any ideas.”
“That’s easy,” Mao Xin snapped her fingers. “Since we suspect she likes him without knowing it, the first step is to check whether that guy likes her back. If he does, then we can start matchmaking.”
Lin Yuejiu thought for a moment, then nodded. “That makes sense.”
Mao Xin winked at her.
“Coincidentally, my boyfriend’s in the same dorm as him. I can get him to help test the waters.”
“Great idea! Do it!”
*
Dorm 317, Math Department Boys’ Dormitory.
Xu Nianshen was lying on his bed pretending to nap when his phone buzzed. He opened the message but hadn’t yet read it when someone suddenly called him.
“Xu Shen.”
“Hm? What is it?” Xu Nianshen turned to look at Du Zhuo.
“How do you coax a girl when she’s angry?”
Xu Nianshen raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What’s this—do you like someone now?”
“No,” Du Zhuo scratched his head. “I think I made Chen Qianxi mad. Xu Shen, you have a girlfriend, so you must know how to comfort a girl. Can you teach me?”
“Sure, let me think.” Xu Nianshen nodded, glancing back at his phone.
Lin Yuejiu: [Mr. Xu, can I ask you a favor? Please try to test Du Zhuo and see if he likes Qianxi.]
Xu Nianshen raised his brows. [Got it.]
He turned back to Du Zhuo. “First, tell me how you upset her.”
“Well, she came to vent to me, but I was gaming at the time. I didn’t pay much attention and kind of brushed her off. She seemed to get upset ove r my attitude.”
“I see…” Xu Nianshen nodded knowingly. “Let me ask you this: do you actually want her not to be angry? Do you genuinely want to cheer her up?”
Du Zhuo was a little confused. “Yeah, I’ve always wanted her to be happy. I don’t want her to be upset.”
“Good. Then let me teach you how to cheer a girl up. If you’ve decided to make her happy, you need to cater to what she likes.”
“How do I do that?”
“First, you need to know what she likes. Then give her what she likes the most. Only then will your apology have the best effect, and she’ll calm down faster.”
“I get it.” Du Zhuo nodded in understanding, then immediately turned to head out the door to buy a gift.
“Hey, wait. Do you even know what she likes? You can ask Jiujiu. She’s closest to Chen Qianxi and must know a lot. You could get some info from her.”
But Du Zhuo waved him off. “No need, I know what she likes.” With that, he left.
Lying on his bed, ready to wait for Lin Yuejiu to text him Qianxi’s preferences, Xu Nianshen was baffled.
“???”
Wait, that wasn’t how I pictured him at all. Wasn’t he supposed to be a clueless straight guy? How could he actually know Chen Qianxi’s likes?
Out on the street, Du Zhuo entered a jewelry shop. Among the dazzling displays, he searched for a necklace that had stayed in his memory.
He remembered once, by chance, seeing her gaze at a certain necklace for a long while. But back then, she hadn’t bought it, probably because she didn’t have enough money.
His eyes lit up—he’d found it.
The shop owner came over with a smile when she saw him holding the necklace. “Buying a gift for your girlfriend, huh?”
Du Zhuo froze for a moment, then shook his head. The word “no” had barely left his lips.
The shop owner chuckled knowingly. “Ah, I get it. Boys like you don’t usually admit it, but I know the truth.”
With a warm smile, she slipped the necklace into a beautiful gift bag. “Here, take it. Come back next time.”
Du Zhuo nodded without thinking and walked out.
With the gift in hand, the next step was to deliver it to her. First, he needed to get her to meet him. Opening WeChat, he typed:
[Are you there?]
Chen Qianxi didn’t reply.
[I have something to tell you.]
She finally responded: [What is it?]
[It’s really important. I can only say it in person.]
There was silence for a while before she answered: [Fine. Where?]
[The milk tea shop you usually go to.]
[Okay.]
The meeting set, Du Zhuo arrived first to wait. Before long, Chen Qianxi showed up, wearing slippers, no makeup, looking slightly impatient. She sat directly across from him. “Say it quickly.”
For no reason, Du Zhuo suddenly felt nervous. “Um, about yesterday…”
He hadn’t even finished the sentence before her expression visibly darkened.
Du Zhuo: “……”
He decided to cut to the chase. “I came to apologize.”
Chen Qianxi was caught off guard, then tears welled up. “Why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I feel like I didn’t do anything wrong either, but judging from what you posted afterward, you seemed upset. So I wanted to apologize.”
She shot him a faint glance. “If you don’t even know what you did wrong, then what’s the point of apologizing? Forget it.”
Scratching his head, Du Zhuo said, “But I just didn’t want you to be unhappy. So I bought this as a peace offering.”
He pushed the gift bag across the table toward her. The elegant bag caught her eye. She hesitated for a moment.
Seeing her hesitation, he said, “You can open it.”
So Chen Qianxi reached out, pulled the bag closer, and opened it. When she saw the familiar necklace inside, she froze, staring blankly at him. “This necklace…”
Looking slightly embarrassed, Du Zhuo avoided her eyes. “Last time when we went to buy books, I saw you looking at it for a long time, but you didn’t buy it then. So I bought it as an apology gift. I hope you won’t be angry anymore.”
