Chapter 85: Christmas Eve Is Not Peaceful Either

"I don't know who invented these Western holidays; it's simply torture."

"Given Xiao Zhizhi's personality, she will one hundred percent drag me out to eat with her."

"Liu Jiaoyue is a bit silly; she might not be very sensitive to this Western holiday and might just ignore it entirely."

On the way back to school from the Runxing Electronics Factory, Yang Tianxing analyzed the various possibilities based on the habits of both.

As it turned out, Tan Zhizhi's call came in before he even reached the school.

"Yang Tianxing, you made me cry again the night we built the snowman."

Tan Zhizhi said over the phone.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault." Yang Tianxing apologized honestly.

"Last week I asked you to eat with Senior Sister Gu, and you agreed but then backed out."

Tan Zhizhi continued.

"There were some things at the startup base, and I specifically explained that to you later."

Yang Tianxing continued to apologize.

"And..."

Tan Zhizhi was about to continue.

Yang Tianxing interrupted her directly: "It's 11:55 AM now; if you want to argue, let's argue now. Five minutes later, and it would be a bit deliberate."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Tan Zhizhi pretended not to understand over the phone.

"It's Christmas Eve tonight, let's eat together."

Yang Tianxing said directly, and added a reminder: "Don't beat around the bush in the future when you want to say something; you're tired, and I'm tired too."

"Hmph, it's just because I was worried you'd find another excuse to back out."

………………

Having settled things with Tan Zhizhi, Yang Tianxing wanted to see Liu Jiaoyue's attitude after returning to school; she had been reviewing her lessons all afternoon, and occasionally when she accidentally made eye contact with Yang Tianxing, she would shyly lower her head.

"She's so simple-minded, she probably doesn't understand Christmas Eve."

Yang Tianxing had clearly underestimated the influence of the group environment on an individual; around six in the evening, Liu Jiaoyue hesitated for a long time on her face before finally making up her mind and saying: "Ni, night, would you like to eat together?"

Saying this sentence probably required great courage for her; her voice was visibly trembling.

Yang Tianxing was stunned, thinking to himself that this must be the first time in so long that Liu Jiaoyue had taken the initiative to ask him to eat; he hadn't expected the timing to be so unfortunate.

Seeing Yang Tianxing's slightly hesitant expression, Liu Jiaoyue immediately waved her small hands: "Th, then let's not, you go ahead and get busy."

After saying this, she lowered her head and rummaged through her little cloth bag, suddenly pulling out a large red apple.

"This, for you."

Liu Jiaoyue blushed, lowered her head, and held the large apple up in front of Yang Tianxing with both hands.

"Is this my Christmas present?"

Yang Tianxing was even more surprised.

"Mm-hmm."

Liu Jiaoyue looked up at Yang Tianxing; her little face was now as red as the apple, and she was likely worried that Yang Tianxing wouldn't accept it, her peach-blossom eyes filled with timidity and anticipation.

"Let's go, what do you want to eat tonight?"

Yang Tianxing let out a breath, reached out to take the large apple, and put it in his bag; he couldn't just walk away in this situation, as Liu Jiaoyue's intentions could not be let down or wasted.

"Hot pot, is that okay?"

Liu Jiaoyue said softly; perhaps in her heart, the small hot pot at the cafeteria for a few dozen yuan was the best feast possible.

Yang Tianxing naturally agreed; as long as it wasn't eating at the Jiaoda cafeteria tonight, he could accept anything.

The two arrived at the second cafeteria where they had eaten hot pot last time; there were clearly more couples eating here tonight, and the smell of hot, steaming hot pot was everywhere.

Yang Tianxing went to pay, and Liu Jiaoyue took out that familiar, worn-out little wallet: "Can I pay?"

"Why?"

Yang Tianxing asked with some confusion.

"You paid me my wages."

Liu Jiaoyue replied in a small voice.

Yang Tianxing smiled and pinched Liu Jiaoyue's cheek: "It's the same whoever pays."

He walked to his seat and took out his phone to send a message to Tan Zhizhi.

Yang Tianxing: Something came up tonight.

Tan Zhizhi: What does that mean?

Yang Tianxing: It's not that I'm not eating; we'll eat after I finish my work.

Tan Zhizhi: Hmph, this is my bottom line; don't you dare lie to me again!

At this moment, Liu Jiaoyue came over carrying the ingredients, and Yang Tianxing stopped replying to the message, stuffing his phone directly into his pocket.

Liu Jiaoyue knew that Yang Tianxing had a big appetite, so she had taken the same ingredients as last time; Yang Tianxing touched his stomach nonchalantly.

I have to eat two meals tonight; you'll have to suffer a bit, I'll treat you to yogurt tonight, brother.

Liu Jiaoyue still waited for Yang Tianxing to eat first as she always did; Yang Tianxing frowned and scolded her a few times, urging her, but Liu Jiaoyue just blushed and refused, insisting that Yang Tianxing eat his fill before she would pick up her chopsticks.

"Damn it, it's already 2002, why does this stupid rule still exist?"

Yang Tianxing didn't really like this kind of thing to begin with, as it made him feel like a landlord, and while it was occasionally interesting to enjoy, he felt particularly resentful tonight; he didn't want to delay too long to avoid showing too many irregularities to Tan Zhizhi, so he ate a portion of the meat first as he had before, and only then did Liu Jiaoyue pick up her chopsticks.

Liu Jiaoyue's way of eating was a bit like her personality; her movements were very slow, taking two minutes to eat a single shrimp, and because she was afraid of waste, she would even bite open the shrimp heads to check them.

After finishing his meal, Yang Tianxing waited for her, flipping the lighter in his hand back and forth, sometimes squeezing it hard, feeling very anxious inside.

Yet on the surface, he pretended to be calm and collected, showing no signs of impatience; whenever Liu Jiaoyue occasionally looked up, Yang Tianxing would even reveal a gentle and affectionate smile.

Having finally finished the hot pot, Yang Tianxing checked the time and saw it was nearly 7:30; he thought Tan Zhizhi must be about to explode, but he still insisted on walking Liu Jiaoyue back to her dormitory.

Firstly, it made him appear composed, no different from usual; secondly, it was to supervise and ensure Liu Jiaoyue returned to the dormitory and didn't accidentally go to Hejiaying.

……………

Once Yang Tianxing left the school gate, he didn't have time to take the bus and sprinted all the way to Hejiaying.

Tan Zhizhi was already sitting on a bench by the side of the road in Hejiaying; she had even applied some light makeup, but she was pouting unhappily, hiding her pretty dimples.

"I, I, am sorry, I was really too busy today."

Yang Tianxing said while panting heavily; he wasn't faking it at all, as he had run the 15-minute walk in just 4 minutes.

Tan Zhizhi had waited for a full half-hour; she had just been about to lose her temper, but seeing Yang Tianxing panting so hard he couldn't even speak, she thought that with the holidays approaching, he must indeed be very busy.

That earned him half her forgiveness, and she also noticed Yang Tianxing was holding a bag.

"What's inside?" Tan Zhizhi asked.

Yang Tianxing thought, "Oh no, damn it, why did I bring this apple?" He hadn't even realized he was still holding it in his hand.

However, after Tan Zhizhi spotted the large apple, she suddenly smiled: "You heartless thing, you actually remembered to bring an apple for Christmas Eve; I'll tentatively forgive you for being late this time."

"Ah, ah, uh, right, the apple is quite big, isn't it?"

Yang Tianxing didn't know what else to say, so he stammered "mm-hmm, ah-ah" for a moment before changing the subject: "What do you want to eat for dinner?"

"Let's have hot pot; when I was coming over just now, I saw a newly opened hot pot restaurant ahead, eating hot pot in winter keeps the cold away."

"Ugh~~"

"What's wrong with you? Don't you want to eat it?"

"No, I was too busy today, and I just ran over here, so I feel a bit nauseous."

After finishing the second hot pot meal, Yang Tianxing sat on the sofa, listless and silent; he felt as if his throat was completely stuffed with food.

Thinking Yang Tianxing was just tired, Tan Zhizhi said worriedly: "How about we go back now?"

Yang Tianxing waved his hand with a struggle: "Forget it, today is a special day, let me walk around with you a bit more."

Little Zhizhi was overjoyed, thinking only that Yang Tianxing had become more gentle, never imagining he just wanted to digest his food.

When they returned that night, Tan Zhizhi took an exquisite little desk lamp out of her bag: "This is your Christmas gift; I didn't want to give it to you at first, but seeing that you performed well later on, I'll give it to you after all."

Yang Tianxing looked disgusted: "Why is it pink?"

"I picked it, so of course I picked my favorite color."

Tan Zhizhi proudly lifted her chin and, clutching the apple, said: "I'm going to read and review tonight! You are not allowed to call me."

After Tan Zhizhi returned to her dormitory, Yang Tianxing swung the pink desk lamp in his hand, walked over to the Finance Institute girls' dormitory building, and called Liu Jiaoyue down.

"Today is Christmas Eve; I was very happy that you gave me an apple, so I specifically went to buy a small desk lamp, I hope you like it."