Chapter 84: The Conflict Sparked by Christmas Eve Apples

December 24th.

Christmas Eve.

In this day and age, the custom of celebrating Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is not yet widespread in the country.

At least, that is the case here in Huizhou.

However, it has started to become popular among certain groups.

For example: white-collar workers, and university students.

This morning at school, Cao Sheng received several apples.

Giving an apple to someone you like on Christmas Eve has become a way to confess one's feelings.

This morning, he rode his bicycle to the bike shed behind the school's teaching building and caught sight of Chen Shuyun, whom he hadn't seen in a while.

Seeing this first love from his original timeline today, Cao Sheng noticed she was wearing brown trousers, a blue front-buttoned cotton-padded jacket, and black sneakers; she was bowing her head, blowing warm air into her hands, and stomping her feet on the ground, clearly suffering from the cold.

Hearing the sound of the bicycle, she looked up, saw Cao Sheng, and her eyes brightened slightly; she then trotted over, her cheeks flushed, and raised a hand to greet him, "Hi! Morning!"

Cao Sheng returned a smile and nodded, "Morning!"

As he spoke, he parked his bike and lowered his head to retrieve his key and lock it.

Just as he finished locking the bike, he saw a large red apple appear before his eyes.

"Here! It's a Red Fuji!"

Chen Shuyun's voice came through.

Cao Sheng turned to look at her and saw that her face had turned even redder; she was biting her cherry lips lightly, but her black-and-white eyes were struggling to meet his gaze, though her face grew increasingly flushed and her lips were pressed tightly together.

It was clear she was very nervous.

To this day, Cao Sheng has not read the love letter she wrote him.

Therefore, he did not know what she had written in that letter, and despite him clearly not responding to her, she actually had the courage to come and give him an apple today.

"Take it! It's, it's very delicious."

She said in a low voice, her tone carrying a hint of pleading.

Cao Sheng smiled and reached out to take the apple.

"Thank you..."

His words of thanks were still lingering in the air when she swished her hips, turned around, and trotted away.

When morning self-study ended.

Cao Sheng was still bowing his head, refining the outline for *Divine Grave*, when another Red Fuji suddenly appeared beside his hand.

Cao Sheng looked up and saw Wu Can, dressed in a white down jacket, passing by him without looking back, her pace quick; several classmates nearby looked at Wu Can in surprise, then at Cao Sheng.

Song Chao, sitting next to Cao Sheng, gave him a thumbs-up, "Awesome!"

Zheng Xiaosi, sitting in the row in front of Cao Sheng, shook his head and sighed, "Damn! Truly, the same person but different fates!"

Pang Yunhai, sitting in the row behind Cao Sheng, chuckled, "Old Third! Looking at it like this, it seems our class beauty still likes you. Are you really not considering her?"

Cao Sheng looked at them and said nothing, merely putting away the apple on the table; after all, the apple was innocent.

By the time they were eating in the cafeteria at noon.

Pang Yunhai, Guan Zhi, and the others sitting with Cao Sheng were subjected to several more mental blows in succession.

The group had just fetched their food and sat down, having barely taken a few bites, when a girl suddenly came over to give Cao Sheng an apple.

"Senior! I'm a fan of your books. I'm Zhao Qian from the Tourism class. This apple is for you!"

A girl with delicate features finished speaking articulately, and before the surprised Cao Sheng, Pang Yunhai, and the others could react, she set down a large apple and turned to run away.

Following that, another girl with very long legs, wearing blue jeans, ran over, set an apple down in front of Cao Sheng, and ran off; after a few steps, she suddenly stopped, turned back, and said with a flushed face, "Senior! I'm also from the Tourism class. My name is Tong Xin. You, you can come find me!"

After saying that, she ran off again.

These two girls seemed to have given other girls courage; after the two of them came over to give apples, several more girls ran over to give apples like a relay race.

Each person only gave one apple, and every girl stated her class and name when she came to deliver it.

But none of them lingered; after delivering the apple and stating their class and name, they all ran off.

This made Cao Sheng feel a bit sentimental.

Before his rebirth, some bold girls could kiss men on the street and have sex in parks.

Girls with such nerve seemed to be everywhere.

Unlike the girls of the present, who blushed at the slightest thing; those few girls just now were already considered very bold.

"I can't eat this meal anymore!"

Song Chao suddenly threw his chopsticks on the table, looking at the large, red apples in front of Cao Sheng with both envy and jealousy.

The others were much the same.

Pang Yunhai used his chopsticks to stir his food, sighed, and seemed to have lost his appetite as well.

Wei Dongming put down his chopsticks, pulled out half a pack of Baisha cigarettes, bowed his head to light one, and raised his eyebrows at Song Chao, "Ah Chao, aren't you also writing a novel? You've written quite a lot of words, right? How come you're both writing novels, yet the gap between you and Cao Sheng is so big? How come not a single girl has come to give you an apple? You don't have even one female fan, do you? Haha."

Song Chao glared at him, "If you're so great, you write one! Let's see if you can write one that gets female fans to give you apples!"

Wei Dongming chuckled.

Guan Zhi reached out and took an apple from in front of Cao Sheng, laughing, "Old Third, since you have so many apples, I won't go buy any. I'll take one and give it to Xu Ling later, no problem, right?"

Cao Sheng laughed, "Sure! Who else needs one for their girlfriend? Help yourselves!"

But no one else took any.

Pang Yunhai shook his head, "I'll pass! My girlfriend isn't here."

Zhai Jun also shook his head, "I don't have a girlfriend."

Wei Dongming flicked his cigarette ash and smiled, "I'll go buy two pounds for my girlfriend later; I won't take any of yours! By the way, I almost forgot to tell you all, I have a girlfriend. Not these two days, but in a couple of days, I'll treat you all to a meal! Everyone come then!"

Wei Dongming's sudden announcement that he had a girlfriend surprised everyone.

They all asked questions out of curiosity.

Wei Dongming answered with a face full of smiles, feeling somewhat triumphant.

Their dormitory had a tradition where whoever had good news would treat the others.

When Guan Zhi was the first to find a girlfriend, he was teased by everyone into treating them.

When the news of Cao Sheng's novel being published became known, he was also teased into treating them.

Not long after the start of this semester, Pang Yunhai announced he was dating, and amidst the teasing of the others, he readily treated everyone to a meal.

But every time someone treated the group before, it was the roommates who teased them first, and only then would they treat.

Like Wei Dongming today, taking the initiative to say he would treat was truly the first time.

As a result, he was slapped in the face.

Song Chao said with a straight face, "I'm busy! You guys go eat!"

The smile on Wei Dongming's face froze, before he could even ask why.

Xu Fengmao suddenly said, "So you found a girlfriend, big deal! You're not the first in our dorm to find one, what are you showing off for? I'm not going either!"

Zheng Xiaosi, the youngest in the dorm, snickered and actually chimed in, "That's right! You're not the first to find a girlfriend, and it's not like we can't afford to eat, who needs you to treat?"

Wei Dongming stood up in a rage, slammed a hand on the dining table, and shouted, "Are you guys going too far? I'm kindly offering to treat you to a meal, and you're giving me no face like this? Are you being ungrateful?"

Cao Sheng: "???"

Cao Sheng, who hadn't stayed in the dorm for a single day this semester, couldn't understand this scene.

Cao Sheng could understand why Song Chao didn't want to go, after all, Wei Dongming had just teased him.

But what was going on with Xu Fengmao, who usually had a pretty good temper, and Zheng Xiaosi, the youngest in the dorm? Why were they also giving Wei Dongming no face?

"Are they having a conflict?"

Cao Sheng asked Zhai Jun beside him in a low voice.

Zhai Jun curled his lips, leaned into Cao Sheng's ear, and whispered, "It's just Wei Dongming's foul mouth; he's had several conflicts with them in the dorm this semester."

Cao Sheng: "???"

After a round of arguing, Wei Dongming overturned the food on the table and stormed off in a huff.

Seeing him so angry, Song Chao and the others laughed quite happily.

Cao Sheng's curiosity was piqued, and when he left the cafeteria with them, he couldn't help but press for the reason.

With Song Chao and the others explaining it bit by bit, Cao Sheng finally began to understand the situation.