Chapter 275

After carefully putting on the bracelet Li Luo had given her, Ying Chanxi finally picked up the plastic knife and cheerfully distributed the cake to everyone.

It was just that they had all gotten a bit tired from playing earlier.

Now that they had received their slices from Ying Chanxi, everyone found a sofa or chair to sit on and slowly savored the cake's flavor.

Midway through, Ying Chanxi ate her cake while occasionally glancing at the jade tablet on her wrist, smiling foolishly.

The next second, she felt her cheek being touched.

She turned her head and saw Xu Youyu already slipping away with a grin.

Ying Chanxi touched her cheek and realized Xu Youyu had smeared cream on it.

"Senior! You ambushed me!"

Just as Ying Chanxi cried out, Li Luo on the other side also fell victim.

"Don't run!"

Originally, this had been a pursuit targeting Xu Youyu.

But since Xu Youyu proved as slippery as a fish and hard to catch, Li Luo simply switched targets and smeared cream on Ying Chanxi's face again.

This enraged the Birthday Person, who immediately spun around and chased after Li Luo to retaliate.

After that, a full-scale brawl erupted instantly, and no one was spared.

They played and frolicked like this until past eight in the evening.

Qiao Xinyan and the others prepared to take their leave and go home.

After all, they were all Gao Zhongsheng and couldn't stay out too late, lest their families worry.

After receiving a call from her mother reminding her, Qiao Xinyan stood up to depart; Xu Yinghuan and Zhao Rongjun followed suit, ready to leave together.

Li Luo walked them all the way downstairs; when he returned, Xu Youyu had already gone into the bathroom to shower.

Meanwhile, Ying Chanxi was unpacking the gifts they had given her today.

By now, she had finished looking at Qiao Xinyan and the others' gifts, and opened the large box Yan Zhusheng had given her—it contained a pair of pure white sneakers, very beautiful.

Ying Chanxi couldn't wait to try them on, walked happily around the living room, then returned and hugged Yan Zhusheng: "I love these shoes so much, thank you, Zhusheng~"

"Mm." Yan Zhusheng nodded. "As long as Xixi likes them."

"You're the shoe-giving specialist, aren't you?" Li Luo glanced over. "What are you planning to give next year for New Year's?"

"Shoes." Yan Zhusheng blinked. "Perfect time to get a new pair."

"You're surprisingly thoughtful."

As he spoke, Ying Chanxi picked up the box Xu Youyu had given her and curiously opened it.

But the next second, she blushed and snapped it shut, her face flushed as she shouted toward the bathroom: "Senior! You should've warned me before giving a gift like this!"

Ying Chanxi moved too fast; Li Luo hadn't seen what it was and asked curiously: "What gift?"

"N-nothing…"

"Let me see."

"No!"

Ying Chanxi clamped down hard on the box.

At that moment, the bathroom door opened.

Xu Youyu, still showering, poked out her head and half a snow-white shoulder, one hand gripping the doorframe, the other covering her chest, and asked in confusion: "Who called me just now? I didn't hear clearly."

Let's be honest, the scene before them was extremely tempting.

Especially since Xu Youyu was completely naked, Li Luo's mind immediately began to wander.

But his face remained serious as he asked: "Xixi says your gift wasn't proper—what did you give?"

"Huh? What's improper about it?" Xu Youyu protested. "It's the same as what I gave you last time—underwear, with Pikachu and Doraemon patterns!"

"Senior! Don't say that!" Ying Chanxi hurriedly tried to stop her, but it was too late.

After hearing Xu Youyu's words, Ying Chanxi's expression turned suspicious; she narrowed her eyes at Li Luo: "Senior said it's the same as what she gave you? What did she give you?"

"Underwear, of course—didn't Xixi know?" Xu Youyu grinned. "He's probably wearing them right now. I'm going to shower now, you two chat."

After stoking the fire, Xu Youyu pulled back into the bathroom and closed the door to continue showering.

But she left behind a mess in the living room.

"Cough… listen to my explanation," Li Luo cleared his throat. "It's just that Senior's gift was so outrageous, I was too embarrassed to say anything…"

"So did you wear it?" Ying Chanxi narrowed her eyes at him.

"Uh… I didn't mean to hide it from you, it's just that…"

"Did you wear it?"

"Can't you ask such a personal question?" Li Luo instinctively stepped back half a pace and turned to run toward his bedroom. "I'm going to shower first!"

"Stop!" Ying Chanxi chased after him immediately, preventing him from escaping; in her urgency, she even grabbed hold of Li Luo's pants.

But because Li Luo had run too hard, his waistband slipped down, revealing half of his buttocks.

The pattern on his underwear was unmistakably a cute Pikachu.

"Eh eh eh! That's too much!" Li Luo scrambled to pull up his pants.

Ying Chanxi hadn't expected him to actually drop his pants; her face flushed red as she covered her cheeks.

Yan Zhusheng, watching from the side, found it utterly fascinating, eyes fixed, having seen every inch of Li Luo's Pikachu-covered buttock.

But just then, taking advantage of Ying Chanxi's embarrassment, Li Luo curiously opened the gift box Xu Youyu had given her.

He immediately burst out laughing.

"Still Pikachu and Doraemon?" Li Luo looked at the cute underwear inside and shook his head, smiling.

"Ah! Don't look!" Ying Chanxi lunged to cover the gift, blushing and glaring at Li Luo. "You pervert!"

"…You've seen these dozens of times when washing clothes," Li Luo said, exasperated. "Unless you don't hang them on the balcony after washing."

"I'm done washing." At that moment, Xu Youyu walked out of the bathroom wearing pajamas, a towel wrapped around her hair. "Who's next?"

"I—I'll go first." Ying Chanxi clutched the underwear Xu Youyu had given her and hurried toward the bathroom.

Li Luo watched Ying Chanxi flee, then turned his gaze to Xu Youyu after closing the bathroom door and sighed with a wry smile: "You're the professional underwear-giver now? Can't you give something normal next time?"

"Unnormal underwear?" Xu Youyu frowned. "I thought other gifts might clash with someone else's, but underwear? No one else would buy that. It's novel. Besides, I noticed Xi Xi's underwear have been worn too long—they need replacing."

"You really think things through…"

"Of course I do." Xu Youyu chuckled, then walked back to her bedroom to blow-dry her hair.

Li Luo stayed in the living room, glanced at the mess on the floor, and decided to clean it up first.

Yan Zhusheng, watching from the side, obediently followed him to help.

First, they swept all the trash into a large garbage bag and piled it by the door. Then they fetched rags and a mop from the kitchen and cleaned the living room thoroughly.

After more than ten minutes of work, Li Luo exhaled deeply and plopped onto the sofa.

Yan Zhusheng came before him and stared fixedly.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"There's cream on your face."

"Huh? Didn't I wipe it off?" Li Luo grabbed a tissue and wiped his face. "It's gone."

"Here." Yan Zhusheng extended her finger and wiped the corner of his mouth, then showed it to him. "Cleaned."

Then she put her finger into her mouth and gently sucked it, licking off the cream.

Li Luo froze, stunned by the sight.

"What's wrong?" Yan Zhusheng asked, puzzled.

"N-nothing…" Li Luo coughed twice, glancing at the cream still smudged on Yan Zhusheng's face.

Yan Zhusheng noticed his gaze and immediately bent forward, tilting her cheek with the cream toward him: "Do I have some too?"

"Yes."

"Then wipe it off for me."

Li Luo reached out, using his index finger to wipe the cream away.

He glanced down, still too shy to use his mouth, and was about to grab a tissue.

But Yan Zhusheng had already leaned forward and gently took his index finger into her mouth.

Her nimble little tongue licked his finger clean, then she released it with a soft suck, ending with a distinct "pop."

Li Luo's breath hitched for an instant. He stared at her innocent expression and took a deep breath.

"Any more?"

"... No."

"Oh." Yan Zhusheng's eyes dimmed slightly, and she stole a glance at the leftover cake cream on the table.

Li Luo noticed her gaze and his face darkened: "What are you thinking?"

Yan Zhusheng shifted her eyes away guiltily and whispered: "Nothing."

"I'm going to take a shower." Li Luo felt a sudden heat in his body. He jumped up from the sofa and hurried toward his bedroom.

The living room was now empty except for Yan Zhusheng.

She sat on the spot where Li Luo had just been, gently pressed her lips together, extended her tongue to lick them, savoring the lingering taste.

After a moment of quiet reminiscence, she grew bored and rose to her feet, walking into the piano room to play and relieve her restlessness.

Soon, faint piano music and singing drifted from inside.

"If you're the firework over the sea, I'm the foam of the waves~"

"At one moment, your light illuminated me~"

…

The first thing Ying Chanxi did after washing and drying her body was not to put on her pajamas, but to slip on the bracelet she had taken off before showering.

She gazed at herself in the mirror, smiling foolishly, then lowered her head to stroke the jade tablet, reading the engraved words—warm joy rising in her heart.

Childhood sweetheart.

For Chanxi—Li Luo.

Both were her favorite words.

After admiring herself in the bathroom for a long while, Ying Chanxi finally put on her pajamas, dried her hair with a towel, glanced at the living room, saw no one, and walked toward Li Luo's bedroom.

She pushed open his bedroom door without knocking. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, she saw Li Luo stepping out of the bathroom, one hand wiping his hair with a towel, the other tugging at Doraemon's magic pouch.

The next instant, their eyes met.

"Holy shit!" Li Luo yelped and scrambled back into the bathroom, annoyed. "At least knock next time!"

"I—I…" Ying Chanxi also recoiled, her face flushed crimson as if it could drip blood. "I didn't expect it! Who knew you'd come out of the shower without pajamas!"

"You're the one playing the victim?" Li Luo stared, speechless. "Close the door first. I'll put on clothes and talk."

"Okay, okay."

Li Luo poked his head out, confirmed the bedroom door was shut, then rushed out to pull on his pajamas.

Soon after, Ying Chanxi knocked on the door: "You done?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm coming in." Ying Chanxi opened the door and stepped inside, her cheeks still flushed, looking adorably shy. "The Birthday Person needs you to blow-dry her hair."

"Sit." Li Luo pointed to the chair in front of the computer.

Ying Chanxi obediently sat down, but as she looked at Li Luo, she couldn't help glancing at his pants.

"Where are you looking?" Li Luo sighed. "Sure, it's childish—but the underwear your senior gave me is actually pretty good quality."

"I never said you couldn't wear it," Ying Chanxi mumbled. "I'm wearing one too."

"What are you wearing?"

"It's Doraemon too," Ying Chanxi whispered.

Li Luo burst out laughing: "Are we wearing the same thing?"

"You're such a dummy!" Ying Chanxi laughed at him, but then found the whole thing so absurd she tried to hold it in—until she couldn't hold it anymore, her whole body shaking.

"Alright, alright, sit still, don't fidget," Li Luo said, pulling out a hair dryer to dry her hair.

Meanwhile, Ying Chanxi sat at the computer and pressed the power button: "I wonder how the new song will be received."

As she spoke, once the computer booted up, she eagerly logged online to check the response.