Chapter 562: Ying Chanxi

The four of them returned to Bihai Lanting and took their gift boxes and Li Luo's birthday cake upstairs.

It was already past six in the evening.

If they truly started cooking dinner from scratch, Li Luo might not eat his birthday feast until who-knew-when.

Fortunately, they had woken up early that morning; while Xu Youyu was still sleeping in, Li Luo took the two girls to the market.

After buying the ingredients, they had already done basic prep work.

Ying Chanxi claimed she wanted them to cook themselves, but in truth, the chopping and prepping had all been finished that morning.

"Alright, alright, stop watching." Ying Chanxi pushed Li Luo out of the kitchen and tied on an apron, "Sit on the sofa. We'll call you when it's ready."

"Just be careful," Li Luo said, glancing at Ying Chanxi—he was quite at ease.

After all, Ying Chanxi had helped Lin Xiuhong in the kitchen since childhood; cooking posed no real challenge for her, at most it might be bland.

But when Li Luo saw Xu Youyu and Yan Zhusheng putting on aprons, he couldn't help but twitch his eyelid.

To be honest, he had witnessed these two's cooking skills in his past life.

Xu Youyu was a master of instant noodles; Yan Zhusheng could only boil dumplings.

Asking them to cook? That was truly asking too much.

So after being pushed out of the kitchen by Ying Chanxi, Li Luo still stood uneasily at the door, peering in and reminding them: "Take it easy, don't burn down the kitchen."

"Who are you doubting?" Xu Youyu rolled her eyes, "We're each making two dishes—we've already looked up the recipes, they're all simple!"

"I'll be watching," Ying Chanxi added.

With those words, Li Luo relaxed slightly and stopped lingering, wandering over to the sofa and turning on the TV.

Yet during his TV watching, the kitchen occasionally erupted in the girls' laughter and chatter.

Sometimes Xu Youyu let out a startled cry—apparently she'd messed something up.

But with Ying Chanxi around, no major mishaps occurred.

Soon, the aroma of dishes began drifting from the kitchen, teasing Li Luo's taste buds.

"Done!"

At just past seven, Xu Youyu was the first to emerge from the kitchen, carrying two plates to the dining table and calling to Li Luo, "Come quick! It'll go cold if you wait too long."

"Coming," Li Luo rose and walked toward the table, watching as Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng followed, each carrying dishes—six dishes and one soup, quite a lavish spread.

Ying Chanxi brought out bowls and chopsticks, then the three girls each retrieved the handmade cups Li Luo had made earlier and poured drinks into them.

Seeing this, Li Luo was stumped, and finally just grabbed an old cup he'd used before and made do.

This was probably another interpretation of "three monks have no water to drink…"

The girls didn't care which cup Li Luo used; they were too eager to see him pick up his chopsticks.

When Li Luo reached for a piece of chili stir-fried pork and popped it into his mouth, Xu Youyu asked, "Guess who made this?"

"You did."

"How did you know?!" Xu Youyu exclaimed. "I tasted it—it's not bad!"

"Why do you think I'm judging by taste?" Li Luo chuckled. "I remember your dad is really good at this dish, so it's more likely you made it."

"What about my other dish? Guess again," Xu Youyu asked.

"Hmm…" Li Luo scanned the table, then picked up his chopsticks and went for the sour-spicy shredded potato, "This one?"

"You guessed that too?!" Xu Youyu widened her eyes.

"Because your dad only knows how to make these two dishes," Li Luo shrugged. "They say daughters resemble their fathers—turns out it's true."

"Don't listen to him," Ying Chanxi rolled her eyes. "He knew what we were making all morning—he just didn't tell you because you were sleeping in."

Xu Youyu: "... Li Luo?"

"Cough, cough," Li Luo glared at Ying Chanxi and clicked his tongue. "Eat, eat."

"Hmph!" Xu Youyu merely huffed and stopped teasing him—but under the table, she wasn't holding back.

Swords and knives flashed beneath the table.

To be fair, normal cooking—unless the seasonings were wildly off—wouldn't turn out too badly.

Though it couldn't compare to Li Luo's own cooking, knowing these three girls had made it for him, he savored every bite and finished two bowls of rice.

Finally, he ladled himself a bowl of steaming sweet corn and pork rib soup, his belly full and round.

At this point, he couldn't possibly eat the birthday cake.

So in the end, they fulfilled Yan Zhusheng's wish: after dinner, the four played Monopoly to digest their meal.

They say kissing helps with weight loss; after playing Monopoly for over an hour, Li Luo understood this deeply.

He felt much of his dinner had already been digested.

So by just past nine, after clearing the table, they placed the birthday cake in the center.

Xu Youyu stuck a "1" and an "8" candle into the cake.

Yan Zhusheng walked to the wall and turned off the living room lights after Ying Chanxi lit the candles.

Instantly, the room plunged into dimness, lit only by the flickering candlelight on the table, casting glow on their four faces.

Li Luo stared at the candles spelling "18," lost in thought, remembering many things.

How had his past-life self celebrated his eighteenth birthday?

Back then, he was also in Gao San—a memory he deeply wished to forget.

For Li Luo, high school in his past life was utterly unremarkable.

A regular high school, a regular class, and a regular him.

He had no close friends, just ate meals and played basketball with classmates.

His grades were a disaster.

He was the type even teachers had given up on saving.

Li Luo recalled in the Palace of Memories and realized he'd never celebrated his 18th birthday in his previous life.

If he'd celebrated normally, it would've been on the 21st, a Wednesday.

But since high school, he'd stopped celebrating his birthday altogether.

That day, he'd simply woken up as usual, gone to school, eaten, and done his homework.

And now…

Li Luo's gaze shifted from the cake, landing one by one on Ying Chanxi, Yan Zhusheng, and Xu Youyu's faces.

Around him, their voices sang the birthday song, clapping as they sang.

This scene felt like a dream.

So when the song ended and Xu Youyu urged him to close his eyes and make a wish, Li Luo hesitated to shut them.

Only after Ying Chanxi urged him twice did Li Luo press his palms together, face the candles, and silently make a wish in his heart.

May this beautiful day last forever. Li Luo silently wished, then opened his eyes and blew gently on the burning candles, extinguishing them.

The living room plunged into darkness.

But the next second, Yan Zhusheng turned the living room lights back on.

Besides the birthday cake, three small gift boxes now sat on the dining table.

They were the birthday gifts handmade by Ying Chanxi, Yan Zhusheng, and Xu Youyu today.

"Can I open them now?" Li Luo reached for Yan Zhusheng's box, shook it, and looked at the three.

"Mm." Yan Zhusheng nodded.

Xu Youyu and Ying Chanxi had no objections.

"Hurry up and open them—we still have to cut the cake," Xu Youyu urged.

"I'll take a look first," Li Luo carefully unwrapped the box. "What did Zhusheng make?"

As he spoke, Li Luo reached into the box and pulled out a small object.

!

The object was no bigger than a single fingertip joint.

Li Luo stared closely and realized it was a miniature harmonica.

At that moment, Yan Zhusheng pulled her usual harmonica from her pant pocket and held it out to Li Luo: "See? Pretty similar, right?"

"Mm… yeah, it is." Li Luo smiled, noticing the clay harmonica had a tiny hole threaded with a red string.

So Li Luo took his keychain, hung the harmonica on it, turning it into a handy key fob he could carry anywhere.

Then Li Luo's gaze fell on Xu Youyu's gift box.

Compared to Yan Zhusheng's, Xu Youyu's box was slightly larger.

After unwrapping it, Li Luo pulled out a… hmm… a token?

Holding the token—half the size of his palm—Li Luo couldn't help but smile wryly.

Carved on it was a cocktail glass, with the word "mojito" etched along the rim.

It was quite memorable.

"This token of mine isn't ordinary," Xu Youyu said with a grin.

"What's so special about it?"

"Well~" Xu Youyu rolled her eyes, glanced at her two best friends beside her, then leaned close to Li Luo's ear and whispered softly, "With this token, you can command me to do one thing—no questions asked."

Xu Youyu's warm, soft whisper brushed Li Luo's earlobe, warm and tingling.

Especially with her flirtatious, teasing tone—it sent a shiver through Li Luo, leaving his heart fluttering.

"What did you say, Senior?" Ying Chanxi asked curiously.

"It's a secret," Xu Youyu winked, refusing to tell them, though her smile remained, and she raised an eyebrow at Li Luo.

Li Luo quietly tucked the token away; in just a few seconds, dozens of possible uses had already flashed through his mind.

But since he could use it only once, he'd need to be strategic—save it for the right moment, don't waste it.

Thinking this, Li Luo's gaze finally turned to Ying Chanxi's gift box.

Compared to the other two, Ying Chanxi's box was larger than both combined—he had no idea what she'd made.

Li Luo picked up the box and carefully unwrapped it.

Across from him, Ying Chanxi held her hands clasped before her chest, watching.

Finally, Li Luo pulled out a photo frame.

"Huh?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow, surprised, then thought it made perfect sense. "But what photo should I put in it?"

Hearing his question, Ying Chanxi's cheeks flushed faintly. She stole a shy glance at Xu Youyu and Yan Zhusheng beside her.

Then she reached out, grabbed Li Luo's hand, and led him toward her bedroom, shutting the two girls out.

"So what photo did you prepare?" Li Luo asked, smiling as he watched Ying Chanxi rummaging through her bedside drawer.

"Of course I prepared one," Ying Chanxi quickly pulled out an envelope, withdrew a stack of photos, and selected one.

But she didn't hand it over right away—her hesitation, the stubborn blush on her cheeks, betrayed her inner state completely.

Yet Li Luo reached out, plucked the photo from her arms, glanced down—and burst out laughing.

"Why are you laughing!" Ying Chanxi puffed her cheeks. "Don't laugh—do you want it or not?"

"Of course I want it," Li Luo laughed, placing the photo into the frame and holding it up to admire.

The photo captured the moment of their first kiss.

The girl threw herself into the boy's arms, tiptoeing, arms tightly wrapped around his neck.

Under the moonlight by the river, the scene was exquisitely beautiful.

Li Luo hadn't expected Ying Chanxi had quietly had these moments printed and secretly kept them all along.

Thinking of this, Li Luo immediately flashed a mischievous look, and while Ying Chanxi wasn't paying attention, he snatched the envelope from her hand with a swift swipe and pulled out the photos inside to look at them.

"Ah! Don't look!" Ying Chanxi, seeing this, blushed furiously and leapt up to stop Li Luo, but due to her height, she only tumbled into his arms and was tightly embraced.

Li Luo held Ying Chanxi close while continuing to flip through the remaining photos behind her back, unable to suppress a soft laugh.

Finally, he blew warm breath against her ear and said, "So you have this kind of hobby in private? Why are all these photos of us kissing during our MV shoots? Are you planning to use them to blackmail me or seduce me later?"

Ying Chanxi, flustered by his words, wriggled in his arms like a silkworm, making shy, incoherent noises.

"You're terrible!"

"What's terrible?" Xu Youyu's voice came from outside the bedroom door. "You two are flirting over a few photos? Xu and I are waiting to eat cake."

Hearing Xu Youyu's voice, Ying Chanxi finally wriggled free from Li Luo's arms, snatched back her precious photos, slipped them back into the envelope, and shoved it into the drawer.

As she left, Ying Chanxi couldn't resist shooting him a glare—but to Li Luo's eyes, that glare carried a hint of coquettish charm, so adorable he wanted to pin her against the wall and tease her mercilessly.

"Where's the frame? Where's the frame?" Xu Youyu peered curiously as they emerged.

"Want to see?" Li Luo turned to look at Ying Chanxi.

"No way, no way!" Ying Chanxi clutched the frame in Li Luo's hand and pouted. "Didn't our senior keep hers secret too? Then I won't show you either."

Li Luo smiled and simply went to his own bedroom first to store the frame safely.

He then returned to the living room, stared at the birthday cake on the dining table with its four little figures, picked up the plastic knife, and hesitated.

"How do I even cut this?"

"I don't care about the rest—I want this little figure," Xu Youyu said.

"Me too," Yan Zhusheng retorted.

"I want some too," Ying Chanxi quickly added.

Li Luo: "... You guys want to dismember me, don't you?"

"Not a bad idea," Xu Youyu grinned. "Give the head to Xixi, the upper body to Zhusheng, and the lower body to me."

(End of Chapter)