Chapter 170: A Simple Birthday Gift
Thinking back to her good buddy's birthday last year, Lin Muqing was still quite poor at the time. Even if she had money, she wouldn’t dare to spend it easily.
Note: Her parents had left her some money before they passed away, but due to certain reasons, Lin Muqing decided not to use it unless absolutely necessary. Now, she had a decent amount she could use to buy a birthday gift for her good buddy.
Recently, she had gone to a comic convention, worked as a model for Ye Mengze’s costumes, and also received some money from Lin Wenbin’s dad. Thinking about how much her good buddy had helped her this past year, Lin Muqing felt that this birthday gift had to be a little more special.
“A gift?”
Turning his head toward Lin Muqing, Ye Ziming raised an eyebrow and repeated her question in a low voice.
“Mhm, is there something you want?”
She nodded, looking at him full of hope, eyes wide and shiny.
When it comes to birthday gifts, it’s always great if there can be a surprise element. Lin Muqing had thought about this too.
But that’s all it was, a thought. She knew she wasn’t good at planning surprises, so it was safer to just ask directly.
“I want…”
Looking into her cute, big eyes, Ye Ziming opened his mouth slowly, seeming a bit hesitant. Actually, the gift he wanted most was right in front of him now. All he had to do was reach out and he could touch it.
But he couldn’t say that directly.
“Whatever you want, just say it! As long as I can manage it, I’ll make it happen!”
Seeing his hesitation, Lin Muqing patted her small chest and spoke with full confidence. By “as long as I can manage,” she meant anything that wasn’t too expensive, she’d find a way.
“Oh? Are you serious?”
Raising his eyebrow again, Ye Ziming looked surprised.
“Of course! As long as it’s something you want,” she answered, chin held high, full of certainty.
“Alright, then on my birthday, I want you to wear your best-looking outfit and come hang out with me.”
After Lin Muqing gave him multiple promises, Ye Ziming finally spoke his wish. One detail here, he said “best-looking outfit,” but didn’t say “dress.”
The few outfits Lin Muqing brought with her were all pretty simple, and none of them were skirts.
So, his plan was before the birthday came, he would find a way to give her a very pretty little dress. That way—wuhu~ let's go!
“Eh? That’s it?”
After hearing it, Lin Muqing froze for a second. Clearly, she hadn’t expected her good buddy’s wish to be so simple. The clothes she brought were all casual and kind of gender-neutral. None of them were really dresses.
“You don’t want to?”
“How could I not? But… nothing else?”
“Nope.”
“That’s all?”
Lin Muqing raised an eyebrow in confusion and asked again.
“Yep, that’s it,” Ye Ziming replied with a smile as he nodded.
“Alright, I’ll do it.”
After confirming a few times, Lin Muqing looked away and went back to playing on her phone.
What she was thinking in her heart was, ‘Wow, he’s really being nice to me. He only asked for something this simple.’
Since that’s the case, she decided she’d secretly prepare another gift to give him a small surprise later.
Now here comes the next question, what kind of gift should she give her good buddy?
Thinking about this, she lit up her phone screen and tried asking the silly netizens online for advice.
[Mumu-chan: My good buddy’s birthday is coming. What kind of gift should I give him?]
Right after she posted the question, no one answered yet.
But after she casually explained a bit about their relationship, the netizens quickly became interested and started giving her "suggestions."
[Silly Netizen A: Girls' clothes]
[Silly Netizen B: Sexy lingerie]
[Silly Netizen C: Get a ribbon, wear nothing but the ribbon, and hide in the closet waiting to be found.]
Wow. As expected, she really shouldn’t have had high hopes for these silly netizens. None of their ideas were actually helpful!
But for some reason, even though the suggestions were ridiculous, she didn’t exit the group chat. Instead, she read through all of them, very carefully too.
“What’s wrong?”
While Lin Muqing was on her phone, Ye Ziming suddenly noticed something. He turned his head and gently patted her head as he asked.
“N-nothing!”
Her eyes widened suddenly. Then she quickly hid her phone and looked at her good buddy, stuttering a little.
She absolutely could not let him see that chat. If he did, she would totally die from embarrassment again.
Huh? Again?
So weird.
…………………………………………
Next to her, Ye Ziming quietly looked at Lin Muqing. There was a strange look in his eyes.
If nothing was going on, then why did her eyes keep darting around, and why were her cheeks a little pink?
Ye Ziming thought about it. But then figured if he kept asking, she probably wouldn’t tell him anything, so he decided not to say more.
Time passed little by little, and soon it was noon. That meant it was time for what they talked about in the morning, Meng Yue would teach Lin Muqing how to cook.
Meng Yue had put a lot of thought into this lesson. She wanted to teach Lin Muqing everything she knew. And Lin Muqing stood by her side and listened very seriously, remembering every step and every important tip.
“See? Just like that, you’ve got a whole meal ready!”
After a while of hands-on practice, three dishes and one soup were finally done. They looked simple, but there were lots of key points involved.
For example, when marinating chicken wings, if you add too much soy sauce, the outside can easily get burnt while frying. Also, if you add a little oil before putting the wings in the pan, it can stop them from sticking.
“Got it!”
Lin Muqing gave Meng Yue a sweet smile and answered seriously.
She didn’t really know why, but she really liked being around Meng Yue. While learning to cook, she had been happy the whole time.
Even though Meng Yue was an older person, Lin Muqing felt like she was somehow different from the others.
“Now that the food’s ready, let’s call the others to come eat.”
Meng Yue looked at Lin Muqing for a moment, then seemed to snap back to her senses. She smiled and patted Lin Muqing’s head.
As she spoke, she remembered what Mother Ye said earlier, that the two of them had the exact same eyes.
From Meng Yue’s own point of view, she hadn’t noticed it much. If no one had mentioned it, she wouldn’t have thought of it at all.
But once someone pointed it out, she started to care a lot. She even felt like taking Lin Muqing home with her right away.
“Okay.”
Lin Muqing nodded sweetly as she looked into Meng Yue’s eyes, then turned and walked toward the living room.
Coincidentally, just as she walked out of the kitchen, Ye’s father, Ye Mingxu, had just come home. At that moment, he was standing by the entrance, changing his shoes.
Before he could even finish changing, Mother Ye walked up to him and whispered something quietly in his ear.