Chapter 59 Before Christmas

Lu You drew the final petal, rolled up the long strip of cellophane, and placed it inside the long cylindrical mold. This way, once the chocolate solidified, it would curve into a specific arc, just like chrysanthemum petals.

He had already prepared the spherical center and hemispherical base of the chrysanthemum yesterday. Next, once the petals solidified completely, he would assemble them into a single chrysanthemum flower, and the project would be successfully completed.

For now, everything that could be done was finished, and he could take a short break.

"Ah～"

Lu You stretched lazily, loosening his muscles and joints. Every joint throughout his body popped like crackling soybeans. Even though he was already very experienced in shaping chocolate, he still found it exhausting.

In the living room.

Shen Yuyin, who had been chatting with Tang Wan, noticed that her son seemed to have finished what he was doing and decided to leave some space for the two young people.

"Wanwan, I won't chat with you anymore. Your boyfriend is free now, go find him."

Tang Wan instantly grew nervous and hurriedly denied, "Auntie, what are you saying! We aren't in that kind of relationship yet!"

Shen Yuyin narrowed her eyes, looking teasingly at the shy girl on the screen, and bantered, "You've held hands and you've hugged, and you're still not a boyfriend and girlfriend?"

She really did hear our conversation!

Tang Wan covered her face with both hands, too mortified to face anyone. Acting spoiled in front of the boy she liked, only to be caught red-handed by his mother—this was no different from relieving oneself in the middle of a busy street.

"Auntie! Stop talking!"

"Alright, I'll stop."

The young girl had thin skin, so Shen Yuyin didn't want to tease her too much, lest she scare her away and lose such a lovely prospective daughter-in-law.

"As for you young people's affairs, unless necessary, I won't interfere too much. I hope that when you interact in the future, you won't only see each other's strengths, but also learn to accept each other's flaws. Consider that advice from someone with experience."

Tang Wan lowered her hands. Although she didn't fully understand yet, and Lu You still maintained a flawless image in her heart, she still took Shen Yuyin's words to heart.

"I thought you would tell us not to engage in puppy love."

"There is no early or late when it comes to love, only whether both parties have the ability to sustain it properly. If someone approaches it with a playful mindset, I would naturally break them apart like a mandarin duck caught in a storm. But my son used his actions to show me that he is serious—the kind of serious where he wants to bring you home."

Tang Wan's heart gave a sharp jolt. She had never been able to clearly read Lu You's feelings toward her. Because Lu You behaved too rationally—neither getting too close nor keeping too distant, maintaining the distance just right—he seemed almost as if he were toying with his prey.

Moreover, she had no experience in liking someone and was completely clueless. Whenever she felt any caution toward a boy, she wouldn't even need Lu You to do anything; the moment he stood in front of her, she would obediently lean closer on her own.

"He... really thinks that way?"

Tang Wan's voice carried a hint of a tremble.

"Of course."

While Shen Yuyin maintained a smiling expression on the outside, she was already cursing inside.

*That rascal! How is he treating a nice girl like this? Making such a wonderful girl live in constant anxiety.*

"Don't worry, I might not know everything else, but at home, I see it all very clearly. When he makes food for you, he is extremely sincere. That's something you can't fake."

At that moment, Lu You, having a temporary break, walked into the living room still wearing his apron. Seeing that they were still talking, he couldn't help complaining, "You've been at it for so long, you're still not done chatting? Can you give me my phone back now?"

Shen Yuyin raised her eyes to look at Lu You, picked up the phone, and whispered to Tang Wan, "Look at that, he's jealous."

Then she handed the phone over to him and said, "Alright, you two chat, I'm going upstairs to take a shower first."

Lu You took the phone, sat down on the sofa, and looked at Tang Wan's clean and gentle smiling face. The fatigue on his body vanished completely.

"How was your chat with my mom? She didn't give you a hard time, did she?"

"No, Auntie Shen is very nice, and she's so pretty. If you hadn't told me, I would have thought she was your older sister."

"Not as pretty as you." Lu You said sincerely.

"Such a smooth talker!"

Tang Wan scolded him with a smile, then asked, "Tomorrow, do you have any plans?"

"What plans could there be? You still have to attend evening self-study."

"I can sneak out!"

"Don't!"

Lu You spoke up to stop her, advising, "We're still high school students, and our primary goal is still our studies. Sneaking out once or twice is fine, but just to spend time alone together, it's completely unnecessary."

Tang Wan lowered her head, a wave of grievance welling up in her heart.

"We didn't even study together this Saturday, I just wanted to spend some time with you, it won't affect my grades."

Lu You hadn't expected his words to provoke such a strong reaction from her. His mind raced as he reflected on his own mistake while figuring out how to cheer her up.

The silence did not last long.

"Tang Wan, do you remember the handmade chocolate and video I promised you?"

"Mm, I remember."

"How about this, tomorrow night I'll take you out for dinner, alright?"

Tang Wan forced a smile on her face and nodded gently.

"Okay, tomorrow after class, come pick me up."

"Alright, let's call it a night for now?"

"Okay, good night."

"Good night."

After Tang Wan hung up the video call, Lu You put down his phone, leaned back against the sofa, and fell into quiet contemplation.

Shen Yuyin, who had claimed she was going to take a shower but was actually eavesdropping by the stairwell, walked out and sat down next to her son.

"Do you feel like you said the wrong thing?"

"Yeah. I feel like my remark advising her to study at school tomorrow made her misunderstand something."

"Since you knew, why did you still say it?"

"Only by saying it did I realize!"

Shen Yuyin looked at her son's profile as he lowered his head in deep thought, knowing that he was regretting and introspecting. She spoke earnestly, "I know you actually want to spend time with her too. It's just that your rationality told you she should go back to school to study, right?"

Lu You didn't answer, which served as silent confirmation.

"However, feelings between two people cannot be that rational; you need to have willful thoughts. Occasional self-will within reasonable limits can express your care, reliance, and partiality toward her. Just like your father and me—sometimes I'll also demand that he cancel some unnecessary work and come home to accompany me."

An image of Tang Wan acting spoiled toward him flashed across Lu You's mind. Asking to skip self-study, wanting to hold hands, wanting hugs. These actions truly made his heart beat faster for her.

"Do you know what to do now?"

"Still thinking, but I've got a lead."

"That's good. Think it over properly, I'm actually going to take a shower now."

Shen Yuyin stood up and left. As she reached the stairwell, she remembered something, turned back, and instructed, "Oh, and tomorrow, make sure you take safety precautions. A fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl hasn't fully developed yet, giving birth carries risks, and besides, it's illegal too!"

"What the heck! What kind of weirdo are you! We're just going out for dinner, what could possibly happen in that short amount of time?"

"Who knows? Three minutes is already a long time, little virgin～"

With that, Shen Yuyin strode gracefully upstairs, leaving Lu You in a mess of disarray.

"Ha—what an outrageous mother. How could anyone do those kinds of things at this age."

*At most, just release some pent-up stress*, Lu You added silently in his heart.

He definitely possessed the necessary self-control. He knew very well what should be done and what shouldn't be done.

"The chocolate should be solidified by now. Time to start the final assembly work."

One hour later.

Lu You looked with satisfaction at the blooming milky-yellow chrysanthemum in front of him, then stopped the camera recording and took a few close-up shots of the chocolate chrysanthemum.

Next, he carefully placed the chrysanthemum into a transparent cake packaging box, wrapped it in gift wrapping paper, and finally tied it with a ribbon.

The fourteen-day process of making handmade chocolate had finally come to a successful conclusion.

"Phew～"

Lu You let out a long breath.

"It's finally done, I'm exhausted tonight."

After all, he had spent the entire day attending classes and then spent several hours tinkering at night. He wasn't a robot, so of course he was tired.

Putting the packaged chocolate into the refrigerator and cleaning up the kitchen, Lu You yawned as he walked downstairs.

"Time to wash up and go to sleep."

...

The next day, Christmas.

At school, naturally nothing would change. A foreign holiday was at most just an excuse for students to hype themselves up; the school administration definitely wouldn't react to it.

During the morning long break.

Both Lu You and Yuan Wenliang had dozens of greeting cards in their hands—some sent by boys, some sent by girls.

Yuan Wenliang had a larger quantity. He accepted every single greeting card he received, and even former junior high school classmates from other classes sent him some. While accepting the cards, he would also return one to the sender.

As for Lu You, he only accepted cards from people in his own class and rejected those from the neighboring classes. As a return gift, he handed out a piece of white chocolate left over from making the chrysanthemum last night.

"Brother Lu, Old Liang! Look what I received..."

Meng Yi's showy voice abruptly cut off as his gaze locked firmly onto the thick stack of greeting cards held by the two boys.

Lu You turned his head and looked at him in confusion.

"What did you receive?"

Meng Yi quickly tucked his sole greeting card behind his back and said nonchalantly, "Nothing much, just received a dozen greeting cards, wanted to see how many you guys have."

Lu You casually flipped through his cards, mentally estimated the count, and replied, "Pretty good, all the girls in the class are accounted for, and there are about a dozen from the boys."

*Puff!*

Meng Yi felt a sharp dagger pierce his back.

"Old Liang, what about you?"

"Hmm... compared to Brother Lu, I have a few more."

*Puff! Puff!*

Two more daggers embedded themselves in his back.

Meng Yi finally understood that competing in holiday gift-receiving with these two was like visiting a pigsty at a zoo—asking for embarrassment. One looked as pure and radiant as a jade tree facing the breeze, while the other had a heart full of poetry and literature; there was simply no comparison.

Still, a smile remained plastered on his face as he said with forced gratification, "Not bad. Seeing you guys so popular, as your friend, I'm very happy for you."

"Oh, thanks. Have some chocolate, I made it myself."

"Pardon the intrusion, Brother Meng. Just a small token of my appreciation, please accept it."

Meng Yi looked at the greeting card and the transparent paper-wrapped chocolate in his hands, and unfilial tears burst from his eyes.

Meng Yi: X﹏X

"Wuuwuuwuu, it's still better to be a guy! Girls are all bad people, they only know how to break my heart, wuuwuuwuu~"

...

Scenes of gift-giving could be seen everywhere on this day.

Class 18.

Ye Hongshu frowned, looking with displeasure at the bright red gift box sitting on her desk.

"Who sent this?"

"I know!"

Her deskmate excitedly raised her hand and answered first, "It was sent by Shao Ling from Class 17 next door!"

"Again?"

A wave of irritation surged in Ye Hongshu's heart. This person bothered her whenever he had free time; it was truly nauseating.

She grabbed the gift box with one hand and, under her deskmate's watchful gaze, expressionlessly tossed it into the trash can at the back of the classroom.

"Oh damn! So cool!"

Little stars appeared in her deskmate's eyes.

"That Shao Ling looks pretty decent though, did you just reject him so decisively?"

"Hmph," Ye Hongshu said mercilessly, "He can talk once he looks better than that guy in Class 3."

Her deskmate instantly changed her expression and said coldly, "That's impossible, how could a mortal compare to the heavens?"

Ye Hongshu: (ㅍ_ㅍ)

Fangirls are truly terrifying!

...

Class 2.

Tang Wan once again declined a gift sent by a boy from another class. She couldn't remember which one this was; at one point, two or three boys had even sent gifts at the same time.

Xu Nian sat beside her, munching on potato chips from the snack gift bag Li瑜 had given her, and asked, "Wanwan, do you even know who those people giving gifts are?"

"No idea, I didn't accept them anyway."

"Sigh, being pretty is such a bother. Here, have some potato chips."

Tang Wan opened her little mouth and caught the two potato chips Xu Nian fed her.

"Hmm? What flavor is this?"

"Cucumber flavor. How is it, delicious?"

"Not bad, can add this to the supermarket shopping list."

Sitting in the back row, Li瑜 heard that Tang Wan hadn't accepted any gifts, so he stopped paying attention either. His brother's romance should be allowed to develop naturally without too much interference from outsiders.