Chapter 22: Easily Soothed

On Monday morning.

As soon as Xu En’tang entered the classroom, she sensed curious glances coming from different directions.

Lin Jiayu had arrived earlier than her.

Once Xu En’tang sat down at her desk, Lin Jiayu couldn’t wait to ask, “How come it was Lu Jin who helped you ask for leave? I didn’t know you knew him.”

Xue Ang, who sat in front of Xu En’tang, also turned around, intrigued. “Xu En’tang, what’s your relationship with Lu Jin?”

Xu En’tang recalled that Xue Ang had asked Lu Jin to return her headphones and asked, “You know Lu Jin?”

“We sometimes run into each other playing basketball, so I know him.”

After responding, Xue Ang continued, “So what’s your relationship with Lu Jin? He actually came to help you ask for leave.”

Xu En’tang explained, “Our families know each other, so I asked him for a favor to help me ask for leave.”

Xue Ang: “Oh, so your families know each other.”

Lin Jiayu added, “Xu En’tang, you don’t know. When Lu Jin showed up in our building on Friday, a lot of girls went to see him.”

The International Class and the regular class were separate; aside from flag-raising or school-wide meetings, there was rarely any interaction between the two.

Lu Jin had actually come to their building.

Many people were guessing who he was there to see, but unexpectedly, he went to the office.

At that time, a few people were in the office and heard everything.

Surprisingly, he was there to help someone ask for leave.

Lin Jiayu: “By the time school was over, the news had spread. So many girls are watching you now.”

Xue Ang chimed in, “Forget about Xu En’tang, even when I ran into Lu Jin in the hallway and asked him to help me return the headphones, several girls came to ask me about it.”

Xu En’tang wasn’t particularly surprised by this.

Lu Jin was just that kind of person; he attracted attention wherever he went.

During the morning flag-raising ceremony, Xu En’tang stood in the line for Class 2 and indeed felt many gazes from other classes.

The students from the International Class were relatively indifferent; they had known Xu En’tang for a long time.

Xu En’tang was unaffected and took the opportunity to copy down the notes she had missed on Friday.

After all, the monthly exam was the next day.

After the monthly exam, everyone felt a temporary sigh of relief.

Next up was the National Day holiday.

On October 2nd, Xu En’tang returned to Licheng.

She couldn’t stop worrying about Xia Ning and wanted to spend more time with her during the holiday.

She still returned alone, without asking anyone to accompany her.

Before she left, Grandpa Lu and Grandma Lu reminded her repeatedly to pay attention to safety and asked when she would return.

Xu En’tang: “I should be back on the 6th.”

She planned to leave a day for rest.

Grandma Lu: “That’s perfect. Lu Jin’s birthday is on the 6th. I was going to tell you to come back early.”

Xu En’tang lowered her gaze.

October 6th was Lu Jin’s birthday.

In her past life, she would start preparing for this day before the National Day holiday every year.

Filled with anticipation.

After a week of not seeing Xia Ning, Xu En’tang felt that she seemed to be doing okay.

Xia Ning said that after returning home during the break, she had seen her mother and received a call from her father.

“I went home, and my mom scolded me for a while, so I ran out again. My dad called and also lectured me, saying I was being unreasonable, so I hung up on him.”

Xia Ning’s tone was complex. “Maybe they’re worried about me, but I really don’t want to hear a word from them; I even want to go against them.”

Perhaps in her past life, this was how she began to rebel…

Xu En’tang was very worried. “Ning Ning, please don’t do anything foolish.”

Xia Ning smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t. I still want to go to A University with you.”

The two had been staying together at Xu En’tang’s house for a few days, going out to have fun and doing homework together.

The holiday passed quickly.

On the afternoon of the 6th, Xu En’tang returned to Beicheng, with Xia Ning once again seeing her off to the station.

She arrived at Fuyuan in the evening and happened to run into Grandma Lu.

Grandma Lu: “Was the road crowded?”

Xu En’tang: “It was crowded.”

Many people were heading back over the next couple of days, making the station bustling and the time taken to enter and exit much longer than last time.

“Why don’t you take a break and let the driver take you to Lu Jin’s birthday party? It’s a good opportunity to make more friends.”

With good intentions, Grandma Lu gave Xu En’tang no reason to refuse.

Lu Jin’s birthday party was held at a private club, and only one private room on the entire floor was open.

By the time Xu En’tang arrived, it was already past seven.

The private room was quite crowded, filled with Lu Jin’s friends and some who had come along with them.

Who wouldn’t want to attend Lu Jin’s birthday party?

Xu En’tang scanned the room and spotted Lu Jin sitting in the center, looking at his phone.

He was the type of person who drew attention even without speaking. Moreover, since it was his birthday, even while casually scrolling through his phone, he remained the center of attention.

Xu En’tang had a deep impression of Lu Jin’s birthday from her past life.

At that time, he had just started dating Meng Tian, and it was the first time she met him after learning about their relationship.

When it was time to cut the cake, he was surrounded by everyone, making a wish.

Halfway through his wish, he suddenly opened his eyes, looked at her standing slightly behind the crowd, and said in a teasing tone, “You don’t seem very happy today; I’ll leave a wish for you to make.”

Surrounding girls looked at her with envy or jealousy.

Xu En’tang was taken aback.

He had noticed her emotions.

She had initially thought that since he was in a relationship, it wasn’t good for her to still like him and she wanted to try not liking him anymore.

Seeing her silent, Lu Jin urged, “What are you in a daze for? Hurry up and make your wish.”

At that time, Xu En’tang felt that she would probably never be able to stop liking him.

She made a wish, saying, “I hope you can come to celebrate my birthday as well.”

In her heart, she greedily added: for every birthday.

Lu Jin smirked playfully, “Sure.”

Later on, he really did celebrate every one of her birthdays.

The only time he let her down was during their first year studying abroad.

That day, she learned from He Jiayu that they had connected with Zhao Man, who was also in the U.S., and had gone to hang out with her.

It seemed that because of Zhao Man, he had forgotten her birthday.

She knew Zhao Man held a special place in his heart and was very afraid they would get back together.

She spent the entire day in a daze, having no desire to celebrate.

However, at around 11:40 PM, the doorbell to her apartment rang.

Wearing her pajamas, she opened the door and saw Lu Jin standing there, disheveled and holding a gift.

He should have still been at the party, yet he appeared at her apartment door as if by magic.

“Happy birthday, Xu Tangtang.”

In that moment, she felt as if she had gone from hell to heaven.

He hadn’t forgotten her birthday after all.

Immediately, she felt completely soothed.

A burst of laughter pulled Xu En’tang from her memories, bringing her thoughts back to the present. She looked up and met Lu Jin’s gaze as he put down his phone.

They still looked like they were sixteen.

The dining table was filled with plates of sliced cake, indicating that the cake had already been cut.

He wouldn’t be leaving a wish for her to make.

And she wouldn’t be making a wish for him to celebrate every one of her birthdays anymore.

Clutching the paper bag in her hand, she walked toward him.