Chapter 9: His First Gift

Lively music was playing in the shop, each beat thudding like it struck directly on the heart.

Xia Zhi Cha lowered her gaze, acutely aware of Fu Chi Yu’s gaze resting on her.

“…No.”

Her throat was a bit tight as she tried her best to appear calm and unaffected.
“I’m just not used to looking people in the eye when I speak.”

—Because she was afraid that if their eyes met, all the thoughts she tried to bury deep inside would have nowhere left to hide.

---

In the end, Xia Zhi Cha couldn’t bring herself to reject Fu Chi Yu buying that dress for her.

By the time she got off work, the sky had already turned dark. On her way back to the dorm, she saw Jiang Lili say she hadn’t eaten dinner yet, so Xia Zhi Cha casually brought her some food.

When she opened the door, she was greeted by Jiang Lili’s bright, cheerful laughter.

Her phone was propped upright on the desk—she was video chatting with Gao Yuyang.

Hearing the door open, Jiang Lili turned and called out to Xia Zhi Cha, then quickly said to the screen,
“Zhizhi’s back, I’m hanging up now!”

As Xia Zhi Cha closed the dorm door behind her, Jiang Lili set her phone aside. Seeing the takeout in her hand, she grinned and reached for it with sparkling eyes:
“I knew it, Zhizhi treats me the best~”

Xia Zhi Cha smiled gently and glanced at her phone. In a soft voice, she asked,
“You two already made it to video calls? That’s fast.”

They had only met in person last night.

“You call this fast? Zhizhi, you’re way too reserved,” Jiang Lili teased with a chuckle.
“At least we’ve been chatting online for a few months. Video calling now is actually kind of slow, if you ask me.”

As she spoke, she opened the meal box and took a big bite of food.
“You’re always so focused on studying and ignoring the world. You don’t know how fast people our age fall in love. Take that Fu Chi Yu guy for example—he locks eyes with someone at a party one night, and by the next day, they’re dating and announcing it. Tsk tsk…”

Xia Zhi Cha listened quietly, not saying a word. She placed the clothing bag in her hand onto the table. Jiang Lili’s sharp eyes caught sight of it and looked surprised.

“Finally decided to buy some new clothes and doll yourself up a bit? I told you, with how pretty you are, it’s a shame not to dress up…”

“My clothes got dirty, so I just swapped them out,” Xia Zhi Cha replied casually. She opened the bag, planning to take out the dirty ones to wash, but paused when she saw what was inside.

Her dirty clothes had been placed in a waterproof bag, stuffed into the corner of the paper bag.

Lying neatly in the center was the first dress she had tried on earlier that day.

Xia Zhi Cha stared at the dress in surprise, her heart tightening painfully. In a slight panic, she grabbed her phone and sent Fu Chi Yu a message.

She sent only a photo. He responded almost immediately, as if he had expected this:

Fu Chi Yu:
[It’s a gift for you.]

Fu Chi Yu:
[You looked beautiful in that dress.]

Fu Chi Yu:
[I cut off the tag and tossed the receipt—no returns. Don’t talk to me about feeling guilty or owing me anything.]

A few short lines, carrying the same wild, carefree tone that matched his personality.

When it came to interacting with people, Fu Chi Yu was always so natural and generous, as if he had done this a thousand times. He was smooth, effortless, and never gave her a chance to say no.

Xia Zhi Cha started typing a refusal but gradually deleted every word. After hesitating for a moment, she finally replied:

【Thank you.】

Feeling like it sounded too cold or dismissive, she added a cute emoji afterward.

…She’d find a chance to return the favor in the future.

Though she was reluctant to admit it, the moment the thought of giving him something in return popped into her mind, she felt a trace of happiness.

It was as if she had found a proper reason to continue getting close to him.

Fu Chi Yu didn’t reply again.

Xia Zhi Cha set her phone down and carefully took the little dress out of the bag. She cradled it in her arms, her movements slow and gentle, and the corners of her lips couldn’t help but curve into a soft, faint smile.

…This was the first gift she had received from him.

---

Meanwhile—

“Young Master Fu, texting another girl again?”

In a noisy private lounge at an entertainment venue, several lazy voices piped up one after another.

The lighting was dim. The place was a mess—card games at one table, empty bottles scattered around, drunken banter mixed with flirty laughter from men and women alike. The music blared so loud it shook the floor.

Fu Chi Yu sat in the center, the undeniable core of the group, but his expression was bored and absent-minded.

The shadows danced across half his face, giving it a sharp, distant edge—handsome, wild, and listless.

Everyone was used to his aloof, disinterested demeanor. Still, they kept trying to cozy up to him with jokes and banter.

After all, in this circle, Fu Chi Yu was the top of the food chain.

With a cigarette lazily resting between his lips, he tilted his head slightly, and someone immediately stepped up to light it with practiced ease.

The red flame briefly cut through the darkness, flickering in the shadows near his mouth.

Without even lifting his eyelids, Fu Chi Yu extinguished the phone screen that had just flashed with a reply.

The guy who had teased him earlier leaned in again, grinning wickedly:
“Got a new girl?”

“What new girl?”

Fu Chi Yu didn’t answer, but a sweet, flirty voice cut in from nearby. A woman swayed her hips and settled beside him with a giggle:
“Ever since Young Master Fu dumped the last one, it’s been quiet for a while. Finally tired of the game?”

“Then how about… giving me a shot?”

“Oh ho~ So that’s why you were sucking up to him earlier, huh, Sister Xin?”
The man from before burst out laughing but made no effort to hide the mockery.
“If Young Master Fu actually wanted you, he’d have had you already. Don’t kid yourself.”

The group had long been tangled in messy relationships. Their conversations were always this brazen and boundary-less. Everyone knew who was trying to get with whom, and the jeers never stopped.

The woman, “Sister Xin,” shot the crowd a glare, then leaned even closer to Fu Chi Yu in a soft, teasing voice.

Finally, Fu Chi Yu opened his eyes, and let out a sudden, cold laugh.

“Enough.”
His low, magnetic voice carried a warning edge as he pushed the woman away and stood up.

“I’m going out for a smoke.”

“Haha! I knew she’d get rejected!”

“Screw you!”

Fu Chi Yu didn’t care to listen to the nonsense behind him. Stepping out of the room, an unfamiliar sense of boredom and emptiness rose within him.

Everything felt meaningless.

Then his phone vibrated again.

He glanced down and immediately saw the new cute emoji Xia Zhi Cha had sent.

Just from the screen alone, he could imagine her reaction when she saw the dress—probably not very happy. She was likely feeling a bit troubled.

His lips curled into a smirk. Somehow, the image of that flustered, fumbling girl in the coffee shop popped into his mind again.

He couldn’t help but chuckle quietly.

She was so serious and stubborn.

Kind of cute.