I was approached by a cat-eared girl.

"laugh...."

Wu Yulan curled her lip and scoffed. "You're over forty and still so stubborn. Do you really think you're still young? So what if you're old? I don't mind."

"what do you mean?"

"It's not interesting." Wu Yulan turned around and was about to leave to continue watching the Spring Festival Gala.

"You stay right there and don't move."

"What can you do if I just stand here and don't move?"

"I...."

Chen Jianwen opened his mouth, gritted his teeth, and pulled out his phone from his pocket: "You wait, I'll buy some fitness equipment online right now, and I'll exercise every day from now on."

You unlucky kid, it's the New Year, and because of your mess, you've dragged your father into this. Wait till next time, when you come back, I'm definitely going to beat you up.

Chapter 88 I Have No More Surprises

The evening air was a bit chilly. The two stood at the intersection waiting for a taxi, with large and small bags of New Year's goods at their feet. On New Year's Eve, taxis were really hard to find.

Chen Shuo was pondering his conversation with the old man when he suddenly sneezed.

Do you have a cold?

"No, it was just a normal sneeze."

Chen Shuo rubbed his nose, about to continue pondering, when she asked, "Why haven't you been talking to me?"

"Haven't you been talking to me much either?"

"I'm thinking."

“…”

Honestly, Chen Shuo looked at her with newfound respect. "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about what my aunt told me."

Bai Xiaoqi frowned slightly. Just now, Chen Shuo was called to the study, and Wu Yulan pulled her aside and said a few words. There was nothing else, just some trivial family matters, but there was one sentence she didn't quite understand.

Upon hearing this, Chen Shuo was taken aback. He had thought he was the only one who had been inexplicably told to be moderate, but now it seemed that she might be doing the same. He hesitated for a moment and tentatively asked, "Did my mom say something about being moderate?"

"No."

"Oh, that's good." Chen Shuo breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could truly relax, he heard her say, "Auntie said I shouldn't give it to you when you ask for it."

"WTF?"

Chen Shuo was stunned. He had always thought that if that day ever came, the biggest obstacle would be Xiao A Miao's fear, but he never expected to be betrayed by Wu Yulan beforehand.

Mom, am I your biological child?

No, no, the old couple wouldn't have said these things to us for no reason.

So, where exactly did the problem lie?

After a moment's thought, Chen Shuo quickly found the key point about the blind student and then asked, "What did you and Mom talk about in the kitchen this afternoon when I went out?"

"We talked quite a lot."

“Tell me everything you two talked about, one by one.”

"Oh...."

Bai Xiaoqi nodded, and then repeated every word they had said that afternoon.

At first, Chen Shuo didn't think much of it, but when that sentence came out, he was completely shocked: "You told my mom that my health is very poor, and you even had her tell me those things?!"

"Yes, staying up late is very bad for your health."

"No, what I mean is why did you say those things? Couldn't you have just said 'uh-huh' and that would have been enough?"

“Your health is already poor. I’ll have Auntie talk to you about what’s wrong. I don’t want to be a young widow.”

Bai Xiaoqi was quite self-righteous. The fitness equipment she bought hadn't arrived yet, and even if it did, she didn't know if it would be useful. What if it wasn't?

Even if it's useful, you shouldn't stay up late.

“…”

Chen Shuo's expression at this moment was indescribable. You don't want to be a young widow. Do you think I want you to be one?

Because of this, you and my mom had a chat that went on across different platforms, and it was quite a lively conversation. Now, the whole family thinks that we've been messing around all night, making my back weak.

After holding it in for a while, he finally said, "Who is the one who likes to stay up late? You stay up every night and hide under the covers, typing away on your phone."

"My health is better than yours."

"..."

Chen Shuo was speechless.

......

The two were silent for a moment, then Bai Xiaoqi asked, "What did Auntie mean by that? Is there anything you want that I can't give you?"

"In a later time..."

"I'll find out later again?"

"What we said about the future before may not actually be the future, but this is the real future."

"???"

Seeing Bai Xiaoqi's bewildered expression, Chen Shuo hailed a taxi.

"A car is here, get in quickly."

.......

It was nearly midnight when they got home. The two sorted through the New Year's goods they had brought back, putting what needed to be in the refrigerator and what needed to be in the kitchen. Then, taking off their coats, Chen Shuo said, "Tonight is New Year's Eve. According to tradition, we should stay up all night, which means we can go to bed very, very late, or..."

"No." Bai Xiaoqi shook her head.

"Okay, let's go to sleep then."

"I'm going to take a shower."

"Didn't we just shower before we left today?"

Hearing this, Bai Xiaoqi stopped in her tracks, hesitated for a moment, then turned around, biting her lip and whispering, "What if you want to kiss my feet again tonight?"

"I..."

Chen Shuo opened his mouth, took two steps forward, grabbed her arm, and walked towards the bedroom, saying as they walked, "Some things can be left unsaid. Don't bring them out into the open. It's not good. Besides, who kisses every day?"

"Then do you want to kiss me?"

"Don't keep asking this."

Chen Shuo felt that his current foot fetish was all because of her spoiling him. If she had kicked him the first time he touched a foot, none of this would have happened.

"Then you're not allowed to kiss me tonight."

"Okay, I won't kiss you."

Chen Shuo sighed, pulled her into the bedroom, and after turning on the light, Bai Xiaoqi's eyes were immediately drawn to something on the bed: a huge cat-shaped pillow that felt almost as big as herself.

Seeing her somewhat bewildered expression, Chen Shuo explained, "I went out this afternoon to buy you a New Year's gift. I originally wanted to buy flowers, but I felt they weren't very practical; they'd die after a few days. So, after looking around for a while, I bought this instead. What do you think? Do you like it?"

"like."

Bai Xiaoqi tiptoed and kissed Chen Shuo on the cheek, then ran over and reached out to touch the cat-shaped pillow. Her movements were somewhat cautious, as if she was afraid it wouldn't be real. When she felt the soft, plush texture, her beautiful eyes quickly curved into crescent shapes.

cushion

"What else?"

Bai Xiaoqi happily lifted the pillow, but then fell silent, her joy instantly vanishing by half.

A book titled "Elementary School Math Tutoring and Exercises" lay there quietly, its blue and green colors particularly eye-catching.

After a while, she covered the study guide with a cushion again.

"How could I not know if it was there when I put it there? Besides, I saw it."

Chen Shuo walked over, pushed the cushion aside, and picked up the study guide. "This book is designed to match your textbook. It contains many problem-solving strategies and a lot of fun exercises..."

"..."

Bai Xiaoqi pouted as she listened to him finish, looked at the pillow she was hugging, and then said in a muffled voice, "Can I just keep this gift?"

She could accept other books, but math...

Her experience doing workbooks these past two days made her deeply feel the fear of being dominated by mathematics.

"Which gift do you want? The book I have?" Chen Shuo asked, feigning ignorance.

"No, I want this cushion, not that book,"

"No."

Seeing his refusal, Bai Xiaoqi pouted, buried her face in the cushion, and began to mutter softly, "You told me the gift would be a surprise, but I don't have any surprises now, I don't have any surprises, I don't have any surprises, I don't have any surprises..."

Chen Shuo's head was throbbing from her nagging, and he couldn't help but interrupt, "Alright, stop nagging. Who said there wasn't?"

“No, there isn’t one.” Bai Xiaoqi raised her face and retorted.

"The book in my hand is a surprise to you, the pillow in your arms is a joy, and together they are a delightful surprise."

"......"

Bai Xiaoqi looked at him without saying a word, wondering if this guy had always been treating her like an idiot.

"Why are you looking at me like that? If you don't study, you'll just stay a..."

As they were talking, Chen Shuo suddenly fell silent.

He knew very well that the first point of conflict between the two of them had arisen.

Chapter 89 You'll find out in time.

After staring at each other for a long time, Chen Shuo sat down on the edge of the bed, looked at the study guide in his hand, then at her, and after a moment of silence, asked, "You don't actually want to study, do you?"