I want to have a normal campus romance

There’s no way I can bring it!

I didn't know that! Was this girl trying to trick me on purpose to see me embarrassed?

I don't have anything on me that could be used as a gift. Basically, I just brought one person with me. Are you sending me as a gift?

This is too ridiculous...

If it were under normal circumstances, I would definitely shake my head and simply say no.

But today is her birthday after all, and she just gave me a guitar, which makes it even harder for me to say with a clear conscience that I didn't bring anything.

"Uh-huh... I know you didn't bring anything."

“So you knew that.”

"Of course, because I didn't tell you at the beginning."

"..."

She is definitely playing a trick on me, right? She is definitely playing a trick on me, right?!

Just when I shrugged helplessly and was about to directly say that I really didn't have it, Xia Xiaoyao looked at me with a smile, then pointed at the guitar I placed next to the dining table and said:

"Then why don't you play a birthday song for me as a birthday gift... isn't that too much?"

"You haven't already figured it out, have you?"

"It's better to say it's a spur of the moment idea, how about that? Is that okay?"

After hearing what she said, I didn't refuse. After all, I couldn't be so shameless as to say that I was her birthday present and then come over to eat and drink for free.

I sighed, then took the guitar in my hand. A strange yet somewhat familiar feeling, along with the sound of me plucking the strings, flooded into my mind.

It has been more than half a year since I last played the guitar. Of course... To put it another way, I haven't played the guitar since the last cultural performance.

Obviously half a year is not a very long time for me, but my state of mind is indeed very different.

If it were half a year ago, I would be thinking about how to play the piano in a pretentious posture and how to say some romantic words to set the mood of the moment.

And at this moment, I am holding the guitar...but I am very calm, with only the familiar rhythm in my mind.

I once thought that I would never pick up a guitar again or play any music again, because every time I picked up the guitar, those bad memories would emerge in my mind.

But at this moment, I don’t have those extra memories in my mind. There is only the girl sitting in front of me, holding her face, waiting for me to play with great anticipation.

And I...after half a year, I plucked the strings of the guitar again and started playing music.

But what is different from half a year ago is that I no longer try to show off my grace, my musicality, or myself, and I no longer have those messy thoughts in my mind.

Some... can only try to respond with the strings——

The girl who smiled at me.

Chapter 208 Agreement

"How about it?"

When the song ended, I slowly put the guitar aside. After hearing what I said, Xia Xiaoyao touched her chin and then said to me while counting on her fingers:

"Let me think about it... If the full score is 10, I will deduct two points if the transitions between playing are not smooth and there are staccato notes; I will deduct two points if the control of the tone is not stable enough; and I will deduct another point if the rhythm is not well controlled."

After hearing Xia Xiaoyao's evaluation, I was immediately furious, although I knew that my skills were so mediocre that I would be nothing more than a layman in front of a professional like her.

But no matter what...it's good to give it a passing grade.

"Ahem...well, I haven't played it for a long time, so I'm a little rusty."

Just when I was trying to save some dignity, Xia Xiaoyao seemed to see my embarrassment, propped up her chin, and said to me with a smile:

"But... if you have the right emotions, you'll get four extra points, for a total of nine. The remaining one point... is considered as room for your future growth."

I rely on, there is still this kind of operation.

It turns out that there are not only deductions, but also additions?

“Does this count as a shady judges thing?”

After hearing her words, I shrugged with a dumb laugh, and after hearing what I said, she didn't have any scruples at all and nodded at me directly.

"If it is a formal judgment, this kind of behavior is indeed not allowed."

She was halfway through her speech when she changed the subject and slowly put the candles on the cake in front of her. Then she continued to say to me:

"But, you didn't sing this song for the judges, but for me, so... I said this song is the best song in my mind, and it is."

As she spoke, she inserted the number candles steadily into the cake, then smiled and lay on the table, looking at the cake in front of her. Maybe she was looking at the candles on the cake, or maybe...

I smiled helplessly, gave up my unrealistic fantasy, and lit the birthday candles for her with the lighter in my hand, while she jumped up and down to turn off the lights in the house.

Darkness enveloped the entire room. Only the candle in front of us was still flickering, emitting tiny bits of light and illuminating each other's outlines.

Even though this was not my first time celebrating someone else's birthday, it was indeed the first time I celebrated a girl's birthday alone. I had rehearsed such a scene countless times in my mind and even prepared several sets of corresponding scripts for it.

But at this moment...I can't say a word.

The lingering afterglow illuminated Xia Xiaoyao's fair face, and the flickering flames were reflected in her eyes, like dazzling stars in the night sky.

It’s not that I was stunned by the scene before me, but I felt that...any words I said would break this beautiful picture.

"what happened?"

"No...nothing, I...I was just wondering what you would wish for."

I stuttered and made up a little lie to cover up my guilty conscience, but what I didn't expect was that after she heard what I said, she smiled and said to me:

"So you want to know?"

"Although I really want to, it's better if you don't tell me."

"why?"

"Because wishes spoken out loud won't come true."

"I thought you didn't believe this."

“This is an exception.”

After hearing what I said, Xia Xiaoyao pursed her lips but didn't say anything. She just slowly closed her eyes, then clasped her hands together and made a praying gesture.

I held my chin and looked straight at Xia Xiaoyao who was sitting opposite me, wondering what kind of wish she would make.

Maybe it is a wish for success in one's career, or maybe it is a wish for good health for one's family?

But just when I was lost in thought, wondering what weird wish she would make, I seemed to see her slightly open her eyes, looking at me quietly, with the corners of her mouth unconsciously rising slightly.

But when I came to my senses and wanted to confirm, everything around me was shrouded in darkness again, accompanied by a breeze and blue smoke, and there was only darkness in front of me.

Just now...did I see it wrong?

I asked myself this question, then stood up and prepared to turn on the light, but with the "click" sound of the switch, the light did not come as promised, and the only response I got was the darkness in front of me.

Ok?

Seeing this, I pressed the buttons twice, but there was no change.

"Um...did you just turn off the power switch in your house?"

"How...how is this possible? It must be a power outage. I'll go check it out."

Xia Xiaoyao took out her cell phone, turned on the flashlight and was about to go out of the house, while I silently took out my cell phone and took a look, then grabbed her and said helplessly:

"No need to look, the whole building is probably out of power."

"Eh? How did you know?"

"Because I couldn't find any WIFI signal on my phone."

At this moment, I just felt that God was playing tricks on me, but it was understandable. After all, it was normal for electricity to be out a few times a year.

Seeing this, I lit up a few candles that had just been extinguished. With the light from the window, it didn't have much of an impact. The main thing was that the dining atmosphere was weird, like... uh... a candlelight dinner?

Especially after Xia Xiaoyao brought the red wine from home, the atmosphere became even more lively.

Although I was very curious why there was red wine in Xia Xiaoyao's house, but after looking carefully at the exquisite packaging, I thought it must have been given to her by someone else. After all, in major social occasions, the most common gift is wine.

We drank the red wine in our glasses and looked at the scenery outside the window. Perhaps it was because the darkness gave us a sense of security, or perhaps it was because the alcohol paralyzed our nerves, we couldn't help but talk about a variety of topics.

From the trivial things around her to her past, Xia Xiaoyao occasionally mentioned during the conversation why she wanted to be a star.

She has loved singing since middle school. Like most people who like singing, she also hopes that her singing can be heard and recognized by others.

There is no epic experience, no inspiring wish, and no intriguing story. There is only that simple...but extremely real dream.

It's so simple, yet it's such a distant dream.

"Would it have been a better choice if I hadn't become a star at the time?"

Xia Xiaoyao said this, supporting her rosy cheeks with her hands and staring blankly at the red wine in the glass.

"In that case...I should be studying at Jinhai University right now, and I would really be your senior."

"But if that's the case, I guess we wouldn't have met each other, right?"

Hearing her words, I leaned back in my chair and spoke to her jokingly, but after hearing what I said, she shook her head.

“No, we will definitely meet.”

"why?"

"Because...if I had been by your side when you made the mistake during the performance—"

She finished her speech halfway through and drank the red wine in her glass.

"I will definitely stand up and help you."

Chapter 209 How can I enter the prosperous world when I have lived in poverty all my life?

After hearing what Xia Xiaoyao said, I was suddenly stunned. Before I could recover from her words, a dull bang rang in my ears, accompanied by a momentary flash.

The sudden sound and light interrupted my thoughts.

Our eyes were attracted by the bright lights in the distance. We looked out the window together. The night sky was dyed dark orange by the city lights. On the black canvas, several colorful flowers bloomed with bursts of noise.

“It’s fireworks.”

Xia Xiaoyao's sweet voice rang in my ears, with a bit of joy and happiness in her words, and I looked at the fireworks blooming in the distance, and I couldn't help but be stunned.

By the way...how many years has it been since I last saw fireworks?

The memories of fireworks can be traced back to middle school...or even earlier.

What a great person! He knew there were relevant bans in the city, but he still did it. Should we say that person is stupid or brave?

Looking at the colorful lights flashing in the distance, Xia Xiaoyao slowly put the wine glass aside, supported her little chin with both hands, and stared out the window blankly.

Every time a firework rose and exploded, she would always exclaim "Wow" and then look at the next one with anticipation.

The fireworks are very beautiful, like dazzling and charming lanterns, like shooting stars with swaying tails of light, and like blooming and floating flowers.

But I had no time to pay attention to such scenery at the moment. Compared with the fireworks that kept blooming, the beautiful figure bathed in the colorful light kept my eyes fixed on her.

At this moment, the last firework exploded in the noisy night sky, blooming with colorful beauty, making people forget the loud noise when it exploded, forget the brief noise of the night sky, the magnificence before it burst, and became a beautiful silhouette until it turned into ashes.

"It's so beautiful."

Xia Xiaoyao looked at the light gradually disappearing in the distance and couldn't help but sigh, and I also smiled and sighed from the bottom of my heart.

"Yeah, so beautiful."

We all express the same sigh from the bottom of our hearts, but the scenery we see is different.

Blooming and disappearing is just a matter of a moment, but what remains is the beauty in the memory.

"I'm so tired. Suddenly...I don't want to be a celebrity anymore."

"If you stop being a star, the domestic music scene will probably lose another talented rising star."

After hearing what Xia Xiaoyao said, I drank the wine in the glass, then spoke to her slowly and jokingly, not taking her words seriously.

After all, even if it is a job you like, there will be a thousand moments when you want to give up and ten thousand times of complaints.