Christmas (I)

Lu Mingze froze. Why did Lu Mingfei have time to eat in the cafeteria today? He'd never seen him there before. He remembered hearing that Lu Mingfei had been kept by a rich woman, and that he went out for lavish lunches.

Then Lu Mingze nervously patted his chest and said, "Come on, I'll introduce you to my brother."

Everyone was curious about the legendary Lu Mingfei. Nobody usually dared disturb him, but since his younger brother had promised to introduce them, they figured it should be all right!

They all walked over to Lu Mingfei's table.

Lu Mingfei was eating when he suddenly felt a cloud of gloom looming over him. He looked up and saw his cousin Lu Mingze charging toward him with an army at his back.

I don't think I've done anything to offend him lately. Could he have figured out that I'm "Scar of the Sunset"? Lu Mingfei immediately felt a little guilty.

"Bro, my classmates want to meet you." Lu Mingze was a little nervous too.

Lu Mingfei let out a long sigh of relief. So that was why he'd come over.

"Hello, I'm Lu Mingfei. It's nice to meet you," he said with a smile.

"Hello, Senior Lu. I'm Shu Ya, your brother's classmate. I'm Liu Yue, and I'm..."

One by one, the girls in Lu Mingze's class introduced themselves to Lu Mingfei, each a little shy.

After chatting for a few minutes, Lu Mingfei encouraged them to study hard, and they went back to their seats. As they left, they sighed dreamily, "Senior Lu is so gentle, and so handsome!"

Su Xiaoqiang watched Lu Mingfei chatting with them in silence, shoveling bite after bite of food into her mouth. Then, without warning, she said, "Senior Lu, you're so handsome!"

Lu Mingfei froze up completely. He tapped her forehead with a finger and said crossly, "Don't get sarcastic with me!"

"Hehe!" Su Xiaoqiang answered with a big grin.

Back in the classroom, Su Xiaoqiang took a gift box out of her schoolbag and handed it to Lu Mingfei. "Here. This is for you."

"What is it?" Lu Mingfei asked, bewildered.

"Dummy, it's Christmas Eve today!"

He opened the box. Inside was an apple.

Lu Mingfei fell silent.

"What's wrong?" Su Xiaoqiang asked, puzzled.

"Wait a second!" Before the bell rang, Lu Mingfei dashed out of the classroom.

Su Xiaoqiang wondered what was going on. A little while later, Lu Mingfei returned with a bag of apples.

"I don't have a gift box or anything, so I'll just give you two apples!" As he spoke, Lu Mingfei pulled two apples from the bag and handed them to Su Xiaoqiang.

Then he took the apple she'd given him and bit into it.

"Sweet!"

"By the way, you bought a whole bag. Are you taking the rest home to eat?" Su Xiaoqiang asked.

"Hehe, you'll see." Lu Mingfei said mysteriously.

During the break, Liu Miaomiao walked over with a beautifully wrapped Christmas apple and handed it to Lu Mingfei. She said softly, "Lu Mingfei, thank you for saving me that night."

Lu Mingfei accepted it with one hand. To Liu Miaomiao's surprise, he pulled an apple from the bag and put it in her hand. "No need to thank me. We're classmates. Take this home and eat it."

Then Chen Wenwen lowered her head and shyly offered Lu Mingfei a beautifully wrapped little gift box. She wore a white cotton dress, her hands clutching its hem tightly, as if waiting for him to say something.

Lu Mingfei simply took another apple from the bag and put it in her hand. Chen Wenwen walked away, completely dumbfounded.

A strange thing happened: the girls in the class lined up one by one to get apples from Lu Mingfei.

After Lu Mingfei received their apples, he unwrapped them and put them in his bag, keeping them separate from the ones he was giving away.

Su Xiaoqiang stared at him, dumbfounded. "Why are you unwrapping all those apples and stuffing them in your bag?"

"Come on, so many people are giving me apples. How am I supposed to take them home if I don't unwrap them? Besides, I won't waste them if I put them all in a bag. I'll finish them at home, little by little."

As he spoke, Lu Mingfei took another bite of an apple.

After school, Lu Mingfei walked ahead while Su Xiaoqiang packed up. When she was done, she caught up and walked beside him.

"Hey, listen. Tomorrow's Christmas, and I'm getting you a present. You have to get one for me too. Don't give me something as halfhearted as what you gave me today!"

After they parted ways, Lu Mingfei walked along, wondering what he should get her tomorrow. What a hassle.

The next day, Lu Mingfei looked out the window. It was snowing, and the weather seemed to have turned colder.

"Sweet as honey~ Your smile is sweet as honey~ Like flowers blooming in the spring breeze~ Blooming in the spring breeze~"

Lu Mingfei's phone rang. He checked the screen and saw that it was Miss Su calling.

He answered. "Hello? What made you call me this early?"

Su Xiaoqiang's lovely voice came from the other end. "It's snowing today, and I thought getting to school would be a hassle, so I came to pick you up. Look downstairs."

Lu Mingfei went to the window and looked down.

Su Xiaoqiang stood beside the car, waving both hands at him with a bright smile. She mouthed, Come down!

Lu Mingfei smiled and waved back, showing her he'd be right down.

"Auntie, I'm not having breakfast today. I'm heading downstairs!" Lu Mingfei said, pulling on his clothes before hurrying out.

"What's the rush, Mingfei? It's snowing so hard today. I was going to have you take both yourself and Mingze to school!" his aunt complained.

His uncle reassured her. "Mingfei has his own plans. I can take Mingze over later."

"If only Mingze were half as good as Mingfei. Sigh!" his aunt sighed.

Lu Mingze sat to one side, eating quietly with his head down. He didn't dare argue.

When Lu Mingfei went downstairs, he saw Su Xiaoqiang stomping her feet where she stood, her hands cupped around her mouth as she blew warm air onto them. She looked a little cold.

"Why didn't you wait for me in the car? It's warmer in there, isn't it?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"Hmph. I wanted to wait outside. Got a problem with that?" Su Xiaoqiang huffed.

Lu Mingfei raised his hands in surrender.

Su Xiaoqiang wore a pink sweater under a little cream-colored jacket, with jeans on her lower half. She looked lovely, if a little underdressed for the cold.

"You're only wearing jeans. Aren't you cold?" Lu Mingfei asked with concern.

"They're fleece-lined. I'm not cold at all!" Su Xiaoqiang retorted.

The two of them bickered as they got into the car. Uncle Chen sighed. Mr. Su, if you don't do something soon, you're going to lose your daughter!

During PE, Su Xiaoqiang dragged Lu Mingfei into building a snowman with her and named it Feifei, prompting Lu Mingfei to complain.

"Brr, my hands are so cold!" Su Xiaoqiang's hands had turned bright red.

"That's what you get for wanting to play when you're bad at it," Lu Mingfei said with a grin.

"But my hands are really cold. They're about to freeze!" Su Xiaoqiang rubbed her hands together and looked at him pitifully.

"Easy."