Return Gift

"That was nice." Jiang Xi's smile was a little forced. She pursed her lips and rubbed her eyes. "It's just... just... Dad, I miss Mom a little."

Jiang Xi was very well-behaved. She knew her brothers had played the piano to celebrate her birthday today, so even though she really wanted to cry, she forcibly held her tears back.

But her voice still carried a sobbing tone that made everyone's hearts ache.

"What's wrong, Xiaoxi? Why are you unhappy?" Seeing this, Shu Menglan hurriedly crouched down, her voice exceptionally gentle.

"She misses her mother." Jiang Pengcheng patted Jiang Xi's back and sighed.

How could he not miss his wife too?

"Xiaoxi, look, there's a UFO over there!" Yu Lin ran up to Jiang Xi and suddenly pointed in another direction.

Jiang Xi's eyes instinctively followed where Yu Lin was pointing. With a snap, all the lights on the first floor went out. Only several colorful candles remained lit, and Liang Meichen stood there holding a cake.

"Happy birthday to you..." Liang Meichen slowly walked over with the cake, humming the song.

"Happy birthday to you..." The others joined in, clapping out the beat.

"Birthday girl, close your eyes and make a wish." Zhou Yanqing said.

It had all happened so suddenly that Jiang Xi temporarily forgot her sadness and obediently closed her eyes to make a wish.

A few seconds later, Jiang Xi opened her eyes and blew out all the candles on the cake in one breath.

"What did Xiaoxi wish for?" Yu Lin asked.

"Xiaoxi, don't tell him. If you tell someone your wish, it won't come true." Li Yu winked at Jiang Xi.

Jiang Xi nodded obediently. "That's right, I can't tell you."

Chi Yan quietly watched the scene from the side, a faint smile appearing on his face. He recalled the way Li Yu had said those words that morning and found it rather cute.

"Thank you, brothers, for playing the piano for me just now. I really liked it." Jiang Xi suddenly remembered that she had not thanked them yet, so she sweetly said to Li Yu and Xie Jingming.

"As long as Xiaoxi liked it." Xie Jingming smiled.

"Brothers, hurry and crouch down. I have return gifts for you."

At Jiang Xi's words, Li Yu and Xie Jingming both crouched down, waiting for the "return gifts" she had mentioned.

Jiang Xi stood on tiptoe and kissed Li Yu on the cheek. Then she turned and kissed Xie Jingming on the side of his face as well.

Xiang Zhinan, standing nearby, got so excited that he clapped repeatedly, while Shu Menglan joined in the teasing.

Everyone else took it as a joke, but Chi Yan's expression darkened.

He had not even kissed Little Fish's face himself, yet a child had beaten him to it. How was he supposed to feel balanced about that?

And Li Yu was smiling so happily too. That sight was even more glaring in Chi Yan's eyes.

[Xiaoxi is so sweet and sensible.]

[Damn, that piano bit with Li Yu and Xie Jingming just now was absolutely incredible.]

[Wuwuwu, now I really want to learn piano too.]

[Why do I feel like this pair is kind of shippable? I don't believe they had no thoughts at all during that eye contact just now.]

[It was just a simple interaction, yet you're reading so much into it. You people have gone crazy shipping couples.]

[I think Li Yu seems a little better at piano.]

[They were both great, okay? Don't stir up trouble here.]

"Thank you, Xiaoxi." Li Yu said with a smile.

"Xiaoxi, would you like to cut the cake? Then hand it out to your brothers and sisters." Jiang Pengcheng placed the cake-cutting tools in Jiang Xi's hands.

"Okay!"

Jiang Xi obediently nodded and took the plastic knife.

The cake Jiang Pengcheng had specially ordered for Jiang Xi had a Winnie the Pooh theme. Jiang Xi carefully cut off a slice, put it on a plate, and handed it to Liang Meichen first.

Liang Meichen accepted it with a smile, and Jiang Xi continued cutting another slice.

Yu Lin was by far the most enthusiastic. After receiving his cake, he was as happy as could be and kept saying, "See that? The design on my piece is Winnie the Pooh's honey pot."

"Hmph, mine even has little flowers and bees on it." Shu Menglan refused to be outdone.

Li Yu silently glanced at the design he had been given—Winnie the Pooh's round butt.

Mm, right. He should hurry up and finish eating it.

"Tonight, the number of rooms is the same as yesterday. You may decide among yourselves how to assign them," the director said.

"Ah, let's just divide them the same way as yesterday. It'll save trouble." Shu Menglan stretched lazily.

"Huh? All right then..."

Just now, Yu Lin had thought he might have a chance to share a room with Li Yu.

But there were still so many episodes left. He believed he would find an opportunity eventually.

Following yesterday's arrangement, Li Yu had to share a room with Chi Yan again.

Li Yu stayed downstairs playing with Jiang Xi until she fell asleep before returning to his room. The moment he pushed open the door, he saw Chi Yan leaning against the headboard with a laptop, seemingly working.

Chi Yan might have been too focused, because Li Yu watched him for quite a while after entering, yet he did not react.

They said a man was at his most attractive when he was seriously focused on something. Li Yu felt that Chi Yan was the embodiment of that saying at that moment.

"Brother Chi, do you still have a lot of work to deal with?"

As soon as Chi Yan looked up, he found Li Yu standing in front of him. It looked like he had been there for quite a while.

"Not much. I only handle decisions on more important matters. I took care of the less important things before coming here."

"Brother Chi is amazing. It feels like you're good at everything." Li Yu said with a grin.

"Ahem... it's really nothing."

For the first time, Chi Yan felt a little embarrassed. Deep down, he was practically floating.

"Then you go ahead and work. I'll wash up first."

The staff had already brought Li Yu's suitcase over. Li Yu quietly pulled it out and crouched on the floor to look for clothes.

Li Yu had his back to Chi Yan. Chi Yan had originally intended to focus on the documents, but his attention wandered as he stared at Li Yu.

Li Yu actually had a very good figure too. It was simply less obvious compared to types like Chi Yan and Zhou Yanqing. But if he lifted up his shirt, the outlines of his abs could still be seen.

Only when Li Yu found his clothes and turned around did Chi Yan hurriedly lower his head, pretending to read the documents on his computer screen.

Seeing that Li Yu had not noticed him and was heading straight for the bathroom, Chi Yan finally let out a breath of relief.