After an awkward day came to an end, Lu Weizhu settled into a few peaceful days of calm life.
Bai Yun was still struggling with her feelings after Lu Weiyu had exposed her thoughts.
Lu Weiyu’s mood wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either.
Life was ordinary, nothing worth worrying about, and Lu Weizhu liked this kind of quiet.
The only thing troubling her was the gift she was preparing for Bai Lu.
That embroidery was a bit too large for her.
Working during the day and rushing to finish it at night left her pressed for time.
Lu Weizhu had only recently learned cross-stitch and wasn’t very skilled, which slowed her progress further.
Before she knew it, it was already two days before Bai Lu’s birthday, and Lu Weizhu was still not finished.
“…Ah…there’s still so much left.”
Looking at the embroidery covering most of her lap, Lu Weizhu felt a headache coming on.
In fact, she was almost done; only about one-tenth or one-eighth of the blank space remained.
“…I have to finish it before the end of tomorrow.”
Lu Weizhu turned to look at the balcony.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the night was deep and vast.
Bai Lu’s birthday was the day after tomorrow.
Without a doubt, a person like Bai Lu definitely wouldn’t show up at the birthday banquet.
If she waited until after the birthday to give the gift, it would be too late.
A belated gift was worse than no gift at all.
So if she wanted to give it, it had to be early, not late.
“Ouch…I stabbed myself again…so unlucky.”
In a daze, Lu Weizhu pricked her fingertip with the embroidery needle.
Two drops of blood fell onto the fabric.
The bright green bamboo leaf was stained with a splash of red.
Because of the rush and occasional distraction, Lu Weizhu had lost count of how many times she had pierced her finger.
This gift might be inexpensive, but it was undoubtedly infused with a lot of her care and effort.
Without a word, Lu Weizhu sucked on her finger.
Once the tiny wound stopped bleeding, she resumed her work.
Ignoring all other thoughts, she focused entirely on the fabric, filling in the remaining parts stitch by stitch.
“Phew…done.”
By the time she finished, it was already past midnight, and the city had quieted down.
Standing up, Lu Weizhu approached the balcony and looked down.
The traffic had significantly thinned out.
“…1 a.m.”
She glanced at the time on her phone.
She felt tired.
Forcing herself awake, Lu Weizhu washed the embroidery twice, removing the guiding patterns and lines on the fabric, then dried it with a hairdryer before finally feeling at ease enough to return to the sofa.
“Yawn~”
Sleepiness surged, and Lu Weizhu yawned.
Hugging the embroidery, she sat on the sofa, her mind occupied with how to deliver this embroidery to Bai Lu.
She didn’t know where Bai Lu’s home was, and the place where they had met before was probably abandoned by now.
After finishing the gift, she suddenly realized she had no way to give it.
“…I can’t send messages.”
She took out her phone and sent a message to Bai Lu on WeChat, but the red exclamation mark appeared again.
Her relationship with Bai Lu was almost one-sided; only Bai Lu could contact her, but she couldn’t reach Bai Lu.
“D…”
Sighing, Lu Weizhu leaned against the sofa and was soon swallowed by sleepiness, falling into a deep sleep.
After only a few hours of rest, Lu Weizhu woke early and prepared breakfast for Lu Weiyu.
She folded the embroidery and put it into a bag.
Carrying Lu Weiyu’s breakfast and the bag with the embroidery, Lu Weizhu left the house.
As she walked, she scrolled through Bai Lu’s Friend Circle on WeChat, looking for any clues.
“Sigh…why is giving a gift so troublesome…”
After delivering the breakfast to Lu Weiyu’s ward, Lu Weizhu went to the café as usual.
No matter what, she still had to work her shift.
“Good morning, Yun-jie.”
After a few days of rest, Lu Weizhu had basically regained her energy.
Holding the gift bag, she waved at Bai Yun behind the counter.
“Cough cough…good, good morning…”
Seeing Lu Weizhu, Bai Yun coughed twice and stammered.
Since Lu Weiyu had revealed her feelings, Bai Yun had been questioning what her own feelings toward Lu Weizhu truly were.
After much contemplation, she still had no conclusion. Instead, the fluttering in her heart only grew stronger when facing Lu Weizhu.
Come to think of it, had Lu Weiyu ever told Lu Weizhu she liked her?
Probably not.
Bai Yun hoped such a thing would never happen.
She was a little afraid Lu Weizhu would be scared away.
In less than ten seconds of meeting, Bai Yun’s mind had already wandered into a tangle of thoughts.
When she came back to reality, she noticed the bag in Lu Weizhu’s hand.
“Weizhu, what’s in that bag?”
Bai Yun pointed at the item Lu Weizhu was carrying.
“Hm? This? It’s embroidery, a birthday gift for a friend.”
Lu Weizhu answered truthfully.
“The one you were stitching before?”
Bai Yun recalled the day she taught Lu Weizhu cross-stitch.
That had been the closest moment between her and Lu Weizhu.
Thinking of the girl’s delicate hands and the faint, charming scent on her, Bai Yun’s cheeks flushed slightly.
Not daring to let Lu Weizhu notice her oddity, Bai Yun bent down, pretending to pick something up from under the counter.
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
Lu Weizhu carried the embroidery into the cloakroom and started changing into her work uniform.
Once Lu Weizhu left, Bai Yun raised her head.
Leaning on the counter with both hands, she felt inexplicably a little bitter.
She didn’t know who that friend Lu Weizhu was making the gift for, someone worthy of receiving a handmade present.
“Speaking of which, Weizhu said I’m important to her. Does that mean she’ll give me a gift on my birthday too?”
Bai Yun muttered to herself.
“No, that’s not right…she doesn’t even know my birthday, and we haven’t exchanged contact info.”
Patting her own face, Bai Yun suddenly realized a serious problem.
Their time together had been so harmonious that she only just noticed this now.
Frowning, she looked at the café’s glass door, feeling shy about asking for contact info.
They had known each other for so long, but would it be strange to ask now?
Shaking her head, Bai Yun thought her recent thoughts were a mess, her mind jumping all over the place.
Maybe…she really wanted to fall in love?
“Ah…just destroy everything…”
Giving up, Bai Yun slumped on the counter.
“Yun-jie? What’s wrong? Did something upset you?”
At that moment, Lu Weizhu came out of the back kitchen.
“Cough cough, it’s nothing.”
Bai Yun shot up, utterly embarrassed, wishing she could disappear into a crack in the floor.
Having such an embarrassing moment seen by someone she cared about was mortifying.
Turning her head, Bai Yun stole a glance at the girl’s face, which held a hint of confusion and tiredness.
Beautiful…she wanted to keep looking.
“Well, Weizhu, I don’t think I have your number yet. Let’s exchange contacts.”
In the end, Bai Yun mustered the courage to ask for Lu Weizhu’s phone number.
“Huh? Seems like I don’t…”
Lu Weizhu was momentarily surprised, then walked over and handed her phone over.
The girl’s sudden closeness made Bai Yun’s heart race, and she quickly memorized the number.
“Cough cough, alright, back to work. We’ll talk about other things later.”
Coughing twice, Bai Yun pushed Lu Weizhu away, suddenly realizing that maybe she was truly starting to like her.