Age of Legends

Chapter 163: Accompany You Through Clumsiness

The brass door handles of the time-honored fan shop were hot from the sun, and the glass window reflected the figure of Han Zhouxuan trying on bracelets in the silver jewelry store next door.

Shen Nuoyi was strolling around this handicraft shop with the words "Calligraphy and Painting Art Museum" written on it, browsing the fans displayed there and asking the old craftsman about something.

"If you want to give it to a boy, this Xiangfei bamboo folding fan is the most suitable." The old master wiped the fan ribs with a suede cloth, "Add twenty yuan for writing."

Today, Han Zhou and I went to visit the capital's famous Liulichang, which has been a gathering place for bookstores, paintings, study tools and various handicrafts in the imperial capital since Emperor Qianlong's reign.

The things you buy here are commemorative. Although the fans here may appear in every antique street in the country, this one at least has words on it, which is a bit special.

When she was strolling here, Shen Nuo touched the cool bamboo joints with her fingertips, and she remembered Zhang Chen fanning himself with books on his desk during the hot season in Rongcheng. She decided to buy a fan for Zhang Chen in this fan shop. She was not in Rongcheng for Zhang Chen's 18th birthday, but was traveling with Han Zhouxuan in the capital. This time, she brought him a souvenir, which was considered to make up for it.

As for what words to write, this was difficult again. She glanced at the ink-stained poems written by the masters, took out a pen and wrote "云拆东方露玉宸" on the notepad, and handed it to the master.

"Is that it?" The old master took the note and looked at it. After confirming it, he picked up the brush and wrote the copied text on the fan, and stamped it with the seal of the study.

Packed a bag for Shen Nuoyi.

Just after paying and packing, Han Zhouxuan came over and took the bracelet that Shen Nuoyi was going to buy for her for reference.

"What did you buy?" Han Zhouxuan looked at Shen Nuoyi's fan. "Do you like fans?"

"No, I bought it as a souvenir."

"Oh, is this a gift for your dad? It looks so old-fashioned..." Han Zhouxuan took a look.

Shen Nuo was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to respond. Han Zhouxuan took it as her consent and showed her the bracelet. "What do you think of my emerald spinach green bracelet?"

Shen Nuo looked at the two models in her hands, and then saw the thousands of dollars price tag on them, and said, "These are so expensive... I..."

She wanted to say she didn't want it. This price was indeed a bit expensive for two high school students. Although Shen Nuo's family didn't lack her money, Shen Nuoyi had saved a lot of pocket money over the years. This time, the capital player gave her 10,000 yuan. If she needed money, she could withdraw it from the card at any time, but she and Han Zhouxuan had never exchanged such high-value gifts.

In the past, when Han Zhouxuan returned to China and wanted to bring her luxury goods, she always refused.

Later, Han Zhouxuan mastered the way of interacting with Shen Nuoyi. The two of them could eat, drink and play together, and the gifts they gave to each other had to be thoughtful, but not too expensive.

In fact, the gift that Shen Nuoyi gave to Zhang Chen this time also followed the pattern with Han Zhouxuan. For example, she suddenly thought of the poem that incorporated his name, which contained the word "Chen", which was homophonic with Zhang Chen's name. It could be regarded as a gift that matched the recipient's name, which was a manifestation of "thoughtfulness".

"It's not for you!" Han Zhouxuan shook his head.

In Shen Nuoyi's slightly surprised eyes, she finally broke through the fog with some determination in her eyes: "Tell me, I want to give Pei Yan this couple's gift, will he refuse?"

Shen Nuo's eyes widened slightly, as if she had heard an unprecedented event. She felt an indescribable mixture of emotions in her heart.

"you--!?"

Han Zhouxuan held the jade spinach bracelet, her eyes and gaze became firm at this time, and she nodded seriously at this time. This was the first time she expressed her feelings: "I like Pei Yan, Shen Nuoyi, I want you to help me!"

……

After a moment of trance, memories began to come back.

I first met Pei Yan at a family gathering of my cousin Qin Tangxi. Pei Yan's family was their partner, and everyone knew this boy who came from a wealthy family, looked handsome, and was the top student when he entered Rongcheng Foreign Language Junior High School.

At that time, a group of people were just talking about grades, and Pei Yan seemed as noble as a lone pine tree on a snowy mountain. In addition, she and Shen Nuoyi were also in Yude High School, so the adults also compared them in their conversations.

Shen Nuoyi, like Qin Tangxi, didn't like the quiet Pei Yan, and she also had a comparison mind. As a result, after comparison, Pei Yan's grades were indeed better than hers, an excellent student, which made Shen Nuoyi pale in comparison. She even thought that the other party was very powerful.

Pei Yan's parents had a good relationship with their family. They would always be present at family gatherings and sometimes banquets. After that, they saw each other often.

It was true that Pei Yan rarely followed his parents around before, but after that he would show up at every gathering with Shen Nuo's family, and after a few visits, everyone became familiar with each other.

As for Han Zhouxuan, who had not yet gone abroad and was also studying at Rongcheng Foreign Language Junior High School and was inseparable from Shen Nuoyi, he naturally became good friends with Pei Yan as well.

Although Pei Yan was aloof at first, he often became the target of Shen Nuoyi and Han Zhouxuan's teasing. After all, Shen Nuoyi sometimes competed with Pei Yan secretly, but Pei Yan's grades were still among the top five in foreign languages even in high school. Shen Nuoyi, who was ranked in the top 50 or 60 in Yude before, could not beat Pei Yan most of the time.

In Pei Yan's world, he always got full marks in English and math all year round. Shen Nuoyi was okay in English and could occasionally get full marks in math. He thought he could show off, but after asking around, he found out that Pei Yan also got full marks.

If this pervert wasn't planning to study abroad at a prestigious international university, he would definitely be a candidate for Tsinghua University or Peking University.

However, when they went out to play, he and Han Zhouxuan played teasing on Pei Yan, which made Shen Nuo feel proud.

They watched Han Zhouxuan's performance together. Shen Nuoyi and Pei Yan helped Han Zhouxuan take clothes and belongings from the audience. At Qin Tangxi's house, Shen Nuoyi ordered Qin Tangxi's dog to bark at Pei Yan. He curled up on the sofa and dared not get down, while they laughed so hard that they bent over. They went to the wild to have a barbecue together, and deliberately fanned the smoke towards Pei Yan, making him look dirty. Even when Pei Yan's parents were around, Han Zhouxuan pretended to cry, accusing Pei Yan of bullying them, causing Pei Yan to be scolded by his parents, and he was so angry that his face turned pale.

Looking back, it was full of times like this.

In fact, at one point Shen Nuoyi even felt that Pei Yan was really like an older brother to her. He would often tolerate and forgive them, and she even developed a sense of dependence on him at one point.

However, Shen Nuoyi did not expect to hear such earth-shattering words from Han Zhouxuan today. The relationships and lives that he thought were stable, unchanging, and even taken for granted seemed to be about to change drastically from here.

……

……

At the birthday party, when it was time for dinner, the breeze was blowing on the restaurant terrace, and the atmosphere was full of joy for a birthday party. Dinner was the specialty of the farmhouse, the bacon and pork ribs soup pot, which added to the warm atmosphere.

Wang Shuowei ordered a big cake, and at the end of the banquet, the boss brought out a food cart, and paper fireworks exploded on both sides, producing colorful pieces of paper that fluttered down, mixed with blessings.

Zhang Chen thinks it has to be Wang Shuowei. If he celebrates this birthday by himself, he will just have a hot pot with his friends and classmates. It is nothing like Wang Shuowei's emotional value and various rituals.

He also bought fireworks and set them off in the open space outside.

Fireworks exploded in the deep blue sky as night fell, forming colorful waves on the surface of the pond and the ripples.

A group of people sang birthday songs and lit candles, and when it was time to divide the cake, Zhang Chen ran away first, leaving Wang Shuowei's face covered with cake. Except for the two black slits around his eyes, he looked like a snowman who had just fallen into the snow.

Zhang Chen still couldn't escape the disaster. The one who was making trouble was Qin Tangxi. He sneaked up behind him at some point, stretched out his hand, and smeared a line of white greasy on his face.

She actually grabbed a handful of cream and held it in her palm in advance, then slowly came over while chatting with someone, and suddenly attacked Zhang Chen. Zhang Chen thought to himself that he was very smart in his life, but he failed.

There is also a KTV in the farmhouse, so you can go into the room and sing karaoke after dinner. At this time, Zhang Chen received gifts from friends one after another, and Zheng Xue also brought the gifts to Zhang Chen.

What she gave Zhang Chen was a password notebook, which was quite old-fashioned. Zhang Chen remembered that there was indeed such a notebook given by Zheng Xue. Not many pages were used and it was finally put in the bookcase. Seeing it now was like seeing an old friend.

But then Zheng Xue took out a gift in a purple box and handed it to Zhang Chen, "Shen Nuoyi said she couldn't come, so she asked me to give it to you on her behalf."

Zhang Chen took it. Qin Tangxi came over from the side.

According to etiquette, birthday presents should be opened when you get home, but in reality, those present are either classmates or friends who grew up together, so basically no one hides anything.

In the past, the custom of celebrating birthdays in the circle of friends was to just open it directly, and Zhang Chen did not have any basic etiquette to open it when he got home and not let others see it.

There were also many people around, who wanted to see what gifts they received. They were all high school students, so they would not give overly expensive gifts that would make others envious or embarrassed, so they usually opened them on the spot.

Zhang Chen wanted to know what Shen Nuoyi had given him, so he unwrapped the long square box, revealing a slender Lamy fountain pen inside.

There was also a card with the words: "To Zhang Chen: May the life you write be more intense than ink."

Shen Nuoyi has some unique aesthetics. For example, in this era, people usually give Hero pens as gifts, or Parkers as luxury gifts. She was also able to get an imported Lamy fountain pen. This was considered an 18th birthday gift that she had never received in her previous life, and it also included blessings.

Zhang Chen thought that after his rebirth, he might become just like what Shen Nuoyi wrote.

"Wow! What a good handwriting. As expected of Shen Nuoyi." Zheng Xue glanced at Shen Nuoyi's birthday wishes. She probably knew that Shen Nuoyi gave her a pen, but she didn't expect there was also a card attached. She looked at Zhang Chen again and felt that the wishes Shen Nuoyi wrote specially for him were a bit too big. It's not that the tone was too serious, but that the wishes for Zhang Chen were actually quite serious.

No...Shen Nuoyi, are you serious?
Qin Tangxi, who had been watching furtively, withdrew his gaze. He thought that his sister's writing was very beautiful, but he was also confused. No... Sister, are you serious?
On the other side, Zhang Chen had just put away the gifts from Shen Nuoyi and Zheng Xue when Zhuang Yanyue came over. She took out a small box from her bag and handed it to him, "You don't really think I didn't prepare a gift for you, do you?"

Qin Tangxi next to her frowned even deeper. In response to Zhuang Yanyue's words, she really wanted to say, "It's not enough for you. You even gave away our sweet potatoes!"

But Qin Tangxi did not intend to avoid it because of her strong curiosity. She also wanted to see what Zhuang Yanyue gave to Zhang Chen, and use this to infer the relationship between her and Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen took Zhuang Yanyue's box and frowned, "Is it really a Rolex?"

Zhuang Yanyue laughed angrily, "You're just wishful thinking! Just tear it down!"

Zhang Chen didn't say much. He unwrapped the blue wrapping paper and the bow, revealing an ordinary white square box. He then opened it...

What is this? This is it!
An ugly water cup was revealed.

This ceramic water cup is crooked, and even the rim is uneven. It looks like an unqualified product that was fired by a clumsy craftsman.

Zhang Chen looked at the water cup for a long time, then looked at Zhuang Yanyue, who had a crescent-shaped smile on her face, "Could this be... handmade by you?"

Zhuang Yanyue nodded, "I originally wanted to make a water cup that looked like a goldfish bowl... but, as you can see, my hands are wet. I'm not cut out for this!"

She seemed a little regretful.

Zheng Xue smiled and laughed. She knew about the entanglement between Zhuang Yanyue and Zhang Chen, so she naturally regarded this as Zhuang Yanyue's revenge on Zhang Chen.

Qin Tangxi also laughed, "Haha, it's so ugly! Zhang Chen, you really deserve this water cup given by Sister Yanyue!"

But only Zhang Chen frowned slightly because of Zhuang Yanyue's words. She said: I originally wanted to make a water cup like a goldfish bowl.

Sure enough, Zhang Chen looked into the box carefully again and found another card inside.

This means that Shen Nuo has to write a paragraph every time he gives a gift. You also wrote a paragraph for me when you gave me a gift.

Zhang Chen picked up the card inside and cast a barrier shield on Zhuang Yanyue: "You didn't write something to humiliate me, did you?"

When Zhang Chen picked it up and took a look, his brows furrowed even deeper.

Zheng Xue and Qin Tangxi looked at his expression and came over curiously. When they saw the words written by Zhuang Yanyue on the letter, their eyebrows suddenly opened.

ah……!?

It says: "This ugly cup will remind you that someone was there to accompany you through your clumsiness when you were 18."

(End of this chapter)