Studying at Western University starts with a knife-forging competition

Chapter 122

While Emily was blowing out the candles, Lin Yuan took a small, palm-sized velvet bag from his backpack. He walked up to Emily and handed her the bag.

"Birthday present."

Emily took it, untied the drawstring of the bag, and poured the contents into her palm.

It is a small folding knife.

The blade is less than two inches long, made from leftover silver-iron alloy material from when making the leather sewing needles. It has a pale blue tinge on a cool white background. The blade has been sharpened, reflecting a thin, sharp light under the lamp. The handle is made of black walnut wood, polished to 2000 grit and then rubbed twice with beeswax, giving it a warm, matte finish.

She turned the knife over and saw two letters engraved near the end of the hilt—EW, the initials of Emily Wayne. The font was small, the strokes clean and crisp, and it was the same set of chisels he used to engrave the inscription on his paladin's cross.

"Did you make this yourself?" she asked.

"Not for sale," Lin Yuan said. "It's leftover material from a silver-iron alloy, and the handle is made of black walnut wood. It's not big; you can put it in your bag or hang it on your keys."

Emily ran her finger along the engraving on the knife handle, her fingertip sliding from the E to the W, pausing for a moment. Her expression didn't change much, but there was a faint, genuine smile at the corner of her mouth.

"Thank you." She put the folding knife back into the velvet bag and placed it on the desk next to the sofa.

Then she took out a braided keychain from under the coffee table. The dark blue knot was not complicated but very neat, with a small silver bead strung in the middle of the knot, which shimmered softly under the light.

"A return gift." She handed over the keychain. "I made it myself. It's not worth much, but you'll find it useful."

Lin Yuan took the keychain and examined it in his hand. The knot was neatly finished, and the diameter of the silver bead matched the thickness of the rope perfectly, so it wouldn't slip after being threaded through. He took out his keychain from his pocket, hung it on the keychain, and put it on the same keychain as his dormitory key and workshop keychain.

"Okay," he said, putting the keychain back in his pocket without saying anything more.

Anna watched this scene from the side, still holding a half-full glass of juice. Her gaze shifted back and forth between Lin Yuan and Emily a couple of times, then she put down the glass, stood up from the sofa, walked around the coffee table, and sat down in the empty seat next to Lin Yuan.

"Lin Yuan." She picked up her wine glass and raised it to him. "I must toast you. Thank you for the braised pork today."

Lin Yuan raised his glass and clinked it against hers. Anna took a big gulp, put down her glass, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Let me tell you," she said, resting her elbows on the table and leaning slightly toward Lin Yuan, "you're really being unfair."

Lin Yuan looked at her. "Where is it unfair?"

"She's a great knife maker, a great cook, and good-looking," Anna counted on her fingers. "You have all the good things in life, how are others supposed to live?"

The boy with glasses chuckled, picked up his cola, took a sip, and didn't say anything.

Anna didn't look at him; her gaze remained fixed on Lin Yuan's face. She had drunk quite a bit today—not drunk, but her characteristic Russian frankness had become even more pronounced under the influence of alcohol.

"Do you have a girlfriend in America?" she asked. Her tone was direct, without any preamble.

"No," Lin Yuan said.

"Really?" Anna raised an eyebrow. "With your looks and qualifications, you don't have a girlfriend? Are you too picky or too busy?"

"Busy." Lin Yuan picked up his cup and took a sip of water. "The workshop has a backlog of orders, and I have classes at school. I don't have time."

Anna stared at him for two seconds, then smiled. It was a simple smile, the kind that comes from a straightforward person finding an explanation they find reasonable.

"So, are you really not going to consider dating someone?" She poured herself another half glass of juice, shook it, and asked, "Aren't you too busy? So busy that you don't even have time to think about it?"

Lin Yuan leaned back in his chair, his hands clasped in front of his stomach. "I'm focused on my career right now. I'll think about relationships later."

Anna put down her cup, leaned forward, and looked directly at him with her light blue eyes. "Then I'll teach you? Russian dating."

A moment of silence fell over the living room. The bespectacled boy paused, holding his Coke cup, while the girl beside him smirked, her gaze shifting between Lin Yuan and Anna.

Matt sat at the other end of the sofa, holding his phone with YouTube's backend data page on the screen. He didn't look up, but there was a very obvious asymmetrical curve at the corner of his mouth—he was smirking.

Lin Yuan's expression remained unchanged. He looked at Anna, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, but the curve wasn't exactly a smile; it was more like a polite response.

"Thank you. But a Russian-style date might not fit my schedule," he said, his tone flat and neither warm nor cold, as if he were talking about something unrelated to himself.

Anna tilted her head and looked at him for a few seconds, then leaned back in her chair, picked up her glass, and finished the rest of her juice. When she put the glass down, her expression had switched from "aggressive" to her usual casualness.

"Fine," she said, "but you're really so boring. I'm being so proactive, and you don't even blush."

"You wouldn't even see him blush," Matt finally spoke, without even looking up, his finger still swiping on his phone screen. "His face has been roasted in front of the furnace for over a decade; it's thickened by now."

Anna chuckled, stood up, and went to the kitchen to pour water. As she passed Matt, she nudged his shoe. "You pour..."

He would take a bullet for your roommate.

"I'm stating the facts," Matt said, looking up innocently.

Emily remained seated in the armchair opposite the sofa, knees together and hands resting on the armrests. Throughout Anna and Lin Yuan's conversation, her expression remained unchanged—no smile, no frown, her lips maintained the same curved shape.

Her gaze occasionally fell on Lin Yuan, occasionally on Anna, but most of the time it lingered on the bunch of daisies on the coffee table.

No one noticed that her fingers tapped lightly twice on the armrest before stopping.

The party ended around nine o'clock. The boy with glasses had to work on his paper, and the others gradually said goodbye. Anna helped put the cups in the kitchen, waved to Lin Yuan as she came out and said see you tomorrow, then went into her room and closed the door.

Lin Yuan wiped the kitchen countertop clean, rinsed the cutting board and knives and put them back in their original places, and folded the insulated bag and carried it in his hand.

Emily stood in the doorway, one hand resting on the doorframe. Her expression was the same as when she saw him off at the relief station—calm, with a hint of barely perceptible relaxation.

"Thank you," she said.

Lin Yuan nodded and walked out the door. Matt followed behind, waving to Emily. The door closed behind them with a click, and the corridor fell silent.

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