I really like your sand sculpture group friends

From then on, he rarely went into the kitchen in this house.

"Don't even think about it." Su Mengyao nudged him lightly with her shoulder, turned her head and smiled, a hint of slyness on her face. "If she were that easy to deal with, she wouldn't be Su Mengli. Come on, let's play cards, we're just one short!"

Mo Xiangwen chuckled, nodded, and joined the game.

I don't know how long we played, but the roar of the range hood in the kitchen stopped, followed by the sound of stir-frying and plating.

Mo Xiangwen put down his cards, got up, and went into the kitchen: "I'll serve the dishes."

This time, Su Mengli didn't stop him. She simply stepped aside and gently reminded him, "Um, be careful it's hot."

Dinner was quickly served, and everyone praised Su Mengli's culinary skills.

Even Mo Xiangwen felt that if he were to do the job, he still wouldn't do it as well as Su Mengli.

He looked at Su Mengli, who was smiling as she listened to everyone's praise, her eyes curving into beautiful crescents, clearly enjoying the feeling of being recognized.

Oh well, never mind.

Mo Xiangwen shook his head inwardly. Since she genuinely liked it and did it so well, he decided to wait and see for now.

After dinner, the group took turns washing up.

Mo Xiangwen placed his laptop on the desk and opened it. His laptop had been kept here ever since he returned from his hometown, for easy access.

Noah's was the same, since there was no broadband in her room.

Su Mengli offered to have a master pull her across, but she refused.

Thinking that Noah might come over to work later and it would be inconvenient for him to write and update the novel, he first opened the game project folder, intending to refine the settings of several new characters.

Sure enough, not long after, the room door was gently pushed open.

Yan Nuoya, who had changed into a white nightgown, walked in, her hair still slightly damp.

As usual, she sat down in the chair next to him with perfect ease, turned on her computer, and the screen lit up, reflecting her calm profile.

There was no exchange between the two, and soon the room was filled only with the reassuring soft sound of keyboard typing, a tacit sense of tranquility spreading through the room.

But unlike before, the sound of the door opening came again very soon.

"Click".

Before Mo Xiangwen could even look up, a clear, slightly smug voice rang out: "Ah! Look, Sister Mengyao, I knew Sister Nuoya would be here!"

Immediately afterward, Su Mengyao's head popped in from behind the door, her eyes wide with surprise: "Shishi, how did you guess?"

“Because when Xiang Wen was in his hometown, Sister Nuoya would sit side by side with him every night while working,” Bai Shishi said as if it were a matter of course.

Chapter 209 I will wait for you, and for them. (4K combined)

"Work?" Su Mengyao curiously approached the desk, her gaze falling on Mo Xiangwen's computer screen.

The familiar character names and concept art on the screen are undoubtedly part of the current game project.

"Fine! Xiang Wen!" She immediately reached out and gently poked his side, raising her voice as if she were angry, "You clearly forbade us from working overtime in private before, but you secretly did it here, didn't you? How wicked! I caught you!"

Mo Xiangwen flinched at the provocation, momentarily stunned. Before he could explain, Su Mengyao turned to Yan Nuoya and teased, "Nuoya, are you going to follow his lead and act recklessly too?"

Yan Nuoya looked up from the screen, her purple eyes calmly sweeping over Su Mengyao, then glancing at the slightly embarrassed Mo Xiangwen, her tone as indifferent as ever: "We haven't been together long."

She seemed to be stating a fact in a dignified manner, her voice devoid of any emotion.

“Yes, Sister Nuoya wasn’t lying.” Bai Shishi, who was standing next to her, also confirmed this. She had already climbed into bed naturally, hugged her pillow and secretly took a couple of breaths, and whispered, “When I came to find Sister Nuoya after I finished showering, she had just arrived, and her hair didn’t seem to be completely dry yet.”

Su Mengyao had actually noticed the dampness left in Yan Nuoya's hair long ago, and since she and her sister Su Mengli often secretly revised their drawings in their room at night... already feeling a little guilty, she took the opportunity to back down now.

She then patted Mo Xiangwen on the shoulder, adopting a magnanimous demeanor.

"Alright, alright, since Shishi has already pleaded for you, we'll let it go this time." Su Mengyao smiled, but then changed the subject, "However..."

Seeing her expression, Mo Xiangwen knew there was more to come, and smiled helplessly: "So what do you want, Miss Su?"

"Hehehe," Su Mengyao said with a smile, "I happen to have a few questions about scene design that I was just about to ask you, sister. But since you and Shishi are both here, I might as well ask you, so I don't have to make a trip."

"Phew, it was just a question. I thought you were trying to blackmail me." Mo Xiangwen breathed a sigh of relief.

"What can I do? I'm going to sleep soon." Su Mengyao pouted and rolled her eyes at him. "Although I really want to experience what Shishi said about the three of you lying on the tatami mat watching anime on a projector during your holidays... but this bed can't fit three people, and there's no projector here."

"Yes, yes, I understand. I'll definitely arrange it for you next time, okay?" Mo Xiangwen coaxed her, going along with her words.

“I’m serious!” Su Mengyao emphasized.

"Yes, definitely." Mo Xiangwen nodded, bringing the topic back on track, "Now let's talk about what problems you've encountered."

"Yes, yes, it's about the style of this scene..." Su Mengyao began to describe the difficulties she encountered.

“Here, you can use my computer. I’ll watch from the side.” Mo Xiangwen stood up and made room for her.

Su Mengyao didn't stand on ceremony and plopped down on the chair that still held his body heat, holding the mouse.

"That's right. I haven't played those scenes in the game that you mentioned in your document in depth. Just looking at the reference pictures and text descriptions, I can't quite grasp the atmosphere, especially the lighting and spatial layout."

"Oh, I see. Let me explain the general feeling and design concept to you." Mo Xiangwen leaned over her shoulder and pointed at the screen to begin explaining.

Su Mengyao listed two scenes she didn't visit often, and Mo Xiangwen patiently analyzed them.

Then, she mentioned the third scene—"a hot spring in the snow".

Hot springs are a fairly common setting in visual novels.

"Hot springs..." Mo Xiangwen stroked his chin. "I've actually never had the chance to go to a hot spring. My impressions are all from various games and anime, so they're not exactly reliable. But it's okay, we can put it aside for now and draw it later. There are also many nice hot springs in China. If we have the chance, we can all go and experience them in person to find some inspiration."

"Okay, okay!" Bai Shishi eagerly joined in, sharing her imagination of hot springs: "Soaking in a hot spring on a snowy day would be so comfortable! Everything around would be white, and the water would be so warm..."

“There are definitely hot springs in China, but I’m not sure if they’re available for soaking in the snow.” Mo Xiangwen chuckled. “Let’s actively gather information on that, and remember to forward it to the group if you see it.”

The three then continued their discussion on the design issues.

Yan Nuoya remained quietly to the side, focused on her work on her screen, gently tapping the keyboard, as if the surrounding discussions were merely background noise and did not disturb her in the slightest.

Time flew by unnoticed, and it was almost midnight when Su Mengyao yawned and looked at her phone: "Ah, it's almost midnight! That's about it. Shishi has to get up early tomorrow, so I'll take her back to bed now."

Upon hearing this, Bai Shishi instinctively grabbed the blanket at the corner of Mo Xiangwen's bed and muttered softly, "I... I'm fine sleeping here with Xiangwen..."

Is that even possible? You might be embarrassed, but I'm not.

Su Mengyao's eyes widened immediately: "There's a problem! There's a very big problem!"

She walked over and took Bai Shishi's hand: "How can a girl sleep in a boy's room like that? Come back with me."

Mo Xiangwen was both amused and exasperated. He reached out and ruffled Bai Shishi's soft hair, soothingly saying, "Shishi, be good and go to sleep with Mengyao. My little bed can't fit two people; it won't be comfortable for you."

Bai Shishi glanced at the bed, which wasn't very big, and reluctantly nodded before being pulled away by Su Mengyao, leaving the room with several glances back.

The room quieted down considerably. Yan Nuoya saved her work, closed her laptop, and prepared to leave.

"Noya, wait a minute." Mo Xiangwen called out to her.

Yan Nuoya stopped what she was doing, looked up at him, and asked with her eyes what was wrong.

Mo Xiangwen glanced at the time in the lower right corner of his phone screen; it had just jumped to 00:00.

March 1st has arrived.

Although he had never confirmed it, he firmly believed that Yan Nuoya, like him, had filled in her real birthday on her QQ profile.

The reason is simple: people like them have very few friends on their friend lists, so they have no concern about exposing their personal information.

He even suspected that Noah's friend list was even cleaner than his, possibly consisting only of the four people in the studio.

Seeing him staring at the time in a thoughtful manner, Yan Nuoya knew that he was probably imagining something strange again, and said calmly, "What's wrong? If you don't tell me, I'm going back to sleep."

"Happy birthday." Mo Xiangwen snapped out of his thoughts, looked at her and chuckled, "I bought you a game on Steam, it's already been delivered to your library, consider it a gift."

Yan Nuoya was slightly taken aback.

For them, receiving birthday wishes and gifts from other people in games or group chats is nothing new, but being solemnly told "Happy Birthday" in person at midnight in real life is a first for her.

Of course she knew that tomorrow was Mo Xiangwen's birthday.

She had seen Mo Xiangwen's ID card before and had a good memory; even without Penguin's reminder, she wouldn't forget about it.

Since tomorrow is his birthday, today naturally belongs to her.

How could I have forgotten? Perhaps, I never truly expected it.

It was just four simple words, but hearing them in person really made a difference.

She felt a slight tremor deep inside her, like a feather gently tickling the soles of her feet.

Mo Xiangwen didn't expect that a simple blessing would cause Yan Nuoya, who usually has no expression, to have a noticeable stunned reaction.

Yan Nuoya composed herself, lowered her eyes, and softly replied, "Thank you." After a pause, she added, "Then... let's play the game you gave me tomorrow night."

"Okay, sure." Mo Xiangwen nodded.

"Well then, goodnight." Yan Nuoya prepared to leave again.

"Wait." Mo Xiangwen called out to her again.

"What is it now?" Yan Nuoya turned around and asked in confusion.

Mo Xiangwen scratched his head, seemingly a little embarrassed: "I just feel... now that we're more than just online friends, just sending a game feels like something's missing, doesn't it feel a bit inappropriate?"

As he spoke, he took out a small box carefully wrapped in dark blue wrapping paper from his backpack under the desk. The box was tied with a silver ribbon.

"Although I thought about it for a long time and still didn't know what kind of gift to give, I felt that nothing I gave might be appropriate... But as the date approached, I had to make a choice."

He handed her the box, hesitatingly placing it in her palm: "Here, take this. Happy birthday, Noah."

Yan Nuoya took the small box; it was quite heavy.

Unexpectedly, he even gave me an extra physical gift.

"Can I open it now?" Yan Nuoya asked softly.

"Uh, it's best... to open it again when we get back." Mo Xiangwen touched his nose, his eyes unconsciously looking away, and his voice lowered: "Because there's something written inside, and it would be very awkward for me to read it in front of you."

Yan Nuoya glanced at his slightly embarrassed expression, then at the beautiful gift box in his hand, and a tiny, almost imperceptible smile appeared on her lips: "So mysterious."

"Thanks." She held the box in her hand. "Goodnight."

"Good night."

Yan Nuoya turned and left the room, gently closing the door behind her.

Back in her quiet room, Yan Nuoya sat down at her desk, the light from the incandescent bulb spilling onto the surface.

She looked at the blue box in her hand, her fingers gently stroking the smooth wrapping paper, then carefully untied the silver ribbon and opened the package.

As soon as I opened the box, I saw the whole thing inside.

Inside is a pure white ceramic mug, with a simple design and no patterns.

She reached out and gently touched it, feeling its warmth.

Yan Nuoya picked up the cup, looked at it under the light, and couldn't help but shake her head with a soft laugh, muttering to herself, "People..."

Giving a cup as a gift? They even copied her gift.

But then she thought, if he really knew how to please girls and gave them fancy gifts, then he wouldn't be the Mo Xiangwen she knew.

She quickly shifted her attention away from the cup itself, remembering what he had said about "writing something."

She thought for a moment, then carefully tilted the box and took out the cup.

Sure enough, there was a small folded card at the bottom of the box.

She picked up the card and opened it; it bore Mo Xiangwen's familiar, slightly messy handwriting:

[1+1=2, so it will be the same in the next life.]

Yan Nuoya looked at the nonsensical words and blinked in confusion at first, then quickly realized that he had copied her homework.

The cup she gave to Mo Xiangwen back then was also pure white.

Yan Nuoya fell silent, placed the cup on the table, and gently stroked the surface of the cup again and again, carefully feeling its texture.

She suddenly remembered a phrase, a phrase she really liked.

If you're too afraid of others' negative opinions, your life will forever become a collection of other people's desires.

And it was because of this statement that she continued to do what she wanted to do, going her own way.

She disdains to pay attention to things she doesn't like, no matter how necessary they may seem to ordinary people.