Serenade

Chapter 10

Jin Xi treasured the painting titled "Courage" that Bo Yan had given her, and as a result, she became more serious than ever during military training. Even Xu Chaoyang had been praising her progress.

One evening after dinner, Jin Xi's roommates went for a walk while she returned to the dormitory alone. As she approached the dormitory building, she saw a girl in a green military uniform talking to Bo Yan. The girl had her hair in a ponytail and had tied her military coat around her waist, revealing her full and sexy figure.

Jin Xi recognized the girl as one of the "Four Golden Flowers" at the end of the hallway. The girl's eyes were filled with passion as she looked at Bo Yan, and she spoke animatedly to him.

In the sunset, Bo Yan's profile was illuminated, and his features were strikingly handsome. When he lifted his eyes, there was a hint of flirtatiousness in them.

The girl then pulled out a gift from behind her, and as Bo Yan looked up, he accidentally collided with Jin Xi. Jin Xi's breath caught, and she quickly turned and ran away.

After walking for a while, Jin Xi realized how silly she was to run away. She hadn't done anything wrong, so why did she feel like a thief on the run? When she returned to the dormitory building, she no longer saw the two of them. Perhaps they had already gone to the woods, hand in hand.

Meanwhile, Xu Chaoyang received numerous letters and gifts from female students, including beautifully packaged cakes, artistic notebooks, and imported chocolates. He was thrilled and boasted to Bo Yan in the dormitory every day. Even Jing Chi, who was usually aloof, was annoyed by his behavior.

Bo Yan, however, was not envious and ignored Xu's bragging. That was until Xu received a candy box from Jin Xi, which was beautifully packaged with a velvet bow and contained various flavors of candy. It was clear that Jin Xi had carefully selected and personally made the candies. Along with the candy box was a pink card with a beautiful message, thanking Xu for his hard work and dedication during military training. The card also included a poem titled "Seven Rhymes - The Long March," which praised Xu's strict discipline and leadership.

Xu Chaoyang handed a piece of candy to Bo Yan and said it was from Jin Xi. He then revealed that Jin Xi had also written a poem for him. Bo Yan simply replied, "Oh."

That night, the sound of banging on the door of room 409 was twice as loud as usual, shaking the liver of anyone who heard it. Jing Chi was playing a game when it happened, and he almost got killed when he jerked his hand in surprise.

He took off his headphones and rushed to the door where Bo Yan was standing. "Who messed with you?" he asked.

Bo Yan still looked calm and collected as usual. "No one," he replied.

But then, there was another loud bang as he slammed his water cup heavily on the table.

Jing Chi was scared and quickly put on his headphones and retreated under his covers for safety.

Over the next few days, Xu Chaoyang suspected that Bo Yan had unilaterally broken off their friendship. During military training, Xu Chaoyang couldn't make it on time and asked Bo Yan to sign him in every day when he passed by the student union.

But a few days later, when Xu Chaoyang excitedly went to exchange his attendance record for good behavior points, he found that the row of names that should have been his had all been changed to Bo Yan's. The good behavior points had also been added to Bo Yan's account.

Xu Chaoyang angrily questioned Bo Yan, who scratched his head and said, "Oh, I wrote it wrong. It wasn't intentional."

It was clear that he was enjoying getting revenge and saying, "I'm targeting you, so just suck it up."

Then Xu Chaoyang noticed that Bo Yan no longer invited him to go night jogging and even when they went to the toilet together, Bo Yan would wait until Xu Chaoyang finished before he coyly unbuckled his belt.

All the different signs were indicating the same thing: their friendship boat with Bo Yan was about to capsize.

Xu Chaoyang thought about it and felt that the problem might be with the gift Jin Xi had given him.

The candy gift box was still on the table. Every time Xu Chaoyang took out a candy and the plastic packaging made a loud noise, he could feel a cold, sinister gaze behind him.

Xu Chaoyang decided to talk to Jin Xi about it.

After the dispersal that night, Xu Chaoyang kept Jin Xi behind and asked her, "Jin Xi, the military training will be over tomorrow. Have you prepared anything to give your instructor Bo as a gift?"

Jin Xi asked, "Which instructor Bo?"

"The one who lives next door to you, Instructor Bo Yan," answered Xu Chaoyang.

Jin Xi said, "Oh, is he an instructor?"

Xu Chaoyang said, "Isn't Instructor Bo Yan teaching you exercises on the rooftop every day? Although your military posture is still very ugly and you have hardly improved, I don't know what he's teaching you every day... But that's not the point. The point is that he taught you that a teacher for a day is a father for life, and you should show him your respect."

Jin Xi was stunned by Xu Chaoyang's words and said, "Doesn't he have a girlfriend? Wouldn't she be angry?"

Xu Chaoyang smiled faintly and said, "Many girls have given gifts to Bo Yan, but not everyone is qualified to be his girlfriend. Bo Yan is very picky in that regard."

Jin Xi raised her head and asked, "Oh, he doesn't have a girlfriend?"

Xu Chaoyang complained, "My nose and eyes have been acting up these past few days. I feel like everything is irritating me. How can I have a girlfriend like this?"

Since Jin Xi was still single, she thought it wouldn't hurt to give him a gift. That night, Bo Yan also received a candy box that Jin Xi had made herself. It was one inch larger than Xu Chaoyang's box, with more candy, and included a poem titled "Spring Snow" by the famous poet, Mao Zedong.

On the terrace at the end of the hallway, Bo Yan received the small gift box with a slight upward twitch of his eye. The hazel-colored pupils in his eyes surged with emotion, but his face was expressionless, trying to maintain his composure.

Jin Xi said, "Thank you, Bo Yan, for helping me. This is a small token of my appreciation."

Bo Yan suppressed the smile on his lips and muttered, "How childish."

Jin Xi looked up at Bo Yan with her innocent deer-like eyes. She was clever enough to see that Bo Yan was actually very pleased, but he was too proud to admit it.

Bo Yan leaned over and pinched her jaw. Jin Xi felt the rough texture of his fingers. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Bo Yan examined her face, and said, "You've gotten tanned."

"I find that strange," replied Jin Xi, as she reached out and lifted Bo Yan's chin. "You're in the sun every day, but you don't seem to get tanned."

Bo Yan's action of lifting a woman's chin had a possessive tone to it, and no one dared to challenge him that way. Jin Xi not only challenged him, but also lightly patted his cheek.

"Your skin is so good, it's thin and smooth," she said.

Bo Yan was speechless.

Jin Xi was curious and asked, "So, how do you take care of your skin?"

Bo Yan grabbed her hand and said, "Expose yourself to the sun in the morning and use poison to fight poison."

Jin Xi frowned skeptically and asked, "Really?"

Bo Yan replied, "Because I wake up early."

Well, that seemed reasonable.

"Starting tomorrow morning, come jogging with me and get some sun," Bo Yan said.

Jin Xi almost fell to her knees. "Bo Yan, please spare me!" she begged.

After surviving military training, Jin Xi didn't want to go through the harsh revolution of waking up at 6 a.m. every day again.

The next morning, Jin Xi woke up at 5 a.m., afraid that Bo Yan would come knocking on her door. She lay in bed, anxious, until 7 a.m.

At 6:15 a.m., the door of the dormitory across from hers opened. Footsteps paced back and forth for a moment before finally leaving.

Luckily, Bo Yan didn't knock on her door.

Jin Xi tried to go back to sleep but couldn't.

At noon, after the freshman orientation, she ran into Bo Yan at the cafeteria entrance. He was dressed in a crisp green military uniform, looking sharp and energetic.

Bo Yan, in his military attire and boots, looked nothing like his usual lazy self in flip flops. He exuded a strong sense of vitality, shining brighter than ever before, and his every move was full of heroic spirit.

How could one person perfectly blend two completely different temperaments? Jin Xi couldn't help but admire this person's skill.

Bo Yan saw her and lifted his chin slightly. "I waited for you at the gate for ten minutes this morning."

Jin Xi quickly put on an act, leaning against the wall and pretending to be weak and dizzy. "My junior is sick, cough cough, feeling faint."

Bo Yan crossed his arms and looked on with an expression that said "I'm watching you act." "Oh, she's sick. Did she take medicine?"

"She did."

"What medicine did she take?"

Jin Xi remained calm and composed. "Liuwei Dihuang Wan."

Bo Yan raised an eyebrow slightly. "So your junior has kidney deficiency."

He walked over and patted her shoulder. "Tell your junior to rest well and not overwork herself. If she needs anything, she can always ask her senior."

Jin Xi:...

Her junior's kidneys are perfectly fine!

**

The long-awaited campus card was finally issued, and Jin Xi eagerly went to the cafeteria to buy herself a fried chicken leg.

A flat-headed, sleeveless guy at the next table seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally staring at her. After Jin Xi noticed, he politely smiled.

He had shaved a lightning bolt into his hairline, and the muscles in his arms looked like they were about to burst. He seemed like a big eater.

Jin Xi thought he was eyeing the big chicken leg in her hand, so she pointed towards the southeast corner of the cafeteria. "You can buy it over there."

The flat-headed lightning bolt guy didn't seem interested in the chicken leg. He got up and left, passing by Jin Xi on the way out. He intentionally dropped his campus card.

Jin Xi looked at the card on the ground, then looked up at him.

After he walked out of the cafeteria, he turned back and seemed to be hoping that she would call out to him and return the card.

However... Jin Xi calmly finished eating the chicken leg, wiped her mouth, and then slowly picked up the card and took it to the lost and found counter at the cafeteria.

Just as she put the card down, the flat-headed lightning bolt guy rushed back and thanked her gratefully. "Thank you for finding my card, classmate! How about this, I'll treat you to milk tea!"

Jin Xi:...

She put the card down on the lost and found counter and said, "Sorry, I'm full now."

The flat-headed lightning bolt guy quickly replied, "I'm really thankful to you. If it weren't for you, I would have lost thousands of dollars on my card."

Jin Xi:...

Does he have a golden card with thousands of dollars on it?

"No need to thank me." Jin Xi turned and left.

The flat-headed lightning bolt guy immediately caught up with her. "Hey, let's exchange WeChat. I'll treat you to milk tea next time."

"No need, it's just a small matter."

"Add me, let's be friends, junior."

Jin Xi saw his persistent attitude and figured that if she didn't agree, he would probably follow her all the way to her dormitory building.

"Alright, scan mine."

She finished speaking and opened her phone's photo album, clicked on Shen Pingchuan's WeChat QR code, and handed it over.