Chapter 91

"Xiaoye, happy birthday! You're one step closer to being twenty, are you scared?"

The person on the phone was Ye Chi's best friend from junior high. During the high school entrance exam, she was admitted to another high school in the same province. Today, it was her good friend's birthday, and although she didn't have a gift, she made sure to send her greetings.

"You're not far from it either. Anyway, the whole world is aging with me, so what's there to be afraid of?"

While responding to her friend's greetings, Ye Chi curiously pulled open the plastic bag with her other hand and took out the book inside.

"It's so noisy there, are you at a KTV?"

"Ah!"

Both voices sounded at the same time.

"What's wrong? I said it was noisy, you didn't have to shout so loud, you almost deafened me."

"No, Yuanyuan, do you know what I'm holding right now?" Ye Chi's voice was filled with surprise, excitement, and shock.

"Phone?"

"Yi Shui'an's new book! Yi Shui'an's new book!"

"Ah?" As a best friend, Yuanyuan naturally knew about Ye Chi's admiration for Yi Shui'an. Influenced by her, she occasionally paid attention as well. "What's so exciting about that? It's your birthday, isn't it normal for someone to give you her book as a gift?"

"Hey, I'm talking about a new book, one that hasn't even been released yet, 'Half Lotus.' The announcement said it wouldn't be out until Christmas. Do you understand now?"

"Not released? You mean someone got this book for you in advance?"

"Yes."

"Who, that's so impressive?"

"I don't know. The book was in a plastic bag, hanging on the door handle of the private room. There seems to be a note inside, wait a moment..." Ye Chi pulled out the note from the bag and saw only four words written on it, with no signature. "It just says 'Happy Birthday,' no name."

"It must be some boy who secretly likes you, Ye Beauty." Yuanyuan joked.

Ye Chi's mind quickly flashed to that face, full of helplessness yet deep affection, and then she felt a bit annoyed. "Maybe someone is deliberately playing a trick on me. I'll ask when I go inside." Ye Chi thought of another boy, hoping it was him.

"Alright, I'll make up for the birthday gift later. Happy birthday, getting more beautiful. Little beauty."

"Same to you."

After hanging up, Ye Chi couldn't wait to open the book. She still couldn't fully believe it. As soon as she flipped to the first page, she saw an even more shocking scene. On the book's flyleaf, it was written: "To Ye Chi, Happy Birthday. May you be happy all your life. May your path of love be smooth! — Yi Shui'an"

Yi Shui'an's personal signature, personally wishing her a happy birthday!

How could this be?

Ye Chi quickly flipped through the book to make sure it wasn't a prank. The table of contents and the content of the book exuded the aura of an authentic, genuine edition. It was almost certain that this was indeed Yi Shui'an's new book.

She had closely followed this book before. Both Qianhong and Yi Shui'an herself had explained the style and content of the book. More importantly, as a die-hard fan who had read all of Yi Shui'an's works, Ye Chi could make a fairly accurate judgment just by browsing the table of contents.

The only question now was, who had silently hung the book there?

Screams and shouts came from the private rooms, and amidst the noise, the little birthday girl, Ye Chi, suddenly felt a bit lost. The gifts from the people in the room had been given to her at the beginning, and although he might have prepared something special for her, it definitely wouldn't be this book.

After looking around in vain, she entered the room with the book, only to find that everyone inside was looking at her. He was holding a microphone, standing in the center of the room, and smiling as he walked towards her. The prelude to "Exclusive Memory" played just in time, and a special performance began.

At this moment, in the next room, Yu Xiaoshu had just finished singing "Love Until Death" and was sitting quietly in the corner of the sofa, looking like a wilted eggplant. Liu Jingting looked at him with a half-smile, wanting to say a few words of comfort but ultimately held back.

For Liu Jingting, the emotional entanglements and love pains of these high school kids were not particularly fresh. In a way, they actually enjoyed this faint sadness, a melancholic air that made them feel unique and different from others, fitting the personality of emotionally simple young boys.

...

As the singing was about to end, a small incident occurred. After Sun Xinyang and Yu Xiaoshu finished their last upbeat song, "Running," they both said in unison, "Today, I want to thank someone special..."

Seeing this, Liu Jingting quickly stood up and said, "This song actually has such a polite ending. You sang well, no need to thank anyone."

Sun Xinyang and Yu Xiaoshu smiled, then realized something and turned to look at each other, asking in unison, "Who are you thanking?"

At this moment, the KTV staff knocked on the door to urge them to leave. Liu Jingting waved his hand and said, "Let's go."

As they walked out of the private room, they unexpectedly ran into Ye Chi and her group. Yu Xiaoshu's face changed slightly but quickly recovered. Liu Jingting pretended not to notice and turned his head to talk to Sun Xinyang and Su Nanhong.

Then, the handsome boy with Ye Chi, looking grim, walked up to Yu Xiaoshu and coldly asked, "Is this book your doing?"

Yu Xiaoshu raised an eyebrow, about to speak, when he heard Ye Chi call out, "Liu Kai, what are you doing? Haven't you caused enough trouble?"

Zhao Kan, walking beside Yu Xiaoshu, said with a smile, "Hey, are you blocking the way? If you want to sell books, find the class representative."

The boy named Liu Kai ignored Zhao Kan and kept staring at Yu Xiaoshu, continuing his aggressive tone, "I'm telling you, don't play these tricks. Books are sold everywhere, no need for you to show off."

Yu Xiaoshu said calmly, "I don't know what book you're talking about, and I don't know why you're standing here. If you have nothing to do, I'll be going."

"You don't know?" Liu Kai sneered, "If you don't know, I'll tear it up." He made a move to tear the book, but Yu Xiaoshu didn't even look, just walked past him. Liu Jingting's face changed when he saw him tearing the book, but he didn't say anything, just shook his head and said, "Now I understand what 'sweeping the floor' means. It's when you tear up the article, and the staff has to sweep the floor."

Liu Kai, even angrier, rushed to Liu Jingting. Sun Xinyang and Yu Xiaoshu, without a word, stepped forward to shield Liu Jingting.

Although Yu Xiaoshu was thin, he was tall, while Sun Xinyang was robust and strong. Standing in front of Liu Jingting, they had a commanding presence. Liu Kai was taken aback and glanced at his companions, who then stepped forward to support him.

By this time, Ye Chi was already crying, pointing at Liu Kai and saying, "Is this how you celebrate my birthday?"

Liu Kai, feeling more confident with his group, said, "I don't want anyone to keep bothering you."

Seeing Ye Chi cry, Yu Xiaoshu sighed and said, "This book really isn't my doing. If I had the ability, would I let you block my way like this?"

Liu Jingting, hidden behind Yu Xiaoshu and Sun Xinyang, couldn't help but laugh. He never thought he would be protected by two boys in such a situation. Pushing aside Yu Xiaoshu and Sun Xinyang, he walked to Liu Kai and said softly, "You're losing a lot of points." Then his face turned cold, and he said, "Causing trouble for no reason and blocking the way with a group of people, I'll tell the teacher."

Hearing this, more than half of the people present couldn't help but laugh. Zhao Kan even commented, "Brother Ting, that's a weak move."

Liu Jingting smiled and said, "Let's go. We came to sing, but we ran into this. Xiaoshu, if the book is yours, just say so."

Yu Xiaoshu was taken aback, then realized and said, "If it were mine, do you think I'd be so stupid as to deny it?"

Their默契配合 (默契配合 means "perfect coordination") was so good that the students behind Liu Kai whispered, "It seems it's not him, it's a misunderstanding." Ye Chi huffed and covered her mouth, running out of the door. Liu Kai glanced at Liu Jingting and the others, then looked at the book in his hand, and without waiting for his companions to remind him, turned to chase after her.

Yu Xiaoshu softly said, "Why bother?" It wasn't clear whether he was talking to Liu Kai or himself. In any case, the storm had passed.

...

Back in the dormitory, everyone tacitly avoided discussing what had happened. After a quick wash, Liu Jingting got into bed, set up his desk, turned on his computer, and opened the document for "The Mandarin Ducks' Saber."

This short story, less than 35,000 words, was a complete comedy. Later critics called it a "humorous picture of the martial world," and it was a trial run for Jin Yong's humorous characters. The "Four Heroes of Mount Taiyue" foreshadowed the "Six Immortals of Peach Valley."

["Our eldest brother is the Dragon of Mist and Clouds, Xie Xiaozhi; the second brother is the Boulder-Splitter, Chang Changfeng; the third brother is the Meteor Chasing the Moon, Hua Jianying; and I, the humblest of us, am the Toad Leaping Eight Steps, the Matchless Assassin, the Snowless Footprint, the Lone Legged Water Flyer, the Dual Dagger Covering Seven Provinces, Gai Yiming..."]

The "Four Heroes" confidently and boastfully announced their titles, but they turned out to be a bunch of low-skilled, boastful fools. Their failed attempts at theft, their comical reactions when beaten, and their self-deception were all hilarious, making readers laugh and smile.

Despite having read it more than once, Liu Jingting still couldn't help but laugh. Readers familiar with Jin Yong's works would not be unfamiliar with his "fools." Liu Jingting himself had once written an analysis of the most enduring fool in martial arts literature, the Old Naughty, Zhou Botong.

Liu Jingting had finished writing this story in early December. According to his promise to Lu Yichou, today was the day to submit the manuscript. As agreed, he would leave out the ending.

The most memorable part of "The Mandarin Ducks' Saber" besides the "Four Heroes" was the surprising twist that shocked many readers.

At the birthday banquet, the male protagonist, Yuan Guannan, and the female protagonist, Xiao Zhonghui's mother, recognized each other, creating a martial arts version of "Thunderstorm." When the female protagonist learned that the male protagonist was her brother, she was heartbroken and ran out of the house, only to be captured by the main antagonist.

At this point, many readers would have been gripped, thinking this was just another classic "after all the fuss, they turn out to be siblings" plot.

Then, the author added a brilliant twist, unexpectedly and logically turning the entire story around.

What Liu Jingting needed to do now was to cut the story at the moment of tragedy—when the female protagonist sees the male protagonist recognize his mother.

[Xiao Zhonghui heard Yuan Guannan call out "Mom" and swayed, almost falling. In her mind, only one voice echoed: "He's my brother, he's my brother... He's my brother..."]

Here, he stopped, satisfied, and clicked on Lu Yichou and Yi Shui'an's email. (To be continued. Please search for Piaowen.com for faster updates and better reading experience!)

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