Happy Qixi Festival

Afternoon.

"What is that?" In the school infirmary, Ye Shuang noticed An Shiyu bending over, rummaging through a cardboard box for something.

"Hmm..."

An Shiyu didn't say anything. Beside her, An Shiyi and Yezi also craned their necks to look.

"Oh, found it." An Shiyu pulled out a delivery box, about the width of two fists, and it looked completely unopened.

"Do you have a box cutter?" An Shiyu looked at Ye Shuang.

"I actually don't. And where did you even pull that package from?"

"Oh, I brought it over with some other stuff before, and I forgot to open a few things," An Shiyu said. She thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered, "I brought my own."

Saying that, she pulled a gleaming cleaver from under her skirt.

Ye Shuang: "..."

Where did you pull that out from?

With a rip, the delivery box was cut open.

Ye Shuang noticed there was another box inside, a beautifully crafted gift box, with a printed greeting card on top.

[Happy Qixi Festival, darling]

"Qixi Festival..." Ye Shuang froze for a moment. Wasn't Qixi Festival still a while away?

"Some guy gave it to me last year, and I forgot to open it," An Shiyu said.

"Doesn't the shipping address say a store name?" Ye Shuang picked up the packaging box.

An Shiyu gave him a deadpan dot-eyed look. "Yeah, the store owner is a guy."

"Are you intentionally misleading me?" Ye Shuang's mouth twitched.

Then An Shiyu opened the gift box, revealing a crystal ball with some strange, quirky patterns inside.

"It plugs in." After connecting it to a power source, An Shiyu told Ye Shuang to draw the curtains.

"Draw the curtains?"

"Yeah."

Ye Shuang had no choice but to pull all the curtains shut. After turning off the lights, the infirmary immediately darkened. At this time, the short-haired girl turned on the crystal ball's switch. Along with the glowing lights, a burst of cheap, plastic-sounding music—like the kiddie rides at the downstairs mall—started playing.

"Beep—beep—boop boop—"

The lights were multicolored, but they had an indescribably blurry feel. The colors were neither vibrant nor pretty.

"Tsk." An Shiyu clicked her tongue, clearly looking very disappointed with the item.

"Didn't you buy it yourself?"

"I saw the promotional slogan saying 'girlfriends will cry tears of emotion when they receive this.'" An Shiyu fiddled with the crystal ball in her hands. The cheap music playing from it was a bit irritating; it probably only needed a 'Daddy, I want to ride' to complete the vibe.

At this moment, the short-haired girl turned her head to look over and handed the crystal ball to him.

"Here, Happy Qixi. And if you haven't received a gift, I'll give you this one."

Ye Shuang: "..."

How could he receive a gift when it wasn't even Qixi yet?

Was she just tossing an unwanted toy at him?

In the end, the crystal ball was left on the desk. Unplugged, it passed as an ordinary little ornament. However, among everyone present, Yezi seemed to like it the most. After all, she was young—right at the age for kiddie rides.

An Shiyu messed around with her stash for a little while longer but didn't pull out anything else. She simply curled up on the sofa and played video games with Chao Yiyu.

Over the afternoon, quite a few more students came to the infirmary for medical attention, including the thirsty legion.

"Doctor brother, it hurts here... right here."

"Doctor brother, your lecture was amazing. I got so wet listening to it, look."

A few girls chattered away at Ye Shuang. However, upon seeing that none of them were actually sick and were just simply "in heat," Ye Shuang chatted with them briefly before politely asking them to leave.

Perhaps it was the advertising effect of his lecture, but after the thirsty legion left, three or four more students came in for a consultation. However, they were mostly just there to pour their hearts out.

"Doctor, I'm really breaking down. My dad won't let me wear underwear at home, and he threw away or hid all of my underwear. What should I do?" one student asked with a distressed face.

"Aren't you a guy?" Ye Shuang was taken aback.

...

"Dr. Ye, what do you think I can learn that will make the girls in my class look at me in a new light?" a student eager for romance asked.

"Try learning electric welding?" An Shiyu chimed in from the side.

...

At four o'clock, Ye Shuang could finally rest for a bit. After all, it was time for school to let out, so basically no more students would be coming to the infirmary.

"I'm tired." Ye Shuang sighed. But it shouldn't be as busy tomorrow; those students mostly ran over just for the novelty.

"Tired already? Mister, maybe you need to take some kidney supplements?" An Shiyi said from the side, holding a controller. Then she glanced at the time.

"Hmm... when is Black Myth going to be served up?"

"Soon."

Meanwhile, Yezi was sitting on a small stool, intently watching her two older sisters play games. Seeing this, Ye Shuang suddenly wondered if this little girl would be turned into a gamer girl by the two fish.

"Ding." Right at that moment, his phone vibrated.

Ye Shuang took a look and saw it was a call from Chen Qin.

He picked up his phone, walked out to the hallway, and answered the call—

"Ye, Ye, are you done with work?"

"Yeah, it's four o'clock. They've all finished classes and gone to their clubs," Ye Shuang hummed in agreement, then asked, "Are you coming back tonight? Should I go pick you up?"

"Sure! There's a banquet tonight, are you coming?" Chen Qin's voice continued on the other end of the line. "I have to attend, and I want you to accompany me, Ye."

"A banquet, huh..." Ye Shuang thought for a moment, considering whether to bring Yuyou along. After all, they wouldn't need to cook then.

But would such a social occasion be inappropriate for that child?

While Ye Shuang was thinking, Chen Qin assumed he wasn't very willing, so she chuckled, "Alright then, I'll just go by myself."

"I didn't say I wasn't going. I was just wondering if I should bring Yuyou and Keke." Ye Shuang paused, then glanced back toward the infirmary. "Would it be appropriate for Little Yu, Yezi, and the others to come?"

"It's our own group's event. We're the ones in charge, who would dare say anything?" Chen Qin said smugly.

"True. I'll ask them then. We'll just treat it as having dinner, and I can help you fend off the drinks while I'm at it," Ye Shuang chuckled.

"Hehe, no one will say anything if I just drink juice. Ye, I'll send you the address, you can just head straight there later."

"Okay."

Then Chen Qin asked Ye Shuang if anything interesting happened today.

"Interesting?" Ye Shuang thought about it. "I held a lecture, just popularizing some..."

Upon recalling the content, Ye Shuang coughed dryly, but there was nothing to hide. "It was about adult sex education. Talking about that stuff with a big group of young girls was still a bit awkward."

"Is that so..." On the other end of the line, Chen Qin fell silent for a moment. "Ye, looking at those young girls... do you find me too old?"

"Huh?" Ye Shuang was taken aback.