If the theatrical performance ignited the enthusiasm of the whole school, then Valentine's Day a week later pushed the heat wave to the top.

I've never heard of us girls obliging to give chocolates to male classmates on Valentine's Day, and of course, the relationship is generally negligible. First of all, the shame of showing favor to others is deeply ingrained in my beliefs, and secondly, my pocket money is not enough to spend on myself, let alone others. Therefore, the number of rituals for the festival is not in my consideration. However, since Xingyuan said that this is our school tradition, it is a once-a-year opportunity for us girls to express our gratitude to our male classmates, and most importantly, on White Day, we will receive their gifts in return, so I can only follow the local customs, learn from the rest of the string orchestra, and prepare chocolates for the few male students on my list.

On Saturday afternoon, the spring day was bright, just as I was half lying on the bed bored, looking at the photos taken during the theatrical performance on my mobile phone, Xin Tian suddenly rushed into our dormitory, put his arm around Xingyuan's shoulders, and asked anxiously: "Dear Xingyuan, tomorrow, okay?" ”

Looking at Xin Tian, who was full of excitement, a trace of entanglement flashed in Xingyuan's eyes. "It's up to you."

"What's wrong?" I got up and looked at Xin Tian and asked puzzledly.

"Go to Xingyuan's house to make chocolate." Xin Tian winked at me, as if wondering if I was knowingly asking.

"I had to do it myself...... I muttered with a pout. I knew it would be so much work, and I should have thought I didn't know there was such a thing in the first place......

"It's more sincere to do it yourself." Seeing that I was unmoved, Xingyuan continued to smile and coax me: "It's really fun to make chocolate, you must try it." If you're still troublesome after trying it, it's not too late to send a ready-made one next year. ”

"Since the beginning of the new year, we have gone to Xingyuan's house every year to make chocolates, and we haven't agreed to other people's desire to go, so I haven't seen anyone say they don't like to go." Somehow, I always felt that Xin Tian's words were vaguely inferior.

Since it's traditional, I can only follow it...... "Okay......" I heard that handmade chocolate is much more expensive than ready-made, so I secretly made some adjustments to the list in my mind. will never give him chocolates, such as Fang Zheng and others, unchanged! As for the people who will give handmade chocolates...... After thinking about it, only Xu Mingyao, Yang Tao and Shen Yunhao are worthy of my full sincerity. The rest, such as Yang Fan and others, went to the convenience store to buy them for them. Compared with Xingyuan, who gives handmade chocolates to everyone equally, I am a little petty, but fortunately Xin Tian has the same plan as me. In order to prevent Yang Fan from being jealous, she would only give him handmade chocolates, and the other male classmates would use ready-made ones.

I have to admit that the process of making chocolate is really fun.

The next morning, Xingyuan took me to a large shopping mall to buy raw materials. She told me that in order to ensure the taste, they don't follow the recipe to make chocolate sauce with chocolate powder and milk, but instead use milk chocolate chunks from well-known brands to heat and boil. Of course, I'll wonder what the difference is between this and giving it off-the-shelf, but I'm not in a hurry to ask, I'm sure I'll find the answer next. After checking the price, I decided to buy a small box, but Xingyuan asked me to buy another box. It is said that some chocolate will inevitably be wasted during the production process, so it is always good to prepare more. Seeing that the chocolates that Xingyuan was going to buy were piled up in the entire shopping cart, I reluctantly followed her advice. After Xingyuan left the chocolates at the front desk, she pulled me to pick out the box of chocolates. A small box can cost dozens of yuan, which reminds me of the word "buy and return pearls". While they are indeed delicate and beautiful, they are nothing more than a box in the end. In normal times, I would never buy it, but since Xingyuan likes to buy this one, I don't want to be cheeky and say that I want to buy a cheaper one. I took the plunge to pick three specials, and when I saw that Xingyuan hadn't picked it yet, I went to the counter next to me to hang around. One of the counters quickly caught my attention, with several rows of shelves lined with a dazzling variety of yarns in a variety of colours and, above all, the high quality, which was not at all the same grade as what was sold in the market. Even though it's ridiculously expensive, I think it's worth the money. I picked up two rolls of sky-blue cashmere thread, went to the cashier, paid the bill, and quietly collected them in my backpack. Xingyuan is right, be prepared! These threads should be enough for me to weave a long scarf...... Thinking of this, I secretly laughed.

"Let's go......" Xingyuan lowered her head and sighed after answering the phone. Her father had promised to come and pick us up, but he couldn't come because the hospital was calling him back for an emergency.

"Give me two bags." It's a rare opportunity to help Xingyuan, so I naturally won't let it go.

"I ......can handle it myself," Xingyuan barely squeezed out a smile.

Once upon a time, I said this too. "It's not heavy, it's just too much of a hindrance." Without waiting for Xingyuan to react, I snatched two large bags of chocolates from her hand and strode towards the exit. There's no way I'm going to watch her embarrassed and indifferent.

"Thank you, Yin Ran......" Xingyuan whispered behind me.

"You're welcome." I stopped and waited for Xingyuan to follow. "You lead the way, I don't know how to go."

"Okay." Xingyuan carried three shopping bags full of empty boxes and staggered as she walked.

I don't know if I was ashamed of my embarrassed appearance, or sad for my father's missed appointment, Xingyuan's eyes were filled with tears. I was amusefully pretending not to see it, because I knew that what she needed most at this time was to clean up her mood alone.

While waiting for the train at the station, we met Li Jiamin. When she heard that we were going to Xingyuan's house to make chocolates, her voice trembled with envy and kept asking us about all kinds of details, causing us to miss several buses. Seeing that she was so interested, Xingyuan thought for a moment and decided to invite her to go back with us. As Xin Tian said, Li Jiamin was too late to be happy, so he agreed without thinking about it. With Li Jiamin's help, Xingyuan and I have eased a lot along the way, but this ease comes at a price. The rest of the string orchestra is not as happy as Xingyuan to let Li Jiamin, an outsider, come to our party. Fortunately, Xingyuan explained to them that this was her idea as soon as possible, otherwise, they would definitely be angry with me, after all, the last time, I took it upon myself to invite her. Not to mention their overflowing dissatisfaction, just using a completely different attitude from Mei Fangxun to perfunctory or even alienate Li Jiamin is enough to embarrass her. We have a very close relationship with Mei Fangxun, and she is used to blending in with us, but Li Jiamin is not.

"Put the chocolate in the nonstick pan and stir while heating," Xingyuan taught me how to make chocolate while ...... hand, not noticing the strange atmosphere around me.

"It's sticky...... Do you want to add some water? I whispered as I glanced at Li Jiamin, who was full of gloom.

"You can't add water, or it won't solidify after a while!" Xingyuan patted my head lightly and smiled, "Little fool." ”

"Okay......" I couldn't bear to look at Li Jiamin, who was about to cry, and retracted my gaze guiltily.

"I'll help you watch it first, and you can choose the mold." After speaking, Xingyuan motioned for me to open the top cabinet.

"I'm going to pick first!" Xin Tian hurriedly ran over and turned out all the molds in the cabinet and put them on the dining table. "That's it!" She picked up a large heart-shaped mold and showed it to us as a victor.

"Are you going to make that big chocolate?" I asked in surprise. In my opinion, she didn't have to worry about someone taking it from her.

"No way, who told Yang Fan that he likes to eat chocolate." Xin Tian smiled sweetly.

"Yin Ran, your chocolate sauce is almost ready." Xingyuan stopped my next complaint in a timely manner.

"Oh, come on." I glanced at the various molds, picked up a bear's head shape, hesitated for a moment, and brought a five-pointed star shape with me.

"I like this bear too, do you mind if I use the same one as you?" Xingyuan asked with an embarrassed expression.

"Of course I don't mind." I was thinking about how to recover the chocolate left in the pot, and I didn't care what mold Xingyuan wanted to use. "Xingyuan, do you think I can scrape it off and eat it?"

Hearing my words, Xingyuan sneered. "Yin Ran, don't worry, I have a better way."

After everyone packed the finished chocolates, Xingyuan asked us to go to the living room to sit down and rest, and she went to the kitchen to give us food and drink. Looking at the two plates of strawberries covered in chocolate sauce she served, I sincerely admired her intelligence and generosity. These strawberries, as well as the almonds in the chocolate, were all prepared by her silently at her expense.

"The lemonade and chocolate strawberries are a perfect match! Thank you, Xingyuan! Mei Fangxun raised her glass and greeted Xingyuan.

"Thank you, Xingyuan!" We thanked Xingyuan in unison, so that Li Jiamin's voice was drowned out.

"I'm too busy today, I didn't greet everyone, and I'll meet again another day." Xingyuan bowed deeply to us, looking very dignified and elegant.

"Xingyuan, you are too modest." Yu Menghan looked around at everyone, and then said meaningfully. "For people to eat for nothing, what else is not to be greeted well?"

Suddenly, the air seemed to freeze, everyone present held their breath, and no one spoke in the middle of the sound. Everyone knew in their hearts who Yu Mengyi meant. On weekdays, the rest of the string orchestra gossiped behind her back, but it was the first time to say it in front of her, which was really hurtful.

"I'm leaving." Li Jiamin rushed out of the door with red eyes, and Xingyuan hurriedly picked up the bag of chocolates she threw down and chased out.

Menghan ...... You ......" Xin Tian didn't seem to find a suitable sentence, so he simply stopped talking.

"I'm just saying what everyone thinks." Yu Menghan's eyes widened, and she said angrily: "Why let her take advantage of Xingyuan." ”

After Xingyuan came back, everyone saw that she was sad, so she avoided talking about what she had just done, and after eating strawberries, she left one after another. As for the mess in the kitchen, only Mei Fangxun and I care.

Before leaving, Xingyuan handed me three small cards with colorful illustrations. "I see you're buying the same box. Pin them to the ribbon of the box, so they won't be easy to get confused. ”

"Thank you......" I took them with a weak heart. Eat for nothing...... Do they see me that way in their hearts? I didn't dare to think about it.