Start as a top student after transmigrating.

Evening self-study session is over.

"Dong-ge, Lina has some things to take care of at home, I'll take her home first, then we'll head out." As soon as the bell rang, Liu Yumo quickly packed his things, said goodbye to Chen Dong, and ran out of the classroom without looking back.

The same applies to Jiang Lina.

Chen Dong gave Ye Wanwan a knowing look, slung his backpack over one shoulder, and walked towards her. "What about you? Do you also have something to do and need to go home early?"

Ye Wanwan felt like she had been seen through, but she lowered her head and forced a smile, admitting, "Yeah, I'm a little sleepy and want to go back to rest early."

"Let's go then, I'll take you home." Chen Dong wasn't surprised, and walked out of the classroom with his bulging backpack on his back.

He guarantees there will be a special segment tonight.

After all, his friends all know it's his birthday, and there's one guy who didn't give him a birthday present.

Although Han Ning'er stubbornly insisted that there were no gifts, only a fool would believe her.

Liu Yumo, Jiang Lina, Jing Shanshan, and Ye Wanwan—all their friends gave them gifts, but Han Ning'er had the nerve not to give anything in return.

I'm just waiting for the lottery results tonight.

I wonder what that girl will give me.

Chen Dong saw through it but didn't say anything, and his friend's intentions were met with cooperation.

As soon as they stepped out of the school gate, Liu Yumo and Jiang Lina were nowhere to be seen. It was obvious they hadn't gone home. It was probably too crowded for the two of them on the electric scooter in the middle of winter, so Ye Wanwan was likely with them.

"Get in the car."

Chen Dong rode over on his electric scooter, beckoned Ye Wanwan to get on, and turned the throttle to head straight towards No. 1 Middle School.

"Brother Dong, don't go back to the neighborhood yet, I need to go buy something up ahead." As they approached the neighborhood, Ye Wanwan began to exert her strength, guiding Chen Dong in the right direction.

"OK." Chen Dong smiled, seeing through their little tricks but not saying anything, and continued forward following Ye Wanwan's guidance.

I rode for many minutes but still didn't reach my destination.

Chen Dong wasn't in a hurry, and later he didn't even need Ye Wanwan to give him directions, because he had found a familiar place, a place he used to frequent with Han Ning'er and Liu Yumo.

About ten minutes later, Chen Dong arrived at a small river.

"Have we arrived yet?"

After parking the car, he deliberately teased Ye Wanwan in the back.

"We're here." Ye Wanwan stammered.

"There aren't any shops here. What do you want to buy? River water or river fish?" Chen Dong asked with a smile.

Ye Wanwan was clearly not good at lying. When Chen Dong asked her, she didn't know how to explain herself. She just lowered her head and didn't dare to look Chen Dong in the eye, adopting an ostrich mentality.

Chen Dong stopped teasing him.

I walked toward the open space by the river.

"Bang bang."

As soon as I took a step, a series of loud bangs rang out in the darkness, followed by the spectacular fireworks bursting in the dark sky, illuminating the scene with vibrant colors.

Chen Dong looked up and a smile appeared on his face.

Ye Wanwan also gazed at the blooming fireworks, which reflected her radiant smile.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...

Immediately afterwards, illuminated by the fireworks, a familiar sound rang out, and Han Ning'er was seen holding a cake with lit candles on it.

Jiang Lina and Jing Shanshan held sparklers to create a festive atmosphere, while Liu Yumo placed a folded birthday hat on Chen Dong's head. Several friends surrounded Chen Dong, singing a birthday song.

This scene is very heartwarming.

Especially when Han Ning'er held the cake and smiled sweetly at him, she said, "Dong-ge, happy birthday, make a wish."

Chen Dong's smile grew even brighter.

This scene is etched deeply in my memory; it represents a friendship that was once deeply engraved in my heart.

My friend's actions were quite touching.

But Chen Dong didn't follow the procedure. Under everyone's gaze, he pretended to be aloof and turned his head away, saying, "I won't make a wish."

Everyone was slightly taken aback.

"Are you all just bored? Little Yezi, didn't you say you were going to buy something? Why did you bring me here?"

"Liu Yumo, Jiang Lina, didn't you two have something to do and leave early? What are you doing here?"

"Jing Shanshan, are you satisfied with being second in the city?"

"With the college entrance exam just around the corner, why aren't you all using your time to study? You could at least go home and rest to recharge, instead of doing this?"

Chen Dong pretended to be angry and criticized everyone.

The group of friends were all completely bewildered.

What's with Dong Ge's reaction? It's completely different from what I expected!

"Brother Dong, we..." Han Ning'er blinked, looking confused.

"What do you mean, 'you guys'? Especially you, comrade, do I know you that well?" Chen Dong interrupted Han Ning'er directly.

"Of course we're very close. You're my Dong-ge, and I'm your Ning'er." Han Ning'er wanted to pat Chen Dong's head. This tantrum, is he running a fever?

"Familiar my ass! If we were familiar, all you'd send would be a cake?" Chen Dong slapped Han Ning'er's hand away, looking indignant.

"Pfft~" Han Ning'er burst out laughing instantly.

Liu Yumo and the others also realized what was going on, and they all chuckled to themselves.

I was wondering why Dong-ge was acting so coldly, since he was fine when school ended. Turns out he was throwing a tantrum because he hadn't received Han-jie's gift yet.

"Who said there was only cake?" Han Ning'er said with a slightly proud expression.

Chen Dong gave her a little face and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Didn't we prepare fireworks for you? How about it? Pretty, right? Aren't you touched?" Han Ning'er playfully teased Chen Dong.

"Tsk tsk tsk, thanks for the shouting, bye everyone." Chen Dong clicked his tongue twice, waved his hand with a look of disgust, and turned to leave.

"Brother Dong."

Han Ning'er reached out and pulled him.

Chen Dong angrily turned away.

Han Ning'er pulled again, but he continued to brush her aside.

Are you angry?

"no."

Chen Dong snorted. He did it on purpose. He had been angry with him all day and had to coax him for a long time. Now it was time to switch sides. Who told you not to give me a gift yet?

Han Ning'er, of course, understood what Chen Dong meant, and coaxed him for a while in a very cooperative manner.

Then she took out a book-shaped photo album from her bag, gently poked Chen Dong's arm, and said in a soft, gentle voice, "How could I not prepare a gift for Dong-ge's birthday?"

"Hey, Dong-ge, this is my gift to you."

Today, she has already recorded these precious memories from before she turned eighteen. She feels that this is the best and most memorable gift, and she is giving it to Chen Dong at this moment.

Upon hearing Han Ning'er mention a gift, Chen Dong first glanced at it tentatively out of the corner of his eye, his face still bearing that aloof and angry expression.

Upon seeing the real gift, his face instantly lit up with a smile. He grabbed the gift and chuckled to himself.

"Hehe, there really is a gift! I was just joking, you actually took it seriously, look what's happened~"

"How dare I not take it seriously?" Han Ning'er rolled her eyes at him. If she weren't holding a cake, she would have given him two powerful punches.

No, it should be said that if Chen Dong hadn't been holding the photo album, she would have definitely thrown the cake in his face. The photo album saved Chen Dong's life.

"Was Dong-ge ever this shameless before?" Jing Shanshan was speechless as she looked at Chen Dong's drastically changed demeanor.

"This is nothing. When Dong-ge gets cheeky, he's absolutely the number one god of cheekiness." Liu Yumo gave a very confident assessment.

Ye Wanwan nodded silently.

See, I told you Dong Ge is cheeky, just like a puppy.

I wasn't lying to you all~

"hey-hey."

Chen Dong ignored them and excitedly flipped through the photo album, eager to see what the last gift was.

"Wow, this is handmade?"

Chen Dong opened the album and found it was in book form, not just a simple album containing photos. The photos inside had been cut or spliced ​​together and pasted on, and there were also accompanying captions.

It's clear that it was carefully prepared and a lot of thought went into it.

This workload.

Considering that not only Ye Wanwan was sleepy-eyed every morning, but Han Ning'er was also listless, it was obvious that they had stayed up all night to prepare this.

This sentiment instantly felt heavy.

"Isn't the handcrafting obvious?" Han Ning'er didn't deny it.

Chen Dong carefully examined the photos and text, his expression shifting from a bright smile to a deep concentration, and then to self-reproach.

The initial memories are happy. Looking at the people and smiles in those photos, along with the accompanying text, the memories are still vivid, as if it were just yesterday.

Looking at his photo with Han Ning'er, watching the fireworks bloom in the same place, and seeing Han Ning'er's caption that someone was spending New Year's Eve with her, his smile was also filled with happiness.

But starting from October 1, 2005, the memories of my youth took a turn for the worse.

He and Han Ning'er gradually drifted apart until they completely parted ways on December 9th. Looking at Han Ning'er's words, Chen Dong suddenly felt a heart-wrenching pain.

Especially that sentence,

"I'm sorry... I couldn't keep you..."

How could he be such a bastard, severing years of friendship for a green tea bitch and pushing Han Ning'er into the darkness of loneliness, even if in the end, Han Ning'er hoped he would think of her.

She was so humble in her friendship, yet he was so heartless.

……

Continuing to read the next chapter, we see the days after they were separated. Han Ning'er is still here, all alone watching the fireworks bloom, highlighting her loneliness.

Han Ning'er also secretly came to see him on his birthday.

Han Ning'er even cleaned her wounds all by herself.

For those two and a half years, he only had eyes for Shuya and his heart was filled with that green tea bitch, while Han Ning'er always held onto that friendship, yet dared not get close.

Especially when I saw that line, "Dong-ge... I miss you so much..."

It felt as if something had pierced his heart.

The pain was so intense that it was hard to breathe.

His eyes reddened completely at that moment, and tears welled up as if to blur his vision, dripping onto the photo album, as if adding to the sorrowful tears that were meant for the lonely Han Ning'er.

Seeing Chen Dong's reaction, Liu Yumo and the others exchanged puzzled glances, wondering what Sister Han had given that could make Brother Dong shed tears.

But they all tacitly remained silent.

Chen Dong was still watching.

If this were a novel, the story would end here, and Chen Dong would surely be filled with regret. Fortunately, the story continues, unfolding in different chapters.

"My name is Han Ning'er, Chen Dong's younger sister."

"This time, let's not get separated again."

The photos at the end are of him and Han Ning'er, as well as Liu Yumo, Ye Wanwan... Photos of all the members of the study group are on the last page.

Those were images from several days of their lives.

A still frame, capturing the youth of eighteen.

"Phew~"

When he turned to the last page, the happy ending made Chen Dong let out a heavy sigh. Although his eyes were still misty with tears, a smile appeared on his face.

Looking up at Han Ning'er's smiling face illuminated by the glow of the burning candles on the cake, his expression softened more than ever before. "What have I done to deserve such kindness from you?"

"Because you're my Dong-ge." Unlike Ye Wanwan, Han Ning'er wasn't shy; instead, she smiled confidently and asked expectantly, "Does Dong-ge like you?"

"Mm." Chen Dong nodded emphatically, pursing his lips.

"Don't forget our promise, Dong-ge." Han Ning'er blinked, her face full of anticipation.

"This time, we won't get separated again."

Chen Dongyang waved the photo album in his hand and smiled brightly. This was not just a gift, but also a memory of their youth and the best testament to their friendship.

The story will continue forever...