Chapter Twelve Birthday Gift

  Although Ji Xin'an told herself not to rush, more than a month had passed, and there was no news about the manuscript fee or the return of the manuscript. It seemed that she had overestimated the speed of the postal service at this time.

  Sometimes Ji Xianan even wonders if he overestimates his own abilities, maybe these manuscripts have already been sent out, but just haven't been accepted yet, and waiting here is also in vain.

  But Ji Xin'an persisted, thinking that even if all she got in the end were rejection letters.

  On the day when snowflakes were floating all over the sky, Ji Xin'an finally received her first payment for writing.

  After finishing the violin lesson, Ji Xin'an was the first to run out and blocked Zou Ze and Chen Zhaoji who were about to go home. "Don't go home for lunch yet, I'm treating you."

  "Wow, is the sun rising from the west? We're going to get rich?" Zou Ze had his guitar slung behind him, leaning against the wall with a smile as he looked at Ji Xin'an.

  "Hmph, love to go or not, I've told you that once we pass this village, there won't be a store like this anymore." Ji Xin'an pulled Chen Zhaoji and was about to leave, without even looking at Zou Ze who was showing off.

  "Wait, wait for me! How can I miss a treat from a beauty?" Seeing them about to leave, he hastily caught up.

  "An An, you two are at it again as soon as you meet. Don't you get tired of this?" Chen Zhaodi really couldn't take their way of communicating anymore.

  "We sacrifice ourselves to entertain you, how noble our sentiments are, and yet you don't even appreciate it?" Zou Ze answered on her behalf. However, she only got a cold stare from Ji Xinan.

  Three people went to a nearby snack bar, ordered some simple dishes and started eating and chatting.

  "An An, didn't you have a violin lesson this morning? Where's your violin?" Chen Zhaodi only noticed that Ji Xin'an had empty hands when she put down her guitar on the seat.

  "Haven't bought it yet!" Ji Xin'an replied casually while eating.

  "Your family doesn't agree with you learning piano?" Zou Ze thought for a moment and wondered if it was because her family didn't buy one for her.

  "What's the difference, I didn't even have time to tell them, besides, learning piano can't rely on my family's money, I'm saving up myself, and when I've saved enough, I'll just buy a good one." Ji Xin'an looked at Zou Ze with a smile.

  "Save your own money? Then why are you treating us to dinner?" Chen Zhaodi was shocked and furious, as if she had eaten this meal and the zither would be gone.

  "It's just a little short, don't worry about it, it's almost enough." She didn't have the nerve to say that this was her first earnings.

  Zou Ze glanced at Ji Xin'an who was comforting him, but didn't say anything, as if he was thinking about something.

  "Zou Ze, eat quickly, it will get cold." Ji Xin'an pushed Zou Ze who was standing there in a daze.

  "Ah, oh, eating." Came back to himself and immediately lowered his head to pick at the rice in the bowl.

  As expected, after the first one arrived, subsequent manuscript fees came in succession. Sometimes, along with the manuscript fee, a sample issue would also arrive, so Ji Xin'an could know which magazine had accepted which article and have a direction for writing next time.

  Ji Xin'an had been continuously investing, and now she was reaping the benefits. Almost every day, she would receive money, and even if there were a few days without any, suddenly one day she would have two or three payments. The amounts ranged from tens to hundreds of yuan, and in just one month, she had earned 3,000 to 4,000 yuan. To put this into perspective, at that time, the average monthly salary for an ordinary office worker was still calculated in the hundreds, so her earnings were quite impressive.

  But just as she had made up her mind to go and buy a violin, a good one was placed right in front of her.

  Ji Xinan had just returned from outside that morning when she received a call from Zou Ze, asking her to come out. Ji Xinan took a look at the time and knew that if she went out and came back, she would definitely not make it in time, so she didn't eat breakfast and left after saying goodbye to her parents.

  "What's going on? I was called out so early." Ran down from upstairs, saw Zou Ze holding a packaged box standing in the snow.

  "Happy birthday." He handed over the box with a stretch of his hand.

  "Ah, is today my birthday? I even forgot myself." Upon further thought, isn't it just today? "How did you know it's my birthday?"

  Received in hand and said "thank you", one hold is not heavy, also learn from him holding in his arms.

  "It's just a small matter, not some national secret. What don't I know? You can go back now, aren't you still going to your piano lesson?" Zou Ze smiled, actually he had taken a look at Ji Xin'an's birthday when he was sorting through the classmate's files, this also counted as abusing his power.

  "Don't go yet, you came over so early and haven't had breakfast, right? Let's go eat together, I'm starving too! After we finish eating, I'll head to class." Ji Xin'an was worried that she would be hungry while practicing piano later.

  "Since you asked for it so strongly, I'll satisfy you." Actually, Zou Ze had come early in the morning on an empty stomach to meet Ji Xin'an before class, and now he could feel his stomach growling, but his mouth was still shouting loudly.

  Ji Xin'an smiled wryly and thought that since he had given him a gift, he wouldn't bother with him anymore.

  Two people sat in the restaurant, Ji Xin'an held the box in his hand and looked at it from top to bottom. "What is this? You've made such a big package, you won't just wrap a big box with only one 2B pencil inside?"

  "Want to know? Just open and take a look, you'll definitely like it." Zou Ze suggested directly seeing her curious appearance.

  Ji Xin'an started to unwrap the package, but unexpectedly found a beautiful small violin inside. "How is it a violin? This is too valuable, I can't accept it." She said and wanted to return it to him.

  "It's just an old guitar, it's not worth anything, putting it in my house is just for decoration and collecting dust. You need it now, and it saves me money from buying a gift!" Zou Zele actually looked like he was taking advantage of the situation.

  "But... " Ji Xin'an looked at the exquisitely crafted, beautifully lined small violin in his hand, but somehow he just couldn't associate it with the worthless old violin he had mentioned.

  "Alright, hurry up and put it away, it's just an old broken zither! How did you become so nagging? I'm telling you, you've already taken the zither. If you don't want it, I'll throw it outside right now." Zou Ze stuffed the zither back into its box and forcibly pushed it into her arms.

  Carrying the small violin that couldn't be pushed out, Ji Xin'an was still a bit nervous. Although she had practiced for some time, it could also be seen that this violin was not an ordinary mass-produced product that could be easily bought on the street. How did she just soften her heart and accept it?

  Forget it, I've already taken them anyway, I'll think of a way to make it up to him later!

  Yu Yao had already arrived in the music room, taking off her coat. She glanced at Ji Xin An and also saw what she was holding, asking "New violin?" She knew that Ji Xin An had been attending violin lessons on Sundays.

  "Oh." She put it on the ground, and really didn't know what to say. Although they had been attending classes together recently, their relationship hadn't improved at all, and sometimes Ji Xianan could even feel her subtle provocations, making herself inexplicably annoyed. Ji Xianan couldn't help but think that just because of this matter, she shouldn't be so petty!

  "Can I take a look?" Yu Yao glanced at it for a few moments, then suddenly seemed to discover something and stared at it intently.

  "Of course." Ji Xin'an also found it quite strange, as she rarely took the initiative to talk to herself.

  Yu Yao opened the piano box and held it in her hand, but her face suddenly looked a bit unsightly.

  "What's wrong?" Ji Xin'an thought that this piano wouldn't be anything special, but it seemed that taking it in had indeed brought him some trouble.

  "It's nothing, just returning the good zither." He somewhat unnaturally returned the zither.

  Ji Xin's heart was even more uneasy, and she regretted it to death.