Chapter 62 - A Big Stir

Jiang Xueyin must have heard about Yue Yao from Zhang Yurong before, so she wasn’t surprised when they met, and the girls quickly became familiar with each other.

While the three of them were hanging out, Li Yan went out driving on his own. Although he had something to do, it wasn’t for drinking.

...

Yu Xiaodi felt extremely excited tonight, but also a bit disappointed. The excitement was because tomorrow was her birthday, and Li Yan promised to spend it with her. The disappointment stemmed from the fact that it was so late already, and Li Yan hadn’t come to her or called her. They hadn’t been in touch much this week either.

Of course, she had been following the news about Paradise Group recently and knew Li Yan was very busy. Not only was Paradise Group having issues, his film company was busy with shooting. She believed the pressure from his first movie investment was not small. However, she was still worried that Li Yan might be too busy to remember her birthday.

Perhaps all couples in love are like this, fearing gains and losses!

Since tomorrow is Saturday, and she is also the only beloved daughter of the Yu Family, not only Chen Mingying and Yu Hong were going to celebrate her birthday with her. Chen Mingying suggested that as she started university this semester and was now grown up, it was time to expand her social circle. She could use her nineteenth birthday as an opportunity to hold a birthday party.

Unfortunately, this suggestion had no appeal to Xiaodi. Such social activities were too purpose-driven, fostering a certain circle of friends.

In previous years, she might have listened to their arrangement just to have fun with a crowd since nothing else was happening. But this year, many things had changed, and since she mentioned it to Li Yan last week, she refused when her parents brought it up a few days ago.

Xiaodi didn’t go home today, filled with anticipation in her heart, hoping that Li Yan would come to find her! Her home was a bit far, but the S University campus dorm was quite close, so she had been waiting for a call in the dorm. Unfortunately, even at this late hour of the night, Li Yan still hadn’t called.

The sad part was that this weekend her three roommates all had their own plans: Lu Min was out on a date with her wealthy boyfriend Xiong Sheng; Xiao Ai was involved in the film "Springtime Leaked" and spent weekends on set learning, getting acquainted with actors and crew; while Little Xun, always the busiest, squeezed time for part-time work and of course, didn’t know where she ran off to for a weekend job. Left alone in the dorm, Xiaodi lay on her bed.

It was already so late, Li Yan must have finished his work and been at home. Without any calls, it was apparent that he wouldn’t come to see her tonight. Xiaodi sighed softly, checked once more to ensure her phone battery was full, now only hoping for Li Yan’s birthday wishes to arrive right at midnight.

By this time, it was already past ten at night, and Xiaodi guessed they probably wouldn’t come back tonight, so she prepared to wash up and go to sleep, only to find the three of them came back together!

When they saw Xiaodi, their expressions were a little strange.

"What’s up with you guys? Xiao Min, weren’t you on a date? Xiao Ai, weren’t you filming? And Little Xun, it looked like you weren’t coming back, right? How come you all appear together now?" Yu Xiaodi asked with a forced smile, trying to make small talk to distract herself from overthinking.

Lu Min, Xiao Ai, and Little Xun exchanged glances, then each said, "Xiaodi, after midnight, it will be your birthday. Happy birthday in advance!"

"Yeah, happy birthday, you didn’t even remind us."

"Are you secretly meeting with your boyfriend and afraid we’ll disturb you?"

Yu Xiaodi perked up a bit, "Thank you. Haha, I didn’t remind you, yet someone remembered and came back to keep me company. I’m so touched."

"Haha, don’t get too moved just yet."

"Exactly."

"There’s something even more moving!"

Curious, Xiaodi asked, "More moving? Did you all buy gifts?"

"Uh... didn’t manage in time, but there will be tomorrow for sure!" The three girls looked a bit embarrassed.

However, from Xiaodi’s perspective, their expressions tonight seemed a bit strange, not just embarrassed.

At this moment, a classmate from the neighboring dorm entered through the door.

"Yu Xiaodi, happy birthday!"

It wasn’t just one person but several girls together.

"Haha, how unique, although I wonder if it would provoke a backlash from the computer science guys."

"Yeah, really special, never thought of it before."

Seeing them discuss, Xiaodi became even more curious, "What are you talking about? What’s so unique? What backlash?" They were all in the same class, so knowing her birthday wasn’t difficult. But tonight, they seemed even stranger than Lu Min and the others.

"You don’t know? Open your computer!"

Besides her three roommates returning, some other girls also came in, filling the previously solitary dorm with noise and excitement.

The computer was quickly booted up, and someone pulled up the school’s website.

Xiaodi’s eyes widened instantly as she saw something impossible on the school’s website—though not inappropriate, it was clearly hacked. In the middle of the webpage was a beautiful birthday cake Flash animation, and on the big cake was written "Happy Birthday to Yu Xiaodi of [Year/Department] Dorm," counting down.

Next to it was a counter displaying the number of people wishing Yu Xiaodi a happy birthday, and all the other site links were non-functional; clicking any of them would increase the count, implying everyone online within the school was unintentionally sending her a greeting.

The campus forum, usually a place for discussing school affairs, was bewildered by this absurd hacking incident. Everyone wanted to discuss, criticize, condemn, delight, and rabble-rouse, but the homepage wouldn’t load, the main URL wouldn’t work, leaving everyone voiceless.

Seeing this, Xiaodi’s heart had a single thought: It must be Li Yan! Only he would do such reckless things for her.

Seeing her surprise, the other girls teased, "Please, it might be romantic for you two, but it’s a hassle for us. I’m guessing the network maintenance teachers are pulling their hair out, and the computer science students are finding ways to fight back. Don’t let your boyfriend get into trouble."

"Yeah, contact him, at least free up the forum so we can all collectively join in the fun!"

Xiaodi chuckled awkwardly, "I didn’t know he would do this. I’ll call him right now. Hasn’t been long, right? I’ll have him change it back immediately..."

Little Xun and Lu Min, with Xiao Ai, sighed, "Don’t call him, just go out and meet him! He’s waiting outside for you."

"Huh?" Xiaodi was taken aback.

"Do you know why we knew about your birthday and came back?" Lu Min revealed, "While I was out walking, I saw all the outdoor LCD advertising screens near the school displaying ads wishing you a happy birthday! Even though others didn’t know who, someone hinted to the TV station, and I guessed it was you. I called them, and we came back together."

"There’s more... you better see for yourself. That guy is just extravagant." Little Xun couldn’t help but disdain Li Yan as she handed over a copy of the evening newspaper featuring an ad wishing Xiaodi a happy birthday on an entire page, loud and clear.

Looking at the newspaper, Xiaodi was a bit incredulous, her heart racing with excitement. It turned out he hadn’t forgotten, and was secretly planning this surprise for me! She even suspected if she was dreaming after falling asleep from waiting!

"Then I..."

"Go see him!" Everyone unanimously supported.

Xiaodi nodded firmly and dashed out excitedly.

"Yu Xiaodi? Happy Birthday!"

"Happy Birthday!"

"Happy Birthday!"

"Isn’t this Xiaodi? Happy Birthday!"

...

Walking down the hallway, down the stairs, meeting familiar and unfamiliar faces, she was greeted with "Happy Birthday," making Xiaodi both excited and a bit worried if Li Yan’s hacking of the school’s website would cause trouble.

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you..." Not far off, two people appeared, playing guitars and singing the birthday song, startling Xiaodi. Upon closer inspection, it was Lu Mingxin and Wang Haomin, who often sang for people at the girls’ dorm area. They were young music enthusiasts who sang love songs and sometimes played their own compositions upon request.

Could they also be arranged by Li Yan? Xiaodi was a bit dizzy, how did Li Yan even know them?

She sped up her pace, but Lu Mingxin and Wang Haomin followed, singing as they ran, drawing much attention. Those recognizing Yu Xiaodi also greeted her with birthday wishes.

As she continued to run outside the school, her phone rang again. It was the captain of the tennis team, excitedly informing her, "Xiaodi, tomorrow we have a match called ’Xiaodi Birthday Cup.’ Be sure to come! You’re the top seed."

Yu Xiaodi felt dizzy, realizing not only were there ads, the school’s website hacked, and people singing, but also a sponsored tennis match called ’Xiaodi Birthday Cup’... this is making quite the stir!

She ran all the way to the school gate, where the singing duo had stopped following. Xiaodi suddenly realized she was still confused, not knowing at which gate he was waiting, so she quickly dialed Li Yan’s number.

"In movies, directors love to make the main character run at crucial moments, do you like running too?" (To be continued, please login to www.qidian.com for more Chapters, support the author, support legitimate reading!)