At the start, I tricked the school beauty, and ended up with twins?

"I'm heading up."

Downstairs at the apartment complex, Gu Yu greeted Liu Ermao and then went up the stairs, patting his full belly.

The elevator slowly ascended and stopped on the sixth floor.

"Ding!"

"Yikes, why are the lights in the hallway off?"

When the elevator doors opened, it was pitch dark, so he pulled out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and walked towards his apartment suite.

He used his key to unlock the door, and the living room was also dark, not a single light on.

He glanced at his phone, which showed eleven fifty-nine, and figured Boss Pu and the others must have gone to sleep already.

He tiptoed toward his own room.

"He's back, he's back!"

"Hurry, hurry!"

"Get ready, get ready!"

Just as Gu Yu reached the door to his room, he heard whispering voices.

"Could it be a thief?" His expression hardened as he muttered to himself.

Although there wasn't much of value in his room, there was still a three-year-old laptop computer.

It had a lot of files on it, and if it were stolen, the loss would be significant! Those files were his accumulated study materials from the past three years!

Moving almost soundlessly to his door, Gu Yu's hand gently rested on the doorknob.

"Click—" The lock opened, and as expected, the room was pitch dark.

But he sensed a shadow flit by on his left, reached out swiftly, and caught the person by the neck.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!!!"

The person shrank back, begging for mercy.

The next second, colorful lights suddenly lit up in every corner of the room.

"Bang! Bang!"

"Happy birthday, little Yu!"

"Gu Yu, congratulations on getting yet another year older!"

"Happy birthday, Laosi!"

Confetti cannons went off twice, filling the room with multicolored streamers as decorative lights twinkled on the ceiling, resembling a sky full of stars.

"Uh... you guys."

Gu Yu looked dazedly at the smiling people in front of him, and then at Third Brother Qin Shan, whose neck he was still holding and whose face was red.

He quickly let go, feeling a sudden twinge in his nose.

How could he not have realized that everyone had prepared this surprise just for him?

"You all are so thoughtful."

With a slight smile and tears welling up in his eyes, Gu Yu was at his happiest in that moment.

Since his grandmother passed away, he hadn't celebrated his birthday, let alone paid attention to it.

He hadn't expected Boss Pu and the others to have remembered it all this time, and even prepared a birthday celebration for him today.

"Little Yu, come sit down! We've also prepared a cake for you!"

Seeing him standing there, Lin Xinyue quickly walked over, took his arm, and pulled him to the small table in the center of the room.

A big cake sat on the table, the candles already in place, and as soon as Gu Yu sat down, a birthday crown was placed on his head.

"Quick, quick, make a wish!"

Lin Xinyue lit the candles on the cake one by one and eagerly urged Gu Yu.

Gu Yu nodded quickly, clasped his hands together, and began making a wish, looking at the burning candles.

"I hope that everyone..."

"You can't say it out loud! If you do, it won't come true!" Lin Xinyue quickly covered his mouth and rolled her eyes at him.

"Okay!"

Gu Yu continued to make his wishes, first glancing around at the friends surrounding him, then his gaze lingered on Lin Xinyue's face for a long time.

"Done!"

A minute had passed, and Gu Yu released his hands with a slight smile, having made many wishes.

There were wishes about Boss Pu and the others, about his girlfriend Lin Xinyue, and also those related to Ideal Paradise.

"Hu—" Gu Yu blew out all the candles in one breath, watching the slowly rising wisps of smoke that carried all his wishes.

"Let's cut the cake, cut the cake! I want the first slice! I haven't eaten dinner yet!"

Lin Xinyue picked up a plastic knife from the side and placed it in Gu Yu's hand, urging repeatedly.

Her eyes twinkled, seeming to anticipate something.

The others looked the same way, making Gu Yu somewhat curious.

"Let's cut it together!" Gu Yu put the plastic knife in Lin Xinyue's hand, and then held her hand, their bodies close together, a blush rising on Lin Xinyue's face.

She could feel Gu Yu's breath gently blowing by her ear.

It tickled both her ear and her heart, making her unconsciously lean in closer to him.

"This cherry is for you!"

Gu Yu hadn't noticed Lin Xinyue's expression; his eyes were fixed on the big cherry atop the cake.

"Mhm..." Lin Xinyue nodded lightly, her voice as soft as a whisper.

The people around looked on with faces full of envy and suggestive smiles.

Nobody noticed that at this moment, Pu Tongren and Hu Xiaoya had also unconsciously taken each other's hand.

The plastic knife cut along the cake's midline but stopped halfway, unable to cut further.

"...Huh, is there something underneath?"

Gu Yu looked at Lin Xinyue with confusion, but Lin Xinyue just playfully stuck out her pink tongue at him.

Only then did Gu Yu realize the cake had two layers, with the top one being cake and the bottom one a box.

Moving aside the cake covering the box's surface revealed an unopened phone box.

"What's this..."

Gu Yu looked puzzled.

Lin Xinyue pulled her hand from Gu Yu's and picked up the phone box hidden beneath the cake.

"For you! A Pear Phone 11promax!" Lin Xinyue looked up at him, her face expecting praise like a little kid.

"Silly, my phone still works. Why did you go to the expense of buying me a new one... I haven't even bought you anything this expensive yet!"

Gu Yu flicked Lin Xinyue's nose gently with his forefinger and then pulled out his old, worn cell phone.

"Psh, the screen on that phone is so scratched up you can barely see! When you look at my photos, they all come with a built-in beauty filter!"

Lin Xinyue pouted and pointed at her screensaver photo on Gu Yu's old phone.

It was unclear why Gu Yu was so frugal; with his income, he could easily buy a hundred Pear Phones without thinking twice.

Perhaps he had grown attached to his old phone?

But with Gu Yu's status, having founded Ideal Paradise, he would unavoidably need to make public appearances in the future.

In the business world, during commercial negotiations, image often dictates the first impression you make on potential partners.

A poor image can fail to impress and may even lead to the downfall of business negotiations.

Generally, women pay more attention to details than men do, especially girlfriends concerning the image of their boyfriends.

"I'm more used to my old phone..." Gu Yu still felt that Lin Xinyue was being overly good to him.

"No way! No room for discussion; you can keep your old phone as a backup, but the new phone is my gift to you, and you have to switch!"

Lin Xinyue stood her ground, hands on her hips, clearly dissatisfied with Gu Yu's refusal.

"..."

"Okay!"

Gu Yu knew that if he continued to refuse, she would definitely get angry, so he relented and took the phone.