Falling in Love Online with an Ancient General

"He's out of money again?" Wasn't he given money just recently? What did he spend it all on?

Shi Yuan chimed in at the right moment, "Your brother said he spent all his savings renting out this restaurant."

Feng Qingyi looked around the restaurant. The location was excellent, and the place was luxurious. Renting it out must have been quite expensive.

"...Alright then, you all can stop working. I'll find a professional team to decorate the venue."

Shi Yuan muttered under his breath, "As expected of a young lady from a wealthy family!"

Feng Qingyi found a professional team online. With that settled, everyone had nothing left to do, so they sat together chatting.

Shen Hanyue said, "Qingyi, your brother's really going all out, isn't he?"

"Whether this succeeds or not has little to do with how grand the setup is," Feng Qingyi replied.

Qu Jingqiu nodded slightly, "That's true. Your brother's gone to prepare the ingredients, he should be in the kitchen. Should we go help him?"

"Cooking is his forte. We don't need to help with that." Years of culinary skills were finally coming in handy.

Shen Hanyue glanced at the three male classmates nearby. "Do you guys know if he's planned any surprise elements?"

Bu Huan replied, "Other than playing the violin in the dorm every day, we're not sure about anything else."

"Violin?" Feng Qingyi wondered if she had heard correctly.

Seeing Feng Qingyi's disbelieving look, Shi Yuan asked, "Is there a problem with Brother Ci playing the violin?"

Feng Qingyi looked at Feng Qingci's three roommates with sympathy.

"You must have really suffered these past few days. I can't believe he has the courage to embarrass himself with his violin skills. I wonder who gave him that confidence."

Shi Yuan said, "I tried to persuade him to change his mind at first, but he was very insistent. We couldn't do anything about it."

"Qingyi, if your brother dares to play, it must not be too bad, right?" Shen Hanyue smoothed her hair.

Feng Qingyi sighed. She feared he had found this confession idea online and decided to throw in the violin to make it special.

"When I was learning piano, he wanted to learn too. But after just two days, he switched to violin."

"He studied for about half a month before his violin teacher resigned, claiming illness."

"Our parents, afraid of hurting his young feelings, gently persuaded him to stop playing."

"But he probably thought he was quite good, and went around showing off to the neighborhood kids."

"There weren't many violin players around at that time, so his confidence impressed them."

"However, he only played for a short while. Later, his violin was put away in storage, and I haven't seen him take it out in all these years."

"This confession is supposed to be important. How can he have so little self-awareness?"

Hearing Feng Qingyi's explanation, Qu Jingqiu hurriedly said, "Qingyi, you should go and persuade him to change his mind about the violin. Lou Xi often attends concerts, she'll be able to tell right away if his skills are up to par."

"No need to persuade him. He won't listen anyway. Didn't you hear Shi Yuan say they've already tried? If they couldn't convince him, how could I?"

Feng Qingci could be incredibly stubborn at times. He wouldn't change his mind until he hit a wall. No one could dissuade him, so it would be pointless for her to try.

The group sat in the restaurant chairs for a while before Feng Qingci emerged from the kitchen.

Feng Qingyi stood up, "I found a professional team online to decorate the venue. They'll be here soon."

"There's nothing else we need to help with now, so we'll be going. Good luck!"

Feng Qingyi had only taken a few steps when she heard Feng Qingci's voice, "Did you pay them?"

Feng Qingyi linked arms with Shen Hanyue and Qu Jingqiu, walking away without looking back.

...

At 6 PM, the sky had already darkened considerably.

The luxurious Western restaurant had been transformed into a dreamlike setting, primarily decorated in royal blue and gold, with a theme of starry skies and flower fields.

Apart from a long table and two chairs in the center, the rest of the space was filled with flowers, balloons, and other decorations—abundant but not chaotic.

The restaurant's warm lighting added a touch of romance and coziness to the atmosphere.

Feng Qingci, rarely seen in formal wear, was dressed in a black suit with his hair freshly styled.

He paced nervously back and forth in the restaurant.

At 6:30 PM, Lou Xi arrived at the restaurant right on time. As she pushed open the main door and took in the scene before her, she was momentarily at a loss.

Seeing her, Feng Qingci hurried to the entrance. "...Xi Xi, you're here!"

"What's all this?" Although Lou Xi was stunned for a moment, she quickly regained her composure.

She had a good guess about what he was planning to do.

Feng Qingci produced a bouquet of vibrant roses from behind his back and handed them to Lou Xi. "These are for you."

Lou Xi looked at the formally dressed man before her. In all the time she had known him, this was the first time she had seen him in a suit.

His tall, slender frame, refined features, and a pair of spirited eyes now tinged with nervousness.

She reached out and accepted the roses from his hand. "Is there anything else you want to say?"

"You must be hungry. Let's eat." Feng Qingci's eyes darted about, seemingly unable to meet Lou Xi's gaze directly.

Lou Xi, holding the bouquet of roses, sat down in the chair.

Seeing all her favorite dishes on the table, she gave a faint smile.

"Xi Xi, please eat more." The words he had prepared seemed to have deserted him at this crucial moment.

Lou Xi noticed Feng Qingci's hesitation but didn't comment on it. She just slowly ate the food.

It was her first time eating Chinese food in a Western restaurant, which she found rather interesting.

Usually, they didn't talk much while eating, but today the silence seemed particularly profound.

"Xi Xi, please continue eating. I'll go check on something in the kitchen."

Watching Feng Qingci's hurried retreat, Lou Xi suddenly felt a bit of anticipation for what was to come.

Soon after, the sound of a violin abruptly filled the air, startling Lou Xi.

She had attended many concerts, but she couldn't recognize the piece he was playing at all.

However, seeing Feng Qingci's intense concentration, Lou Xi gradually abandoned her initial impulse to stop him.

Although the melody was indeed unrecognizable, she could see that he was far from just going through the motions.

As the piece came to an end, Feng Qingci lowered his violin, and Lou Xi let out a sigh of relief.

I hope next time he won't play the violin in such a setting. It really does spoil the atmosphere a bit.

"Xi Xi, I... I've been smitten with you since the first time I saw you," he confessed.

"Every moment I spend with you fills me with joy!"

"I'm hoping you'll give me a chance to be your boyfriend!"

Feng Qingci wasn't particularly skilled at sweet talk. These few short sentences had already exhausted all of his courage.