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Chapter 103 Birthday Gift

Tang Baona brought out a big black bag and handed it to Xiang Kun, saying, “This is the birthday gift we three bought for you. Whether you like it or not, no complaints!” But from the confident look on her face, it was clear that she was convinced Xiang Kun would like it.

Xiang Kun took the bag but did not open it, his mind was working on why they thought the next day was his birthday.

His birthday was clearly in July, just a few days before he had a mutation after getting drunk.

Fortunately, he remembered rather well and flashed back to an image in his mind – when he, along with Tang Baona and her group, went to the archery range for the first time as new members, he filled in September 14th as his birthday on the form.

This was not a specific number or a special day. At that time, he did not want to fill in his real information. He filled it in randomly. It was purely a random number. That’s why he didn’t realize what September 14th was when Tang Baona mentioned it just now.

Did they memorize his birthday from the form he filled out at the archery range?

Looking at the black bag in his hands, Xiang Kun was a bit overwhelmed yet also a bit moved. This was the first time in his life that a woman had given him a birthday gift, apart from his mother.

With a slight sigh, Xiang Kun decided to tell them the “truth”:’Well… tomorrow is not actually my birthday, my birthday is July 2nd….”

Tang Baona was startled and confused, “That’s not right. Didn’t you fill out on your form at the archery range that your birthday was September 14th…Wait, did you fill it in randomly?”

With an embarrassed smile, Xiang Kun replied, “Yeah, I filled it out randomly…” but he noticed that when he mentioned that the next day wasn’t his birthday, both Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er were greatly surprised. There was no obvious change in Xia Libing’s expression or heart rate, as if she had known the truth already. If she had known, why didn’t she remind her older cousin and Tang Baona?

He then placed the bag back beside Tang Baona’s feet, saying, “Sorry for wasting your effort…but I do appreciate your thought.”

Tang Baona laughed and lifted the bag back to him, “Just take it as the reward for your cooking tonight! Please do your best, master chef! Anyway, this gift was meant for you, nobody else can use it, and we can’t return it.”

Upon opening the bag, Xiang Kun found a Compound Bow which seemed to be a Mathews. It was evident that they had overheard him discussing compound bows with other archery club members and assumed he was interested in them, which they weren’t wrong about.

“This… is a bit too expensive,” said Xiang Kun, uncertain of the actual price of this bow, but he knew from his internet research after visiting the archery range that Mathews’ compound bows weren’t cheap, with prices generally starting in the thousands.

“Actually, it’s second-hand. We bought it from an instructor at the range who hardly used it. Hey, quit being shy, you’re a grown man!” Tang Baona replied.

Yang Zhen’er also said, “Yeah, the instructor already gave us a discount. If we try to return it, that would be pointless. And none of us can use this bow anyway.”

After some thought, Xiang Kun held back his initial thought of saying, “how much is this bow? I can pay you back.” He knew for Tang Baona and the others, the money spent on this bow wasn’t the issue, but the sentiment behind it was more important. If he had said those words, it would sound like he was measuring the gift in terms of money, which could make them uncomfortable.

“Then I will… accept it, shamelessly,” Xiang Kun jokingly said, then placed the bow bag aside to go handle the food ingredients in the kitchen.

Although tomorrow was not his actual birthday, Xiang Kun was still really happy to receive such a heartfelt “birthday gift”. However, he knew that favors were always reciprocal.

With deft moves, he started to cut and prepare the ingredients, marinate them and prepare some additional sauces. Afterward, he returned to the living room to chat with the three women.

He suddenly thought that if tomorrow did happen to be his birthday, they likely gave him their gift in advance, anticipating his happiness and effort in preparing a good dinner. Although this strategy wouldn’t upset him, it did prove their anticipation of his culinary skills.

The conversation focused primarily on Xia Libing’s impending move to Haixi Province. Despite Yang Zhen’er’s continuous teasing of her cousin, it was apparent that she cared deeply for her.

“Old Xia, when you’re in Haixi Province without your ‘big sister’ around, aren’t you going to keep rotating between three outfits? You know, your sport trousers, jeans, and work trousers until they’re worn out? How about going shopping or something once in a while with your colleagues? Don’t waste that model-like figure you have! Oh my, I wish you could give me 10 cm of your height.

“Also, when you start working officially, don’t spend all your time hunched over a PAD, or a book, go out more. Explore the place, find some delicious food so that when we visit you one day, you can be our tour guide? We don’t want to be the ones showing you around when we visit you!

“Old Xia, if you face any issues, remember to tell your aunt. She’s the head of the department, she can help you straightforwardly. Don’t always resort to using your fists, if you hurt someone, you’ll probably be sent back here…” Yang Zhen’er half-teased, half-admonished Xia Libing about a lot of things.

Hearing this, Tang Baona laughed and said, “Zhen’er, you sound more like her godmother than her cousin!”

Yang Zhen’er shot her a glance, saying, “I practically raised Xia since we were kids… Ah! Seriously, you would hit me! This is like a major rebellion, I’m telling you…”

Seeing the sisters playing around, Xiang Kun felt his mood greatly relaxed. Suddenly remembering something, he turned to Tang Baona and said, “Oh, I saw those videos you posted on Bilibili.”

Tang Baona was taken aback before realizing that Yang Zhen’er must have spilled the beans. She glared at her friend who was being tickled on the couch by Old Xia, and then somewhat embarrassingly said, “I just enjoy singing…” “I think your singing is really good. Did you take lessons before?”

“I took some when I was a kid, but I’m not that impressive. What you heard on Bilibili has been edited, actually,” Tang Baona modestly replied.

“I’ve recently been thinking of creating a voice synthesis tool and I need some voice samples. I was wondering if you could help me record some when you have free time,” Xiang Kun asked carefully.

In developing the “Al assistant” voice function, he considered voices he’d heard before – only considering female voices, naturally. Among those, he found Tang Baona’s the most pleasant. Actually, Xia Libing’s voice was not bad either, but comparatively, it was a bit too cool and distant, which didn’t fit what he wanted for the Al assistant’s voice.

“Sure,” Tang Baona agreed without giving it a second thought..