“Song, why are you crying!”
Seeing the tears sliding down Song Qiuyu’s cheeks, Sang Tian immediately grew anxious.
Even Xie Zhuran and Lin An were startled.
The ever-strong Song Qiuyu was actually crying just like that!
Moreover, her pitiful, tearful look truly made everyone’s hearts tighten.
~How could a man look this pretty? This is definitely a case of a female pot carrying Nuwa’s blame!
Plastic sheets were still fluttering down, and a freshly opened pack of tissues was handed over to Song Qiuyu by Jiang Xiao.
“Thanks, Jiang Xiao!”
Song Qiuyu said as she quickly grabbed a few tissues, wiping her tears and blowing her nose, letting out a barely audible sigh as shame flushed through her entire body.
How did she end up crying in front of so many people!
So embarrassing!
“A real man can bend and stretch; what’s wrong with shedding a few tears?”
Xie Zhuran took the initiative to offer a way out for his roommates, who had notoriously thin skins, and quickly changed the subject.
“All right, all right, since everyone’s back, birthday star, get ready to make a wish, blow out the candles, and cut the cake!”
“Yeah, we even got a gift for you, Qiuyu. We’ll give it to you after you blow out the candles!” Lin An smiled as he said.
“Gift…”
Song Qiuyu’s watery eyes widened in surprise.
She instinctively wanted to complain that helping with the birthday party was one thing, but secretly preparing a gift too?
But the words stuck in her throat.
She knew what kind of words would be awkward or spoil the mood.
So she could only let her eyes redden again and bloom a grateful, radiant smile as she said sincerely,
“Thank you all!”
“Uh… Nineteen candles, right?”
Jiang Xiao quietly held nineteen birthday candles by the cake.
“Jiang, you’re too honest; you’re really going to stick all of them in?”
Xie Zhuran was shocked and nearly wanted to rush over to snatch away the extra eighteen.
Never mind that it would ruin the cake’s appearance; just blowing out so many candles would put a lot of pressure on the birthday star.
“Looks like next year, we’ll have to prepare a bigger cake for Song’s birthday, or twenty candles won’t be enough.”
Sang Tian admired Jiang Xiao’s carefulness as he placed the candles for today’s birthday star, her face brimming with happiness.
True sweetness is often hidden in the most ordinary, easily overlooked details.
It’s already so sweet now—if Jiang Xiao and Song got together, who knows how sweet they’d be?
Looking forward to it.
“Qiuyu, nineteen candles—can you blow them all out in one go?”
Seeing Jiang Xiao struggling to place the last two candles, Lin An smiled and asked.
“I… should be able to.”
Song Qiuyu forced a smile.
Now that the candles were all in place, backing out now would be a bit awkward.
With that, she bravely stepped forward.
Just as Jiang Xiao placed the final two candles on the cake.
Wearing the Shou Xing Hat, Song Qiuyu clasped her hands and closed her eyes.
The birthday song being sung by those around her flooded into her ears—no more, no less, four voices in total, with Jiang Xiao’s voice being the most special of all.
Surrounded by their singing, she felt like a small boat drifting into an ocean called happiness, unable to find her way out no matter how she tried.
She was almost lost in it.
She bowed her head slightly and suddenly recalled some memories.
She hadn’t had the habit of celebrating her birthday since middle school, but there was one person who always remembered it—even though she had made up that birthday herself.
For two out of three years, Jiang Xiao had bought birthday cakes for Shen Xi, though he never succeeded in delivering them, as their roommate ended up eating them all.
As for the third year, which was also the first year after Shen Xi passed away, according to messages, Jiang Xiao also bought a birthday cake—and ate it all by himself.
Just thinking that Jiang Xiao had remembered for a full six years made Song Qiuyu’s nose sting.
Guilt surged through her heart, but at the same time, the more she thought about it, the more afraid she became.
She sighed, blaming herself for having been too forceful in playing with Jiang Xiao’s feelings!
Who in their right mind would remember a dead online friend, someone they had never met in person, for so long?
Maybe the timing Jiang Xiao always insisted on was significant to them—a particularly important date?
Anyway, she herself didn’t remember anymore.
Suppressing the complicated emotions deep inside, Song Qiuyu clenched her folded hands tightly.
She might have inadvertently provoked someone she must never provoke!
So her wish this year was simple.
She hoped
that everyone here could pursue their own happiness, especially Jiang Xiao.
She hoped Jiang Xiao’s happiness in the second half of his life would come from teasing other girls—not from himself.
After making the wish, amid the chorus of voices, she opened her eyes.
Her gaze was resolute.
Pressing her lips together, she then pursed them open, inhaling deeply through her nose and mouth, her cheeks puffed out as she blew at the nineteen candles one by one.
“Ten left… Last four! Hang in there, Song, you can do it!”
“Three more!”
“The last one!”
Jiang Xiao quietly watched the birthday star furrow his brow, determined to give it his all, a faint smile tugging at his lips before it flattened again.
If anyone called Song Qiuyu cute right now, he was sure Song would get mad.
No man wants to be called cute—especially when the ‘man’ in question is also a man.
Song Qiuyu gave it his best, but the last candle didn’t go out.
He quickly took another breath, but the flame flickered fiercely.
Not out.
Not out.
Song Qiuyu took another breath, but still—
Song Qiuyu: “?”
At that moment, Jiang Xiao noticed Song Qiuyu’s embarrassment and blew on the candle for him.
The flame immediately died out.
Luckily, no one knew what wish he had made… probably something crazy from the god in charge of wishes.
Then, everyone officially started the birthday party.
The birthday star received a gift, handed over by Jiang Xiao.
“A camera?”
Song Qiuyu was stunned.
“We thought about it for a long time and decided a camera would suit you best, so we pooled money and bought you one.”
“This was Jiang Xiao’s idea—he said you’d probably like this gift.”
“Also, Jiang Xiao paid the majority of the camera cost,” Xie Zhuran and Lin An chimed in.
Sang Tian smiled silently while eating some candy.
“It didn’t cost that much, and consider it an investment for us to film videos.”
Jiang Xiao smiled gently.
Song Qiuyu glanced at the camera a couple of times before looking up at Jiang Xiao.
Jiang Xiao was also looking at her, his gaze warmer than even he realized—so gentle it felt like he could drown her in it.
“Thank you, I really like it.”
Song Qiuyu seemed scorched by his gaze and quickly lowered her head, hastily accepting the weighty birthday gift.
Jiang Xiao didn’t read too much into her reaction and turned his gaze to the cake, picking up the cake knife with the blade pointed toward himself, handing the handle over to Song Qiuyu.
“I’ll start cutting!”
Pretending to be calm, Song Qiuyu took the cake knife.
[After the cake was distributed, naturally a full-scale cake fight broke out, and the battle only ended when everyone’s faces were covered in cake.]
Even Jiang Xiao, who had withdrawn to the sidelines to avoid the chaos, ended up with cake cream all over him—mostly thanks to Song Qiuyu’s efforts.
But Jiang Xiao wasn’t someone who took bullying lying down.
So, the initial MVP birthday star became his sole defeated opponent.
Fake MVP: Jiang Xiao.
True MVP: Sang Tian.
Sang Tian’s phone album was once again loaded with a fresh batch of photos.
Everyone started singing and drinking again.
Song Qiuyu was never one to enjoy drinking much in public, but perhaps the birthday party was just too fun today.
When she came back to her senses, she realized she had already drunk a lot and was completely drunk.
A tipsy figure with a flushed neck, rosy cheeks, and ears opened his arms to the person beside him, giggling drunkenly:
“Come here for a hug~”