2044.
Late August.
I stood beneath the night sky ablaze with fireworks, gazing upward at the star river that was now even more splendid, adorned by countless brilliant points.
“Xiaoyan, happy birthday.”
Su Liumeng personally placed a silver crown on my head. Even the star river above seemed to pale in comparison at that moment.
I had eaten my cake long ago. Now, as I marveled at the dazzling stars, I noticed Su Liumeng’s movement as she placed the crown and steadied my head so she could finish her ritual smoothly. “I’m looking for a star that belongs to you and me.”
“A star?” Su Liumeng muttered to herself, “Maybe you’re not a star at all, but the sun?”
I was stunned for a moment. “That’s possible.”
Su Liumeng hugged me from behind. “No matter how beautiful the stars are, they still seem a bit dim. I think the sun suits you better. Anyway, anything is possible. It’s not like you’d be a rock or something.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “You just like to tease me…”
“You’re not wrong. I am a rock, and one that’s been soaked in the sea for tens of millions of years.”
Su Liumeng inhaled the fresh scent in my hair. “Even a rock can be warmed by you.”
“Mm…”
I wondered whether my personality had been affected by my previous life.
It was a question worth pondering.
“Mama, happy birthday.” Si Zhiruo’s little body still hadn’t fully developed; she simply floated in the sky all day.
The little girl wore a fairy dress, and wherever she went, she drew countless eyes.
At this moment, she was holding a small cake, carefully bringing it to me like a treasure. “Mama, eat cake!”
I smiled at her, the corner of my lips never leaving its gentle curve. “Thank you, baby.”
Far away.
A group of people were celebrating the birthday in high spirits.
A cake as big as a small house was being cut into countless pieces by the Su family, who distributed them to guests who’d come for the birthday banquet.
I’m not fond of crowds. Even as the guest of honor, I just made a brief appearance and said a few words before coming alone to the quiet seashore to feel the breeze.
Seeing her mother eat the cake she’d given, Si Zhiruo skipped away happily to play.
There were many people at the banquet today, including several children a year or two older than her.
She loved to squeeze in among these children, playing little games that, as an adult, I could no longer understand.
“Worthy of the Su Family’s little Phoenix—she truly is blessed with rare talent. Just a few months old and already flying through the air on her own. Such prodigies haven’t appeared for tens of thousands of years. She’ll surely make her mark on history.”
“She can rival the Su Family’s founding ancestor.”
That was the highest of praise.
After all, the Su Family’s founder, at less than ten years old, had already broken through the boundaries of self and, before twenty, punched a hole in the boundary of the world—a wound that still hasn’t fully healed to this day. It shows how terrifying her talent once was.
Faced with endless praise, little Zhizhi’s smile never left her face that night.
She was still a baby, and of course, loved to be complimented.
Who doesn’t like hearing compliments?
So, she loved being around these people even more.
The little one enjoyed being the center of attention, a bit lightheaded from all the adulation.
“Worthy of the Su Family’s little Phoenix. She was ahead of so many the moment she was born.”
At the mention of the Su Family, Si Zhiruo’s smile faded a little.
But, seeing how long they had been praising her, she let it slide this time.
After all, she wasn’t raised by the Su Family.
She was only her mother’s precious treasure.
“My mother is the one who raised me so well,” Si Zhiruo said with earnest emphasis.
A chorus of agreement rose nearby, “What kind of talent must your mother have to give birth to a daughter like you? She must be a once-in-a-lifetime genius herself. Once she shows herself, even the most dazzling prodigies under heaven will fade away.”
“That’s right.” Hearing praise for her mother, Si Zhiruo almost turned into a repeater, her momentary gloom instantly dissipated, and she no longer cared about the topic.
No wonder everyone here is so shrewd.
They could tell a few-month-old baby’s mood at just a glance, then immediately change the topic to what she liked, coaxing her into happiness all over again.
“Aren’t you going to check on your daughter?” Su Liumeng gazed offhandedly into the distance. “If you wait any longer, those old folks—some nearly two hundred years old—will have her so flustered she won’t know which way is north or south.”
My brows arched in a graceful, beautiful smile. “No need, none of them mean any harm. They just find her cute and want to chat with her.”
“Besides, who could beat her anyway? Let her play.”
I leaned on the railing, letting the summer sea breeze wash over me.
The slight briny scent didn’t dim my enthusiasm for watching the ocean.
“Su Liumeng.”
“Mm?”
“Don’t you celebrate your birthday?”
“No. There’s nothing worth celebrating.” Su Liumeng’s gaze dimmed. “None of my past birthdays hold happy memories.”
“That won’t do.” I cupped Su Liumeng’s face and kissed her directly. She didn’t expect me to be so bold, especially with a whole crowd only a hundred meters away. I dared to steal a kiss right there.
Five minutes passed.
Feeling a bit guilty, I glanced sideways.
I spotted a child I didn’t know, staring at us from afar.
My cheeks flushed, and I quickly pushed Su Liumeng away. “That’s your birthday present. Do you like it?”
How impulsive.
Right in front of everyone…
That’s really not like my Xinghe at all.
Su Liumeng was right. Even though I always deny it, my personality really is like a rock—just one she’s managed to warm, enough to dare do something this bold.
If my old self saw me now, who knows how shocked I’d be.
“I like it,” Su Liumeng said, gazing at my dazed, tipsy expression.
“Little Dou Ding, what are you looking at?”
Si Zhiruo floated over, squeezing herself beside Little Dou Ding and following his gaze. “Why are you peeking at my mama? Stop that! Come with me to catch ants.”
“Your mama was just kissing.”
“Kissing?”
“Isn’t that normal? Doesn’t your mama kiss you?” Si Zhiruo put her hands on her hips, acting like a little grown-up, leaving three-year-old Little Dou Ding utterly baffled.
“But I’ve never seen it myself.”
“You’re so young, how do you even know about this?” Little Dou Ding chased after Si Zhiruo, full of questions.
“I read it in a book last week,” Si Zhiruo boasted on purpose. “I’m going to find a hundred little fairies for my mama, so she can kiss whoever she wants, just like ancient emperors picked their concubines—one a day, never repeating. She’ll be so happy.”
“I want my mama to be happy too.”
She still hadn’t forgotten her obsession.
Except now, she had a concrete plan to execute it.
Thud.
A Su family elder tumbled headfirst, watching the two little ones walk off with a complicated expression.
He just wanted to cover his ears and pretend he’d heard nothing.
He’d heard nothing.
If anyone else overheard such rebellious talk, who knows what they’d think.
But he didn’t dare intervene.
Even the Su family’s most favored heir lets this be.
What could a minor elder on the outskirts of power possibly do?
“Sister, you’re amazing!”
“You’re two years younger than me and you can already read by yourself!”
Little Dou Ding was full of admiration, trailing after Si Zhiruo like a little tail.
“I want to find a hundred little fairies for my mama too. Then, every night she can kiss one, never repeating!”
Crash.
Someone else went tumbling headfirst.
A noble lady, once graceful and dignified, got up with a sooty face. Before Little Dou Ding could call for her mother, the lady snatched her up and began spanking her fiercely. “Three days without a beating and you’re tearing off the roof! Do you know what you’re saying? If your father hears this, who knows what he’ll think? He’ll probably suspect I’m secretly teaching you to—”
Unable to finish the word “cheat,” the noble lady faltered under the onlookers’ gazes, but her hand never slowed. Soon, Little Dou Ding was howling in tears.
As the source of it all, Si Zhiruo had already wandered far off. Only when she realized no one was behind her did she expand her senses again.
She floated over to the noble lady, hands on her hips. “So you’re Little Dou Ding’s mama? Don’t hit her—she’s a good baby!”
Little Dou Ding sobbed, “I just want mama to be happier.”
The noble lady’s hand froze in midair.
At that moment, a middle-aged man holding a wine glass made his way into the crowd.
The commotion wasn’t exactly big, but it wasn’t small, either.
A girl in a pale blue dress, with exquisite features and a pointed chin, a beauty enough to topple cities, came stepping gracefully toward them.
“What’s going on?”
The crowd parted naturally, and even the middle-aged man holding the wine glass respectfully lowered his head along with the others, all calling out, “Young madam.”
Seeing her mother arrive, Si Zhiruo’s brief moment of panic faded. She darted over chirping, “Mama, Little Dou Ding was just repeating what I said, she wanted to find a hundred—”
“Mmph—”
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