Birthday

Chen Zhi lay on his bed in Dorm 404 for about half an hour. The longer he lay there, the more bored he became, and the more bored he got, the more irritable he felt.

So he rolled over, facing the wall.

Something wasn't right.

He fished out his phone again and reread the three conversations.

This time, he didn't look at the content, but the timeline.

Pei Ningxue's reply: 5:17 PM.

Li Zhiyi's reply: 5:23 PM.

Lin Wanwan's reply: 5:31 PM.

Three people, within fourteen minutes, had rejected him one after another.

A coincidence?

Chen Zhi narrowed his eyes.

If it was a coincidence, it was far too coordinated.

But if it wasn't a coincidence...

He sat up abruptly as an even more absurd thought flashed through his mind.

Could it be that these three women had actually made a group chat behind his back?

Something like "Chen Zhi is a Scumbag Support Group"?

Or "Victims Alliance"?

Chen Zhi shivered and quickly suppressed the terrifying thought.

Impossible, absolutely impossible.

He took two deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.

"Guo Yang."

"Yeah?"

"What do you think could be the reason why three girls would ignore a guy at the exact same time?"

Guo Yang didn't even have to think about it. "You offended them, obviously."

"I didn't."

"Then you did something stupid and just don't realize it yet."

"Nope, not that either."

"Then that means..." Guo Yang finally looked up, staring at him with a profound expression. "You didn't happen to forget an important date, did you?"

Chen Zhi froze for a moment.

An important date?

He counted on his fingers.

It wasn't Valentine's Day, it wasn't Qixi, and it wasn't any of his girlfriends' birthdays.

They weren't even close.

Then what day was it?

"It's not any special day," Chen Zhi shook his head.

Guo Yang rolled his eyes and went back to his game. "Then you deserve it."

Chen Zhi lay back down, staring at the ceiling and continuing to space out.

Meanwhile.

In the capital, a high-rise office building in the Guomao CBD.

Pei Ningxue sat in a temporary conference room, the long table in front of her covered with various samples, catalogs, and quotation sheets.

She wore a black suit skirt, her hair neatly pinned up in the back, exuding a powerful aura.

But what she was doing right now had absolutely nothing to do with Deep Space Technology's financial reports.

"For this watch, make the dial half a millimeter smaller, and use a dark brown alligator leather strap." Pei Ningxue pointed at the design sketches in front of her, her tone leaving no room for argument. "For the engraving on the back, just carve two letters."

Sitting across from her was Patek Philippe's private custom consultant for the Asia-Pacific region.

An impeccably dressed middle-aged Swiss man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, offering a professional smile.

"Miss Pei, this timeline is indeed extremely tight. According to standard procedures, a private custom piece requires at least three to six months—"

"I don't care about the procedures." Pei Ningxue pushed a black card to the center of the table. "Double the rush fee. I want the finished product before May 20th."

The consultant looked at the black card, then at Pei Ningxue's irrefutable face, and tactfully tucked the black card away.

"I will do my best to coordinate with the Geneva workshop."

"Not do your best." Pei Ningxue picked up the coffee cup in front of her and took a sip. "You must."

After the consultant left, Pei Ningxue leaned back in her chair and took out her phone.

On the screen was a message Chen Zhi had sent ten minutes ago.

[Did you and the Old geezer set me up today?]

Looking at this message, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly before quickly returning to a cold expression.

Set you up?

Do you have any idea that I've been secretly preparing for your birthday since last week?

The watch was one thing.

There were two other items, one in Shanghai and one in Switzerland, both being rushed.

Pei Ningxue scrolled up through her WeChat conversation with Chen Zhi, stopping at a casual remark he had made a month ago.

"I don't think I've ever had a proper birthday."

At the time, Pei Ningxue hadn't said anything, just giving a brief "Mhm."

But that night, she typed a line into her memos:

Give this bastard a birthday he will never forget for the rest of his life.

She opened another chat.

[Is everything booked?]

The other side replied instantly.

[Booked, President Pei! I've already gone to see the venue. That loft in Sanlitun is quite suitable; we can decorate it in a style he likes.]

Pei Ningxue frowned.

[What style does he like?]

The other side went silent for a few seconds.

[...President Pei, I really don't know about that. Why don't you ask him?]

[If I ask him, wouldn't that give it away? Are you a pig?]

[Sorry, President Pei! Then I'll go ask President Dai! President Dai should know!]

Pei Ningxue put her phone down and rubbed her temples.

The CFO of Deep Space Technology, the second-in-command of a company valued in the tens of billions, was currently getting a headache over what flavor a nineteen-year-old man's birthday cake should be.

She suddenly felt like she was being pathetic.

But thinking about it again, she felt—

Whatever, just this once.

Never again after this.

Pei Ningxue locked her phone, stood up, smoothed her skirt, and walked out of the conference room in her high heels.

At the door, her private driver, Lao Zhao, was leaning against the car waiting.

"President Pei, where to next?"

"Wanliu Academy." Pei Ningxue opened the car door. "Dig out that cookware set at home. Tomorrow I'm going to try making something."

Lao Zhao was taken aback for a moment. "Make what?"

Pei Ningxue got into the backseat and fastened her seatbelt.

"Longevity noodles."

At the same time.

Hangzhou, a certain five-star hotel.

Lin Wanwan wrapped herself in her blanket, the light from her phone screen reflecting on her face.

She was on a video call with Sister Man.

"Sister Man, I'm telling you, he absolutely cannot find out about this!"

Su Man was sitting in another hotel room, a pile of documents spread out in front of her. Without even looking up, she replied, "You've said that eight hundred times."

"But I want to tell him so badly!" Lin Wanwan rolled around in her blanket. "I almost let it slip just now. He asked me out to eat, and I really want to go!"

"If you go, the surprise for the day after tomorrow will be completely ruined." Su Man finally looked up. "Are you done recording that song?"

Lin Wanwan poked her head out of the blanket, her eyes sparkling.

"Finished! The post-production mixing was just completed this afternoon! Sister Man, take a listen!"

She brought her phone close to a Bluetooth speaker and pressed play.

A soft intro came from the speaker, an arpeggiated guitar chord gently strummed, followed by Lin Wanwan's clear voice:

"The March wind blows past your collar,

The way you look down at your phone,

Looks exactly like the boy I secretly drew in my notebook..."

Su Man listened for a dozen seconds and paused what she was doing.

She took off her glasses, looking at the slightly flushed face on the phone screen caused by nervousness.

"You wrote this yourself?"

"Yeah!" Lin Wanwan nodded vigorously. "I wrote both the lyrics and the melody myself!"

"How long did it take?"

"Two weeks." Lin Wanwan's voice suddenly grew quieter. "Every day after finishing my schedule and getting back to the hotel, I'd write it in my room. Sister Man, do you think... it sounds good?"

Su Man stayed silent for a few seconds.

"It sounds good."

"Really!"

"However," Su Man put her glasses back on, resuming her serious manager face,

"You can only sing this song to him alone on his birthday. You absolutely cannot post it on any platform. With your current status, if you're caught on camera singing a love song to a man, the trending searches will explode tomorrow."

"I know, I know!" Lin Wanwan nodded repeatedly under the covers. "I'll only sing it to him! I won't let anyone else hear it!"

Su Man looked at the love-struck little girl on the screen and sighed helplessly.

Two weeks. Staying up late to write songs every day after her schedule ended.

All just to sing a three-minute song on that man's birthday.

Su Man lowered her head and continued looking at the documents.

"By the way, that thing you asked me to order for you has arrived."

"It's here!" Lin Wanwan bounced up from under the covers. "Let me see it quickly!"

Su Man picked up a delicate little box from the table and opened it for her to see.

Inside the box was a hand-woven red string bracelet, almost identical to the one Chen Zhi had given her before, but right in the middle of the woven pattern, a tiny red gemstone was embedded.

"Does it look good?" Lin Wanwan leaned close to the screen, her eyes shining like two stars.

Su Man looked at the fingernail-sized ruby and silently calculated the price in her head.

"...It looks good."

"I told the craftsman to use the same weaving method as the one he gave me before, but to add a ruby, which represents—" Lin Wanwan blushed, her voice growing quieter, "represents that he is the most precious person in my heart."

Su Man put down the box.

"Lin Wanwan, could you not blush like a monkey's butt every time you say something like this? You're the grand champion of The Singer, have a little bit of idol consciousness, alright?"

"But Sister Man, I'm speaking from the bottom of my heart!"

Su Man took a deep breath, deciding not to argue with this love-struck girl anymore, and instead pulled up another message on her phone.

"I've pushed back all your schedules for the twentieth. I told the program team that your throat is uncomfortable and you need a day of rest."

"Okay, Sister Man!"

"Also, I'll arrange your makeup for that day. Don't mess around with it yourself. The last time you drew your own eyeliner, it was so crooked I thought you had a stroke."

"Sister Man!"

Su Man hung up the video call.

The hotel room returned to silence.

Lin Wanwan hugged her phone and listened to that song from beginning to end again.

Then she opened Chen Zhi's WeChat chat box and looked at the last message.

[Alright then, remember to rest well, don't get too tired]

Lin Wanwan bit her lip, her fingers hesitating on the screen for a long time.

Finally, she typed a line of text, then deleted it.

Typed a line, then deleted it.

After repeating this five or six times, she sent out a message.

[Goodnight hubby! Sweet dreams! Dream of me!]

After sending it, Lin Wanwan buried her face in her pillow.

Just endure it for five more days.

Just five days.

In five days, you'll know.

Beijing.

Renmin University campus.

By the time Li Zhiyi walked out of the library, it was completely dark.

She was wearing a long dress, holding two textbooks in her arms, walking at a moderate pace.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she took it out to look.

It was a message from Chen Zhi: "It's okay, then go ahead and keep busy."

She looked at it for a long time, finally locked the screen, and put the phone back in her pocket.

She had lied just now.

She didn't go out with her advisor.

Her advisor hadn't asked her out at all today.

Li Zhiyi walked to a bench under a ginkgo tree on campus and sat down, opening a hidden album on her phone.

There were only three photos in the album.

The first one was an unfinished pencil sketch portrait.

It was a drawing of Chen Zhi.

In the picture, Chen Zhi tilted his head, as if looking at something, with a hint of a smile in his eyes and brows.

This was something Li Zhiyi had spent a whole week drawing, hiding under the desk lamp in her dorm room every night after the library closed.

She had never studied drawing.

A law student, using a 2B pencil and an eraser, drawing stroke by stroke while looking at a secretly taken photo in her phone's album.

She had used up three erasers.

She had snapped two pencils while sharpening them.

But she didn't want to use AI to generate it, nor did she want to ask someone else for help.

She wanted to draw it herself.

Because the things she could give him were too few.

She didn't have a family background like Pei Ningxue's, able to gift expensive luxury watches.

She also didn't have talent like Lin Wanwan's, able to write a song and sing it to him.

She was just an ordinary law school student who saved up two months of money to buy him a phone.

Plus a letter.

This was all she could offer.

Li Zhiyi pulled out a kraft paper envelope from the very bottom of her backpack.

Inside the envelope was a folded piece of letter paper. She had already finished writing it, but she felt it wasn't good enough and wanted to revise it again.

She took out the letter paper and read it over by the light of the streetlamp.

Chen Zhi:

This is my first time writing a letter to someone.

I thought about it for a long time, not knowing how to start. Having written too many legal documents, I always feel like I don't know how to speak like a normal person anymore.

But I still want to tell you—

After meeting you, I seem to have become a different person.

In the past, I thought that living was just about studying well, doing well on exams, and getting through the days one by one, and that was enough.

Only after meeting you did I realize what it feels like to be kept in someone's heart.

Sometimes when you send a message asking "Have you eaten?", I'll be happy all day.

Tell me, is that really pathetic of me?

Happy birthday, Chen Zhi.

I hope you can have a proper birthday every year.

If possible, I want to spend every year's birthday with you.

—Li Zhiyi

She folded the letter paper back up and put it back in the envelope.

Then she lowered her head, her fingers subconsciously rubbing it.

She was very nervous.

What if the drawing wasn't good?

What if the letter was too cheesy?

The things Pei Ningxue and Lin Wanwan gave him would definitely be better than hers, more expensive than hers, and more thoughtful than hers.

But...

Li Zhiyi raised her head and looked at the ginkgo branches above her head that hadn't yet grown new leaves.

"I can't worry about that much anymore."

She whispered to herself.

"Anyway, this is all I have."

"If he dislikes it..."

She thought for a moment.

"He probably won't dislike it, right."

Peking University, Dorm Room 404.

Chen Zhi lay alone on his bed, tossing and turning.

The moonlight outside the window leaked in through the gap in the curtains that weren't pulled tight, drawing a thin white line on the ceiling.

Chen Zhi rolled over and pulled the blanket over his head.

May twentieth.

His own birthday.

He had even forgotten this date.

In his past life, Chen Zhi had never had a proper birthday.

Later, when he went to college, his roommates were all busy with their own things, and no one remembered anyone's birthday.

After starting work, it was even less of a thing. He would work overtime until the early hours of the morning, go home, open his phone, glance at the date, and think, oh, so today is my birthday.

And then he would fall straight asleep.

That was why he had casually said that sentence to Pei Ningxue one night.

"I feel like I've never had a proper birthday."

After saying it, he forgot about it himself.

What he didn't know was that someone remembered.

Not just one person.

It was three people.

Chen Zhi rolled over one last time, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.