“What festival is it today, to suddenly have fireworks?”
“So many fireworks, how much did that cost?”
“Could it be that some overbearing CEO is confessing to his little sweetie again?”
“Tch, you watch too many CEO romance novels.”
“Can’t say for sure, otherwise why so many fireworks?”
“They’ve been going off for twenty minutes, is that it? Any more?”
“I don’t know.”
“Let’s wait and see.”
…
As they walked through the crowd, Meng Jingwei couldn’t help but want to laugh at the chatter around her.
Their imaginations were running wild.
They squeezed out of the crowd and returned the way they came. It was much quieter once they reached the roadside.
“Xiao Cheng, thank you today. The fireworks were really great.”
“No need to be polite.”
“Even though you’re my second brother, we still need to settle accounts between siblings.”
Meng Jingwei chuckled, her gaze suddenly drifted across the street, and then she said to Xiao Cheng, “Wait for me here for a moment. I’m going to buy something across the street.”
“Okay.”
Xiao Cheng didn’t think much of it and waited there.
Just then, his phone rang again. He picked it up to see it was a call from his sister, Xiao Meiyan.
Xiao Meiyan had called several times since the evening, so he answered.
“Meiyan, what…?”
“Xiao Cheng, where the hell are you? This young lady knows it’s your birthday today and prepared a table full of delicious food for you, and you’re just disappearing on me?”
On the other end of the phone, Xiao Meiyan’s roar was so loud it felt like she could leap out of the phone and beat him up.
“Sorry, my phone was on silent, I didn’t hear it.”
“Pfft. I don’t believe you even when you speak. Don’t think I don’t know what’s on your mind. Meng Jingwei is leaving, you must be with Meng Jingwei right now, aren’t you?”
As Xiao Meiyan’s relationship with Meng Jingwei grew closer, she gradually started to adopt some of Meng Jingwei’s casual and unrestrained manner of speaking.
“No.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Bullshit! I won’t believe a single word you say.”
“Why do you speak so crudely, girl? If you don’t change, you’ll never get married.”
“Meng Jingwei speaks even more rudely and unpleasantly than I do, yet you’re still chasing after her, aren’t you? You hypocrite. I’m so angry, goodbye!”
Xiao Meiyan hung up on Xiao Cheng in a huff.
Xiao Cheng couldn’t help but twitch his lips, suddenly feeling that Xiao Meiyan’s words were quite reasonable.
Seeing that Meng Jingwei hadn’t returned yet, he sent Xiao Meiyan a text message: [Meiyan, thank you for remembering brother’s birthday. I’ll be back later.]
In the vast Xiao family, only Xiao Meiyan would remember his birthday.
No, to be precise, no one in this world remembered his birthday except Xiao Meiyan.
Not long after, Meng Jingwei walked back across the street, carrying two paper bags.
He asked, “What did you buy?”
“A secret.”
Meng Jingwei played coy and led him forward.
She often ran in this area, so she knew there was a pavilion nearby with many stone tables and benches where they could sit and rest.
After walking for more than ten minutes, they finally reached the rest area by the roadside.
Meng Jingwei pulled Xiao Cheng to a pavilion with a row of stone tables and benches. Although there were people sitting, there were also many empty seats.
“I’m tired, let’s go rest for a while.”
Meng Jingwei gestured towards the roadside rest area and walked in with Xiao Cheng, finding a quiet corner to sit.
It was a bit cold at the moment, so there weren’t any mosquitoes or insects, and sitting here wouldn’t result in any bites.
“Why are we sitting here?”
Xiao Cheng was very confused.
Meng Jingwei said, “I’m a little hungry, so I bought some late-night snacks. Let’s eat them together.”
As she spoke, she opened the paper bag and took out a small goose-yellow Pikachu cake, placing it on the table before opening it.
“A small cake, I bought it specially. I loved eating these when I was little, but we didn’t have money, so I always felt reluctant to eat them.”
As she spoke, she found a candle, stuck it into the cake, and lit it with a lighter.
Xiao Cheng was stunned, not understanding what Meng Jingwei was doing.
“What are you standing there for? Make a wish.”
Meng Jingwei pointed at the small cake and said, “I’m a very ritualistic person. Every time I ate cake as a child, I would make a wish. Come on, let’s make a wish together.”
“This is acceptable?” Xiao Cheng asked with a wry smile.
“Of course, it is. Stop wasting time and hurry up.”
Meng Jingwei said, clasping her hands together and lowering her head to make a wish.
Xiao Cheng stared for a long moment, then reluctantly lowered his head and clasped his hands together, making a wish with her.
He slowly closed his eyes, thinking that this would count as Meng Jingwei’s first birthday celebration for him.
Unbeknownst to him, as he closed his eyes, Meng Jingwei mischievously opened one eye, stealthily observing his every move.
When Xiao Cheng finished making his wish, Meng Jingwei immediately closed her eyes, pretending to still be wishing.
After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and looked at Xiao Cheng, “Are you done with your wish? So fast. Shouldn’t you make three wishes for the best results?”
“I’m not as greedy as you.”
“You mean I’m not as rich as you,” Meng Jingwei teased, then added, “Come on, since we’ve both made our wishes, let’s blow out the candles together. Hehehe, even though the cake is small, we still need the ritual.”
She said.
Xiao Cheng nodded, then lowered his head in unison with Meng Jingwei, preparing to blow out the candles on the small cake.
“I’ll count to three, and we’ll blow together.”
“Mhm.”
“Okay. Come, get ready, one, two, three!”
Meng Jingwei finished counting and moved to blow out the candles, her actions almost synchronized with Xiao Cheng’s.
However, at the last moment, Meng Jingwei didn’t blow out the candles.
The candles were blown out by Xiao Cheng. Just as he was about to say something, the woman opposite him clapped her hands and started singing, “Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Xiao Cheng…”
Meng Jingwei said, reaching out to remove the candle. She then rummaged through the paper bag for a mini cake cutter, and as she sliced, she said, “Don’t let this cake’s size fool you, it’s from Red House, costing 39 yuan, very expensive. I know you can’t eat much sweets, so buying a bigger one would be wasteful. Therefore, this small one, we’ll share it equally, it’s just right.”