Chapter 96: Birthday Extra — After Work
By the time Yu Fan got back from the outdoor shoot it was already dusk. Today’s client had very high standards, and one set of photos took several times longer than usual.
He had just finished packing when a heavy, humid rain began outside. Wang Yue leaned over the upstairs railing and said she was treating everyone to dinner.
The studio erupted in cheers. Only Yu Fan kept his head down, packing. “I’m not going. You all go.”
Thinking of the grimy little roast-meat shop Yu Fan had frequented for years, Wang Yue arched a brow. “What, you turn your nose up at an eight-hundred-a-head feast and insist on slaughtering someone’s chickens, ducks, and geese instead?”
Yu Fan was about to answer when his phone buzzed. He picked up, listened a few seconds, then said, “Sorry, I got held up. You are about to get off work? I am on my way now. Please wait another three min… one minute. I will be right there.”
When he hung up, Wang Yue stared down at him, delighted. “Fan-bao, you have plans? Made a new friend?”
“But you really talk big. How are you getting there in one minute? Where is it? I will drive you.”
“No need. It is close.” He swept everything on the table into his bag, slung it over a shoulder, and spoke at triple speed. “I am off.”
Yu Fan usually did everything on his own schedule. Seeing him in a rush was rare. Wang Yue leaned against the wall, stunned for a beat before calling after him, “Hold on, it is raining and traffic is a mess. Even if it is close you can’t make it in a minute—”
Her voice cut off the moment she watched Yu Fan dash through the rain into the cake shop across the street.
A few minutes later, Yu Fan came out again. He pushed back his rain-wet hair, one hand pulling a small cake box, the other hand cupped over it, then plunged into the rain once more.
He moved too fast. Wang Yue stopped halfway to grabbing an umbrella for him, pulled out her phone and checked her memo. “It is not his birthday today, right?”
“Maybe a family member’s?” the assistant downstairs said. “I remember he bought one last year too.”
“Really? He hardly has any relatives here.” Wang Yue muttered, “He is not this diligent even for his own birthday.”
“Ah, you are back.” The guard-house window slid open. The gate attendant called warmly to the man entering the complex. “It is a bit late. If you did not drive, I can take you a ways on the shuttle.”
The man in a crisp suit looked over. “No, thank you.”
The guard was used to that answer. For years, they had the same exchange on this exact date.
He glanced at the cake box in the man’s hand and nodded. “Mosquitoes are bad lately. Be careful walking back.”
Watching the man disappear into the night, the guard suddenly frowned in confusion.
Hold on… if he remembered right, no one was living in that unit now. The lady of the house had said last month she would move out for a while and asked him to remind the gardeners to water her flowerbeds.
So who was this gentleman going home to spend a birthday with?
Chen Jingshen did not go into the house. Strictly speaking, he had not really gone home in a long time. If he saw Ji Lianyi at all, it was at his grandmother’s place.
Carrying the cake box, Chen cut through with practiced ease to the stone bench beside the house and sat down.
He took off his jacket, rolled his shirt sleeves to the elbow, leaned back and closed his eyes, letting the warm summer wind wash over him. The fatigue from more than twenty hours of overtime slowly ebbed away.
When he opened his eyes again, he was looking at his own balcony.
He stared for about half an hour. Only when his phone rang did he pull his gaze back and check the newly issued ticket confirmation and a few work messages.
He replied with a “heading back now,” then finally opened the cake box.
Inside was a small pink strawberry cake, exactly the same as the one Yu Fan had once held in both hands.
He did as Yu Fan had done and stuck two number candles into the strawberries. The faint light warmed the tree-lined path. Chen lowered his eyes and sat there in silence, his thoughts slipping back to when he was eighteen.
The boy he liked had stood in this very spot, holding up a cake and looking up at him, eyes bright as a new moon.
Yu Fan’s skin still carried the damp of a fresh shower, droplets sliding from his hair tips onto the towel around his shoulders. The room lights were off. He sat cross-legged in the dark, studying the name written on the cake.
The house was quiet for a long time, long enough that his hair almost dried in the breeze. Only when the candlelight flickered did a voice finally sound, very soft.
“Happy birthday.”
Chen Jingshen blew out the candles.
IsitRo: Looks like the latest update happens before the two of them meet again! It’s a little bittersweet, but I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did. I’m so glad I got to proofread this right after finishing I’m The Vicious Cannon Fodder In The Book, which was kinda heavy. This story feels way more laid-back and modern and honestly, it made me feel like a teenager all over again. Lol!
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