Chapter 55: Birthday Present

Sheng Mingzhi at first just thought the man in front of him looked familiar.

Until Shen Ling called out his name, the memories came tumbling back like an open flood.

After graduating from high school, Jiang Bie went abroad.

Although Sheng Mingzhi's friends were few, he could not claim to value them much.

He is in some ways a bit of an exile, one of those people who will never contact anyone else for the rest of his life if they don't contact him.

Shen Ling and Jiang Bie are only friends because of the other two.

When they graduated and went their separate ways, only Shen Ling tried to keep in touch with him, and since they were both in YunJing, they were always called out for dinner by this woman every now and then.

The exception is Jiang Bie.

Sheng Mingzhi was quite close to him when he was in high school.

We played basketball together for two years, but after Jiang Bie left the country, he just disappeared and we lost contact with him.

When he got married three years ago, Jiang Bie didn't return to China and didn't even send an email to congratulate him.

Time passes without contact, and in the blink of an eye, Sheng Mingzhi's impression of him fades.

Sheng Mingzhi is too lazy to dwell on why Jiang Bie lost contact with him after he left the country.

At this point in time, he simply followed Shen Ling and nodded politely at him.

It's even a little embarrassing.

It's a good thing Sheng Mingzhi was the only one embarrassed.

Just after Jiang Bie said "I'm late", the other students in the box started to take over one by one, demanding that he be punished with three drinks.

Obviously everyone has not been in touch in the intervening years.

But acted as if they had just seen each other yesterday.

Jiang Bie has not changed much over the years, except that he looks a little different, more mature than his youthful appearance in high school, as he has grown into a man.

Jiang Bie smiled with two tiger teeth and drank to a roar.

As if not noticing Sheng Mingzhi.

Sheng Mingzhi is also silently relieved.

Anyone else would be fine.

People like these who played well in high school and haven't spoken to each other since don't know what to do with the limited friendship that has passed its shelf life when they meet.

Who knew that just as soon as he was relieved, he realized that he had been too happy.

After Jiang Bie drank the wine, he sat down in the seat beside Sheng Mingzhi, not knowing if it was intentional or not.

Sheng Mingzhi stiffened a little and moved to the side without moving.

Jiang Bie glanced at him and spoke politely, "Hello, what's your name? Free of your surname Jiang."

Sheng Mingzhi: "......"

He paused, "I know."

"Yeah? I thought you hadn't been talking to me because you'd forgotten my name." Jiang Bie winked, "So had to work up the courage to re-introduce myself."

Sheng Mingzhi: "......"

Although there was a sneaking suspicion that Jiang Bie might have done it on purpose when he opened his mouth.

I didn't expect it to be true.

Surprisingly, he hasn't changed at all from his playful and fun personality in high school.

The awkwardness of the reunion in Sheng Mingzhi's heart was covered by this little tidbit, and the once familiar pattern of getting along was instantly found.

And.

...... He's not so senile as to forget Jiang Bie's name, okay?

Jiang Bie curled his lips, " Mingzhi, it's been a long time."

It has indeed been a long time.

It's been almost five years since we parted ways in a hurry in high school.

That time of no contact seems to have been neglected and now bridges without a gap.

Sheng Mingzhi unceremoniously kicked him in the calf: "You're poisonous, aren't you?"

What's the point of pretending you're not familiar?

Neurology.

As soon as the subject was opened up, Sheng Mingzhi found that he and Jiang Bie could talk about quite a lot of things.

More than an hour passed without noticing and the party drew to a close.

During this time, Sheng Mingzhi had to keep looking at his wristwatch as his mobile phone was out of battery and switched off.

The minutes ticked by and it looked like it was going to be zero o'clock.

I would have liked to borrow a rechargeable battery or find a place to charge it.

But on second thought, I couldn't get past the heart of it by taking the initiative to seek him out.

Besides, if Lu Jiayan really wanted to know his schedule, it would be a matter of minutes.

It's not here at this time of year.

...... Lu Jiayan wouldn't have forgotten his birthday, would he?

That little Mr. Sheng is definitely going to kill someone.jpg

Probably because his distraction was so obvious, Jiang Bie stopped the conversation.

Asked, "Waiting for someone?"

Sheng Mingzhi was stunned.

Waiting for who? Lu Jiayan ?

Heh.

How can a dog man be worthy?

"Didn't wait for anyone."

Sheng Mingzhi averts his eyes from his watch.

The mind, however, is very irritable.

But then again, Lu Jiayan is not much of a lover in the first place. He's lucky he can remember his own birthday, so what do you expect him to do when he's as hip as a young man?

Surely one cannot ask too much of him.

-

LongHu ShuiShe - also known as the public house where the alumni of the Annexe meet.

Across the road from it, a Bentley had been parked for several hours.

It doesn't even move a bit.

The welcoming waiter looked at it several times and then withdrew his eyes.

Inside the carriage, the heating was on, but Yao Shen still felt that the temperature had dropped below zero.

When I called the number of the second youngest, all I got was a mechanical female voice.

Inform Lu Jiayan that the number he called was switched off.

The rose sitting on the passenger side was about to freeze from this suffocating coldness.

Yao Shen watched his boss's face through the rear-view mirror, only to see Lu Jiayan's eyes downcast, as usual, with little expression and no idea of what he was thinking.

His memory suddenly returned to a few hours ago.

The boss had booked the restaurant a day in advance, prepared gifts and flowers, and put off all his travels in the afternoon, only to find out from his assistant that Sheng Mingzhi had gone to an alumni party tonight.

The thought of it makes Yao Shen sweat.

The helper who usually follows the second youngest never loses his chain, and Sheng Mingzhi is the first to report any movement to Lu Jiayan.

And somehow today, at the most crucial moment, the chain fell off!

He was afraid that his boss would get angry and do a chain of events that would add to his already poor year-end bonus.

Halfway through the day, Lu Jiayan rubbed his brow.

Looking at my phone, it was still half an hour before zero hour.

His eyes drifted to the entrance of the LongHu waterfront, still without any sign of anyone coming out.

Is Sheng Mingzhi going to spend his twenty-third birthday with his old school friends?

More than that, there was actually a more annoying suspicion at the back of his mind.

Is it better to spend time with old school friends or old lovers?

Since hanging up on Sheng Xu that day, Lu Jiayan has once again been distracted at work by a personal matter with Sheng Mingzhi.

It was even so serious that there was a momentary lapse of concentration during the meeting, and a senior official reporting on his work thought it was a problem with his own work and finished with trepidation, not daring to breathe.

Not only that, but Sheng Jia's recent senior meetings have been more serious than usual.

Lu Jiayan was not in a good mood, so his men were all on edge, not daring to make any mistakes.

Previously, he really had not thought that someone could sway him so much.

-

At half past eleven, the alumni party was finally over after everyone had had their fun and some of them started to move on to the second game.

Shen Ling is, unsurprisingly, among them.

Sheng Mingzhi, however, is no longer in the mood to continue their stay together.

After a brief greeting, they were ready to take a taxi home themselves.

Sheng Mingzhi felt a tap on his shoulder just as he stepped out of the LongHu waterfront.

When I turned my head, it was Jiang Bie.

The other person looked at the watch and suddenly, as if by magic, produced a beautifully wrapped handbag.

Handing it to Sheng Mingzhi: "I almost forgot to give it to you."

Sheng Mingzhi froze, caught off guard by a handful of stuffing.

Jiang Bie smiled, "Happy birthday."

The clock struck zero at exactly the right time.

Sheng Mingzhi never expected that Jiang Bie would be the first person to say happy birthday to him on his 23rd birthday.

Not that it's unpleasant.

There is still just a little bit of regret in my heart.

"Thanks."

Surprisingly, though, Jiang Bie remembered his birthday, which was a bit odd.

He's so out of touch that he probably can't even remember his own birthday, right?

Jiang Bie said, "I heard Shen Ling mention it on the way here, so I bought it on the way, otherwise I would have come empty-handed on your birthday.

When Jiang Bie explained this, Sheng Mingzhi became even more embarrassed.

Help, what was he rambling on about?

Is it because he is married to Lu Jiayan that he has become bent and looks at everyone as if he is bent?

Luckily Jiang Bie didn't see it coming and he gave a dry laugh.

Jiang Bie didn't care: "Right. When you cleaned up your WeChat, did you accidentally delete me? I wanted to wish you a happy birthday in advance, but I found that the message was rejected."

Sheng Mingzhi: "......"

The level of embarrassment simply went up a notch.

Fortunately, Jiang Bie found him a replacement.

However, Sheng Mingzhi did delete a wave of friends.

When he was first in the entertainment industry, he offended a lot of fans, and somehow his micro-signal was picked up, and countless people added him to the list of abusive people day and night. Later on, the situation intensified and even his friends' movements were screenshotted, so he simply cleaned up all those he didn't know.

I guess I didn't give Jiang Bie a note, so I mistakenly hurt him.

Jiang Bie took out his mobile phone: "Can you add one? So we can get in touch later?"

Having said that, Sheng Mingzhi had no choice but to take out his mobile phone.

It took two clicks before I remembered that my phone had long since been switched off due to a lack of battery.

It just so happened that there was a rechargeable battery just down the road and he charged it up.

As soon as I switched on my phone, before I could add Jiang Bie, I was smashed with missed calls and unread messages.

A total of seven missed calls from Lu Jiayan

It's been playing since a few hours ago.

There are also a dozen unread WeChat messages.

A quick glance down the page was full of people asking when he was free in the evening.

Sheng Mingzhi's heart stopped for a second and his guts turned blue with regret.

I should have known to keep my phone charged!

Sheng Mingzhi hastily added Jiang Bie as a friend and then called Lu Jiayan back.

I don't know if fate was deliberately against him, but after a heavy snowfall in the afternoon in YunJing, the steps at the entrance to the LongHu water pavilion were frozen. He was in a hurry and didn't notice his feet slipping when he was going down the steps, but Jiang Bie was behind him and gave him a quick hand.

Sheng Mingzhi was about to say thank you when he looked up and saw Lu Jiayan across the road.

The men were standing not far from each other, just close enough to take in the scene before them.

He and Jiang Bie were obviously just old school friends who gave him a helping hand in a time of crisis.

But for some reason, Sheng Mingzhi's body reflexively stiffened for a moment, then stood up and put some distance between him and Jiang Bie.

Jiang Bie didn't notice anyone across the street, but presumably felt that Sheng Mingzhi was not looking right.

He subconsciously followed Sheng Mingzhi's line of sight and then saw Lu Jiayan.

The two men just glanced across the road, nonchalantly, at each other.

Jiang Bie smiled and withdrew his eyes, "Be careful on the road, it's slippery in the snow."

He waved his phone, "Gotta go first. I'll be in touch sometime."

In a few moments, Sheng Mingzhi and Lu Jiayan were the only two people left in the room.

This is the first time the two have met since the last time they had a falling out.

Lu Jiayan's gaze slowly descended from his face to his hands.

--An exquisitely wrapped gift bag, a birthday present at a glance.

Sheng Mingzhi inexplicably has a strange sense of weakness.

But on second thought, what was he being fainthearted about?

He hasn't forgiven Lu Jiayan yet?

And it's not like he came out to meet Jiang Bie alone, if Lu Jiayan had come earlier, there would have been people at the gate!

The thought flashed through his mind and Sheng Mingzhi suddenly got the point.

Wait, Lu Jiayan must have just arrived, right?

As a result, Sheng Mingzhi gave up on this speculation after seeing the thin layer of snow that had fallen on Lu Jiayan's shoulders.

He could even feel the chill on the other man's body, especially as the man approached.

It's like.

It had been standing in the cold air for like ages.

Little Mr. Sheng has a bit of a soft spot in his heart.

So it was he who finally spoke up to break the silence, "When did you get here?"

Lu Jiayan whispered, "Seven o'clock."

That unbelievable thought in my mind came true.

...... really did come in five hours ago.

In an instant, all the anger Sheng Mingzhi had built up inexplicably dissipated.

Lu Jiayan continues, "Called you and you didn't answer."

Sheng Mingzhi muttered, "My phone ran out of battery. I just saw it when I turned it on just now."

"Even if. Even if you waited for me for a long time, that's what you should do." Sheng Mingzhi justifiably stressed, "Don't forget what you said before, the divorce isn't over and I'm not ready to forgive you yet."

"Hmm. I didn't forget." Lu Jiayan said, "It's okay, it's not like you didn't answer my calls on purpose. I made a fool of myself anyway, willingly."

...... you fuck.

Don't you give me that shit.

Mr. Sheng has seen countless tragedies in the entertainment industry!

You think you can do that to me?

There was a ten second standoff.

Sheng Mingzhi defeated.

Okay, okay, barely useful!

Especially at the sight of Lu Jiayan's frozen, red bones.

It seems to feel even more like a scum bag.

At this time of year, Lu Jiayan seems to be worried that he is cold.

He took off the only coat he had on and put it on Sheng Mingzhi.

Sheng Mingzhi was already a size smaller than him.

At the moment it is wrapped in his clothes and stained with the scent of his grass and trees.

The various smells that had been brought out of the party, and which had upset him, disappeared into thin air.

Sheng Mingzhi has, as it were, become his alone.

Lu Jiayan said, "I wanted to celebrate your birthday in time for Zero Hour."

He glanced at his wristwatch, "It's ten minutes already."

There was a little aggravation in his tone.

Sheng Mingzhi's principle of holding on for a few seconds was instantly gone.

Patience said, "It's not like I care about that."

It was as if Sheng Mingzhi, who insisted on the ritual of Zero Hour a few hours ago, was someone else pretending to be him.jpg

Lu Jiayan's peach blossom eyes lowered slightly as he curled his lips and said, "Then what does little Mr. Sheng care about."

He asked himself, "Don't care what time you spend, only with whom?"

When he was done, he also hung back and lamented, "He loves him so much."

Sheng Mingzhi: ......

Don't open a dye house just because you're given some colour.

Lu Jiayan has recently picked up some buzzwords from somewhere on the internet.

He was so speechless when he opened his mouth and heard Sheng Mingzhi.

But when we got in the car and looked at the big bouquet of roses Lu Jiayan had prepared in advance, all that little frustration was gone.

Although he didn't know where the old man had found such a rustic ritual and the roses were just the right size, Sheng Mingzhi carefully placed the flower beside him, flat and steady, for fear he might accidentally crush it.

Along with the flowers, there is an exquisite gift box.

Inside the dark blue velvet box, a bespoke silver bracelet lies quietly.

Engraved with the initials Sheng Mingzhi, it is hard to tell how much it cost just by looking at it, but Lu Jiayan always gave him expensive things. It's as if he has decided that only such expensive luxury items are worthy of him.

As Sheng Mingzhi quietly admires the gift, Lu Jiayan's voice rings out in the quiet carriage.

It sounded like one of those, deliberately pretending to be 'it's okay I super don't care' tones.

"Won't you open the one he gave you and have a look?"

Him?

Sheng Mingzhi was stunned.

Soon, he reacted.

Lu Jiayan's "from him" is presumably a gift from Jiang Bie.

Sure enough, he had seen everything that had just happened at the entrance to the LongHu waterfront.

But Sheng Mingzhi has nothing to be ashamed of, what's wrong with a little gift between friends.

Besides, it's not like Lu Jiayan had never met Jiang Bie before, so he couldn't be jealous of Jiang Bie, could he? What would you have done if you had the time?

The result is not coincidental.

Once the gift bag was unwrapped, inside the fine black velvet box was a simple, atmospheric piece of jewellery - Jiang Bie gave it, also in silver, a bracelet.

Lu Jiayan's eyes fall and he gives a slight pause.

At this moment, the jealousy he had been holding back for so long was knocked over, and the displeasure and bipolarity that rolled under his eyes was about to materialise into a tangible entity.