16 Chapter 16

Happy Birthday!

The boy had a rather low aura and was wearing a hoodie, the color of which was not very clear at the moment, but she could still tell that it was the same one that Shi Ziqian had worn before leaving home that morning.

It was indeed him, but...

She looked around at the empty streets.

Was he here to pick her up? Shi Qiyue was in a daze.

"It really does seem to be your brother!" Her companion nudged her. "Is it?"

Before she could say anything, someone else answered for her, excitedly shouting, "I think it's definitely right! Look at that profile, it's absolutely true!"

"I didn't expect your brother, who looks so cold, to be so kind to you and even come to pick you up."

The others chimed in excitedly, "Yeah, you siblings have such a great relationship!"

Seeing their eager eyes, Shi Qiyue forced a smile and said, "My brother is indeed here to pick me up, so I'll be going now."

Amidst everyone's exclamations of "How lucky you are to have such a handsome brother come to pick you up," she slowly walked towards Shi Ziqian. As she got closer, she hesitated slightly, jogged a few steps, and grabbed Shi Ziqian's arm.

"Brother, you've come to pick me up!" she exclaimed.

Shi Ziqian was pulled forward two steps by her sudden movement. He seemed to be in a daze, and only when she pulled him did he come back to his senses and look down at her.

"Let's go home." Shi Qiyue tightened her grip on his arm, as if afraid he would shake her off, and half-dragged, half-pulled him forward.

Shi Ziqian glanced at her, then turned his head to look back.

At the entrance of Jinghai, several girls were excitedly looking in this direction. They were all very young, but dressed quite maturely; even through the darkness, you could tell they had applied very elaborate makeup and were wearing short skirts.

He looked away.

The two walked out of their sight. Shi Ziqian subtly withdrew his hand from Shi Qiyue's embrace and took a step to the side.

Shi Qiyue also withdrew her hand. She guessed that Shi Ziqian must have seen through her intentions. After feeling embarrassed for a few seconds for her hypocritical actions, she chose to take the initiative and said, "What are you doing here so late at night? You're not really here to pick me up, are you?"

Shi Ziqian didn't refute, but raised his hand to look at his watch. "Eleven o'clock. You're three hours overtime."

Shi Qiyue curled her lip: "Tsk, looks like they're not here to pick me up, they're here to arrest me."

Shi Ziqian said calmly, "Since I brought you out of the house, I have to take responsibility for bringing you back."

Shi Qiyue sensed the accusation in his seemingly calm words and her tone became sharp: "I'm really sorry, it seems I've taken up your time today."

Shi Ziqian's tone remained calm, "If you're really embarrassed, then don't stay up this late."

Shi Qiyue retorted, "Well, I couldn't help it. We hadn't even finished eating. I couldn't just tell them I had to leave halfway through the meal. I was the one who called them, how could I just leave? Besides, who asked you to wait for me? What business is it of mine if you come over yourself? Can't I just take a taxi?"

A few harsh words slipped out, and the person beside her remained silent. In the silence, she suddenly felt a little regretful for what she had said.

Shi Ziqian did help her today, and now he's even come to pick her up to go home. Her sudden, nonsensical retort to him seems really... kind of jerk.

She didn't know what was wrong with her. It seemed like she was always like this when she was with the Shi family. She was never calm and they would start arguing after just a few words.

The two walked forward in silence for a while. Shi Qiyue stared at her toes for a moment, then spoke again: "Actually—"

There has still been no response.

She turned her head to look and realized that no one cared about what she thought she had said wrong, because Shi Ziqian hadn't been listening to her at all. He was lost in thought, his gaze fixed on something else.

Shi Qiyue scrutinized him for a while. He seemed unchanged from when he left home that morning, yet everything seemed different. He was still wearing the same clothes, but the rare relaxed expression he had when he left was gone. Now, his brows were furrowed, clearly indicating that he was in a bad mood.

He seems to be spacing out all night, ever since I first saw him.

Although Shi Qiyue was puzzled, she didn't ask any further questions. She noticed that he was carrying a bulging paper bag in one hand, so she looked at it curiously a few more times.

"What are you holding?" she couldn't help but ask.

Shi Ziqian snapped out of his reverie, his gaze sweeping over her empty hands before handing her the paper bag.

Shi Ziqian said, "It's for you."

"For me?" Shi Qiyue pointed to herself, her expression somewhat surprised and uncertain.

Shi Ziqian nodded, "A birthday present."

Shi Qiyue's expression changed dramatically before she finally managed to stammer out, "How did you know it was my birthday today?...Dad told you?"

Shi Ziqian neither confirmed nor refuted, but calmly said, "Happy birthday."

Shi Qiyue stared at him for a while, then clicked her tongue and said, "This is really not something you would say."

She reached out and took it, slowly opening it to find a plush toy inside—a chubby dolphin. The dolphin had a ribbon in its mouth and wore a small golden crown on its head. It was a birthday dolphin.

Shi Qiyue shifted her gaze from the dolphin back to Shi Ziqian: "Why did you give me a gift? I've never given you one before."

Shi Ziqian didn't answer, but asked instead, "You asked me to bring you out today just to celebrate their birthdays?"

Shi Qiyue hesitated for a moment: "More or less."

Shi Ziqian didn't say anything more.

She suddenly realized, "Oh right, you paid for our meal just now?"

"Um."

Shi Qiyue responded with an "Oh".

The two walked together along the long street, remaining silent for a while.

The night was quiet, with only the occasional sounds of cars and people, which quickly passed by. Only the tall, silent boy beside her accompanied her. Shi Qiyue looked down at her little dolphin, her expression relaxed, and a subtle feeling gradually surfaced in her heart.

This seemed to be the first time she had spent so peacefully alone with her half-brother, Shi Ziqian. Perhaps such a scene was too rare, for this moment gave her the illusion of a warm family.

However, this peace did not last long.

Shi Ziqian seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly spoke up again, saying in an ambiguous tone, "You should make a few friends who are truly good to you."

"What do you mean?" Shi Qiyue didn't understand.

"At least, they'll be friends who genuinely want to celebrate your birthday properly."

His words seemed to come out of nowhere, but Shi Qiyue seemed to understand them. Her expression faded, and a coldness that didn't suit her age gradually returned to her face.

She hugged the dolphin plush toy tightly; it was the first and only gift she had received that day.

"Are you implying that none of these people consider me a friend?"

Shi Ziqian looked at her quietly; his silence spoke volumes.

"So what?" She suddenly curled her lips into a mocking smile as she looked at him. "Everyone's just getting what they need, I haven't lost anything. In a family like ours, other people's advances are always driven by ulterior motives, you should be much more used to that than I am, right?"

They started arguing again after only two sentences.

She knew how to sting him, and after speaking, she looked at him calmly, anticipating his expression. He, however, simply said:

"Is that so?"

She was somewhat disappointed by his calmness, but quickly continued, "Actually, I didn't tell them it was my birthday today, and I don't need them to know."

Because she was emotional, she spoke quickly, her chest heaving as she finished: "I've never imagined anyone would be kind to me for no reason. I just hope someone will go out with me on my birthday, take me to an amusement park, because I've never been. I don't care what their motives are for accepting the invitation; all I know is that all I have to do is cover their expenses. It's a win-win situation, isn't it?"

Shi Ziqian stared at her for a long time before finally speaking.

"good."

He hailed a taxi, saying, "I'm leaving, I'm going home."

The two didn't speak to each other in the car. Shi Qiyue held the doll and leaned against the car window, staring blankly out the window, while Shi Ziqian looked out the other window.

In this scene, the brother and sister do indeed look somewhat alike.

The taxi drove from the city center, and the once bustling aquarium was now quiet again. Shi Qiyue's gaze slid along the trees by the roadside and caught sight of a dolphin balloon tied to a low tree. It looked a bit like her doll and floated in the night, looking somewhat lonely.

As soon as they arrived at their doorstep, the two saw Shi Yuesheng's car approaching and stopping not far away.

Shi Ziqian entered the door first, leaving Shi Qiyue a step behind, and she was caught red-handed.

"Stand there." The voice came from the half-open car window before anyone even got out of the car.

Shi Qiyue had no choice but to turn around. After looking at Shi Yuesheng for a few seconds, she awkwardly called out, "Dad."

"Hmm. What are you holding in your hand?" Shi Yuesheng asked her through the car window.

“A doll.” Shi Qiyue stood a little stiffly, hesitated for a moment, and then added in a low voice, “It was a gift from Shi Ziqian.”

Perhaps because it was the first time he had seen her speak so obediently, Shi Yuesheng didn't nitpick about her calling him by his brother's name directly, but he was still somewhat surprised and asked, "Why would I give you a doll for no reason?"

Shi Qiyue's expression froze.

"But he did mean well. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you two siblings could always live such a harmonious life..."

Shi Yuesheng got out of the car and asked her again, "Where did you two go today?"

Shi Qiyue's tense back gradually relaxed, and she finally returned to her relaxed state, saying, "Nothing much, just eating."

"What else did you do besides eat?"

Shi Qiyue slightly lifted her eyelids. "I didn't do anything."

Seeing her like this, Shi Yuesheng's temper flared up again, but he still suppressed his temper and patiently asked, "Can you eat until this late just by eating?"

"Don't you often eat around this time too?" Shi Qiyue said lazily.

"What did you say?" Shi Yuesheng slammed the car door shut. "Speak louder."

Shi Qiyue fell silent, tilting her head back, her eyes unsure of where to look. Shi Yuesheng hated her disobedient attitude the most, and snapped, "Stand still!"

The driver was perceptive; seeing the commotion, he quietly drove away.

Shi Qiyue closed her eyes, rolled her eyeballs over her eyelids, and straightened up slightly.

Shi Yuesheng glanced at her up and down, frowning with dissatisfaction. "You two left at eight or nine in the morning and are only now coming back. Can't I even ask you where you went? Are you very busy, busier than me?"

"Yes, I'm busy. So what? Are you the only one allowed to be busy?"

"What kind of tone is that? Is this how you treat people who care about you all day?"

"You mean you? You... care about me?" Shi Qiyue looked surprised, as if she had heard something funny.

"Fine, I don't care about you. Then tell me what you've been busy with all day? Your brother never comes home saying he's studying, but at least his grades are actually pretty good. What about you? When I went to school last semester, your report card was a complete disgrace. I've never been so embarrassed in my life. My daughter, born to Shi Yue, is ranked at the bottom of the grade? There are over 700 people in your grade! Is this all you've got to do?"

“There’s nothing I can do, I take after my mother,” Shi Qiyue said calmly. “If you didn’t want to give birth to someone like me, why did you go to her?”

"Don't give me that." Shi Yuesheng stared at her for a long time before saying, "This is not an excuse for you to give up on yourself. Your grades are bad, haven't I told you before? If you're not good at studying, at least be a little more obedient and don't nag me all the time. How old are you? You're already like your brother, never coming home. What do you do all day?"

Shi Qiyue didn't answer. After a moment of silence, she suddenly said, "I want to live at school too. Why can he live at school while I have to go home every day?"

Enraged by her question "Why should I?", Shi Yuesheng lost all reason and retorted with a furious laugh, "Fine, why should I?"

He paused, then said coldly, "Since staying in this house makes you so uncomfortable, then go to your mother's."

Shi Qiyue stared at him in disbelief, her eyes gradually reddening, but she still stubbornly said loudly, "I think you never wanted me at all, so why did you insist on me coming with you in the first place? I originally wanted to stay with my mother!"

"Is that so?" Shi Yuesheng looked at her stubborn expression, rubbed his temples, and said in a cold voice.

"But when you got divorced, your mother only wanted Shi Qile."

...

When he returned to the bedroom, Zhu Qing was already asleep. Shi Yuesheng didn't turn on the light. He sat down on the sofa by the bed, recalling how Shi Qiyue had stood in front of him, glaring at him and trembling all over. He leaned back wearily in the darkness.

Having enjoyed years of success in business, he considered himself invincible and rarely took setbacks to heart, always ambitiously seeking the next opportunity. Only in this home did he often feel frustrated and always feel exhausted.

He didn't have high expectations for his family; he just wanted a home that looked like any other ordinary family, but that was never achieved.

Perhaps it was the helplessness he felt in this lack of control that made him impatient with his two children, and he couldn't help but want to lose his temper.

He didn't know how much time had passed when his phone lit up. He glanced at it; it was the hourly chime, past midnight, a new day had begun.

His gaze fell on the date of the new day, and he suddenly paused.

The day before yesterday was the two children's birthday. Although Shi Qiyue and Shi Ziqian are a few years apart, they were born on the same day.