Chapter 62. [First Update] And she didn't know that he was...

As dusk settles, the city lights begin to twinkle.

He Yan's hotel, located in a centrally located hotel, was on a business trip. Sitting in the car, seeing no sign of the road ahead moving, he told the driver and got out to walk back to the hotel. In mid-December, the wind in Huacheng was biting cold; passersby hurried by, but he alone walked unhurriedly in the chilly wind.

The steady steps stopped as they passed a brightly lit cake shop.

Christmas is just around the corner, and the windows are decorated with snowflakes and Christmas trees, creating a strong festive atmosphere.

He Yan stared at the beautiful and exquisite model cakes in the shop window and smiled faintly. She should like them very much, right?

He stared at it for a while, then took out his phone from his coat pocket to take a picture to show her, but he held back. With a flick of his finger, he unlocked his phone. He had entered the numbers 1220 countless times over the past six months.

However, he might be absent from this day.

When Wen Xue's phone rang, she was reviewing her lessons on her computer. Seeing that it was He Yan calling, her eyes briefly lit up with surprise before returning to calm. Not wanting to disturb her roommates, she picked up her phone, went to the balcony, left the door slightly ajar, and answered the call, "Hello."

He Yan's voice came from the other end: "What are you doing?"

"Fu Xi, what about you?"

"Just finished work, on my way back to the hotel." He paused for a few seconds, then explained the purpose of the call with difficulty, "Things didn't go well, I probably won't be able to get back the day after tomorrow, you—"

The day after tomorrow is Wenxue's 21st birthday.

Before this, he had never celebrated any of her birthdays.

He once thought that he would celebrate every birthday of hers from now on.

Wen Xue, holding onto the railing, sensed the difficulty in his voice and smiled slightly, "It's alright."

This sentence interrupted him.

They both fell silent for a moment. She said considerately and in a light tone, "Business is important. You don't need to rush back. It's alright."

"I'll make it up to you when I get back."

He said, "You can celebrate with your roommates the day after tomorrow, have a nice meal, or maybe on New Year's Day? Or some other day, we'll celebrate with you all."

Wen Xue didn't seem to care about it and gave a soft "hmm".

After ending the call, she didn't go inside immediately. She remained standing on the balcony, looking up at the night sky for a long time. Her phone vibration pulled her back to reality. Looking down, she saw a bank SMS notification pop up on the screen.

He Yan transferred some money to her.

It was enough money for her to have a lavish birthday and buy any birthday present she wanted.

Immediately afterwards, he sent her a message: "[Have a happy birthday!]"

Wen Xue gripped her phone, instinctively closing her eyes to hold back her tears. After a while, she opened her eyes, a smile playing on her lips, and replied: 【Okay [spinning around]】

…

I woke up on the 20th.

Wen Xue received many birthday wishes from friends and classmates on her phone. Early in the morning, she sat down in the cafeteria surrounded by her roommates. They ordered her a bowl of steaming noodles, which they would consider longevity noodles.

Just like last year, they chipped in to buy her a beautiful birthday cake.

After the afternoon classes, she, as the birthday girl, treated them to dinner. The birthday celebration was actually quite good. The four of them took a taxi to a popular buffet restaurant and took many photos together.

In the photo, Wen Xue's face is flushed and she is smiling happily.

After dinner, they went to a nearby karaoke bar. A cake was placed on the table with candles lit, and Ye Manni smiled and put a crown birthday hat on Wen Xue's head, saying, "Happy birthday, may you always be happy!"

They urged her to make a wish quickly.

Wen Xue rarely makes wishes, because she doesn't really believe in them. Every time it's her birthday and she goes through this part, she puts her hands together, closes her eyes, but her mind goes blank and she doesn't think about anything.

This time, however, a figure popped into my mind.

A figure that always walked ahead of her led her into his world, showed her the winter sunrise, and guided her up the winding steps.

She opened her eyes, bent down, and blew out the candle.

Ye Manni clapped her hands and asked, "What wish did you make?"

Wen Xue smiled but didn't answer. She took the cake knife from Bingbing. Her roommates' attention was quickly drawn to the song request station, and they all crowded over to request songs. She cut the cake into pieces, leaving one piece in the box, which she then closed, tied the strap, and placed steadily to the side.

Considering they still had to go back to their dorm, they sang for two or three hours and then prepared to return to school. However, they didn't expect it to be so hard to get a taxi at this time. Every taxi that passed by was occupied. Just as they were hesitating about whether to walk a kilometer to take the subway, a black Mercedes pulled up in front of them.

The car window rolled down, and the first person Lin Baizhou saw was Wen Xue, who was wearing a white down jacket.

She stood conspicuously by the roadside, carrying a cake box.

Ye Manni exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Baizhou??"

Lin Baizhou then noticed her. He subtly withdrew his gaze from Wen Xue and looked at her, asking, "It's so late, are you waiting for a car here?"

“Yeah!” Ye Manni complained, “We’ve been waiting for over ten minutes…”

Lin Baizhou pondered for a moment, then said, "Are you going back to Xida University? How about this, you get in the car, and I'll give you a ride."

Ye Manni was overjoyed and eager to get into the car, but then remembered that she wasn't particularly familiar with him, so she said reservedly, "Then I'll trouble you so much..."

"It's no trouble at all," Lin Baizhou smiled. "Besides, Teacher Wen has been tutoring Weiwei all along, so it's only right."

The other two roommates looked at Wen Xue in surprise, then simultaneously glanced at Lin Baizhou, their eyes darting between them.

Ye Manni exclaimed, "Oh, right, I almost forgot!"

Since he had said that, no one had a reason to refuse. Ye Manni thought for a moment, then opened the passenger door and got in. With her taking the lead, her two roommates pulled Wen Xue into the car as well. A few minutes later, the black sedan merged into the traffic.

With Ye Manni around, there's usually no awkward silence.

She racked her brains to find topics to chat about with Lin Baizhou.

Lin Baizhou, who was driving, would occasionally glance at Wen Xue in the back seat through the rearview mirror.

My roommates weren't stupid either; they smiled happily on the surface, but whenever they had a spare moment, they'd take out their phones and flood the dorm group chat with messages—

This guy's good, not bad!

Did you guys notice? He calls Wen Xue "Teacher Wen." Tsk tsk tsk, his intentions are crystal clear.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Ye Manni secretly replied, "We should be under the car, not inside."

Wen Xue glanced at it briefly, smiled silently, and typed a reply: 【Go quickly】

After she posted this message, when the car arrived at the West Gate of the university and Lin Baizhou got out, the three roommates immediately quickened their pace and walked ahead. Gradually, Wen Xue and Lin Baizhou fell behind and walked side by side.

"Happy birthday."

Lin Baizhou suddenly spoke up.

He didn't know it was her birthday today. Given their relationship, they weren't at the point where he could give her a gift, so he could only offer his blessings.

"Thanks."

Wen Xue curled her fingers as she held the cake box. She thought, there's still a piece of cake left. Should she give it to him? Whether he eats it or not, she should ask out of politeness.

From the entrance to the dormitory building, she still hadn't made up her mind.

"We're here." Wen Xue opened her mouth, her face showing hesitation, "Do you want to...?"

The words were on the tip of her tongue when she inadvertently glanced at a person standing under a tree a few meters away. He was wearing a black coat and almost blended into the night. She hadn't noticed him at first, and she had no idea how long he had been waiting in the cold wind.

"What?"

Lin Baizhou waited patiently for her to continue, but after a few minutes, she still didn't finish. He was puzzled and noticed that she was staring blankly in a certain direction. He turned around and was also taken aback.

He Yan remained hidden in the shadows of the trees, not approaching as he had done before. The distance and the darkness of night blurred the expression on his face.

Lin Baizhou turned around again and stared at Wen Xue, but ever since she discovered that man's presence, it seemed that no one else existed in her eyes. Perhaps she had forgotten that there was someone waiting in front of her.

He wasn't surprised or disappointed. He was patient with other insignificant people, let alone her. He said casually, "I'm leaving now."

Wen Xue snapped out of her daze, her eyes somewhat blank, looked at him, and forced a smile: "Okay, thank you for today."

Lin Baizhou nodded and did not linger.

After watching him leave, Wen Xue walked step by step toward He Yan. He returned looking travel-worn, as if he was suppressing some emotion, like a bowstring stretched to its limit. Before she could ask, he explained in a low voice, "I finished my business and decided to buy a plane ticket and fly back."

His flight was delayed, and he wasn't sure if he could get back to Xicheng today, so he didn't tell her.

Wen Xue looked at him quietly. "Really? You should have told me. Have you been waiting for a long time?"

"Not long." His fist, which had been clenched tightly when he saw her return with Lin Baizhou, relaxed at this moment. "Did you have a happy birthday today? What did you eat?"

"good."

She answered his questions earnestly, even including those he hadn't asked: "Manny and the others wanted to eat everything, and after discussing it all day without reaching a conclusion, I took the three of them to a buffet. After that, we went to karaoke. Oh, and we also ate cake."

He Yan nodded: "Is the child's older brother also here?"

“No,” she said. “We couldn’t get a taxi on the street, and he just happened to be passing by and gave us a ride back.”

He Yan's furrowed brows relaxed. "He's a nice person."

Meeting her clear, bright eyes, he couldn't help but repeat, "He's a really good person."

Wen Xue lowered her gaze slightly and gave a barely audible "hmm".

He Yan stared intently at her wind-blown hair, feeling inexplicably tormented. For a moment, he had indeed been testing her, hoping she would angrily tell him not to misunderstand, just like she had done during their hospital stay. Perhaps to punish his despicable thoughts, this time he not only didn't hear her say "Don't misunderstand," but she actually agreed.

He held his breath and remained silent.

Wen Xue felt as if the winter wind was scraping against her skin with sharp knives, and the pain would eventually numb her. When he said Lin Baizhou was a good person, she immediately thought of springtime; it was spring then, and now it was winter.

She finally understood why she was nervous and scared back then.

She was terrified of losing it.

What can be done? She has been losing things since she was very, very young. She should be more used to it than anyone else.

At least this time is better than the last, isn't it?

Last time, without warning or any indication, she lost it before she was mentally prepared.

After National Day, she waited for the outcome to be decided.

But no one told her that the boots landing on the ground caused an earthquake.

She took a deep breath; the icy air made her feel cold, but it also calmed her. She said softly, "The cake they bought today was delicious, not too sweet. There's one left. Would you like to try it?"

He Yan didn't even hear what she said, "Okay."

He reached up and touched his pocket, then paused. "It's cold here. Come upstairs and wait for me. I'll go to the car to get the gift. I already bought it."

I was in such a hurry to get off the bus that I forgot to bring the birthday present I had prepared for her.

After saying that, he hurriedly headed towards the south gate.

Wen Xue stood there for a few seconds, then picked up the cake and caught up with him. She wanted to remind him that he hadn't taken the cake, but instead said in a muffled voice, "I'm going too."

He Yan chuckled and said, "Okay."

They had walked this stretch of road side by side countless times, but never before had they been as silent as this time.

It's too cold at night.

It's unclear who initiated it, but with a bang, the Jeep door slammed shut, as if the whole world had shrunk to just the two of them. He Yan, worried that she was cold, turned on the car's heater. The gift he had bought for her was hidden in the glove compartment.

He handed her the box and encouraged her, "Open it and see if you like it. If you don't, you can pick something else in a few days."

Wen Xue hesitated before taking it. "What is it?"

See for yourself.

With a cautious heart, she opened the box and looked at him in surprise.

Inside the box was an exquisite watch.

The carriage was dimly lit, and the diamond ring on the clock face glittered.

“Give it a try,” he said with a smile.

Wen Xue didn't recognize the brand, but she could tell that it wasn't cheap and must be very expensive. Instinctively, she wanted to refuse, but when she met his smiling eyes, she didn't want to spoil the mood. She took the watch out of the box, and perhaps out of nervousness, she didn't fasten the strap properly several times.

He Yan looked helpless and said in a deep voice, "I'll do it."

He leaned over the armrest, reached over the storage box, took her wrist, and patiently and meticulously put the watch on her wrist.

Wen Xue raised her eyes and gazed at his features.

"Do you like it?" he asked her after she put it on.

She nodded gently.

But the watch wasn't a gift to her; the real gift was that her wish had come true.

She composed herself, hurriedly untied the cake box, and handed him the cake with the word "happiness" written on it in jam. Then, she frantically searched for a fork. "The filling inside is your favorite mango, I think it's delicious, ah—" she said, somewhat annoyed, "I forgot to bring the fork!"

The sweet aroma of cake and cream spread among them.

"It's okay," He Yan said, tilting his head to take a bite of the cake. "I'm not picky."

Wen Xue looked at him, smiled slightly, and handed him a tissue, saying, "There's cream on your nose."

He Yan didn't ask for a tissue. He reached up and pulled down the sun visor to look in the mirror. There was indeed cream on her face. He glanced at her and saw that she finally smiled.

"Is it funny?" he asked, deliberately with a straight face.

"Just a little bit," she replied, suppressing a laugh.

He raised an eyebrow slightly, lowered his head and continued eating the cake, this time deliberately smearing more cream on his high nose, making her chuckle and smile broadly.