Chapter 42

Chapter 42

With Li Sui's help, Shu Yao's live broadcast gradually improved. After three times, she was able to focus on two things at the same time: creating and answering questions in the barrage.

The number of viewers has also seen a steady increase.

Saturday afternoon was the last show of the week. After the live broadcast ended, Shu Yao packed up the tools on the table and accompanied Li Sui back to the room.

Li Sui comes every Thursday morning and leaves on Saturday evening.

Shu Yao watched her pack her things and walked her to the door.

Stepping out of the courtyard, Li Sui suddenly turned around and took out a small gift box from his pocket.

"Sister Yaoyao, this is for you!"

Shu Yao took it, but didn't understand: "What is this?"

"When we were signing the contract, I saw your ID card. Tomorrow is your birthday, right? I won't be here tomorrow, so I'll wish you a happy birthday in advance!"

Shu Yao really didn't expect that Li Sui would be so thoughtful.

Knowing it was difficult to refuse, Shu Yao joked, "You haven't even received your internship salary yet, and you're already giving me a gift. That's a bit of a loss."

"No, it's just a cheap gift. I hope you don't mind it." Li Sui blinked, and a shallow dimple appeared at the corner of her mouth.

"Of course not." Shu Yao looked down at the gift, then looked up again. "Can I open it?"

Li Sui: “Of course.”

Shu Yao opened the gift box and found a thin bracelet with a "Y" pendant inside.

It should be the character "杳" representing her.

"It's so beautiful." Shu Yao put it on and said with a smile, "Why don't you go back? I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow."

"Ah?" Li Sui looked a little surprised. "On such an important day as your birthday, you don't want to spend some time alone with your brother-in-law?"

Shu Yao hadn't celebrated his birthday for a long time. After hearing what Li Sui said, he realized that birthday is indeed an important day for many people.

"That's right." Shu Yao smiled and didn't explain further.

After returning to the room, she took a shower and lay on the bed to watch today's live broadcast.

Li Sui's words suddenly resurfaced in my mind.

She buried her chin in the pillow, holding the phone in both hands, and sent a message to Chen Ye for some unknown reason: [What are you going to do tomorrow? ]

Chen Ye quickly replied: [I have to go on a business trip to South City. ]

Sure enough...Shen Ye didn't know her birthday.

That's right. After all, the only way he could know her birthday was through the marriage certificate, which had her ID number on it.

But when they got the marriage certificate, they had no feelings for each other, and the marriage certificate was probably put in the bottom of the box long ago.

Shu Yao didn't say anything more and replied with an "OK" expression.

Shen Ye asked her: [What's wrong? ]

Shu Yao thought for a moment and said, "It's okay. I'm very busy tomorrow. I'm here to find some mental balance."

*

Sunday, excluding the birthday factor, was just an ordinary, uneventful workday for Shu Yao.

At eight o'clock as usual, the alarm clock rang.

Shu Yao fumbled around and found two birthday wishes on it, one from Zhao Tiantian and one from her mother.

Ever since she and Chen Ye got married, Shu Meiru seemed to be getting more and more lazy about taking care of her. She used to send messages every day to confirm whether she had returned home. After they got married, it was three or four days, and now she basically only calls once a week.

At the beginning, Shu Yao felt relieved.

But now that his emotions have gradually calmed down, Shu Yao feels a little uncomfortable when he thinks about it again.

She accepted the birthday red envelope sent by Shu Meiru and took the initiative to call Shu Meiru.

It took a long time for the other end to answer the call.

"Mom." Shu Yao paused. She could vaguely hear the sound of wind and conversation on the phone. She asked doubtfully, "Where are you?"

"I'm traveling with some new friends." Shu Meiru said in a hoarse voice, "Tianju Mountain, the scenery here is quite beautiful. We just watched the sunrise."

Shu Yao was quite surprised. Her mother had a very small social circle. She didn't even have friends with whom she could have a meal, let alone travel together. Moreover, the idea of ​​traveling itself was strange. Shu Yao had suggested that she go on a trip before, but she always thought it was too expensive. Why did she suddenly come to her senses this time?

Shu Yao was a little worried: "Where did you meet these little sisters?"

"Chen... uh, that's Aunt Chen Ping who runs the restaurant. She's quite nice. Lately, she's been pulling me in to chat whenever she comes to buy something. She has a group of friends who often play cards together, go on trips, and so on, and she dragged me along."

Aunt Chen Ping.

Shu Yao had an impression.

When I was a child, I passed by Aunt Chen Ping's house. Aunt Chen Ping saw that I was well-behaved and often secretly gave me lollipops. She also had a good reputation among the neighbors.

Shu Yao was relieved and encouraged, "It's nice to go out and travel. Do you have enough money? I can help you with that."

"Enough, enough. Mom's little treasury is enough. Just take good care of yourself, okay?"

"Know."

"Wife—"

Suddenly, a man's voice came from the phone, and it sounded very close. Shu Yao was stunned for a moment: "Mom, who is it? Didn't you say you were going with a group of girls? How could there be a man?"

"Ah, that young couple passing by." Shu Meiru said hurriedly, "Okay, I won't say anymore. They walked so fast that I almost fell behind."

"mom--"

Before Shu Yao could say anything else, the phone was hung up.

She looked at the call time: three minutes and twenty-eight seconds.

This was probably the longest phone call she had had with her mother in recent years. She didn't repeatedly ask what she had eaten or whether she had arrived home, she didn't introduce so-and-so's son, and she didn't feel frustrated about wanting to say something but not knowing how to say it.

Although he still felt that his mother's behavior just now was a bit anxious, Shu Yao could tell that she was truly happy in her words, so he didn't think too much about it.

She opened the window and looked up at the sky.

The sky was clear and in the distance there was a white cloud that looked a bit like a puppy with its head tilted back and its tail raised.

Shu Yao was in a good mood. He took a photo and posted a circle of friends for the first time in a long time. The text was simple, a puppy emoji.

After she finished posting, she went to the kitchen to make breakfast. When she finished, she checked her Moments and saw that Chen Ye had just posted something. There wasn't even a text, just an emoji of a cookie with its head drooping, with the words: [I met a stray dog ​​outside. I'm no longer friends with you.]

There are several comments from mutual friends below.

Zhou Jinghuai: [I thought you were reading some important document and didn't dare interrupt you, but you're making emojis?]

Xu Zhaoli: [Congratulations, you finally recognize yourself! ]

Zhao Tiantian: [Dogs are not necessarily people, but some people are really dogs.]

"puff."

Shu Yao laughed so hard that she almost coughed out the milk in her mouth.

She forced herself to swallow the milk, and someone who rarely liked posts on WeChat Moments silently liked this one.

*

After working intermittently for ten hours, it was already dinner time.

Shu Yao then remembered that he hadn't even had lunch.

She ordered a takeaway for herself from a nearby place, and less than ten minutes later, there was a knock on the gate of the courtyard outside.

There are very few riders in the town, and takeout usually takes at least an hour, so Shu Yao is usually too lazy to order. She put down the welding gun in her hand, wondering why the delivery was so fast today.

It was already dark outside. She hurried to the door, but when she opened it, she was stunned.

Chen Ye was still in his suit and tie, looking like he had just rushed back from some important meeting, holding a cake in his hand.

He raised his hand, his expression a bit arrogant: "I picked up a cake on the road, do you want to eat it?"

Shu Yao was stunned for a moment, then took the cake and saw the words on the cake through the transparent box: [Shu Yao, happy birthday.]

She laughed: "You picked up this cake by chance. The owner has the same name as me."

"Well, your public name." Shen Ye stepped over the threshold and inserted the bolt of the door.

“…”

I thank you.

After placing the cake on the coffee table in the reception room, Shu Yao was halfway through removing the candle when he suddenly remembered to ask, "How did you know it was my birthday today?"

She sat cross-legged on the carpet, and Chen Ye accompanied her. Her long legs wrapped in suit pants looked a little uncomfortable. He took out a candle and put it on, saying lightly: "It's on the marriage certificate."

It is true.

"So you lied to me when you said you were going on a business trip today?"

"South City is close, we can get back in time."

Shu Yao particularly dislikes bothering others. Originally, Zhao Tiantian offered to come over to celebrate her birthday, but she felt that the trip would be too much trouble. Zhao Tiantian also had to get up early for work the next day, so she decided to give up.

But now, she realized that having someone remember her birthday, or having someone willing to spend time with her to complete this ritual, seemed to be a very heartwarming thing.

"Oh." Shu Yao took the lighter and lit the candle, and responded softly.

"That's it?" Chen Ye rested his elbow on his knee, supported his head with his right hand, and tilted his head to look at her, "You rushed back specially, aren't you a little touched?"

Twenty-six.

Shu Yao only inserted six candles. After lighting them all, she held the lighter in her right hand. The flame was still slightly hot, irritating her fingers. She muttered softly, "No."

Shen Ye chuckled and raised his hand to rub the top of her head.

"Little ungrateful bastard."

Her ears seemed to be getting hot, luckily her hair was hanging down to cover them, otherwise he would probably laugh at her again, Shu Yao thought secretly.

"Make a wish." Shen Ye's words interrupted her wandering thoughts.

He stood up and turned off the lights, and the reception room immediately fell into darkness. A few flames on the cake were dancing, and behind the faint light was Shu Yao's calm face.

She closed her eyes, clasped her hands together, and made the wish extremely seriously.

Shen Ye didn't ask her what wish she made.

When she blew out the candle and opened her eyes, a black gift box appeared in front of her.

Shu Yao looked up in surprise and heard him say, "Open it and take a look?"

Inside was a dog figurine made of an unknown material. The dog was tilting its head back. It was about twelve or thirteen centimeters tall, with a white body and yellow ears. It looked about 70% similar to the small biscuit.

"Thank you. Is this made according to the small cookies?" Shu Yao picked it up, touched it, and asked curiously.

"It doesn't count."

After answering ambiguously, Shen Ye pulled out the candle, held the knife with his slender fingers, and carefully cut the cake, as if he was treating a piece of art with great pleasure.

I don’t know where he ordered the cake from. Even the accompanying plate was not made of foam or plastic like in ordinary cake shops, but ceramic.

The porcelain plate was filled with a large piece. When Shu Yao reached out to take it, he suddenly felt a little warmth on his cheek.

She was startled and her hand shook, causing the cake in her hand to shake and some of the cream on top to fall directly onto his pants.

To be precise, it is right in the middle.

“…”

Shu Yao touched the place he had touched just now, and felt a little cream. Only then did she realize that it should have been his finger, not...

"What are you thinking about?"

"No, sorry." Shu Yao quickly took out a tissue from her bag and wanted to help him wipe it, but when she saw the place, she could only throw the tissue to him and said, "Wipe it yourself."

"You really know how to find a place." Chen Ye took a tissue and cleaned the cake, but the residual white cream was still very obvious on his black suit pants.

If you go out like this, anyone who sees it will take a second look.

Or take a secret photo and post it on Weibo saying that you met a pervert on the street.

"Um." Shu Yao thought for a moment and suggested, "Your pajamas from last time are still here. Why don't you go change into them first? But your suit, isn't it washable? If not, I'll go out and buy you a new set of clothes tomorrow morning."

"OK."

They didn't eat much of the cake and went back to the bedroom.

Shu Yao took out pajamas from the closet in the room and handed them to him into the bathroom.

Shen Ye was not polite and took a shower. He came out after about twenty minutes.

The black pajamas outlined her tall and slender figure. The two buttons on the chest were not buttoned, and the smooth lines of the collarbone were faintly visible. There was a faint scent of shower gel on her body.

His hair was half wet and his forehead was messy, but he didn't look disheveled at all. Instead, he looked a bit more unruly and casual.

She didn't know why, but the two of them had been in the same room many times before, and she had seen this handsome guy coming out of the bath many times. Every time she could be said to be calm, but at this moment, she couldn't help it. While he was blowing his hair, she secretly glanced at his collarbone.

He didn't seem to notice.

Shu Yao, leaning against the head of the bed, pretended to look at her phone. She raised her eyes slightly and glanced at her fair chest.

Chen Ye turned off the hair dryer, leaned on the table, one leg on the ground, one leg bent, his hands supported behind his back, and just looked at her leisurely.

The material on the chest was pulled further to the sides due to his movements.

Shu Yao blinked: "Your hair isn't dry yet, aren't you going to blow-dry it?"

"Wait a moment." Chen Ye smiled casually, "You take a look first."

Shu Yao: “…”

He raised his right hand, placed it on the third button, and asked very generously and considerately:

"Do you need me to solve a few more?"