Chapter 56 Happy Birthday! Wishing me a happy birthday.

Liang Yizhi stood there, stunned, unable to react. She hadn't expected that the second meeting she had been trying to avoid would come so soon.

She hesitated at the door, unsure of what to do. Jiang Huai, a few steps behind Gu Yinyan, caught up and approached the door.

"Yizhi, what are you standing there for? Why are you blocking the doorway? Let us in!"

She stammered, "Why...why are you all here?"

He Man came over to explain to her, "Yizhi, you're sick, how could the three of us leave you all alone at home and go out to celebrate by ourselves?"

"Birthdays can be celebrated anywhere, right, Mr. Gu?"

It turns out they moved the birthday party to her house.

Leung Yik-chi didn't really have any issues with celebrating her birthday, but she was just a bit sensitive to certain people.

She didn't show much expression, but simply stepped back and said, "Come in."

Gu Yinyan glanced at her back and silently followed.

Liang Yizhi thought for a moment. There were no newly bought groceries or any preparations at home. She asked He Man, "It seems like we don't have much food left. What are we planning to do tonight? Should we order takeout?"

"Don't worry about it, it's none of your business," He Man said.

“I told you you were sick and wouldn’t be coming tonight. Gu Yinyan said we could contact our usual private restaurant and have them prepare a meal and deliver it to your house. It’s convenient and suits everyone’s taste.”

She leaned closer to Liang Yizhi: "Whether we should say it or not, Gu Yinyan is the most thoughtful one, isn't he?"

Liang Yizhi remained silent.

He Man said, "Although it's just a birthday, none of us have missed a birthday celebration over the years, so we should keep the tradition going. Besides, I don't want the three of us to be out eating, drinking, and having fun while you're all lying at home alone."

"You've been sick, so you probably haven't been eating properly, right? So let's just have something simple to eat to celebrate. If you're still not feeling well, let's head out early."

Pretending to be sick was just an excuse, and Liang Yizhi didn't expect her friends to be so considerate.

Since He Man had already said all that, Liang Yizhi felt even more ashamed and naturally had nothing more to say.

With food supplies running low at home, Liang Yizhi took out some snacks to entertain her friends while waiting for the meals to be delivered.

Everyone sat down on the sofa. The sofa had three seats plus a single seat. Liang Yizhi originally wanted to sit next to He Man or Jiang Huai. However, Gu Yinyan was on one end of the sofa, and there was no empty seat on the other end, so Liang Yizhi simply sat on the single seat.

A variety show was playing in the background on TV. Liang Yizhi's eyes were fixed on the TV screen, but her mind was wandering.

Gu Yinyan suddenly spoke up: "Are you still not feeling well?"

Liang Yizhi paused, as if considering whether to pretend she hadn't heard.

After a few seconds, she replied, "Yeah, it's nothing."

"Was it a hangover from yesterday?"

He brought up what happened last night without batting an eye, and Liang Yizhi gritted her teeth inwardly.

"No."

"Yizhi, don't you dislike drinking?" Jiang Huai asked with a smile. "You never drink this much when you're with us, how come you're suddenly so drunk?"

What else can we do...?

Of course, it's because she deliberately got herself drunk.

Liang Yizhi dodged the question: "I didn't drink much, it might have been high in alcohol, I don't remember."

Just then, the doorbell rang. He Man went to answer it and found that their meal had been delivered, along with a cake that He Man had asked the delivery person to pick up on their way.

Everyone gathered around the dining table and began unpacking the bags.

He Man took out several beautifully packaged lunch boxes, opened them, and arranged them.

He Man: "President Gu, I'm sorry to have to make this difficult for you. This is the first time we've celebrated your birthday in such a simple way. We'll make it up to you in a grander way next year."

Gu Yinyan didn't take it to heart: "Save your time for yourself."

He Man scoffed, "You say that, but you're secretly happy every year when we celebrate your birthday, aren't you!"

She recalled: "Do you remember when Gu Yinyan returned to China, we lied to him that the three of us went on a trip and asked him what he planned to do for his birthday? He clearly said that he had an appointment with someone that night, but we secretly went to his villa and saw him smoking alone in the yard."

The four of them all have different attitudes towards birthdays.

Liang Yizhi is the most particular about rituals, while He Man's birthday celebrations are comparable to class reunions, and she's used to gathering even her friends' friends. Jiang Huai has an outgoing personality and extravagant style; every time he celebrates his birthday, he wants to announce it a month in advance with great fanfare.

It seems that only Gu Yinyan doesn't care much about this matter. Every year, they rush him to celebrate his birthday, and it seems that such a ceremony is dispensable to him.

“Aren’t you very enthusiastic when it comes to celebrating other people’s birthdays? Back then, you flew back and forth so many times to invite that pianist to Yizhi’s graduation performance, and you never complained about the trouble.”

He Man is addicted to exposing people's secrets: "Would it kill you to admit just once that you were happy when we celebrated your birthday?"

After her tirade, Gu Yinyan, contrary to his usual behavior, finally spoke up:

"Yes, I'm happy."

He Man and Jiang Huai were both startled: "Oh my god!"

Are you satisfied now?

"I dare not be dissatisfied, Your Majesty," He Man replied with a smile.

Liang Yizhi didn't participate in the topic; she just quietly unpacked the lunchbox and distributed the cutlery.

The cake was ordered by He Man; it wasn't very big and had a simple design.

She lit the candle, asked Liang Yizhi for a lighter, but couldn't light it after several attempts. Suddenly, her hand was empty; Gu Yinyan had snatched the lighter away.

He pressed the lighter and held it against the tip of the candle for a while, and a flame gradually appeared on it.

Once the candle was lit, Gu Yinyan stopped, intending to just go through the motions and blow it out.

"Hey hey hey—" He Man stretched out her long arms and pushed him aside, protecting the flame like a precious treasure.

"Please, stop being so perfunctory! At least turn off the lights!"

Jiang Huai laughed mischievously: "He hates these kinds of awkward ceremonies the most, you know that."

Jiang Huai walked to the wall and reached out to turn off the light. In the dark room, the candlelight flickered dimly.

Knowing Gu Yinyan disliked this, Jiang Huai and He Man insisted on playing along, clapping and singing "Happy Birthday" in perfect unison. Only when the song was halfway through, and Gu Yinyan bowed his head and gently blew out the candles, did they stop, clapping and shouting with smiles on their faces:

"Happy birthday!--"

"Happy birthday!!!"

Liang Yizhi clapped along with the others, quietly acting as the atmosphere-setter, staring blankly at the wispy smoke on the candle, slightly lost in thought.

When the lights came back on, she glanced at Gu Yinyan's face, just in time to meet his gaze, and then turned her face away.

The cake wasn't big; it was just enough for the four of them to share. Plus, with all the other food that was brought over, He Man's comment about it being "simple" was utter nonsense.

They ate and chatted for several hours, spending most of the time talking, and about a third of the food was still left on the table.

Perhaps because she was full from the meal, Liang Yizhi was feeling sleepy again. He Man then suggested that everyone play mahjong together that evening, but Gu Yinyan flatly refused.

Gu Yinyan: "I'm not fighting anymore, it's too noisy and disturbs the peace."

"This won't do, that won't do, why are you so difficult to please!" He Man stood with her hands in her pockets. "Yizhi, do you have anything else to pass the time?"

Leung Yik-chi recalled, "There was a game console, but I wasn't sure if it still worked."

"Let me see it."

Liang Yizhi went back to her room to look for something. The game console was an older model, bought three or four years ago. She didn't know which cabinet it was gathering dust in now.

She rummaged around for a while, moved a stack of books in the cabinet, and something fell out and landed on the floor.

Liang Yizhi looked down. It was the game console she was looking for.

This fall has probably rendered even those that were usable unusable.

The two handles fell out, exposing the metal ribbon cables inside.

Liang Yizhi had never encountered this problem before. She quickly picked it up and checked the buttons and joysticks, which all seemed to be working normally, but the two controllers...

Behind me, there was a knock on the open door.

Gu Yinyan must have heard the sound of something falling:

"How did you do that?"

"It looks like it broke."

"Shall I take a look?"

Liang Yizhi glanced at him, then looked back at the screen: "It's okay, I can do it."

"The words you said to me most tonight were 'no,' 'it's okay.'"

A familiar scent wafted past her nose, awakening fresh memories tinged with alcohol. Gu Yinyan walked to her side, took the game console from her hand, and examined it.

His hand holding the game console was at eye level with her nose. Liang Yizhi didn't understand digital products, and more importantly, she didn't want to get too close to Gu Yinyan, so she just stood there to the side.

Gu Yinyan lowered his hand slightly to make it easier for her to see.

Liang Yizhi simply turned her head to the side.

Suddenly, I felt a cold touch on my cheeks, and someone grabbed my chin and turned it back.

Liang Yizhi immediately tried to push him away: "Hey—what are you doing?"

"If you want everyone to see this expression, then I have no objection."

Gu Yinyan had already put down the game console, his eyes fixed on her face.

Liang Yizhi felt even more uncomfortable, not only because of his sudden closeness. When they arrived, she had gotten up in a hurry and hadn't tidied herself up. Only now did she reflexively remember whether her face was oily and whether she had wiped her mouth clean after eating.

Damn it!

Why did that come to her first thought?

Gu Yinyan loosened his grip and reminded her, "You've had a long face all day. How can He Man and the others not think things through?"

Liang Yizhi said curtly, "If you want to think about it, just think about it. There's nothing shameful about it."

"Then don't wear your heart on your sleeve."

Gu Yin said, "If you really don't want to see me, then I'll leave soon."

After he finished speaking, he made a gesture as if to turn around.

Liang Yizhi hurriedly said, "I didn't mean that..."

She instinctively avoided him because she didn't know how to face him and couldn't interact with him as calmly as before.

Only now did she belatedly realize that it was someone's birthday today, and her expression had ruined the other person's mood. Wasn't that a bit inappropriate...?

Her heart softened again.

Gu Yinyan's gaze swept over her face, and his voice softened: "Liang Yizhi, don't be so nervous. Don't suffocate yourself before anything happens."

He comforted her, "No one is forcing you. I know you haven't made up your mind yet, but there's no need to rush. I'm good at waiting."

Liang Yizhi didn't understand why he could be so calm.

She muttered under her breath, "You're not the one making the decision, so of course you're relaxed."

Gu Yinyan chuckled softly.

"This thing is just a broken piece; we can just check it again and put it back together." He waved the game console in his hand. "I'll take it to get it repaired when we leave. Let He Man find something else to play with."

"That's the only way," Liang Yizhi nodded.

For some reason, after exchanging a few words with Gu Yinyan, Liang Yizhi felt a little relieved.

Just as she was about to leave, Gu Yinyan added, "Also, you didn't mention that earlier."

"What?" Liang Yizhi asked, puzzled.

He lifted his eyelids and glanced at the exquisite wall clock. The second hand ticked away, tracing a subtle arc.

Gu Yinyan patted the top of her head, his palm resting on her soft hair.

When the second hand was perpendicular to the horizontal, he gently leaned close to her ear.

Separated by a wall, the room contained only the two of them. His casual voice and the barely audible ticking of the clock rang out together:

"—Happy birthday to me."