Weaving through the crowds, the car drove home amidst the festive decorations along the roadside.

Before they even got out of the car and entered the house, Sheikh hooked his arm around his neck and tilted his chin up to kiss him.

Snowflakes were crushed in the wet kiss, the coolness prompting her to draw in more warmth. She finished the ice cream cone in the car, the sweetness still lingering in her mouth.

When I was little, I thought that fluffy white snow should taste like cool, creamy snow. Now that idea has been confirmed, it is indeed incredibly sweet.

They kissed as they walked, oblivious to the cold wind and snow, and their fingerprints failed to match several times when they tried to open the door.

The pushing hands finally unlocked the door, and with two crackling sounds, fireworks and ribbons suddenly exploded overhead.

"Happy New Year……"

Bai Weishuang leaned out from behind the sofa, sighing heavily as she played with Mu Bai, forgetting what she was going to say next.

Shi Jin bent his knuckles and brushed away the stray hairs from his forehead.

His biological mother is really childlike.

His biological father really spoiled his mother.

His wife comforted him tenderly, saying, "It's alright, you did make a heart shape for me with the leaves of the white tree anyway."

"……Um."

He nodded resignedly; he already knew this was a done deal.

"I understand your desire to live like tomorrow is the end of the world, but I do have something to say." Bai Weishuang put away the ribbons, turned on the living room light, and brought out a cake.

Shi Jinzhe looked around and asked, "Whose birthday is it?"

Bai Weishuang: "You guys."

She put down the cake. "I've thought about it. January 1st is a good day. It's the beginning of the new year and the first day of the Year of the Snake. Sher will definitely like it. And you, a new life is beginning. The Cheng family, the Huang family, and the Lü family are all things of the past. From today onwards, every day will be the best day."

Shi Jinzhe paused for a moment, then chuckled inexplicably.

"Tell me honestly, did you forget my birthday?"

Bai Weishuang: "Just tell me if you want to celebrate your birthday on the same day as Sheh? If you do, sit there and wait to blow out the candles."

Shi Jinzhe chose to sit down. "Okay, starting today, my birthday is January 1st."

Bai Weishuang lit the candles. "I didn't expect you to come back so soon. I wasn't ready yet, so please make do with this for now."

Shech had already finished blowing out the candles when he heard this, and straightened up again. "You made this cake?"

"Only the fruit on top was arranged by her." Mu Bai knew what she was worried about. Due to his repeated obstruction, only the two steps of arranging the fruit and sending the cake out were handled by Bai Weishuang.

An unforgettable New Year should not be overshadowed by other important events; celebrating birthdays should be the primary focus in future memories.

Bai Weishuang: "Okay, blow out the candles, eat without worry."

She sat on the carpet in front of the coffee table. Shi Jinzhe glanced at her, got off the sofa, and sat on the carpet as well.

Then Bai Weishuang gave the first piece of cake to Shehe.

I understand. It's a deep sisterly bond; he's not important to them.

Is this birthday celebration for me?

Shech took a bite of cake, switched to her other hand to hold the fork, and reached under the coffee table with her other hand, only to find it bent.

Bai Weishuang remembers which players from thirty years ago were usable, what skills they had, and what their names were. She will never forget Shi Jinzhe's birthday.

Not to mention that she had just asked Chi Yucheng's family how they treated Shi Jinzhe. Cheng Yun had always celebrated his birthday with someone else. Bai Weishuang would not make the same mistake again. This birthday was for her.

Shech scratched his palm with his fingernails, "Did you know it wasn't your birthday as soon as she finished speaking?"

"It's my birthday, and I want to celebrate it on the same day as yours so you can have two cakes from now on."

Shi Jinzhe knew that Shehe loved strawberry cake, so she would make sure he had a delicious birthday cake every few days. According to her wishes, he was already a hundred years old.

"Go ahead and eat, I'd love to, really."

I really don't care about my birthday. My birth has brought a lot of bad things, so changing the date would be fine too.

Not celebrating his birthday doesn't mean Bai Weishuang doesn't love him. He has evidence of his parents' love for him, so he doesn't need another birthday.

He took the knife with his free hand and handed out pieces to each person, saying, "Everyone gets through today, whether they are human or not, we are all the same."

"Are you getting revenge for me interrupting your good time?" Bai Weishuang didn't believe her highly intelligent son would say such a thing; he must be doing it on purpose.

Shi Jinzhe: "Statement of facts, not saying someone is in our house doesn't count as an insult."

"If you're not even human to begin with, then it's not an insult." Shekh, speaking as if to prove him wrong, flicked out a long tail.

Bai Weishuang choked up. Otherwise, how could the two of them be together? Their thought processes were on the same line. Even if they weren't, the two of them would still force themselves to be together.

Holding up the tray of cake in front of her, she said, "In that case, let's do it this way. Happy birthday everyone!"

Mu Bai responded first, clinking cakes with hers, and then Shehe and Shi Jinzhe also raised their cakes, echoing "Happy Birthday."

As midnight struck, the four "Happy Birthday" messages were drowned out by the city's flood of "Happy New Year" greetings.

January 1st became a special day. In the dead of night, Shekh lay in bed tossing and turning, the blankets almost falling to the floor.

"It's my birthday today."

Shi Jinzhe lay flat on her back and clapped her hands, "You're one year old, that's amazing."

He didn't mention a single zero that was omitted after the number one.

“I think so too.” Shekh was still a bit energetic and couldn’t fall asleep no matter what, so he simply opened the overhead screen and said, “Watch a movie with me.”

She randomly put on a movie, an old version of The Little Mermaid.

When I finally laid my pillow flat, I realized that the story in this movie, made decades ago, was different from what I remembered.

“The prince was a process by which she gained an immortal soul,” Shekh said. “She didn’t turn into sea foam, nor did she pursue love as much as I had imagined, which is better than I thought.”

Shi Jinzhe didn't speak immediately, looking at her thoughtfully. Shehe lay on the bed, her arms crossed in front of her chest, supporting her upper body slightly. Her waist and hips transitioned into a snake tail with purple edges. A few strands of her curly hair slipped down, and the colors from the sky projection reflected onto her back, making her look like a mermaid.

"What do you mean by looking at me like that? Are you just another tool on my path to immortality?" Sheh sat up abruptly, intending to pinch him, but then noticed the diamond-shaped red marks on Shi Jinzhe's body caused by the snake scales, and put his hand back on his own body.

"I am not like the Little Mermaid."

Shi Jinzhe joked, "You're the snake's tail, and she's the fish's tail?"

"No."

"Where is the difference? I'd like to hear the details."

Shekh wrapped his arms around him, then slowly whispered in his ear in the dim night, "The Little Mermaid has stepped out of the fairy tale, but I have stepped into it. I will not let you turn into sea foam."

Sweet words can lift one's spirits, and Shi Jinzhe told her with a smile, "Actually, that's not what I thought."

"Then why are you staring at me without saying anything?"

"I was simply admiring you; you looked beautiful just now." He ran his hand through Sheikh's hair, stroking it a few times. "Want to continue watching the movie?"

"Let's stop watching and do something else."

"You've been so proactive lately that I thought spring was just around the corner."

"Just consider it as if we've arrived."

Shekh pressed Shi Jinzhe's face and made him turn around, displaying the word "bullying" to its fullest extent.

As darkness fell, she didn't notice that outside the window, where snow was falling heavily, flowers were indeed blooming all over the ground.

The pink petals fluttered and twirled in the wind, landing on the snow and the frozen lake, gently disturbing the cold of the winter wind, creating an incredible, dreamlike scene under the moon.

Before going to sleep, Shech glanced out the window, blinked twice, and whispered, "You often make me feel that love is an illusion."

Before she could finish speaking, she got out of bed and opened the window.

The wind rushed in through the window, and a chill instantly enveloped her body, yet her breath still clearly caught the fragrance of the flowers.

Reaching out to catch the petals drifting in from outside the window, their faint fragrance was exactly the same as the scent in Shi Jinzhe's blood.

"It's true."

"Yes, it's true."

Hearing the sound behind her, Shekhlian didn't even close the window, turning around to rush towards her true, eternal spring.

·

The End.