Chapter 94 I am not worthy of celebrating my birthday

Chang Xile waited until she reached the dormitory building's entrance before she set Anping down. She tapped his forehead and said seriously, "Although you're a cat, you already understand some human nature, so you can't enter the girls' dormitory."

Anping looked at her silently, without objecting. It flicked its long tail and disappeared into the bushes by the roadside.

When Chang Xile opened the dormitory door, Ren Qing and Fang Xinai were trying on clothes. As soon as Fang Xinai buttoned her skirt, she rushed over and asked Chang Xile, "Why didn't you go back to the dormitory last night?"

"What's with your clothes? Are they new?" She looked down at Chang Xile, not knowing what she was thinking of. Her expression was three parts shocked, three parts resentful, and four parts heartbroken, just like a woman who has been waiting for her lover for a long time, but the other party has not returned.

Chang Xile blinked, but before she could say anything, Ren Qingxian came to her rescue: "Xile often goes out to play. She either goes to the mountains or stays at Guisi's house. By the way, do you know when Guisi will be back in the dormitory?"

Oh, that's a really difficult question to answer.

Fang Xinai stared at Chang Xile intently and said confidently, "She definitely doesn't know. She wasn't with Guise last night."

"How do you know?" Ren Qing asked.

"Because I pay close attention to current events and am always on the front lines of what's happening." Fang Xinai pulled out her phone and opened a picture that lay across their faces. It was a collection of news photos from last night's auction. For one of the photos, the photographer had intended to get a close-up shot of Prosit's "Blue Eyes." Since the venue was dim during the auction, most of the light came from the lights on the auction table and the large screen. The crowd below was blurred in the background, but only a man and woman sitting in the front row, facing the auction table, stood out clearly, their profiles illuminated by the light and shadow. Their features were so striking that the backlighting, far from blurring them, cast a veil of mystery over them.

The woman, wearing a blue cheongsam, with jet-black hair and skin as white as cream, gazed intently at the painting on the stage. The man sitting next to her, dressed in a suit, had the deep features of a foreigner, but his dark hair betrayed his native country. He rested his chin on his hand and stared absently at the woman beside him.

The comment section is full of exclamations from time to time:

[Haha… Even if you remove the “wan” from the auction, I still can’t afford it.]

[Why push it to me? I can’t afford it!]

[I guess the purpose of pushing this information to ordinary people is to let them know how precious these items are. Otherwise, it would be meaningless for them to wear them.]

[That painting is so beautiful…I almost held my breath during the final bidding.]

[Are the man and woman in the photo a couple? They look like a perfect match.]

[I’ve already imagined a novel about a wealthy family’s tragic love affair, hahaha]

When Fang Xinai came across this set of photos last night, she muttered to herself, "Dear phone, let's not force ourselves into a circle we can't fit into, okay?" and was about to scroll to the next post. However, when the photos automatically played to the third one, she caught a familiar sight out of the corner of her eye.

She studied it carefully for a while and confirmed that the woman was Chang Xile - she was the one who bought the cheongsam based on her observations!

Chang Xile had mentioned going to the auction the night before, but he hadn't mentioned going with Daisy Gang. After reading it, Fang Xinai searched for related articles to see if he had any firsthand information. He then discovered from several videos that the two of them had been together until the auction was over, and in the end, Chang Xile had simply not returned to the dormitory.

Fang Xinai leaned one hand against the wall, blocking Chang Xile's path. She asked seriously, "Did you two stay together the whole night?"

Chang Xile shook his head.

"Food, sex and nature are part of human nature. I'm not a pedantic person. You're an adult now, and it's no big deal to spend the night with someone you like. But first of all, the other person has to be someone you like and worthy of you!" Fang Xinai tried to persuade her earnestly, but halfway through she realized that Chang Xile had just denied her guess.

"You scared me to death... You don't know I didn't sleep well the whole night, worried that you'd been scammed." Fang Xinai finally breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't ask any more questions, just confirmed again, "Anyway, everything was fine with you last night. You weren't hurt, were you?"

Chang Xile nodded vigorously.

"That's fine." Fang Xinai took her hand and walked towards the dormitory, saying, "Help me choose which accessories to match with this outfit. I'm so worried."

Chang Xile still remembered what Ren Qing had said. She asked, "Didn't Guisi come back to stay last night?"

Fang Xinai nodded. "Maybe she's back in her rental house. But I haven't seen her livestreaming in the past few days. Did something happen between you two?"

Ren Qing glanced at his phone and said to the two of them, "She just sent a message saying she'd meet at the restaurant. Let's talk about it then."

After the three of them packed up, they went out together. Before going to the restaurant they had booked, Fang Xinai went to the cake shop to pick up the ice cream cake she had ordered in advance, and asked the owner to put a few more ice packs.

It was almost five o'clock when they arrived at the restaurant early. Fang Xinai handed the ice cream cake to the boss and asked him to put it in the refrigerator.

Fang Xin'ai had been putting a lot of effort into researching Yang Guisi's tastes these days. However, no matter how she asked, Yang Guisi's answers were always "all good" and "I love them all," like an impenetrable wall, leaving Fang Xin'ai feeling quite frustrated. She had no choice but to decide on a birthday cake based on Chang Xile and Ren Qing's preferences.

"Did Mr. Guise tell us where she is?" Chang Xile flipped through the menu and said, "Let's wait for her to arrive before ordering."

"It'll probably be there in about ten minutes." Ren Qing glanced at her phone and put it down. She felt something was a little strange. They were the ones who usually asked Chang Xile about Yang Guisi's whereabouts, but today it was the other way around. "Have you not been chatting with Guisi all day? I usually see you two together."

Chang Xile opened her mouth, finding it difficult to refute. They hadn't spoken much since Yang Guisi left a note at the rental house. But because she was too preoccupied with her own trivial matters, she didn't notice it for a while.

"Ding-ling-ling." The sound of a bell ringing came from the door. The three people looked towards the source of the sound and saw Yang Guisi pushing open the restaurant door. She was wearing a mask and a hat. Before closing the door, she looked outside for a few seconds.

"Guisi, here." Fang Xinai raised his hand.

She didn't know if it was an illusion, but Chang Xile saw Yang Guisi shudder when she heard her own name. She hurried over to the three of them, and only took off her mask and hat after they were seated.

When Yang Guisi raised her head, she met Chang Xile's focused gaze. The two stared at each other for a while, and Yang Guisi was the first to break her gaze. She smiled and nudged Chang Xile's arm with her elbow, asking, "What's up? I haven't seen you for a few days. Are you attracted by my beauty?"

Chang Xile thought for a moment and said sincerely, "Yes, I miss you a little bit."

Yang Guisi was stunned for a moment, but Fang Xinai spoke first: "Guisi, you didn't see Chang Xile wearing a cheongsam yesterday. She was absolutely stunning and would have absolutely captivated you."

Ren Qing laughed and said, "It's really beautiful! It's a pity you weren't there at the time. The three of us bought one each. I'll take you shopping when you're free. The owner there is really nice."

"Order the food quickly! I'm starving." Chang Xile felt a little embarrassed by the compliment, so he opened the menu to cover his face.

Yang Guisi looked at them and felt as if she had suddenly stepped from a chilly winter day into a warm and sunny greenhouse filled with fluttering butterflies. She smiled, nodded, and said, "Okay, let's go together next time."

After the waiters brought the dishes one after another, the four of them began to feast on them.

When the meal was almost halfway through, Yang Guisi finally remembered to ask, "Why did you suddenly say we're having a meal together? Is today a special day? Fang Xinai has been really annoying me these past few days."

Although she spoke with disdain, a smile lingered in her eyes. Fang Xinai bit his chopsticks, blew her a kiss, and said, "You say you're annoyed, but you still come here. I know you love me the most!"

Yang Guisi stretched out his left hand and pulled Chang Xile into his arms, suppressing a smile as he said, "I love Xile the most, okay?"

"Wow, sister Ren, look at those two." Fang Xinai covered her face with her hands and went to find Ren Qing to pretend crying. Yang Guisi was so amused by what she saw.

Fang Xinai turned her head away and winked at the waiter beside her. Suddenly, the light above their heads dimmed. Before Yang Guisi could understand what was going on, she heard the other three people clapping and singing:

"Happy birthday to you~Happy birthday to me~Happy birthday to Yang Guisi~Happy birthday to us~"

The waiter helped to remove the dishes that had been eaten and placed the ice cream cake in the middle of the table.

Fang Xinai cheered, took the candles and lit them on the cake, then raised his hand to signal the three people: "After making a wish, let's blow out the candles together."

The light from the candlelight was insufficient. Chang Xile tilted her head and saw that there were traces of tears in the corners of Yang Guisi's eyes.

She didn't have time to think too much and blew out the candles with Fang Xinai and Ren Qing.

The whole process took less than a minute. The waiter turned on the lights above their heads again, and some of the customers who were watching with smiles turned back to continue chatting with the people around them. No one noticed that one of the girls did not participate in the candle blowing session, but just sat there quietly.

Fang Xinai was clamoring to cut the cake, and Ren Qingxian noticed something was wrong with Yang Guisi: "Guisi, why are you crying?"

"Crying? You can't be moved by us..." Fang Xinai looked up. She was used to making jokes, but when she turned her eyes to Yang Guisi, she found that her expression was wrong. "...right?"

Yang Guisi's expression was so cold, so cold that if it weren't for the tears in her eyes, it would be almost impossible to tell what she was feeling. She raised her hand and wiped away the tears with the back of her hand, then turned to ask Chang Xile, "What day is it today on the lunar calendar?"

Chang Xile took out his cell phone, turned to the calendar page and showed it to Yang Guisi.

"October 2nd." Yang Guisi lowered his head, "So it's my birthday."

She stood up and said, "You guys go ahead, I'm leaving first." Then she walked towards the restaurant door.

"Guisi!" Fang Xinai called her. She said somewhat bewilderedly, "What's wrong? Is it... is it that you don't like the taste of the cake? I can go buy a new one..."

"It has nothing to do with you." Yang Guisi didn't look back and laughed at himself. "I don't deserve this birthday."

She pushed the door open, leaving only the sound of a string of bells.

Something is wrong with Yang Guisi.

Chang Xile remembered her unusual behavior over the past few days. She grabbed the mask and hat that Yang Guisi had forgotten to bring, stood up, and said to the remaining two people, "I'll go find her."

Fang Xinai watched them leave and exchanged glances with Ren Qing. She stared blankly at the ice cream cake on the table, which had already melted a little.

Yang Guisi walked very fast. Chang Xile could still see her back at first, but she lost track of her after turning a corner.

She was a little anxious and took out her cell phone to send a message to Yang Guisi.

(＾v＾): [Can we talk for a minute? Has anything happened to you recently?]

Yang Guisi’s chat bar showed “the other party is typing”, but in the end no new message was sent.

Chang Xile sighed and put down her phone. The school was just ahead. Could Yang Guisi be heading inside?

She strode forward in this direction and slowly noticed that the crowd was getting denser and denser, and she could faintly hear the sound of conversation among the crowd:

"What?"

"Oh my god, is this true..."

"Is there no one to take care of it?"

"Let's go and take a look."

A circle of people gathered in the central square of the school, and loud sounds of fighting and scolding could be heard from within the circle.

Chang Xile walked through the crowd and saw the aggressive middle-aged woman with the ramen hair. She was pulling a girl's arm, beating and scolding her, muttering extremely vicious words such as "heartless bitch", "bitch", "You should have been the one to die!"

The girl had a numb expression and didn't say a word. She was Yang Guisi who had just left the restaurant.