May 2nd—the shared birthday of Zhou Xiaozheng and his daughter, Zhou Jiao. Eighteen years ago, on this day, Zhou Xiaozheng welcomed his most precious daughter. Forty-two years earlier, his mother, devastated by the loss of her beloved, gave birth to him in despair.

That morning, father and daughter stood before the graves of Zhou Jinyu and Gu Mingzhu, burning paper money with sorrow in their hearts. Now was a time for them to heal alone, before returning to the foot of the mountain and starting all over again.

"The dead are gone, and the living should live on" - after crying and feeling pain, life still has to go on.

Back at the foot of the mountain, the driver drove them to the restaurant. At this time, the private room was already full of three tables of people, all waiting for the father and daughter to arrive.

This time, aside from the Cheng family, Zhao Chuangguang and his wife, and a few close friends of Zhou Xiaozheng's, the Lin family was still absent. Was it Old Madam Cheng's arrangement, or had Lin Lishan not originally invited? Zhou Xiaozheng and his daughter didn't ask.

Mr. Lin was away on business, perhaps to avoid this banquet. Without Mr. Lin, the Lin family seemed to be even more at odds with the Zhou family.

The entire banquet was arranged by Old Lady Cheng and Lin Lishan, and Zhou Xiaozheng and his daughter were not notified until this morning, just before they left. Everything seemed both expected and unexpected.

"Come on, come and eat the noodles first. After eating, you will live a long and healthy life and be happy every day." Old Mrs. Cheng smiled when she saw the father and daughter come in.

"I'm so sorry for being late. When did you all arrive?" Zhou Xiaozhengxu supported the old lady and greeted everyone.

After Zhou Jiao took her seat, she focused on her mother, Lin Lishan's reaction. Since she hadn't seen anything unusual from her, she didn't bring it up again.

Zhou Xiaozheng symbolically took a bite, put down his chopsticks and said quickly, "Don't be polite, brothers. We are all family here. Auntie, please serve the food."

"Brother Zheng, we're not in a hurry. You and Jiaojiao should finish your noodles first. These are cooked by the old lady herself. If you eat noodles cooked by an elder, you will definitely live a long life."

Zhou Xiaozheng listened to everyone's conversation and saw that several brothers came alone. "Why don't you bring your families? You will have to take care of A Guang and his sister-in-law for the next few days. I will go to the south and be back soon."

"My sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law are busy at work, so let's get together tonight. Brother Zheng, remember to be there on time."

…

Everyone gathered last night, and the itinerary for the next few days has been arranged. After the birthday party, tomorrow the family, with the exception of Lin Lishan, who will arrange for the troupe's performance, will follow the Chengs south to visit their Jiangnan old house to trace their roots and pay homage.

How to face the Lin family after returning to Beijing was another matter. Seeing that her parents had never mentioned asking her to meet Mrs. Lin, Gu Ruyi, Zhou Jiao learned to play deaf and dumb.

Seeing Zhao Chuangguang making a fuss about toasting, Zhou Jiao rolled her eyes and had already made up her mind. Since her godfather and godmother were staying in a guesthouse tonight, she would go with them and go home later to avoid Lin Xuezhen and her two sisters.

At the banquet, after half a round of drinks, the atmosphere became even more harmonious and lively. Zhao Chuangguang was a natural at livening up the atmosphere, and under his leadership, everyone let go of their inhibitions and started joking around.

The gifts Zhang Guoqing brought out were especially delightful. Even Zhou Jiao, who hadn't figured out when Zhang Guoqing had prepared the wooden relief, couldn't help but laugh at the sight of a young girl in a princess dress, riding on her father's neck, her father holding a candied haws stick in one hand.

Zhao Chuangguang clapped his hands, raised Ping An, and said with a smile: "Baby, do you think this little sister is pretty? Do you like her? Xiaowu, take out everything in your bag. Let me see what else you have."

"Godfather, you have a really good eye," Zhang Guoqing said with a smile. He carefully unrolled the newspaper, revealing a set of egg carvings depicting the portraits of five members of his family and a set of colorful clay sculptures.

"Oh, that's a great idea. It's more interesting than taking group photos. Wife, how about we get one too? Did Xiaowu prepare it for his last trip to City D?"

Zhang Guoqing nodded and smiled at Zhao Chuangguang. He was embarrassed to say so since there were so many people around. He had prepared photos for everyone except his godfather's family. He didn't have photos for the others. These handicrafts took time to make, so he paid upfront and then had them shipped. Zhao Chuangguang and his parents' sets would take another two weeks to arrive.

Huang Huimin's attention was focused on the women's table. The Cheng family's two daughters-in-law, worried that Zhao Chuangguang was too busy with a meeting, were inviting her shopping. Everyone was discussing the grand May Day holiday, which made her secretly regret arriving a day late. When she heard her husband's question, she smiled at him and immediately turned back to listen.

Seeing her look of regret, Lin Lishan thought she felt the same way as herself, so she whispered in her ear, "I want to go to Jiangnan, too. I plan to leave on the 6th. You stay here for a few days first, and then we'll go together."

Huang Huimin was a little surprised when she heard this, but then she realized what was happening and felt a bit amused. She didn't need to wait for a few days to go to Jiangnan. Her elder sister-in-law was in Haishi and she could go there anytime. However, she was really tempted. It was so crowded and lively.

"Then wait until A Guang finishes his meeting and then we'll go together. We'll make an appointment with Brother Zheng later on where to meet up."

Lin Lishan's eyes curved into crescents with joy.

At another table, Zhou Jiao, faced with red envelopes and gifts from everyone, quickly returned the red envelopes and accepted the gifts. She smiled and carefully opened the gifts, thanking everyone all the while.

Today was her only birthday party in her two lifetimes. In her previous life, except for Zhang Guoqing who celebrated for her, she had never celebrated her birthday. For others, birthdays were a time for family reunions and celebrations. But for her, it was also the day she came into the world to suffer. What was there to celebrate?

But now, on May 2nd, a day that is the same in both lives, everything has changed with her father. She is grateful to God and to her grandmother Gu Mingzhu. On such a day, she feels the warmth of family love.

What touched Zhou Jiao the most and what she cherished the most were the two bowls of longevity noodles prepared by Mrs. Cheng herself and two necklaces with photos of them father and daughter inlaid on the pendants.

She had eaten and cooked a lot of longevity noodles. Aside from Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Xiaozheng, no one had ever personally prepared them for her on her birthday. For Old Lady Cheng, this bowl of longevity noodles was a token of deep family affection.

At that moment, she thought of Grandma Zhou, far away in the Northeast, and of Zhou Xue, imprisoned. For seventeen years, every May 2nd, everyone had deliberately forgotten about it. And every September 9th, when Zhou Xue received the red-skinned egg from Grandma Zhou and faced her smug self, what did she think?

Facing Grandma Zhou's face full of guilt, she smiled and shook her head. Yes, year after year, she'd gotten used to it, and it didn't matter anymore. But life hadn't taught her the ways of the world, nor could she learn to see through people's hearts.

Zhang Guoqing grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

Zhou Jiao smiled at him after she regained consciousness. This man understood her so well, he could spot any abnormality. Thinking of his monthly visits to Grandma Zhou, she smiled knowingly again—what a silly man!