Chapter 269 The Reassurance and Happiness of Being Cared For

Although Xu Yue felt it was a pity, she still expressed her understanding.

"It's okay, you can go back with Auntie first, and come with me to the pedestrian street next time. I'll go now, bye-bye."

"Bye-Bye."

Shen Xuewei waved and watched her leave.

She and Chen Fangli got on a motorcycle and headed to the bus station to catch a minibus back to Fuxing Village.

Back in Fuxing Village, Shen Xuewei saw Chu De'an in front of the house and called out happily.

"I'm back."

Chu De'an rushed over and winked at her.

"Sis, there's a surprise for you today."

As Shen Xuewei entered the house and put her schoolbag down, she asked:

"What surprise? Why are you being so mysterious?"

Chu De'an shook his head. "You'll find out tonight. It's not time yet."

Shen Xuewei was curious, but Chu De'an refused to say anything, so she simply stopped caring.

He turned on the TV in the room and lured Chu Dexi, who was sitting at the door, inside.

Chen Fangli and Chu Fu were busy preparing dinner in the kitchen. Whenever the children were home, they would prepare a more substantial meal than usual.

This time, an extra fish was prepared on the table compared to before.

After dinner, everything was packed away, and it was past nine o'clock in the evening. No one from the village came to chat anymore.

Grandpa Chu closed the door, locked it, and turned off the lights.

Shen Xuewei sat in the chair, still confused, when Chu De'an appeared behind her at some point and suddenly covered her eyes.

Shen Xuewei was surprised for a moment, "De'an, what are you doing?"

Chu De'an covered her eyes and pushed her toward the table.

"Sis, look what this is!"

The moment the hand was removed from Shen Xuewei's eyes, Shen Xuewei's gaze fixed on the birthday cake on the dining table with her name on it.

"This is……"

Chen Fangli placed the crown on her head, pressed it down, and reminded her:

"It's your birthday today, don't you even remember?"

Shen Xuewei vaguely remembered that today was indeed her birthday.

As someone who never celebrates her birthday, her birthday is no different from any other ordinary day, so she never bothers to remember it.

Chen Fangli's voice, tinged with remorse, rang out:

“My second aunt had never thought about these things before. De’an came back to me a few days ago and told me that a classmate at school had a birthday party and gave him candy. He came back and asked me why I never celebrate his birthday.”

"It suddenly dawned on me that you little ones have never had a proper birthday celebration since you were born."

"Today, you're turning fourteen. It's my fault for only now preparing your birthday cake after you've already turned fourteen..."

Shen Xuewei shook her head, "Hello, Second Aunt, Weiwei is very happy today."

Chen Fangli tucked her loose hair behind her ear and said gently:

"If you like it, that's good. How about your second aunt celebrates your birthday with you every year from now on?"

Shen Xuewei nodded vigorously, "Yes!"

Chu De'an stared intently at the cake on the table. At Chen Fangli's prompting, he sang two lines of Happy Birthday and then tugged at Shen Xuewei's sleeve.

"Sis, hurry up and make a wish. After you make your wish, could you give me the second slice of birthday cake?"

Chen Fangli lightly tapped him on the forehead, "Stop bothering your sister. She can give the second piece of birthday cake to whoever she wants."

She whispered, "The second piece of cake, who said it was for you? I want some too..."

Chu De'an compromised, "Alright, then I'll eat the third piece."

Grandpa Chu, sitting to the side, glared and said, "Hey, where did you put your grandpa?"

With a smile on her lips, Shen Xuewei closed her eyes and made a wish amidst the noise of the others, then blew out the candles.

Chen Fangli handed over the tools, and Shen Xuewei cut off a piece of cake, first giving it to Chen Fangli, then to Grandpa Chu and Chu Fu, and then to Chu De'an.

Meeting Chu De'an's accusing gaze, Shen Xuewei blinked and lowered her voice, saying, "Yours is the biggest."

Upon hearing this, Chu De'an immediately became happy, "Sister, you're so kind."

Chu Dexi stood on tiptoe, tugging at his pants, looking up at him with longing eyes.

"Brother, I want to eat..."

Chu De'an pulled up his pants and shoved a small piece of cake into his mouth with a disgruntled expression.

"Eat, eat, eat, all you do is cry and eat all day long."

He turned to Chen Fangli and complained, "Mom, you have to do something about him. He almost pulled my pants down just now."

Shen Xuewei gave Chu Dexi a small piece of cake, beckoned him over, and coaxed him to sit on a small stool to eat.

Chen Fangli ate her cake while talking to Shen Xuewei.

Hearing Chu De'an's words, he casually said, "Okay, I'll deal with him later. If that doesn't work, you can take off his pants too, as a way of making up for it."

Chu De'an glanced at Chu Dexi, who was sitting on the ground eating cake, and sighed.

"Forget it, I won't argue with him. Mom, you're not allowed to scold him later either."

The others laughed at his expression, which made them want to teach him a lesson but couldn't bring themselves to do so.

After finishing the cake, Chen Fangli cleaned the living room and the table, and urged Shen Xuewei to take a shower.

After Shen Xuewei finished showering, Chu De'an followed closely beside her until they returned to her room, where he handed her three small notes.

Shen Xuewei rubbed her wet hair with a towel in one hand and took the note with the other.

She asked, puzzled, "What is this?"

Upon closer inspection, the note read: Shoe Cleaning Voucher.

Chu De'an explained somewhat embarrassedly, "Well, I was originally planning to prepare a birthday present for you. But my lunchbox was stolen, so I used the money I had saved to buy a new lunchbox..."

Shen Xuewei felt sorry for him, but she couldn't help but laugh.

He scratched his head and said, "I'm broke, so consider this my birthday present to you."

He held up three fingers, "With this slip of paper, you can exchange it for three chances to clean my shoes."

Shen Xuewei placed the three notes on the bedside table. "Okay, I'll bring my shoes for you to clean when I'm on vacation."

"Alright, it's almost midnight, go back to sleep."

"Okay, then I'll go back."

Chu De'an left, and casually closed the door to Shen Xuewei's room.

Shen Xuewei sat on the bed playing on her phone. Remembering the gift box Xu Yue had given her today, she slightly got up and reached for the schoolbag at the foot of the bed.

She later put the gift box in her schoolbag and never opened it to see what was inside.

The small gift box was opened, revealing a snowman crystal ball, a four-leaf clover bracelet, and a greeting card.

Shen Xuewei picked up the greeting card.

The greeting card simply read, "Happy Birthday to her."

She put down the greeting card, picked up the crystal ball and shook it. The snowman inside the crystal ball, wearing a red scarf, began to scatter tiny "snowflakes" as it swayed.

Shen Xuewei stared at the gift for a long time, feeling a sense of peace and happiness at being remembered.

In this life, she felt very lucky.

I have family, close friends, and money; everything is wonderful.

Shen Xuewei stayed at the Chu family's house for two days. With the arrival of Sunday, she quickly returned to school and resumed her busy daily life as a boarding student.