birthday party

On a mid-July afternoon, sunlight poured down like molten gold, filtering through the hospital windows and casting bright patches of light across the floor. Shen Zhiyuan, supported by Shen Zhihe, exited the hospital building. He tilted his head slightly, feeling the long-lost, unobstructed sunlight on his face. The warmth seeped from his skin to his heart, and the joy of being discharged spread like a quietly blooming flower, radiating from his eyebrows and eyes.

Meanwhile, a grand banquet hall was already bustling with activity. Shen Zhihe and Xu Zhiyi were making the final checks on the birthday party being held in Xu Huanxi's honor.

The banquet hall was spacious and bright, its most eye-catching feature being the massive projection screen in front. The screen was currently dimmed, yet it resembled a canvas waiting to be unveiled. Shen Zhihe had chosen this spot deliberately. As his gaze swept across the projection screen, a subtle smile flickered in his eyes—he knew that today's banquet would be far more than just an ordinary birthday celebration.

Celebrities from all walks of life gathered, the air filled with the sweet aroma of champagne and whispered greetings—tonight, everyone had come for Xu Huanxi. As the host's gentle voice officially announced the banquet's start, the guests glanced at the large screen in the center of the stage. According to protocol, it should have displayed sweet photos of Shen Zhiyuan and Xu Huanxi from their acquaintance to their relationship, perhaps even a heartwarming confession from Shen Zhiyuan prepared for Xu Huanxi.

However, the moment the screen suddenly lit up, the picture that appeared was not the warm and cozy one expected.

It was a grainy surveillance video, blurry but clear enough for everyone to see the scene. In it, Xu Huanxi's clothes were slightly disheveled, her hair slightly damp, evidently fresh from intense exercise. She was being held tightly in the arms of a stranger—later identified as Li Liang. The two men were intimate, whispering to each other, their expressions tinged with hidden excitement.

"After that Shen Zhiyuan dies," Xu Huanxi's voice was clearly transmitted through the speakers throughout the banquet hall, her charming tone tinged with cold calculation, "I will use Zhiyi to cheat Shen's shares. Then, we can take the money and live a romantic life around the world."

Li Liang lowered his head and smiled in her ear. Instead of stopping her, he echoed her in a lighter but equally vicious tone: "That money-losing thing should have been put to good use. After all... it's not Shen Zhiyuan's child."

After the words fell, the two looked at each other and laughed, and the laughter seemed particularly harsh in the silent banquet hall.

The next second, the screen suddenly went black, as if it had never been lit. But those few minutes of surveillance footage exploded like a thunderclap across the crowd. Everyone's smile froze, and shock, disdain, and inquiry were cast at Xu Huanxi, who stood at the head table. The air froze in an instant, leaving only the suffocating silence left after the clinking of cups.

The clamor of the banquet hall seemed to be silenced by invisible hands, and the air froze instantly. Xu Huanxi's heart felt like it was being weighed down by a huge rock. She lowered her head in guilt, her fingertips unconsciously twisting the hem of her skirt, not daring to look at the various glances around her.

Xu Zhiyi felt as if all her strength had been drained from her. The blow came unexpectedly. She stared blankly at her mother beside her, her clear eyes filled with confusion and hurt. She couldn't understand why her usually gentle mother could say such hurtful words, and even more so why such unbearable speculations were directed at her. She carefully tugged at the corner of her mother's clothes, her voice choked with uncontrollable sobs, like a feather trembling in the wind: "What's said in the video... surely it can't be true?"

Xu Huanxi still kept her head down, her long hair covering most of her face, leaving only her eyes exposed. At this moment, they were as empty as glass covered with a layer of dust. She repeatedly asked herself in her heart how things had come to this point, but she could not find any answer.

On the other side, Shen Zhiyuan suddenly covered his chest, his face pale. He staggered and held on to the pillar beside him, fumbled to take out the heart medicine from his pocket, and swallowed it with the water handed to him by someone. After a long time, the dull pain in his chest was slightly relieved and his breathing became more stable.

Gu Hanzhi nudged Shen Zhihe beside her with her elbow, lowered her voice, and said with a bit of complicated amusement in her tone: "Although, your stepmother... plays quite a lot." The lines on Shen Zhihe's profile were tense, he just pulled the corners of his mouth and smiled without saying a word.

A moment later, Shen Zhihe strode to the front of the stage and picked up the microphone offered by the host. He cleared his throat, and his steady voice carried through the speakers, silencing any remaining whispers. "I'm very sorry for making such a fool of myself. Let's just hastily end this banquet." He paused, his eyes sweeping over the guests. "Thank you very much for taking the time to attend. On behalf of the Shen Group, I express my gratitude and apologies." He bowed slightly and deeply.

These words not only gave everyone a way out, but also exuded an unquestionable authority. Everyone looked at each other, naturally refusing to discuss anything further. They soon dispersed tactfully. The once bustling banquet hall was now filled with only scattered figures and a mess of cups and plates on the floor.

Shen Zhihe looked at Gu Hanzhi, his tone filled with fatigue and struggle that was hard to conceal, "Hanzhi, this is my family's affairs, it's complicated and deep, I don't want you to be involved, you..." The rest of the words were choked in his throat. He couldn't tell whether he was persuading her to leave or was afraid that she would be implicated.

Gu Hanzhi paused slightly, took a deep breath, and her voice was as calm as a deep pool of water. "I understand." She paused, then slowly added, "I hope you can succeed." After that, she turned around resolutely. The sound of her high heels tapping on the ground gradually faded away and disappeared into the end of the corridor without a trace of nostalgia.

Elsewhere, Shen Zhiyuan's chest heaved violently. The rage he had suppressed earlier finally found an outlet after the guests had dispersed. He relaxed his breath slightly, but his eyes seemed to have cooled as he quickly rushed over to Xu Huanxi.

"Pa——" A crisp slap sound echoed in the empty hall, which was particularly harsh.

Xu Huanxi was hit so hard that her head tilted to the side, and clear fingerprints instantly appeared on her fair cheek. She looked up in disbelief, and then laughed at herself. This ending was all her own fault.

Disgust and hatred were surging in Chen Zhiyuan's eyes, and every word was as sharp as a knife. "Bitch! I was so blind back then. I was deceived by your innocent appearance. I didn't even realize that you and Li Liang had been secretly having an affair for a long time!" His voice trembled slightly with anger, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

Xu Huanxi's eyes had changed. Those eyes, once like those immersed in a mountain spring, had now completely lost their former clarity and purity, leaving only a ruthlessness as cold as ice, and a dense web of calculations hidden in them, entangling one like a spider web, making one panic.

She suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with self-mockery, yet more of a desperate determination. "Yes! I admit it." She bit each word with such force that it felt as if blood was being squeezed from between her teeth. "But in the end, you're just too kind. So kind... that you were deceived by someone like me." The last few words were light, yet they pierced like needles, carrying with them a thinly veiled irony.

Xu Huanxi's voice was icy, and the corners of her mouth curled up with a hint of cruel mockery, as if she were discussing an insignificant object. "Since things have come to this, I might as well tell you that Wu Yantang died because I over-stimulated her, coupled with her pre-existing heart disease."

She paused, the contempt in her eyes almost overflowing. Her tone was light, but every word was like a needle piercing Shen Zhiyuan's heart: "It's really useless. I just said a few more words in front of her bedside and she broke out in sweat and died. In the end, it was her own fault. Who can I blame?"

Chen Zhiyuan's pupils suddenly constricted, his knuckles turning white from the strain, his fists clenched so tightly they seemed to dig into his flesh. He stared at the woman whose eyes, once so clear, now held a fierceness like a poisoned ice ridge, every inch of her exuding an unfamiliar chill.

"What did you say?" His voice was as dry as if it had been rubbed by sandpaper. Wu Yantang's pale face and rapid breathing before his death, all the images that he had forced to suppress in his heart, were now torn open by Xu Huanxi's light words.

Xu Huanxi smiled, with a twisted sense of pride and a bit of madness in her smile: "I said, she was mad at me. Who made her occupy Mrs. Shen's position for so long? Who made you only have eyes for her forever?"

Shen Zhiyuan felt a chill run from his feet to his head, and his blood seemed to freeze at that moment. He had always believed Xu Huanxi's innocence and tenderness were genuine, but it turned out to be an elaborate deception from beginning to end. And he had become an accomplice, using his "kindness" to give the vicious woman an opportunity to exploit.

"How could I not have realized before," his voice was filled with a chill that penetrated the bones, "that you could be so vicious."

The smile on Xu Huanxi's face faded a little, but she still straightened her back: "It's not too late to find out now. Chen Zhiyuan, don't you want to know the truth? This is the truth. You can deal with me, kill me, or send me to jail, I will accept it." But the calculating light in the depths of her eyes never went out - she bet that Chen Zhiyuan still remembered their old feelings, and she bet that he would not dare to make Wu Yantang's death public in such an unbearable way.

Chen Zhiyuan's brow furrowed slightly, his fingertips curling imperceptibly at his sides. Past memories, mingled with tenderness and entanglement, flooded his mind like a tide, nearly changing the tone of the words on his lips. The lingering reluctance to bear the old love threatened to break through his rational defenses.

At that moment, Shen Zhihe keenly caught the fleeting quiver in his eyes. He lowered his eyelids, his long lashes casting a fragile shadow beneath his eyes. His voice was tempered with just the right amount of pain: "My mother... She should have had countless ordinary days to slowly pass, but because of that twisted jealousy in your heart, her life was hastily ended."

At this point, he seemed to be choked by something, and after a long pause, he added in a choked, broken tone: "I haven't even had the chance to let her see me wearing a suit, holding the bride's hand, and telling her that I have grown up."

These words were like a sharp knife, piercing Shen Zhiyuan's heart. He had always been partial to this son, but seeing his red eyes and choked voice, the last bit of hesitation he had towards Xu Huanxi was instantly crushed. He suddenly raised his eyes, and the look he gave Xu Huanxi was as cold as ice. Every word he spoke was devoid of any warmth: "I will expose everything you have done to the world, so that everyone can see your true face. From now on, you can no longer stay in the Shen family."

Xu Huanxi's footsteps were a bit flustered, and her heels made a rapid sound on the polished floor. She grabbed Xu Zhiyi's arm, her fingertips slightly white from the force, and her eyes were filled with urgent pleading: "Zhiyi, please tell your father quickly that mother didn't mean to do it. She was just confused for a moment..."

She expected a familiar, gentle response from beneath her palm, just like the countless times her daughter had leaned on her. But Xu Zhiyi struggled slightly, and the hand she was holding slowly withdrew. The movement was not heavy, but it carried an unmistakable sense of distance.

Xu Zhiyi lowered her eyes to look at her bare wrist, where the warmth of her mother's earlier exertion still lingered, yet her heart felt as if it were submerged in icy water. When she looked up, the lingering admiration in her clear eyes was gone, replaced only by a faint disappointment, like the surface of a lake covered in mist. "Mom, when I was little, you told me the story of Meng's mother moving three times, saying that mothers always treat their children like the apple of their eyes."

She paused, her voice soft as a sigh, yet every word fell clearly into Xu Huanxi's ears: "I originally believed you, that you would protect me like a treasure. But just now, your behavior and the calculation in your eyes were calmer than looking at a piece of merchandise - it turns out that in your heart, your daughter can be exchanged for money."

Xu Huanxi's face paled, and she murmured something, trying to defend herself, but the strangeness in her daughter's eyes made her throat tighten. Her gaze was no longer upward, but level, even with a scrutiny she had never seen before, as if she were sizing up a stranger whose face had suddenly changed beyond recognition.

"You always say I'm your own flesh and blood," Xu Zhiyi's fingertips curled slightly, "but can flesh and blood be sold?"

As the last word fell, she gently took a half step back, widening the distance between them. That half step, like an invisible chasm, instantly separated the mother-daughter bond that had lasted for over a decade. Xu Huanxi froze in place, staring at her daughter's thin back. For the first time, she realized that she had never truly understood the daughter she had raised since childhood.

The next day, when Xu Huanxi moved out of the Shen family's house, she didn't ask the servants for help. She carried the small suitcase she had brought with her when she arrived and walked out of the Shen family's gate step by step. The creaking sound of the door hinges was particularly clear in the morning silence, as if to put an end to this farce that had lasted for several months.

The suitcase's wheels rolled over the cobblestones in front of the door, making a regular sound. Xu Huanxi didn't look back. The sun was slowly peeking out from behind the clouds, casting a long shadow behind her, gradually distancing herself from the upturned eaves of the Shen family's house.

This banquet, which started with excitement and ended with farce, finally ended completely with her departure.