Chapter 98 Happy Birthday

On a snowy evening, the world was desolate and all was silent.

The Dandelion café, however, was warm and inviting.

The light and melodious sound of the wind chimes alerted the arrival of guests.

The small business owner, who was busy at the food preparation station, looked up and saw a person standing at the door.

He wore a dark gray cashmere coat, had broad shoulders, an upright posture, and wore elegant silver-rimmed glasses perched on his nose.

However, his glasses had been fogged up by the warmth of the room, making him look slightly comical.

Su Pu smiled and ran towards the person, not even bothering to take off her apron.

Upon closer inspection, Li Jichuan's nose was slightly red, clearly from the cold.

Su Pu reached out and covered his face. When the fog on Li Jichuan's glasses cleared, she finally saw a hint of reproach in his round, doe-like eyes.

"Doesn't it look good?" Li Jichuan lowered his arms, showing off his attire.

He thought Su Pu was drawn to his refined yet roguish charm.

Unfortunately, Su Pu can't make a particularly loud voice yet, and he doesn't have much presence when he gets angry.

"No, keep warm!" Su Pu's voice was stiff.

Feeling the chill clinging to the other person's coat, he was both angry and distressed. "You'll catch a cold!"

Li Jichuan's eyes widened slightly. He tilted his head and raised his chin slightly to indicate, "It's only a few dozen meters from the car. How could you catch a cold?"

From his perspective, Su Pu's cheeks puffed out a little in anger, like a pufferfish.

The pufferfish insisted: "Yes!"

"Oh, yes, definitely!"

Li Jichuan was secretly pleased, suppressing a laugh as he agreed: "If Xiao Pu says she will, then she will. I'll definitely wear more next time."

Hearing this, the pufferfish calmed down. It touched Li Jichuan's face, feeling the fine stubble on his face and the prickly texture in its palm.

Li Jichuan also closed his eyes and bent down slightly, letting him touch him as much as he wanted.

"Are you tired?" Su Pu asked.

Li Jichuan didn't open his eyes, pretending not to hear, "Hmm?"

"Are you tired?" Su Pu tried to raise his voice.

Li Jichuan asked again, "Hmm?"

Su Pu pouted and glanced back guiltily. The shop assistants were working in an orderly fashion, and Pei Zhicheng was concentrating on drawing.

He turned back, leaned in, and quickly pecked Li Jichuan's lips.

Li Jichuan couldn't suppress his smile any longer. He opened his eyes, his gaze filled with tenderness.

Only then did he answer, "Not tired."

"Now I'm even less tired," he said with a smile, inviting, "Want to have dinner together tonight?"

Su Pu nodded, extremely pleased.

A series of coughs sounded behind him. Su Pu turned around, and the shop assistants started smiling at him, looking like they were being charmed by his affection.

The young boss's ears turned red instantly. With a stern face, he quickly ran to the break room to change his clothes.

Li Jichuan was left standing alone at the door, continuing to endure everyone's mocking gazes.

However, Li Jichuan was clearly more thick-skinned than Su Pu. He stood very straight, his gaze unwavering, and when he got bored, he would gently tap the ground with his cane, looking completely at ease.

His temperament was rather cold and aloof, so the shop assistants dared not joke with him; they only dared to tease the good-natured boss.

They were all incredibly cowardly.

Li Jichuan looked around and saw that everyone had their heads down, and felt a little smug.

His gaze swept over Pei Zhicheng and found the socially awkward boy staring intently at him.

Li Jichuan raised an eyebrow. What?

Pei Zhicheng wrinkled his nose and looked at him with an expression as if he were looking at a great lecher.

His honest and simple-minded little Su Pu has already been corrupted by this person!

They've started showing off their affection in front of a room full of shop assistants!

However, Li Jichuan's oppressive aura was too strong, which frightened Pei Zhicheng quite a bit. He glanced at him twice and then lowered his head, pretending to be busy.

How terrifying! A perfectly good little cabbage has been eaten by a vicious pig...

...

The sky darkens very quickly in winter.

When Li Jichuan entered the store, it was still brightly lit by sunlight.

By the time Su Pu had changed her clothes, explained the closing arrangements to the shop assistant, and come out, the sky had already started to turn gray.

The streetlights came on, and the north wind whipped up the snow on the ground, making it dance merrily in the orange-yellow light.

Su Pu was dressed warmly, so she generously shared her scarf with Li Jichuan. The two held hands and got into the car.

The black sedan carried them to the restaurant, during which Li Jichuan would occasionally glance at the small box that Su Pu brought out of the store.

As they approached the restaurant, he finally couldn't hold back any longer and cleared his throat to ask, "What's this?"

Su Pu smiled and looked down as well.

The box wasn't very big; it was square and tied with a sky-blue ribbon.

"Is it your birthday?" Li Jichuan thought for a moment, then quickly denied it, "No..."

It wasn't his birthday, so what was in the box?

Before they could find the answer, they arrived at their destination.

The restaurant that night was chosen by Su Pu, who said it was a new-style bistro opened by a senior barista.

When they arrived, the restaurant was nearly empty, with only two diners.

Once they were seated, the waiters began to serve the dishes one by one. They were all home-style dishes and didn't look particularly novel.

After tasting a few bites of the food, Li Jichuan put down his fork and, while the waiter was away, quietly complained to Su Pu.

"The food here is just so-so, no wonder there aren't many people..."

Su Pu smiled awkwardly and didn't reply.

After hastily finishing his meal, Li Jichuan only realized what was inside the box that Su Pu had treasured so much when dessert was served.

It really was a cake.

It's a very basic design, with a palm-sized cake base covered in white cream. There's not much of a design on the cake itself, and then a ring of cream is piped around the surface for decoration.

It's not quite even yet. You can barely make out the "Happy Birthday" outlined in rose pink.

Su Pu was even more embarrassed. She scratched her neck and guiltily explained, "This is for you, a belated birthday celebration..."

Then, Su Pu gave a halting explanation.

Seeing how carefully Pei Zhicheng planned a birthday surprise for Ouyang, he was also a little tempted.

Li Jichuan's birthday is in January, but this January was the time when Su Pu was most seriously ill, so Li Jichuan naturally had no intention of celebrating.

Su Pu originally had a very weak concept of birthdays.

When he was a child, no one celebrated his birthday. Even when he grew up, his classmates never invited him to their birthday parties.

He doesn't have money to buy a gift...

However, when he saw Pei Zhicheng meticulously drawing a birthday comic for Ouyang, spending three hours choosing a greeting card for him, trying out several different colors and textures of pens, and then carefully writing, "Thank you for being born"—

It would be a lie to say I wasn't moved.

Su Pu was more grateful than anyone else for Li Jichuan's existence.

So even though it was more than half a year late, he still wanted to celebrate this special day for the other person.

Twenty-eight years and nine months ago, Li Jichuan was born. Su Pu had not yet come into the world, but she was sincerely grateful for this day.

After lighting the candle, Su Pu stammered:

"Thank you for being born."

"Thank you for loving me."

"Happy birthday. From now on, we'll celebrate every birthday together..."

Li Jichuan was speechless and stunned for a long time. The thin candle was almost burned out before he finally realized what was happening and made a wish that was obvious to everyone.

"Happiness, please keep falling on the person in front of me!"