Happy birthday, mom
This week had flown by so quickly, almost leaving a scratch. Friday evening arrived punctually once again, like an acquaintance who never missed an appointment but also never overstayed his welcome, reminding Cheng Xiaorui with a gentle yet distant gesture: five days had slipped away again.
Everything that happened has not faded with the passage of time. Instead, it is as clear as if it was just engraved a few days ago, which is frightening - the interrogation in the office, the cold "You are smart" in the corridor, the deep crescent marks on the palms made by fingernails, and the omnipresent, heavy feeling of depression, all still weigh clearly on my heart.
And tomorrow, the weekend arrives as expected. It brings two days of freedom, but also two days of emptiness. Like puppies chasing their tails, people will spin between relaxation and anxiety, planning and procrastination, and then, when the sun rises on Monday, they'll be caught up in a new cycle.
When the school bell finally rang, it no longer signaled a brief moment of relief, but rather a clarion call heralding another round of unpredictable storms. The setting sun painted the streets red. Cheng Xiaorui, carrying his schoolbag, fingered the scholarship money he had saved in his pocket. "Today is Mom's birthday..." he muttered to himself, his gaze scanning the shops along the street, finally stopping in front of a small cake shop.
When I pushed the door open, the sound of wind chimes echoed, and the sweet aroma of cream filled my face. Inside the glass counter, a variety of cakes were displayed, each as exquisite as a work of art.
His fingers lightly ran across the price list, and his brows furrowed. "They are all so expensive..." In the end, he chose the cheapest fruit cream cake, which was small and just enough for two people.
The boss put the cake into a paper box and tied a string. Cheng Xiaorui hesitated for a moment, then went to the jewelry store next door and bought a blue ribbon. That was his mother's favorite color. She would occasionally tie her hair loosely with the ribbon hanging on her shoulders, looking as gentle as a painting.
He carried the cake and walked carefully on the way home, fearing that the bumps would deform the cream. But at this moment.
"Move aside! Move aside! The brakes are not working!"
A sharp scream came from behind, and before Cheng Xiaorui could turn around, he was hit hard by a bicycle. He fell forward, his palm scraping against the rough ground, burning with pain. The cake box flew out of his hand and fell heavily to the ground, the cream squeezing out from the cracks in the carton, a horrible sight.
During the brief dizziness, Cheng Xiaorui didn't even look at his scratched palm. He just stared blankly at the completely ruined cake. A huge feeling of powerlessness mixed with pain, grievance and absurdity suddenly grabbed him.
It seems like I'm truly miserable. How many times will this drama, where fate seems to be targeting me, have to happen again?
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Can you stand up?" A crying female voice sounded incoherently. The girl who knocked him down hurriedly dropped her bicycle and rushed over, trying to help him up in a panic.
Cheng Xiaorui slowly looked up, stunned—was it her? The girl with flowing black hair and bright eyes was the one who had stood with Lu Ziyi in physical education class that day.
"I'm fine..." he whispered, patting his dusty trouser legs.
The girl bit her lower lip anxiously, and without further ado, she reached out to grab his arm, trying to help him up. "How can that be! I'm the one who broke your cake, and I have to compensate you. Come on, I'll go to the store with you and buy a new one!"
Before he could refuse, she grabbed his wrist and walked back in the direction they'd come from without a word. Cheng Xiaorui's body stiffened. The stranger's sudden touch made him instinctively want to pull his hand away, but the girl—Lin Wanqing—held it tightly, with an undeniable apology and persistence. He pursed his lips in silence, but ultimately let her pull him, somewhat mechanically following her lead.
On the way to the cake shop, the evening breeze brought a hint of coolness. "Is today your birthday?" Lin Wanqing tilted her head to look at him, her eyes filled with curiosity and lingering guilt.
"No," Cheng Xiaorui replied in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the sidewalk ahead, "It's my mother's birthday. She... hasn't had cake in a long time."
The girl's eyes lit up suddenly, and her tone was filled with undisguised admiration: "Wow! So that's how it is! You're quite filial!"
Cheng Xiaorui didn't respond, but just lowered his head even deeper, staring at the ground, but his ears were slightly hot.
"You seem so quiet," Lin Wanqing said, unfazed by his silence. Instead, she continued with a smile, "You're pretty, though, just too quiet." She paused, her voice suddenly lowered, as if sharing a secret. "I'll tell you in secret, I think you're even prettier than Brother Ziyi, even though that narcissistic bastard would never admit it."
The name "Lu Ziyi" was like a tiny ice spike, piercing Cheng Xiaorui's heart without warning, bringing with it a familiar dull pain and a suffocating feeling. He subconsciously tightened his fingers.
"Oh, my name is Lin Wanqing! Wan means sunset, Qing means sunny! You can just call me Wanqing!" The girl's voice became bright again, dispelling the momentary dullness. "What's your name?"
"...Cheng Xiaorui." He answered hesitantly.
"Cheng-Xiao-Rui," Lin Wanqing repeated seriously, then smiled brightly, "Then I'll call you Xiao Rui!"
They walked for a few minutes and arrived at the cake shop. Lin Wanqing pointed at the counter excitedly, "Boss, I want that double-layer fruit cake!"
Cheng Xiaorui looked up suddenly. "No, we don't need such a big one...it's very expensive."
Lin Wanqing waved her hands and said with a smile, "It's okay, it was my fault in the first place. I don't know what happened to the car, but it got out of control. It's only right that I compensate you!"
In the end, he walked out of the store carrying a cake that was twice as big as the one he originally bought. It felt heavy, like a luxury that did not belong to him.
Lin Wanqing didn't leave, but took a step closer, "Since it's your birthday, then I'll go buy you a gift?"
"...No need." Cheng Xiaorui took a half step back, his voice stiff, "The cake is enough, really."
"Oh, you're welcome!" Lin Wanqing directly took his arm and pulled him forward.
Cheng Xiaorui froze, his heartbeat quickening—not out of excitement, not out of shyness, but a strange, bewildered panic. He had never had physical contact with any girl except his mother. Like a puppet, he was being pulled by her, mechanically walking into a gift shop.
Lin Wanqing walked around the shelves and finally picked up a light blue dress with a light hem, like the summer breeze.
"How about this? Your mother will definitely like it!" she said with a smile.
Cheng Xiaorui stared at the skirt in a daze, and the image of his mother wearing it emerged in his mind - gentle and bright, just like the photo of her when she was young.
"...Thank you." He finally squeezed out these two words.
Lin Wanqing paid the money and stuffed the packaged skirt into his hand. "Do you have any contact information? Let's add one. I have something to do later. I will compensate you later."
Cheng Xiaorui was stunned. Actually, it didn't need to go this far. And even if he did add Lin Wanqing's contact information, if Lu Ziyi found out... He couldn't help but think of the intimate actions between the two of them during physical education class that day. It was obvious that they had a relationship.
"Forget it, it's just a small matter." Cheng Xiaorui refused.
Lin Wanqing had no choice but to wave her hand and stop forcing him. "Okay, then I'm leaving! By the way, happy birthday to your mother! Bye!"
She turned and ran away, her black hair rising in an arc under the setting sun. Cheng Xiaorui stood there, tightening his fingers, and whispered:
"……Thanks."
It was already 7:30 when I opened the door. The aroma of food wafted through the air. Mom, Cheng Zhixu, was asleep on the dining table, her apron still on, a plate of cold vegetables beside her. Hearing the door open, she jerked awake, her eyes filled with fatigue and tenderness.
"Chengcheng, why are you back so late today? The food is cold..." Her voice was soft and sleepy.
Her eyes fell on the cake and gift bag in his hands. She was stunned for a moment. "Huh? Why did you buy a cake?"
Cheng Xiaorui stood at the door, his throat suddenly choking. He took a deep breath and whispered, "Mom, today is your birthday... Can we celebrate it together?"
Cheng Zhixu was stunned, her eyes widening a little bit, and then her eyes turned slightly red. She walked over quickly and reached out to touch his face, her fingertips trembling slightly.
"Silly child..." Her voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of shattering the moment, "You still remember."
Cheng Xiaorui lowered his head, put the cake on the table, took out the blue ribbon and dress, and said in a low voice:
"Happy birthday, Mom."
Cheng Zhixu took the skirt and gently stroked the fabric with her fingers. Suddenly, she smiled, and at the same time, tears fell without warning. She said nothing, but pulled him into her arms and hugged him tightly, as hard as if she wanted to rub him into her life, just like when he was a child.
"Thank you, my Chengcheng..." Her voice was muffled on his shoulder. "Mom hasn't celebrated her birthday in a long...long time."
Cheng Xiaorui's body stiffened for a moment, a bit overwhelmed by his mother's intense and direct expression of emotion. But the warmth and trembling in her embrace felt so real. He slowly relaxed, hesitantly raising his hand, before gently hugging her back. His mother's body smelled faintly of cooking fumes, the delicate fragrance of sun-kissed laundry detergent, and a unique warmth of home.
As he lit the candles, Cheng Zhixu closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and whispered a wish: "I hope my Cheng Cheng... can be happy every day."
Cheng Xiaorui looked at her, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and he said softly: "Mom, the wish will not come true if you say it out loud."
Cheng Zhixu opened her eyes, smiled and rubbed his hair: "It's okay, Mom's biggest wish... is you." She seemed to always think only of him, but forget herself.
"Chengcheng, eat this one, it has the most strawberries." Cheng Zhixu's fingers looked particularly pale under the light, with a few tiny cracks faintly visible on the knuckles.
Cheng Xiaorui lowered his head and poked a bright red strawberry with his fork, the flesh oozing with slightly sour juice. Suddenly, his mother asked softly, "The cake and that dress...are they expensive?"
The moonlight filtered through the gauze curtains, casting mottled shadows on the fine lines around Cheng Zhixu's eyes. Cheng Xiaorui stared at the wood grain on the dining table, where a faint pencil mark from his childhood remained.
"Yes, the cake was paid for by my classmate." He swallowed the second half of his sentence - he didn't dare to say that the dress was also bought by that girl.
"My classmate is so nice." Cheng Zhixu reached out to wipe the cream from the corner of her son's mouth, her fingertips rough but warm. Suddenly, her shoulders trembled violently, and she covered her mouth with her hands and coughed violently. She turned around hurriedly, but Cheng Xiaorui could still see the dark red leaking through her fingers, like plum blossoms blooming in the snow.
"Mom?" He stood up suddenly, and the chair legs scraped harshly on the floor.
Cheng Zhixu hid her fist in her apron pocket. "It's okay," she smiled, the curve of her mouth a little forced. "I've been too tired from work lately. Can you help Mom put the cake in the refrigerator? You can eat it tomorrow."
Before he could finish his words, the piercing roar of a motorcycle suddenly rang out from downstairs, like the roar of a wild animal, ripping through the quiet of the night. Cheng Xiaorui's fork clanged onto the porcelain plate—it was a fork Zhao Dakun had modified, and the exhaust pipe roar was as loud as its owner. Almost the entire second year of high school recognized this sound.
"I, I'll go collect the clothes!" He almost jumped up and rushed to the balcony, not caring about the pain when his knee hit the corner of the table.
His mother's blue shirt swayed on the clothesline in the night breeze, like a struggling bird. Downstairs, three figures were stretched out by the streetlights. The moment Lu Ziyi looked up, Cheng Xiaorui suddenly squatted down.
His heart pounded against his ribs, blood roared in his eardrums, and a rusty taste of fear rose in his throat—why were they downstairs from his house?
"Chengcheng?" Mother's worried voice came from behind.
"...The wind was so strong that the clip fell off." He clutched the blue shirt tightly. The fabric still smelled of sunshine, mixed with the fragrance of cheap laundry detergent. Only when the engine noise from downstairs faded did he realize that his nails had dug deep into his palm, and the crescent-shaped wound was oozing blood.
The halo of the desk lamp cast a dim yellow hue on the math paper. Cheng Xiaorui stared blankly at the last big question. A suppressed cough emanated from his mother's room, cutting his nerves like a blunt knife. In the desk drawer lay this month's living expenses, so thin that light could see through them.
His phone suddenly vibrated, the cold light from the screen making him squint. A photo had been sent from an unfamiliar number—a picture of him and Lin Wanqing in a cake shop in a dim alley.
Then another message popped up: "See you in the equipment room after school next Monday."
Cheng Xiaorui's fingertips cast a trembling shadow on the screen. Did they come here just to send this message? Outside the window, a dead leaf was blown by the wind and slapped against the glass, like some kind of ominous omen.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
