Gu Laoliu turned on the light, and the light immediately filled the entire room. The room was bright, and the candle flame was still flickering up and down.
The number "Nineteen" was written on the cake, surrounded by a circle of red cream petals, and "Happy birthday!" was written in cursive English at the bottom.
"Happy birthday!" She said silently in her heart, but her thoughts had drifted away.
She hasn't celebrated her birthday for a long time.
In her previous life, Su Nianmei was born in an earthquake. Both her parents died, leaving only her grandmother. The older generation had no concept of birthdays and called celebrating birthdays "a dog climbing a wall."
When I was a child, on my birthday, the elders always liked to make a bowl of noodles with an egg, as if it was a "dog climbing the wall".
At that time, the family was not well off and lived on pensions and grandma's cooking skills. Su Nianmei can still remember that bowl of steaming hot noodles, drizzled with a few drops of sesame oil, with a few chopped green onions floating on top.
There is an egg hidden in the noodles. The egg should be runny. It goes into your stomach with a "slurp" and your stomach feels warm.
After eating the noodles, the old woman would always rub Su Nianmei's head with her hands, but her eyes would stare out the window. When Su Nianmei was a child, she was curious and looked in the direction her grandmother was looking. There was only a moon hidden in the dark clouds, and she couldn't tell whether it was round or flat. She only remembered that there were clouds with a yellow halo hiding in the deep blue sky, so blue.
Later, the person looking at the moon gradually became herself. She often wondered whether her parents would have died if she had not been born that day.
She no longer celebrated her birthdays afterwards. Instead, she took a small stool and sat under a big tree, staring at the moon in a daze. She finally figured out the smell of the moon: it was cold and lonely, and it made people feel chilled.
And now the whole family is here, gathered together, and the person she loves is standing in that heart.
Su Nianmei looked at it and felt her heart gradually warming up.
Like the candle flame, flickering up and down.
"Mom!" Gu Xiaobao's voice brightened up, and Su Nianmei came back to her senses.
"Thank you!" Su Nianmei's voice was faint. She stood in the middle, but there was joy all around her.
Gu Xiaobao chirped, "Mom! I heard from our class kid that foreigners make a wish before eating birthday cakes."
The little guy raised his leg and was about to step over the candle and walk towards Su Nianmei. Xiaobao was small, and when he stepped over, his trouser leg was about to touch the flame.
Su Nianmei took a breath of cold air.
Gu Xiaobao's arm was pulled up by Gu Xichao.
The little guy was also startled. One leg was propped up behind the candle, and the other leg was hanging in the air, swaying, with a dazed expression.
Gu Xiaobao immediately retracted his foot, squatted down, and blew out the candle in front of him with a "puff-puff" sound, his little face puffing up.
With sparkling eyes: "Mom, make a wish!"
Uncle Ji had a stern face, and he looked elegant in his Zhongshan suit. He said in a serious voice, "Xiaomei, make a wish."
Su Nianmei closed her eyes, clasped her hands together, and silently made a wish in her heart.
When he looked up, Gu Xichao was standing in front of him.
Su Nianmei felt that Gu Xichao was a little different.
As for what was different, she really couldn't tell. He looked the same, but his demeanor was like a different person.
Gu Xichao looked at Su Nianmei with a smile. He had been observing Su Nianmei since the moment the lights came on. The little girl's eyes were full of expressions, some dull, some bitter, some surprised, and some shy, but the only thing missing was surprise.
He held his breath and his hands and feet were cold.
His heart ached and felt blocked. He felt like he was going crazy and was actually daydreaming. However, his own existence was a living example of this.
His little girl was back with him again.
He didn't dare to believe it, but he had to believe it.
But I want to believe it.
Gu Xiaobao was shouting beside him: "Dad, Mom!"
Old Mrs. Ji said with a smile: "This young couple is so good, just like being immersed in a honey pot, they only have each other in their eyes and hearts."
Su Nianmei was startled by these words and coughed out of embarrassment.
Gu Xichao didn't have any big reaction. He walked to Su Nianmei and stood behind her, but still a fist away. He could just see the back of the girl's neck, which was thin, white and long. His throat moved up and down.
Seeing that the girl was shy, Uncle Ji tried to smooth things over by saying, "This cake was specially made by a Western master. If we hadn't known that today was Xiaomei's birthday during our sudden visit, the cake would have been much more beautiful. Our birthday girl must have a taste of it."
Gu Xiaobao said, "I want to eat cake, too."
Jin Chunfen scratched Gu Xiaobao's nose and said with a smile, "You little greedy cat."
Gu Xiaobao retorted: "I'm not a greedy cat, I just want to taste it for my mother. The birthday cake must be delicious!"
Gu Xiaobao, who didn't realize he had said something confusing, scratched his head and didn't understand why everyone was laughing. But when he saw everyone was laughing, Gu Xiaobao laughed too.
Su Nianmei extinguished the candles, cut off a piece and put it on a plate, then handed it to Gu Xiaobao. Seeing the child was cute, she said, "Xiaobao, do you want to try this first piece of cake?"
Gu Xiaobao blinked his eyes, but his mind was spinning even faster. He shook his head and said in a childish way, "Our teacher taught us to be polite and give food to the elders first."
As he said this, he was about to serve it to Old Mrs. Ji.
Old Mrs. Ji took the cake and touched Gu Xiaobao's head flattered. She was very happy in her heart, but also felt disappointed. Such a good child was not from their Ji family.
She looked at Su Nianmei again, who was helping everyone share the cake. She was a gentle and well-mannered girl, generous and polite, with a bit of bookish air. The two of them looked like they were cast in the same mold, but she was not her daughter.
Last time it was my birthday, I could have lied to myself, but today, for some reason, I just wanted to see this child. However, it was Su Nianmei’s birthday turn, and Mrs. Ji knew that she could no longer lie to herself.
Mrs. Ji thought about it, took out a square handkerchief from her bosom, wiped the corners of her eyes, but no tears came out.
When Uncle Ji saw the old lady like this, he held her hand.
The party ended late at night.
Su Nianmei stood at the door, watching the Ji family's car going farther and farther away. The wind blew over, bringing with it warmth, and she subconsciously looked up at the sky again.
The moon is big and round.
Happiness and joy can easily make people go to their heads. Su Nianmei forgot that June 8th was her birthday, not the original owner's birthday.
The room was quiet. Gu Xichao coaxed Gu Xiaobao to sleep before returning to her room.
The door was not closed. Gu Xichao glanced inside and saw Su Nianmei sitting obediently on the edge of the bed with her legs together and her posture straight and well-behaved.
"Good boy, good boy," he said.
Su Nianmei saw that Gu Xichao had a dazed look in his eyes. She walked over and wanted to support Gu Xichao, then she smelled a faint smell of alcohol on him.
"Have you been drinking?" Su Nianmei held Gu Xichao's arm.
Gu Xichao avoided the topic and sat on the bed. He turned around and hugged Su Nianmei into his arms, and said with a wandering look, "Wife, what day is it today?"
Su Nianmei looked at Gu Xichao, her dark eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of mist. She felt amused in her heart. This man was really drunk. He had just celebrated her birthday, but he had forgotten today's date in the blink of an eye.
She said, "Today is June 8th, have you forgotten? You just celebrated my birthday."
Gu Xichao raised his eyebrows, but his heart was spasming. He smiled and his voice was gentle. He grabbed Su Nianmei's hand and was about to tell his true feelings. His hot breath hit Su Nianmei's earlobe.
The words came to my lips but I swallowed them suddenly.
Only then did Su Nianmei confirm that Gu Xichao was really drunk.
Gu Xichao closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, his breathing alternated between deep and shallow, but his hand was tightly holding Su Nianmei's hand.
He wanted Su Nianmei to love him.
But he wanted her to love the real him, the complete him.
The one who once fell into darkness and quagmire.
She had been his only light in his previous life, and he had thought that light had disappeared.
He wanted to say something, but he was afraid that once he said it, it would be hard to take it back.
He squinted his eyes, revealing a small gap, and secretly looked at the little girl who was busy cleaning him, and felt like he was back in the past.
His heart was pounding and he felt like he was completely crazy.
From the first moment he saw Su Nianmei, he set up a trap, using gentleness as a bargaining chip to lure Su Nianmei into his arms.
He believed that miracles could happen a second time. From the moment he first saw Su Nianmei, his heart, which had been silent for a long time, began to beat, and he felt that that person was her.
Even though their identities and looks were different, there was a voice deep in his soul telling him that that person was her.
The little girl he had liked for ten years came back to him. He loved her humbly, but wanted to give her the best things.
Today, he is the one who verified this conjecture. He used the birthday time as a trap to confirm his guess.
When they got married, he saw Su Nianmei's birthday on the marriage certificate, which was August 3rd. He knew that his little girl's birthday was June 8th, so he deliberately held a birthday party today.
As it turned out, it was true.
The excitement of regaining what he had lost filled his entire chest.
But he was a little flustered and confused. Who did he love?
The present is still the Su Nianmei of the past.
Even he himself can't explain it clearly.
In June, the weather gradually became warmer. After taking two days off, Gu Xichao was busy and was not at home all day.
However, Su Nianmei felt that Gu Xichao had become somewhat distant from her recently. During the time when she moved out to prepare for the college entrance examination, although they had not met, they still communicated through letters and phone calls. Now that the college entrance examination was over and she had some free time, there was no news from Gu Xichao again.
It might be because of the heavy training tasks and busy work, but Su Nianmei didn't think so. She felt a vague sense of worry.
It's more like a woman's intuition.
Su Nianmei felt worried again. She was having all sorts of random thoughts the whole day and felt a little weak.
I always like to dream when I fall asleep. In my dreams, I can see the past, when she was not the Su Nianmei she is now, when she did not know Gu Xichao yet.
The author has something to say: Speak slowly, and tell stories slowly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com