Chapter 28 Gazing at "Happy Birthday"
While Shen Yuheng was making a wish, Jiang Xinglan watched him intently from the side.
Compared to when I first met him, Shen Yuheng is now more composed and mature.
But the candlelight added a touch of softness to his presence.
Surprisingly, Jiang Xinglan noticed that Shen Yuheng's eyelashes were very long and thick. When they trembled slightly, she felt as if a feather had gently brushed against her heart.
Especially after it slowly opened, it revealed a pair of bright eyes that seemed to contain the entire universe.
Jiang Xinglan felt a jolt in her heart, and only after a moment did she realize that Shen Yuheng had already opened his eyes.
She coughed lightly to hide her discomfort at being caught, "Is it approved?"
As soon as Shen Yuheng opened his eyes, he saw the person he liked looking at him intently.
After being discovered, they had to pretend nothing had happened.
Yes, she's really cute.
Shen Yuheng suppressed a laugh. "Yes, it's approved, but something seems a little off."
"Something's not right." A look of confusion crossed Jiang Xinglan's face.
“Usually, when you make a birthday wish, you sing the birthday song,” Shen Yuheng said gently, bending down slightly and leaning closer to Jiang Xinglan with a smile. “I don’t think I heard it when I made my wish just now?”
"Then... sing now?" Jiang Xinglan didn't expect Shen Yuheng to suddenly approach, and subconsciously stepped back a little.
Fortunately, he quickly stood up straight.
Shen Yuheng nodded and said, "Okay!"
"Happy birthday to you~" Jiang Xinglan began, and sang the birthday song to the beat of Shen Yuheng.
"Can we blow out the candles now?"
"Hmm, would you like to join us, Teacher Jiang?" Shen Yuheng extended an invitation.
Jiang Xinglan hesitated for a moment. Was blowing out the candles together a bit too intimate? But, she said, "Okay, it's your birthday, so you decide."
Shen Yuheng scurried to the side, making room for Jiang Xinglan.
"Phew~" The two of them let out a breath.
After the candle went out, the room was plunged into darkness instantly.
For a moment, the entire room fell silent.
It was so quiet that you could even hear the heartbeat of the person next to you.
Shen Yuheng moved his arm; at this moment, he really wanted to hold Jiang Xinglan in his arms.
But he restrained himself and instead took out his phone and turned on the flashlight.
The moment the light came on, a loud "bang" was heard as colorful ribbons burst open overhead.
He subconsciously looked at Jiang Xinglan.
She seemed to have been prepared for this.
Amidst a shower of confetti, she smiled gently and said, "Happy birthday!"
Shen Yuheng's eyes welled up with tears. He moved his lips, wanting to say something, but was interrupted by a rustling sound.
The two looked in the direction of the sound.
The door to the private room was pushed open, and light from the corridor shone in through the crack.
The waiter poked his head in and asked, "Excuse me, Ms. Jiang, may we serve the food now?"
Jiang Xinglan quickly glanced at Shen Yuheng and nodded, "Of course."
The waiter turned on the lights, and the private room was lit up again.
Jiang Xinglan straightened the ribbons on her body, not seeing Shen Yuheng's hand clench and unclench.
After the waiters finished serving the dishes and left one by one, Jiang Xinglan turned to Shen Yuheng and asked, "Teacher Shen, would you like to eat first, or try the cake first?"
"Let's try the cake first!" Shen Yuheng said. "I'm a little curious about what kind of cake Teacher Jiang likes to eat."
"How did you know it was something I liked?" Jiang Xinglan handed him the knife and fork.
Shen Yuheng first cut a small piece for Jiang Xinglan, saying, "I guessed."
Then he cut himself a piece, forked it, and tasted it.
"How was it?" Jiang Xinglan was also waiting for his evaluation.
"Hmm, the taste is indeed excellent. I declare that I will buy cakes from this store from now on!" Shen Yuheng said.
"I'll send you the restaurant's contact information later. Let's eat first!"
“Okay!” Shen Yuheng sat down next to Jiang Xinglan.
"Actually, the drunken crab here is also very delicious, but we drove today, so we'll have to wait until next time."
"good!"
---
As soon as Shen Yuheng got home, he couldn't wait to open the photo album.
Inside, there was not only a birthday cake and a selfie, but also a photo of Jiang Xinglan lighting candles.
He could clearly sense that Jiang Xinglan was more affectionate towards him tonight than before. Although he didn't understand what had happened, it was a good thing for him nonetheless.
He posted the cake and a selfie online.
[Shen Yuheng V: Birthday cake, delicious~ #StarTrailFragments#]
"Brother, didn't you get any birthday cake yesterday?!"
"@ShenYuhengStudio, what's going on! You didn't even prepare a cake for my brother! No wonder you only posted a blessing yesterday, without any pictures!!"
"A foodie passing by, whose cake is this? It looks so delicious!"
"Look at the label on the cake: Patisserie Noème. I remember this cake shop only accepts custom orders. @沈聿珩工作室 did a great job this time!"
"No way! Sisters! Look at the second photo! The one where my brother took a selfie! It looks like there's a piece of clothing draped over the chair behind him, and a corner of it is sticking out!"
"Upstairs, did you look at the picture with a microscope?"
"Hey, look at her ID, it's speaking!"
"Oh, it's @KouXuesheng, never mind then! But I have a guess..."
"To be honest, I also have a guess..."
"@Shen Yuheng, just give me a straight answer, do you have a girlfriend? We're family now! What can't you say!"
This comment quickly garnered likes and became a top-rated comment.
Shen Yuheng also felt a little bitter. Was it because he didn't want to talk about it? There was still no sign of anything going on. He threw his phone on the sofa and went to take a shower.
"But sisters, if our guess is right, don't you think my brother is a bit out of his league...? (Stacking armor for survival)"
"How can you think like that, sisters! Our brother... his achievements are indeed unmatched."
The entire group fell silent instantly.
"No, you guys just accept JXL like that? You accept that your brother is dating?"
"Why are you in such a hurry? There's no news yet. It's just about shipping. Besides, if my brother wants to talk, he can talk, as long as it doesn't affect his filming."
"Exactly. If my brother really has someone he likes, I'll support him. He hasn't marketed any boyfriend persona."
The Shen Yuheng Studio account has always been managed by Wei Yu.
He was suddenly bombarded with mentions and wondered what had happened!
I quickly mustered my energy and started to check, and what I saw almost made me so angry I turned into a pufferfish!
Didn't you buy a cake? Didn't you celebrate Yuheng's birthday?
That's utter nonsense!
Wei Yu was indignant and wanted to reply, but he was afraid of causing trouble for Shen Yuheng's "pursuit of great things".
So all I could do was frantically take screenshots and send them to Shen Yuheng, while also complaining about his behavior of disregarding the "life or death" of the studio.
However, Shen Yuheng did not reply.
So, Wei Yu could only sullenly stare at his phone, keeping track of his fans' updates.
But as he watched, Wei Yu's anger gradually dissipated, and a gloating smile appeared on his face.
As Wei Yu laughed, his laughter faded, and he began to defend Shen Yuheng.
While Yu Heng may not be as good as others in terms of scientific research contributions, he was not entirely without merit.
At least Yuheng's influence... is indeed not as great as theirs.
And then there's its commercial value! Our Yuheng's commercial value…
Wei Yu thought about it and realized that it was no match for it.
Just as Wei Yu was sighing deeply, he received an email.
From the Asian Screen Association.
---
At the top floor of the Song Group, Song Huai, after a busy day, always has some free time to browse his phone.
As soon as I opened the topic app, Shen Yuheng's Weibo was recommended to me on the homepage.
It was just an artist's birthday, and Song Huai didn't care much.
The background in the picture looks familiar.
It looks a bit like a masterpiece.
He had only eaten there a few times and wasn't very familiar with it, but there was one person who was definitely more familiar with it than he was.
After Song Huai took a screenshot and saved it, he sent it directly to Zhou Cuo.
"Isn't this breathtaking?"
The photos sent by Song Huaisong cleared up Zhou Cuo's doubts.
Today, I went to Guanzhi for dinner with my business partner. When we passed by "Yunting", the waiter just came out of the restaurant.
He glanced inside subconsciously and thought he saw Jiang Xinglan and someone else inside.
But the door closed quickly, before he could even tell.
After escorting his partner to the private room, he made an excuse to leave and stopped a waiter, asking, "Is Miss Jiang inside 'Yun Ting'?"
Although the waiter recognized Zhou Cuo, out of respect for the customer's privacy, he could only say apologetically, "Mr. Zhou, I'm sorry, we need to protect the customer's privacy."
Zhou Cuo watched helplessly as the waiter left.
Yes, if it weren't for the excellent privacy here, I wouldn't have invited my business partner here.
Zhou Cuo walked to the door of "Yun Ting" and wanted to push the door open to confirm if it really was her.
Just as he was about to place his hand on the handle, he hesitated.
He couldn't imagine how Jiang Xinglan would react if she really was inside, and he had just barged in like this.
Zhou Cuo withdrew his hand and left.
"Where did you see this photo?" Zhou Cuo sent the message.
"Shen Yuheng's activities."
After replying, Song Huai sent two more screenshots.
Zhou Cuo first clicked on the first picture, which was of a cake.
Patisserie Noème, as far as he knew, Jiang Yunye would order cakes from this shop for her every year on her birthday.
He then swiped left, and the second image showed the full content of the post.
Zhou Cuo easily pieced together the whole story.
Yesterday, when he passed by the break room, he overheard the female employees discussing how Shen Yuheng had received many perks for his birthday.
She ordered a cake today and took Shen Yuheng to Guanzhi to celebrate his belated birthday.
Zhou Cuo couldn't help but recall whether Jiang Xinglan had ever celebrated his birthday alone for him over the years.
It seems not.
Zhou Cuo's gaze had just fallen to the bottom of the screen when he was notified that the message had been withdrawn.
But it was too late; Zhou Cuo had already seen the comment clearly.
Girlfriend? Zhou Cuo let out a cold snort.
Send the two pictures to Jiang Yunye.
Back home, Jiang Xinglan was carefully recalling every detail of the day.
Undeniably, spending time with Shen Yuheng was easy and enjoyable.
It is equally undeniable that at the moment the candle was extinguished, she clearly felt a change in her heartbeat.
“But the unexpected darkness is enough to make your heart race,” Jiang Xinglan muttered to herself, “especially in a birthday celebration, a situation that is inherently prone to ambiguity.”
It seems she needs more experiments to verify this.
The sudden ringing of the phone interrupted Jiang Xinglan's thoughts.
"What's wrong?"
"Did you go to Guanzhi today?" Jiang Yunye never beat around the bush.
"Um."
"With whom?"
“Shen Yuheng”.
"Going to do what?"
"Birthday."
"..." Jiang Yunye was at a loss for words when faced with such an answering attitude.
"How did you know?" Jiang Xinglan asked in return.
"I saw the photos," Jiang Yunye answered honestly.
"What photo?"
"Photos posted online by Shen Yuheng."
"You're still following him? Who sent it to you?"
"Chen Rui, do you know that Xingye is still monitoring your and Shen Yuheng's movements?" Jiang Yunye didn't want Jiang Xinglan to get involved with Zhou Cuo, so he chose to keep it a secret.
So you called me?
"It's nothing, he just sent it to me, so I just asked. Okay, it's getting late, get some rest, goodnight." Jiang Yunye finished speaking in one breath and hung up the phone before Jiang Xinglan could reply.
He was about to call Zhou Cuo to question him, but at the last moment, he stopped.
Jiang Yunye's intelligence instantly kicked in.
Why would Zhou Cuo send him this for no reason?
He sent this to himself because he was certain that I would ask Xinglan.
Regardless of whether Xinglan and Shen Yuheng actually have something going on, given Xinglan's personality, she would never hide anything from him if asked.
Assuming Xinglan admits to having a relationship with Shen Yuheng, regardless of my own opinion, I would still have to call Zhou Cuo to thank him, which means that Zhou Cuo would get information about Xinglan.
Assuming Xinglan and Shen Yuheng have no relationship, he would definitely think Zhou Cuo is playing him, and he would still call him. In that case, Zhou Cuo would still know about Xinglan and Shen Yuheng's relationship.
"So that's what you were planning?" Jiang Yunye put down his phone and leaned back on the sofa. "I'm not falling for it!"
“However,” Jiang Yunye straightened up again, “we still need to pay close attention to this matter.”
---
"Heh, feeling guilty," Jiang Xinglan said, looking at the call screen.
However, she still opened the topic app, and Shen Yuheng's posts were recommended on the homepage.
Jiang Xinglan didn't click to read it; she just gave it a like and then exited.
Then he started planning in his mind how to conduct the next "experiment".
Even after Jiang Xinglan finished showering and lay in bed, she still couldn't come up with a reliable solution.
She unconsciously touched her earlobe, the words Shen Yuheng had said before leaving echoing in her mind.
Jiang Xinglan felt somewhat embarrassed and annoyed; it must have been because of those words that she hadn't been able to think rationally.
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