Chapter 50: Sang Yan's Birthday

                             

Before Wen Yifan could process what happened, Sang Yan straightened up and casually pulled out his phone from his pocket, messing with it like nothing happened. Then, as if just realizing something, he said in that arrogant, shameless way of his, "Oh, it was here the whole time."

"…"

He even considerately added, "No need to get it then."

Whether it was all in her head or not, Wen Yifan felt her lips tingling a little. The already small room seemed to get even smaller, with an added layer of tension raising the temperature and making her feel restless.

Staring at the corner of his lips for a few seconds, Wen Yifan suddenly stood up.

"I'll go wash an apple."

Without waiting for Sang Yan's answer, Wen Yifan grabbed two apples and went straight to the bathroom. She closed the door trying to hide her feelings, staring at her clearly red ears in the mirror, her mind full of thoughts about their accidental touch just now.

She took a deep breath to calm down and turned on the faucet.

Washing an apple shouldn't take too long.

Afraid of being too obvious, Wen Yifan didn't stay in the bathroom long. After washing the apples, she came out.

By now, Sang Yan was standing by the table, unpacking the bag with their dinner. Wen Yifan sat down next to him, not starting any conversation.

Sang Yan glanced at her but didn't mention the "gift-receiving" thing from earlier.

It seemed like they were both too embarrassed to bring it up again, so the matter just got dropped.

Wen Yifan's mood slowly relaxed. She took a bite of the apple and suddenly felt bad for him, having to spend his birthday stuck in this crappy hotel with her, eating quickly packed takeout for dinner.

Even now, Wen Yifan still found it unreal that she'd run into him at the noodle shop. Originally, since she hadn't gotten any response from him, she'd prepared herself to talk about moving out when she got back to Nanwu.

Just as she was about to leave—

He showed up out of nowhere.

The shop owner had said, "You're still together after all these years."

He didn't respond.

After that, he never brought it up again.

He didn't ask why she was there, didn't keep bringing up the past, and didn't demand an explanation from her.

It was like he didn't care, or like he didn't want to talk about the past anymore.

It was also like, the moment they got together—

He'd already let go of the past, forgiving everything.

Only looking at the present moment now.

…

By the time Sang Yan finished dinner, Wen Yifan had just finished her apple. She wanted to find something to talk about with him but didn't know what to say, feeling kind of awkward.

Like she hadn't gotten used to their new relationship yet.

Noticing it was getting late, and having finished her apple, Wen Yifan felt she had no reason to stay longer, but she wanted to spend more time with him. She looked down, not starting a conversation, and kept herself busy with her phone.

Sang Yan cleaned up the takeout boxes and glanced at her, "Want to eat more?"

Wen Yifan looked up, "Huh?"

Sang Yan picked up the other apple from the table and came over to put it in her hand. Like he could see right through her, he raised an eyebrow a little, his lips curving up, "Eat slower this time."

Wen Yifan asked, "You're not eating?"

"No."

"Oh." Wen Yifan checked the time, doing the math, and said quietly, "Then I'll eat for another half hour?"

Sang Yan looked at her, "Can you eat even slower?"

Wen Yifan took a bite of the apple and mumbled, "…I can."

The room went quiet again.

After cleaning up, Sang Yan sat down next to Wen Yifan, also playing with his phone like he was bored. She turned her head to look at him without thinking, just in time to catch his lips curved up slightly.

Wen Yifan stared for a few seconds, then quietly looked away.

This was her first time being in a relationship.

She didn't know if everyone was like this.

Even without anything to say, even with some awkwardness, she still wanted to be with him and still felt happy about this kind of uncomfortable interaction.

Wen Yifan spoke up first: "When did you buy your train ticket?"

Sang Yan looked up, "Hm?"

"I wanted to buy a ticket for today too, yesterday, to go back and—" Wen Yifan paused slightly, then continued, "celebrate your birthday. But there were no tickets left."

Sang Yan put down his phone and said slowly, "Last week."

Wen Yifan was shocked, "How did you know last week that I wouldn't be able to get back today?"

"I didn't know, just bought it early," Sang Yan said, "I could always refund it if I needed to."

Wen Yifan's chewing slowed down. After a bit, she swallowed what was in her mouth and said, "Then I'll do the same thing in the future."

"…"

Sang Yan laughed quietly.

Wen Yifan kept eating her apple. But even at the slowest pace possible, this small apple wouldn't last long. She took the last bite and said hesitantly, "I should head back now?"

Sang Yan made a sound of agreement.

Wen Yifan said, "We have to leave at eight tomorrow morning, so you should sleep early tonight."

Sang Yan replied, "Alright."

Throwing the apple core in the trash, Wen Yifan stood up and walked a few steps toward the door. Suddenly remembering something she hadn't done, she turned back, "Sang Yan."

Sang Yan, who was following behind her, asked, "What is it?"

Wen Yifan met his eyes and said very seriously, "Happy birthday."

Sang Yan smiled and nodded.

"What's your birthday wish?"

"I'm not telling."

Wen Yifan blurted out, "Why not?"

"Because," Sang Yan raised his hand and gently patted her head, saying it both seriously and casually, "it already came true."

—

Back in her room, Wen Yifan lay halfway on the bed. She stared blankly at nothing, looking like she'd lost her soul. After a long while, she suddenly grabbed the pillow next to her and rolled over.

The feelings she'd been holding in all night seemed to finally burst out completely in this moment, in this space where she was alone.

Wen Yifan's eyes were bright and shining. She covered her face with the pillow, feeling like she couldn't contain this happy mood at all. Only when her emotions had settled down did she take out her phone from her pocket and check her unread messages.

Right away, she saw that Zhong Siqiao had sent her a bunch of messages.

【[Picture]】

【Holy crap, Sang Yan posted on his Moments.】

【He has a girlfriend?】

【Do you know who it is?!!!】

【Are you still going to live with him? Won't his girlfriend cause you trouble later? Do you want to use this chance to talk to him about moving out?】

Wen Yifan paused for a moment, clicking on the picture without thinking.

It was a screenshot of Sang Yan's Moments post that Zhong Siqiao had taken.

He'd only posted a picture, no text.

The picture showed the birthday cake Wen Yifan had ordered for him, with "Happy Birthday Sang Yan" written on it, which she'd specially asked the shop to add.

Sang Yan's photography skills weren't great; the photo was kind of blurry like he'd just randomly snapped it.

Zhong Siqiao and Sang Yan had quite a few mutual friends. The screenshot showed a bunch of comments at the bottom, mostly wishing him a happy birthday, but mixed in with quite a few teasing comments about Sang Yan's behavior.

【?】

【Did your account get hacked?】

【The last time it was my birthday and I mentioned it to this idiot, he said what's the point of a grown man celebrating birthdays, and called me fussy!!!】

【Can you act normal? No one cares!】

At the very bottom—

Sang Yan had replied the same way to everyone:

【Sorry, my girlfriend asked me to post it.】

…

Wen Yifan closed the picture. Even though she'd never made such a request, seeing Sang Yan's Moments post made her emotions, which had just calmed down, surge up again.

Wen Yifan blinked and replied to Zhong Siqiao: 【She probably won't.】

Wen Yifan: 【I'm his girlfriend.】

After typing this, Wen Yifan stared at it for a while, her lips curving up. She hit send, then opened her chat with Qian Weihua and mentioned that she wanted to bring a friend back with her tomorrow.

Qian Weihua was really easy-going and agreed right away: 【Sure.】

Just as she got this message, Wen Yifan's WeChat exploded.

It was all Zhong Siqiao bombarding her alone.

【?】

【???】

【??????】

Wen Yifan hadn't mentioned anything about this to Zhong Siqiao at all. Feeling kind of embarrassed and a bit guilty, she replied: 【That's how it is.】

Wen Yifan: 【It just became official.】

Zhong Siqiao: 【Didn't you tell me before that you two had no chemistry at all?!】

Wen Yifan couldn't remember saying that: 【Did I?】

Zhong Siqiao: 【Of course you did!】

Zhong Siqiao: 【Maybe not exactly those words, but that was pretty much what you meant!】

Wen Yifan: 【Oh…】

Wen Yifan: 【Then I guess】

Wen Yifan: 【I couldn't resist】

Zhong Siqiao: 【…】

Zhong Siqiao: 【?】

—

The next morning.

After packing her stuff, Wen Yifan first went to Sang Yan's room to find him. Seeing him, she still felt that sense of unreality and said softly, "We'll have breakfast downstairs, and then drive back."

Sang Yan sleepily agreed.

Wen Yifan looked at him again but didn't say anything more, leading him to the door of Qian Weihua and Mu Chengyun's room.

Soon after, the other two came out of their room.

All four had met before; Qian Weihua had seen Sang Yan once when his house caught fire. So seeing Sang Yan now, Qian Weihua wasn't surprised and just greeted him, "Are you in Beiyu for work or just visiting?"

Sang Yan kept it short: "Looking for someone."

Mu Chengyun's eyes moved between Sang Yan and Wen Yifan, but he didn't say anything.

The four of them went downstairs.

Qian Weihua and Wen Yifan took the room keys to check out.

Sang Yan and Mu Chengyun waited nearby.

After standing for half a minute, Mu Chengyun spoke up first, smiling sweetly: "Senior Sang, even though I know you wanted to see Sister Yifan, it doesn't really seem right for you to follow her on her business trip."

Hearing this, Sang Yan turned his head to look at him, his face showing nothing.

"Sister Yifan has a good personality, she probably won't get mad at you," Mu Chengyun said, "But you should think about her situation more."

Like he thought he had a point, Sang Yan slowly said, "Oh."

Maybe because he'd been criticized by Sang Yan last time, this time Mu Chengyun wanted to get back some face. He paused for a few seconds and sighed, "No wonder you haven't been successful pursuing her if this is how you do things."

…

After checking out, Wen Yifan took the deposit and walked toward Sang Yan with Qian Weihua.

The two were about five or six meters away, talking. Sang Yan was a bit taller than Mu Chengyun, standing tall with a presence that completely overshadowed the other guy. His expression was relaxed like he didn't take the other person seriously at all.

He also didn't seem to take the other guy's words seriously, treating them like background noise, hearing but not really listening.

Wen Yifan faintly heard Sang Yan say, "We're past that stage already."

Mu Chengyun, standing across from him, seemed to freeze for a moment.

After a few seconds—

"We are now," as he said this, Sang Yan's eyelashes moved, and his eyes met hers. Like he thought of something, he curved his lips and said word by word, "Mu-tu-al-ly in love."

"…"

"Mutually in love," Sang Yan repeated, arrogantly adding, "Have you heard of this term?"

"…"

Qian Weihua, not knowing the background, didn't get what they were talking about and just assumed it was some young people thing, so he didn't join their conversation.

But Wen Yifan knew perfectly well that those words had come from her mouth, and it had been less than a night since she'd said them.

Plus, Sang Yan had said this while staring right at her.

Right now, Wen Yifan had this weird feeling that Sang Yan's words seemed more like they were meant for her to hear. And after she'd said those words last night, Sang Yan had actually laughed for quite a while.

So the mystery was solved.

He probably thought it was silly for her to say such words so seriously.

Wen Yifan pressed her lips together, feeling kind of embarrassed.

Sigh.

But she had no experience.

She just felt that things like this should have some ceremony to them, after all, it's not like a marriage certificate that has legal power. Since there was no other proof, at least they should go through some verbal process.

To make the relationship seem more official.

Their arrival cut off the conversation between Sang Yan and Mu Chengyun.

Wen Yifan quietly walked back to Sang Yan's side.

The two walked behind. After a bit, Wen Yifan felt Sang Yan suddenly hook her finger lightly with his fingertip, just for a moment before letting go. The touch wasn't light or heavy, kind of ticklish.

Wen Yifan looked up without thinking, meeting his slightly tilted face.

Sang Yan's eyelids were lowered as he looked at her, his smile a bit cocky. He bent down slightly, leaned close to her ear, and asked in a low voice, "What about you, have you heard of it?"

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