Pei Qing spent over ten minutes worth of “phone fees” only to be verbally demolished by Dou Sheng and forced offline before using even half of it; the live stream ended in total chaos.

After showering, Xie Lan came out wanting to double-check the items for tomorrow’s first-round exam with Dou Sheng. As he reached the slightly ajar door of Dou Sheng’s room, he heard Zhao Wenying’s voice from inside.

Zhao Wenying sounded apologetic. “This business trip really came up suddenly. I had already booked the restaurant for tomorrow… You won’t blame Mama, will you?”

Dou Sheng let out a yawn. “Why would I blame you? Just make sure the gift is good enough.”

“Really?” Her voice held a hint of uncertainty. “You say that now, but you were so angry year before last when I didn’t make it back for your birthday.”

Dou Sheng chuckled. “That was two years ago. This year, just send money.”

Zhao Wenying immediately protested, “That won’t do! What kind of thing is just sending money? Sigh, I’ll pick out a gift for you slowly, or you think of something you like and give me a hint.”

“I’ll think about it then.” Dou Sheng clicked his tongue and paused his game audio. “Just go on your trip with peace of mind, okay? I’m an adult now; I don’t care that much about birthdays.”

Xie Lan quietly turned and went back to his room. He opened the “Dou-dou is Gone” group chat—

“It’s over. Dou Sheng told Auntie Zhao he doesn’t care about his birthday.”

A moment later, several messages popped up at once.

• Cherry: Don’t listen to his bullshit.
• Latte: Statements inconsistent with facts… don’t ask us how we know.
• Cherry: The past is too painful to recall.
• Herring: The past… heh.
• Puppy Wang-wang: Xie Lan, are you ready?

Xie Lan replied with an “mm” and added, “I’m a bit nervous.”

• Puppy Wang-wang: Haha, what’s there to be nervous about?
• Latte: Your only job is to keep it from him and hide the gift well. Don’t be nervous.
• Cherry: Exactly, what’s the stress?
• Herring: You didn’t prepare some massive surprise behind our backs, did you?

Yu Fei’s sentence effectively ended the conversation. The group went silent as everyone seemingly got busy.

Xie Lan locked his door, pulled out the gift box hidden at the bottom of his wardrobe, and held it in his arms. He typed back: “No, just a pet insurance policy. I didn’t send anything else.”

The group came back to life after that sentence. But the topic seemed to naturally drift away; aside from Yu Fei’s “oh,” no one followed up.

• Cherry: I just went to find my admission ticket. What else do we need tomorrow?
• Latte: Pencils, ballpoints, that’s it?
• Puppy Wang-wang: They provide scratch paper, but you can bring an eraser.

Xie Lan closed the chat, took a deep breath, and hid the box back in the wardrobe. With the exam tomorrow morning, he didn’t feel like doing more problems. He packed his things and listened to the three demo clips A-Ze had posted on Weibo one more time.

Actually, when he first heard them, he preferred B, but having read the plot summary of Juvenile on the Strings, he felt A was more suitable for the theme song. For the sake of the “TV Spaceships,” he organized his thoughts and sent them to Pei Qing.

Right before he fell asleep, Pei Qing replied.

• Pei Qing: Great minds think alike. I’ve basically decided on A; I just need to convince the team.
• Pei Qing: Their opinions don’t matter anyway. Let’s just settle on this.
• Pei Qing: My only concern is that the 3/4 time of A sounds a bit too classical. Do you think it would be better if we swapped the lead instrument from piano back to violin for this part?
• Pei Qing: Let me record a bit for you to hear.
• Pei Qing: A_demo_2.mp3

Xie Lan yawned at the screen. Didn’t listen, didn’t reply. Just as he stuffed his phone under his pillow, it buzzed again.

• Pei Qing: You there?
• Pei Qing: My ‘phone fees’ couldn’t have run out this fast, could they?

Xie Lan, at the end of his patience: Exam tomorrow.

• Pei Qing: Oh.
• Pei Qing: Then… good luck.

This guy is freaking ridiculous. Xie Lan exited WeChat in annoyance and turned on “Do Not Disturb.” Just as he was about to lock the screen, he noticed another red notification bubble. It wasn’t Pei Qing, but a voice message from Auntie Zhao.

He played it immediately.

Zhao Wenying’s voice was very low. Accompanying her words was the sound of suitcase wheels rolling over concrete. It sounded like she was in a garage with an echo.

“Lan-lan, do well on the exam tomorrow. Don’t be nervous. The competition is just the first path; if that doesn’t work, there’s independent recruitment, and failing that, the National Exam. You’ll definitely be fine. Auntie Zhao wishes you success.” Her footsteps were hurried, and the sound of her heels hitting the suitcase echoed. She hissed in pain before continuing, “I saw both your lights were off, so I didn’t knock. I’ve prepared breakfast: millet porridge and buns. They’re char siu buns, the sweet ones you like. Have Xiao Ma heat them up for you. Don’t eat breakfast from outside on exam day; it’ll be a disaster if it’s not clean. Oh right, don’t drink too much milk or coffee, you’ll have to use the bathroom…”

It was a long message, over forty seconds with her stumbling over words in the middle. For some reason, Xie Lan spaced out halfway through and had to listen to it again from the start.

Her voice was low, gentle, and nagging—different from her usual self. Xie Lan had met many people who were kind normally but became impatient under pressure. Zhao Wenying was the opposite; she was noisy normally but became tender when things were serious.

He stared at his bookshelf, which was packed with competition books, though the top shelf was mostly empty, holding only the journals he brought back from England—Xiao Langjing’s journals. In the dark room, he could only see their silhouettes.

After a long time, Xie Lan snapped out of it. “I got it. Don’t worry, Auntie Zhao.”

Zhao Wenying quickly replied with a swaying sunflower emoji. Dou Sheng had mocked this sticker many times, calling it “age-revealing,” but she kept using it.

In this regard, Zhao Wenying was a bit like Xiao Langjing. Xiao Langjing looked younger than any woman her age, with a childlike heart. Most of the time, she was like a little girl who needed her son to coax her after an argument. But when she fell ill, clutching Xie Lan’s hand to give instructions for the rest of his life, her eyes clearly revealed the essence of a mother—repeatedly advising on ancient lifestyles, rambling about illogical trifles, full of deep affection and lingering attachment…

Xie Lan listened to Zhao Wenying’s message a few more times, his mind drifting to the gentle tone she used during her “secret talk” with Dou Sheng tonight. Suddenly, an indescribable emotion welled up in his heart.

---

Xie Lan didn’t sleep soundly that night, waking up several times. The next morning, as they entered the exam center, Dou Sheng grabbed his arm and didn’t let him go immediately.

“Are you okay?” Dou Sheng looked worried. “You didn’t sleep well. You won’t fall asleep during the test, will you?”

Xie Lan looked at him for a moment and let out a long, wide yawn.

Dou Sheng: “…”

Dou Sheng and Che Ziming were in the same room, but Xie Lan had been assigned elsewhere. Fortunately, one of the proctors in his room was Old Ma, which was somewhat comforting.

Right before entering, Dou Sheng patted Xie Lan’s arm. “Sleep well… no, wait, pfft, answer well. Don’t fall asleep.”

“I know.” Xie Lan sighed, waved, and walked into the room.

The first-round questions were a bit convoluted. When he got the paper, he flipped through it and saw that the spatial geometry problem was once again disguised as a short story, and one proof question had a prompt that looked to be about two hundred words long. Old Ma, standing at the front, flipped through a sample paper and instinctively looked toward him. Ma’s eyes were full of worry. Xie Lan gave him a smile and bowed his head to write his name.

Come what may.

The exam was only 80 minutes long with 8 fill-in-the-blanks and 3 long-form answers. Xie Lan finished the paper in half the time. He didn’t check the earlier ones but spent a long time scrutinizing the two complex problems, trying to understand them from different angles to ensure he hadn’t misread anything.

However, reading the prompts was too boring. With ten minutes left, he rested his chin on the paper to keep checking, but at some point, he drifted off. Old Ma, catching sight of this from the podium, nearly fainted on the spot.

When the exam ended, footsteps filled the corridor. Dou Sheng appeared at the door almost instantly to pick him up. Xie Lan yawned, picked up his backpack from the podium, and was called back by Old Ma.

Old Ma looked utterly speechless. “What did you do last night? Did you know you had an exam today?”

“Ah…” Xie Lan blinked. “I just… had insomnia. No specific reason.”

He couldn’t quite explain it. It was different from when he first returned to China; back then, thinking of his mother brought up intense emotions, but now he was very calm. Perhaps it was that very calmness that made him toss and turn.

Old Ma glanced at Dou Sheng, who was hovering at the door, frowned slightly, and finally sighed. “Kids your age are prone to ‘flying thoughts’ (daydreaming), but you must learn to control your emotions. Don’t let the people and things around you distract you, okay?”

Xie Lan was confused for a moment. “Flying thoughts? What does that mean? Thoughts like they’re flying in the air?”

“…” Old Ma’s expression went numb. “That senior, He Xiu, whom I recommended to you—did you add him?”

“I did,” Xie Lan said immediately. “We’ve chatted briefly, but he seems quite busy.”

Old Ma sighed. “Find a chance to communicate properly and build a rapport.”

Xie Lan opened his mouth. “Oh.”

The corridor was full of students who had just finished. Che Ziming and the others were gathered, frantically comparing answers. Xie Lan, still yawning, asked Dou Sheng, “How was it?”

“Fine, the questions were pretty normal,” Dou Sheng said. “By the way, was the last fill-in-the-blank one-half?”

Dai You turned around. “I got one-half too. Xie Lan?”

Xie Lan thought for a moment. “…I forgot. I fell asleep later.”

He hadn’t checked the earlier small questions; they felt simple when he did them, and because he’d napped at the end, he had no memory of them.

Dou Sheng’s gaze turned dark and ominous, barely restrained. Xie Lan felt a chill down his spine and quickly nodded. “Oh right, I remember now, it was one-half.”

“Liar,” Dou Sheng said hollowly. “You didn’t check at all. You’ve completely forgotten.”

Xie Lan couldn’t help but laugh, then sighed. “There was nothing to check in the earlier ones. I did them and that was it. I focused on checking the big questions at the back.”

Dou Sheng: “…Little friend Xie Lan, if you didn’t sleep well before the exam, what were you thinking about?”

“Ah.” Xie Lan looked at him with some surprise. “I just didn’t sleep well. What could I do?”

Dou Sheng let out a helpless huff, as if he wanted to scold him but held it back, finally only sighing, “Aren’t you nervous?”

Of course I’m nervous.

The exam was much easier than Xie Lan had expected. His mind was now entirely occupied by the fact that his boyfriend’s birthday was… no, wait, it was starting at midnight tonight. It was his first time celebrating his boyfriend’s birthday, and he had no experience, so he was quite panicked.

How would Dou Sheng react? What if he was too calm after seeing the gift? What if he was too excited? To use the audience’s words, Xie Lan’s inner self was screaming “AAAAAA” right now.

As he walked, he suddenly let out a soft sigh. “I actually am a bit scared.”

“Huh?” Hearing this, Dou Sheng immediately dropped his complaints and smoothed Xie Lan’s back. “Don’t be nervous, it’s okay. The fact that you forgot means you did it with confidence. Don’t think about it anymore.”

We are not on the same frequency at all.

Xie Lan could only give a perfunctory smile—the kind where the corners of the mouth go up high but the eyes remain dead.

---

The group ate rice noodles for lunch at the school gate and then headed home. With the first round over and a week left before school started, they could finally enter rest mode.

In the afternoon, Dou Sheng was in his room organizing his filming equipment. Xie Lan passed by several times and saw the floor covered in lenses, cameras, tripods, and a mess of cables and batteries that would make anyone’s head spin.

Dou Sheng didn’t bring up his birthday, but according to Che Ziming’s experience, he definitely had it in mind. He was just waiting for his good friend to remember on his own. Xie Lan didn’t say anything either. While Dou Sheng organized his gear, Xie Lan was in his own room, frantically preparing the surprise and discussing the cake in the group chat. He was so busy he barely acknowledged Dou Sheng when he came by to ask about ordering milk tea.

He held out until 10 PM, when Che Ziming sent a photo of the finished cake. Everyone in the group breathed a sigh of relief and flooded the chat with “mission accomplished” stickers.

Knock, knock.

Xie Lan quickly hid his phone and looked back just as Dou Sheng pushed the door open. He had been lying on the bed chatting in the dark; the sun had set and the room was dim.

Dou Sheng turned on the light, looking puzzled. “Want to eat?”

“Yes.” Xie Lan stood up. “Let’s go downstairs.”

“…” Dou Sheng frowned. “We haven’t ordered yet. I asked you two hours ago if it was okay to turn dinner into a late-night snack, and you said ‘ok’.”

Two hours ago? Xie Lan suddenly remembered and checked his phone. Following the conversation from two hours ago, Dou Sheng had sent a bunch of delivery menus.

He skimmed through them. “Let’s have Cantonese dim sum then.”

“Okay, I’ll order.” Dou Sheng checked the time. “I’ll pick a place with fast delivery. I lost track of time tidying up.”

Xie Lan was actually hungry, but he had to hold it in until 11 PM when the food finally arrived. Dou Sheng went to pick it up and called him back upstairs. The group was planning their route to the house. Xie Lan put his phone away. “Ah, okay.”

“What exactly are you doing?” Dou Sheng grumbled. “You haven’t left your room, and you’re so distracted when you talk. Are you browsing Weibo?”

He absolutely could not browse Weibo. The platform was full of the hashtag #MostHandsomeDouHappyBirthday created by fans. Xie Lan walked out and answered calmly, “I wasn’t on Weibo.”

Dou Sheng followed him. “Bilibili?”

Bilibili probably had mountain-high private messages reminding him of the birthday too. Xie Lan shook his head wisely. “No, I haven’t checked Bilibili since the stream ended yesterday.”

“…”

As they went downstairs, Xie Lan looked back at Dou Sheng. “I was just chatting with Pei Qing. He finally decided on demo A. He said he’ll come back to gift more TV Spaceships during the next stream.”

“…” Dou Sheng was silent, only letting out an “oh” as they reached the kitchen.

Cantonese dim sum was one of Xie Lan’s favorites. Dou Sheng had ordered a lot, but he only ate a few bites himself. Xie Lan, thinking about the upcoming late-night snack, also ate very cautiously. To avoid being questioned, he intentionally opened his chat with Pei Qing to make small talk.

• Afternoon Grape Ice: Send me that mp3 file from last time again.
• Pei Qing: Done with the exam?
• Pei Qing: Isn’t the file in the message right above? Can’t you see it?
• Afternoon Grape Ice: Mm.
• Pei Qing: …Are you sick?

Since they started dating, Dou Sheng always sat on the same side as Xie Lan during meals, whether others were there or not. He tore open a custard bun, put half in Xie Lan’s bowl, and seemingly unintentionally glanced at the screen. It really was Pei Qing.

After a while, Dou Sheng put down his chopsticks. “Why aren’t you eating?”

“Not very hungry.” Xie Lan didn’t look up. “You eat, don’t mind me.”

The kitchen went quiet for a bit, then Dou Sheng let out a soft sigh and gulped down several mouthfuls of porridge. Just as Xie Lan was forcing conversation with Pei Qing, the group chat buzzed.

• Cherry: Holy crap, Dou-zi just asked me directly if I remember his birthday.
• Latte: What happened??
• Herring: That’s not like him. When we forgot that one time, he held it in until the next day to ask.
• Cherry: I don’t know, he doesn’t seem to be in high spirits.
• Puppy Wang-wang: That’s so blunt?

Xie Lan glanced at the person sitting next to him looking at his phone and calmly typed back: “Send a screenshot of the chat.”

Che Ziming quickly sent a picture.

• Dou-zi: What are you doing?
• Cherry: Teasing my grandma. Why?
• Dou-zi: Oh.
• Dou-zi: Tomorrow is my birthday, you know.
• Cherry: …Ho… ly… crap…
• Cherry: Dammit! Bro! Didn’t forget, we just didn’t get around to planning a meal because of the competition today. I bought your gift but it hasn’t arrived yet! Happy birthday in advance!
• Dou-zi: …Fine, I got it.

Xie Lan bit his lip to hide a smile and replied to Che Ziming: “Your acting is incredible.”

• Herring: Where is everyone?
• Cherry: In the car. You?
• Puppy Wang-wang: I’m about fifteen minutes out.
• Latte: Ten minutes.
• Herring: Same here. Cherry, be careful not to break the cake.

Xie Lan put his phone down, only to hear Dou Sheng ask, “What are you so happy about?”

He immediately wiped the smile off. “Huh?”

Dou Sheng looked at him gloomily, silent.

“Oh, that.” Xie Lan glanced at his phone. “Pei Qing accepted my suggestion and told me to send him my Alipay account directly.”

Dou Sheng looked speechless. “Just for that?”

“Yeah.” Xie Lan suppressed his panic and turned the tables. “Aren’t you happy for me?”

Dou Sheng looked at him for a moment and gave a cold, emotionless smirk. “Happy. Yay~”

Xie Lan’s head hurt from holding back his laughter. He looked down and hummed coldly, acting out the role as he opened Alipay. “Eh, I’ve never registered an Alipay account, why do I have one already?”

“It’s my account,” Dou Sheng said indifferently while breaking a custard bun. “I logged into my account on your phone before. Just let him send it to me, then I’ll transfer it to your card.”

“Okay, don’t forget then,” Xie Lan said. “I’ll tell you how much it is later.”

Dou Sheng: “…”

After dinner, they put the leftovers in the fridge. Xie Lan tidied up the dining room and was about to go upstairs when Dou Sheng called him again. Dou Sheng looked like he wasn’t giving up. “Um… want to watch a movie at home tonight?”

“I don’t want to watch a movie.” Xie Lan’s heart was like stone. “I’m tired after the exam. I just want to sleep.”

Dou Sheng paused. “How about we open a bottle of wine to celebrate? You’ll sleep better after a drink.”

“No.” Xie Lan turned and headed upstairs, mumbling, “I’ll just have some hot water.”

The person behind him called out: “Xie Lan.”

“Mm?” He looked back. “Anything else?”

Dou Sheng stood at the bottom of the stairs, a flash of hesitation and unconcealable disappointment in his eyes. Finally, he gave in and raised his arms. “There’s no one home, the exam is over—won’t my boyfriend come give me a hug?”

According to the plan, he shouldn’t. But perhaps the silent grievance of the boy was amplified in the empty living room. Xie Lan suddenly felt a bit bad.

“Ah, okay, a hug.” He padded down the stairs in his soft slippers and hugged Dou Sheng.

The moment their bodies touched, he felt Dou Sheng let out a breath of relief. His own day-long tension also instantly relaxed upon feeling his boyfriend’s familiar warmth. Xie Lan couldn’t help but violate his own principles and held the hug for a bit longer, even squeezing Dou Sheng twice.

Dou Sheng suddenly said, “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Huh?” Xie Lan’s heart skipped a beat, and he looked up at him in confusion. “Doing what on purpose?”

Dou Sheng studied him for a moment, then raised an eyebrow with realization. He huffed, looking relieved. “I knew it. You are definitely doing this on purpose.”

Xie Lan didn’t say anything. His gaze drifted past Dou Sheng’s cheek to the wall clock in the living room. 11:38 PM. It was very close to the agreed time.

“You know it’s my birthday,” Dou Sheng continued his deduction. “Pei Qing wouldn’t really give you more money just for a discussion. He already dropped 100,000 in the stream yesterday; how much could a commercial OST be worth these days? Your last lie was too clumsy.”

“Huh?” Xie Lan retracted his gaze, recalling his words. “He is going to pay me; the offer for the lead arrangement was a million…”

As soon as he said it, Dou Sheng reached up and pinched his nose.

Xie Lan: “?”

His nose was pinched shut; he was suffocating but didn’t want to open his mouth to breathe—it would be embarrassing.

Dou Sheng huffed. “Boyfriends who keep lying will be punished. That million-dollar offer was a package deal including the OP, ED, two insert songs, and part of the recording. Did you think I forgot?”

Just then, the door lock clicked.

“Shoot.” Dou Sheng quickly let go in a panic and turned toward the door. “Why is my mom back early? She said…”

Before he could finish, the door swung open. Che Ziming and the others swarmed in.

Dai You casually tossed Xie Lan’s keys onto the table and shouted, “Happy Birthday!”

“Whoo-hoo!” Che Ziming held up a giant cake box. “Happy Birthday, Broken Dou!”

Dou Sheng froze. “You guys?”

“Yeah. Who else would be willing to celebrate your birthday?” Che Ziming squeezed past him. “Move, move!”

Dou Sheng instinctively curved his lips into a smile but quickly regained his usual indifferent, unbothered look. “I knew you guys would pull this. Xie Lan gave you the keys?” He looked back seemingly casually. “Eh, where’s Xie Lan?”

Xie Lan sprinted back to his room and brought out the giant box. The hard edges pressed against his chest through his clothes, a bit painful but very real, making his racing heart even more distinct.

“Here.” He met Dou Sheng’s bright eyes, paused, and then said, “Happy Birthday.”

Happy Birthday, boyfriend.

Although there were many people here and he couldn’t say those three words out loud. But happy birthday.

“I knew it.” Dou Sheng’s eyes crinkled with a wide smile as he took the box, only then noticing what the others were carrying. “Sigh, what else did you buy? That smell… crawfish?”

“Bingo!” Wang Gou held up two large bags. “Crawfish, BBQ, and beer. None of us have eaten yet; we were just waiting to cross midnight with you!”

“Hurry to the kitchen and find some bowls to put them in,” Dou Sheng said, lightly kicking Che Ziming’s leg. “You know the place; go free up Puppy’s hands.”

“You only know how to boss me around,” Che Ziming rolled his eyes. “You go sit on the sofa and wait for us to open the gifts together.”

Dou Sheng gave a perfunctory “mm” and walked toward the sofa with the big box. Everyone gathered around, and Dai You opened the cake. It was custom-made—the light cheesecake surface was a soft creamy yellow, with a fondant “Dou” (bean) the size of half a fist in the center, surrounded by a layer of fondant maple leaves.

Dou Sheng immediately asked Xie Lan, “You designed this?”

Xie Lan gave an “mm.” In front of his friends, he could only play it down. “I just gave Che Ziming a basic description, and he found the bakery.”

“Then the main credit goes to you,” Dou Sheng said instantly. “The creativity is what’s most valuable.”

“Bullshit!” Che Ziming yelled from the kitchen. “You are such an extreme double-standard dog!”

“Hurry up and bring it out,” Dou Sheng urged. “Fast, I want to see the gifts.”

Che Ziming grumbled as he brought out the crawfish. Everyone gathered around as Dou Sheng checked the time. Ten minutes to midnight—perfect for opening gifts.

He shook the box. “Same as every year?”

“Same, just open them. Don’t worry about who sent what,” Che Ziming said.

Dou Sheng looked at Xie Lan, who nodded. He took a deep breath and opened the lid of the large box.

“I’ll start with the heavy ones.” He picked up the first box and laughed. “I can tell what this is just by the weight. A lens, T-brand A095, 28mm F2.8.”

Yu Fei was stunned. “How do you know?”

“It’s the latest model,” Dou Sheng smirked. “Matches your principle of buying simple and direct gifts.” He opened the box and raised an eyebrow. “I was right.”

Yu Fei sighed. “Don’t tell me you already have it.”

“I don’t, but I wanted one.” Dou Sheng smiled. “Just perfect. Thanks, brother.”

Che Ziming immediately slapped the table. “We said no guessing! You’re no fun!”

“Fine, fine, no guessing.” Dou Sheng opened the next gifts.

Lenses and microphones were things he already had in abundance; it was hard to find something he didn’t have. It mostly relied on Xie Lan helping Dai You and Yu Fei scout to ensure no duplicates.

The book How to Take Good Photos of Your Boy/Girlfriend left Dou Sheng stunned. He took a while to process it before accepting it and expressing his gratitude and respect to everyone.

“This bag is quite nice,” Dou Sheng said, picking up the canvas bag Che Ziming bought. “Lightweight is king. I can use this for the next outdoor shoot.”

The group discussed where to go for the next shoot and outing, and then the atmosphere suddenly quieted. Dou Sheng looked at the empty box and frowned. “Lens, mic, shoulder bag, photography book… four items. There are five of you.” He instinctively looked toward Xie Lan.

So sharp, Xie Lan thought. He guessed my gift isn’t in here.

“There’s one more gift.” Xie Lan paused, pulled out his phone, and handed it over. “I’ll just say it—this one is from me.”

Dou Sheng’s eyes lit up as he took the phone. “What did you get me?”

The screen happened to be black. He took a deep breath and then woke the screen.

The living room was silent. Wang Gou looked at Dai You, who sat calmly silent. Che Ziming looked both curious and anxious, his eyes darting around. Only Yu Fei was casually eating a crawfish, seemingly having accepted that this part was over and preparing to start the midnight snack mode.

The smile on Dou Sheng’s face froze for a moment. Then he asked tentatively, “Pet Health… Insurance?”

Xie Lan quickly added in a whisper, “For ten years.”

It was quite expensive, especially for a “decoy” gift.

Dou Sheng: “…”

Yu Fei sucked on a crawfish shell, clicked his tongue, and said casually, “This gift is too practical. You two are raising a cat together; if the cat gets sick later, you won’t have to argue over who pays the bills—the insurance company will cover it.”

Dou Sheng: “…That actually makes a lot of sense.”

The only sound in the living room was Yu Fei sucking on crawfish. Wang Gou quickly pinched Dai You’s hand and asked with his eyes: What the hell? I thought Xie Lan would send some private ‘boyfriend’ gesture. Is that it??

Dai You gave him a look: How should I know?

Wang Gou: What do we do? How do we save this?

Dai You: I don’t know. Play dead.

Xie Lan exhaled silently, telling himself to relax. He had anticipated Dou Sheng’s silence, but for some reason, his friends also seemed to have frozen in awkwardness. He had no choice but to pick up the candles and prompt the next step. “It’s almost midnight.”

“Oh right… I’ll put in the candles then,” Dou Sheng said.

He was only stiff for about ten seconds before quickly recovering. He took the candles from Xie Lan. Although he couldn’t hide that moment of surprise and a tiny bit of disappointment, he still smiled at Xie Lan. “I really like the gift. We’ll definitely keep Wu Tong healthy forever.” Fearing Xie Lan might notice his mood, he even gave Xie Lan’s leg a few reassuring rubs under the table.

Xie Lan bit his lip and nodded. “As long as you like it.”

Once the candles were in and lit, Che Ziming lunged for the door to turn off the lights. In the pitch-black room, only the candlelight illuminated the boys’ faces.

Everyone shouted together: “Happy Birthday!!”

It was exactly midnight.

Midnight, Beijing time.

5 PM, London time.

Just as Dou Sheng was about to close his eyes and make a wish, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He intended to ignore it, but the phone was pressing uncomfortably against his leg, so he pulled it out and set it aside.

He caught a glimpse of the notification on the screen. It was a YouTube push notification—one he hadn’t seen in a long time.

[The user you follow, “SilentWaves,” just uploaded a new video! Check it out now!]

Dou Sheng’s finger suddenly trembled as he tapped the notification. Face ID automatically unlocked the phone. The video hadn’t started playing yet, but the thumbnail was right there in front of his eyes.

A snow-white wall with the swaying shadows of sycamore trees projected onto it.

SilentWaves, the mysterious violin creator who had always hidden behind silhouettes and had never shown his face even when clarifying his identity in China—Xie Lan—had stepped in front of the camera for the first time on this account. He was standing before that wall of swaying shadows.

He held a brown violin under his chin, bow ready on the strings, his gaze lowered to the instrument. The boy’s gentle features seemed to be paying homage to someone’s past.

[Birthday Song | To QZFXR, the Most Handsome Man on Earth, by SilentWaves Xie Lan]