Chapter 114: Zou Yang’s Birthday
Extra Chapter 5

“Your boyfriend still has one hour before he gets back,” Liu Wenrui said, looking at his phone. “We’ve been interning for so long, and this is the first time we’ve used our teacher authority—just for this one hour.”

“What is… teacher authority?” Fan Jun looked at him.

Beside them, Li Zhiyue and Zhang Chuanlong had already opened the two sports backpacks they brought and were dumping everything out: all kinds of ribbons, balloons, and even two foot-operated air pumps.

“We found a few students from the class he used to teach and had them come to our school to find him,” Liu Wenrui explained. “We talked heart-to-heart, taking turns—about their family background, about early romance, about breakups, and about having no one to break up with because they’ve never had anyone. Basically, we just kept them talking long enough to waste time.”

“He’s going to… get angry, right?” Fan Jun had a vague concern for those students.

Would they get “eaten” by Teacher Zou?

“No,” Li Zhiyue said. “He doesn’t get angry with students. He’s actually very popular with them.”

“Brother Fan, is this enough?” Zhang Chuanlong pointed to the pile of stuff on the floor and asked.

“This is… so lavish?” Fan Jun asked.

“You said you wanted to decorate,” Liu Wenrui replied, picking up a roll of ribbon and looking up. “Birthday parties are decorated like this. Perfect—this lamp has flowers on it. Hang it there, then stretch the ribbons in a circle around the room…”

Fan Jun had indeed said he wanted to decorate, but his idea was just to put a nice tablecloth on the dining table and hang a few small string lights…

But there was no time to rethink it now. He went over, picked up Dahei, carried him into the bedroom, and closed the door.

He ordered Xiao Bai to lie down in front of the sofa.

Then he fetched a small step ladder from the kitchen, set it up under the lamp, climbed up, and held out his hand: “Come.”

Liu Wenrui immediately quickly handed him several rolls of ribbon paper and glittery paper, along with a few zip ties.

Fan Jun held the zip ties in his mouth, hung all these things on the lamp, and then the others stretched the ribbon paper outward, taping it in place.

“It’s asymmetric,” Zhang Chuanlong said, inflating balloons like crazy while tilting his head back to check.

“Just inflate your balloons,” Li Zhiyue said. “Don’t show off your meticulousness at a time like this.”

“Asymmetric, asymmetric,” Liu Wenrui said. “As long as we hang enough, who’ll notice if it’s symmetric? Zou Yang doesn’t have OCD.”

After hanging the ribbons, there were still several strings of small heart-shaped lights.

They hung them on the windows, on the calligraphy pieces Zou Yang had written in the living room, and on the refrigerator. To make sure everything was used, they even wrapped a circle of lights around the dining table.

Zhang Chuanlong had a real talent for inflating balloons. While Fan Jun and the others were busy hanging ribbons and string lights, the floor was already covered with a layer of inflated balloons.

Red, pink, and some black ones—combined together, they looked very beautiful.

“How do we arrange them?” Liu Wenrui picked up a balloon, looking a bit lost, and glanced at Li Zhiyue.

“You’re asking me?” Li Zhiyue said. “What do you think I am in your eyes?”

“The all-purpose safety net of our dorm, the last line of defense… Didn’t you see how we handled the balloons for Uncle Lu and Auntie’s wedding day?” Liu Wenrui asked. “You went to the venue first, didn’t you?”

“…When I got there, everything was already done,” Li Zhiyue sighed. “If I’d known there would be this whole scene afterward…”

Fan Jun didn’t have time to listen to them. He squatted down, picked up a few balloons and matched the colors, then wrapped them with zip ties and handed them to Liu Wenrui. “Find a place to stick them.”

“Damn,” Liu Wenrui took the balloon bundle. “Look at this boyfriend.”

“Envious?” Zhang Chuanlong sped up his pedaling on the air pump. “Single-life advocate Liu, respect.”

“Damn?” Liu Wenrui looked at Zhang Chuanlong in shock. “After being Teacher Zhang for a few days, you’ve evolved?”

“Hurry up!” Li Zhiyue took the second balloon bundle Fan Jun had wrapped.

“Brother Fan,” Liu Wenrui asked while sticking balloons on the wall, “you’ve prepared the materials for all those dishes you’re going to make, right?”

“It’s the dishes you want to eat,” Fan Jun corrected him. “Yes, everything’s ready, all in the kitchen.”

“I guarantee Zou Yang will like it,” Liu Wenrui patted his chest. “I’ve known him for over ten years. I can’t guarantee anything else, but I know roughly what he likes to eat.”

Fan Jun was slightly skeptical of that statement.

Several dishes on the menu Liu Wenrui had made were things you could buy directly from a braised-food shop. The ones that required Fan Jun’s actual effort included a cold mixed dish and smashed cucumbers, and there was even a ham-and-egg fried rice (with a little chopped green onion)…

It was hard not to feel that Liu Wenrui was worried Fan Jun couldn’t handle more complicated dishes.

Nevertheless, Fan Jun strictly prepared the ingredients according to the menu.

Before Liu Wenrui and the others arrived, Fan Jun had already been busy in the kitchen for a long time. Following the recipes, he bought what needed to be bought ready-made, and prepared all the materials that needed advance prep.

He also prepared a stew. Although it wasn’t on the recipe list, Zou Yang loved it, and it was the dish he made most often. He could guarantee its taste. Among so many unfamiliar dishes, there had to be at least one reliable signature dish as a backup.

With these people bustling around in the small rental apartment, the room already not very big felt even smaller. Everywhere was colorful and glittering. It felt like if you walked a bit too fast, you’d pop several balloons at once.

But it had to be said, although it was very crowded, the atmosphere was absolutely there. And for some reason, their completely unassembled, random combination actually looked quite nice.

Even Xiao Bai had two balloons hung on his back, and Dahei had a circle of balloons around his neck. But to avoid scaring him, none of them were inflated.

“I’m taking a picture,” Liu Wenrui said. “Did you film all those behind-the-scenes moments just now, Zhiyue?”

“Yeah, I filmed a bit of each step,” Li Zhiyue said.

“Behind-the-scenes too?” Fan Jun was shocked.

“Of course it needs to be grand,” Liu Wenrui said. “When it was your birthday, we went out. For Zou Yang’s birthday, we didn’t go out, so we have to make up for it in these details. Keep the balance even.”

“Oh.” Fan Jun replied.

Just as he was filming, Liu Wenrui’s phone suddenly rang.

He made a “tss” sound and paused the recording: “It’s Zou Yang. He’s probably already on his way back.”

As soon as he answered, Zou Yang’s voice came through the receiver: “Where are you guys?”

“We’ve been waiting for you for a long time. We couldn’t wait anymore,” Liu Wenrui said. “Why did it take you so long? Did you talk things through with those kids?”

“Damn it!” Zou Yang came to his senses and cursed. “I’m the birthday person! You guys ran off without me… Where are you? I’ll call Fan Jun first to pick you up.”

“He already picked us up,” Liu Wenrui said.

“You guys are very suspicious,” Zou Yang said.

“Because we’re so reliable, we’ve always been suspicious,” Liu Wenrui replied. “Hurry up. Otherwise, if you’re late, they’ll cancel our private room.”

“I’m already on my bike.” Zou Yang hung up after saying this.

“Actually, he should have already guessed we were preparing something, right?” Fan Jun said.

“Definitely. We always prepare in advance for everyone’s birthday,” Liu Wenrui said. “The surprise is the process. He can’t guess we’re at home, and he definitely can’t guess it looks like this now.”

“Maybe we should open a party-planning studio,” Zhang Chuanlong said. “This creativity, this work efficiency.”

“Write a business plan and show it to Young Master Zou. See if he’ll invest some money,” Li Zhiyue said.

Zou Yang was speeding back on his bike. He originally wanted to call Fan Jun to ask what was going on, but then thought better of it.

This guy had been in cahoots with Liu Wenrui and the others half a month ago. Last night, right at the deadline, they wished him a happy birthday but didn’t even bring out the gift—they were waiting for everyone to do it together today.

There was probably no point asking.

Actually, in the past, he hadn’t been that eager for birthday surprises. If there was a surprise, great; if not, everyone could still have fun. But this time was different.

This was his first birthday since he and Fan Jun got together. The meaning was different, and the feeling was different too.

He reached back and touched his bag, confirming he hadn’t forgotten the little surprise he prepared for Fan Jun.

When he arrived downstairs, he immediately saw Liu Wenrui’s bike parked there. As he squeezed his bike into a row of electric scooters and was about to go upstairs, Fan Jun walked out from the hallway.

“Why did you come down?” He opened his arms.

Fan Jun walked over and hugged him, then leaned his head and kissed the tip of his ear: “I saw you from the window, birthday star.”

“Tell them to come down and go,” Zou Yang hugged him tightly, closed his eyes, lowered his head, and pressed his nose into Fan Jun’s neck, taking a deep breath. “It’s already six.”

“Zhang Chuanlong is in the bathroom. Let’s go up first,” Fan Jun said. “Put on another layer of clothes. You’re freezing.”

“I came back in the wind,” Zou Yang smiled.

After entering the elevator, he pinched Fan Jun’s neck a few times and pulled off a small piece of glittering sequin.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Probably bits of wrapping paper cut while wrapping the gift,” Fan Jun took the sequin from his fingertips.

“This time the gifts are wrapped in sequins?” Zou Yang said.

“Yeah.” Fan Jun nodded.

After exiting the elevator, Fan Jun didn’t go directly to open the door. Instead, he pulled Zou Yang in front of him, pushed him from behind to the door, and knocked.

“Damn, no way, already here…” Zou Yang was a bit surprised.

Before he finished speaking, the door opened.

A wave of multicolored, glittering, dazzling light hit him. At first glance, he couldn’t even clearly see where the people in the room were.

Then he saw Li Zhiyue holding his phone facing the door, while Liu Wenrui and Zhang Chuanlong, one on each side, held confetti cannons and rushed toward him, twisting them above his head. Bang, bang! Two loud pops, and a bunch of sparkling colored confetti floated down from the air, spinning.

“Happy birthday,” Fan Jun hugged him from behind and whispered in his ear, “Zou Yang, I love you.”

Zou Yang reached back, hooked his arm around Fan Jun’s neck, gently squeezed, turned his head, and whispered back: “I love you.”

“I’m not very good with words,” Fan Jun’s voice was low, gently wrapping around his ear. “I just hope… in the future we might argue a lot, get angry a lot, but we’ll also celebrate a lot of birthdays together…”

“Deal.” Zou Yang said.

“Deal.” Fan Jun said.

“There are other people here, you know.” Liu Wenrui shook the confetti cannon.

“Damn,” Zou Yang laughed, lowered his hand, and touched Fan Jun’s hand around his waist. “When did you do all this?”

“Just now,” Fan Jun hugged him and slowly led him into the room. “How is it? Do you like it?”

Only after entering the room was Zou Yang shocked by the room filled with colorful lights.

Everywhere was color, mainly red—on the walls, ceiling, floor, table, lamp… This small room now felt like a passionate palette.

“I like it.” Zou Yang said softly.

“Happy birthday, little golden lamb!” Everyone in the room shouted together.

“Thanks.” Zou Yang smiled. “Why didn’t you shout just now? You waited until the glitter was all floating down.”

“We can’t steal the spotlight. If we shouted, could you still hear his whispered words?” Liu Wenrui rubbed his arms, making a series of “tss” sounds.

“What’s all this today?” Zou Yang looked at the room full of decorations.

“Birthday party, decorated so beautifully,” Zhang Chuanlong raised his arms and spun around. “This is a wedding venue.”

“What the hell?” Zou Yang laughed at that.

“Birthday party venue,” Li Zhiyue said, smiling. “Longlong just said ‘wedding venue’ three times…”

“Usually only weddings are decorated like this. I keep getting confused.” Zhang Chuanlong said.

“We’re not eating out?” Zou Yang finally understood. “We’re eating here?”

“Yeah.” Liu Wenrui nodded.

Zou Yang glanced at Fan Jun, went over, pushed open the kitchen door, and saw a cutting board full of finished and half-finished dishes. “I… damn?”

“The kitchen looks pretty decent, right?” Liu Wenrui leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, looking very proud.

“You’re proud?” Zou Yang asked. “What does this kitchen have to do with you?”

“Me,” Liu Wenrui patted his chest. “I made the menu.”

Zou Yang remembered that list of recipes he’d seen on Fan Jun’s phone that day and couldn’t help laughing.

“Brother Fan cooks,” Zhang Chuanlong said. “We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. We just want to eat his cooking once. After all, he’s the only one of the five of us who dares to claim he can cook. We have to taste the saltiness at least.”

“Saltiness…” Fan Jun said. “I should still be able to taste that.”

The taste was another matter.

After everyone finished the “wedding opening” fuss, Fan Jun went into the kitchen and started preparing the birthday dinner.

He first arranged all the cooked food onto plates and neatly stacked them on a three-tiered small cart beside him.

Zou Yang pushed the door open and walked in. He first opened the cabinet door and looked: “Are there enough bowls and things?”

“Enough,” Fan Jun said. “I moved all the old ones over here. After I got here, I bought some more.”

“…Bought more?” Zou Yang was stunned.

“Yeah,” Fan Jun nodded. “Xiao Long’s shop opened a boutique store next door. They sell a lot of these cups and plates. They’re really nice, so I bought some.”

“Next time, bring me along for this kind of fun thing.” Zou Yang reached out and touched his face.

“Won’t it be boring?” Fan Jun asked. “It’s just a tableware store.”

“No, not boring,” Zou Yang said. “It feels very… happy.”

“Then let’s go tomorrow?” Fan Jun said. “Remember that crystal glass shop we passed when we were shopping that day?”

“You already liked that set of plates and wine glasses by the door, didn’t you?” Zou Yang immediately asked.

“Yes,” Fan Jun paused. “How did you know… Did you see it?”

“I saw it at the time and thought you might like it,” Zou Yang said. “You just mentioned it, and I remembered.”

Fan Jun didn’t speak. He put down the food in his hand, stayed stunned for a few seconds, then leaned over beside him and kissed the tip of his nose: “Zou Yang, you really… understand me very well.”

“Because I’m smart.” Zou Yang raised his eyebrows.

“Because you love me,” Fan Jun said.

This time it was Zou Yang’s turn to be silent. After a while, he sniffed: “Yes.”

The kitchen door was knocked on. Li Zhiyue’s voice came from outside: “Need help, Brother Fan?”

“Yes.” Zou Yang replied. “No one’s getting out of work.”

The kitchen door opened, and as soon as the three of them came in, the kitchen became extremely crowded.

Xiao Bai, with two balloons on his back, tried to join the fun, but Fan Jun took him to the bedroom to keep Dahei company.

Fan Jun chose a few relatively simple-step dishes from Liu Wenrui’s menu: spiced shredded pork, fried potato chips, mixed duck gizzards, fish-flavored shredded pork, plus smashed cucumbers and a cold mixed dish, and finally the stew…

It was a complete meal from cold dishes to main courses, with both meat and vegetables.

“Let me cut?” Zhang Chuanlong rolled up his sleeves.

“You can cut?” Liu Wenrui asked.

“I already cut everything that needs cutting…” Fan Jun said.

“Why wouldn’t I be able to cut?” Zhang Chuanlong said. “When I played with knives…”

“Do you have a knife?” Liu Wenrui said.

“You have?” Zhang Chuanlong said. “Oh, you do.”

“No need to cut anymore. Everything’s already cut.” Li Zhiyue pushed past them and handed a basin to Liu Wenrui. “Mix the cold dish. You should be able to do that.”

“Do you know what ingredients to add?” Zhang Chuanlong asked.

“No,” Liu Wenrui said. “How would you know?”

“I don’t know either,” Zhang Chuanlong said.

“Maybe you should… just go out…” Fan Jun turned on the stove, preparing to fry the potato chips first.

“Mix it outside,” Li Zhiyue sighed. “The recipe. Follow it to add the ingredients.”

“He’s the one who found the recipe,” Zhang Chuanlong said. “He didn’t even look at it himself.”

“I don’t even look at the lesson plans Zou Yang wrote for me. Do you think I’d look at a recipe?” Liu Wenrui held the basin and walked out. “Please.”

“Go work in wedding planning then. What are you even interning at a school for?” Zhang Chuanlong said.

“Food!” Zou Yang shouted. “You’re just holding a basin. What are you mixing?”

“Food!” Zhang Chuanlong shouted along.

“Don’t keep distracting me!” Liu Wenrui glared at Zhang Chuanlong, went back into the kitchen, waited for Li Zhiyue to put all the food into the basin, then turned and left again.

“Seasoning…” Li Zhiyue sighed, took out his phone. “Never mind, let me check what to add. I’ll just take it to the living room and let him mix it.”

“Mm.” Zou Yang nodded with a smile.

The bunch of them came in messily and left messily.

“Annoying?” Zou Yang looked at Fan Jun.

“No,” Fan Jun put the potato chips into the oil pan. “It’s very fun.”

Zou Yang stood beside him.

“Help me prepare some chopped green onions, chili powder, and cumin powder,” Fan Jun took the now-transparent potato chips out of the oil. “This needs to be fried twice.”

“Mm.” Zou Yang got a bowl and prepared the seasonings Fan Jun asked for, according to his instructions. He didn’t know the exact amounts, just estimated by eye.

While waiting for the potato chips to cool, Fan Jun marinated the shredded pork he’d cut in soy sauce and cooking rice wine.

Neither of them spoke.

All around them, they could hear the humming of the range hood, the clinking of bowls and plates, the noisy chatter of the people outside the kitchen door, and the sound of stir-frying coming from the neighbor’s kitchen across the hall.

All these miscellaneous sounds were very stable, creating a tranquility that made one feel a bit dazed, as if the two of them had been standing here for many years already.

Although Fan Jun had never cooked any of the dishes on the recipe list, he was after all someone whose ability to live independently was far stronger than most college students. After burying himself in hard work in the kitchen for over an hour, he somehow managed to produce a whole table of dishes.

After the dishes were arranged one by one on the table, the group burst into cheers.

Liu Wenrui took several photos of the table: “Should we give the gifts first? Along with this table of hard dishes.”

“Sure!” Zhang Chuanlong agreed.

“Fine too.” Zou Yang was more impatient than they were. He wanted to see Fan Jun’s gift.

“Then wait for me.” Fan Jun smiled, turned around, and went into the bedroom.

Everyone, humans and dogs and cats alike, looked toward the bedroom.

At this moment, Zou Yang genuinely thanked Fan Jun for his habit of making the bed every day. The bedroom, now under everyone’s gaze, was neat and clean, in sharp contrast to their dormitory, which hadn’t won “excellent dorm” even once in three years.

Fan Jun took out a gift box about the size of a cookie tin from the nightstand and walked out.

Liu Wenrui held up his phone and went over, taking a close-up shot of the gift box first.

“This… I made it,” Fan Jun handed the gift box to Zou Yang. With everyone staring at him intently and total silence, his speech became a bit stammered. “It’s… two, three, no, count it as two portions…”

“I’ll just open it.” Zou Yang took the box.

“Mm,” Fan Jun nodded. “I made it all.”

The box was wrapped in black crinkled paper, tied with a red ribbon, very eye-catching.

It felt a bit heavy in the hand. You could tell there was more than one small box inside.

Zou Yang removed the wrapping. Inside was a plain white paper box with no print. When he opened it, he saw a long, flat box and a small round box.

After hesitating for a moment, he first picked up the flat box. Judging from the style, it was the kind of box He Chuan’s shop used for folding fans.

But when he saw what was inside, he froze: “You really made it?”

“Yeah.” Fan Jun smiled.

A small sword about the length of a palm. Zou Yang could tell at a glance that this sword was made after the small sword on the Yazi head portrait he had drawn back then. The patterns on it were exactly like the ones he had casually sketched.

“This… ” Fan Jun turned and went back into the bedroom, then came out holding the mask. “I added something to the back of the mask. Now this sword can…”

Fan Jun took the small sword from his hand and gently pressed it against the forehead of the mask. The sword stuck to it.

Everyone in the room gasped at the same time: “Damn—”

Zou Yang looked at the mask and the small sword, unable to speak for a long time.

“This is the main point.” Fan Jun pointed to the small box.

Zou Yang came to his senses and quickly picked up the small box.

Without opening it, the moment he saw this box, he could already guess what it was.

A pair of silver rings.

Very simple style: just a single wide band ring, but the inner circle had engravings. One inner circle was engraved with “ZY” and his birthday; the other was engraved with “FJ” and the birthday.

At the same moment Zou Yang felt his nose go酸 (sour), Li Zhiyue timely tossed a tissue from the table into his hand.

He quickly pulled out two, took off his glasses, and pressed them against his eyes.

He calmed down for at least thirty seconds before the urge to cry, constantly rising from the bottom of his heart, was slowly suppressed.

“Hey,” he wiped the corner of his eye, put his glasses back on properly, took a long breath, took the ring engraved with “ZY” out of the box, and looked at Fan Jun.

“Put it on,” Liu Wenrui held up his phone.

Zou Yang sniffed, pulled Fan Jun’s left hand, pinched his ring finger, and slowly put the ring on Fan Jun’s finger, looking down.

“It fits so well,” he said.

“…I measured my own hand myself,” Fan Jun said.

Zou Yang couldn’t help laughing.

Fan Jun took the other ring, cleared his throat, but didn’t say anything. He just pulled Zou Yang’s hand and put the ring on his left ring finger.

“Now the groom can kiss the groom,” Li Zhiyue said. “You can read the vows from the wall.”

“Damn it.” Zou Yang laughed and cursed.

Everyone immediately started clapping and burst into wild laughter.

“Did you make this yourself?” Zou Yang looked at the rings on his hand.

“Yeah, I also learned it at Xiao Long’s place,” Fan Jun said. “I feel like I’m almost ready to graduate.”

“Isn’t she a blacksmith?” Zou Yang asked. “She can work with gold too?”

“Only the simplest stuff,” Fan Jun smiled. “It’s suitable for me to learn and show off right away.”

Zou Yang didn’t speak. He stared at the rings for a long time, then pulled Fan Jun’s hand and held the two rings side by side, admiring them for a while.

“Should we eat first?” Liu Wenrui asked.

“Wait,” Zou Yang remembered, reached back, and started searching for his backpack. “I also have something to give you.”

“Really?” Fan Jun was a bit surprised.

“It’s not very… difficult, and it’s a bit tacky… but I think…” Zou Yang pulled his backpack, took out a gift also wrapped in wrapping paper, and handed it to Fan Jun. “You probably haven’t noticed it yet.”

“Haven’t noticed?” Fan Jun took the gift.

“Yeah.” Zou Yang smiled. “Open it and see.”

Zou Yang’s gift was wrapped in many layers of wrapping paper, all solid colors, each layer a different color.

As Fan Jun unwrapped it, he noticed and looked at Zou Yang: “A rainbow?”

“Yeah.” Zou Yang nodded.

“Beautiful.” Fan Jun said, continuing to remove the last layer of wrapping paper.

Inside, there was no box. Under the last layer of wrapping paper was a picture frame, but there was no photo in the middle—instead, it looked like a screen.

Zou Yang reached out and tapped the screen once.

The middle of the frame lit up, and then an image appeared.

“Damn, is it a video?” Zhang Chuanlong asked in a hushed voice.

“Shut up,” Liu Wenrui said.

The video showed a map.

The instant the map appeared, Fan Jun’s hand trembled slightly. When the map switched to street view, he looked up at Zou Yang: “Is it… ”

“Look.” Zou Yang propped his chin on his hand and curled the corner of his mouth.

The street scene on the map slowly changed, moving bit by bit from Nanzhouping, following the road forward.

Fan Jun felt an indescribable surge of excitement. Zou Yang had chosen the same method he had used back then: step by step, following the route they walked that day, slowly approaching the destination.

The gate of Zou Yang’s school appeared, then the scene slowly switched, and finally stopped at the exact position where they had been standing when the map car passed by that day.

Unlike last time, the street view had changed.

He saw the two people on the roadside making a V-sign directly toward the camera.

Their faces had been blurred, but it was still immediately obvious that this was him and Zou Yang on that day.

In that instant, tears almost burst forth from his eyes. Before he could react, large tears had already fallen on the screen.

The video, which had been completely silent until now, suddenly played Zou Yang’s voice: “For many years to come, on the real-scene map, people will be able to see this moment at 2:36 PM on that afternoon, when we were standing at the gate of our school waiting for the bus—a moment in our lives.”

Fan Jun looked up at Zou Yang.

“In the future, we’ll have countless moments like this—remembered and unremembered, seen through our own eyes and through others’ eyes,” Zou Yang said. “Until we’re old.”

“Until we’re old,” Fan Jun said.