Chapter 193: Birthdays can be changed at will |
Chapter 193: Birthdays can be changed at will
Afternoon.
Wang Zijun didn’t show up, so the two of them couldn't play Fight the Landlord. Bored out of their minds, they played a game of Horse Carriage for a while...
It was a simple game where they split the deck into two stacks, each taking half. They placed cards down one by one in a row, and if a card matched any previous one, the player could take all the cards in between. The game continued until one side ran out of cards, determining the winner.
It was boring.
“You said you’ve been practicing swordsmanship?”
“Yeah, like the ones on TV, swish, swish, swish... When the world’s spiritual energy revives, I’ll be able to fly with my sword.”
“Mhm, sure, see you in the skies.”
Qin Hao responded absentmindedly. Whenever the two of them were together, they were always laughing and messing around—maturity was never an option.
Around 2 PM, Qin Maocai arrived by bus, carrying a food container with dinner inside. He planned to stay until the evening before heading back.
With Qin Maocai joining, Fight the Landlord was finally a full game—father and son teaming up. Xu Qing and Qin Maocai pulled up small stools next to the hospital bed. Qin Maocai shuffled his cards, even rubbing his fingers together like a seasoned player. But before they even played for half an hour, someone knocked on the door.
"Bet it's Wang Zijun."
Xu Qing was the peasant in this round, and he wasn’t worried about the father-son duo cheating. Muttering to himself, he got up to open the door—only to find the young woman they had rescued standing outside.
"Uh…"
"…"
"Come in, come in."
Xu Qing only hesitated for a second before stepping aside to let her in. Now, with four people in the hospital room, it suddenly felt a little cramped.
Qin Hao, who had been lying there lazily, found this girl oddly straightforward. Wasn’t a single “thank you” enough? Why come back again…
“Uh… I should probably step out for a bit?” Xu Qing, being self-aware, started gathering up the playing cards.
It didn’t seem right for her to just stand there watching the three of them play cards.
“Yeah, I need to take Xiongba for a walk anyway. Let’s go.” Qin Maocai suddenly had a dumb idea and dragged Xu Qing along as he left.
"Fine, take your walk, but could you let go of my arm? You're making me feel like I'm Xiongba."
Xu Qing complained as he picked up the trash from the hospital room and tossed it in the bin outside. He then looked at Qin Maocai, who had no destination in mind, and grinned.
"Didn’t you say you were taking Xiongba for a walk?"
"I was just making space."
"Making space for what? She’s just here to say thanks. You’re overthinking it." Xu Qing asked.
"No, no, I wasn’t thinking anything… It’s just… kinda awkward."
"Got it. Now I know where Haozi gets it from."
The two of them headed downstairs. Qin Maocai lit up a Hongtashan cigarette and took a seat on a nearby bench, shaking the pack to offer one to Xu Qing.
The greenery around them was well-kept, and the branches of a small tree provided just the right amount of shade. Xu Qing sat beside him, quietly smoking for a moment. The old man exhaled a long sigh while looking up at the hospital building.
"I nearly had a heart attack two days ago. Everything was fine, and then suddenly he was in the hospital. I mean, he's just a community officer—how the hell does he manage to get himself into trouble like this?"
"It’s called passion. Dedication to duty. A good thing."
"Good my ass!"
"Alright, alright, not a good thing." Xu Qing nodded along, seeing that the old man and Xu Wenbin had the same temper.
"He keeps telling me his job isn’t dangerous, just looking for lost pets and settling minor disputes. And the next thing I know, he’s in a hospital bed. Why the hell does he insist on being a cop…?"
"Everyone has their own aspirations. You’ve known since he was a kid that he loved this stuff. Whenever we played cops and robbers, everyone wanted to be the thief, but he always fought to be the cop."
Xu Qing blew out a puff of smoke. He hadn't smoked in a long time, and the sudden nicotine rush made him a little dizzy. He crushed the half-smoked cigarette under his foot and tossed it into the nearby trash can.
"He’s just living his dream. You can’t force him to change careers, can you?"
"Sigh…"
"Come on, Uncle, don’t sigh. He’s got a strong sense of justice—better than me, at least. Besides, this was just a freak accident. How often does something like this happen? If Jiang City was that dangerous, we’d be in big trouble."
"Yeah, and of course, he’s the one who got caught up in it." Qin Maocai pulled out his phone and scrolled for a bit. "By the way, I saw a video of you practicing martial arts."
"…Yeah."
"Teach Haozi some moves when you’ve got time. Let him toughen up a bit."
"He won’t learn. They have their own training methods, and this isn’t part of it."
—
The next few days passed with Xu Qing going back and forth between home and the hospital. Before he realized it, June was coming to an end. It wasn’t until Zhou Suzhi reminded him that he remembered—his birthday was coming up.
He had never made a big deal out of birthdays. Some years, he’d just grab a bowl of noodles, crack in two eggs, and tell Zhou Suzhi he’d had a feast before going home and crashing. Other times, he’d gather some friends, eat, drink, and go to karaoke, waking up groggy the next morning with another birthday in the books.
On June 27th, Qin Hao was finally able to get out of bed, so Xu Qing skipped his usual hospital visit.
Jiang He had taken her little bear backpack and gone on a trip. She was probably wandering around on a bus or subway. As she became more familiar with modern society, her courage grew too. If she ever got caught and questioned, it would actually help solve her identity issue.
When she came back, the smell of oil and smoke filled the air. Xu Qing was in the kitchen, up to some kind of mischief, but the large cake on the table caught her attention first.
“It’s your birthday today?” Jiang He peeked into the kitchen, surprised.
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I could’ve made something delicious!”
She threw her backpack onto the couch, rolled up her sleeves, and shoved Xu Qing aside to take over the cooking.
“Life needs a sense of ritual.” Xu Qing said.
“Oh, so that’s your excuse for wasting food?” Jiang He frowned at the mess in the kitchen. She usually kept it spotless, but now it was a disaster. Figures—he can barely cook instant noodles.
“That cake is huge.” She licked her lips.
“Not really. Same size as last time.”
Xu Qing had liked the one from last year, so he bought from the same bakery again, same size, just with a different design.
Jiang He thought hard about it. “Really? Last time, I barely got to eat any before it was gone.”
“That’s because you have a big mouth.”
“My mouth is not big.”
Jiang He was no longer the naive girl she once was. A big cake was still exciting, but it wasn’t the only thing that could make her happy anymore.
She cooked a few small dishes to go with the cake. Xu Qing lit a single candle for tradition, blew it out, and picked up a plastic knife to cut the cake.
Jiang He suddenly asked, “When’s my birthday again?”
Xu Qing froze.
He had no idea.
At first, he thought about using the day she arrived as her birthday, but later, since she loved eating so much, he had gotten her a cake on another day, which she finished over two days, still wanting more afterward.
“How about I just make it today too? That way, it’s easier to remember.” Jiang He came up with a very clever idea.
“You think birthdays work like that? You can just pick any day you want? It’s supposed to be meaningful.”
“Since we don’t know the actual date, what’s the difference? Might as well just set one.”
Xu Qing held the plastic knife and looked at her for a moment before nodding. “That actually makes some sense. Having the same birthday is pretty convenient.”
Before Jiang He could light another candle, he added, “But that means we’d only get one birthday celebration a year—just one cake.”
“…”
Jiang He hesitated.
Right. If they shared the same day, that meant just one cake.
“…Fine, one it is.” She licked her lips, reluctantly giving up the idea of a second cake.
She lit another candle, made a wish, and blew it out. Then, she took over cutting the cake herself.
“From now on, we’ll celebrate together.”
With a swift slice, she cut the cake in half—one for each of them.
The creamy frosting was just as rich and sweet as she remembered. Taking a small bite, she closed her eyes in satisfaction.
“If they ever make a live-action Cooking Master Boy, you’d definitely be in it,” Xu Qing said, carefully eating just the sponge while avoiding the frosting.
“Don’t you think eating this makes you feel really happy?”
“You even know what happiness is?”
“Of course! Eating sweets makes people feel happy.”
Jiang He took a big bite, getting frosting on the corner of her mouth. She swallowed, then flicked her tongue over her lips, making the frosting disappear.
“And also sitting in front of a fan, enjoying air conditioning, and eating ice cream—those all make people happy too.”
As expected, Jiang He’s definition of happiness was incredibly simple. Xu Qing scraped off the rest of his frosting and gave it to her, letting her indulge in her “happiness” a little longer.
That summer evening, with the fan blowing, Jiang He ate her cake and basked in double the happiness.
“I went out today and hung out with ‘Yogurt Girl,’” Jiang He said suddenly. “She actually lives pretty close, just in another building. We even talked about making her a moderator for my channel.”
“Another building?”
“Yeah.”
“In this complex?”
“Mhm.”
“That’s quite the coincidence.” Xu Qing glanced out the window, thinking for a moment. “Show me a picture of her.”
“You can just check my Moments.”
Jiang He’s hands were covered in frosting, too busy eating to wash them. She gestured toward her phone.
Xu Qing picked it up. She didn’t have a lock screen—she found it too troublesome. A simple swipe unlocked it, revealing her home screen: a photo of the two of them taken near the flower garden at the amusement park.
“She’s really blending in well,” Xu Qing commented. If Jiang He were to appear in modern society today, even if she casually demonstrated her martial arts, no one would believe she was from a thousand years ago.
From head to toe, inside and out—she had already fully adapted to the modern world.
He tapped into her Moments. Jiang He didn’t have many friends, so it was easy to find a post featuring a woman’s photo.
She had long black hair draped over her back, was a bit shorter than Jiang He, which made her hair seem even longer, and had slightly chubby arms. Her facial features were mature—she could be anywhere from 27 to 30… Women’s ages were always hard to guess.
She might not be thirty yet, but one thing was certain—this was no “girl.” More like an “old woman.”
“Never seen her before. Is she a renter?” Xu Qing asked.
“She just moved in this year. I think she actually bought the place.”
“She bought it?”
Xu Qing was surprised. Even though this was an older residential complex, there was a school nearby, so the housing prices weren’t cheap by Jiang City standards.
He thought for a moment—Jiang He didn’t have anything worth scamming, so his suspicion seemed unnecessary. Smiling at his own over-cautiousness, he walked over to the window.
“Is it that building in the corner?” he suddenly pointed.
“How did you know?!” Jiang He was shocked.
“…I guessed.”
“Guessed? How?”
Jiang He found it incredible. She had long noticed that Xu Qing seemed to have some kind of special ability—he always just knew things without explanation.
“Just a lucky guess. Well… not entirely random,” Xu Qing said after a pause. Seeing Jiang He’s skeptical look, he decided to explain. “There used to be an old neighbor, Lao Liang. That was his apartment. He moved out at the beginning of the year and sold it.”
“And that’s it?” Jiang He still didn’t believe him. “How do you know who he sold it to?”
“Hmm… That particular unit was the cheapest one available. Since the school’s zoning policy locked in its value, it was priced lower than the average in this complex. —Actually, she should thank you. The ghost incident last year scared Lao Liang so much that he dropped the price even more, desperate to sell and move out.”
“…And?”
“And, this woman watches you play games a lot. Judging from her appearance and lifestyle, she probably doesn’t have a husband or kids, which means she wouldn’t need a large place. A smaller unit makes sense, and those are always cheaper….”
None of these details seemed directly connected, but when put together, they led to a logical conclusion. Xu Qing had simply made a reasonable guess.
“How do you even know so much? About people selling their apartments and stuff…” Jiang He was amazed. She spent most of her time with him, yet somehow, he always knew things she didn’t.
“You just have to chat with the old uncles and aunties around here. You’ll pick things up.” Xu Qing put her phone down and ruffled her hair. “Starting to feel a little dumb, huh? Now, eat your cake.”
“…I don’t buy it.” Jiang He narrowed her eyes at him. “Lao Liang wasn’t the only one selling a place. How do you know she specifically bought his?”
“That’s why I said it was a guess. Could’ve been wrong. Just so happened to be right this time.”
“Still, that’s really impressive…”
Jiang He thought about it. It no longer seemed that mystical—Xu Qing just paid more attention to things.
Not a big deal. She could learn too.
“…You didn’t do your homework today, did you? You were out playing all day.”
Xu Qing’s words hit her like a hammer.
The cake suddenly didn’t taste as good anymore.