Chapter 192: Birthday
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
Without any hesitation, Xi Mo immediately agreed: "Of course."
The smile in Ruan Yesheng’s eyes was bright. She had expected Xi Mo to answer like this. Even she herself might not clearly know where this certainty came from. Maybe it came from her understanding of Xi Mo. Maybe it came from those heart-fluttering moments when she spent time with Xi Mo. Those stirring moments always made her expect the best outcome.
She eagerly looked forward to every bit of hope Xi Mo gave her. Yet deep in her heart there was also a weak and uneasy voice telling her that she couldn't be blindly optimistic.
After all she was only her good friend. Some hopes could easily turn into unrealistic dreams.
Ruan Yesheng pressed her lips together. There was still a smile in her eyes but there was also a trace of hidden sadness.
“Besides me, who else is coming to your house to eat on your birthday?” Xi Mo thought for a moment and said, “Also, will it be lunch or dinner?”
“Just you, alone.” Ruan Yesheng looked at her without blinking. “Dinner.”
Xi Mo was slightly stunned. “Only me?”
“Yes.” Ruan Yesheng's tone softened as she mentioned her friends. “I already made plans with Tangtang and Tinghuan to eat out for lunch. Tinghuan said she doesn't want to eat my cooking anymore. She eats it too often and got tired of it. She asked me to treat them to a fancy meal outside.”
“Eat it often?” Xi Mo’s tone immediately turned serious. “And got tired of it?”
Yan Tinghuan, are you sick in the head?
Ruan Yesheng nodded.
“Is Feng Tangtang tired of it too?” Xi Mo frowned.
Ruan Yesheng always protected Feng Tangtang. “Even if Tangtang eats my food more often than Tinghuan, she wouldn't say something like that.”
Xi Mo glanced at Ruan Yesheng. She didn't speak for a long time. In the end she lightly squeezed out one word. “Oh.”
No wonder you knitted so many sweaters for her.
Ruan Yesheng carefully observed Xi Mo’s expression. “You are not thinking of firing Tangtang, right?”
“Why would I fire Feng Tangtang?” Xi Mo scoffed.
“Maybe because…you don't like her?” Ruan Yesheng held back her smile and teased her. “For example, she received more sweaters than you.”
Xi Mo: “…”
“If you fire her, I will hire her and make her my assistant.” Ruan Yesheng crossed her arms and looked relaxed.
“Don't even think about it.” Xi Mo refused firmly. “Feng Tangtang is an excellent employee of my company and also my capable assistant. I will have Lu Qingming renew her contract later. don't think about stealing my people.”
“How many years will you renew it for? How much will her salary increase?” Ruan Yesheng immediately leaned over, holding Xi Mo’s arm, very attentive.
“Company secret.” Xi Mo didn't push her away and answered coldly.
Ruan Yesheng smiled happily. She liked moments like this and was even more unwilling to let Xi Mo leave. So she always wanted to tease Xi Mo and talk more. Xi Mo also understood and cooperated with her act.
But they were at the hotel room door after all, so they couldn't talk for too long. After chatting for a while, Ruan Yesheng said reluctantly, “Go back and rest. Good night.”
“Good night.” Xi Mo nodded.
The filming over the next few days came to a temporary stop. January 18th happened to be a Friday. Ruan Yesheng and Xi Mo had already asked Gu Ru for leave. Gu Ru gave them three days off and told them to return to Beijing on the 21st to continue filming.
They took the same flight and landed in Shanghai. When they parted at the airport, Gu Qisong drove over to pick up Xi Mo. Xi Mo told Ruan Yesheng to get in the car too. “Let Gu Qisong take you home. It's on the way anyway.”
“It’s not really that on the way.” Ruan Yesheng smiled.
Before switching bodies, Xi Mo had been to Ruan Yesheng’s home. Her home and Ruan Yesheng’s home were like the south and the north. They were not in the same direction at all. Also Ruan Yesheng lived in the city center, where traffic jams were common, while Xi Mo’s villa was in the suburbs.
“I say it’s on the way, then it’s on the way.” Xi Mo said.
After so many things happened, Xi Mo was very worried about Ruan Yesheng’s safety deep inside. Especially since Yang Zhen had been following them. Although Yang Zhen had not shown up recently and Cui Jiayu had not found anything, there was no guarantee that Yang Zhen wasn't still following them like a persistent ghost to Shanghai.
“Okay, okay, on the way, on the way.” Ruan Yesheng couldn't argue with her and agreed.
Gu Qisong first sent Ruan Yesheng home, then sent Xi Mo back.
The first thing Ruan Yesheng did after getting home was cleaning. She hadn’t been back for a long time and there was a layer of dust in the house. She hired housekeeping to help, while she mainly sorted out the things her parents left behind. Especially since her mother used to travel often for work. Every time she came back, she would bring Ruan Yesheng some special gifts as compensation for not being able to accompany her. Over time, the gifts piled up more and more.
Some of the rarer items she had carefully selected were even given to Xi Mo.
She cherished these things very much and didn't feel safe letting others clean them.
She kept busy until evening before finishing. To let the wiped floors and furniture dry faster, she opened the windows to ventilate. She didn't know when, but a light, cold rain had started to fall outside, casting hazy shadows of city lights in the dim night.
With a thud, Ruan Yesheng was startled and shivered. At the same time, she felt the cold wind from outside blow onto her face, carrying some moisture. She looked in the direction of the sound and saw that her mother's photo frame had fallen over on the table.
Ruan Yesheng quickly went over and righted the photo frame.
Most of her beauty was inherited from her mother, but she was more bright and striking than her mother. This photo was her mother’s work photo. She wore a researcher’s uniform and glasses, giving off a calm and wise intellectual beauty.
“Mom.” Ruan Yesheng placed her hand on the protective glass of the frame and murmured softly. “I'm home. When will you come home?”
The study was silent.
She sighed, walked over, and closed the window, cutting off the wind and rain outside.
After cleaning for a long time, Ruan Yesheng felt a bit tired and went to bed early on this rainy night. Shen Qingbie was very particular about rituals. As soon as midnight on the 19th arrived, she sent a long series of voice messages. She spammed “Happy Birthday” stickers crazily, then bombarded the group chat "Shanghai Sisters…” with many blessings and sent a lot of red envelopes.
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
Driven by Shen Qingbie, those who were still awake in the group also sent blessings, all wishing Ruan Yesheng a happy birthday.
Ruan Yesheng woke up early in the morning and saw so many messages flooding in. A smile climbed onto her brows.
She replied to them one by one and deliberately saved Xi Mo’s message for last. Xi Mo had also sent her a message at midnight. She transferred her 12345 yuan and added a note. “Happy birthday.”
When Ruan Yesheng saw this number, she almost laughed herself to death. For a moment she didn't know whether to complain about Xi Mo being rich or to think about what this number meant.
But she couldn't expect Xi Mo to transfer 999 yuan meaning forever or 1314 yuan meaning a lifetime. Wouldn’t that be just wishful thinking?
She couldn't afford to daydream so early in the morning.
So she replied. “Thank you for the transfer, but why didn’t you transfer 12306 yuan? Then I could buy a few more high speed rail tickets, and business class ones too.”
After replying, she waited for a long time, but Xi Mo didn't send any message. Ruan Yesheng thought Xi Mo hadn’t gotten up yet, so she happily washed up and went to the supermarket to buy groceries to prepare for tonight’s dinner.
While shopping, Xi Mo replied. “I just transferred it randomly. Just accept it.”
Ruan Yesheng looked at her phone and shook her head helplessly with a smile. This block of wood, couldn't say something sweet to make her happy even on her birthday. What did randomly transfer and randomly accept mean.
“I’ll be at your house around 5 pm. Is that in time?” Xi Mo seriously asked her. “My dad wants me to go back for lunch. I still have some things to deal with in the afternoon. I will probably get to your place around five.”
“It’s in time. We’lll eat at 6:30.” Ruan Yesheng thought for a moment, then added teasingly. “You must arrive on time, or I will be sad.”
“Okay. It's a deal.”
At noon, Ruan Yesheng ate out with Yan Tinghuan and Feng Tangtang while Xi Mo went to the Xi family manor. It rained all day. The manor gate slowly opened, letting Xi Mo’s car in, then closed again.
After a while, from far outside the manor, a pedestrian holding an umbrella walked past. This person carried a backpack and wore a baseball cap. They looked hurried but glanced toward the manor before leaving.
In the afternoon, Xi Mo carefully asked Xi Ji if she could go to the greenhouse to pick some fresh flowers.
The weather was cold now and many flowers were out of season. But many of Xi Ji’s flowers were grown in greenhouses. Even off season flowers could still be seen. Xi Ji looked serious, but he agreed and even went with Xi Mo to pick flowers.
Xi Mo felt nervous. Although her relationship with Xi Ji had eased a lot, she didn't expect her father to be this free and pick flowers with her. She couldn't help but be wary, afraid of saying something wrong and making Xi Ji unhappy.
Xi Mo picked many brightly colored flowers, all expensive varieties. The colors were soft and tender, as if water could drip out if pinched. She carefully layered and matched the flower branches in what she thought was the most beautiful order, wrapped them in translucent floral paper, and finally tied a bow.
Xi Ji had been observing Xi Mo since she came back. He felt something was very unusual about his daughter. Especially when he saw the look in her eyes while preparing the bouquet, he frowned and said, “Are you in love?”
Xi Mo wasn't afraid of anyone except her father. She was immediately shocked. “No; No! Dad!”
“That makes sense.” Xi Ji thought about it and felt it didn't fit logically. He said coldly, “If some boy caught your eye, and you still had to personally give him flowers, that wouldn't fit your personality. If flowers were to be given, it should be him giving them to you.”
Xi Mo: “…”
Xi Ji also felt that Xi Mo’s expression while preparing the flowers didn't look fake. It even looked like she was lowering herself. This unambitious look made Xi Ji very displeased. Just in case, he warned her again. “But I will warn you in advance. If you really like someone, and that boy still lets you give him flowers, it means he doesn't know his place and is not suitable for you. If you continue to be so blind like this, I will break his legs.”
Cold sweat broke out on Xi Mo. “There is no such boy.”
“Mm.” Xi Ji didn't say more and walked out of the greenhouse.
Xi Mo nervously carried the flowers out. Seeing that there was still enough time, she asked Gu Qisong to drive her to Ruan Yesheng’s home. She was afraid the flowers would shake and scatter in the car, so she held them in her arms the whole time.
The rain got heavier in the afternoon. Unexpectedly, there was a huge traffic jam. Xi Mo’s car was sandwiched be6ween several cars and couldn't move at all.
At first, Xi Mo thought it was only a short traffic and didn't mind. She could just wait. Half an hour passed and the traffic ahead showed no sign of clearing. Xi Mo looked at her watch, frowned, and asked Gu Qisong, “What’s going on? Why is it jammed for so long?”
“I asked someone. It seems someone was hit and killed ahead. It is quite serious. The traffic police are still handling it.”
Xi Mo’s heart tightened.
But traffic accidents were not something she could solve. The only thing she could do was wait patiently.
After some more time, the rain turned into a downpour. Xi Mo opened the map app and calculated the time. If it continued like this, she would definitely not make it to Ruan Yesheng’s home on time. After weighing it, she took an umbrella and said to Gu Qisong, “Drive the car back later. I'll walk."
Gu Qisong was very shocked. “It is so far. How can you walk there?”
“It’s fine. You go back.” Xi Mo didn't care what Gu Qisong said. Holding the umbrella and flowers, she got out of the car and walked toward the roadside.
Raindrops hit the umbrella with crackling sounds. She stepped onto the sidewalk and walked quickly along the pedestrian path. This street was very lively. On her right were all kinds of shops. Luckily it was raining heavily, so there were not many pedestrians.
But she was dressed very carefully today and wore high heels. With her hurried pace, her feet soon hurt. Holding the flowers in one hand, she checked the map with the other and found a mall nearby. She rushed in, bought a set of sports clothes to change into, and bought a bicycle, one with a basket.
The shop clerk kept looking her up and down, feeling she looked familiar, but didn't say anything.
During this time, Ruan Yesheng called her and asked, “When will you arrive? I have prepared all the dishes. We can start cooking once you get here.”
“I will arrive on time.” Xi Mo replied.
Then Xi Mo rode the bicycle wildly in the bike lane. She put the flowers in the basket and wrapped them in a big plastic bag for protection. She couldn't hold an umbrella, so she was completely soaked by the heavy rain.
While pedaling hard, Xi Mo also thought that the bicycle was a great invention.
When it was a little after five, Ruan Yesheng heard the doorbell ring. She immediately stopped what she was doing and ran eagerly to the door to open it.
Then she saw Xi Mo standing at the door, completely soaked and dejected.
Xi Mo lowered her brows and didn't dare look at Ruan Yesheng. She looked like a bullied black swan, looking completely disheveled, but she was still carefully holding the bouquet she had picked with such care.
Ruan Yesheng: “…”
Xi Mo: “…”
“Did you just swim here from the Pacific Ocean?” Ruan Yesheng was stunned.
Xi Mo: “…”
“Weren’t you in a car? How did you become like this?” Ruan Yesheng came back to her senses and pulled Xi Mo inside.
“I rode a bicycle here.” Xi Mo muttered with grievance.
“Huh?” Ruan Yesheng was confused again.
Even with her quick wit, she couldn’t figure out what had happened.
Author's Note:
Xi Mo, don't fall in love too hard. Being love-brained is very dangerous.
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