Shuichang said, “Ling Tuan, can you calculate when Du Pengfei will arrive in S City?”
Ling Tuan counted with his fingers and replied, “In five hours.”
Shuichang requested, “Send me his flight information.”
“Sure thing,” Ling Tuan responded.
Shuichang intended to intercept Du Pengfei early, hoping to convince him to keep quiet out of respect for their childhood friendship.
Two hours before departing for Xindu Airport to intercept Du Pengfei, an unexpected series of car accidents occurred on the highway, causing a five-hour traffic jam. It was uncertain if he would even make it to pick up Qisheng after work.
While he pondered how to explain the situation to Qisheng, a call came through: “Ming Shen Ge, I’m going back to my parents’ house today, you don’t need to come pick me up.”
Shuichang inquired, “Are you taking a taxi back?”
“Yeah, I won’t be home tonight either. You’ll be alone in that empty house, so to express my apologies, I’m sending you a kiss.”
Shuichang chuckled, “Alright, I’ll send one back.”
Now he didn’t need to explain himself to Qisheng.
At ten that night, the highway finally cleared up, but Shuichang returned home in the early hours of the morning. He had attempted to call Du Pengfei during the wait, but though the call went through, no one answered.
The next morning, Shuichang received a text message from Qisheng, stating he would be home today and would return tomorrow to celebrate his birthday.
Shuichang asked Ling Tuan to locate Du Pengfei, but Ling Tuan replied, “I can’t track him down; it seems he’s blocked me.”
Shuichang was surprised, “Can someone really block you?”
Ling Tuan said, “I’m not sure why this happened, but that’s the outcome. I’m sorry, handsome; I couldn’t help you.” Ling Tuan’s voice was apologetic and frail.
Shuichang reassured him, “Don’t blame yourself; if he’s unfindable, then he’s unfindable. He’ll show up tomorrow.”
At this moment, Shuichang felt a strange calmness towards death—whether it was a knife when he opened his eyes or one when he closed them, he thought, why not see how he died?
The next day, Shuichang woke up to find it was already nine in the morning. He usually woke up early but had overslept due to last night’s insomnia.
After washing up and heading downstairs, he discovered the living room decorated with colorful ribbons and balloons stuck to the ceiling. On the coffee table sat a nine-layer fondant cake, topped with two little figures in suits exchanging rings in front of a priest, replicating the scene of his wedding with Qisheng in Bali. Shuichang felt a rush of surprise as he walked around the cake.
Even though he wasn’t present at the time, just picturing himself and Qisheng in that setting filled him with immense happiness.
In the kitchen, the sound of chopping vegetables caught his attention. He found Qisheng in an apron, chopping away. Shuichang embraced him from behind, causing Qisheng to stiffen momentarily. Not noticing, Shuichang said, “You’ve worked hard, baby. I really like the decorations in the living room.”
“I’m glad you like it,” Qisheng replied, his voice slightly strained. He elbowed Shuichang gently, “You should wait outside. Let me finish preparing, and I can start cooking right away.”
“Okay.” Shuichang kissed Qisheng’s fair earlobe before letting go and heading to the living room to watch TV.
For once, Shuichang sat down to watch an entire episode of a dramatic series without interruption. Suddenly, someone rang the doorbell—he couldn’t recall having invited anyone over.
He opened the door, finding Du Pengfei with his wavy chestnut hair and good looks, who at first glance could be mistaken for a well-behaved person.
“What brings you here?” Shuichang asked, stepping aside to let him in.
Du Pengfei grinned mischievously and placed a hand on Shuichang’s shoulder, “I wouldn’t miss my old friend’s birthday celebration for the world.”
Qisheng heard the commotion from the kitchen and stepped out, his expression freezing upon seeing Du Pengfei. The latter dropped his arm and, turning, hugged Qisheng, saying, “Xiao Sheng Sheng, thank you for inviting me.”
Shuichang stood silently, assessing the two with a penetrating gaze. “Do you two know each other?”
Du Pengfei jokingly replied, “Of course! You thought I didn’t remember when you…”
“Pengfei, let’s catch up after dinner,” Qisheng said sharply, successfully silencing him.
“Okay, okay, for your sake, I won’t say more since you’re my old friend’s wife.” Du Pengfei plopped down on the sofa, patting the space beside him. He looked up at Shuichang and said, “Old friend, come sit. Let’s skip the chat and watch some TV together.”
Shuichang started to piece things together calmly. He watched the rest of the episode with Du Pengfei, and soon after, Qisheng brought the food to the table.
The eight dishes and one soup, a perfect blend of flavors, tantalized the senses. After preparing meals for him, Qisheng had begun practicing and now cooked even better than before.
Du Pengfei exaggerated, “Sister-in-law’s cooking is incredible! I’m about to drool all over the place! Come on, let’s eat already.”
The three sat down together, with Shuichang as the birthday star in the middle, while Qisheng and Du Pengfei flanked him on either side. Once he started eating, Du Pengfei finally ceased his chatter, and afterward, he patted his stomach, expressing a wish to have such delicious food every day.
“You two are so affectionate; I guess I have no chance left. Old friend, you need to treat your sister-in-law better,” Du Pengfei remarked, calling Shuichang “sister-in-law” and “old friend” as if to feign innocuousness.
Qisheng turned to Shuichang and said, “Ming Shen Ge, I’ll go get your gift.”
Qisheng returned with a light brown paper bag and handed it to Shuichang, “Ming Shen Ge, happy birthday. This is my gift for you.”
Lu Mingshen opened the bag and pulled out a stack of documents—it was the one-year marriage contract that Qisheng had previously threatened him to sign. Shuichang looked at Qisheng, surprised.
Taking a deep breath, Qisheng placed a hand on his chest and said seriously to Shuichang, “Ming Shen Ge, I intended to gift you this since last week. Now I’m handing it over; you can tear it up.”
Ling Tuan commented, “Aww, so touching~”
Shuichang thought it was strange how Ling Tuan could call this emotional in the current atmosphere. He ripped the contract in two.
“I have a gift for you, too,” Shuichang said.
He went upstairs to retrieve another light brown paper bag, “Take a look at this.”