Before cutting the cake, Ke Ni received a call from her best friend.
Lü Yao didn’t wait for Ke Ni to speak and immediately poured out a string of blessings: “Happy birthday to my precious Ke Xiaoni! May your blessings be as vast as the Eastern Sea, your longevity as enduring as the Southern Mountains, your beauty everlasting, good luck rolling in and misfortune rolling out, may your final exams go smoothly, your show recordings go smoothly, and everything in your life go smoothly!”
“Thank you, my dear Lü Xiao Yao!”
Ke Ni smiled and asked, “It’s already 12:13, why are you still awake? Didn’t you say staying up late would ruin your skin?”
From the phone came Lü Yao’s lazy grumble, “I’m already tired, but I have to submit my Unity project tomorrow, then the design assignment the day after, and besides, I wanted to be the first to wish you a happy birthday…”
At that moment, He Zhi came over holding the cake knife and quietly asked, “Ke Ni Jie, should I help you cut the cake?”
Ke Ni nodded, “Sure, thanks.”
Lü Yao grew suspicious: “Why is there a guy there? Ke Xiaoni, you’ve got something going on! Tell me, who are you with right now?”
Under her best friend’s probing, Ke Ni glanced toward the entrance of the grocery store—
The cats each squatted in the corner with their hazard lights flashing;
The energetic Tuesday was wagging her tail;
And just as lively, Song Yi opened his mouth and sang: “Beat the drum hey, bang the gong ah, wishing my sister a happy birth—mmm mmm mmm! Mmm—”
Dai Fanze quickly covered Song Yi’s mouth.
Then he reverted to his sloth mode, whispering, “If Jing’s neighbor comes over later, I’ll turn you in.”
He Zhi held up the cake knife smeared with cream, twisting his face unhappily: “Song Ge, Dai Ge, stop messing around next to me, I’ve already cut the cake crooked.”
He Zhi sighed, “This piece is so small.”
Jing Sicun, leaning nearby watching the commotion, said, “Give the smallest piece to Song Yi.”
The warm night breeze carried a faint sweetness of cream.
Ke Ni looked at this group of people, who were supposed to be somewhat unfamiliar to her, and felt that a few words could hardly express her current feelings.
So she simply said that they were a few contestants from the show celebrating her birthday.
Lü Yao, ever the gossip, said, “Lin Xirun must be there too, right?”
Ke Ni replied calmly, “No way.”
Lü Yao sounded a little disappointed: “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have been revising homework at this hour. Didn’t watch the time and got delayed by over ten minutes. So I’m not the first to wish you happy birthday this year, huh?”
Ke Ni said, “But I still love you the most, love you love you. When you finish your work, I’ll take you out to eat!”
Lü Yao happily said, “After exams, I’m coming to stay at your place for a few days.”
After chatting a bit more with Lü Yao, Ke Ni finally hung up.
From the grocery store entrance came soft conversations, as if Song Yi was proudly boasting about remembering the formula for how many pieces a round cake can be cut into with n cuts.
Song Yi hummed, “Three cuts make seven pieces, four cuts eleven pieces, five cuts sixteen pieces,” declaring he had to be the champion of this ‘Extreme Brainpower Challenge.’
He Zhi couldn’t help but squarely retort, “f(n) = n(n+1)/2 + 1, this formula was learned in elementary school, and it’s not even for three dimensions…”
Dai Fanze directly recited the formula for the three-dimensional case, then said, “Champ,ion,is,me,yeah…”
Song Yi said, “I can eat a lot.”
Dai Fanze said, “I can eat even more.”
Song Yi said, “I can do the splits.”
Dai Fanze said, “I can do a handstand.”
What does any of this have to do with winning a brain competition reality show?!
These friends were all so unserious.
Could they really win the competition?
He Zhi was at a loss and tiredly turned to Jing Sicun, “Jing Ge…”
Jing Sicun leaned against the doorframe, a casual smile in his eyes, “What’s up?”
He Zhi was frustrated, “Look at them…”
“To win the championship is pretty hard.”
Jing Sicun bit into a plastic fork, “Want me to show you a Thomas spin?”
He Zhi choked and then collapsed into eating a small dollop of cream stuck to the cake knife, “Crazy, all crazy, completely crazy.”
Their mood was far too relaxed, far too carefree.
This time Ke Ni didn’t feel jealous.
She was just infected by their mood and felt like smiling a little.
He Zhi grabbed the only normal person, “Ke Ni Jie, this piece of cake is for you.”
Ke Ni was the birthday girl.
The biggest piece of cake and the chocolate plaque that said ‘Happy Birthday’ were all handed to her.
Ke Ni thanked them several times, and they kept saying, “Don’t mention it.”
There were no more formalities; Song Yi and He Zhi had already started roughhousing—grabbing each other’s clothes and smearing cream on each other’s faces.
Ke Ni dodged them, hesitated a moment, and amid their lively tussle, carried the cake over behind Jing Sicun.
She had something serious to ask him.
Jing Sicun was playing with a kitten—the same one that had climbed onto his head last time.
He squatted on the steps, holding a small plastic fork, using cream to lure the kitten.
The little San Hua Cat had no idea how cruel the world was; attracted by the novel scent of cream, its tail stood straight up like an antenna, curiously sniffing near the fork…
Just as it was about to bite, Jing Sicun took the plastic fork away: “You can’t eat that.”
The little San Hua Cat had a fiery temper: “Meow!!!”
Jing Sicun smiled, “Shh.”
Tuesday, knowing how to protect her pet, barked a few discontented barks at Jing Sicun.
Then Jing Sicun covered her mouth, forcing her to stop barking.
Ke Ni thought:
Looking at this, Jing Sicun is even more of a dog than Tuesday.
Still, Ke Ni crouched down beside Jing Sicun.
After teasing the cat, Jing Sicun turned to teasing her: “So, do you have any other skills?”
Ke Ni responded without enthusiasm, “I can do the Mo Huilan backflip!”
Jing Sicun chuckled, “Oh, that’s impressive. The champion’s still got to be you.”
The thought of ‘assassinating Jing Sicun’ that had long been dormant suddenly sprang up with irresistible momentum.
She even considered just ignoring him.
But Feng Zi’an was truly sinister…
Jing Sicun laughed, then asked, “You here to talk about something?”
Ke Ni held the cake plate, “Did you ever offend Feng Zi’an?”
Maybe, there really was something…
During the recording, when competing in the ‘Platonic Solid Number Maze,’ Jing Sicun and Feng Zi’an were in the third batch.
During the challenge, contestants had to constantly navigate through the regular dodecahedron maze to find the relatively easier exit path.
Jing Sicun was a lazy person.
He was too lazy to move or to judge which path was easier.
Throughout the competition, Jing Sicun almost stood in the same spot, picking up puzzle pieces of the dodecahedron one by one.
Feng Zi’an ran past him three times.
The first time, Jing Sicun gave him a sidelong glance.
Thoughtful.
The second time, even in the tense timed competition, Jing Sicun calmly made way for the sweaty Feng Zi’an, very friendly.
The third time, Jing Sicun recalled the word ‘flower vase’ and shook his head with a wry smile.
With that ability, how dare he judge others?
Unfortunately, Feng Zi’an was rather sensitive and saw Jing Sicun’s smile while running…
Ke Ni looked at him expectantly.
Jing Sicun said, “Don’t remember.”
Unaware, Ke Ni frowned: “I’ve had quite a few interactions with Feng Zi’an. He’s a bit arrogant, always wanting to dominate, and somewhat underhanded. You better not provoke him…”
Jing Sicun looked at Ke Ni.
Ke Ni wore a tulip-colored dress, squatting on the steps like a flower bud.
Maybe she was tired; her eyes blinked a little too frequently.
She stroked Tuesday and furrowed her brows, genuinely worried.
A tulip that worries about others.
Cuter than a cloudy tulip.
Ke Ni sensed Jing’s gaze and felt awkward under it, quickly saying, “Anyway, just be careful,” before burying her face in a bite of birthday cake.
From the corner of her eye, Jing Sicun suddenly reached out…
Behind them were the three people smearing cream on each other’s faces, so Ke Ni’s first thought was, Jing Sicun, you dog!
Betraying kindness with ingratitude!
Just wait till I smear you!
Ke Ni acted fast, nimbly scooping a dollop of cream with her index and middle fingers.
When Jing Sicun’s hand reached her ear, the cream on Ke Ni’s fingers had already been smeared on the side of his neck.
Jing Sicun didn’t dodge.
Not only did he not dodge…
He even withdrew his hand.
The San Hua Cat excitedly pounced at Ke Ni’s shoe.
Ke Ni glanced at the steps in confusion.
A beetle that had just fallen to the ground was kicking its legs struggling and hadn’t tucked its wings back when the little San Hua Cat pinned it down.
So, Jing Sicun’s hand reaching out earlier was to help chase away the flying beetle?
Ke Ni felt a little embarrassed: “I thought…”
Jing Sicun raised an eyebrow.
Ke Ni sheepishly withdrew her hand, “Sorry about that.”
Jing Sicun tilted his head, his hand reaching to his neck where the cream was.
The motion carried an inexplicable hint of allure.
Ke Ni couldn’t stand it and flusteredly ran away, “I’ll go get some tissues.”
Ke Ni returned holding a box of tissues and handed them to Jing Sicun, watching him blindly wipe the cream.
She pointed, “Here, there’s still a little bit.”
Jing Sicun tilted his head closer, “Where?”
Ke Ni felt her vampiric traits surfacing again; she found Jing Sicun’s neck suddenly very tempting.
She leaned back, “Right… there.”
Jing Sicun naturally handed her the tissue, “Help me wipe it off?”
Ke Ni took the tissue like holding a hot potato and clumsily dabbed at Jing Sicun’s neck twice, “Done!”
Jing Sicun’s laugh was softer than the night breeze, “Why so perfunctory?”
Ke Ni didn’t even look at Jing Sicun, “Then go look in the mirror and wipe it yourself, isn’t there a mirror at the checkout counter?”
Jing Sicun didn’t answer but used his index finger to smear a bit of cream onto Ke Ni’s cheek.
Ke Ni’s eyes widened.
Jing Sicun smiled and said, “Even.”
Tuesday seemed to sense danger and suddenly ran off.
Ke Ni and Jing Sicun turned their heads—
The three people with cream-covered faces, like zombies, were slowly approaching them.
Even the always vigilant He Zhi went crazy: “No one escapes this.”
Ke Ni was both surprised and touched by this birthday celebration.
After the mess, Ke Ni wiped the cream off her cheeks and announced: she must find time to treat them to a meal.
Song Yi said it was no fun to eat out during exam week, no drinking allowed, and Dai Fanze was returning to school.
Ke Ni gathered with them to look at the calendar and finally set the dinner date for a day after everyone’s exams were finished.
Ke Ni was a scholarship student who took every exam seriously.
She was also used to having birthdays without her parents’ blessings, no complaints, no disappointments, and threw herself into one exam after another over the next week.
As the dinner date approached, Ke Ni often recalled the scene of being attacked with cream by Song Yi and the others.
Jing Sicun pulled Ke Ni back, sighing, “She is still a girl after all.”
Ke Ni trembled as she called his name from behind, “Jing Sicun.”
Jing Sicun turned around.
Ke Ni pressed the whole cake plate against Jing Sicun’s back; the black short-sleeved fabric blossomed into a cream-colored flower.
Song Yi laughed until tears came out: “Ke Ni, nicely done!”
Thinking of this, Ke Ni would lie on her study materials and smile, then get distracted searching for a restaurant for the dinner.
The day before the planned dinner, Ke Ni suddenly got a call from Song Yi: “Ke Ni, sorry, let’s postpone the dinner. Something came up with Jing Sicun.”
Ke Ni was on her way to Professor Wang’s house and froze, “What happened to Jing Sicun?”
Song Yi said, “Not Jing Sicun, it’s his father.”
Jing Sicun’s father developed myocarditis from a low fever, which led to more severe complications.
He was admitted to the CCU last night.
Song Yi said, “Jing Sicun’s been at the hospital all the time; I’m going to the grocery store now to get some stuff for them.”