CH 61

Ch 61: Happy Birthday

Yin Chang looked bewildered. What was going on? He had to be blindfolded?

Despite the lack of reaction from the crew and photographer, Yin Chang obediently bent down and let Shao Junling blindfold him.

Then, he felt Shao Junling take his hand and lead him forward step by step.

"What are we doing? Is this part of hide and seek?" Yin Chang guessed, "Is it because Shao Junling took the longest to find me, so I have to accept punishment?"

A muffled laugh came from the nearby crew member. "You can think of it that way."

Shao Junling tightened his grip on Yin Chang's hand but didn't say anything.

After walking for ten minutes blindfolded, Yin Chang started to feel suspicious. Was there another reason for this?

Wait, Yin Chang suddenly remembered something. Wasn't today...

Just then, Shao Junling stopped. Yin Chang could vaguely feel people around him. Although no one spoke, he sensed the tense atmosphere of everyone holding their breath.

"Gege..." Yin Chang heard Shao Junling call him, and his heart began to race.

Shao Junling took Yin Chang's arm, stood on tiptoe, and untied the blindfold for him.

As his vision cleared, he heard deafening cheers and congratulations ringing in his ears.

"Yin Chang! Happy birthday!!!"

He saw that the cave where he and Shao Junling were living in, looked festive, decorated with colorful lights and balloons.

In the center of the room was a birthday cake with "Yin Chang" written in chocolate, and two numbers spelling "19" already lit.

Although he had just thought of the possibility, Yin Chang was still shocked to see this scene.

All the guests excitedly gathered around him, singing the birthday song together.

"Happy birthday to you~! Happy birthday to you~!"

Yin Chang absentmindedly covered his mouth, feeling a complicated mix of emotions at the moment.

...Because it was too unexpected, and it had been too long since anyone had celebrated his birthday like this.

Yin Chang was not someone who enjoyed being the center of attention. When he was in middle school and popular, there were girls who liked him and threw him big birthday parties. At first, Yin Chang was quite happy, but after experiencing similar situations a few times, he found it uninteresting.

Birthday was indeed a special day, but he always felt that how he celebrated it should be his own decision.

If the production team had approached him beforehand, Yin Chang would have likely refused...

However, seeing everyone make such an effort to celebrate for him, he couldn't help but feel moved.

The only downside was that there were still many cameras pointed at him, making the party seem a bit staged.

Yin Chang suppressed his mixed emotions and tried to look a little happier.

After the birthday song, Yin Chang said, "Thank you all... I really didn't expect this..." His tone trembled a bit unnaturally, possibly because he was afraid of being too emotional. Yin Chang quickly stepped forward and blew out the candles with a "whoosh".

Everyone had originally planned to have him make a wish, but seeing how decisive he was, they were all stunned.

Huang Han laughed, "The birthday star is too anxious, let's quickly cut the cake. Little Youming has been drooling over this cake all afternoon!"

Hearing this, everyone laughed. Yin Chang couldn't help but smile. He blew out the candles, cut the cake, and invited everyone to sit down.

In addition to the cake on the table, there were also many dishes, pastries, and fruits. Judging from the messy presentation and unappealing colors of the dishes, they were probably all made by the group of friends themselves.

Not only that, but they also prepared gifts for him.

"I just picked something randomly, don't mind it," Wang Chen threw a small gift box at him.

Yin Chang was a bit surprised. "When did you guys find out it was my birthday?"

You couldn't buy such delicate gift boxes in this small town. They must have prepared them in advance.

"We knew before we came," Qin Jingshan smiled, "but we still had to act like we didn't know. It was so hard!"

"Yeah!" many people echoed with laughter.

Wang Chen made a victory sign with his hand. "Luckily we all kept it a secret, mission accomplished!"

"Is giving Yin Chang a birthday present considered a mission?" Huang Han teased him. "We're comrades who have suffered together through a revolution now, right?"

Wang Chen quickly changed his tone. "What I meant was, if the program team didn't remind us, I would have definitely let the secret slip!"

"Hahaha..."

"Whether it was required or not, the most important thing is for everyone to have a good time. Thank you all for celebrating my birthday," Yin Chang responded in a cliché but safe manner. He then asked about the preparation details.

After hearing their answers, Yin Chang pieced together all the suspicious details, such as why only he was called away at noon to receive the task card, why the hiding spot was so far away, and why Shao Junling took so long to find him...

So, there was no "hide-and-seek" activity at all. This was a pit that the program team dug specifically for him, just to lead him to the cave on the mountain to rest away from the preparations.

After everyone was ready, the program team had Shao Junling go find him...and Shao Junling was also part of the plan.

Yin Chang glanced at Shao Junling, who was holding a piece of cake, concentrating on licking the cream on top.

"...This kid loves cake so much. One piece of cake could easily buy him over," Yin Chang thought.

"By the way, did you forget about your birthday?" Qin Jingshan looked at him, "I remember mine very well."

"Yeah, we were worried that you’d realize. We didn't expect you to be clueless," Wang Chen sneered at him as if he were an idiot.

"I really forgot," Yin Chang smiled, but a subtle sadness flickered in his eyes.

During the banquet, they talked about many fun things that occurred during the preparation process, such as how the program team ordered the fresh milk cake from a city two hours away and brought it over in a refrigerated box. How Huang Han spent the whole afternoon guarding against You Luming stealing the cake and the dishes on the table - several of which were made by Qin Jingshan.

"I went back last time and specifically learned how to cook from my aunt!" Qin Jingshan proudly announced.

"But this looks burnt..." Lang Chizhi frankly stared at a plate of black, red braised pork.

"Hey!" Qin Jingshan couldn't handle the rudeness from the naive young man.

"Let the birthday boy taste it first! Let the birthday boy taste it first!" Wang Chen cheered.

Yin Chang: "..."

"Yin Chang, the birthday boy, has to be a guinea pig. How pitiful, hahaha," Huang Han laughed.

When Yin Chang took a bite, everyone eagerly asked, "How is it? Is it delicious?"

"It's... not bad," Yin Chang raised his eyebrows.

Only then did everyone start to eat, but...

"Shit! It's so salty!"

"It's too salty!"

"Qin Jingshan, did you kill a salt merchant?!"

"What did you call me, Lang Chizhi!?"

Yin Chang looked at them and couldn't help but laugh.

The group of people ate and chatted for over an hour before the birthday celebration finally came to an end.

Once everyone left and the cameraman packed up, Yin Chang finally relaxed.

He rubbed his forehead and questioned Shao Junling, "Did you know about tonight's surprise in advance?"

"Yeah," Shao Junling was squatting in front of his luggage, searching for something, "An aunt from the production team called me."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Yin Chang was a little annoyed.

"She said it was a surprise and couldn't tell you," Shao Junling said seriously.

"I've never seen you listen to others so obediently," Yin Chang felt a little betrayed because in his heart, Shao Junling was already one of his own, "I'm your brother, why did you team up with an outsider to hide it from me?"

Shao Junling got flustered and turned his head, "I...I did remind you."

"When did you remind me?"

"In WeChat. I changed my profile image to a cake," Shao Junling blinked innocently.

"What kind of hint is that? Who the hell could have guessed that it was the program group planning a surprise birthday for me?" Yin Chang was still frustrated.

Yin Chang paced around angrily, "So you also knew when I left at noon? You were pretending to be asleep?"

Shao Junling "ummed" and continued rummaging through his luggage.

After five minutes, Yin Chang grew impatient, "What are you looking for?"

Shao Junling finally stood up, holding a colorful drawing, and walked up to him, "This is for you."

Yin Chang took it and saw that it was a drawing made with markers.

The drawing was of a person, a bit abstract, wearing sunglasses and in a very peculiar pose. They even had two things like tails dragging under their feet.

"You drew this?" Yin Chang asked.

"Yeah..." Shao Junling looked at him with a hopeful glint in his eyes. "It's you."

"This is me?" Yin Chang couldn't believe it. "Do I look like this?"

Shao Junling gestured, "It's you skiing in Switzerland."

Yin Chang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He knew he was attractive, although he wasn't as narcissistic as Wang Chen. But looking at Shao Junling's drawing, he couldn't connect the abstract figure with himself...

He even started to doubt what he looked like in Shao Junling's eyes.

– It really was too ugly.

Yin Chang sighed. Anyway, Shao Junling drawing something for him as a birthday gift showed that he cared.

He adjusted his mood, "Thank you. I'll go take a shower first." Yin Chang grabbed some clothes and went to the bathroom.

Shao Junling glanced at the drawing that was left by the bed, then looked at Yin Chang's back with disappointment.

After taking a shower, Yin Chang lay on the bed and calmed down. All kinds of emotions surged up within again.

Not long after, Shao Junling finished his shower and climbed onto the bed, lying next to Yin Chang. He broke the silence first: "Brother."

"Hmm?" Yin Chang felt a little tired and didn't feel like talking.

"... Are you upset?" Shao Junling asked in a low voice.

Intuitively, Yin Chang said, "No, I'm not upset. I'm very happy."

Shao Junling propped himself up and leaned in, staring at his face for a while. "You're lying... you're not happy."

His decisive tone left Yin Chang speechless.

Shao Junling furrowed his eyebrows slightly, guessing like a little adult. "Are you upset because I hid it from you?"

Yin Chang replied, "No..."

Shao Junling lowered his eyes. "My painting... it's not good?"

Yin Chang chuckled and pushed him down, "Stop guessing. It has nothing to do with you."

Shao Junling broke free from Yin Chang's grasp, and persisted in investigating his expression.

Feeling exposed by his gaze, Yin Chang's heart relaxed, and he spoke up. "On this day last year, on my 18th birthday, Dad called me..." Yin Chang closed his eyes and whispered, "That was the last time I heard his voice."

So, since Yin Dong's passing, he had been avoiding this day.

It wasn't because he was naturally forgetful of his own birthday, but because he deliberately ignored and forgot it, to avoid evoking sad memories.

"At the time, my dad said over the phone that in a month, he would come back to celebrate my birthday and promised to give me a big gift that I would love." Yin Chang chuckled with a deep sense of melancholy and self-derision. "Little did I know, a month later, I received the news of his death instead."

The production team wanted to give him a surprise, but Yin Chang didn't want it.

Of course, they didn't know about his inner grievances, and Yin Chang didn't blame them.

After Yin Chang finished speaking, the room fell into an eerie silence.

Shao Junling stared at him intently without responding for a long time.

Yin Chang felt uncomfortable exposing his deep inner wounds to someone, especially to his younger brother who was still inexperienced in the world. He felt that as the older sibling, he shouldn't be so fragile.

"Why am I telling you all this..." He raised his hand to cover his eyes and forced a calm smile. "Heh, it's okay, it's been almost a year..."

As he spoke, Yin Chang felt a weight on his body.

...Shao Junling was hugging him.

The little guy laid on him, with his arms and legs wrapped around him, and his face pressed against Yin Chang's chest. He softly called out, "Brother."

Yin Chang rubbed his head and thought, things weren’t bad now. At least he had one relative.

And tonight, he had so many friends to celebrate his birthday with him.

"I'm pretty happy today..." Yin Chang trailed off, feeling tired and wanting to urge Shao Junling to go to sleep. But before he could finish his sentence, Shao Junling interrupted him.

"I’m the gift," Shao Junling said to him.

"Uh?" Yin Chang's brain was a bit slow to catch up because he was lost in his emotions. "What did you say?"

"I’m the gift that Dad wanted to give you," Shao Junling repeated clearly.

"............"

Yin Chang's heart thumped uncontrollably. Shao Junling's words seemed to penetrate his chest directly, like thunder and tsunami, hitting his heart.

His ears buzzed and his mind quickly flashed through a few fragments.

-- "I will prepare a big gift for you, guaranteed to be something you like."

-- "Yin Dong once wanted to adopt a boy named Shao Junling."

-- "I am the gift that dad wanted to give you."

With a numb heart, Yin Chang murmured unconsciously, "Then why didn't he tell me earlier?"

Shao Junling lifted his head slightly, "Because I hadn't agreed at that time."

Yin Chang, "?"

Shao Junling explained, "It was three weeks after this day last year that I agreed to be adopted by Dad."

Yin Chang, "..."

So, was this supposed to be a "surprise" from Yin Dong to him? And it had to be kept secret in advance?

Shao Junling's firm gaze confirmed his guess.

Yin Chang calmed down a bit and asked Shao Junling, "How did Dad tell you about this? What did he say about me to you?"

Shao Junling replied, "He said that you were alone overseas."

Yin Chang, "..."

At that time, Yin Dong had actually said a lot. Like Yin Chang was handsome and beautiful but had a sensitive and fragile personality... Shao Junling had a poor understanding at that time, and he still didn't quite understand it now, but he didn't want to say it all to Yin Chang because he thought Yin Chang might be angry.