Chapter 13: Too weak, he was too weak

The cake was very small, with a diameter of at most ten centimeters, shaped like a large upside-down bowl.

But it had all the appearance of a proper cake, especially with the little sign on top that read “Happy Birthday.”

Yin Xiuzhu stared at it for a long time before incredulously asking, “Is this… for me?”

Qi Mu had been craving it all day, so much so that he couldn’t even eat lunch. Seeing the chocolate now, his eyes lit up with greed. “Of course! Today is your birthday.”

“How did you know?” In truth, just by Qi Mu saying so, Yin Xiuzhu had already accepted that today was his birthday. Even if it wasn’t the day he was born, it was the day he was reborn.

The day he was blessed by someone was his birthday.

“The homeroom teacher checked your enrollment records. It’s written there,” Qi Mu said.

Yin Xiuzhu’s heart trembled. Yes, he did have a birthday, but no one had ever cared to mention it.

Qi Mu took out the candles, lighting them as he spoke. “The cake is a bit small, so we can’t put too many candles. Is three okay?”

Yin Xiuzhu snapped back to reality. “Let’s put four.”

Qi Mu tilted his head. “Why?”

“We met when we were four.”

Qi Mu didn’t have such a good memory. “Seems like it, in the middle class of kindergarten.”

Yin Xiuzhu lowered his eyes and smiled. “It’s a pity I can’t remember the exact date.” He was too young to distinguish between months and days, but he would always remember that day, that moment, the red glow of the sunset, and the smile that struck his soul.

“What’s there to remember?” Qi Mu said. “As long as we know each other, we’ll be friends for life.”

“Mm!” Yin Xiuzhu nodded vigorously.

His nose tingled, and his eyes misted over, but the smile on his lips was unlike any he had ever shown before. It was as if the joy in his heart had taken shape, as if the blood that had been warmed for six years finally circulated through his entire body, warming him all over.

Qi Mu urged him, “Come on, make a wish and blow out the candles!”

Yin Xiuzhu nodded solemnly. He clasped his small hands together and closed his eyes seriously.

This was his birthday. His wish-granting fairy.

He had only one wish—to always be with Qi Mu.

Greedy and humble, he was willing to spend his life constantly wishing for it.

Qi Mu was very curious. “What did you wish for?”

But Yin Xiuzhu, who usually obeyed him in everything, remained tight-lipped this time. “I can’t say.”

“Okay, if you say it, it won’t come true.” But Qi Mu was still curious. “How about writing it down?”

At his age, Qi Mu found out the truth about the wish fairy being his mom. He also wanted to be Yin Xiuzhu’s wish spirit, but he didn’t have his mom’s keen insight. If he couldn’t see through what Yin Xiuzhu wanted, how could he fulfill his wish?

Yin Xiuzhu would never joke about such an important vow. “No, it will lose its power.”

Qi Mu: “…” Alright then… I’ll just have to keep my eyes open and keep observing! It’s probably something related to studying. He always felt that Yin Xiuzhu loved studying the most…

After blowing out the candles, Yin Xiuzhu was reluctant to cut the cake.

Qi Mu’s craving was intense. “Come on, let’s eat! I had my dad order a full chocolate cake. It’s guaranteed to be delicious!”

Yin Xiuzhu’s hand, holding the knife, remained motionless.

Qi Mu looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

Yin Xiuzhu still couldn’t bring himself to cut it. He whispered, “Can we save it?”

Qi Mu, who had been hungry all day, widened his eyes. “Why not eat it? It’s super delicious!” He was starving and craving it so much that he just wanted to pounce and devour it in one bite.

Yin Xiuzhu’s lips moved, his voice muffled as if it was vibrating straight from his chest. “This is the first birthday gift I’ve ever received. I want to keep it.”

Qi Mu said, “But it’s chocolate! How can you keep it? It’ll melt!”

Yin Xiuzhu pressed his lips together and stayed silent.

Qi Mu feared this kind of reaction from him. This usually meant he was about to shed silent tears. And when Yin Xiuzhu cried, Qi Mu’s heart felt like it was being struck by gold ingots.

“Alright, alright,” Qi Mu said. “I’ll just give you another gift.”

Yin Xiuzhu looked up sharply. This was unacceptable; he couldn’t be that greedy.

Qi Mu added, “I’ll write you a card. That can be kept.”

Yin Xiuzhu’s eyes lit up, like a little squirrel seeing a nut, completely defenseless. “Okay, okay.”

“Wait here,” Qi Mu said.

He slipped over to Xu Xiaoming’s desk and opened it, finding a stack of greeting cards—Christmas was more than a month away, and Xu Xiaoming was already preparing.

Qi Mu pulled out a card and came back, saying, “They’re all pink. Don’t mind it.”

Yin Xiuzhu quickly shook his head. “I won’t!”

Qi Mu opened the blank card and started writing while muttering, “Xu Xiaoming is something else, buying so many cards. Is he planning to give one to every girl in our school?”

Yin Xiuzhu didn’t care about any of that. He stared unblinkingly at Qi Mu, watching his hand hold the pen, watching the words appear on the card.

—Yin Xiuzhu, Happy Birthday. I hope we will be best friends forever!
Signed, Qi Mu.

Qi Mu’s handwriting was the complete opposite of his appearance. He had an adorable and well-behaved face, with big eyes more lively than many girls’. But his personality was that of a little tyrant, and so was his handwriting.

To call it flamboyant would be an understatement—it was more like a wild storm!

Qi Mu picked up the card, blew it dry, and handed it to Yin Xiuzhu. “My writing isn’t great, don’t mind it.”

How could he possibly mind? Yin Xiuzhu carefully took the card, looking at it over and over. “It’s great.”

Qi Mu scratched the back of his head and said, “The card looks nice, but my handwriting looks like it belongs to some clumsy thief who steals flowers.”

Yin Xiuzhu didn’t care at all about the card’s appearance; he only saw the words Qi Mu had written.

“I really like it.”

Qi Mu sneaked a look at him, feeling a bit nervous: Is a pink card really that nice? Does Yin Xiuzhu like pink? Maybe I should get him a pink backpack?

Qi Mu imagined Yin Xiuzhu with a pink backpack and shivered.
—Why do I find that kind of cute?

Now it was time to eat the cake. They decided not to use a knife. Yin Xiuzhu suggested, “Since it’s so small, let’s just take turns scooping bites.”

“Sure,” Qi Mu agreed.

He thought Yin Xiuzhu wanted to keep things simple, but Yin Xiuzhu actually wanted Qi Mu to eat more. If they cut it, they’d get half each, but if they ate together, he could eat slowly and let Qi Mu have more.

The days that followed were calm. The weather grew colder, but Xu Xiaoming became more and more troublesome.

After Christmas, Xu Xiaoming got himself into some big trouble.

A group of girls came over and threw the greeting cards at him, shouting, “Scum!”

Xu Xiaoming was bombarded and pleaded for help.

Even his good friend Fang Junqi ignored him this time. After all, Xu Xiaoming had flirted with half the girls in the school. Shameless!

Xu Xiaoming was extremely aggrieved and ran to the back of the classroom, lying on Qi Mu’s desk and wailing, “I was just casting a wide net early. By the time we get to middle school, I’ll have a girlfriend! Those cowards are just jealous of me!”

Qi Mu had just napped through a class and groggily looked at him. “Jealous of what?”

Xu Xiaoming replied, “Maybe because I’m handsome?”

Qi Mu gave him a light smack on the back of the head.

Xu Xiaoming looked indignant. “Am I not handsome? Am I not the best-looking guy in our class?”

Since Qi Mu also took one of Xu Xiaoming’s cards, he said, “Yeah, as handsome as a dandelion.”

Xu Xiaoming started wailing again.

Sitting in the front row, Yin Xiuzhu didn’t turn around, but his grip on the pen tightened unconsciously.

Qi Mu was like a magnet, always able to draw everyone around him. Whether it was Xu Xiaoming or Dong Jisheng, they both feared and loved being near him.

Who doesn’t love gathering around light and warmth? It was an instinct of life.

On New Year’s Day, everyone packed up and went home for the holiday.

Yin Xiuzhu had no interest in going home. He hated holidays, especially these consecutive, dull, lifeless three days.

But New Year’s Day was unusually lively at the Yin household.

Yin Zhenggong had returned and hosted a banquet, inviting many relatives and friends to join.

Yin Xiuzhu’s mother, Yu Daiyun, the lady of the house, still didn’t show herself. She remained in her room as if on a solitary island, silent as if the whole world was just herself.

Yin Zhenggong was unusually kind to Yin Xiuzhu, and even the nanny treated him much better now that his father was back. She brought him a neat little suit and carefully helped him dress.

If this had been six years ago, Yin Xiuzhu might have been pleasantly surprised by the attention. But now, he only felt a cold wind passing through his chest, freezing his insides numb and rigid.

Having finished the superficial work, Yin Xiuzhu slipped away.

He disliked the bright hall, the fake smiles on strangers’ faces, and most of all, every word spoken by the man he called Father.

Instead of returning to his room, he sat in a small corner of the garden in the cold, chilling wind.

It was January 1st, a shivering cold day.

Yin Xiuzhu was dressed lightly, yet he didn’t feel cold because he held a pink card in his hand.

Written on it was a sentence from Qi Mu to him.
—We will be best friends forever.

Staring at these five words, he felt an endless surge of strength.

Lost in thought, he didn’t even notice someone approaching.

“What’s this?” A young, casual voice rang out. Then, with a stretch of his hand, the youth snatched the card from Yin Xiuzhu’s hand.

Yin Xiuzhu’s mind went blank for a second, then he suddenly stood up.”

Standing before him was a middle schooler dressed in a neatly tailored little suit, adorned with a light blue silk flower on his chest, so delicately crafted that it looked real, elegant, and unique. The youth’s hair was neatly combed back, exposing a smooth forehead, but under his sparse eyebrows, his narrow, sharp eyes were filled with malice.

He was Wang Zhuo, Yin Xiuzhu’s cousin from his aunt’s family.

“A greeting card?” Wang Zhuo chuckled. “Someone still remembers your birthday?”

Yin Xiuzhu’s face turned frosty. “Give it back to me.”

“Are you angry? So scary, are you going to bite like your mother?” Wang Zhuo taunted.

Yin Xiuzhu clenched his fists, veins bulging on his forehead. “Give it back to me.”

Wang Zhuo sneered, his voice becoming hoarse and unpleasant. “Give it back to you? Sure, go get it!” With that, he tossed the greeting card into a nearby fountain.

“No! Stop!” Yin Xiuzhu disregarded everything and lunged forward. He crashed onto the cobblestones, unable to reach the greeting card that traced an arc and fell into the water.

It felt like a heavy blow had struck him, leaving Yin Xiuzhu nearly incapable of coherent thought.

Wang Zhuo’s voice echoed faintly as he walked away. “You’re making such a fuss over a stupid card. What a fool.” With that, he turned and left.

“Yin Xiuzhu trembled all over, his brain buzzing. He couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t see anything. In his mind, there was only that small greeting card given to him by Qi Mu.

It was in the water, right here in this pool. He had to retrieve it.

On a night freezing at minus four or five degrees, the boy, terrified of water to the extreme, staggered to his feet.

He had to retrieve it. It was the best and only gift he had ever received in his life.

Yin Xiuzhu didn’t know how he stepped into the water, didn’t know how he moved his feet. All he saw was the constantly rising water, not reaching his calves, not reaching his waist, not reaching his chest, and finally blocking his mouth and nose.

“Why were you born? You bastard, why were you born!”

A woman’s hoarse and exhausted voice echoed in his ears, shaking his heart and soul.

She not only hadn’t expected him but had even wanted to kill him.

Hated by his own mother, how despicable a life was he.

— My name is Qi Mu, what’s yours?

The tender voice echoed in his heart like a raging fire stubbornly suppressing all the cold.

Yin Xiuzhu opened his eyes, trembling, his pale hand clutching the small card.

It was soaked and distorted, the words on it blurred.

Yet Yin Xiuzhu treated it like a recovered treasure, carefully placing it over his heart.

The fountain’s water wasn’t deep, only reaching his thighs, but the cascading water soaked him through.

Standing in the cold water, he felt as if bound by the relentless claws of hell.

He stood there in disarray, so fragile that he couldn’t even protect this small thing over his chest.

Too weak, he was too weak.

If he couldn’t even protect the card Qi Mu gave him, what right did he have to wish for anything with Qi Mu?

He didn’t deserve to stand by his side!