Ni Jiu (Intoxicated) - Chap 75

Shen Tingwei doesn’t actually have much obsession with celebrating his birthday. On the contrary, his parents and friends have always been more interested in preparing birthday surprises for him, so he unconsciously developed a desire to look forward to his birthday every year.
2
He still remembered last year’s birthday, his family and friends sitting around the dining table. Everyone was waiting for his birthday wish with bright eyes, as if they were looking forward to it even more than he himself.
In fact, that day was no different from every previous year. His wish was: peace and prosperity. A happy and harmonious family.
His father’s smiling eyes shone with warm candlelight and said, “Shen Tingwei, it’s time to change your wish.”
His mother also patted his head and smiled: “Yeah, didn’t we want you to make a wish for yourself? For example, find someone you like—”
“Mom…” Shen Tingwei reluctantly interrupted her mother’s words. After blowing out the candle, she smiled contentedly and said, “As life goes by slowly, you will have everything you want.”
For the past 22 years, Shen Tingwei thought that his luck was very good, at least his birthday wish could be fulfilled every year.
He sometimes wonders if the wishes he made are too easy to fulfill, so he occasionally looks forward to changing his next birthday to a more specific wish but no matter how many drafts he has typed in his mind, every time he closes his eyes at the end , his first thought will be back to peace and harmony.
It’s a pity that Shen Tingwei’s good days came to an abrupt end when he was twenty-three years old. All the ordinary life he wanted was gone, his peace and smoothness were gone. His family… gone.
The car accident shattered his life and he faced a confused future of nothing in this strange world.
Shen Tingwei didn’t think that he would feel pain when he recalled that memory again but he found out today that he has been able to accept the great changes in his life, now and in the past very calmly.
Shen Tingwei didn’t even notice the smile on his face, pursed his lips for a while, then secretly retracted his thoughts and stopped thinking about the lost time.
1
He knew that he and Lian Jue were in a good stage. His new life might not be bad.
Lian Jue’s occasional tenderness gave him a great sense of securityband before he knew it, it had become his only support in this world.
Shen Tingwei has always been a person who is easy to satisfy. As long as he thinks of having Lian Jue to accompany him on a simple birthday this year, it seems that the loneliness in his heart has been replaced by more difficult emotions.
After even Lian Jue and Kang Tong went out, Shen Tingwei started preparing for his first birthday in this world. He didn’t think of a grand way. After thinking about what he could do, he decided to make two cakes— —.
Lian Jue, like him, doesn’t like sweets, so after making a cream cake, he made a low-fat and low-sugar chiffon cake.
However, the shape of the chiffon cake was difficult to make well. No matter how he looked at it, he felt that it was monotonous and lacking in atmosphere. In the end, he chose to use fruit and icing to embellish it. He even disturbed Chang Xing several times during the decoration process. After referring to Chang Xing’s advice, he finally completed this cake that he even want to try to surprise Lian Jue on his birthday.
The cake may still be a little sweet due to the frosting.
Shen Tingwei wanted to taste it but he was afraid of destroying the beauty he had finally decorated, so he could only hope that Lian Jue would tolerate him.
Of course, he believed that Lian Jue would definitely tolerate this little bit of unpalatable sweetness. Lian Jue was always like this. He seemed very impersonal but in fact he wasn’t too harsh on him.
As the month of the baby in the womb increases, Shen Tingwei feels that his movements are often cumbersome. After standing for a long time, he will feel that his lower abdomen is too heavy and his legs will be very tired.
Because he couldn’t stand for a long time, he made these two cakes off and on for a long time, which took a long time and a lot of energy.
After the cream cake was made, he put it on the table, waiting for Kang Tong to come back and share it.
And the chiffon cake was carefully put into the refrigerator by him.
…
As Lian Jue’s private secretary, Lin Chen needs to do tasks including but not limited to helping him maintain business interpersonal contacts. Therefore, he stores the personal information of some important partners in his hand. He needs to always prepare suitable gifts for Lian Jue to send at the right time.
However, because Lianjue forgot Chen Ningxue’s birthday in a certain year. Chen Ningxue reluctantly recited it for a long time. Since then, Lin Chen’s birthday memo has a list called [family members] – not his family members, It’s his boss.
Shen Tingwei’s ID card and household registration were handled by him instead. He read the information dozens of times, if not a hundred times. Out of professional habits and speculation about Shen Tingwei’s identity, he habitually used Shen Tingwei’s personal information.
The memo reminded that today is Mr. Shen’s 24th birthday.
When it was time to get off work, Lin Chen knocked on the door of Lian Jue’s office, ready to remind him of Mr. Shen’s birthday.
“Mr. Lian, today—”
Before he finished speaking, Lian Jue’s cell phone rang. Lian Jue glanced at the caller’s information with a smile on his face, raised his hand to him and motioned for him to keep quiet.
Lian Jue picked up the phone without waiting for him to speak, he had taken one step ahead by the other side, whose voice sounded very pleasant and sincere: “I have already held a meeting to discuss the project proposed by your company. The board of directors unanimously believes that the plan is feasible. Our company has great confidence in this cooperation.”
Although Lian Jue has long been confident that this result will be won, after all, the company has been going up and down for more than half a month. It can be said that it took a lot of effort to win this list. Now that it is really implemented, he is relieved: “That’s the best. but…”
“I have arrived in Yi City today. I wanted to visit but I was afraid of disturbing the normal work of Mr. Lian. I dare to ask if Mr. Lian can appreciate the honor now and we can discuss cooperation matters?”

Lian Jue made a few simple and polite words. He asked the other party for the agreed location. The other party said that it would be sent to his mobile phone later, and Lian Jue said to him readily: “See you later.”
Since Lin Chen has worked for Lian Jue for many years, he is rarely seen with his emotions on his face, so it is a matter of course that the person on the other end of the phone is Mr. Shen.
Lian Jue picked up his jacket and was about to leave but when he saw Lin Chen who was still standing at the door, he paused.
He wanted to take Lin Chen with him but he thought that the address sent by the other party was a private restaurant in a certain hotel, so he might not be able to bring Lin Chen there, so he changed his mind and asked, “What did you want to say?”
Lin Chen saw that he had made an appointment with Mr. Shen and his reminder was obviously superfluous, so he shook his head and said that there was nothing important. He wished him a happy evening.
Lian Jue was obviously in a good mood and said to him before leaving, “Get off work early today.”
…
When Kang Tong came back from school and saw the cake, his eyes lit up. Shen Tingwei made an excuse and say that he was celebrating the end of his monthly exam in advance. In fact, he had some selfishness that should not be discovered by Kang Tong. He wanted to leave the time for making a wish at night. To stay with Lian Jue.

After all, birthday wishes are precious because they can only be made once a year.

He guessed that Lian Jue should know his birthday.
Shen Tingwei didn’t specifically remind him in the morning because Lian Jue was already very busy, so he didn’t need to waste time choosing gifts for him.
Shen Tingwei felt that he wanted very little, as long as he had a jasmine plant on Valentine’s Day and a cake on his birthday, he would be happy for a long time.

But Shen Tingwei’s wish is very greedy, and only Lian Jue can realize it.
After Kang Tong finished dinner, he helped Shen Tingwei go back to the room after clearing the dining table.
He still has two exams tomorrow, he needs to review his homework and he needs to rest early.
This day seems to be no different from every other day, except that Shen Tingwei’s mood while waiting for Lian Jue to return home gradually turned from joy and anticipation to anxiety.
From the recap of the last episode to the ending song of the prime TV series, the clock ticked a few times, and Shen Tingwei’s mood followed the circular rotation of the hands from start to finish.
When the TV was already playing the nightly news, he tangled with his phone for a long time and edited a WeChat message to ask Lian Jue when he would be back.
Until he was very tired and sleepy, curled up on the sofa and fell asleep and received no reply from Lian Jue.
Before falling asleep, Shen Tingwei suddenly thought that fortunately, he made a chiffon cake without using cream, otherwise the cream might melt after so long, and the cake would not look good. He thought in a daze again, he put the cake in the refrigerator in the afternoon, how could it melt… In fact, the cream cake made today tastes good, so he should save a piece for Lian Jue.
But forget it, Lian Jue doesn’t like to eat cream.
Shen Tingwei had several vague dreams intermittently. The contents of the dreams were all about Lian Jue’s face.
Lian Jue kissed his forehead, said happy birthday to him and even sang a birthday song to him.

He thought that Lian Jue was singing the birthday song very strange. He didn’t laugh like that which made Shen Tingwei realize that it was a dream soon – so he woke up with a short ‘beep’ from the door lock.

Lian Jue didn’t seem to expect that the headlights in the living room were still on. He paused for a moment when he entered the door because Shen Tingwei would only leave a standing lamp in front of the sofa for him.
Shen Tingwei had just woken up from a sweet dream and had not completely lost his sleep when he heard the movement at the door. He quickly sat up straight from the sofa.
He turned his head to look at Lian Jue who entered the door, his slender pupils bent unconsciously, his eyes were very bright, as if he had received a belated surprise, and even his tone became very cheerful: “Are you back?”
Lian Jue should have just ended an entertainment. He looked a little tired and his eyes were light blue. Shen Tingwei did not infer from the tiredness that was not well hidden between his brows that he should have been drinking.
Hearing his voice, Lian Jue raised his head and looked over. The tiredness on his face was a little slack but when he passed Shen Tingwei and saw the clock behind him, he stopped.
When Lian Jue retracted his gaze from the clock and looked at Shen Tingwei again, his half-soothed face completely sank.
It was nearly 1:30 in the middle of the night and Shen Tingwei was guarding the living room for no apparent reason, neither obeying the doctor’s repeated instructions to rest well, nor wearing more clothes as he reminded him a few days ago.

The change in Lian Jue’s face was not noticed by Shen Tingwei, perhaps because he was too happy after seeing Lian Jue who returned late. Shen Tingwei ignored Lian Jue’s serious face.
He was half-kneeling on the sofa and stared at Lian Jue changing his shoes without blinking. His expression and eyes were full of joy but just as he opened his mouth, he sneezed uncontrollably.
The atmosphere froze for a moment and even Shen Tingwei noticed the sternness in Lian Jue’s eyes.
He may still be immersed in the sweet scene in the dream just now and there is no way to overlap the gentle Lian Jue celebrating his birthday in his sleep with the air-conditioned Lian Jue in front of him now.

Shen Tingwei looked at his expression, inexplicably a little guilty but still remembered that Lian Jue didn’t keep his promise to come back early and his voice couldn’t help but contain a little complaint: “Why did you come back?”
Lian Jue didn’t answer his question. He had a cold face from the moment he entered the door. His voice was very low, mixed with the dissatisfaction caused by drunkenness. His tone was very different from the gentleness of this period of time. Obvious question: “What time is it? Yet you aren’t asleep?”
Without his reminder, Shen Tingwei hurriedly looked at the wall clock in the living room. The smile in his eyes paused for a while.
Shen Tingwei, who was originally affected by Lian Jue’s sudden low mood, slowly straightened the corners of his lips after realizing that his birthday was over.

He withdrew his gaze from the wall clock, lowered his eyes briefly, covered the loss in the bottom of his eyes and when he raised his head again, he had calmed down.
He didn’t want Lian Jue to find himself turning from excitement to loss. He didn’t remind Lian Jue, so he couldn’t blame Lian Jue for missing his birthday.

“Are you busy today?” Shen Tingwei pretended to be nonchalant and whispered, “It’s so late to come back.”
Lian Jue raised his eyes and glanced at him indifferently, as if he didn’t want to do what he wanted. He insisted on breaking the mood that he was struggling to clean up. He repeated what he said just now and asked him, “What time?”
Shen Tingwei looked into his eyes but felt as if his heart had been hit hard by something, causing his full of joy and expectation to come to an abrupt end in this neither light nor heavy reprimand. But he couldn’t figure out what he had done wrong to make Lian Jue angry as soon as he walked in the door, only to feel that the sadness overflowing from his chest made his nose sore.
Shen Tingwei’s gleaming eyes slowly dimmed. He lowered his eyes, not knowing how to answer his words.
The spirit that he regained from his loss was like a very weak flame, which was mercilessly cut off from the root by Lian Jue as soon as it ignited.
Even the joy of seeing Lian Jue when he woke up was extinguished.
Shen Tingwei opened his mouth, his throat seemed to be pinched hard. The tight feeling made him silent for a while, and he stopped for half a minute before replying in a low voice: “…one point twenty.”
Lian Jue had already walked up to him and stood still. Looking down at the folded blanket by his hand and then put his gaze back on Shen Tingwei.
Shen Tingwei seemed to realize his mistake, sitting on the sofa with his head down as if he was being criticized, a clean calf exposed under his spacious trousers and the plush slippers on his feet were not in place when he got up just now.
Lian Jue’s eyebrows were still furrowed: “Don’t you know your body? How did the doctor explain it?”
Lian Jue’s body was tainted with the coolness of late autumn. The clear and strong wine smell covered Shen Tingwei’s sweet wine fragrance that had faded due to depression.
Seeing him hanging his head and not speaking, Lian Jue seemed to have made a judgment in his heart and seemed to insist on listening to him: “Waiting for me?”
Shen Ting pursed his lips, pulled up a smile that seemed to come from the heart but was actually reluctant. He aised his head to meet Lian Jue’s eyes, Lian Jue’s outline became clear again in his sight, he shook his head gently and said softly : “No, I fell asleep accidentally.”

Only then did Lian Jue notice the slightly moist corners of his eyes and his expression froze for a moment.
Lian Jue looked at him in silence for a moment, Shen Tingwei had seen such an unhappy appearance many times, his eyes and nose were red. As if he would shed tears after hearing one more criticism and he seemed to be relying on this pitiful appearance.

Lian Jue was indeed a little angry at Shen Tingwei’s willfulness but after all, he softened his heart in his eyes.
Lian Jue’s originally knitted brows stretched out unconsciously and his straight shoulders also relaxed a lot.
“Next time when you’re sleepy go upstairs to rest earlier.” Lian Jue’s tone was clearly still indifferent but his voice was obviously softened. He raised his hand. The warm fingertips rolled over the dampness at the end of his eyes. ” How can you sleep with tears in your eyes?”
Shen Tingwei slightly avoided his hand and said no but subconsciously followed his words and touched his face with the back of his hand. The skin touched is dry.
Lian Jue seemed unaware of his dodging, scratched his sleepy hair and sighed silently, his tone much softer than before: “Go upstairs and sleep.”
Shen Tingwei agreed.
That night, Lian Jue came out of the bathroom after taking a shower and answered the phone. He stood beside the bed, half-deliberately repeating the behavior of the morning, putting the water from his hair that had not been dried on Shen Tingwei’s face.
Shen Tingwei was not teased by Lian Jue in a good temper. He just pulled the quilt over half of his face. He didn’t wipe the drops of water on his forehead and quietly watched Lian Jue make a phone call.

Lian Jue should be talking to the person who was having dinner today, mentioning “pleasant cooperation” and “visiting another day”, then politely said goodbye to the other party.
Only then did Shen Tingwei know that Lian Jue would say goodbye to people.
Lian Jue put the phone on the bedside table, looked down into his eyes and returned to a good mood. As if it was not him who lost his temper just now and asked Shen Tingwei what he didn’t see.
Shen Tingwei shook his head, rubbed his face against the soft quilt and muttered that he was sleepy.
Lian Jue wiped the water off his forehead, leaned over and kissed his wet brow. Shen Tingwei felt a little stuffy under the quilt even his chest was stuffy, so he raised his chin and covered half of his face. The quilt is tucked under the neck.
Lian Jue bowed his head and kissed his lips, saying, “Go to sleep.”

Before Shen Tingwei closed his eyes, he thought, in fact, he didn’t have much grievances in his heart, he just felt that it was a pity that he wasted an opportunity to make a wish.
So on the second day of turning twenty-four, Shen Tingwei had not decided whether to tell Lian Jue that yesterday was his birthday.