Chapter 98: Not Afraid at All
Lin Yuejiu was stunned for a moment—birthday? Her birthday? Oh right, January 19th was her birthday. But wait, the time in China and abroad wasn’t the same.
Suddenly, she thought of something and froze completely.
England uses the GMT (UTC+0) time zone, while China follows Beijing time (UTC+8). Beijing is eight hours ahead of England. If it was currently 4 p.m. in England, that meant it was exactly midnight in Beijing—the start of her birthday.
She looked up. Xu Nianshen’s lips carried a gentle smile, the sunlight spilling across him softened his features, making him look unusually tender. All of a sudden, she wanted to cry; tears welled up in her eyes.
“Fool.”
Her voice trembled with sobs. Xu Nianshen cupped her face, his fingertips gently stroking her cheeks. He smiled, “How did I become a fool?”
Never mind how he even managed to get here—England was eight hours behind China, and a flight from China to the UK would take 10 to 17 hours. How did he get time off? How did he fool his parents, Xu Father and Xu Mother? He actually came all the way here alone, sitting through such a long flight?
The more she thought, the harder the tears fell. “Aren’t you Xu the genius? Aren’t you supposed to be so smart? And yet you did something this foolish?”
Xu Nianshen pulled her into his arms. “It’s not foolish.”
Crying in his embrace, Lin Yuejiu argued, “How is it not? You came all alone, sat through such a long flight—weren’t you lonely? When you arrived it must’ve been pitch black in the night, weren’t you scared? What if something happened…”
Before she could finish, she heard him say: “I wasn’t scared, and I wasn’t lonely. The thought of seeing you made me not afraid of anything.”
Lin Yuejiu’s eyes grew hot, and she hugged him tightly.
She had always felt that having someone remember your birthday was already a form of happiness. Out of so many people in the world, to have someone who remembered this little detail of yours—that was luck and joy in itself.
But now, there was someone who not only remembered her birthday, but came across thousands of miles, braving the darkness and loneliness, just to stand before her and say happy birthday. In that moment, she felt like there was nothing more to regret in life. Having someone like him by her side was the greatest fortune of all.
She thought, perhaps the heavens had seen how hard her life used to be, and that’s why they sent him into her world.
The sense of security—he gave it. The warmth—he gave it. The love—he gave it.
Her young man carried all the warmth of the world into her life, chasing away the cold. He was the warmest thing in her whole world—her young man.
—
Near her school, Xu Nianshen found a little cake shop on a nearby street and bought her a cake.
The two of them sat by the window. Xu Nianshen lit the candles for her. There were still traces of tears in the corner of her eyes, and he gently wiped them away. “Make a wish.”
Lin Yuejiu closed her eyes and made her wish.
Xu Nianshen, watching her with eyes closed, quietly pulled out his phone, muted it, turned off the flash, and captured a photo of her making her wish.
When she opened her eyes, she blew out the candles.
“Congratulations to our Jiujiu for growing another year older.”
Lin Yuejiu pouted a little. “That’s not fair. When it was your birthday, I didn’t do anything for you.”
Xu Nianshen’s birthday was in September. By then, Lin Yuejiu was already in England. On his birthday, she was so busy—preparing for competitions, and there was even an exam that day. But still, she had borrowed baking tools in advance and personally made him a cake.
She recalled that day—Lin Yuejiu sat on her bed yawning, watching the Beijing time tick by second by second. She wanted to sleep so badly that she had been drinking black coffee to keep herself awake—several cups already.
As the clock moved toward 23:57, Lin Yuejiu tiptoed to the bathroom with the cake in hand. She glanced at the still-sleeping Ling Jing, closed the door, and when it reached 23:59, she quickly placed a video call to Xu Shaoshen. He picked up right at midnight, and she cheerfully wished him happy birthday, showing him the cake in front of the camera before softly singing him a birthday song.
Xu Shaoshen reached out as if to pat her head through the screen. “There’s nothing unfair about this. On my birthday, didn’t you do so much for me too? Not only did you bake me a cake and sing for me, you also got my parents and brother to prepare all kinds of surprises. You even wrote me a piece of music as a gift.”
Lin Yuejiu still looked a little sulky. “That’s different.”
“There’s no difference at all. We both made sure we were the first ones to send each other blessings on our birthdays, didn’t we?”
Lin Yuejiu pouted.
Xu Shaoshen chuckled. “So what wish did you just make?”
“Birthday wishes don’t work if you say them out loud.”
“Didn’t you say the other day that I helped make one of your wishes come true? That proves I can really make your wishes happen. Tell me, and I’ll make it real.”
Lin Yuejiu stuck her tongue out at him. “Not telling.”
Xu Shaoshen sighed helplessly.
Seeing the dark circles under his eyes, Lin Yuejiu’s heart ached. She found a nearby hotel so he could rest. He insisted on holding her as he slept, and she agreed, quietly keeping him company. After he had rested for a while, she hurried him to leave before it got too late. She escorted him to the airport, watching him board, and didn’t leave until his plane had taken off.
Before boarding, Xu Shaoshen asked again what her birthday wish had been. Lin Yuejiu still wouldn’t say, only giving him a quick kiss before pushing him toward the gate.
When she returned to the dorm, everyone looked at her strangely. As she opened the door, Ling Jing threw herself at her, excitedly asking, “Your boyfriend came yesterday, didn’t he?”
Lin Yuejiu was startled. “?? How did you know?”
“The whole dorm knows!”
“Huh?”
“When your boyfriend came to pick you up, he was waiting downstairs. Not long after I left, he showed up. People said you ran straight into his arms, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“Ahhh! I can totally picture it! Too bad I went out—if you had kept me here with you, I would’ve seen him in person!”
Lin Yuejiu laughed. “Don’t you already know what he looks like?”
“Seeing him on video is different! In person, he’s probably even more handsome! Someone said his face is ridiculously good-looking!”
“Now everyone’s talking, saying no wonder you don’t look at any guys here. With a boyfriend like that, how could you ever be tempted by anyone else?”
“That’s kind of a dangerous thing to say. I never said that.”
“Oh come on, I was just kidding.”
Ling Jing kept pestering her about whether he arrived first or she called first, what he came for, and so on. Lin Yuejiu briefly explained, and Ling Jing covered her face dramatically. “Ahhh, what a perfect man!”
Lin Yuejiu just smiled.
Later, lying in bed, she remembered the wish she had made the night before: that the boy she loved would have nothing weighing on his heart, that all his hopes would come true, that year after year he would be safe, and that his path ahead would always be open and bright.
