STT – Chapter 6
by Little PandaLu Zizheng, Happy Birthday
After breakfast the next morning, Lu Zizheng, Lian Xuan’s assistant, Ji Yao, and Lian Xuan gathered at the Jiangbei branch office to discuss the specific details of their afternoon cooperation with a Japanese enterprise. When Lu Zizheng first caught sight of Lian Xuan, she felt a brief wave of awkwardness. Lian Xuan, however, acted entirely as if nothing had happened, pulling out her documents and sitting down calmly directly across from Lu Zizheng.
Lu Zizheng frowned. Looking at Lian Xuan’s composed demeanor, she could not help but wonder if everything from the previous night had just been her own wishful thinking1.
She smiled bitterly, having tossed and turned all night in vain, unable to sleep.
The afternoon negotiations went very smoothly, and the two parties agreed to have dinner together that evening. At the dinner table, Lian Xuan was surprisingly bold, accepting every drink offered to her. As if she were immune to alcohol2, she downed one glass after another handed to her by the other party.
Lu Zizheng was not familiar with Lian Xuan’s usual behavior at business dinners, but she could tell that the assistant and Ji Yao were both a little surprised, their expressions tinged with anxiety.
By the time the banquet ended and everyone dispersed, the city lights had long since flickered on. Stepping out of the private club, the surroundings were unusually quiet.
Ji Yao helped Lian Xuan into the car, hesitating repeatedly before instructing Lu Zizheng, “She drank a bit too much. If anything happens, please take care of her.”
Lu Zizheng nodded and sat in the back seat with Lian Xuan.
Not long after the car started, Lian Xuan turned her face and asked weakly, “Can I borrow your shoulder for a bit? My head hurts, and I want to sleep for a while.”
Lu Zizheng bit her lip, not knowing how to refuse. She knew she had always been soft-hearted. In the end, keeping her body stiff, she nudged slightly closer and lowered her left shoulder.
Lian Xuan made no pretense of politeness, tilting her head to rest it on Lu Zizheng’s slightly slender shoulder.
Many years ago, when Lian Xuan rested her head on her shoulder, Lu Zizheng had felt it was incredibly heavyโas if she were carrying the entire world, her heart filled with joy. Now, Lu Zizheng still felt it was incredibly heavy, but it was as if a massive boulder were pressing down on her heart, suffocating her so much she could not breathe.
Halfway through the drive, Lian Xuan suddenly sat up straight and softly instructed, “Xiao Wang, pull over for a moment. I want to get out and get some fresh air.”
Lu Zizheng stared at Lian Xuan in surprise, thoroughly bewildered.
The car pulled over along a stretch of coastal road. Lian Xuan opened the door and got out, leaving Lu Zizheng with no choice but to accompany her.
Late at night on the coastal road, there was nothing but rushing cars, the howling sea breeze, and the tall, lonely streetlights. Lian Xuan took unsteady steps, staggering along the railing beneath the streetlights.
Lu Zizheng slowed her pace and followed behind her, watching her figure sway in the darkness, leaving a long, thin, lonely shadow.
Suddenly, Lian Xuan stopped and leaned against the railing. She turned to look at Lu Zizheng and smiled. “This road feels so familiar. It’s as if I’ve walked it a thousand times in my dreams.”
Lu Zizheng stood diagonally opposite her, looking around and waiting in silence for Lian Xuan to continue.
Lian Xuan let out a bitter laugh and sighed. “Zizheng, you’ve grown up. You seem to have become much more quiet.”
Lu Zizheng had no reply.
Lian Xuan did not know that it was not that she had become quiet now; rather, back when she faced Lian Xuan, she always had endless words to say and endless feelings to express.
Lian Xuan continued, speaking as if to herself, “This place looks so much like that stretch of the Ring Road3 we visited together that year. The boundless sea, the endless asphalt roadโฆ” She seemed to have fallen into endless memories, her eyes glistening, a smile playing on her lips. “Back then, there was a willow tree by the roadside, just starting to sprout new buds. You even teased me because I couldn’t recognize what kind of tree it wasโฆ”
“We rented a tandem bicycle, and you patted your chest, guaranteeing that you knew how to ride it. But as soon as we got on, you started wobbling all over the place. I was so scared that I was screaming and laughing behind you, and you even complained that I was too loud and told me to quiet down. Later, once you got the hang of it and the bike started riding smoothly, you still purposely wobbled the frame to scare me. When I anxiously slapped your back, you turned around and grinned at me so proudlyโฆ”
She looked at Lu Zizheng, her eyes unwavering, her tone tender and full of longing. “Zizheng, you don’t know, but back then I was thinkingโฆ if only this road had no end, and we could just keep riding like that foreverโฆ”
Lu Zizheng pursed her lips, momentarily lost in a daze, a bitter sting rising in her nose. But the one who had jumped off the bicycle first was Lian Xuan herself, wasn’t it?
She walked over to Lian Xuan’s side and stood shoulder to shoulder with her. Lian Xuan could not see her expression; she only heard her quiet reply, “Is that so? It’s been too long. I’ve forgottenโฆ”
Lian Xuan quietly watched her figure for a moment, then turned back around and continued walking forward along the road. Her tone was low, carrying a trace of loneliness, and her voice was instantly swallowed by the sea wind. “Is that so? I thought it was all just yesterdayโฆ”
The wind grew even stronger. Lian Xuan was dressed lightly, and she wrapped her arms around herself against the cold.
Lu Zizheng stood where she was, watching her walk further and further ahead without stopping. She caught up to her in a few strides, took off her coat, and draped it over Lian Xuan’s shoulders. “It’s cold, let’s go back,” she said flatly. “Be careful not to catch a cold.”
Lian Xuan looked up and gave her a deep look, then lowered her head, pursing her lips in a faint smile as she said, “Alrightโฆ” Her hands tightened around Lu Zizheng’s coat, which still held her lingering warmth.
On the entire way back, neither of them spoke another word. Lian Xuan kept her eyes closed, looking as if she had fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion.
Lu Zizheng looked at her from the corner of her eye. In the end, was the one Lian Xuan missed the her of back then, or Lian Xuan’s own past self?
But whether it was the Lian Xuan of today or the Lian Xuan of back then, how much sincerity did she actually have for her?
Now, what was the point of her putting on such an affectionate, nostalgic display?
For the next three days, Lian Xuan was exceptionally busy. Lu Zizheng handled all coordination through her assistant. On the rare occasions she crossed paths with Lian Xuan, Lian Xuan wore her usual, formulaic corporate smile. Lu Zizheng figured that the night on the coastal road was likely nothing more than a temporary lapse in composure brought on by the alcoholโsomething neither of them would ever bring up again.
On the day of Lu Zizheng’s birthday, she went nowhere. She stayed inside her hotel room, working on translation all day.
Around noon, Mother Lu had called to check on her, reminding her to buy a bowl of noodles and eat an egg for dinner, promising to make her a proper birthday feast when she returned home.
Lu Zizheng laughed and acted like a spoiled child with her mother, telling her that there was no one better in the world than Mom.
After hanging up, Lu Zizheng stared at the entry for “Jiang Huaixi” in her contacts, murmuring to herself, “There really isn’t even a single phone call. Since the gift couldn’t be delivered, has she skipped the wishes altogether?”
It was past seven in the evening when Lu Zizheng finally went downstairs to the hotel restaurant to eat a bowl of noodles and an egg, marking the end of her quiet celebration for her twenty-seventh birthday.
Putting down her chopsticks, she looked at the reflection of her face on the clean white surface of the bowl and silently said to herself in her heart, Happy birthday.
Her phone rang suddenly. It was Lian Xuan, who had been silent for several days.
Lian Xuan’s voice was calm and steady. “Come to my room for a moment.”
The door was half-ajar. Lu Zizheng knocked twice, and upon hearing Lian Xuan say, “Please come in,” she pushed the door open and entered. She had assumed Lian Xuan wanted to instruct her on the work for the next few days. To her surprise, she walked in to find Lian Xuan, who had already removed her makeup and taken off her coat, wearing only a shirt, looking as if she were about to rest. She was sitting on the sofa with a small lamp lit, listening to music with her eyes half-closed.
Seeing Lu Zizheng enter, Lian Xuan smiled and pointed to the sofa across from her, gesturing for her to sit. Then, she pulled a box from a nearby bag, slid it across the glass coffee table to Lu Zizheng, and said in a light tone, “Happy birthday. It’s a birthday gift. Open it and see if you like it.”
Lu Zizheng had not expected Lian Xuan to remember. For a moment, a myriad of emotions welled up in her. Was it happiness or sadness? Joy or melancholy? Even she herself could hardly tell.
In the end, all those emotions only dissolved into a bitter smile on her lips. “President Lian, I will accept your well-wishes, thank you. But the gift is too expensive.” As she spoke, she pushed the box back.
Lian Xuan’s smile did not fade. Staring at Lu Zizheng, she said in a half-joking tone, “When I gave you gifts in the past, you never considered their value. Didn’t you say that no matter how precious it was, it could never be more valuable than my feelings?”
Lu Zizheng pursed her lips and stared at Lian Xuan. In the end, she could not hold back the grievances and resentment built up in her heart over the years. Why was it that all this time, only she had been obsessing over the past and reproaching herself, while Lian Xuan showed not a hint of self-reproach, nor any desire to offer her even a little explanation? She had never known that Lian Xuan, with her extraordinary memory, could be this forgetful.
Her face was expressionless as she spoke coldly, “You also said itโthat was the past, wasn’t it? People all change.”
Lian Xuan could no longer smile, the expression freezing on her lips.
Lu Zizheng stood up and said coldly, “Thank you for the birthday wishes, President Lian. If there is nothing else, I will head back.”
Lian Xuan finally lost her composure. She quickly stood up as well, blurting out, “Wait, Zizheng, about what happened back thenโฆ” Before she could finish, Lu Zizheng’s phone rang.
Lu Zizheng gave her a brief glance, then walked over to the window to answer the call.
She heard Lu Zizheng ask with a smile playing on her lips, “I’m already by the window. What’s wrong?”
Then, both she and Lu Zizheng watched as the giant screen on the building opposite them went dark, only to suddenly light up again. On it was a photo of a girl with a ponytail in sportswear, running. It was Lu Zizheng. On the roadside billboard in the photo, it read: Xiamen International Marathon.
After a while, the screen went dark again, and lines of text leaped up one by one: “Lu Zizheng, happy birthday. The road of life is long. At most, you have only just run a quarter of it. Don’t slack off, keep running!”
Lu Zizheng’s eyes widened. Staring out the window in shock, her voice shook slightly as she eagerly pressed, “Where are you?”
Only a moment later, Lian Xuan heard Lu Zizheng hang up and rush outside. As she walked, she said to Lian Xuan, “I’m sorry, President Lian. Something has come up, so please excuse me.”
She left in such a hurry that she did not have time to hear the words Lian Xuan was about to say: “About what happened back thenโฆ I’m sorry.”
Lian Xuan stood where she was, watching Lu Zizheng’s hurried, joyful departing figure, only feeling a slight ache in her chest.
For the first time in her life, she had compromised with herself, deciding to let herself off the hook and find closureโbut Lu Zizheng had not given her the chance.
She had long known that the world was fair, that one must give up something to gain something. But at this very moment, why was her heart still so full of reluctance and unwillingness?
Footnotes
- The Chinese idiom 'zรฌ zuรฒ duล qรญng' (่ชไฝๅคๆ ) literally means 'to act on unreciprocated affection' or to mistakenly assume someone else has romantic feelings for you.
- The Chinese phrase 'qiฤn bฤi bรน zuรฌ' (ๅๆฏไธ้) literally translates to 'a thousand cups without getting drunk,' describing someone with an exceptionally high tolerance for alcohol.
- The Huandao Road (็ฏๅฒ่ทฏ) is a scenic, multi-lane coastal bypass road in Xiamen, famous for its beaches, landscaping, and recreational paths.
Jiang Huaixi won her already
Yeah Huaixi definitely likes her lol I hope I’m not shipping wrong
Jiang Huaixi is so nice
Jiang Huaixi is so nice
You snooze, you lose, Lian Xuan. Whatever your reasons were for what you did and said don’t matter now. Her new beau will treat her better~
You snooze, you lose, Lian Xuan. Whatever your reasons were for what you did and said don’t matter now. Her new beau will treat her better~