◎ Lace Cake ◎

Chen Du was lying on the floor, eyes tightly shut, face pale, but his ears and neck were abnormally red.

The glass cup that had just been filled with water shattered beside him. Several shards of glass had pierced his arm, and one cut was deep enough that it might have severed a blood vessel, causing blood to gush out uncontrollably.

The wound looked terrifying, yet Chen Du showed no sign of awareness. He lay there stiff and straight, to the point that for a moment, Shi Li almost thought—

She stiffly turned her head and looked around.

Nothing.

There was no other soul in this space.

Shi Li temporarily breathed a sigh of relief. She lay on the ground, leaned close to Chen Du’s ear, and called out to him.

“Chen Du!”

“Chen Du—”

Naturally, there was no response.

She grew anxious, scratching her head in frustration, then looked down at his arm. Instinctively, she reached out to touch the wound—fresh blood seeped right through her transparent palm, showing no sign of stopping.

If he didn’t wake up soon, and no one discovered him in this enclosed space…

Shi Li suddenly recalled some science article she had read before: if a blood vessel is ruptured and bleeding isn’t stopped in time, it could become life-threatening within minutes.

She suddenly felt a bit panicked.

She didn’t know why.

Clearly, this soul form had no heartbeat, yet Shi Li felt her heart racing.

Could it be that she had caused Chen Du’s death…?

A soul form could not feel air movement, so Shi Li could only lie on the ground and carefully observe Chen Du’s chest. Half a minute passed, and the rise and fall of his chest grew weaker.

She could not wait any longer.

Shi Li gritted her teeth, slowly moved closer to Chen Du, and reached out to embrace his body, which had no warmth.

In the next second, an overwhelming sense of suffocation and pain crashed down on her.

Shi Li couldn’t help but cry out twice. Her limbs curled up involuntarily.

Damn, it really hurt. Her whole body ached, and it seemed like she had also hit the back of her head…

Could it be a concussion…?

“Chen Du, I’m sorry, really. When you pass on and arrive in the underworld in a hundred years, I’ll look out for you, but please don’t come too soon. I’m kind of broke right now too.”

Shi Li mumbled while trembling and crawling over to the sofa. She pulled down a clean shirt, and with shaking hands pressed the fabric onto the wound. Then she tied the two sleeves tightly around the area near the heart.

Just that simple action left her drenched in sweat. She leaned against the sofa, panting heavily, her head dizzy.

This guy—was all that muscle fake? How could he be this weak?

Shi Li finally caught her breath and looked down at the blood-soaked shirt.

The bleeding had at least slowed down. The flow wasn’t as wild as before.

She rested for a bit longer until the dizziness eased, then propped herself up and limped toward the room—Chen Du’s phone was on the desk.

The best solution now was to use Chen Du’s phone to call his girlfriend, then quickly get off his body and wait for her to take him to the hospital.

That way, there wouldn’t be any additional harm caused to him.

At this thought, Shi Li couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

If the side effects of possession were this serious—serious enough to accidentally take someone’s life—how could the supervisor not have mentioned it?

The order in the underworld was very strict. A soul form absolutely must not interfere with the fate of the living. So why was there such a loophole?

Shi Li bit her lip, confused, and shook her head.

Forget it. She’d settle that score later. For now, she had to take care of Chen Du first.

Shi Li picked up Chen Du’s phone from the desk and turned it on.

Not sure if it was due to excessive blood loss, but Chen Du’s vision was especially blurry.

Shi Li rubbed her eyes, brought the screen closer, squinted, and frowned—

The facial recognition wasn’t turned on and it needed a passcode to unlock.

She remembered back in college, Chen Du never had a password on his phone.

Shi Li felt a bit of a headache.

She didn’t really understand the Chen Du from five years ago, let alone the Chen Du of now.

Most people would set their birthday as the passcode, but Chen Du didn’t have a birthday.

He was an orphan who grew up in a welfare home. The birthdate on his ID was randomly registered by the staff.

So Chen Du had no idea when his birthday was.

Shi Li bit her lower lip and racked her brain, thinking of dates that might be important to him.

In her mind, the day she reported to Lin University was the happiest day of her life. That day meant she had completely left that small town, left her family behind, and gone alone to pursue a better future.

Maybe it was the same for Chen Du.

Shi Li lowered her head and entered the Lin University registration date.

It showed an error.

Then… was it the day he became a lecturer at Lin University?

She tried the date she found last time in the library.

Still wrong.

Phones usually lock after three incorrect attempts.

She only had one try left.

Shi Li really couldn’t think of any other date. She took a deep breath and entered a date she thought was unlikely but had some connection to him.

It actually… worked.

Shi Li blinked.

Chen Du’s eyelashes were long and shadowed the confusion in her eyes.

Why was it this date?

Chen Du… Chen Du actually took it seriously.

This date was the day after Shi Li’s birthday.

Shi Li was three years younger than her brother, but their birthdays were only a week apart. She had always celebrated birthdays with her brother.

Of course, on his birthday.

They said it was a joint celebration, but the cake was the kind he liked, the name written on it was his, the number of candles matched his age, and only during the birthday song would they tack her name on at the end.

When it was time to make a wish, it was also her brother who blew out the candles.

Shi Li would always pretend to close her eyes but never actually made a wish.

She had read in some fairy tale book as a child that if you didn’t blow out the candles, your wish wouldn’t come true.

So Shi Li had always felt that birthdays were boring and that she had no real part in them.

Shi Li didn’t like birthdays.

Until that year.

That was the fourth winter Shi Li spent in Beilin and also nearly a year since she and Chen Du had gotten together.

It was exam week at the time. They were both studying in the library every day, including on her birthday — she hadn’t even mentioned it. A week earlier, her parents had celebrated her brother’s birthday and asked if she wanted to come home to join. She didn’t go.

That afternoon, Chen Du had a part-time job and was gone for a few hours.

By the time he came back, it was almost dark.

Outside the library’s floor-to-ceiling windows, the whole world was cast in grayish white. Feather-like snow was falling silently.

Shi Li, wrapped in an old sweater, was studying so hard her vision was blurring. She stretched, took a breath, and looked out the window—

In the shades of gray and white, Chen Du was dressed in black. He hadn’t brought an umbrella. Step by step, he climbed the library’s stone steps, covered in snow.

The world behind him blurred into a pale ink painting.

Shi Li rested her chin in her hand and watched him approach, suddenly noticing he was carrying a box.

It was transparent and not very big. She couldn’t see what was inside.

But the box was tied with a pink satin ribbon and looked like…

Shi Li slowly fluttered her eyelashes, then took a closer look and confirmed she wasn’t seeing things.

She put down her pen and suddenly felt flustered.

It was hard to describe the feeling.

Her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest, pounding against her ribs.

For a moment, she almost wanted to run out to greet him and see if he had bought her a cake.

The next moment, she was scared and thought it was impossible.

She had never said anything. How would Chen Du know it was her birthday?

Besides… something that fancy — even her parents had never bought her one. How could he possibly buy it for her? Shi Li knew he had more student loans than she did and worked more part-time jobs too.

Not to mention it was snowing heavily. He was so busy. How would he have the time to go out and buy a cake?

The more Shi Li thought about it, the more she felt she was being shameless and delusional. It was too embarrassing.

So when Chen Du returned, she pretended to study hard and didn’t look up at him.

Until he gently pushed the box toward her. She still held back and didn’t look at it. Trying to stay calm, she mumbled, “What is it? There’s so much snow on it. It’s soaking my papers.”

Chen Du raised his eyebrows slightly, pulled out a few tissues, wiped off all the snow, and pushed it toward her again. “See for yourself.”

Only then did Shi Li “reluctantly” and “nonchalantly” glance at it.

The library’s lighting was very bright. There was no chance she could have seen it wrong.

It really was a cake.

Not the kind of “cool” cakes she had shared with her brother since childhood, the ones with little cars or tanks on top.

But a beautiful, fluffy, pink cake, decorated layer by layer like a lace princess dress, adorned with off-white pearls.

On the elegant, ornate skirt of the princess dress was a message.

“Happy Birthday to Shi Li.”

It was her name.

At that moment, Shi Li felt like her breath stopped. Her eyes were fixed on the cake, unable to look away, but the words that came out of her mouth were stiff.

“That must’ve cost a lot, Chen Du. I don’t have the money to pay you back.”

She needed to save her money. She still had a pile of student debt.

“…You don’t need to pay me back.”

“Then I’ll feel bad.”

“…”

Chen Du expressionlessly ruffled her hair, paused for a few seconds, then added, “It’s free. Just take it as a lucky break.”

“Huh? Why?”

“…The cake shop is next to the internet café where I work. The owner always comes to the café to play games. We’re pretty familiar. This was a leftover cake they were going to throw out, so I asked for it. He even helped me write your name on it.”

“There’s such a good deal and I got it?”

Shi Li immediately broke into a big smile, touching the pink ribbon on the box. It was soft and shimmered with a gentle glow.

The more she looked, the more she liked it. Her eyes narrowed, and she grinned like a silly kid who got a great bargain. “Wow, the customers at their store have no taste at all. How could such a beautiful cake be leftover?”

Chen Du tugged at the corner of his mouth and raised an eyebrow. “…Pretty tasteless indeed.”

Shi Li couldn’t wait to untie the ribbon, carefully took out the cake, her smile stretching all the way to her ears, and started chattering.

“Chen Du, how did you know today is my birthday?”

“That cake shop owner has such good taste. Did he plant a surveillance camera in my head or something? How did he know I like this kind of cake?”

“This lace looks so real. Look at this skirt, so pretty. There’s actually such a cake shop near Lin University? I never knew. The owner is so kind. When I start working, I’ll definitely go buy from them!”

Shi Li turned into a “little princess” with a basket full of questions and even more chatter.

Chen Du couldn’t be bothered to answer. He inserted the candles one by one and lit them.

All twenty-two of them, neatly arranged.

“Alright, stop rambling. Blow them out.”

“Okay.”

Shi Li quieted down, took one last look at Chen Du, and he looked back at her.

The nearby students in the reading area were all curiously watching them. Shi Li didn’t care at all.

She slowly closed her eyes. Her hands pressed together were slightly trembling.

“Then I’ll make my wish now?”

“Mm.”

That year, under Chen Du’s gaze, Shi Li closed her eyes and made her first birthday wish ever.

Even though so many years had passed, she couldn’t remember what the wish was no matter how hard she tried.

She only remembered that afterward they split the cake, and she slumped onto the library lounge sofa, stuffed full, then nudged Chen Du with her head while he was still typing away at his code.

“What?”

Chen Du looked at her briefly.

Shi Li rested her head on his leg, looked up at him, eyes sparkling. “Birthdays are actually so fun. Strawberry cake is so delicious. It’s a hundred times better than chocolate. Chen Du, let’s have another birthday soon, okay?”

“Can you just have birthdays whenever you want?” Chen Du kept typing. “Wait another year.”

“I don’t want to wait a year. Isn’t your birthday coming up next month? I saw it on your exam ticket.”

“That’s not my birthday.”

Chen Du kept his eyes on the computer screen and casually explained.

Shi Li felt like he didn’t seem particularly sad, so she didn’t ruin the mood by feeling sad for him.

She suddenly sat up from his leg and almost bumped into his chin.

“Chen Du, since you don’t have a birthday, then every day can be your birthday… How about tomorrow? From now on, every year, the day after my birthday will be your birthday. I’ll celebrate it with you!”

“…Every year?” Chen Du looked at her.

“Yeah, okay?”

Shi Li shook his arm. Her mind was already imagining the cake for the next day.

The last line of defense of the poor was shattered.

Oh well, since the cake was so delicious and birthdays were so happy, she’d take some money from her savings to buy another one.

She’d buy Chen Du’s favorite flavor, write his name on it, and stick in twenty-two candles.

Anyway, Chen Du wasn’t picky. If he liked it, she’d definitely like it too.

While Shi Li daydreamed with joy, Chen Du stared at her without looking away. After a long while, he blinked his lashes and gave a very soft “mm.”

…Unfortunately, Chen Du missed the appointment the next day.

Shi Li held the cake downstairs at his dormitory and called him, but he did not answer.

She asked his roommate and only then found out that Chen Du hadn’t returned to the dorm the previous night.

He came back to school a few days later but didn’t say where he had been during that time.

Shi Li was busy with exams and didn’t ask further.

She guessed he never really took her casual words seriously and must have thought she was joking.

But she still didn’t open the cake to eat it herself. The cake sat in the dorm for two days and spoiled.

The following year…

They broke up in August, and Shi Li passed away in October.

She never saw the heavy snow in Beilin in December again, nor did she get a chance to celebrate the so-called “birthday” with Chen Du.

So how could he possibly still remember that day?

Or was it just a coincidence?

Did something more important happen to him on December 21st of some year?

Shi Li couldn’t figure it out, nor could she get an answer from Chen Du.

She covered her throbbing head and opened Chen Du’s recent contacts.

The first name was Shu Yun.

…That must be that pretty older sister, right?

Shi Li dialed the number. After a few seconds, the call connected.

“Hello? Ah Du, what’s wrong?”

It really was her voice.

Shi Li cleared her throat and, using Chen Du’s tone and manner, said calmly, “I just fell at home. Can you come over and take me to the hospital?”

Thinking about the unpleasant atmosphere between them earlier that morning, Shi Li hesitated and added a term of endearment: “Ba… Baby?”

Saying such an embarrassing nickname in Chen Du’s voice felt strange and awkward.

“…”

There was a pause for a few seconds on the other side, then a worried tone: “Did you hurt yourself badly? Did you hit your head?”

Shi Li touched the bump on Chen Du’s head and thought, the pretty older sister really is a doctor, she could even guess that.

“Yes, he… I hit my head. It hurts a lot, and I feel dizzy. Might be a concussion,” she honestly explained.

Shu Yun’s voice became serious: “Okay, got it. Just call me. Stay where you are, don’t move. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Okay,” Shi Li paused, “…Baby.”

“…”

After hanging up, Shi Li lay down on the bed, adjusted to a safe and comfortable position, and checked again that the shirt wrapped around her arm was tight enough to stop the bleeding.

She closed her eyes and tried to get out of Chen Du’s body.

…

Shi Li opened her eyes in terror, spread her hands, and pinched Chen Du’s face.

She was still inside Chen Du’s body.

She couldn’t get out.