Chapter 49: Your Future Is No Longer My Concern

Pei Jinyang left not long ago, and the glass door behind Jiang Mingzhi was pushed open again. This time, it was Chen Zhanbei.

He placed one hand on the back of Jiang Mingzhi’s chair. “Why are you hiding here alone? Are you going to eat cake? Come inside.”

Jiang Mingzhi continued playing the game, not lifting her head. “You all go ahead.”

Could it be that no one would eat the cake without waiting for her?

This was Pei Jinyang’s birthday party—whether she was there or not wouldn’t make a difference.

Chen Zhanbei: “……”

Pei Jinyang had just come by, and after returning, his mood had soured.

Everyone thought it was because they had argued, but only Chen Zhanbei knew that Pei Jinyang was just feeling frustrated inside.

He wanted to play games with Jiang Mingzhi but couldn’t bring himself to say it. On top of that, Jiang Mingzhi was a tough one—stubborn and unyielding.

Chen Zhanbei had never known there was a girl bold enough to treat Pei Jinyang like this.

Back on the day of the sports meet, Jiang Mingzhi had directly smashed Pei Jinyang’s phone screen, but Pei Jinyang hadn’t said a word about it. Instead, he went off to settle things with Sheng Qiaoxi and then quietly took the phone to get it repaired.

For Chen Zhanbei, this was a huge shock.

He felt that if it weren’t for Jiang Mingzhi, Pei Jinyang would have been fine. But since it was her—his stepmother’s daughter—it was a whole different matter.

However, looking at it from another angle, maybe their relationship was like that of siblings. If you imagined them as brother and sister, then Pei Jinyang’s actions would make sense.

Anyway, today was Pei Jinyang’s birthday, and it had to go smoothly.

For his friend, Chen Zhanbei tried to play the role of a mediator. “Come on, join us. It’s not good to stay here alone.”

Jiang Mingzhi: “It’s fine, it’s not a problem.”

Chen Zhanbei: “……”

In the game, the only sounds were from the in-game electronic announcements. The teammates seemed to have a tacit understanding, keeping quiet. It was unclear whether they were secretly gossiping or just affected by the slightly tense atmosphere.

This match was a bit difficult. The enemy jungler ganked mid lane twice at the start, and even though Guan Jingxu came to help in the bot lane, they couldn’t gain much of an advantage.

In fact, the enemy jungler had successfully pushed both mid and top lanes to the brink.

Jiang Mingzhi couldn’t recover from the setback, and this match became unusually tough.

At 15 minutes and 24 seconds, they lost the game.

Jiang Mingzhi couldn’t help but feel that it was because of Pei Jinyang, the “plague,” that she ended up losing.

Being close to Pei Jinyang seemed to bring her bad luck.

“The game’s over, let’s go inside.”

A sudden voice behind her startled Jiang Mingzhi, and she turned around, “Why are you still here?”

“……” Chen Zhanbei: “I’m waiting for you to finish your game.”

He had been standing there for five minutes, and she thought he had left?

He almost wanted to ask: was it the game or Pei Jinyang that mattered more?

Jiang Mingzhi: “……”

She spoke to her teammates in the game: “I’m not playing anymore, I’m a bit tired.”

Lin Wan: “Okay, Zhi Zhi, you go ahead.”

Guan Jingxu: “Alright, we’ll play next time.”

She quit the game and stood up. “Let’s go inside.”

Since they wanted her to be a spectator, she’d do it. After all, Uncle Pei and Mom were still out there—she couldn’t just ignore them.

Chen Zhanbei quietly sighed in relief, pushed open the glass door, and made a gesture for her to go inside.

Sun Shaoyao noticed Chen Zhanbei’s arrival and shouted, “Where have you been? The birthday boy is waiting for you!”

Chen Zhanbei replied, “I was answering a call. Has Yang ge blown out the candles yet?”

“Not yet,” Sun Shaoyao glanced at Pei Jinyang. “Want me to go get your dad?”

Pei Jinyang shot a glance at Jiang Mingzhi, who was standing at the edge of the crowd, and nodded silently.

Soon, the bright lights in the small hall were turned off, leaving only a circle of warm yellow ambient lights. Uncle Pei, along with some relatives and a few close elders, had come to the small hall.

Jiang Mingzhi saw Pei Jinyang’s grandparents.

Last year, Pei Jinyang’s grandfather had been so enraged by their situation that he had been hospitalized for over a month. Under pressure, Pei Jinyang had to tell them that he had broken up with her.

Their marriage had only happened after Pei Jinyang’s grandfather had passed away.

With a swirl of emotions, Jiang Mingzhi felt her shoulder being gently pulled by Qiu Tang, and her mom whispered in her ear, “Everyone’s here, try to look a little happier.”

Jiang Mingzhi put on a soft smile and clapped along to the birthday song.

Pei Jinyang stood in the middle of the crowd, his eyes closed as he made a wish.

Looking at the young man, Jiang Mingzhi’s mind drifted back to last year.

On that birthday, his wish had something to do with her.

This was something Jiang Mingzhi had only learned from Pei Jinyang years later. At the time, she had laughed at him. “So, you had feelings for me that early?”

Pei Jinyang had pulled her into his arms, his eyes full of affection. “Since I was 18, every birthday wish I made has been about you.”

“Happy Birthday, Yang Zi!”

“Happy Birthday, Pei Jinyang.”

Amidst the many birthday wishes, Pei Jinyang smiled, and so did Jiang Mingzhi. For the rest of her life, she hoped that Pei Jinyang’s birthdays would have nothing to do with her.

Pei Jinyang took a symbolic bite of the top layer of the three-tiered cake in front of him.

He handed the task of cutting the cake to the waitstaff, and under Qiu Tang’s encouragement, Jiang Mingzhi went and took a slice.

After the cake, it was time to open presents.

In the corner of the hall, there was a pile of gift boxes, large and small.

Gifts from the elders would be taken home, but gifts from his friends would be opened on the spot, and Pei Jinyang would have to guess who they were from. If he guessed correctly, the person who gave the gift would be punished—a little game among friends.

Seeing that Uncle Pei was still chatting with the elders, Jiang Mingzhi didn’t want to run away and hid, so she stood by for a while until Chen Zhanbei called her over to join them.

She glanced at her relatives, then reluctantly walked over.

Chen Zhanbei had originally been sitting next to Pei Jinyang, but when he saw her approach, he moved aside to make room. “Come sit.”

Jiang Mingzhi didn’t squeeze in but instead grabbed a chair from the outer circle. “I’ll sit here, it’s fine.”

Pei Jinyang paused as he was opening a gift and tore into the wrapping paper a bit aggressively. “Sheng Qiaoxi, this is from you, right? It’s wrapped so tightly.”

Sheng Qiaoxi didn’t expect him to guess it so quickly and pretended to be angry. “Pei Jinyang, did you peek while I was wrapping the gift?”

Pei Jinyang replied, “Who would look? Every year, you wrap it up so tightly—three layers inside and three layers outside.”

Sheng Qiaoxi chuckled softly behind her hand. “You caught me. So, what’s the punishment for me?”

Pei Jinyang opened the gift and found a game console. He placed it aside and said, “I haven’t decided yet, so hold off for now.”

After opening five more gifts, Pei Jinyang only guessed correctly for Sheng Qiaoxi and another guy. The rest, he didn’t guess, and the answers were not revealed.

There was still one gift left, sitting unopened on the floor, and Pei Jinyang glanced at Jiang Mingzhi.

When all the gifts were opened, everyone stepped forward to claim which one was theirs.

In the end, only Jiang Mingzhi remained sitting still, watching the fun.

Sun Shaoyao glanced at her and asked, “What gift did you get for Pei ge?”