Chapter 26: Birthday

Ji Fanling originally thought that on that night, she had made things clear enough with Jiang Baixing. Since she had nothing to do with Fu Yingcheng, Jiang Baixing should have given up.

If he wanted to repay a debt of gratitude, he should be heading to the Jiuzhou Group to wait on Fu Yingcheng instead.

Who would have thought that this stubborn kid, so ridiculously headstrong, would still show up at the food stall every few days? Not only that, but he also enjoyed fighting to help her with the work.

Zhao San’s Iron Pot Braised Goose from the food stall was the heaviest dish, comparable to a solid weight.

Carrying it once was manageable, but if there were many diners, by the time Ji Fanling went back to do laundry at night, her arms would be trembling.

Yet, several times, Jiang Baixing would snatch the pot to carry it for her.

In the past, the boy had been small and round like a little dumpling. Now, he had grown tall with long legs, carrying the iron pot as if he were flying.

Ji Fanling chased after him, suppressing her voice as she urgently shouted, “No, you’ve got it wrong! Table 7 is over there… Little Xingxing!!!”

Jiang Baixing had always been like this since he was little, clingy and eager to help. Whenever there was work to do at the stall, he would insist on taking it on.

Sometimes, he would help serve food, carrying the dishes with a serious face and all his strength. After delivering the noodles, he would act like a little grown-up, gently tugging on Ji Fanling’s sleeve and tip toeing to whisper in her ear, “Sister, I gave you two extra pieces of char siu.^[1]Char siu (叉烧) is a Cantonese-style barbecued pork. It is a popular dish in Chinese cuisine, known for its sweet and savory flavors and signature reddish glaze.”

Ji Fanling: “…”

The girl used her chopsticks to poke through the noodles and, sure enough, found two pieces of char siu hidden inside.

Ji Fanling raised her eyebrow. “Stealing?”

“It’s our own stuff. How can it be called stealing?” Jiang Baixing argued confidently.

Ji Fanling grabbed him firmly with one hand, ignoring his futile struggles and excuses, and raised her voice. “Aunt Jiang! Aunt Jiang!”

Aunt Jiang lifted the curtain and came out from the kitchen. “What’s going on?”

Ji Fanling replied, “Little Xingxing added extra char siu to my bowl.”

Aunt Jiang leaned in and laughed heartily. “If he added more, just eat it. It’s just two pieces of meat. I’ll add two more for you.”

Ji Fanling was momentarily stunned.

The girl’s lips moved slightly before she said with a deadpan expression, “No, I paid for plain noodles.”

“What’s wrong with that? If I say it’s fine, it’s fine.”

Aunt Jiang, quick and efficient, had already gone back to the kitchen, added two more pieces of char siu, and put them in her bowl without waiting for a response. She said gently, “The recipe has changed a bit compared to before. Help Aunt Jiang taste it and see if it’s good, alright?”

Ji Fanling was completely defeated by this mother-and-son duo. She lowered her head, picked up a piece, and put it in her mouth.

“Is it good?” Little Xingxing leaned against her leg, his bright black eyes shining like a puppy’s.

The steaming heat blurred her vision, making it hard to see clearly.

The girl lowered her head even further, almost burying her face in the bowl, and mumbled softly, “Mhm…”

“…It’s delicious.”

Back then, Ji Fanling could completely keep Little Xingxing under control.

Now, she truly found it a bit hard to handle him.

It was one thing for him to come and eat, but he also happened to be a chatterbox, following Ji Fanling around every day, babbling non-stop:

“Sister, which year did you start at No. 1 High School?”

“The year before last? Or the year before that?”

“Where do you live, Sister?”

“Who was your homeroom teacher? Maybe I know them too.”

…

Ji Fanling: “1949.” “The next year.” “No home.” “Don’t remember.”

Jiang Baixing: “Sister…”

Ji Fanling waved him off: “Stop bothering me. Go away.”

In truth, if she were to come clean with Jiang Baixing and tell him that she was the same Ji Fanling from back then, that she hadn’t died, it actually wouldn’t be a big deal. He would definitely keep her secret, at most telling Aunt Jiang.

…But the problem was—

Just by being loosely associated with Fu Yingcheng, Jiang Baixing’s enthusiasm for repaying her kindness was already this overwhelming. If he truly regarded her as his lifesaver, who knows what kind of things he might end up doing?

The thought alone was enough to make her feel terrified.

Jiang Baixing, and Aunt Jiang—

These two people were completely beyond her ability to handle.

Forget it.

Better not to reveal the truth after all.

*

After work in the evening, Ji Fanling finally sent Jiang Baixing away and returned to her rented room. Lu Yan mentioned going to the bathhouse to take a bath, but since Ji Fanling had already bathed the day before, she didn’t go with her.

She washed the clothes she had accumulated over the past two days, tidied up the room, and while collecting the laundry, she suddenly realized that a piece of her underwear was missing again.

Unable to find it anywhere, Ji Fanling finally ran out of patience. While frowning, she went to knock on the door of the young couple in Room 1.

From inside the room, loudspeakers were blasting a deafening K-pop hit. The girl from the couple opened the door.

She showed only half her face, wearing a clubbing-style spaghetti strap top. Her previously cheerful expression turned instantly annoyed. “What do you want?”

“I’m from Room 4,” Ji Fanling said. “I noticed one of my bras that was drying on the balcony is missing. Is it possible you took it by mistake—”

“Impossible.”

Ji Fanling continued coldly, “White, bought from the supermarket downstairs. It’s very possible it’s the same style as yours…”

“Impossible.”

The girl interrupted again, giving Ji Fanling a once-over before mocking her. “Please, we’re not even the same size. Even if I took it, it wouldn’t fit, okay?”

Ji Fanling stared at her expressionlessly.

The girl, as if finding it boring, chewed on whatever was in her mouth and opened the door wider, revealing her skinny boyfriend sprawled on the bed in a disheveled state.

With her arms crossed and leaning against the doorframe, she said, “Aren’t you friends with the girl in Room 3?”

Ji Fanling’s eyelids tightened slightly. “What about it?”

“She never told you that she’s lost underwear before too?”

Ji Fanling was momentarily stunned.

Seeing this, the girl raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “Looks like you two aren’t that close after all.”

Ji Fanling frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Figure it out yourself.”

With that, the girl slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

If someone she had no connection with was unwilling to share, there was no point in asking further. If that girl had wanted to talk, she would have said something earlier.

Ji Fanling pressed her knuckles lightly and turned to go back to her room, only to suddenly hear the sound of the door to Room 2 closing.

The door had been shut hastily, and all she saw was the fleeting shadow of a large foot in slippers retreating quickly inside.

She remembered that the tenant of Room 2 was a sloppy, unemployed man. He was tall and overweight, with long hair that hung over his eyes.

Ji Fanling’s room was in the corner, and to get in or out, she had to pass by his door.

The man often left his door wide open, and sometimes when Ji Fanling walked by, she would catch a glimpse of him sitting on his bed, smiling at her out of the corner of her eye.

Ji Fanling stared at the door to Room 2.

She couldn’t even clearly recall the man’s face.

But she remembered that day when she had a fever and was the only one lying in her room in the shared apartment.

It was this man, for some unknown reason, who kept knocking on her door and talking for a long time.

…

So, you like stealing things, huh?

Ji Fanling narrowed her eyes.

Whoever it was, stealing from her would come with a price to pay.

*

In the blink of an eye, February 11th arrived.

Outside Zhao San’s skewers food stall, as dusk transitioned into night, the members of the “Sunset Exiles” band started arriving one after another.

A bright red banner was hung high, and the venue was set up with speakers, a drum kit, a keyboard, and a standing microphone.

Following the boss’s instructions, Ji Fanling carried a pocketful of small flags printed with the band’s logo and went table by table, placing them.

“Fanling?”

Ji Fanling turned her head.

It was Cheng Jiali calling her.

Since there was a performance that night, he had put on exaggerated stage makeup. His eyeliner extended upwards at the corners of his eyes, and the sultry pink eyeshadow added a bewitching charm to his already narrow and fox-like eyes, making him look irresistibly alluring.

Ji Fanling turned back expressionlessly.

“Why haven’t you grown up? What happened back then?”

Cheng Jiali quickly stepped closer. “You have no idea how I’ve lived all these years, Fanling. I think about you every single day.”

Ji Fanling rolled her eyes and continued placing the small flags.

Cheng Jiali quickly walked over. “I know it’s you, Fanling. I recognized you the moment I saw you. I just… I just couldn’t believe it. How could this be?” His voice trembled.

He blocked Ji Fanling’s path to another table, but the girl coldly stepped around him.

“I didn’t dare to acknowledge you, but no matter what, I still wanted to be close to you. You felt it too, didn’t you?” Cheng Jiali said softly, reaching out to tug at the strings of her apron. “I know you missed me too. Otherwise, why else would you come to my wedding…”

It was then that he noticed her name had been on her apron all along.

The scrawled handwriting exuded a wild, possessive energy.

Ji Fanling, unable to tolerate it any longer, yanked the apron strings out of his hand. “Are you out of your damn mind? Do you have delusions? Call 120 already.”

Cheng Jiali was stunned.

This was absolutely not the reunion with Ji Fanling that he had envisioned.

He had thought that once he revealed he knew her identity, she would no longer have any concerns. She was living such a hard life now, surely forgotten by everyone.

She had no one to rely on. Perhaps she would even be moved to tears by the fact that he recognized her.

“Fanling, I know it’s you,” Cheng Jiali said gently, spreading his hands in a conciliatory gesture.

Ji Fanling lifted her gaze coldly. “So what?”

She was too indifferent to bother admitting or denying it.

All she said was:

So what?

“I got married and didn’t tell you, that’s on me,” Cheng Jiali began.

Cheng Jiali followed behind her, speaking hastily in an attempt to placate her. “I hurt you, and I’m sorry. You know, I had no choice. I didn’t know you were still alive. If I had known, how could I ever have…Ahhh!”

Before he could finish, Ji Fanling, while tidying up a stool, casually brought one of its legs down on his foot.

Cheng Jiali let out a wail of pain, but Ji Fanling, her expression emotionless, calmly placed the stool back in its original spot.

Cheng Jiali, clutching his leg in pain, bent slightly, thinking about all the effort he had poured in lately, that’s rearranging the music, convincing the band members to perform in this godforsaken place, the cost of transporting instruments, the money spent on promotion and roadshows. It was enough to make his chest ache with frustration.

Frustrated and helpless, there was nothing he could do about her.

Ji Fanling headed indoors into the food stall, while Cheng Jiali’s resigned voice floated on the wind behind her: “Fanling, tonight’s performance is all for you.”

“At least give it a listen.”

“Just… take pity on me.”

~