“Drive.”
“…”
Yang Shikun hugged his neck: “Big Head, can you carry me?”
“Yes.” After Hao Ming spoke, he felt Yang Shikun fall asleep.
At the doorway, Hao Ming freed one hand to open the door, kicked it wider with his foot, went in and closed it.
Yang Shikun woke up quickly. He lay on Hao Ming’s bed about to fall asleep when Hao Ming said: “Open your phone, tell your mom you’re not coming home.”
Yang Shikun didn’t respond.
Hao Ming reached for his pocket, but Yang Shikun grabbed his hand: “What are you doing?”
“Calling your mom.”
“Oh.”
Hao Ming took out the phone, unlocked it with Yang Shikun’s face, found a contact labeled “Beautiful Mrs. Xu” and called.
“Where did you disappear to? Still not home.”
“Auntie, it’s me, Hao Ming.”
“Ah Xiao Ming, is Xiao Kun with you?”
Hao Ming glanced at Yang Shikun sleeping on the bed: “Yes Auntie, he’s asleep. He’ll stay here tonight, just letting you know.”
“Good, good. Xiao Ming, I’m at ease when he’s with you or Xiao Si. Get some rest too.”
“Okay, goodnight Auntie.”
“Goodnight.”
Hao Ming hung up and put the phone back in Yang Shikun’s pocket. Yang Shikun suddenly sat up, grinning at Hao Ming.
“Go shower, you smell like alcohol.”
“No.”
Hao Ming dragged him to the bathroom and brought his clothes: “Wear mine first, now shower.”
He had barely sat down when he heard a thud. Thinking Yang Shikun had fallen, he rushed to open the bathroom door.
He saw Yang Shikun standing there naked under cold water with no steam, his wet hair making him look like a drenched duck, staring at him pitifully.
Hao Ming wordlessly adjusted the water temperature: “Shower like this, don’t mess around, got it?”
“Okay.”
Yang Shikun was thin, his skin as white as a girl’s. Hao Ming glanced at him a few times, then looked away and left, closing the door.
Yang Shikun came out quickly, wearing Hao Ming’s slightly oversized clothes since he was shorter. Hao Ming saw his face flushed from the steam, lips red. He lifted the blanket: “Sleep.”
Yang Shikun crawled under the covers, leaving only his head out: “Sleeping.”
Hao Ming: “…”
He watched Yang Shikun’s closed eyes: “I’m going to shower.”
“Okay.” Yang Shikun suddenly opened his eyes: “Big Head, why does your blanket smell nice? Did you use perfume?”
“Don’t you know whether I use it or not?”
Yang Shikun said nothing more after that.
Hao Ming didn’t bother arguing with a drunk person. He got clothes from the closet and went to shower.
He came out half an hour later. Seeing Yang Shikun’s closed eyes, he turned off the lights, turned on his phone flashlight, and lay beside him.
As soon as he lay down, Yang Shikun spoke: “Big Head, why are you like a girl, what took so long showering?”
Hao Ming: “…”
“I thought you were asleep.”
“Nope.”
Yang Shikun was half sober but still very dizzy. He moved closer to Hao Ming, putting his leg over him and hugging his neck.
In the dark, Hao Ming couldn’t see his face, only felt him constantly pressing against him: “What are you doing?”
“Warm.”
“…”
“Don’t move.”
Hao Ming said this and closed his eyes.
…
Xu Si went home and showered first. Sitting on his bed, he opened Jiang Qiang’s gift first. Inside was a keyboard he’d looked at but hadn’t bought – not cheap.
He put the keyboard on his lap and found a note inside. It simply read: “Happy birthday, not just today.”
He stared at those words for a while, remembering earlier in the private room when he’d looked down and Jiang Qiang, whether scared or something else, had closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
For a moment, he’d almost kissed her.
He dared not desecrate the moonlight. And feared scaring her.
Xu Si carefully put away the note in his wallet. He put the keyboard on the desk and opened Hao Ming and Yang Shikun’s gifts. Yang Shikun gave shoes, Hao Ming a hat.
After putting everything away, Xu Si leaned on his pillow and took out the note again, lost in thought.
His phone suddenly rang – the delivery service.
Xu Si looked at it a few times before answering.
“Hello, this is Meituan Delivery. Your cake has arrived, but I have several other orders so I can’t bring it up. Could you come down to get it?”
Xu Si was confused: “I didn’t order a cake.”
“No, let me check – what’s your name?”
“Xu Si.”
“Then it’s right – must be from your friend. The order clearly says Xu Si.”
“Where?”
The person gave an address. Xu Si quickly realized Jiang Qiang had ordered it, thinking he still lived there.
“Leave it at the building entrance, I’ll get it later.”
“Okay, but come quickly. I’m worried someone might take it.”
“Okay.”
Xu Si put on his jacket, grabbed his helmet and went downstairs. He rode his motorcycle into the night, wind slightly lifting his hair.
He got the cake downstairs, then rode back to the Xu house. In his room, he opened the cake box – Black Forest cake. He lit the candles himself.
When they left school at noon, Yang Shikun and the others had already celebrated his birthday once. Yang Shikun had sung the birthday song most enthusiastically. Before they finished celebrating, Xu Si was called away in the evening. Yang Shikun heard it was a rich kids’ gathering and worried, so he and Hao Ming went too. Later seeing Xu Si drinking glass after glass, and with Jiang Qiang asking where Xu Si was, he told her Xu Si’s location.
Xu Si blew out the candles, closed his eyes, and made a wish.
He wished for his little teacher to be happy, even without him.
He cut himself a piece of cake and ate it sitting in his chair, bite by bite. Seeing Yuan Yuan approach: “What? You want cake too?”
Yuan Yuan came closer to look at his cake.
Cats can’t eat cake, and besides, this was from her.
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