Chi Qing didn’t mention the matter regarding Guo Xingchang, and the conversation about where they had both gone came to an end right there.
The torrential rain battered the car windows, and the sky grew dim, the ambient light blurring through the sheets of water. Chi Qing pinched the black velvet box inside his jacket pocket, pondering how exactly he was supposed to celebrate Xie Lin’s birthday.
He recalled how Ji Mingrui used to celebrate his birthdays back in high school.
Gather a bunch of people, huddle together for reasons no one truly understood.
Give gifts, cut the cake…
It seemed to boil down to just that.
As someone who had never participated in a birthday party in his life, Chi Qing never would have imagined that he would one day become the organizer of one. Just thinking about it threatened a relapse of his germaphobia.
It feels like we don’t have enough disinfectant at home, and there are only a few pairs of shoe covers left. Compared to a birthday cake, buying some disinfectant seems like a higher priority.
The more Chi Qing thought about it, the more annoyed he became.
Xie Lin glanced at him while driving: “What are you thinking about?”
Chi Qing: “Thinking about how much of a hassle dating is.”
“…?”
Chi Qing added another line: “Is it too late to break up now?”
Taking advantage of a brief pause at a red light, Xie Lin brought the car to a stop and reached over with one hand to press down on the top of Chi Qing’s head. Not knowing what absurdity his boyfriend was overthinking this time, he said, “Apologies, but this item is non-refundable once sold.”
Chi Qing: “No room for negotiation?”
Xie Lin let out a cold laugh. Chi Qing had originally been staring straight ahead, but Xie Lin applied a bit of pressure with his hand, twisting Chi Qing’s head toward him. Looking into his eyes, Xie Lin said, “How do you want to negotiate? Tell me, let’s hear how exactly you plan to love me and leave me.”
“…”
After the two of them returned home, Chi Qing went to the bathroom to take a shower, while Xie Lin went out to the balcony as usual to pour cat food for Little Star.
After spending some time together, Little Star wasn’t quite as afraid of him anymore, occasionally even gathering enough courage to rub against Xie Lin’s ankles a couple of times. Over the past few days, however, Little Star had been keeping a massive distance from Xie Lin. Even when Xie Lin was pouring its cat food, the cat hid as far away as possible, watching him from a distance.
After pouring the cat food, Xie Lin squatted beside the food bowl and beckoned Little Star with his finger.
The man’s back was turned to the light source, making his pupils appear darker than usual.
Little Star stared at him for a long while but took a step back instead, the fur on its body uniquely puffing up in a bristled state.
It wasn’t until it heard the sound of the bathroom door opening behind them that it let out a “meow,” turning its head to look at Chi Qing.
Chi Qing wiped his hair, ignoring the cat completely: “Don’t get so close to me.”
“…”
The second time Chi Qing distinctly sensed that something was amiss was when he woke up startled from a dream the following night.
Little Star was curled up asleep beneath his bed. Chi Qing had experienced a completely illogical and bizarre dream. He dreamed of that day at the General Headquarters, where he and Xie Lin stood at opposite ends of the long corridor. Then, the entire corridor suddenly shook violently as the earth quaked, the floor tiles beneath their feet cracking and collapsing.
Beneath them was a pitch-black abyss.
He clung tightly to the side railing and reached his hand out toward Xie Lin, but Xie Lin didn’t look at him.
In the dream, Chi Qing nearly cried out loud: “You—”
In that split second of consciousness, he woke up.
It was currently the dead of night, and the space beside him remained empty. When Chi Qing got out of bed, he realized that Xie Lin was nowhere to be found in the entire apartment.
He stood in the living room for a moment, then pushed the front door open and walked out. Crossing the hallway, he entered the passcode for the door opposite his. Upon entering, he found that the light in Xie Lin’s study was on.
Chi Qing had been inside Xie Lin’s apartment before and knew that his study was packed entirely with criminal case files from various countries—many of which had been left behind by Xie Feng years ago.
The study door was slightly ajar, a faint sliver of light spilling out through the crack. Chi Qing stood at the doorway, imagining what the scene inside looked like. What was Xie Lin looking at? Criminal files? Or crime scene photos?
Little Star had woken up the moment Chi Qing got out of bed.
Realizing that neither of the two humans was at home, it walked out of the bedroom with bleary eyes and squatted by the front door.
It didn’t have to wait long before it heard the footsteps of its owner, who had just left, walking back inside.
“Meow?”
Little Star tilted its head. Chi Qing opened the door, slowly squatted down, and said to it, “Move to the side a bit, you’re blocking the way.”
“…”
With no new breakthroughs in the case, Chi Qing didn’t need to report to the General Headquarters every day for the next few days, allowing him to focus exclusively on preparing for the birthday party.
He made a phone call to Ji Mingrui, cutting straight to the chase the moment the call connected: “If I wanted to host a birthday party…”
Ji Mingrui: “You want to host a birthday party? That’s easy. Let me think of a way to ask the prison staff.”
Chi Qing: “?”
“I said a birthday party.”
“I know,” Ji Mingrui was driving at the time, earnestly brainstorming for Chi Qing. “I’ll go ask if they can clear out one of the prison visitation rooms. Don’t you think that place is perfect for you to host a birthday party? It has an isolation window, it’s absolutely safe, and even blowing out the candles won’t pollute the air on your side.”
“…………”
Due to Ji Mingrui’s working environment, any familiar location he thought of was inseparable from his job. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that a visitation room—complete with its own built-in isolation barrier—was exceptionally suited for any activity Chi Qing might want to host.
“Why did you stop talking? Isn’t this idea of mine brilliant? If you need it, I can arrange it for you immediately. Though a visitation room probably won’t actually work, it at least gives us some inspiration. We can look for a venue modeled right after that setup, we’ll find one eventually.”
“…My deepest thanks to you.”
Chi Qing wanted nothing more than to hang up immediately.
When the people around you couldn’t be counted on, you ultimately had to rely on yourself.
After sending out a rather cold and detached “birthday invitation” to the people around him and Xie Lin, Chi Qing sat on the sofa waiting for replies.
The first person to receive the birthday invitation was Wu Zhi.
Chi Qing: [Come if you have time, forget it if you don’t.
In short, it was practically equivalent to carving the words “come or don’t, I don’t care” directly into the chat box.
Wu Zhi hadn’t been obsessed with bars lately. As they say, extremes meet; he had grown weary of those sensual and bustling venues, and currently preferred to clear his mind in a Zen temple instead. Watching the clouds roll by outside the window, he lamented how truly fickle life could be.
This was actually Wu Zhi’s first time chatting with Chi Qing. Prior to today, he had seriously suspected that this micro-chat account he added was a fake.
Wu Zhi double-checked: It’s not April Fool’s Day today, is it?
Wu Zhi: Or maybe… are you playing some game and doing a dare?
Chi Qing: You don’t need to come anymore.
Wu Zhi: ...
Chi Qing had too few people on his friends list. Thinking that a birthday should at least be lively with a larger crowd, he combed through his entire chat history, eventually stopping on his former manager.
Anyone he could drag along counted.
He Sen: Ah, I’m currently filming.
He Sen: Happy birthday, happy birthday! That day probably won’t work; I have to wait out a major night shoot.
As He Sen spoke, he remembered something else: By the way, is your contract with the company about to expire soon?
Chi Qing had retired from the industry practically the moment he debuted; there was no way he would remember such a thing.
Chi Qing: Don’t remember.
He Sen: True, it makes no difference to you whether it expires or not anyway, the contract has absolutely zero leverage over you, so let’s just ignore it. How have you been lately?
Chi Qing: …
He Sen: I recently landed a role as the male lead! I am truly so passionate about acting; I will keep working hard on this path!
Chi Qing: You don’t need to come either.
“…”
Xie Lin walked past the living room a few times, noticing Chi Qing staring down at his phone, his fingers pressing back and forth across the screen. “…Who are you chatting with? You’ve been looking at your phone for ages, you won’t even look at me.”
Chi Qing wanted to say “friends,” but his relationship with these people didn’t quite qualify as friends either, so he stated rather coldly, “People I know.”
Xie Lin: “What is there to talk about with just people you know?”
Chi Qing: “Just chatting.”
Xie Lin: “Then chat with me.”
“…”
Chi Qing had absolutely no idea how easy he was to see through, especially in front of Xie Lin. There was probably no one in this world who understood him better than Xie Lin did. Furthermore, Chi Qing’s behavioral logic inherently deviated from the average person; the slightest fluctuation made it glaringly obvious.
Xie Lin didn’t even need to deliberately confirm things with Wu Zhi to guess the situation with eighty to ninety percent accuracy.
But he couldn’t let this opportunity to act jealous slide.
He pressed relentlessly: “Why aren’t you talking anymore? Got nothing to say to me now, is that it? But you have plenty to say to people outside.”
Chi Qing: “…?”
Xie Lin leaned back, spinning the thin ring between his fingers around once as he said, “You don’t have to say anything, I understand.”
Understand what, exactly?
Chi Qing put his phone down: “I didn’t want to chat with them. Aside from you, there’s no one else I want to talk to.”
Chi Qing thought he had successfully kept it a secret.
On the morning of the birthday itself, Xie Lin very considerately left the house early, giving them the time and opportunity to set up. It wasn’t until Ji Mingrui and the other two joined Chi Qing—all wearing gloves—to hang up a bunch of gaudy, colorful decorations around the apartment that Xie Lin slowly and casually sauntered back.
Jiang Yu drove his car, unfalteringly trailing behind Xie Lin. Having been tasked with a vital mission at a critical moment, he fully utilized his years of investigative experience: “Report! After leaving the neighborhood, the target drove to a bookstore. After coming out, he wandered around the Xienan Street area. Currently, no anomalies have been detected.”
After setting up the birthday candles, Ji Mingrui replied to Jiang Yu: “Very good, continue to follow up.”
Jiang Yu announced with magnificent momentum: “Understood! Guaranteed to complete the mission!”
Ji Mingrui then turned around and said to Chi Qing, “Don’t worry, Jiang Yu is a professional. If Consultant Xie comes back early, we’ll have time to prepare.”
Standing to the side, Chi Qing didn’t know what to say.
It wasn’t quite necessary to go that far.
Couldn’t he have just told Xie Lin to send a message before coming back?
However, watching them busy themselves back and forth for this event was an utterly foreign experience for Chi Qing.
He turned his head and saw Su Xiaolan carefully looking at the chair beside him: “Can I step on it… I’ll wipe it clean afterward, and I’m also wearing shoe covers.”
After a long pause, Chi Qing said, “You can.”
Su Xiaolan had originally braced herself to be rejected.
Then, she heard Chi Qing use his habitually emotionless voice to speak a rare line of warmth: “Next time, you don’t have to ask me.”
Half an hour later, there was movement from Jiang Yu’s side: “Report, Consultant Xie has gotten into his car. He is currently heading back. If nothing unexpected happens, the drive should take twenty minutes. Get ready, everyone.”
This was being treated exactly like a criminal investigation.
Twenty minutes later, when Xie Lin walked up to the front door, it was completely silent inside, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Ji Mingrui hid behind the curtains, preparing to pop out suddenly to give him a surprise.
Su Xiaolan had nowhere to hide, so she quietly sneaked behind Chi Qing. Since she was shorter than Chi Qing anyway, she was perfectly shielded by him.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yu remained hidden in the underground garage. He wore a black baseball cap and looked incredibly suspicious, terrified of running into Xie Lin head-on. Only after Xie Lin got into the elevator did he dare step out of his car.
The group treated this like dodging a criminal, wielding party poppers like firearms as they counted down three seconds.
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One.”
“…”
The moment Xie Lin pushed the door open and entered, out of professional habit, the other two stood dead straight, excluding Chi Qing. Ji Mingrui dropped to one knee, his arms extended straight out holding the party popper—a thoroughly textbook shooting posture.
Following a loud “Bang!“, a cascade of vibrant, multicolored ribbons fluttered down from above Xie Lin’s head.
Even though Xie Lin had mentally prepared himself in advance, he was still left a little dazed.
Then, through the shower of drifting ribbons, he saw Chi Qing look at him and say:
“Happy Birthday.”
