Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Nyoi-Bo Studio

  After blowing out the candles, Yu Lili took the plastic knife and started to cut the cake. But, the cake was too huge and too thick, and Yu Lili didn’t have enough strength. After numerous attempts, all she succeeded in doing was making a mess out of the cake.

  Shen Zhilie couldn’t bear to watch on. He made his way behind Yu Lili and reached out his hand to grasp hers.

  Yu Lili’s attention had been completely focused on cutting the cake. She hadn’t expected Shen Zhilie to suddenly do that.

  She could feel the heat cleanly radiating off the man behind her, and his warm breath by her ear. It was a very intimate posture.

  A few people in the crowd couldn’t take their eyes off the both of them. Her two colleagues wanted to coo. Upon seeing how unperturbed Shen Zhilie seemed to be, they started to second-guess themselves that they were reading too much into it.

  However, Yu Lili remained visibly taken by surprise. Before she could turn her head, she felt Shen Zhilie exerting a pressure through his hand to hers. The cake was cut right through.

  Once the cake had been properly sliced, Shen Zhilie released her hand.

  “Happy Birthday!” Ye Qianqian led in greeting.

  Looking at Yu Lili’s dumbfounded expression, everyone around tacitly agreed not to make mention of what had just transpired.

  Yu Lili turned her head to glare at Shen Zhilie. She realized that he wasn’t even looking at her. He was busy transferring the already sliced pieces of cake onto smaller plates.

  When Yu Lili saw that, she bent her head to continue cutting the cake. Halfway through, Shen Zhilie stopped her and took the knife away. “You’re too slow. Let me do it.”


  A few women around witnessed the exchange. Old Mrs. Shen observed it, too, and was pretty pleased at the tricks her grandson had up his sleeve. She silently gave Shen Zhilie a look of approval and went back to her act of playing dumb.

  When everyone was done with the cake, they agreed that they were all too full to continue with the previous supper plans. Ye Qianqian managed to come across a deck of poker cards, and four people started playing.

  Old Mrs. Shen was getting on in age, and, furthermore, she had woken up early that morning. She started to feel drowsy after the cake. Without knowing it, she fell asleep on the couch as she watched the group of youngsters playing cards.

  Old Mrs. Shen was seated behind Shen Zhilie. Yu Lili was seated opposite them. When she saw the old lady fall asleep, she suggested to Shen Zhilie to take his grandmother back. No matter how they tried, they couldn’t wake Old Mrs. Shen up. As a result, she had no choice but to have Shen Zhilie carry his grandmother to her bedroom to sleep.

  After a few rounds of cards, everyone began to disperse around the apartment. The conversation finally turned to what plans people had for the remaining last two days of holiday. But, that discussion yielded no results.

  Yu Lili’s two colleagues started to feel sleepy, so they left first. Shortly after, Shen Zhilie suddenly looked up and asked, “Why don’t we go on a holiday trip together?”


  Ye Qianqian got excited at that prospect. Looking at Shen Zhilie with bright eyes, she asked, “Where shall we go?”


  “Let’s go to Fujian! I heard that it’s a really beautiful place!” Shen Zhilie’s words were directed toward Ye Qianqian, but his eyes were focused on Yu Lili. “My grandma wanted to go there very much. But, because you weren’t going, she changed her mind. It’s rare that Grandma is in the mood to go out. Won’t you come with us?”


  Although Old Mrs. Shen was advanced in years, she remained a child at heart and was very playful. It was evident that she had been glued to Yu Lili for these past few days.