Yun Shoushan had never spoken to Gu Qingcheng about this child’s birthday, and Gu Qingcheng had never instructed the housekeeper to make arrangements beforehand.

  He had unintentionally celebrated her birthday?

  “Happy birthday!” Gu Qingcheng said.

  Yun Liuli nodded, standing outside and tightly holding the cake. She summoned the courage and asked, “You… do you want to eat with me?”


  Gu Qingcheng actually wasn’t that fond of sweets.

  But seeing the look of anticipation in the girl’s bright eyes, Gu Qingcheng didn’t wish to reject the child on her birthday, so he put out the barely-smoked cigarette in his hand and nodded. “Come in.”


  Yun Liuli came in with the cake, then knelt before the sofa and placed the cake on the coffee table.

  Gu Qingcheng opened the window to let the cigarette smell disperse, then went back to sit down.

  His legs were very long, so sitting there… his long legs occupied the space between the sofa and the coffee table.

  Yun Liuli could tell that Gu Qingcheng was very busy. She had already made a wish and blew out the candles last night, so she quickly placed the tray properly and cut a slice of cake to hand to Gu Qingcheng.

  “Thank you…”


  Hearing Gu Qingcheng’s voice, a smile appeared on Yun Liuli’s face, which was a rare sight. She cut herself a slice too, then got up and sat on the single-seater sofa, taking small bites of it.

  The bedroom door wasn’t closed, being left open just like that. Gu Qingcheng and Yun Liuli sat there eating the cake and had nothing to say to each other.

  Firstly, Yun Liuli and Gu Qingcheng weren’t particularly chatty people.

  Secondly, they hadn’t known each other for long, so there wasn’t much to talk about.

  Thirdly, there was a big difference in their ages. Yun Liuli’s father was Gu Qingcheng’s friend, so Gu Qingcheng subconsciously regarded Yun Liuli as a junior, as a child.

  The young lady had gotten cream on her nose and was still unaware. Gu Qingcheng drew a tissue and wiped his mouth, then placed the cake tray on his knees and asked, “What present do you want?”


  Yun Liuli bit her cake fork and raised her head to gaze at Gu Qingcheng, her bright eyes so clean it made one’s heart break. She asked, “Isn’t the cake the birthday present?”


  “What else do you want? I can satisfy you!” Gu Qingcheng placed his slice of cake on the coffee table, then slowly wiped off the cream that had gotten onto his hand.

  Yun Liuli shook her head. “I’m already very satisfied to have received a cake!”


  The young lady obediently sat there and ate her cake. After finishing one slice, she picked up another slice, seeming as if she was planning to finish the entire cake before leaving.

  Gu Qingcheng’s phone vibrated. He picked it up, then locked his phone screen and set it down beside him. He picked up his slice of cake again and ate with the young lady.

  It was a one-pound cake. Gu Qingcheng ate one slice, whilst the young lady ate three. After finishing the cake, the young lady cleared away the tray and cutlery before getting up to thank Gu Qingcheng once again and leaving.

  After eating such a big slice of cake, Gu Qingcheng didn’t feel it was sickening. He asked the servants to brew him a cup of Pu’er tea and to send the young lady a cup of red tea. He then started to work.

  After finishing her cake, Yun Liuli returned to her room and opened her diary. She held the doll with one hand and held a pen with the other as she wrote in her diary, feeling very happy.

  Only the words “very happy” could describe Yun Liuli’s feelings.

  She recalled the scene when she met Gu Qingcheng for the first time. It was raining heavily, and he was standing under the black umbrella. Separated by a thin layer of white smoke, his strong and sharp facial features looked very masculine, and his deep and unfathomable eyes were filled with the fatal attraction of a male!

  He walked towards her, a noble and cold aura making him seem high-and-mighty. Yet, today, he was so attentive and easy-going.

  Yun Liuli hugged her doll to her chest, her petite face pressed against her diary as her eyes started turning red again.

  She held the doll even tighter now. Her nostrils flared slightly, and she was no longer able to hold back her tears. She hurriedly used the little doll to cover her eyes, then sniffled hard to adjust her own breathing.

  To have received a birthday cake on her birthday… ought to be a blissful thing, so she mustn’t cry.

  At dinnertime, the housekeeper came up to call Yun Liuli.

  Actually, Yun Liuli was still very full from the cake, but when she thought of how Gu Qingcheng was waiting downstairs to have dinner with her, Yun Liuli bit her lip and placed the doll on the table, then washed her face and went downstairs.

  In the dining room, Gu Qingcheng’s assistant had just arrived at the Gu residence and was bending over to hand a document to Gu Qingcheng. He seemed very anxious to get Gu Qingcheng to sign the document, whispering at a fast rate in Gu Qingcheng’s ear.

  Yun Liuli entered the dining room very quietly, and even when she sat down, Gu Qingcheng didn’t notice her.

  “Miss Yun…” the housekeeper greeted Yun Liuli.

  Yun Liuli turned her head and saw the housekeeper smiling at her. He then placed a small bowl of longevity noodles that a servant was holding up before Yun Liuli. “Happy Birthday, Miss Yun!”


  Yun Liuli paused in surprise. She looked towards Gu Qingcheng, and their gazes met…


  Her heart rate started to escalate rapidly. Yun Liuli thought she must have fallen sick—it was like her heart had a mind of its own… wanting to leap out of her chest and fly towards Gu Qingcheng.

  Gu Qingcheng had already signed the document and handed it to his assistant. He closed the lid to the pen and said, “Don’t break the longevity noodles.”


  Longevity noodles were a custom unique to their mother country. It was said that eating longevity noodles on one’s birthday symbolized a long life.

  The kitchen prepared the noodles very well, doing so according to Gu Qingcheng’s instructions. It was a small bowl… with plenty of soup and just one strand of noodle. A child only needed to slurp once, and the bowl would be finished!

  It was mainly because Yun Liuli ate too much cake earlier and still had to eat dinner now. If there was too much of the longevity noodles, one bowl and she would be stuffed.

  Hearing this from Gu Qingcheng, Yun Liuli nodded and used her chopsticks to pick up the noodle. She slurped it into her mouth in one swoop. It was very smooth and tasty. Yun Liuli finished the bowl, including the soup, then lowered her bowl and said to Gu Qingcheng, “Thanks!”


  “Eat your dinner!” Gu Qingcheng said.

  Gu Qingcheng wasn’t one who spoke a lot, and Yun Liuli talked even less. After the duo finished their meal in silence, Yun Liuli was served a dessert made with hawthorn.

  The housekeeper was worried that Yun Liuli had eaten too much cake earlier and wouldn’t be able to digest her dinner, so he instructed the kitchen to make this. But Yun Liuli clearly thought that it was Gu Qingcheng’s instructions, causing her little heart to start pounding all over again.

  After dessert, Yun Liuli saw that Gu Qingcheng still had work to do, so she got up and obediently went upstairs. When she walked to the foot of the staircase, the housekeeper called her.

  Yun Liuli turned around and looked at the housekeeper. The housekeeper handed Yun Liuli a small present with both hands. “Miss Yun, happy birthday. Sir prepared this present for you. I hope you like it!”


  Yun Liuli’s heart started racing again. She felt that something had gone wrong with her heart today, as even her ears were scalding hot.

  A thin layer of sweat formed on her palms as she received the present. Yun Liuli didn’t open it on the spot, merely thanking the housekeeper sincerely before running upstairs. She went back to her room and closed the door, with her heart still thumping wildly against her chest.