When the roller coaster plummeted, Ye Qingyang instinctively held onto Lu Jingcheng, feeling his body pulled downward by gravity.
The wind was fierce, and he laughed joyfully at the screams of the people around them, glancing at Lu Jingcheng, who was also looking at him.
“Happy birthday,” Lu Jingcheng said.
Ye Qingyang teased, “What did you say?”
Lu Jingcheng, exasperated, repeated loudly, “Happy birthday.”
“You too,” Ye Qingyang replied.
“Mm.”
They smiled at each other, and when the roller coaster finally stopped, they stepped off together.
Ye Qingyang hadn’t been to an amusement park in a long time, and this time, with Lu Jingcheng, he indulged fully.
On the way back, they hailed a car. Ye Qingyang, feeling a little tired, leaned against Lu Jingcheng.
Lu Jingcheng held him gently and asked softly, “Did you have fun?”
Ye Qingyang nodded.
“Anything else you want?”
“A cake,” Ye Qingyang said. “You can’t celebrate a birthday without cake.”
Lu Jingcheng had already ordered one. As they passed a cake shop, he got out to pick it up.
The cake wasn’t big—just enough for the two of them. Ye Qingyang looked at the neatly packaged box, curious about the cake inside.
They arrived at the student dorms and went inside with the cake.
Ye Qingyang couldn’t wait to open it. Inside was a chocolate fruit cake, and in the center stood a little deer bending its head to nibble a leaf.
Ye Qingyang chuckled.
Lu Jingcheng beamed. “I designed it. Fits perfectly, right? The little deer eats leaves, and I eat you.”
Ye Qingyang pointed at the deer, feigning displeasure. “You talk big—my birthday is mine, but with such a huge deer, people might think it’s your birthday instead.”
Lu Jingcheng picked up the little deer and brought it to Ye Qingyang’s mouth. “Here, eat it. The deer eats leaves, you eat the deer. Okay?”
Ye Qingyang bit into it—it was chocolate.
“Tastes pretty good,” he said.
“Of course. Would I give you something bad?”
Satisfied, Ye Qingyang took the little deer and bit off its head in one bite.
Lu Jingcheng: …
“Want to try some?” Ye Qingyang offered the deer to him.
Lu Jingcheng looked at the spot Ye Qingyang had bitten and slowly took a bite himself. Sweet, indeed.
He bent over and stuck candles into the cake. “Make a wish.”
Ye Qingyang, nibbling on his chocolate deer, said, “I wish that Lu Jingcheng improves in his studies, that he can go to the same university as me, and that both of us can always be happy and healthy.”
“All done?”
“Three wishes—that’s enough.” He kept eating.
Lu Jingcheng shook his head at his casual attitude. “You’re not serious at all, still eating while making wishes.”
Ye Qingyang smiled. “Because I know you’ll make them come true.”
He didn’t know if heaven would grant his wishes, but Lu Jingcheng certainly could. Just having him hear them was enough.
“You’ll help me make them come true, right?” Ye Qingyang asked.
Lu Jingcheng looked at his confident expression and could only nod, agreeing.
Ye Qingyang gave him the last bite of chocolate.
Lu Jingcheng chewed, then slowly smiled and kissed him.
His wishes were simple and all about the two of them—how could he refuse to help?
“I’ll work hard to get into the same university as you,” he said. “We’ll do it together.”
“Okay,” Ye Qingyang said, smiling.
He cut the cake: the first piece for himself, the second for Lu Jingcheng.
Lu Jingcheng looked at his piece—it was twice as big. “Did you cut this wrong?”
“Nope,” Ye Qingyang said. “You like sweets, so you eat more.”
Lu Jingcheng blushed.
Ye Qingyang softened his tone. “Come on, there’s no fridge in the dorm. If we don’t finish it, it’ll spoil. Birthday cake shouldn’t go bad.”
Reluctantly, Lu Jingcheng agreed.
They each had two pieces and finished the cake, then showered and went to bed.
Before sleeping, Lu Jingcheng said, “Next year, celebrate your birthday with me too.”
Ye Qingyang nodded in his arms. “Got it, you too.”
Lu Jingcheng’s birthday was in the summer, before he moved in, so Ye Qingyang had missed it this year—slightly regretful.
“Mm,” Lu Jingcheng said happily, kissing Ye Qingyang’s cheek. “Happy birthday, Yangyang.”
Later, regarding the money issue, Ye Qingyang turned serious:
“Clearly, you all rushed to invest. I even advised against it at first, but you insisted. Now something went wrong, and instead of understanding, you blame me and demand compensation—it’s disheartening.”
“Cut the nonsense. Either your friend returns the sixty-six thousand, or you do. We can’t just lose this money—understand?”
Ye Qingyang smiled, his expression changing instantly.
“Fine. I’ll match your sixty-six thousand. You return the fifty thousand my parents left at home, plus my mom’s clothes, jewelry, and cosmetics. Everything.”
“My dad said my aunt could live here, but he never said that about the money. And he certainly didn’t say you could bully me, harass me, or even force me onto the balcony!”
Wang Yue was shocked. “What did you say?”
Ye Qingyang smiled. “I said, uncle, you’ve stayed long enough in this house—it’s time to leave!”