Cheng Mingjiao was an immature child, an arrogant King, the center of the universe’s will.
But he was also a mature boyfriend.
The moment his eyes met Zhang Xiyue’s, he instinctively glanced back to make sure Chen Mingjiao was still resting with his eyes closed and hadn’t noticed Zhang Xiyue’s arrival.
He stepped out onto the balcony, closed the door behind him, and led Zhang Xiyue back into the bedroom.
Zhang Xiyue was still dazed, allowing Cheng Mingjiao to guide her along. By the time she came to her senses, she was already sitting on the sofa in the bedroom.
Cheng Mingjiao pulled over a low stool and sat in front of her, handing her a glass of water. “Drink.”
“I’m not thirsty,” Zhang Xiyue said.
“You need to drink,” Cheng Mingjiao insisted.
Left with no choice, Zhang Xiyue took the glass.
The warm water flowed down her throat and into her stomach, softening her limbs and easing the numbness that had gripped her emotions. Her eyes instantly reddened.
“I didn’t know…” Her voice trembled as she spoke. “I didn’t know… I’d pushed him this far…”
Cheng Mingjiao cupped her face, forcing her to meet his eyes. Unable to look away, Zhang Xiyue gradually calmed beneath his quiet gaze.
Only then did Cheng Mingjiao speak. “He was afraid you’d think that way. That’s why he didn’t dare tell you.”
Zhang Xiyue frowned. “How is that overthinking? It was my—”
Before she could finish, Cheng Mingjiao suddenly squeezed her cheeks with both hands, puckering her mouth into a tiny beak.
Cheng Mingjiao couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
Perhaps realizing the mood was inappropriate, Cheng Mingjiao finally grew a little more serious. “Zhang Xiyue, without you, Chen Mingjiao would have died a long time ago.”
Zhang Xiyue slapped his hands away, but she didn’t feel any better.
“Don’t get trapped in a dead end. Since it’s happened, there’ll be a way to solve it,” Cheng Mingjiao said, his voice low and reassuring. “Tomorrow, I’ll contact the best psychologists in the world. I guarantee they’ll cure him.”
“His illness stems from that job—the one that was never right for him. As long as he doesn’t quit, even the best psychologist in the world won’t be able to help. But if he does quit…”
If he quit…
Zhang Xiyue’s heartbeat sped up, and her lips parted slightly.
Cheng Mingjiao leaned closer and kissed her soothingly.
His lips barely touched her before pulling away, pecking lightly at her face again and again until her breathing steadied once more.
“There’ll be a psychologist, and we’ll be keeping an eye on him. He’ll be fine,” Cheng Mingjiao said softly. “The strategy progress is already at ninety percent. You only need the last ten percent before you can go home. Until the mission is complete, I’ll keep a close watch on him.”
Zhang Xiyue was silent for a long time before shaking her head.
If it were merely an ordinary psychological disorder, then for the sake of getting home, she could have hardened her heart and pretended not to see his plight.
But Chen Mingjiao had already developed a severe allergic reaction. Though it was triggered by psychological issues, its symptoms were no different from those of a typical serious allergy.
Severe allergies were sudden and dangerous. Even if everyone did nothing but monitor his condition around the clock, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t have an attack in some unguarded moment.
That moment could come while he was alone in the bathroom, while he was asleep, or while he was replying to a work message.
Once an attack struck, she would suffocate just as she had moments ago, with her life in danger at any time.
What was more, the progress bar for the mission had stopped moving a month ago. She didn’t dare imagine how long it would take to complete the remaining ten percent, or how many more times Chen Mingjiao would suffer a mental breakdown during that time.
And if, just once, they failed to notice in time...
“I need to think,” Zhang Xiyue said, lowering her eyes as she dejectedly returned to the bed. “I really need to think this through...”
Cheng Mingjiao frowned and wanted to talk to her a little longer, but she wrapped herself tightly in the blankets and turned her back to him, clearly unwilling to say anything more. He could only give up for the moment.
Zhang Xiyue spent three days thinking.
On the afternoon of the third day, she asked Chen Mingjiao out to eat.
The Spring Festival was not over yet. Festive decorations filled the streets and alleys, and the restaurant was no exception.
Zhang Xiyue and Chen Mingjiao sat in a relatively private booth, their heads lowered as they studied the menu.
Chen Mingjiao flipped through it with a curious expression. Even after looking through it several times, he still couldn’t decide what to order, so he looked up at Zhang Xiyue.
“Sis Yue, it’s my first time here. Do you have any recommendations?”
Zhang Xiyue was silent for a few seconds before saying, “The lemon shrimp is good.”
“Then we’ll have one of those.” Chen Mingjiao immediately told the server.
The server acknowledged him and asked whether they needed anything else.
Chen Mingjiao looked at Zhang Xiyue again, smiling in a way that revealed his two little canine teeth.
Ever since Zhang Xiyue had moved back in with Cheng Mingjiao, she and Chen Mingjiao rarely ate together alone outside of workdays.
Zhang Xiyue could tell that he was very happy today.
She named several more dishes, and the server took the menu away. Once again, only the two of them remained in the small space.
“Yesterday, my dad went to a business dinner and insisted on taking me along. He said I’m the eldest son of the family, so it wouldn’t look right if I didn’t go. It’s hilarious. After more than twenty years, he’s only just realized I’m the eldest son?”
Chen Mingjiao took a sip of water and shared what had happened in his life over the past few days.
“Grandpa’s no better. He’s been bragging about me to all those relatives these past few days, constantly dragging me into these fake displays of family harmony. It’s unbearably boring. Luckily, you asked me out today, Sis Yue. Otherwise, I’d still be at home putting on an act with them.”
“They’ve changed their attitude toward you so much. Doesn’t that make you happy?” Zhang Xiyue asked.
“I only hate them more,” Chen Mingjiao said, a dark look flashing through his eyes before he quickly disguised it with cheerfulness. “But if I want to lull them into a false sense of security, I can only go along with it for now.”
He had to pretend to be obedient, pretend that he held no grudges, and then use the support Cheng Mingjiao had given him as bait to slowly trick them out of their assets.
The process was disgusting, but the results were excellent. The people in the Chen family seemed to have developed a collective case of amnesia. Faced with the profits he brought them, they willingly walked straight into his traps.
“It’s absolutely revolting,” Chen Mingjiao muttered under his breath.
His fingers began to tremble again. He immediately hid his hand beneath the table, only bringing it back up once the trembling had subsided.
Lowering her eyes, Zhang Xiyue suddenly felt grateful that she hadn’t told Chen Mingjiao about the mission.
By keeping silent, she ensured that he wouldn’t have to bear the burden of getting her home or make the kind of stubborn effort that might put his life at risk.
Once the thought occurred to her, she knew she still couldn't bring herself to ignore Chen Mingjiao's predicament just to satisfy her own selfish desires.
Zhang Xiyue gave a bitter smile.
Chen Mingjiao immediately noticed that something was wrong. “Sis Yue, are you in a bad mood?”
“...Hm?” Zhang Xiyue looked up.
Chen Mingjiao stared at her for a few seconds before pulling out his phone and sending a voice message. “What did you do to make my Sis Yue angry? If you can keep dating her, then date her. If you can't, then hurry up and get lost. Stop wasting my sister's time when she could be finding someone new.”
Cheng Mingjiao: ?
Chen Mingjiao let out a cold laugh and was about to send another message when Zhang Xiyue quickly stopped him. “It's not because of him!”
“So you really are in a bad mood.” Chen Mingjiao had reasoned it out.
Zhang Xiyue stared at him speechlessly. “You were testing me just now, so why did you immediately start cursing him?”
“Nothing. I just felt like cursing him.” Chen Mingjiao looked completely innocent.
Zhang Xiyue couldn't help laughing and crying at the same time. Only after all the dishes had been served did she speak slowly. “I'm in a bad mood... because of you.”
Chen Mingjiao froze, instantly becoming nervous. “What did I do wrong? Did I upset you?”
Zhang Xiyue shook her head. “It's my own problem. I feel like I've wronged you.”
Chen Mingjiao's heart sank. “What did Cheng Mingjiao say to you?”
Zhang Xiyue looked confused. “What did he say to me?”
Chen Mingjiao was silent for a moment before forcing out a dry laugh. “N-Nothing...”
Zhang Xiyue gave him a gentle smile before continuing. “Little Ming, if I told you that I don't want to deal with all the mess surrounding the Chen family anymore, would you be angry with me?”
“...What do you mean?” Chen Mingjiao didn't understand at first.
After choosing her words carefully, Zhang Xiyue said, “Actually, I had you go after the Chen family's assets in the first place only to give you the motivation to keep living. It wasn't because I truly wanted the Chen family's money. You should understand that, right?”
Chen Mingjiao's brows drew together slightly, and he didn't dare answer hastily.
“Lately, I've watched you get better and better. It seems that even without this goal, you could still live well, so I was thinking... why don't we just let it go?” Zhang Xiyue looked directly into his eyes, as though she were speaking to him, and also to herself. “Let it go... Not because we're afraid of them, but because it's time to set ourselves free.”
Chen Mingjiao stared blankly at her. His lips moved, but no sound came out.
“I know you probably don't like dealing with business matters either. In the past six months, we've already obtained a great deal. If we turned it all into money, you'd have more than enough to live a comfortable life for the rest of your days. Why don't you withdraw while we still can? As for the people in the Chen family... I believe karma won't let them off.” Zhang Xiyue patiently tried to persuade him.
Chen Mingjiao still said nothing.
Knowing that he needed some time to process everything, Zhang Xiyue said no more. She lowered her head, placed a mushroom in his bowl, and then concentrated on eating her own meal.
She had eaten half her meal before Chen Mingjiao finally managed to speak. “Sis Yue... Do you already know something?”
“Know what?” Zhang Xiyue didn't understand. “Is there something you've been keeping from me?”
Chen Mingjiao pressed his lips together.
Zhang Xiyue set down her chopsticks, her expression serious. “A moment ago, you asked whether Cheng Mingjiao had said something to me. Now you’re asking whether I know something. So what exactly is it that you’ve both been keeping from me?”
Chen Mingjiao felt guilty again and quickly lowered his head. “N-No, nothing.”
Zhang Xiyue sighed. “Actually, I’ve been thinking about this for more than a month. I just never dared bring it up with you.”
“Why didn’t you dare?” Chen Mingjiao asked hurriedly.
“Because I was afraid you’d think I was abandoning you.”
Chen Mingjiao’s eyes flickered.
He had to admit, for one brief moment just now, he really had thought that.
He didn’t like Cheng Mingjiao, but he could tell how Cheng Mingjiao treated Sis Yue.
Sis Yue had found someone she liked, and that person treated her so well. So it was only… normal that she wouldn’t want to get tangled up in the Chen family’s affairs anymore, or in his problems.
Compared with getting caught up in all the deceit and maneuvering of the business world alongside him, Sis Yue deserved a much better life.
Chen Mingjiao understood all that. Still, he couldn’t help asking, “Then… will you still be there for me?”
“Didn’t you hear what I just said?” Zhang Xiyue asked in return.
He hesitated, then muttered under his breath, “You said a lot. How am I supposed to know which part you mean?”
“I said,” Zhang Xiyue replied patiently, “you should step away from all this too.”
Chen Mingjiao fell silent for a moment before he understood. He was happy, but also a little lost. “After I step away… what am I supposed to do?”
“To be honest, I’m pretty lost too,” Zhang Xiyue said. “But let’s get out first and figure out the rest later. What do you think?”
That was how people were. When you were lost on your own, it felt as if there was no future and nowhere to turn. But when someone close to you was lost alongside you, that shared uncertainty brought a small, comforting sense of having an ally.
Sis Yue hadn’t abandoned him. She was inviting him to begin a whole new life with her.
Chen Mingjiao held her gaze for a long moment, then nodded. “Okay!”
He wasted no time and told his grandmother about it right away.
If he was going to walk away, he would do it completely.
Besides the shares he’d received from his grandmother, Chen Mingjiao had secured a number of other rights and interests over the past few months. He took them to his biological father and offered to sell everything.
His father was overjoyed, but remained wary. “You’ve been doing fine. Why sell all of a sudden?”
“I need a lot of money for treatment.” Chen Mingjiao put his medical records on the table. “Thanks to you, I’ve grown so sick of everything here that it’s become life-threatening. So, for the sake of my own life, I have to leave as soon as possible.”
Chen Mingjiao’s father glanced at the medical records, his eyes shifting as he prepared to drive down the price. Chen Mingjiao cut him off coldly. “If you’re not interested, I can sell directly to the other shareholders. I’m leaving anyway. Who runs the Chen family after that makes no difference to me.”
“You ungrateful brat! How can we let our own family business fall into someone else’s hands?” his father roared.
But Chen Mingjiao wasn’t buying it.
After a long struggle, his father finally decided to buy him out.
While Chen Mingjiao was busy severing all ties with the Chen family, Zhang Xiyue went home after their dinner and proceeded to lie in bed. By now, she had been doing so for five days.
To keep Chen Mingjiao from becoming suspicious, she lied and told him she had the flu and was contagious. She even refused to let him visit. Then she spent her days drifting around the house like a ghost or sleeping in her room.
Every morning, when Cheng Mingjiao left for work, she was still asleep. Every evening, when he came home, she was already sleeping. The two of them clearly shared the same bed, yet somehow managed to live like a long-distance couple.
After allowing her to waste away for five days, Cheng Mingjiao forcibly dragged her out of bed.
“...I don’t want to go out. I want to sleep.” Zhang Xiyue clung to her pillow and refused to move.
“What’s there to sleep for? Get up!” The Tyrant had taken over.
Zhang Xiyue stubbornly refused. First she hugged the pillow, then she grabbed hold of the mattress. In the end, the two of them tumbled onto the carpet together and stared at each other, panting.
“Zhang Xiyue, you can’t bully me like this,” Cheng Mingjiao accused her solemnly.
Zhang Xiyue blinked. “I haven’t done anything.”
Cheng Mingjiao said, “Doing nothing is how you’re bullying me.”
Zhang Xiyue looked helpless. “I’m sorry. I’m just not feeling very good, so I wanted to take a few days to recover. I...”
Cheng Mingjiao said, “You feeling bad is also bullying me.”
Zhang Xiyue: “...”
Seeing her speechless expression, Cheng Mingjiao’s heart softened. He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her, then buried his face in her shoulder.
Once he had settled himself comfortably, he spoke in a muffled voice. “I can get the best psychologist to treat Chen Mingjiao. I can help him seize his inheritance. I can even help him break free of the Chen family and start over on his own. I have so many ways to make sure that, even after giving up the Chen family mess, he can still become a positive and ambitious person. But I can’t keep comforting you and telling you that you’ll definitely be able to go home.”
Zhang Xiyue shifted slightly. Cheng Mingjiao noticed and slowly lifted his head.
“You’ve had injections before, right? Do you know how twisted it is to know perfectly well that the needle is going to hurt, yet still have to fight your instincts and relax your muscles?”
Cheng Mingjiao’s voice was small and reproachful. “That’s what these past few days have felt like for me. I clearly don’t want to let you go, but after realizing that your mission might fail and that you might remain by my side forever, I didn’t have the genuine reaction I should have had. All I could do was worry about you.”
“Zhang Xiyue, not secretly feeling happy at the thought that you might stay is incredibly difficult. Wanting you to stay while still having to find a way to send you away is also incredibly difficult. But harder than either of those things is comforting you. I really... really don’t know what to do anymore. You can’t keep drowning in your own emotions and ignoring how I feel.”
That was Cheng Mingjiao. He was very good at expressing himself. He could lay everything out in the open, and he could ask for what he wanted without apology.
He knew Zhang Xiyue was upset, and he was willing to indulge her. But she couldn’t stay upset forever and, because of it, needlessly waste all the time that belonged only to the two of them.
“Even though our time is limited…” Cheng Mingjiao began to sound aggrieved again.
Zhang Xiyue stared at him in a daze for a long while before finally cupping his face and kissing him. “I’m sorry. I neglected you.”
“Will you change?” Cheng Mingjiao asked.
Zhang Xiyue nodded. “I will.”
“That’s more like it.” Cheng Mingjiao’s lips curved upward. “It’s only a task. As long as the Counterfeit doesn’t die, there will always be a day when it’s completed. It’s just a matter of sooner or later. Instead of moping around here, you should think about how to spend time with me and fill up whatever time we have left.”
Zhang Xiyue nodded again. “You’re right.”
The two of them exchanged a glance, both finding it a little amusing.
“I want to kiss.” Having had his request granted, the Emperor asked for more.
Zhang Xiyue lowered her head and kissed him earnestly.
Cheng Mingjiao said, “I want something else, too.”
“Okay.”
“Anything?”
“Mm. Anything.”
Cheng Mingjiao was quiet for several seconds before asking, “Zhang Xiyue, do you love me that much?”
Zhang Xiyue smiled and kissed his lips.
“Zhang Xiyue, even though I really want you to love me very, very much, you can’t love me so much that you lose yourself, understand? Especially when it comes to saying things like ‘anything is fine.’ You must never say that so casually…”
Finding him annoying, Zhang Xiyue bit down on his Adam’s apple.
Cheng Mingjiao’s breathing instantly grew heavier. He gripped her waist and pulled her hard against him.
At last, some peace and quiet, Zhang Xiyue thought.
After that conversation, Zhang Xiyue rallied and stepped in to help Chen Mingjiao wrap things up.
Ever since he had begun selling off his shares, Chen Mingjiao had not suffered another attack. His spirits were considerably better than before. After resting for so many days, Zhang Xiyue was glowing with health as well.
When the two of them met, they saw only the bright, refreshed faces of people enjoying a run of good fortune. For a moment, they both found it rather amusing.
On the day all accounts with the Chen family were finally settled, Zhang Xiyue came to pick up Chen Mingjiao herself.
He emerged amid the old master’s and Chen Sr.’s furious curses, swaggering like a victorious general.
But the moment the general saw his sister, he immediately turned back into a little boy. “Sis Yue!”
Zhang Xiyue smiled and unlocked the car. Only after he got in did she ask, “What was all the commotion inside about?”
“Oh, nothing much. I just sent photos of my dad cheating to all the relatives who came for dinner today.” Chen Mingjiao blinked. “You know, Sis Yue, I already got the short end of the stick selling him my shares. I couldn’t exactly let him keep gloating.”
Zhang Xiyue laughed despite herself and started the car, carrying him away from the quagmire.
“There’s nothing for him to gloat about,” Zhang Xiyue said slowly. “Once everything on your side is cleared up, Mingjiao will withdraw his investment. Add in the traps we left for the Chen family, and they’ll have enough headaches to keep them busy for a while. If we’re lucky, we might even get to watch them go bankrupt.”
The smile on Chen Mingjiao’s face deepened. “Then let’s hope luck is on our side. If they find out that the methods they used against me in the beginning were returned to them exactly as they were, they’ll probably be furious enough to drop dead.”
Zhang Xiyue’s lips curved into a smile.
Chen Mingjiao looked into the rearview mirror. The house was already out of sight, yet he kept staring in that direction.
Those twenty-odd years had been filled with scorn, humiliation, and pain—and they were also an old wound he had finally cleaned out completely.
The process had hurt, but the outcome was good.
Chen Mingjiao withdrew his gaze and said with heartfelt sincerity, “Thank you, Sis Yue.”
With one hand on the steering wheel, Zhang Xiyue kept her eyes on the road ahead. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do next?”
“Not really,” Chen Mingjiao said after hesitating for a few seconds, keeping his true thoughts to himself. “I’ll focus on getting treatment first. As for what comes after… I’ll think about it later.”
Zhang Xiyue glanced at him and nodded. “That works too.”
Two days later, she and Cheng Mingjiao accompanied Chen Mingjiao to see a psychiatrist.
Chen Mingjiao’s condition was even worse than they had imagined, but thankfully, it was not too late.
This time, Zhang Xiyue did not rush things. She decided to wait patiently for Chen Mingjiao to regain his health before making any plans for the future.
“From now on, you follow the doctor’s instructions and take your medicine properly. If you dare increase the dosage on your own again, I’ll send you to a sanatorium and hire someone to keep an eye on you,” Cheng Mingjiao warned the kid while Zhang Xiyue was away paying the bill.
The kid shot him a sideways look and opened his mouth to argue.
“Zhang Xiyue still doesn’t know you were taking your meds recklessly before.”
Chen Mingjiao shut his mouth instantly.
Cheng Mingjiao turned away, a smug smile curling across his lips.
Wonderful. He had won again.
When one person was in a good mood, another was bound to be in a bad one. Realizing that Cheng Mingjiao would be holding this over his head for quite some time, Chen Mingjiao felt a surge of frustration.
But there was nothing he could do. He could only quietly note down the times for his medication and strictly follow the doctor’s instructions.
By the time he went to pick up his prescription for the fourth time, spring had arrived in Phoenix City, and Chen Mingjiao had officially been unemployed for a month.
Though he had been out of work for quite a while, Zhang Xiyue’s progress bar still stood at ninety percent. Unlike before, it did not plummet whenever Chen Mingjiao encountered the slightest setback.
Zhang Xiyue no longer tried to analyze why the progress bar remained so steady. Instead, she focused on life in this world—on Cheng Mingjiao in this world, and on all their many, many good friends.
She lived each day with care and sincerity, and Cheng Mingjiao’s birthday quietly drew near.
A week before his birthday, Guo Fengnian asked to meet her in private. “I have to go out of town to collect data, and I won’t be back in time for Young Master’s birthday. Could you put in a good word for me?”
Zhang Xiyue looked puzzled. “You have important work to do. He should understand, shouldn’t he?”
Guo Fengnian said, “Oh? Does he really understand?”
Zhang Xiyue: “...”
Guo Fengnian continued, “Last year, Liang Xiao happened to have an emergency surgery and couldn’t stay to cut the birthday cake with him. Young Master blocked him for two months, and only reluctantly forgave him after Liang Xiao wrote a ten-thousand-word apology letter. The year before that—”
“Does he like celebrating his birthday that much?” Zhang Xiyue asked with difficulty.
Guo Fengnian thought about it for a moment. “He hates birthdays.”
Zhang Xiyue: “Then why...?”
Guo Fengnian said, “He can be annoying, but that doesn’t mean we can afford to ignore him. To quote him, it’s because he exists that our barren lives have a little splash of color. So we should all be grateful to him.”
Zhang Xiyue said, “…Coming from him, that does make sense.”
Guo Fengnian pressed his palms together. “Could you talk to him for me? I really don’t have time this year.”
Zhang Xiyue sighed. “I’ll do my best.”
“Don’t just do your best! If it comes down to it, try using your feminine charms. I’m begging you!” Guo Fengnian bowed at a full ninety degrees.
Zhang Xiyue had no choice but to agree.
The next day, Liang Xiao’s family came to see her.
“This parent-teacher conference is really important. It affects Youyou’s chances of moving up to the next school level. We never expected them to schedule it on his birthday. It’s just…”
Zhang Xiyue said she understood.
On the third day, Cheng Hanting and Feng Shan came as well.
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
In short, carrying everyone’s hopes on her shoulders, Zhang Xiyue told Cheng Mingjiao the day before his birthday that she wanted to talk.
“I want to talk to you too.” Cheng Mingjiao patted his sturdy thigh.
Zhang Xiyue sat down on it with practiced ease. “About what?”
Cheng Mingjiao said, “Tomorrow is my birthday. I want to spend it alone with you.”
Zhang Xiyue’s heart skipped a beat. “…Hmm?”
Cheng Mingjiao said, “I have a girlfriend now. Anyone with a little common sense wouldn’t come and bother us. But considering that everyone around me has no common sense whatsoever, and they all love celebrating my birthday far too much, I already sent a group message telling them not to disturb us.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
After stating his own business, Cheng Mingjiao asked her, “What did you want to talk about?”
Zhang Xiyue said, “…That’s what I wanted to say too.”
Cheng Mingjiao: “?”
Zhang Xiyue said, “I want to spend it alone with you.”
Cheng Mingjiao fell silent.
Zhang Xiyue felt a little uneasy. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Zhang Xiyue,” Cheng Mingjiao began sternly, “you really are very willful.”
Zhang Xiyue: “?”
Cheng Mingjiao said, “My birthday is an extremely important day in many people’s hearts. On such an important day, you actually want to keep me all to yourself. Your possessiveness over me is truly too strong.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
“But since you’ve asked, I suppose I have no choice but to agree.” Cheng Mingjiao sighed.
Zhang Xiyue said, “…Oh.”
Having placated the unreasonable Emperor, Zhang Xiyue noticed unread messages on her phone. While he went to the kitchen, she sat alone on the sofa and opened them.
They were from the people who had approached her earlier.
In keeping with the fine virtue of respecting the elderly and caring for the young, Zhang Xiyue opened Feng Shan’s voice message first—
“Waaah, waaah! My son actually took the initiative to say he won’t celebrate his birthday with us! How can he not celebrate his birthday with us? Even though he’s fussy, difficult, and impossible to get along with, and I didn’t even want to attend his birthday party, how can he not celebrate with us? I even prepared so many gifts for him…”
Zhang Xiyue was speechless for a moment. She backed out and opened Guo Fengnian’s next.
He was crying even harder than Feng Shan.
She took a deep breath. Liang Xiao was so calm—surely he wouldn’t pull this too, right?
She opened his message.
He was howling like a bear.
Zhang Xiyue immediately closed it.
The facts proved that not one of these people was innocent when it came to raising Cheng Mingjiao into the Emperor he was today.
After one unforgettable night, it was finally the Emperor’s birthday.
According to the birthday checklist, Zhang Xiyue woke him at eight in the morning with a kiss, had a round of morning exercise with him while he was still groggy from sleep, and then presented him with her gift.
When Cheng Mingjiao saw the little square box, his eyes immediately lit up. Zhang Xiyue gave a light cough. “They’re cufflinks.”
The light in Cheng Mingjiao’s eyes instantly dimmed, though he still happily opened the box. “Wow, cufflinks.”
“…You’re such a bad actor,” Zhang Xiyue teased.
Cheng Mingjiao gave a soft huff. “Your gift is way too perfunctory.”
The smile on Zhang Xiyue’s face did not fade.
Although the mission progress had stalled at ninety percent, that didn’t mean she would never leave in the future.
She was someone who might have to go at any moment. How could she dare give him anything too symbolic? As for the thing he truly wanted, she was even less willing to give him that.
Cufflinks were good. His walk-in closet had more cufflinks than anything else. The pair she gave him would be easily swallowed up among them.
Zhang Xiyue picked up the cufflinks and asked, “Want to try them on?”
Cheng Mingjiao lay facedown on the bed, unwilling to move. “How? I’m not even wearing a suit.”
“Then put one on.”
“No. Too much trouble,” Cheng Mingjiao refused.
Zhang Xiyue said, “Come on, wear it.”
Something stirred in Cheng Mingjiao’s heart. When he met her smiling eyes, he suddenly sprang to his feet.
Half an hour after their morning exercise ended, he embarked on another round of formalwear exercise.
The suit, crumpled into a wrinkled mess, was tossed onto the floor. Sweat-slick, he kissed Zhang Xiyue, then collapsed onto her with deep satisfaction.
“Zhang Xiyue, can I get gifts like this even when it’s not my birthday?”
Zhang Xiyue stroked his face. “That depends on how you behave.”
“I always behave very well.” Cheng Mingjiao’s confidence was as high as the sun.
His birthday checklist still had a long list of things to do: go grocery shopping together, buy clothes together, book out a cinema for a movie, and fly to some quiet little town for three days.
But since they had spent the entire morning fooling around, they could only fill their stomachs first.
Cheng Mingjiao volunteered to cook.
The facts proved that the outstanding Emperor excelled at everything. In less than half a year, he had mastered all sorts of kitchen utensils and was determined to beat Chen Mingjiao in every cooking competition.
Since he had taken the initiative to cook, Zhang Xiyue naturally agreed without hesitation.
Cheng Mingjiao went to the kitchen. Zhang Xiyue lounged around for a while longer before getting up to wash, dress, and get ready.
By the time she had finished, it was already past eleven.
Zhang Xiyue stretched lazily and made her way out at an unhurried pace.
Just as she was about to reach the door, she suddenly received a call from Chen Mingjiao.
“Sis Yue!” His voice on the phone was barely able to contain its excitement. “Teacher Wang contacted me!”
Zhang Xiyue said, “…Who?”
“A master of traditional Chinese painting. Didn’t you ask me before what I wanted to do? What I had in mind then was continuing to study art, but I wasn’t sure whether I could still do it after putting down my brush for so long, so I was too embarrassed to say it. But then, these past few days, Teacher Wang suddenly contacted me and asked whether I’d be willing to continue studying painting under him!”
Chen Mingjiao was overjoyed, his voice brimming with the youthful vigor of a young man. “Sis Yue, you—you—you have no idea how happy I am. I never thought I’d be able to keep drawing someday. I’m really so happy. It feels like I’ve found the meaning of my life, like I finally know what I’m supposed to do from now on. Can you understand…”
Zhang Xiyue was happy for him too, and she was just about to say something when a line of text suddenly appeared in her mind.
【Progress: 100%. Mission accomplished.】
The message came so abruptly that, before she could process it, she hurried downstairs.
“Cheng Mingjiao! Cheng Mingjiao! Cheng Ming—”
Her panicked voice drifted down through the floors, across the living room, and into the kitchen.
Cheng Mingjiao came running out with a spatula in hand. “What are you calling me for?”
No one answered.
He blinked slowly, still not sure what had happened.
