⌈”It’s Da Huang’s birthday. Do people get to eat cake too?”⌋
The purpose of the Shen family’s banquet was to formally introduce their youngest son, who had been missing for fifteen years, to all the guests present.
No one expected that the head of the Ji family would come to the banquet and take the main character away.
When Shen Hongyuan searched for him left and right and couldn’t find anyone, he finally inquired and learned that Ji Min had run off with the boy.
Shen Xingzhuo arrived a little late.
He was quite conspicuous when he showed up, as he was carrying a large cardboard box.
It seemed he had hurried over, as a fine layer of sweat glistened on his forehead.
His meticulously styled hair was slightly askew, giving him a more casual appearance.
“Brother Zhuo!”
“What took you so long to arrive?”
Chen Sheng and the others immediately raised their hands in greeting.
As a few of them gathered around to see the large box in Shen Xingzhuo’s arms,
Chen Sheng curiously reached out to look: “What’s this? It looks so heavy!”
Just as he extended his hand, Shen Xingzhuo shot him a warning glance: “What are you doing? Is this something you can touch?”
Chen Sheng quickly retracted his hand in a hurry.
Shen Xingzhuo, looking mysterious, didn’t reveal what was inside the box and didn’t set it down.
Instead, he carried it like a treasured possession, wandering around the banquet.
After wandering around for two circles and not finding anyone, he frowned and asked Chen Sheng: “Where’s Lu Ran?”
“I don’t know,” Chen Sheng replied. “I was looking for him earlier too; I haven’t seen him for a while. Why don’t you ask Uncle Shen?”
Shen Xingzhuo frowned slightly.
He headed upstairs, returned to his room to put the box down, and then went to find Shen Hongyuan.
Shen Hongyuan was in the chess room, chatting with someone.
Gu Ningqi had already left early.
The expressions of the others were also hard to read.
Once Shen Xingzhuo called Shen Hongyuan outside, he asked, “Dad, where’s Lu Ran?”
Shen Hongyuan’s expression was not as cheerful as it had been in front of others; there was a faint heaviness between his brows.
He took a puff from the cigar between his fingers before saying, “He left with Ji Min. Don’t worry about it.”
Shen Xingzhuo was taken aback for a moment, and then his brows knitted tightly.
“Leave with Ji Min? It’s already close to ten o’clock. What does Ji Min want with him?”
Shen Xingzhuo’s voice couldn’t help but rise: “How can you let him go? He’s your biological son. Are you really going to sell him to that Ji family?”
“Enough!” Shen Hongyuan snapped in a low voice, his face cold.
He glanced around, ensuring no one was paying attention, and then shot Shen Xingzhuo a glare, gritting his teeth as he said, “I want him to stay away from Ji Min even more than you do!”
Meanwhile, Lu Ran was completely unaware of the events unfolding in the Shen family.
At that moment, he was sitting in Ji Min’s business car, pressing his eyes against the window, curiously looking outside.
“What are we going to do?” Lu Ran asked.
They couldn’t possibly be going to work at this hour, could they?
The man in the wheelchair turned his head slightly to look back.
The car was dark inside and the front partition was also lowered.
Only a faint light from the side windows seeped through the black glass.
This weak light casts a subtle glow on the man’s sharply defined profile.
Lu Ran sensed that the man had glanced at him and said, “We’re going to celebrate Da Huang’s birthday.”
“Hmm?” Lu Ran widened his eyes in surprise.
When he had sent Da Huang to Ji Min’s place, he had also given them Da Huang’s dog license.
The license had a scan that showed Da Huang’s birth date, so it wasn’t surprising that Ji Min knew.
“But…” Lu Ran thought for a moment, “Da Huang’s birthday is next month.”
The man in front had already turned back around.
He simply said, “There won’t be time next month, so we’re celebrating today.”
“Oh.” Lu Ran replied, thinking how busy he must be.
But this was the first time anyone had celebrated Da Huang’s birthday.
In the past, Lu Ran would just open a can for Da Huang.
Now, Ji Min, this extravagant boss, was going to such lengths, piquing Lu Ran’s curiosity.
He tried to keep his eyelids propped open, but eventually couldn’t resist dozing off for a bit.
When he woke up, he found the car had driven into a spacious area.
It was somewhat dark outside. Lu Ran didn’t see a sign but had a vague feeling it was something like a pet paradise.
However, once they entered, there were no other dogs around.
There were quite a few of the common play facilities usually found in pet parks.
The car stopped on a small island in the middle of a lake.
The island was covered with large patches of lawn, surrounded by a crescent-shaped lake.
At the edge of the lake, there were rows of unfamiliar trees.
Surprisingly, green leaves still hung from the branches this season.
It was completely dark all around.
Lu Ran got out of the car, holding Da Huang, and sniffed the air, confused.
“How are we going to celebrate a birthday here?”
Ji Min also got out of the car.
He ignored Lu Ran and nodded towards Uncle Chen: “Get him a coat.”
The temperature had risen quite a bit since the new year, but it was still cold.
Lu Ran had come out in a hurry and was only wearing the haute couture suit.
He hadn’t brought a coat, so Butler Chen took out a cashmere overcoat from the car and handed it to him.
“Thank you.” Lu Ran put on the coat.
At first, he didn’t think much of it.
But once he wore it, he realized the sleeves were excessively long and the shoulder seams drooped down to his elbows.
Wrapped in the overcoat, he looked like a child who had stolen an adult’s clothes.
Lu Ran glanced back at the man behind him with a hint of dissatisfaction.
Just in time, he caught the hint of amusement in Ji Min’s eyes.
“Don’t laugh!”
Lu Ran tugged at the sleeves a couple of times, but they were too wide and kept slipping down.
He had no choice but to roll the cuffs up.
This made him look even more like a child.
Lu Ran: “…”
He shot another glance at Ji Min.
He was once again reminded that Ji Min’s physique could definitely be described as “sturdy” among men.
At the same time, a faint sense of regret welled up in his heart.
Ji Min should be quite tall when standing, with broad and upright shoulders.
What a pity that such a person was sitting in a wheelchair.
“Take Da Huang and walk ahead,” Ji Min said, interrupting his thoughts.
Lu Ran looked down and noticed that Da Huang was already tugging at his pant leg.
For some reason, Da Huang seemed very excited.
Seeing him come over, the four little short legs almost bounced around like a puppy.
Lu Ran couldn’t help but feel happy too.
He followed Da Huang as they walked forward.
When they reached a transparent tunnel, Da Huang excitedly dashed inside.
He must have pressed something because the whole tunnel lit up.
Lu Ran was startled.
He crouched down to take a closer look and discovered that there was a switch set up inside the tunnel, with small snacks placed on it.
Da Huang pressed the switch and ate the snack, causing the hidden colored lights in the tunnel to illuminate.
Lu Ran’s interest was piqued; the earlier fatigue suddenly swept away. He ran around the lawn with Da Huang.
The boy and the dog moved from one tunnel to another.
They kept running until they were both tired.
When Lu Ran turned around, he found that the entire lawn had lit up.
The colored lights, diligently activated by the little dog, formed the shape of a birthday cake.
The cake had three tiers. Even the flames on top looked vivid and lifelike.
The lights were scattered across the lawn.
The tiny colored lights cast a gentle glow, making the lush green grass shimmer with an almost transparent green halo.
“Wow.” Lu Ran couldn’t help but exclaim, “This is amazing!”
He instinctively turned to look at the man behind him.
Ji Min had not stepped onto the lawn.
He sat quietly in his wheelchair, watching from the edge of the grass.
His dark eyes seemed illuminated by the lights below, revealing an almost gentle hue.
Lu Ran lifted his foot, intending to return, but Da Huang barked at him twice and then ran toward the lakeside.
Worried that Da Huang might fall into the lake, Lu Ran hurried after him.
He didn’t even notice how Da Huang moved.
He just saw the little dog run around the trees by the lake like a rabbit.
One by one, the enormous treetops lit up in response.
These lights were not ordinary.
Instead, they were shaped like strings of lights arranged in intricate patterns.
The shining bulbs outlined the silhouettes of the boy and the dog.
There was a scene of the boy crouching down to shield the puppy from the wind, one of them bounding forward together, and another of them lying on the ground napping.
Each treetop seemed to capture a moment in time.
Lu Ran stood on the lawn.
He was in the center, surrounded by this circle of trees.
He gazed in wonder at the scene before him, his eyes reflecting the pure and clear surprise of youth.
He didn’t even notice when Da Huang returned to his side.
After a long time, he finally bent down to pick up the puppy, pointing at one of the light displays and murmuring, “Da Huang, that’s you!”
His gaze remained glued to the colorful lights as he couldn’t help but say, “Da Huang, you’re so lucky.”
Da Huang barked at him again, tugging at his pant leg to lead him forward.
Lu Ran half-ran after him.
He discovered that Da Huang had pulled him in front of a large tree.
As Lu Ran approached, he noticed a pull rope hanging from the tree.
But the rope was a bit high. Even when Da Huang stood on his hind legs, he couldn’t reach it.
“Is this what you want to pull?” Lu Ran asked, lifting Da Huang up.
However, the puppy didn’t go for the rope; instead, he struggled to get back down.
Lu Ran was puzzled.
But he was genuinely curious about what would happen if he pulled the rope.
In that moment, he felt as if he had returned to his childhood, and that curiosity was something he simply couldn’t suppress.
Lu Ran turned around to glance at Ji Min.
The man remained in place, standing a bit far from here.
Lu Ran secretly said to Da Huang, “I’ll pull it for you.”
Saying this, he eagerly reached out and tugged on the rope.
In an instant, the entire island in the lake lit up.
The lights spread out like flames from the center towards the lake.
In a flash, the pavilions and buildings on the lake were bathed in a dreamy glow.
It was as if one had gone straight from the dark lightless night into a bright day filled with hope and joy.
At the same time, there were several sharp sounds of “whoosh”.
Colorful ribbons mixed with round, colorful balls shot up from unknown places in all directions.
Then they gently floated back down.
The falling ribbons landed all over Lu Ran’s hair.
Lu Ran was startled. After a long moment, he laughed heartily while holding Da Huang.
The puppy chased after the scattered ribbons and balls.
Lu Ran bent down to pick up one of the balls.
He discovered that it had “Happy Birthday” written on it in fancy English cursive.
The small ball had a switch.
When he opened it, he found it filled with colorful candies.
These were the very candies Lu Ran had longed for in his childhood.
He and Da Huang ran and chased, unconsciously collecting a bunch of balls.
He used the hem of his jacket to gather them.
When he returned to Ji Min’s side, he noticed there were attendants standing a short distance away.
On the ground was a small two-tiered cake.
Lu Ran stuck ten candles into the cake and said to Da Huang, “Da Huang, make a wish!”
The dog didn’t understand any of this. Tired from running, he didn’t even blow out the candles before taking a bite.
The cake was specially made. It is filled with canned meat.
Lu Ran bent down to observe it for a while.
Unable to resist, he looked up with bright, sparkling eyes and asked Ji Min, “This… can people eat it too, right?”
Ji Min’s faint smile froze on his face, revealing the expression of a parent who heard their child say they wanted to pick up garbage.
He raised a hand to his forehead and replied irritably, “Are you planning to fight the dog for food?”
Before Lu Ran could respond, Ji Min clapped his hands.
Then two attendants walked out carrying a huge three-tiered cake.
They sang the birthday song as they walked.
The cake was adorned with shining candles, identical to the dreamlike pattern on the lawn.
The boy stared blankly at the enormous cake.
The flickering candlelight reflected in his dark eyes, unleashing the desire and awe that had been firmly suppressed in his heart for the past fifteen years.
“Wow~”
His voice sounded like a child’s, with the final note trailing off sweetly.
Ji Min’s lips curved slightly.
A hint of amusement flickered in his eyes.
Lu Ran couldn’t help but dash over to the cake.
The cake was adorned with numerous candles.
It simply read “Happy Birthday” without any names written on it.
Lu Ran circled the cake for a while.
Then he ran back and exclaimed to Ji Min, “Are people having cake too for Da Huang’s birthday?”
“Unless you want to starve,” Ji Min replied.
Lu Ran: “…”
He thought that made sense.
They couldn’t possibly let people eat the pet’s cake too.
Thus began the scene of one person and one dog enjoying the cake.
Lu Ran leaned over the cake entirely.
From the moment the attendants began cutting the cake, he didn’t take his eyes off it.
Ji Min simply sat in his wheelchair, watching without any intention to participate.
He took the opportunity to lean over and quietly tell Butler Chen, “This is the standard for my fifth birthday.”
It was a jab at some annoyingly childish child.
Yet his eyes always carried a smile.
There were plenty of play facilities on the lawn.
Lu Ran played happily with Da Huang.
Gradually, he completely forgot about the Shen family banquet happening today.
Until he couldn’t resist rolling around on the grass while holding Da Huang.
Looking at his clothes, he exclaimed, “Ah!”
He stood up, stepped back from the grass, and returned to Ji Min’s side.
“Not playing anymore?” the man asked.
Lu Ran shook his head.
He had gotten too warm from running around, so he had already taken off Ji Min’s coat.
Now he was wearing that black high-end suit adorned with subtle golden floral patterns.
The boy patted the grass off his clothes and went to the side to grab a drink.
He sat down on a nearby chair, holding the rim of his cup, and suddenly remembered something. His eyes brightened as he said: “I saw Gu Ningqi in the restroom before he arrived today.”
Ji Min turned his gaze to listen.
Lu Ran rarely talked about his own matters.
He would ask Ji Min what he liked and what he wanted him to do.
He would also mention Da Huang and others.
But he had never mentioned the Shen family or shared his feelings and experiences.
At this moment, perhaps because he had just played freely,
He finally spoke candidly like an ordinary teenager, with clear likes and dislikes: “I really dislike Gu Ningqi. I just casually pushed him into the restroom.”
Ji Min: “…”
He was silent for a few seconds, unsure what expression to make.
For a moment, he felt a bit of sympathy for Gu Ningqi, yet he couldn’t help but want to laugh.
Most importantly, the boy’s straightforward attitude about shoving someone into the restroom…
It truly left one unsure how to respond.
After holding it in for a long while, the man finally couldn’t contain himself.
He rubbed his face, a brief low chuckle escaping his lips.
“What happened afterward?” Ji Min asked.
He recalled Gu Ningqi’s arrogant demeanor at the banquet and added, “Did you not succeed?”
“Of course, I succeeded!” Lu Ran replied, “By the time you came, he had already changed clothes.”
Ji Min suddenly felt as though he had arrived late today.
After announcing his accomplishment, Lu Ran fell silent for a moment before suddenly saying: “In the past, I never hesitated when doing things like this. But today… it felt like I hesitated for a second?”
Ji Min looked at him for a while and gently asked, “Why?”
Lu Ran gazed at the colored lights in the trees but didn’t answer.
Now that he thought about it, there really was no need to hesitate.
Because it was clearly a great opportunity to make a move.
Gu Ningqi was changing clothes, pulling down his pants, and slipping on his coat. With minimal effort, one could easily shove him into the toilet.
Lu Ran had done such things before.
He didn’t feel anything wrong with it.
After pushing someone into the toilet, he would just come back, wash his hands, eat, drink, and sleep.
In fact, deep down, Lu Ran couldn’t understand why these people reacted so strongly when shoved into the toilet.
Like Shen Hongyuan and Shen Xingran, they would get so disgusted from a little mess on their faces that they couldn’t eat for days.
To Lu Ran, it was quite mysterious.
If it were him, nothing and no one could make him give up on eating.
In his previous life, he was forced out of college by the Shen family and couldn’t find a job.
He could only do the dirtiest and most exhausting work.
He had cleaned toilets a lot.
He knew that even after doing such dirty work and feeling tired, when meal time came, one would still be hungry.
Lu Ran had also been to some illegal breeding farms.
The cats and dogs there spent their entire lives in cages, eating, drinking, and relieving themselves inside.
The cages were filthy.
But when they saw humans passing by, they still desperately called out for food.
Later, Lu Ran felt that his own treatment wasn’t much different.
He lay in a hospital bed, wondering how he was any different from the dogs trapped in cages.
The dogs could still bark a few times; he didn’t even have the ability to speak.
So Lu Ran wasn’t very concerned about these matters.
As long as he was clean afterward, that was good enough.
He also couldn’t understand the exaggerated reactions of Shen Xingran, Lin Yi, Zhang Lin, and the others.
He thought these people were really being overly dramatic.
Until he encountered Gu Ningqi in the restroom.
Lu Ran wanted to take action but hesitated for a moment.
He looked at his clothes and a small thought suddenly popped into his mind.
In that instant, he surprisingly understood why Shen Xingran and the others were so averse to dirt.
Everything came to an end.
The lively scene at the lake island returned to calm.
Only the clusters of colorful lights still shone brightly.
Ji Min sat in his wheelchair.
Lu Ran walked beside him, holding onto Da Huang.
Ji Min turned to check the beads of sweat on the boy’s forehead. Just as he was about to remind him to put on his coat so he wouldn’t catch a chill, he heard the boy quietly say something vague: “Because I don’t want to get my clothes dirty.”
Ji Min was stunned for a second.
By the time he regained his senses, Uncle Chen had already driven the car over.
The warmth of the car’s heating was sufficient.
Once they got into the car, there was no need to wear coats anymore.
The spacious business vehicle was as dark as ever.
But it no longer felt dangerously mysterious as it had at first.
At this moment, the dense darkness that carried a sense of danger became the most reassuring layer of protection.
It was like a deep yet warm cave, isolating them from all the chaos.
The car hadn’t been on the road long when Ji Min heard the sound of steady breathing from behind.
He turned his wheelchair around.
At the back of the car, he saw the last row of seats reclined.
The boy lay on them, soundly asleep.
After all the running around, there were still beads of sweat on his nose.
His cheeks glowed with a light and healthy flush from the exercise.
Ji Min glanced at the suit Lu Ran was wearing and then at the boy’s carefully styled hair.
He was indeed very beautiful.
So beautiful that just lying there made it seem like the car was hiding a precious treasure.
It stirred a secret delight within him, a desire to take and possess it.
Ji Min shifted his gaze away, looking out the car window.
As the car entered the city, the colorful lights outside gradually increased.
These hazy and dim glows filtered through the car window, brushing against Ji Min’s eyes and landing on the sleeping boy in front of him.
The light fell upon the boy’s clear and refined features, touching his nose and the corners of his lips.
Finally, it glided over the fair earlobes nestled among his soft hair and slipped away quietly.
Ji Min only looked out the car window, watching the light.
Perhaps due to exhaustion and the cramped back seat, the boy slept in a twist, not very comfortably. He was furrowing his brows as he fidgeted slightly.
His fingers didn’t grasp anything and fell back down, and in his dream, he huffed in annoyance.
It was only then that Ji Min shifted his gaze back.
He let out a soft laugh, thinking the boy had quite the temper.
Lu Ran fidgeted a couple more times.
Ji Min observed for a moment before realizing that he was trying to adjust his bowtie.
The bowtie, part of the tailored suit, was a small butterfly knot.
It was fixed with a ribbon under the collar of his shirt.
It seemed that after all the wild playing earlier, the bowtie had already shifted out of place.
Stuck around his neck, it must have been uncomfortable.
Out of compassion, Ji Min bent down, his fingers lightly hooking the bowtie.
He intended to untie it.
As he pulled on the delicate dark gold bowtie, he discovered that Lu Ran’s shirt collar was already unbuttoned.
He couldn’t tell if it was due to Lu Ran’s own doing or if it had simply come loose.
The top two buttons of the black silk shirt were gently undone, exposing the delicate white neck underneath.
The interior of the car was dim.
Yet Ji Min could still see that beneath his fingertips, the small protruding Adam’s apple was already flushed red.
It was unclear if it was chafed by the seemingly delicate but rather uncomfortable bowtie or by his fingers.
In a moment of distraction, the boy, still asleep, swallowed. The already reddened Adam’s apple gently slid up and down, brushing closely against Ji Min’s fingertips.
“Is he asleep?” Butler Chen’s voice came from the front.
Ji Min paused and instinctively withdrew his hand.
The bowtie he had just lifted snapped back into place.
With a soft “pop”, the sleeping boy became completely agitated, grasping randomly and finally catching hold of the troublesome thing around his neck.
He yanked at the bowtie and tore it off, throwing it aside.
His hands flailed about in disarray.
Butler Chen turned his head just in time to see this scene and chuckled, “Look at him, such a big boy still throwing punches in his sleep.”
“He’s got a temper like a dog,” Ji Min replied.
Butler Chen looked over at him and asked, “Didn’t you wish him a happy birthday?”
“He’s having fun,” Ji Min answered, avoiding the question.
Butler Chen smiled at him without saying anything further.
Da Huang wasn’t sleeping either; he was sitting nearby, watching.
Da Huang’s birthday was still a month away.
Lu Ran probably didn’t remember when his own birthday was.
The date on his ID was the day he was taken in by the orphanage.
In a moment of urgency, Shen Hongyuan had promised to adopt Lu Ran back into the Shen family and hastily set a date.
Probably no one remembered that the lost four-year-old boy’s real birthday was today.
Uncle Chen glanced at Da Huang again.
If the little dog hadn’t been trained, he wouldn’t have smoothly followed today’s schedule.
Ji Min looked at the sleeping boy in the back seat.
Da Huang also stared up at him with his beady eyes.
Seeing the teasing gaze of Butler Chen, Ji Min rarely answered the earlier question with honesty.
“There’s no particular reason, but it’s not a bother, just helping him celebrate casually.”
Strictly speaking, he and Lu Ran had no real connection.
Celebrating a little dog’s birthday was one thing.
But if he went to great lengths to prepare for a person’s birthday, it wouldn’t be quite so reasonable.
Even if this boy in front of him seemed no different from a child in Ji Min’s eyes.
Then he thought of something and scoffed, “If he really knew, he’d think I liked him.”
His words carried a hint of mockery.
Yet, with gentle movements, he covered the sleeping boy with his coat.
Butler Chen chuckled softly and reminded him, “Do you remember why you came here today?”
What for…
Ji Min suddenly recalled the rumors he heard at the company today.
And the chatter about “king oyster mushroom and golden needle mushroom” at the banquet.
His cold expression cracked for a moment.
Now that they had left, he had no idea what rumors would spread at the banquet.
It’s over.
Now, there was no way to wash this clean even if he jumped into the Yellow River.
Ji Min’s dark eyes fixed on the sleeping boy in the back seat, whose drool was nearly dripping down.
He felt both angered and annoyed, wanting to reach out and strangle him.
But after staring for a long while, he ultimately couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“Just wait a bit longer,” he sighed.
Today was his birthday.
It was rare to be happy; he could put off questioning him for now.
