Chapter 47: Birthday
August 25th, Sunday. The first time something bad happens is always the scariest; however, if accepted by others, it becomes less surprising the next time. This is probably the case with Zhong Yao’s contact with the blood clan’s promotion to slumber, which she shouldn’t have been involved in in the first place.
As long as the other party does not cause trouble, Jiang Yan doesn’t bother to argue with Zhong Yao, who is sulking in the corner of the room, after all, the concern shown is not malicious.
Today was supposed to be Jiang Yan’s day off, but she still stayed in the room. These days, she had been almost inseparable from Jiang Yao, hardly resting, and even had drawn several hundred milliliters of blood to “supplement” Jiang Yao.
After mixing her blood with that of a knight’s, Jiang Yao returned to normal, sleeping exceptionally soundly and sweetly, as if lost in a long, beautiful dream.
This was a conclusion that Zhao Peng verified to be quite extravagant, which was that Jiang Yao’s initial blood dependency was very extreme; even if it wasn’t ordinary blood, she was only interested in those with specific blood types.
The slightly chaotic aura emanating from Jiang Yao made Xiao Ai and others envious. It was a scene where the accumulated blood energy protein in her body was undergoing a complete update. Jiang Yao was changing and had already one foot in the knight’s realm; this had only happened four days ago.
Jiang Yao’s expected appearance clearly eliminated the possibility of a failed promotion, indicating boundless prospects ahead, and the nervousness of everyone dissipated.
Zhao Peng no longer maintained his usual politeness and directly ordered Jiang Yan to leave, saying she must go home and rest for two days.
With a few changeable clothes in her handbag, Jiang Yan left the Golden River Club, feeling both exhausted and pleased. Instead of taking a taxi or the metro home directly, she chose to slowly stroll down the street, savoring a long-lost sense of relaxation.
Not far away, at the entrance of a public kindergarten, a new year’s event for parents and their children was underway. Dozens of young parents were taking pictures with their little ones at the entrance of the kindergarten, and behind them was a countdown banner for the opening of the school.
As she watched, realizing there were still seven days left until the opening, Jiang Yan suddenly remembered that today was her birthday. It’s said that those who become blood kin midway often celebrate the day they were infected as their new birthday, but she clearly lacked that awareness…
Surrounded by high-rise buildings and the noisy, indifferent hustle and bustle, Jiang Yan suddenly fell into a daze, standing blankly on the street, feeling confused.
……
It was already past noon, and Meng Huai was still standing by the bulletin board of the W District Children’s Welfare Institute, staring intently at the entrance.
A few minutes later, at the end of his line of sight, the familiar figure of a girl finally appeared.
Meng Huai’s lips curled up slightly, and he walked over decisively, not waiting for the other party to greet him before directly taking the handbag from Jiang Yao’s hand: “It’s a quarter past twelve; you definitely haven’t eaten yet. The staff canteen has food, let’s go together.”
His series of words and actions left Jiang Yao dumbfounded, her mouth slightly agape, and it took her a while to move her feet and follow behind Meng Huai.
“Mr. Meng, how can you be so sure I would come today? I almost forgot today is Sunday, and if I had come half an hour later…”
Sitting at a corner table in the canteen, Jiang Yao forced a smile, showing her teeth.
“Well, if you hadn’t come, I would have eaten by myself in another fifteen minutes.”
Meng Huai was engrossed in his meal, speaking in a flat tone as if he wasn’t specifically waiting for her, displaying a previous low profile.
Jiang Yan chuckled and casually rearranged the dishes in front of Meng Huai according to their distance, but she didn’t serve herself.
“Not eating? No appetite?”
Meng Huai looked up as he ladled soup, noticing the empty bowl in front of Jiang Yao and frowned.
“Today, I… I want to buy a cake…” The girl suddenly looked up and slowly stood up.
“Wait!”
A hand reached out, not touching Jiang Yan but clearly expressing a desire to stop her. Meng Huai got up, adjusted his military cap, and without waiting for Jiang Yao to respond, walked briskly outside.
Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes… until the staff in the canteen started to clean up, Meng Huai returned to the table with a small paper box, a fine sheen of sweat visible on his forehead.
After untying the ribbon on the paper box, a round, exquisite cream cake appeared before Jiang Yan’s eyes. White cream, red strawberries, blue blueberries, green mint leaves, black chocolate powder, and a few orange words.
“How old?”
Meng Huai poured a pile of number candles from a small plastic bag before raising his head to ask.
Jiang Yan was once again bewildered, and after a few seconds, she silently picked out a “2” and a “1” from the candle pile.
“1.”
“Well, happy birthday.”
Meng Huai used a match included in the box to light two candles representing “21 years old,” then gently pushed the cake towards Jiang Yan.
“Meng… Meng Huai, how can you be sure I just wanted a birthday cake?”
Jiang Yan still hadn’t fully grasped the situation.
Since you walked in, aside from saying you wanted a cake today, you’ve been lost in thought. Either something’s bothering you, or today holds some special significance that you haven’t explicitly stated.
Before the words were spoken, Meng Huai froze, looking at the birthday candles on the cake with a strange thought crossing his mind.
Today’s birthday is on the same day as Xia Yan’s… Meng Huai raised his head, glanced at the black-haired girl’s face, and after a few seconds, smiled and shook his head lightly.
Jiang Yan curiously observed the dazed youth, leaning slightly forward.
“It’s nothing…” Meng Huai took off his military cap and toyed with it, seeming to hesitate over something, “I was thinking that we could exchange this birthday cake… for me to tell you a story, is that okay?”
“Tell me a story?” Jiang Yan was even more confused, “What story?”
“My… my old captain’s story, he sacrificed himself a few years ago…”
A heavy, urgent, guilty smile, tinged with a hint of relief, appeared on Meng Huai’s face. Jiang Yan suddenly felt both amused and awkward; this was the first time she encountered a man whose emotional intelligence was this low, even though previously, she would also have been considered an obliviously dense person.
Leaving aside their true identities, merely delivering a birthday cake to a girl and recounting a story about a sacrificed soldier to celebrate her birthday cannot simply be described as miraculous.
However, she had never heard about the former captain of the Xuannia team, and she was genuinely interested. At least when Meng Huai was still with the Xuannia team, attempting to inquire about the previous captain was virtually a taboo topic.
“Um, let’s start with the day I first met the old captain…”
Seeing Jiang Yan did not object, Meng Huai began to speak at length.
……
……
Until after 7 PM, when a soft voice finally broke the silence in Jiang Yan’s mind, Meng Huai stopped the topic.
“Sorry, I lost track of time…” Meng Huai awkwardly glanced at the clock and then at the empty canteen, slowly getting up, “If you’re not bothered, let’s go out to eat together.”
“No, my sister is still waiting for me at home. I’m really glad to hear about the old captain’s story; he was a hero too.”
Jiang Yan silently criticized her disappointing stomach but still maintained a polite smile: “So whose story will it be next week?”
Meng Huai was taken aback for a moment and smiled, “Let’s talk about a sister’s story, one of the military doctors I met when I was in military school.”
“Did she also sacrifice herself?”
Looking at the calm expression and nodding motion from him, Jiang Yan felt a wave of sour pain in her heart.
It turned out that Meng Huai’s thoughts were much more delicate than his appearance; he never forgot those brothers and sisters, only savoring them alone in his heart without anyone to share.
Jiang Yan grabbed her handbag, bowed slightly, and walked out of the canteen.
On the street, a taxi disappeared into the distance, and only then did Meng Huai turn around to see a familiar, beautifully dressed woman standing at the entrance of the hospital.
“What are you doing here?” Meng Huai took a few steps back and approached Han Xiao, “When did you arrive?”
“Oh, it’s the first time I see a man as foolish as you, spending six hours at the canteen telling stories to a little girl. I never expected you to be so verbose.”
Han Xiao displayed a derisive look, crossing her arms and scrutinizing Meng Huai with her eyes: “You seem to look down on me, but do you really think she would like someone like you? That girl was just giving you face, listening to you ramble without losing her patience.”
“What kind of people are we? You still don’t realize?”
Meng Huai stared intently into her eyes, coldly saying, “How many people from the Dark Arrow’s entire action team, from the team leader to the deputy leader, have survived for ten years on the front lines? I’ve been close to eight years. If I don’t tell their stories now, I may never get the chance again…”
“You…” Han Xiao suddenly trembled, slowly lowering her head.
With teary eyes, the usually cheerful and decisive woman was surprisingly wiping away tears: “So, you’ve been hiding my brother’s death from me.”
Meng Huai was taken aback, slowly moving closer, hesitating for a long time before gently placing his hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t touch me! If you want to die, go die!”
Han Xiao shouted angrily, stepping back several paces, gritting her teeth as she dried her tears and reluctantly raised her head: “I came to find you today! I’m here to look over the scene and see if there’s anything hidden in the plans.”
“What’s there to see? It’s all burning affairs.”
Meng Huai turned his head, no longer looking into her eyes, stepping back a couple of paces to prepare to hail a taxi.
Suddenly, Meng Huai felt someone tugging at his arm, and then a soft body leaned against his back, arms wrapped around him tightly, refusing to let go.
Meng Huai… My brother is dead… Along with my older cousin, my second cousin, all the men of the Han family in this generation are nearly all dead, nearly all dead… How much longer do we have to fight against them…
Feeling the military uniform on his back get dampened by tears, that body pressed against him was also sobbing and trembling. Meng Huai could only tightly close his eyes and stand up straight; there was nothing more he could do.
