Bai Yanfei arrived at the coffee shop that Su Kai had mentioned. The coffee shop was small, but it was decorated carefully. As soon as he entered, a staff member celebrated his birthday.
Happy birthday, Xiaoyan.
Su Kai was dressed casually, just like usual. Apart from the cozy atmosphere of the store, there was nothing ambiguous about it.
"This gentleman made the reservation a week in advance, saying that a very good friend of his was having a birthday and he wanted us to be well prepared."
"Thank you, senior." Bai Yanfei gave Su Kai a big hug.
Su Kai gave Bai Yanfei a birthday gift he had prepared for a long time: an unpolished piece of red jade.
"this……"
“This red is exceptionally pure. Aren’t you designing jewelry? I originally wanted to polish it into a necklace for you, but I thought that an unpolished ruby might play a greater role in your hands.”
Bai Yanfei could tell at a glance that this red jade was expensive and must be very difficult to obtain.
"How could I possibly accept this..."
Although he liked this piece of red jade very much, it was clearly not an ordinary precious jade.
"Take it, or I'll get angry."
Bai Yanfei accepted the gift, secretly thinking that once the jewelry design was completed, he would give one to Su Kai.
"Why did you break up again? I think Xiaotong is doing quite well."
When this was mentioned, a shadow crossed Su Kai's face for a moment. He smiled and said, "I ran into a troublesome ex. I didn't want Xiao Tong to suffer, so I took the initiative to break up with him. I probably won't be dating again for a while."
"You should settle down and stop playing around, or how will you find a partner in the future?"
"If I can't find someone, I'll live alone. It's not like I can't support myself." Su Kai smiled indifferently. "Besides, it would be so painful to find someone I don't like."
"That's true."
Su Kai knew that Bai Yanfei had a small stomach, so the cake was also small and very delicate.
“This is handmade, have a taste.” Su Kai looked at Bai Yanfei expectantly. “I originally wanted to make one for you myself, but it would have wasted a lot of ingredients, so I gave up.”
Bai Yanfei took a bite. The cake was sweet but not cloying, and it had his favorite flavor. He happily squinted his eyes and said, "It's delicious. I like it very much."
Bai Yanfei took a couple of bites, then thought of his grandmother again, and his expression darkened.
Su Kai noticed Bai Yanfei's expression and quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
"I was thinking of Grandma." Bai's nose tingled, and her eyes reddened. "Grandma also liked sweets, but she can't eat too many now, and..."
And Grandma doesn't know how many days she has left.
"And what?"
"And the doctor said Grandma doesn't have much time left; her condition has worsened." Bai Yanfei looked at the half-eaten cake, his head bowed. "Grandma's biggest wish is to see me happy. I want her to see me on my wedding day, but..."
"But Ling Zeyu has no intention of marrying you."
Su Kai's lips parted, but in the end he didn't say anything.
He really wanted to ask Bai Yanfei one question: whether she would marry him.
However, given Bai Yanfei's obsession with Ling Zeyu, he felt that this was an impossible thing.
"Grandma is doing just fine now, isn't she? I'll go see her with you another day. I visited her recently, and she seemed to be in good spirits."
Bai Yanfei was taken aback: "You...you went to see Grandma too?"
Su Kai smiled, reached out his hand, but withdrew it before his fingers could touch Bai Yanfei's face.
Such intimate actions would arouse Bai Yanfei's suspicion, so he could only try his best to control himself.
"Anyway, I'm a free person with nothing to do, so I went to see my grandma. She's a very lovely person, and I really enjoy being with her."
Bai Yanfei moved his lips, but he really didn't know what to say.
"Senior, I owe you so much."
"It's just a small favor, what are you thinking with your little head?"
Bai Yanfei was eating his cake with his head down when Su Kai noticed the hickey on his neck and the bruises under his clothes. He pursed his lips, cursing Ling Zeyu a thousand times in his heart.
Ling Zeyu is simply inhuman; he still torments Bai Yanfei, whose body is already so weak.
Bai Yanfei stayed until 11 PM when his phone vibrated. It was Rong Xuanke asking where he was. Bai Yanfei lied and said he had returned to the villa. Rong Xuanke didn't suspect anything, told him to get some rest, and then said goodnight.
At 11:30, the lights outside the window were still on; the nightlife was just beginning.
"It's getting late, let me take you home." Su Kai was worried that Ling Zeyu might do something to Bai Yanfei. He had a vague feeling that Bai Yanfei's mental state was not right, but Bai Yanfei didn't say anything, so he didn't know anything.
"Is Brother Yu still at the Su family's house?"
"Let me ask." Su Kai took out his phone and made a call to someone. "He left around 10 p.m. and didn't stay overnight at the Su family's house."
"Then let's go back. Take me back to the villa."
...
Ling Zeyu was agitated. Su Yang kept hinting that he should stay, but a voice inside him told him to leave. Around 10 p.m., he made an excuse and went home.
In the past, Bai Yanfei would always be waiting for him in the living room when he arrived home from a trip. But tonight, the living room was unusually quiet. He assumed that Bai Yanfei was sleeping in the bedroom because of a stomach ailment, but when he went back to the bedroom, he didn't see him either.
After searching the old house, they still couldn't find Bai Yanfei.
Standing in the back garden, Ling Zeyu suddenly snapped back to reality when he realized what he was doing.
What is he doing? He's actually looking for Bai Yanfei?
Ling Zeyu was unwilling to face his true feelings, so he made a phone call to Bai Yanfei.
"I...I'm in the villa."
Do you know the consequences of deceiving me?
Bai Yanfei remained silent for a moment before giving Ling Zeyu the address. After hanging up, Bai Yanfei made an excuse to get Su Kai to leave, and he sat alone in the coffee shop waiting for Ling Zeyu.
Ling Zeyu rushed to the coffee shop. When he entered the shop, he was stunned for a moment when he saw the carefully decorated coffee shop.
But when he saw the leftover food still on the table, his anger flared up instantly.
"You're on a date here? Bai Yanfei, you're really going too far!" Ling Zeyu's tall figure blocked the light from Bai Yanfei's head.
"My senior is celebrating my birthday," Bai Yanfei said softly.
The clock struck twelve, and Bai Yanfei's birthday was over.
Chapter 38 Today is not my birthday
What followed was a long silence. Bai Yanfei didn't speak, and Ling Zeyu remained silent as well.
After a long while, Bai Yanfei got a little sleepy.
"I'm a little sleepy, let's go back."
Seeing that Ling Zeyu did not make a move, Bai Yanfei walked past Ling Zeyu and went outside, with Ling Zeyu following behind.
"I'll make up for the gift later." Ling Zeyu was silent for a moment. "Happy birthday."
Bai Yanfei paused for a moment: "Today is not my birthday."
He got into the passenger seat, took out his phone, and started playing with it. His inbox showed an unread email; he opened it and found it was from Bai Yifei, wishing him a happy birthday. The email also mentioned a gift he had prepared and kept in his room.
“Xiao Fei…” Bai Yanfei murmured. It turned out that Bai Yifei had not forgotten his birthday.
Ling Zeyu turned to look at him and saw a familiar number—Bai Yifei's email address.
After his phone was taken away, Bai Yanfei stared blankly at his empty hands for a moment.
"Xiao Fei sent you an email?" Ling Zeyu looked at the contents of the email. "The gift is in the room... We're going back to the Bai family."
Bai Yanfei's face remained expressionless. He turned his head and looked intently at Ling Zeyu's profile, where Ling Zeyu's face showed an unprecedented anxiety.
It's already past midnight, and the Bai family members have long since gone to sleep, but because of an email, Ling Zeyu has to rush to the Bai family.
This is ridiculous, it's hilarious.
Bai Yanfei laughed silently, covering his eyes with his arm as tears streamed down his face. His heart was shattered beyond repair.
He cried the whole way, but Ling Zeyu didn't even glance at him, and didn't even notice that he was crying.
When he got out of the car, he saw that his face was covered in tears. Ling Zeyu was stunned for a moment, but he still walked into the Bai family without looking back.
Bai Yanfei followed him and watched as Ling Zeyu rummaged through Bai Yifei's room, finally finding a gift box.
"This is your gift, why don't you open it?"
"There's nothing to take apart, just throw it away." Bai Yanfei knew without even looking that this was a set of art supplies he had wanted before, but he didn't have the money at the time, so he only mentioned it to Bai Yifei.
The two stood there, locked in a stalemate. Bai Yanfei still had tears on her face. Finally, Ling Zeyu lost his patience. He opened the box and saw the art supplies inside, as well as a handwritten letter.
"You're going to read the letter I wrote to you too?" Bai Yanfei looked at the letter in Ling Zeyu's hand and chuckled.
"I won't look at it. This is for you, but if you hear anything about Xiaofei, I hope you can let me know."
Bai Yanfei took the envelope and tore it to shreds in front of Ling Zeyu.
"I'm not interested in watching."
He tossed the torn pieces of paper into the air, and a few pieces even landed on Ling Zeyu's face.
Snap—
With a sharp crack, Bai Yanfei's left cheek swelled up, and his eyes became bloodshot. Ling Zeyu slapped him and left. He went to the refrigerator, took some ice, and applied it to his face. He didn't dare go back to the villa, much less the old house.
Ling Zeyu's birthday gift to him was quite a surprise.
Bai Yanfei sat at his doorstep for a long time. Ling Zeyu drove away. He felt that his eyes were a little blurry and he was also a little swollen and painful.
He took out his phone and turned on the selfie function. Bai Yanfei saw that his left cheek was swollen, his left eye was full of bloodshot veins, and there was a red bruise at the corner of his eye.
Bai Yanfei lightly touched him, and he winced in pain. The movement also affected his face, and he covered his face as he hailed a taxi.
He felt he was going to go blind if he didn't go to the hospital soon.
There were few people at the hospital in the early morning. The doctor treated his wounds and asked him if he wanted to call the police.
Call the police? Tell them he's being abused? But they're not even married yet; he's just a fiancé. He shook his head at the doctor's suggestion.
"fine."