Qiao Anchen suddenly laughed.
“First day of the month,” he said gently.
"You're being so proactive today?"
"...I didn't, I didn't—" Before Chu Yi could finish speaking, Qiao Anchen had already cupped her face and kissed her chin. Then, the soft, warm sensation gradually spread to the corner of her lips, and his breath filled her mouth.
Chu Yi was pulled out of the quilt by Qiao Anchen. Not only that, he also took off her clothes. At some point, the quilt wrapped around the two of them, and in the small space, they could only entangle tightly together.
Chu Yi rolled from one end of the bed to the other, tossing and turning, feeling dizzy and with teary, blurry eyes.
She said, crying.
"Qiao Anchen... I'll never sleep around like that again... Please let me go..."
"Why?" Qiao Anchen asked in a hurry, his voice muffled from her neck, tinged with a slight panting.
"I think it's great..."
"…I love so much."
"You can try again next time."
Chuyi: "..."
exhausted.
Just before opening her eyes, Chu Yi had just experienced a great battle in her dream. Her body hadn't felt anything yet, but her mind was already exhausted.
She recalled carefully, and it seemed that in her dream she had become a female general, riding a horse and fighting all night, from the Central Plains to the frontier, crossing lakes, snow-capped mountains and deserts, wielding a long spear and slaying countless enemies, finally driving the enemy army out of their territory.
Chu Yi couldn't help but reach out and pinch her arm. Ouch, a sharp pain shot through her, and she gasped.
I remember now, she seemed to be hugging Qiao Anchen before going to sleep last night, that's probably why she was so tired in her dreams.
As Chu Yi was about to get out of bed, a thought suddenly popped into his mind.
She is twenty-seven years old.
Today is a special yet ordinary day.
Chu Yi opened her phone and received some blessings from family and friends. She replied to them one by one, and then happily went to click on the red envelopes.
"Ah! This year's champion is still Miss Cheng Li! Congratulations!" Chu Yi added a few firework emojis after sending the message, and received a reply almost instantly.
"Hmph, of course, Mom loves you the most!"
Chuyi: "...get out of here (ノ｀Д)ノ"
A burst of wild laughter came from the other end.
Chu Yi decided not to argue with her because of the huge amount of money in the red envelopes given today.
Cheng Li couldn't help but casually ask about Qiao Anchen's performance, and this time Chu Yi could finally hold her head high and answer.
"Hehe, he secretly ordered a cake for me~"
"Really???" Cheng Li couldn't believe it at all, and she directly called out the lie.
"Little one, are you sure you're not just imagining things?"
Chuyi: "..."
"I didn't, I swear, I secretly looked at his phone, and there were reservation text messages on it."
"Oh, I didn't realize Mr. Qiao, that blockhead, had finally seen the light! Have you guys been going to the temple to pray to Buddha lately?"
"My dear child, you've gone astray now, even secretly going through your husband's phone. But I have to say something—"
"Well done, hahaha!!!"
"This is my first time doing this, I'm so nervous, it feels terrible, this is probably the last time."
"Why? My dear family member voluntarily hands over their phone to me for inspection on a regular schedule."
"There's no particular reason, I just felt it was his privacy. My behavior was very disrespectful to him."
"Okay, you're in the nice period of keeping your distance from each other right now. Once that's over, you won't have these thoughts anymore."
“I don’t care.” Chu Yi typed out each word carefully.
"Anyway, I still don't like doing this."
"Hmph, you little green tea b*tch, you only say that after you've read it? I don't believe your lies!"
"Hahahaha, so aren't I confessing to you right now?!" Chu Yi's serious expression instantly crumbled, and she rolled around on the sofa laughing.
"Amen, forgive me!"
"Okay, Mom forgives you on behalf of Amen."
"Pah, pah, pah."
After the incident with Li, all my emotions vanished completely.
I was quite exhausted last night, and my bones are aching all over today. I just lay there and didn't want to do anything, so I decided to take a day off and have some fun.
Many friends invited her out, but Chu Yi refused them all. She didn't even accept Cheng Li's invitation, let alone anyone else.
Chu Yi doesn't want to see anyone today; she just wants to spend her birthday quietly with Qiao Anchen.
As evening approached, Qiao Anchen remained silent, and Chu Yi began to get anxious. Just as she was about to send him a message to test the waters, her phone vibrated slightly for two seconds.
It was sent by him.
"I have something to do tonight, so I'll probably be back a little late."
Chu Yi's heart skipped a beat. For a moment, she couldn't quite describe her feelings. Was this a ploy to win over a surprise, or had something really happened?
Even though Chu Yi had a bit of luck, he was still very clear in his mind about it.
Qiao Anchen, it's probably true, he has something to do and will be back very late.
A wave of disappointment and sadness washed over her, and all her strength seemed to have been drained away; she couldn't even hold her phone.
She typed and deleted in the chat box, and in the end, she only replied with a simple sentence.
"Then come back soon, I'll be waiting for you."
Chu Yi thought that Qiao Anchen might have originally planned to celebrate her birthday together, but was delayed by other matters, so he had to tell her this first.
He will do his best to get back.
It's okay, she can understand.
Chu Yi ate alone, did some light exercise, watched two episodes of TV, then took a shower. By the time she finished getting ready, it was already 10 p.m., and she couldn't help but contact Qiao Anchen again.
When are you coming back?
There has been no reply from them for a long time.
Chu Yi waited and waited, until the night deepened and all the noise in the neighborhood disappeared, leaving it eerily quiet.
Chu Yi sat on the sofa and started to doze off, her head nodding off little by little, only to be jolted awake just as it was about to fall back down.
She glanced at the time in a daze; it was eleven o'clock, and her birthday would be over in an hour.
Chu Yi started to panic and, not caring that she might bother Qiao Anchen, immediately dialed his number.
What came from the other end was a cold, mechanical voice.
"Sorry! The user you dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later."
Chu Yi almost burst into tears.
She tried calling him countless times, but it was always that cold female voice. Chu Yi's anxious heart gradually cooled down, and eventually, it seemed that it didn't matter anymore.
Chu Yi turned off her phone, went to the bathroom to wash her face, and looked at her own red eyes in the mirror, her face expressionless.
She wiped the water droplets off with a towel and carefully patted on her skincare products, especially eye cream, which she meticulously applied around her eyes.
Chu Yi turned off the lights and got into bed. At that moment, the clock on the wall was pointing to twelve o'clock.
Her birthday is over.
24. Chapter 24
Early morning.
Qiao Anchen pushed open the door and came in. The house was pitch black, and the entryway light that he used to have on was gone. It was quiet.
He touched the light switch on the wall, bent down to change his shoes, and took off his coat.
The bedroom door was closed. Qiao Anchen pushed it open very gently. The room was dark, and he could vaguely see the person lying on the bed.
Without thinking much, he walked over and plugged his already dead phone into the socket.
Chu Yi's phone was also there. Just as Qiao Anchen plugged it in to charge and was about to take a shower, the phone next to him suddenly vibrated and the screen lit up.
A preview box for the new message appears on the lock screen.
"Sweetie! How was your birthday today? Did you enjoy the cake?!"
The name in the notes section was a chestnut-shaped symbol, and Qiao Anchen immediately knew who it was. However, what stunned him was Cheng Lifa's words.
Is today... Chu Yi's birthday?
Qiao Anchen turned his head blankly and saw the person sleeping on the bed. Although he couldn't see Chu Yi's face clearly in the dark, the scene he saw when he opened the door on his birthday involuntarily came to mind.
She smiled sweetly at him, showing him the carefully prepared cake, and the little sketchbook that he had kept safe and sound.
His chest felt heavy, as if something called guilt was pressing on his heart, making it hard for him to breathe.
Qiao Anchen then remembered that Chu Yi's birthday seemed to be around this time. He recalled that the day after his own birthday, he had specifically gone to check on their marriage certificate, but he had been so busy that he had completely forgotten about it.
Before going to bed, Qiao Anchen's phone was fully charged, with only a small bar remaining. He turned it on and saw the missed calls, followed by a string of bright red numbers.
There was also the text message he received on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
The person next to him didn't seem to be sleeping very soundly. He snorted softly and stirred. Qiao Anchen put down his phone, carefully pulled Chu Yi into his arms, and patted her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear.
When I woke up on the first day of the lunar new year, it was already the second day. The weather was still gloomy, and the room was not well lit, as if the sunlight was blocked by something.