Cheng Yanqing ordered plenty of takeout. Yan Ci bought the alcohol, which was perfect ice-cold with the spicy crayfish, but Cheng Wanyue could only drink the watermelon juice that Cheng Yuzhou had squeezed for her.

There were two large portions of crayfish, and she ate an entire portion by herself.

In reality, she hardly peeled any of the crayfish herself—whoever finished peeling one would place it in front of her.

After they’d eaten and drunk their fill, no one seemed ready to rest. They hadn’t seen each other for a while, and when they were together, there was always endless conversation.

After graduation, Yan Ci had joined a foreign company and planned to start his own business next year or the year after.

Cheng Yuzhou had studied astronomy and now worked at a research institute in Nanjing. Zhou Yu had become a TV reporter, and for the past few years, she and Cheng Yuzhou had also spent much time apart.

Last Christmas, Cheng Yuzhou had prepared a proposal. They registered their marriage on Valentine’s Day this year, with the wedding scheduled for October 5th. They had been dating since their senior year of high school, spent four years in a long-distance relationship during university, and of course, occasionally argued. But unlike Cheng Yanqing and his girlfriend, whose arguments could damage the entire family with their intensity, these two were gentle even when fighting. A hug, a kiss, and they would reconcile.

Once, they had finished arguing while Cheng Wanyue sat right beside them watching a movie, occasionally adding a few words to the conversation. She hadn’t even realized what was happening.

When they had children in the future, their appearance would certainly be flawless, but their personalities would be unpredictable. They might inherit traits from an earlier generation. Cheng Yuzhou’s father, Cheng Wanyue’s second uncle, was a pure playboy who had lived that way from his teenage years into his fifties.

The Cheng family had one consistent trait: they loved their wives and committed to only one person for life.

However, with Cheng Yanqing, this trait had gone astray.

As for Cheng Wanyue, she was even further off track. She used to constantly say things like, “What’s the point of liking just one person? I want to like many,” just like her second uncle in his younger days.

“Yueyue, why did you change your Weibo name?” Cheng Yuzhou handed a napkin to Cheng Wanyue to wipe her hands. She had registered this account during her freshman year of college, and a few days ago had suddenly added a suffix to the name she’d been using for four years. “You’ve changed your profile picture too.”

Yan Ci had also noticed. “This new profile picture looks somewhat familiar.”

In high school, Qing Hang had been closest to Yan Ci, and over the years, he was the only one who had maintained contact with Qing Hang.

Cheng Wanyue had a piece of crayfish meat in her mouth, unsure whether to swallow or spit it out.

“Heh,” Cheng Yanqing laughed without humor. “Not only did she change her profile picture and Weibo name, but they’re living together now—during the week I was abroad.”

Cheng Wanyue took a small sip of Cheng Yuzhou’s beer. She gazed at the moon outside the window and, after a long while, finally spoke softly, “I came to Beijing just for him. Because apart from him, it seems I can’t fall in love with anyone else.”

There had never been a shortage of men pursuing her, and she had tried dating some of them. At first, there was a sense of novelty, but she quickly found it uninteresting. Then she would unconsciously search for traces of Qing Hang in them eyes, nose, mouth, silhouette, hands, handwriting, speaking habits, food preferences, classroom demeanor, the way they looked at her… and so on.

But no one was like him.

Before coming to Beijing, she had thought that if he had a girlfriend or was already married… she would give up. But he didn’t.

At eleven o’clock, Cheng Wanyue was sent back to her room to sleep.

The three men continued drinking in the living room. Yan Ci said, “Anyway, she and Qing Hang could never just be friends. They’ll either be enemies who never speak to each other again, or lovers inseparable as glue. If she wants to reconcile, she just has to beckon, and Qing Hang will come. If she doesn’t want to reconcile, even if Qing Hang gets on his knees and begs, it’s useless.”

Cheng Yuzhou also said, “Let her handle her emotional matters. You just take care of her daily life.”

Cheng Yanqing nodded. That was his intention, too.

There were only two bedrooms in the apartment. There was no way Cheng Yuzhou and Yan Ci would squeeze into one bed with Cheng Yanqing, so after cleaning up the table, they took a taxi to their hotel.

They would have lunch together the next day, but the focus would be on the evening—birthdays were typically celebrated at night.

The three men waited in the living room while Cheng Wanyue applied makeup, styled her hair, changed clothes, and chose shoes. It was impossible not to give opinions, though she wouldn’t adopt them anyway. Zhou Yu’s gift to her was earrings. She had three piercings, so Zhou Yu had sent three—one was a moon, and the other two were pale blue sparkling diamonds that matched her hair color. After putting on the earrings, she tied her hair up with a beige hairband so that her wispy bangs wouldn’t hide the earrings.

She knew Qing Hang had to work during the day, but normally he would get off at six.

It was only five-thirty now. As Cheng Wanyue left the house, she sent the dinner location to Qing Hang.

Qing Hang worked at the hospital and couldn’t bring the pet to his office. Before finishing work, he went to check on a patient, and only after confirming everything was normal did he hurry home.

At 6:37 PM, he suddenly received a call from the nurses’ station.

A 70-year-old patient had collapsed in the bathroom. The situation was critical, and Qing Hang had no choice but to rush back to the hospital as quickly as possible.

After the elderly patient’s surgery, his children had returned to their respective cities for work, leaving only a caregiver.

When Qing Hang arrived at the hospital, the on-duty doctor was still performing emergency treatment. Qing Hang was the person most familiar with the patient’s condition—he had participated in the entire surgical process and was clear about every test result.

By the time the patient’s condition stabilized, Qing Hang was so exhausted that his lips had turned pale, and even his white coat was soaked with sweat.

When he returned to his office and checked the time, it was already 11 o’clock.

Qing Hang quickly washed his face and went downstairs, running to catch a taxi. When he reached the night market entrance, he continued running inside.

They were sitting outside. Qing Hang slowed his pace only after seeing Cheng Wanyue. After a moment’s thought, he first stored his things at a small shop nearby.

Cheng Wanyue had been checking her phone, watching the minutes tick by. She thought Qing Hang wouldn’t make it.

Yan Ci was the first to see Qing Hang and waved to him. “Qing Hang, over here!”

Cheng Wanyue turned to look. Qing Hang was covered in sweat.

She had saved an empty seat to her left.

The street was filled with the smell of barbecue smoke and alcohol. Although Qing Hang knew she probably couldn’t smell his sweat, when he sat down, he still pulled the chair outward, not sitting too close to her.

“Something came up at the hospital. Sorry, I’m late.”

“It’s not even midnight yet, so not late,” Cheng Yuzhou poured him a glass of water. “It’s been about eight years since we last met, right?”

They hadn’t seen each other since graduation.

“About that,” Qing Hang finished the glass of water, his breathing finally easing somewhat. “How long can you stay in Beijing this time?”

Cheng Yuzhou said, “I’m leaving tomorrow. Yan Ci can stay for another half a month.”

Cheng Wanyue had a lemon candy in her mouth. While listening to their conversation, she glanced down at her side. A drop of sweat flowed from Qing Hang’s arm to the back of his hand. She wanted to wipe it for him, and just as her fingertip touched his skin, he gripped her hand in his.

Above the table, they were chatting casually. Below the table, their fingers were tightly interlocked.

Qing Hang could hold his liquor.

Since he arrived last, the other three waited for him to eat something before replacing the water in his glass with alcohol.

He wasn’t left-handed, but he kept using his left hand to hold his glass.

Cheng Yuzhou checked his watch—ten minutes until midnight. “A’Yu and I are having our wedding on October 5th in Nanjing. If you’re free, would you come for a celebratory drink?”

“If I have time, I’ll come.”

“When the time comes, I’ll send the invitation to Yueyue, and she can give it to you.”

“Mm.”

“We’ll go for a walk. You two have some more to eat.”

After Cheng Yuzhou paid the bill, the other two men stood up as well, leaving only Cheng Wanyue and Qing Hang.

The night market was lively. The tables next to them had already changed occupants several times. Cheng Wanyue placed the cake on the table. “Quick, quick, light the candles first… Oh no, we don’t have a lighter…”

Before she could finish, Qing Hang took one out of his pocket, along with a box of sparklers.

Cheng Wanyue watched as he inserted eighteen small candles, then placed a heart-shaped sparkler in the middle, and lit them one by one.

“You’re smoking again?” Her brow furrowed slightly, clearly dissatisfied that Qing Hang could produce a lighter at any time.

“No, just bought it.”

She leaned closer. “Let me check.”

Qing Hang leaned back. “I’ve been sweating a lot. I’m not clean.”

“That’s alright,” she moved even closer. “I’m a bit dirty too.”

Cheng Wanyue sniffed his neck. “Hmm, no smell of cigarettes.”

“The candles are about to go out. Make a wish.”

“Sing me the birthday song.”

She pressed her palms together and closed her eyes. The candlelight reflected on the diamonds in her ears, making them twinkle. Qing Hang’s singing voice was muffled beneath the noisy clamor around them, very soft, but loud enough for her to hear.

In the past, she had always forced him to sing.

“Okay, I’m going to open my eyes now.”

“Wait a bit longer,” Qing Hang said, standing up. “Wait for me a moment.”

Cheng Wanyue had never been one to follow rules. She secretly opened one eye, watching Qing Hang run into a shop, then closed it again before he came back.

She could already hear a cat meowing.

“Can I now? Can I now? Can I now?”

Her excited little expression was vivid. After Qing Hang sat down, he smiled and said, “You can now.”

When Cheng Wanyue opened her eyes, the kitten was just poking its round head out of the bag. It was shy around strangers, its paws clutching Qing Hang’s clothes. Inside the bag was also a Rapunzel princess doll with golden hair braided so long it was even longer than the doll’s dress.

“So cute! It looks just like A’Yu’s cat,” the more she looked, the more similar it seemed—it was practically a miniature version.

Qing Hang had searched many pet stores before finding one that resembled the cat she was holding in her WeChat profile picture.

Zhou Heng was allergic to cat hair. The kitten had been staying in Qing Hang’s room. He had gone home from the hospital to change clothes, put the kitten in his backpack, and then went to a flower shop to buy a bouquet.

Cheng Wanyue liked red roses.

Everything had been going smoothly until he received the call from the nurses’ station.

Qing Hang took the kitten out of the bag and placed it on his lap. Cheng Wanyue stroked it, and the kitten slowly crawled into her hands. Her attention then completely shifted away from the cake.

But she still had to have a bite.

“Qing Hang, you try it first. I feel like this cake might just look good but not taste very good.”

Qing Hang cut a piece. He didn’t like sweets, but he had eaten her birthday cake for three years.

“How is it?”

“Try it yourself.”

She was still playing with the cat and couldn’t free her hands. “Then feed me.”

Qing Hang was watching her play with the cat and wasn’t paying attention. The fork fell to the ground.

He was about to get another fork, but Cheng Wanyue said it wasn’t necessary. She leaned over and took a bite, but didn’t get it all in her mouth. As the cream was about to fall onto her pretty dress, Qing Hang tilted his head closer and licked the cream from the corner of her mouth, also kissing her.

The kitten mewed softly; she breathed softly.

Cheng Wanyue hadn’t been drinking, but the kiss made her feel dizzy. Somehow, she remembered the first time Qing Hang had gotten drunk.

That day was Cheng Guo’an’s birthday. Qing Hang had been toasting at the table, and a few glasses of white liquor plus some beer had made him drunk. He slept for a few hours in her family’s guest room. When she woke him up by making a fuss, he could barely open his eyes, but still knew exactly how to pull her underneath him.

He was very bold when drunk. Even though her family was all in the living room, separated only by a door that wasn’t even locked, he dared to kiss and touch her.

In her daze, Cheng Wanyue heard Qing Hang ask softly, “Have you improved?”