mijobooks Chapter 232 18th Birthday
Chapter 232 18th Birthday
When the school bell rang, most of the students had already left the classroom.
Song Huan stood up and glanced at the back row.
"Let's go find a place to talk."
Zhao Qihang jumped up from his seat, Chen Xu closed his textbook, and Zhou Shan turned around from the front row.
The group followed Song Huan to the corner of the stairs at the end of the corridor. There were few people there, only a window where the evening light shone in from outside, casting an orange-red glow on the ground.
Song Huan leaned against the wall, looking at the people in front of her.
"Food Alliance, I'm selling it."
Zhao Qihang's eyes widened. "Sold? Sold to whom?"
Zhou Shan was also stunned, her mouth agape, unable to utter a word.
Chen Xu remained silent.
Xiao Yunqing stood to the side, holding her schoolbag, without moving.
Song Huan continued, "We're selling it to Juxian Catering. You all know why: we're graduating soon, and if we don't sell, the Food Alliance will fall apart."
The group remained silent.
Song Huan looked at Chen Xu and said, "Don't worry, your mother's business won't be affected. The original franchise stores won't be kicked out."
Chen Xu nodded, his lips twitched slightly, but he didn't say anything.
Song Huan turned to look at Xiao Yunqing, "Open it."
Xiao Yunqing put her schoolbag on the ground and unzipped it.
The orange-red light shone into the schoolbag, illuminating the three stacks of red banknotes, making them dazzlingly bright.
Zhao Qihang squatted down, reached out and touched it, then withdrew his hand.
"Holy crap, really?"
Zhou Shan also squatted down, staring at the three stacks of money, her mouth agape.
Song Huan leaned against the wall, her hands in her pockets.
"Thank you all for your hard work this year. Here's 30,000 yuan each."
Zhao Qihang stood up and waved his hand.
"I don't want it. You pay us salaries regularly, and I've already earned quite a bit."
Zhou Shan shook her head as well, "I don't want it either, you haven't treated me badly."
Chen Xu stood behind, not saying a word, but shaking his head.
Song Huan looked at them.
"Take it. Without you, this alliance wouldn't be possible."
Several people shook their heads.
Zhao Qihang was the first to reach out, taking 30,000 yuan from the stack of money, clutching it in his hand, and patting Song Huan on the shoulder.
"If you start a new business, be sure to call us."
Zhou Shan took it and nodded.
Chen Xu was the last one. He folded the money, stuffed it into his pocket, and patted it.
Song Huan looked at them and smiled.
"Alright, let's call it a day."
The group dispersed.
Zhao Qihang walked at the front, taking long strides. After a couple of steps, he turned back and called out to Song Huan.
Happy birthday! Even though it's still a few days away, I'm afraid I'll forget.
Zhou Shan also turned around and waved her hand.
"Happy birthday."
Chen Xu didn't say anything, just nodded at him and left.
The corridor was empty, with only Song Huan and Xiao Yunqing remaining.
Xiao Yunqing squatted down, pulled up her schoolbag, put it on her back, and stood next to him.
"Let's go."
……
May 20th, nineteen days until the college entrance examination.
But for Song Huan and Xiao Yunqing, there was another layer of meaning.
Today is their shared birthday, their eighteenth birthday.
During evening self-study, the classroom was quiet.
The fan is spinning, and the pen tip is scratching on the paper.
Xiao Yunqing wrote on the test paper for a while, then stopped, turned to look at Song Huan, and asked in a low voice.
Is it your birthday today?
Song Huan put down her pen, both amused and exasperated. "I didn't get home until almost 11 or 12 o'clock. If it's my birthday now, will my parents still be able to go to work?"
Xiao Yunqing nodded.
"Too."
She turned back and lowered her head to continue writing her test paper.
The pen wrote two words on the paper and then stopped.
My thoughts drifted over from her, softly, as if afraid of being overheard.
My eighteenth birthday has passed just like that.
There wasn't even a cake.
[What a pity.]
Song Huan heard this but didn't say anything.
……
The bell rang to signal the end of evening self-study.
The two walked out of the school gate and walked side by side on the sidewalk.
The streetlights were on, casting a dim yellow light on the road.
Neither of them spoke, and they walked forward in silence.
When they reached the intersection, the two of them stopped at the same time.
Song Huan raised her head, and Xiao Yunqing also raised her head.
The two looked at each other and spoke in unison.
"Little cloud..."
"Huanhuan..."
They were both stunned, then they both laughed.
"You go first," Song Huan said.
"You go first," Xiao Yunqing said.
Song Huan took the backpack off her shoulder, unzipped it, and took out an exquisite box.
It was white and tied with a ribbon.
He handed it to Xiao Yunqing.
Xiao Yunqing took it, glanced at it, untied the ribbon, and opened the lid.
There was a pair of high heels lying inside.
White, with thin straps, and a small flower on the upper, made of sequins, that sparkles under the streetlights.
It was the pair she had her eye on in the bridal shop window.
Xiao Yunqing was stunned.
She held the shoebox in her hands, her fingers gently tracing the surface of the shoe, as if afraid of damaging it.
Song Huan looked at her and said, "Little Cloud, happy birthday."
Xiao Yunqing lowered her head and stared at the shoes for several seconds.
Then she looked up, her eyes were red, but she didn't cry.
"Thank you, I really like this gift."
She placed the shoebox on the flower bed next to her and took a box out of her schoolbag.
It was white, much smaller than a shoebox, and also tied with a ribbon.
She handed it to Song Huan, saying, "I also have a gift for you."
Song Huan took it and opened it.
There was a cell phone inside.
Samsung SGH-U608, silver, screen lit up, displaying the time.
The latest model.
Song Huan was stunned. She flipped her phone over to look at it, then flipped it back over.
"Where did you get the money?"
Xiao Yunqing took out another box from her schoolbag, a little bigger than the previous one. She opened it and found another cell phone inside, exactly the same.
"I have one too."
She waved her phone at him and smiled, "Remember to download QQ and get a SIM card when you get back. If you're the first one who doesn't contact me, you're dead!"
Song Huan looked at the phone in her hand, then at the phone in her other hand.
They're silver, the same kind, like a couple's set.
He smiled and said, "Okay."
Two people stood under a streetlamp, one holding a shoebox and the other holding a cell phone.
A breeze blew, blowing her hair across her face, and in the evening wind, Song Huan saw her happy eyes.
Song Huan put her phone in her pocket.
"There's a cake shop up ahead; I ordered a cake there."
Xiao Yunqing was taken aback. "The cake shop is still open at this hour?"
"I paid too much," Song Huan shrugged.
Xiao Yunqing snorted, "Rich and willful, huh?"
Song Huan shrugged. "Sorry, having money means you can do whatever you want."
Xiao Yunqing couldn't help but laugh, her eyes curving into crescents and her dimples becoming shallow.
The cake shop is on the street corner, and the lights are still on.
Song Huan pushed the door open and went in, while Xiao Yunqing stood by watching without going in.
Through the glass door, she saw him walk to the counter, say a few words to the shop owner, and the shop owner glanced outside, saw her, nodded, turned around and went into the back kitchen, bringing out a cake.
White cream topped with strawberries, the number "18" inserted, and the words "Happy Birthday" written in red in the middle.
Song Huan came out carrying the cake, held it up to her as if presenting a treasure.
Xiao Yunqing stood not far away, watching him walk over carrying the cake, her eyes crinkling with laughter.
Suddenly, a tricycle came rushing from the street corner.
The person riding the bicycle was an elderly woman with gray hair, a hunched back, and squinting eyes, as if she couldn't see the road clearly.
Song Huan quickly tried to dodge to the side, but couldn't get away.
The tricycle handle hit his hand, and the cake flew out and landed on the ground.
The box cracked, cream splattered out, and strawberries rolled all over the floor.
"You fucking..."
Song Huan's face was grim.
Xiao Yunqing was also stunned and quickly walked over.
The old lady got off the tricycle, bent over, and apologized profusely.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, my eyesight is bad, I can't see people..."
She pulled a plastic bag from her pocket, which contained crumpled bills—one-yuan, five-yuan, and ten-yuan notes, stacked together.
Her hands were trembling, and the plastic bag was making a rustling sound.
"I'll pay, I'll pay."
Looking at the money and the old lady's panicked face, Song Huan felt a tightness in her chest.
He took a deep breath and waved his hand, "It's okay, no need to pay."
Before the old lady could say anything more, Xiao Yunqing stepped forward and took her arm.
"Grandma, it's alright, you should go now."
The old lady looked at Song Huan, then at Xiao Yunqing, her eyes reddening. She said "thank you" several times before riding away on her tricycle.
The wheels creaked and groaned as they went further and further away.
Song Huan squatted down and looked at the smashed cake on the ground.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't even let you have any cake."
Xiao Yunqing also squatted down, sitting next to him.
She stared at the puddle of cream and strawberries on the ground for a while.
"It's okay, not all of them fell to the ground."
She reached out, scooped a small piece of cream from a clean spot on the top of the cake, and popped it into her mouth.
I chewed it once, then picked out another piece.
Song Huan looked at her.
She squatted by the roadside, her fingers smeared with cream, and ate intently.
He smiled, reached out, scooped out a piece of cream, and put it in his mouth.
Sweet.
The two people squatted under the streetlight, each on one side, picking at the pieces of the smashed cake.
Cream got stuck on their fingers and the corners of their mouths, and nobody wiped it off.
The wind blew, blowing her hair onto her face.
She reached out and brushed it off, the cream on her fingers smearing onto her face, leaving a white residue.
Song Huan saw it but didn't say anything.
She picked out another piece, stuffed it into her mouth, chewed it, and squinted her eyes.
The streetlights shone on the two people, their shadows trailing on the ground, leaning against each other.
The headlights of cars in the distance were flashing.
The two of them squatted by the roadside, eating a smashed cake, their faces covered in cream, laughing like idiots.