Chapter 2

At most, after leaving the dance floor, they would check each other's watches, comparing heart rates and stamina.
Shi Zhi liked the cleanliness and purity of this circle, and was quite willing to play along as the good girl, sitting beside Shen Jia and slowly sipping from her juice bottle.
Around eleven o'clock at night, Shi Zhi told Shen Jia she was going to the restroom.
Actually, that wasn't true.
She went outside the bar and stood not far from the entrance, waiting to receive the three-tier birthday cake she had carefully selected.
This was Shi Zhi's first time being in a relationship, and she was indeed quite attentive.
The cake was chosen in Shen Jia's favorite blue color, and the design was customized according to his preferences.
The night breeze was cool and refreshing. The heavy door blocked out the bar's noisy clamor, leaving a comfortable quiet around her ears.
Shi Zhi refreshed the delivery information on her phone, watching the rider get closer and closer, not noticing that someone had appeared not far behind her.
It wasn't until she received the cake and turned around that she met Fu Xiling's slightly scrutinizing gaze.
Fu Xiling was leaning against the doorframe outside, a cigarette in his mouth, playing with his phone.
He was looking at her, unblinking.
Shi Zhi met his eyes for two seconds and found that Fu Xiling had no intention of looking away.
She thought this person was probably sick. She frowned, gave Fu Xiling a cold glance, and walked away carrying the large cardboard box with the cake.
Shi Zhi's first impression of Fu Xiling was really not good.
Actually, Fu Xiling's appearance was really quite good—he was among the best-looking men she had ever seen—but she thought he seemed like the type who treated bars as home and had a rich romantic life.
In short, he didn't seem like a good person.
Shi Zhi carefully carried the cake box through the crowd all the way back to the booth.
From three meters away, she could already see Shen Jia's somewhat surprised gaze, and unsurprisingly received a round of teasing that made people around them turn to look.
Shen Jia came over to hold her hand, his tone very gentle: "Making my girlfriend spend money."
Shi Zhi didn't mention the cost, just said: "Happy birthday."
Their reactions made Shi Zhi feel very satisfied. She actively crouched by the table to help untie the ribbon together, and holding the candles, turned to look at Shen Jia: "Do you guys have a lighter..."
She had a plan in mind, calculating carefully. She knew that looking up at someone like this when asking for help would make her boyfriend more affectionate; she also knew that lighting the flame and cupping the candlelight would make her eyes appear especially bright.
Shen Jia ruffled Shi Zhi's hair: "Alright, get up quickly. There are so many people here, let them handle it. Don't trouble yourself."
Friends around were already encouraging:
"When you make a wish later, shouldn't you wish for a long-lasting relationship with Shi Zhi?"
"Brother Jia, your life is already smooth enough, why don't you make a wish for me? Wish that when I fall in love, I can also find a girlfriend as good as Shi Zhi."
Shi Zhi smiled faintly. When Shen Jia gently kissed her forehead, she vaguely sensed in her peripheral vision a very tall figure carrying a jacket passing by them and sitting down in the sofa of the neighboring booth.
She didn't know what wish Shen Jia made with a smile while his eyes were closed, and thought that after this birthday celebration night, their relationship should develop in a better direction.
Unexpectedly, things are unpredictable. After cutting the cake, a small accident occurred.
The accident was actually very brief.
Shen Jia's phone on the table lit up, showing a new comment received on Weibo. Shen Jia himself didn't see it, leaning forward to drink and chat with friends. Shi Zhi helped pass the phone over.
Shen Jia casually took the phone and looked at it twice. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say his expression changed dramatically.
Unlike the annoyance he felt when seeing Fu Xiling earlier, Shen Jia was now panicked.
Under the panic, there seemed to be a bit of unconcealable joy.
The bar had already changed to a different light color. Light blue rays divided the alcohol-scented air into countless angular geometric shapes, like the imagined future worlds in movies.
Shi Zhi watched quietly in the cool-toned light as Shen Jia tightly gripped his phone and lied to her.
Shen Jia said his family had just sent him a message, and he needed to go out to return a call.
Shi Zhi didn't expose him, nodded, and said very understandingly: "Okay, then come back quickly."
"Then I'll come back after making the call..."
Shen Jia panicked and squeezed out from between the crowded booths, knocking over an empty beer bottle beside the sofa, which fell silently in the noise.
Friends didn't understand what was happening and were still joking: "What's going on? Has Shen Jia already gotten drunk from just two bottles of beer? Is he rushing to the bathroom?"
"Or maybe you guys don't understand—how could you get the birthday boy so drunk? Hey, Shi Zhi, aren't you going to check on him?"
Shi Zhi kept a straight face, suppressing the thoughts in her heart and still managing to smile: "He's not drunk. He's going to return a call to his family. I won't follow him."