Happy birthday, Shen Nanpeng

  "We were together at 10:09...". Tang Jiji inexplicably repeated this sentence, and then hastily dodged his gaze.

  "What? Are you going to deny it......" He raised an eyebrow and asked casually, but hid a hint of displeasure.

  "I thought you were talking nonsense or drunken talk at the time." She said again unnaturally.

  And calm down to find that at that time, I was probably stimulated by the affection of Ye Ning and Lian Min to agree with him!

  Shen Nan drove on in silence, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, his fingers wrapped around the steering wheel turning white at the knuckles. After a moment, he said, "Tang Jiji, what I said on the phone was serious."

  His eyes were too deep and dazed, able to merge with the night, his lips slightly pursed.

  Tang Jiji was suddenly struck by a thunderbolt on a clear day, and it took her a long time to come back to herself. She unconsciously changed the subject: "Shen Nanxian, this is the cheesecake I bought for you, you can enjoy eating it later."

  Shen Nan glanced at the cake placed aside and said softly, "Okay."

  He didn't pursue the topic from earlier after all, and all his emotions flashed across his eyes.

  The car was still driving on the wide road, the streetlights flickering on and off, and for a moment, the two fell into an unusual silence.

  Tang Jiji's gaze fell on the unfamiliar night view of the lighthouse outside the car window, and he suddenly asked: "This isn't the way back to the school district, where are you driving to?"

  "Go sit on a lantern boat by the Qinhuai River." He said without looking up.

  "Hey, when did I say I was going to sit on a lamp?"

  "But you didn't ask me to send you back to school when you got on the car either." Shen Nan said it with a straight face, making her feel helpless again.

  "Let's go..." Tang Ji was about to get angry: "We can take the lantern boat next time, I really don't have the mood tonight..."

  "Tang Ji, today is my birthday." His voice was slow and slightly hoarse.

  "You still have the face to say this? Clearly knowing that so many people in the whole school are waiting for you at the hotel to celebrate your birthday, but you played a big card and let so many people wait empty-handed for several hours."

  The car suddenly braked and stopped at a riverbank by the Qinhuai River. Shen Nan asked her, "Are you waiting for me too?"

  "There's no way, only those silly girls at school would wait for you!" Tang Jiji said nonchalantly, opening the car door and gazing wide-eyed at the rows of houses standing by the river, their buildings adorned with colorful lanterns.

  Tang Ji stared unblinkingly at a small lantern boat that was slowly approaching from the other side of the river, and the fragmented thoughts in her mind suddenly came together.

  "Hey! Shen Nanxiao, come quick, the lantern boat is coming..."

  Shen Nan carried that small piece of cheesecake over, took a slight smile: "Are you in the mood now?"

  Tang Jiji smiled with a pure and innocent face: "Of course I do. Hey! You'd better come over quickly."

  An old man in a Tang suit, rowing a lantern boat, smiled kindly: "You two can get on the boat now." Tang Jiji nodded quickly, eager to step onto the boat, but was hindered by her cumbersome blue formal dress, and could only stand still with a flushed face.

  Shen Nan is now rarely seen as Tang Ji, like a child, pouting. He handed the cake to Lao Bo and suddenly put his hand on her waist, picking her up horizontally when she was shocked with wide eyes.

  Tang Jiji stood steadily at the side of the boat after a dizzy spell, glaring at him in annoyance, just as she was about to speak, he cut her off.

  "Tang Ji, no swearing, no spoiling the mood." Shen Nan raised an eyebrow and smiled wantonly, then casually sat down in a small red wooden chair beside him. The lantern boat was not big, but it had all the necessary small red wooden chairs and tables.

  Upon hearing this, Tang Ji immediately calmed down and squatted beside him, gazing at the low-hanging night sky. The boat had not yet entered the inner river, and there were only a few other lantern boats on the surrounding waters. She could clearly hear the soft lapping of water as Old Man Wang rowed.

  Dad, I never thought that the person who would bring me to ride a lantern boat one day would be Shen Nanxiao. Tang Jiji held her breath and gazed at the rippling water surface, silently reciting in her heart, stretching out her hand to dip into the water, the cool and refreshing water temperature was exceptionally comfortable.

  "Hey - Tang Jiji." Just as Tang Jiji was lost in thought, a certain voice cut through her reverie.

  "What's wrong?" Her nasty tone made Shen Nan extremely uncomfortable.

  "Come over." Shen Nan's gaze fell on the cheesecake on the red wood table, and he said bluntly: "You unwrap it and feed me again."

  "No way. Why should I feed you?" Tang Jiji refused without hesitation, occasionally glancing over at the old man rowing the boat while sneaking peeks at them.

  She wouldn't dare feed him in front of the old man!

  "Tang Ji, come and feed me." Shen Nanxiao patiently repeated.

  "What did you say? It's too windy here and I couldn't hear." Tang Jiji pretended to be silly.

  The gentle evening breeze blew over, blowing through Shen Nan's soft hair, and under the moonlight, he seemed even more handsome than usual.

  Shen Nan's eyes narrowed, his dark pupils seeming to emit a dangerous signal. Tang Jiji saw him about to get up and walk over, so she quickly walked over to the red wooden chair beside him and sat down.

  She quickly opened the packaging of the cake with a dog-legged movement, carefully cut a small piece of cake and presented it to him, still not forgetting to tease him: "Young Master Shen! Here, don't choke on it."

  Shen Nan watched as Tang Jiji slowly brought a spoonful of cake to his lips, but just as he was about to take a bite, Tang Jiji suddenly pulled the cake back. "Wait."

  "What?" Shen Nanxuan's face fell as he pulled back the cake that was almost in his mouth.

  Tang Jiji put down the cake and looked into Shen Nanxiao's eyes with a faint smile: "I forgot to say, happy birthday, Shen Nanxiao."