Chapter 47
“President Qin, I think I just heard someone talking.” The assistant looked around the office suspiciously, her gaze landing on the pile of drinks by the refrigerator.
“Why are these drinks out here?”
Qin Ai chuckled softly, then composed herself and said to the assistant, “It must be your imagination. You can leave now.”
“Yes.” The assistant suppressed her doubts and left the office, closing the door behind her.
As soon as the assistant was gone, a smile played on Qin Ai’s lips. She slowly walked towards the refrigerator.
Her slow and steady footsteps echoed in the silence, making Zuo Bian and Qin Tian’s hearts pound.
Qin Tian wanted to speak, but he was afraid of being discovered, so he covered his mouth with his hand.
【Host, I think Qin Ai already knew where you were hiding the moment she entered the office.】
Thinking about the large bouquet of roses and the drinks piled outside the refrigerator, Zuo Bian also realized that she and Qin Tian had already been exposed.
Just as Qin Ai reached for the refrigerator door, it was pushed open from the inside, the light inside illuminating the two figures huddled within.
Zuo Bian and Qin Tian were crouching inside, their faces obscured by the white mist. Zuo Bian’s eyelashes fluttered, and she looked up, meeting Qin Ai’s eyes like an innocent fawn that had wandered into the human world.
A smile bloomed on Qin Ai’s face the moment she saw them. “Come out, isn’t it cold in there?” she said, amusement and exasperation in her voice.
Zuo Bian crawled out of the refrigerator first, her ears turning slightly pink. She was clearly embarrassed.
【Achievement unlocked: Coming out of the refrigerator [1/1]】
“Happy birthday, Qin Ai.” Zuo Bian smiled at Qin Ai as if she hadn’t just emerged from a refrigerator.
Qin Ai chuckled. “So your surprise was hiding in my refrigerator? That’s certainly creative. It’s a first for me.”
Zuo Bian pursed her lips, not knowing how to explain.
Qin Ai and Zuo Bian had already exchanged a few words, but Qin Tian was still huddled inside the refrigerator, refusing to come out.
Zuo Bian turned around and saw Qin Tian staring at her with a pitiful expression. “Older Sister Zuo Bian, help me! My legs are numb, I can’t move!”
He tried to move his arms and legs, but they felt heavy and numb, as if countless ants were crawling on them.
Zuo Bian reached out to help him, but Qin Tian cried out, “Ouch! It’s so itchy! Ah, my legs hurt so much, Older Sister Zuo Bian, don’t pull me like that!”
Qin Ai stood by with her arms crossed, her gaze fixed on Qin Tian. “Didn’t you think about your legs getting numb when you decided to hide in the refrigerator?”
Qin Tian immediately shut up, pouting. Zuo Bian patted his head and then lifted him out of the refrigerator as if he were a small box.
Qin Tian, carried out of his hiding spot, curled up into a ball, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.
Zuo Bian picked up the large bouquet of roses and presented it to Qin Ai. “This is for you.”
Qin Ai took the roses and asked, “Why did you decide to give me roses?”
She was clearly delighted, but she kept a straight face, as if she genuinely didn’t know why Zuo Bian had given her red roses.
Zuo Bian answered honestly, “Because I felt that only roses could express my feelings. Oh, and I also bought this for you.”
She took out a beautifully wrapped box from the paper bag and opened it. Inside was a traditional Chinese calendar.
“I wanted to give you many things, but I realized you don’t really need anything. So I decided to give you this calendar. Qin Ai, I want to celebrate your next birthday with you too, okay?” Zuo Bian looked at Qin Ai, her eyes filled with anticipation and joy.
Qin Ai didn’t know how to describe her feelings at that moment. She suddenly smiled and said, “Okay, I’ll be waiting for your gift next year.”
Although she wasn’t in the habit of celebrating her birthday and didn’t think it was anything special, having someone willing to celebrate it with her, someone who would give her not-so-surprising surprises on this day, made her feel that celebrating her birthday wasn’t so bad after all.
“Sister, this is the cake Older Sister Zuo Bian and I made for you.” While Zuo Bian and Qin Ai were talking, Qin Tian brought the cake from under the coffee table and placed it on top.
Tian Yumeng, who had been drinking tea in the lounge, opened the office door and wished Qin Ai a happy birthday with a smile.
Qin Ai sat on the sofa, watching as her mother and Qin Tian placed candles on the cake. As he placed the candles, Qin Tian muttered, “Sister is twenty-seven years old this year, so we need twenty-seven candles. It’s so tiring, so many candles.”
“Oh? Do you have a problem with my age?”
The clueless Qin Tian didn’t detect the danger in Qin Ai’s tone and continued to step on landmines. “Compared to Older Sister Zuo Bian, you are a bit old. She’s only twenty-one, but you’ll be twenty-seven after today. They say there’s a generation gap every three years, so you and Older Sister Zuo Bian have two generation gaps!”
Qin Ai smiled, but her smile was menacing. “Is that so? Two generation gaps?”
Qin Tian finally realized something was wrong. He looked up and saw the dangerous smile on his sister’s face. He shuddered and quickly explained, “What’s two generation gaps? We can round it off! Two rounded off is zero! No generation gap! It doesn’t exist!”
Qin Ai’s expression finally softened.
Zuo Bian felt that Qin Tian was like a mouse in front of a cat when facing Qin Ai. As soon as Qin Ai’s expression changed, he would immediately behave.
It was the perfect example of “one thing conquering another.”
“Xiao Ai, blow out the candles.” Tian Yumeng pushed the cake forward.
“Sister, make a wish! Wish for a hundred more wishes!”
Zuo Bian said, “But wouldn’t that be too greedy?”
Qin Ai closed her eyes as Qin Tian and Zuo Bian chatted, then blew out the candles in one breath.
“Let’s cut the cake.” Tian Yumeng handed Qin Ai the cake knife.
Qin Ai’s expression froze as she encountered resistance while cutting the cake. She exerted a little more force and cut all the way through.
“Xiao Tian made the cake, so he should have the first piece.” Qin Ai cut a large slice for Qin Tian.
Qin Tian thanked his sister with a sweet smile, then took a big bite.
“Ow! My tooth!” Tears instantly streamed down his face.
Tian Yumeng hugged Qin Tian’s shoulders and took out some tissues for him to spit out the cake.
Zuo Bian stared at Qin Tian with concern, seeing him spit out a tooth and a button.
Qin Ai raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “That’s good. You’ve been complaining about that loose tooth for a while now. It finally came out.”
Qin Tian hugged himself, trembling, feeling like his sister was a demon.
“Wuwuwu, Sister, you’re so good to me, I’m so touched. Wuwuwu, my tooth hurts so much. Mom, can you throw my tooth under the bed when we get home? I heard you’re supposed to throw your upper teeth under the bed when they fall out.” Qin Tian clutched his chest, feeling like his fragile self couldn’t withstand the pressure of reality (his sister).
“Okay, Mom will throw your tooth under the bed. Come on, wipe your tears.” Tian Yumeng’s gentle voice quickly calmed Qin Tian down.
“But this button…” Qin Ai pointed at the button on the tissue.
Zuo Bian blinked. “It seems… it’s from my dress…”
【They escaped the eggshells, but not the button. It’s a good thing Qin Ai didn’t eat it and let Qin Tian, the guinea pig, test it first.】
“I’m sorry, Qin Ai, maybe we shouldn’t eat this cake.” Zuo Bian hurriedly tried to cover the cake, but Qin Ai stopped her.
“No, you made it, I still want to try it.”
Zuo Bian felt both happy and worried. Happy that Qin Ai was still willing to try the cake even after Qin Tian found a button in it, and worried that Qin Ai’s teeth would also suffer.
Qin Ai saw the worry in Zuo Bian’s eyes and gave her a reassuring smile. Then she picked up a strawberry.
“Mm, it’s delicious, I like it very much.”
Seeing Qin Ai smile, Zuo Bian felt her heart soar to the clouds. The clouds were made of cotton candy, and the air was filled with sweetness.
555 wanted to say that Qin Ai wasn’t eating the cake, she was eating a strawberry! But the words were stuck in its throat.
The cake was decorated entirely with strawberries, and the only edible part was the strawberries. Zuo Bian and Qin Tian could officially be classified as kitchen disasters. It was best if they never entered the kitchen again. 555 was already worried about who would cook after Qin Ai and Zuo Bian got married. But then it realized that they were both rich and could easily hire a chef.
Ugh, the evils of being rich.
In the end, they didn’t eat the cake. The strawberries were all picked off, leaving only the sad-looking, barely-a-cake cake behind.
Of course, Qin Ai wasn’t the one who ate all the strawberries. It was Qin Tian, who had already forgotten about his toothache.
This guy was truly carefree. After finishing the strawberries, he even begged Qin Ai and Zuo Bian to take him to the amusement park.
Qin Ai massaged her temples and finally said, “Fine, let’s take you. If I don’t, you’ll probably whine in my ear for three days.”
“Yay! Sister, you’re the best!” Qin Tian cheered.
Zuo Bian realized that although Qin Ai was strict with Qin Tian and was often called “Demon Sister,” she actually cared about him.
==================
The four of them got into the cars and headed for the amusement park. Qin Tian and his mother were in one car, while Zuo Bian and Qin Ai were in the other.
In the car, Zuo Bian asked Qin Ai, “Qin Ai, aren’t you working today? Is it okay to leave like this?”
“I wasn’t planning to work today because I knew it was my birthday, and you were preparing a surprise for me.”
“Ah?” Zuo Bian asked, “When did you realize?”
Qin Ai tapped her chin, recalling with a smile. “Probably two days ago.”
“So early.” Zuo Bian had only learned about Qin Ai’s birthday two days ago, and she didn’t expect Qin Ai to have already figured it out.
Qin Ai said, “Qin Tian talked in his sleep that night, and I overheard him.”
【As expected of the Alaskan Malamute strategist, I’m no match for him. This is the first time I’ve seen a strategist expose their own plan.】555 sighed, never imagining that it would also make a mistake one day, like its diary with a simple password.
Zuo Bian chuckled, never expecting the plan to be discovered this way.
“Xiao Tian and I wanted to surprise you, I didn’t expect you to find out so early.”
Qin Ai said, “No, I was still surprised. Or rather, happy, full of joy.”
Zuo Bian felt her heart racing again. She instinctively looked away. “That’s good. It’s your birthday today, you must be happy.”
Soon, the two cars arrived at the largest amusement park in City A. It was Saturday, so the park was crowded.
Tian Yumeng said, “Mom won’t go in with you. Xiao Bian, Xiao Ai, I’ll leave Xiao Tian to you.”
“Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll take good care of Xiao Tian.” Zuo Bian, influenced by Tian Yumeng’s self-address, subconsciously called her “Mom.”
Tian Yumeng was stunned for a moment, then smiled. “Okay.”
Zuo Bian blushed and quickly explained that she had accidentally called her “Mom.”
Qin Ai, in a good mood, said, “Considering our relationship, it’s not wrong for you to call my mother ‘Mom.’” – They would be family soon anyway.
However, Zuo Bian’s understanding was: Qin Ai and I are sworn sisters, so calling her mother “Mom” seems fine.
Qin Tian, who thought he had seen through everything, covered his mouth and giggled, thinking he should start preparing a wedding gift for his sister.
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