In the back row of a large lecture hall, tucked away in a corner where no one paid any attention, Li Zi was rushing through her homework. Her phone was propped up on a stand directly in front of her. Wearing earbuds, she occasionally spoke in a low voice, answering someone’s questions.
Suddenly, a notification popped up, and the screen brightened, prompting Li Zi to glance up. She caught her video call partner stealing a look at her.
Aside from the Qingming Festival, the two of them hadn't spent much time together this semester. Even during the holiday, Li Zi had been busy visiting ancestral graves with her family and had only managed a hurried meal with Li Zhenting.
Li Zhenting understood that when Li Zi got busy, she tended to neglect everything else. However, after she went an entire day without replying to his messages yet again, his worry and frustration peaked. He had spent hours trying to call her, but none of them went through.
Just as he was on the verge of losing his mind, Li Zi finally picked up. She asked in an innocent tone, "What’s wrong? Is something the matter?"
Li Zhenting was so angry he almost laughed. He had even considered calling Liu Yan to have him search for her on campus.
"Oh, so you're still alive?" he snapped sarcastically, suppressing the fire in his heart.
"What do you mean?" Li Zi asked, sounding genuinely confused.
Her brain, currently saturated with studies, was sluggish. Being suddenly snapped at by her boyfriend didn't exactly make her happy. She frowned, her voice turning cold. "Speak properly."
"Speak properly? Do you even listen? Do you even look? Do you even reply?" Li Zi’s attitude successfully lit the fuse. "Do you have any idea how many messages I sent? How many times I called? Did you answer even once? Do you know how worried someone gets when you suddenly vanish? You’re full of lectures when it comes to me, but you think it’s fine to just pull a disappearing act whenever you want!"
Li Zi had just stepped out of the study room when she answered the call. In the quiet corridor, Li Zhenting’s voice blared from the speaker, exceptionally loud and clear, drawing unfriendly glares from other students in the room.
She nodded apologetically to them and, holding her phone, hurried toward the stairwell.
On the other end, Li Zhenting was mid-rant, but after venting so much, his anger had mostly spent itself. Li Zi’s continued silence caused his agitated brain to cool down a bit.
*Was I too harsh? Was I too mean just now? Is she angry? But it was clearly her fault...*
Suddenly, the words he had prepared stuck in his throat.
After waiting a moment longer and hearing nothing but Li Zi’s slightly hurried breathing, he cleared his throat awkwardly and said with a hint of stubbornness, "Of course, I know you've been busy lately. But you didn't reply for a whole day. It’s only normal for me to worry."
Li Zi had just reached a deserted area when she heard Li Zhenting complete the process of bristling and then smoothing his own fur. Finding it amusing, she couldn't help but tease him. "Why are you so cute?"
"???"
Li Zi’s voice was exactly the kind Li Zhenting found most irresistible. Usually, she sounded distant and cool to the world, but on rare occasions—in bed or during their private moments—she would soften her tone. Her light chuckle was like a stray feather brushing against his ear, leaving a lingering itch.
He muttered, "What are you talking about? I told you not to use 'cute' to describe a grown man."
Li Zi took the opportunity to check her phone and realized she really had forgotten to reply to his messages for the past two days. Because her phone had been on silent, she hadn't noticed the calls either.
"I'm so sorry," she said sincerely. "My schedule has been packed these last two days, and I forgot to check my phone. I actually thought I had replied to you. I'm sorry for making you worry."
Though he had been furious moments ago, Li Zhenting’s goal wasn't to force an apology, nor did he like seeing Li Zi act submissively.
He grumbled gruffly, "Forget the apology, it’s a small thing. Just remember to reply next time. If you’re busy, let me know in advance."
Li Zi agreed.
They had barely spoken for a few minutes when Li Zi checked the time and said she had to get back to work. She explained that her assignment was due tomorrow and she had to finish it tonight.
This effectively cut off whatever Li Zhenting was about to say. He could only reply helplessly, "Fine. Go on then."
The moment he hung up, the brothers surrounding him looked at him in disbelief.
"That’s it?" one asked.
"Brother Li, it’s your birthday today and Sister Li Zi only talked to you for that long?"
Li Zhenting was deeply annoyed and didn't want to say much. He pursed his lips and explained, "She’s been very busy with her studies lately."
"No matter how busy she is, she could spare half an hour to talk to you, right? Besides, she didn't pick up all day... Or did she forget it’s your birthday?"
Those words hit a landmine.
Li Zhenting’s face darkened. He shoved his phone into his pocket and threw back a sharp retort: "Quit nagging. Birthdays happen every year; it’s not that important. I’m going to the bathroom."
He left the group staring at each other over the beer bottles and the cake on the table.
"Are you stupid? Don't you know how much Brother Li cares about Sister Li Zi? We can all see she forgot, so how could he not know? Saying it out loud is like slapping him in the face!" the speaker said, looking at his friend with exasperation.
"I wasn't thinking... Sigh, I really am an idiot! No wonder I don't have a girlfriend..."
"Aren't Brother Li and Sister Li Zi doing well? How could she forget his birthday? Maybe they haven't made up since their last fight?"
"Could be. Things were so tense back then. Brother Li even got hurt, and Sister Li Zi didn't even check on him."
Tang Jiu, who hadn't participated in the discussion until now, couldn't listen anymore and spoke up to stop their increasingly pessimistic speculations. "Stop guessing blindly. Their relationship isn't that fragile. Just focus on how we're going to celebrate Brother Li's birthday later!"
Li Zhenting, the guest of honor, was turning twenty-five today.
Twenty-five, and he still had nothing to show for it.
Although he ran a decent-sized shop, he didn't actually have much interest in the industry. He had opened the place primarily to give his brothers a place to settle down.
Li Zi always knew exactly what she wanted to do.
*What about me?*
He stood before the sink, staring at his reflection in the mirror. He leaned down, cupped some water, and splashed it onto his face.
*What do I actually want to do?*
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Li Zi had asked him that when they were very young. He had forgotten how he answered—likely some chuunibyou, childish nonsense.
If possible, he actually wanted to stay closer to her side. Only by her side did his restless heart feel calm enough to actually consider these things.
But reality wouldn't allow it. Li Zi was busy; he couldn't possibly suggest moving in and disrupting the rhythm of her life. Moreover, he had a group of young brothers who needed his care. Not to mention Xu Chang and those lurking in the shadows, watching him closely.
Those people were dangerous. He never wanted to drag Li Zi into that mess again.
*What can I do to get closer to her?*
Li Zhenting slapped his cheeks roughly.
*Pull yourself together, Li Zhenting. Stop being so lovesick. There’s a group of brothers out there waiting to celebrate your birthday!*
He put on a smile and walked back out. "Come on! Today, we drink until we drop!"
***
Li Zi kept writing furiously, only finishing just as the administrator came to announce the building was closing.
Stepping out of the teaching building and smelling the fresh air, she couldn't help but let out a deep sigh of relief. She could finally relax for a day or two. Adjusting the straps of her backpack, she walked toward the dormitory with a light step.
Tonight, everyone in Room 1308 was present. Yu Tianwu was animatedly chatting with the other two, looking very happy. Seeing Li Zi return, she called out, "Our overachiever is back! Hard work!"
"What overachiever? We aren't even in the same major," Li Zi replied helplessly. She waved a hand, put her things down, and prepared to head to her room, exhausted.
"Hey, isn't today Li Zhenting’s birthday? Li Zizi, what did you get him?" Yu Tianwu asked casually just as Li Zi was about to close her door, as if she had just remembered.
The speaker thought nothing of it, asking out of pure curiosity. But the listener’s heart skipped a beat.
*Ah—*
*I knew I felt like I was forgetting something today.*
Li Zi slapped her forehead in frustration. So that was why Li Zhenting was so angry; this must have been the reason. He probably realized she had forgotten.
She hurried into her room.
Meanwhile, the innocent Yu Tianwu was met with the suspicious glares of her two other roommates.
"How do you know Li Zi’s boyfriend’s birthday?"
Only then did she realize she had slipped up. She immediately began to laugh it off. "Hahahaha... I think, maybe, perhaps... I heard Li Zi mention it before?"
She was met with the "Do you take us for fools?" smiles of her roommates.
*Yikes.* She wasn't ready to go public with her relationship with Liu Yan just yet.
