Chapter 70
Chi Wendong arrived home at nearly nine o’clock. Both Father and Mother Chi were waiting in the living room. Hearing him return, Mother Chi even stood up.
However, when Mother Chi saw that only Chi Wendong had returned, her expression changed. “Where’s Xiao Bei?”
Chi Wendong: “After the gathering with his classmates, he went home with Lin Xiu.”
Mother Chi shouted, “What ‘home’? This is his home!”
Father Chi stood up and comforted Mother Chi. He had already confirmed the matter of Chi Aibei being the Liberal Arts Top Scholar with someone. He asked Chi Wendong, “You knew about Xiao Bei’s grades long ago, didn’t you? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Chi Wendong replied impassively, “I told Mom, and Mom said not to tell her about such things.”
Mother Chi: “…”
The two knew they were in the wrong and didn’t dwell on the matter. Father Chi said, “Pick up Xiao Bei tomorrow. It’s not right to always be at someone else’s house.”
Chi Wendong: “He doesn’t want to come back.”
Father Chi raised his voice, “What do you mean ‘he doesn’t want to’? This is his home. If he doesn’t come back, where does he want to go?”
Just now, when he asked Chi Aibei to come home, Chi Aibei had said “I’m not going” instead of “I’m not coming back.” Because of their relationship, he had long stopped treating this place as home, yet they could still be so righteous about it.
Chi Wendong looked at Father Chi. “Do you still remember how long it’s been since he was last back?”
Father Chi didn’t remember such a thing at all. He frowned.
Seeing that they couldn’t even give a specific time, Chi Wendong lost his patience with them for the first time. He took off his glasses. “Just act as if you know nothing. Wouldn’t it be good to treat him the same as before? Why must things be made so difficult?”
Father Chi was stunned by the sudden change in his usually obedient adopted son. “What did you say?”
Chi Wendong looked up. “You call Xiao Bei back, and then what? What do you want to say to him? Speak of the neglect over all these years, or the disregard over all these years? Or perhaps you want to hold a graduation banquet for him? But have you forgotten that over the years, you never once took him out to meet people? To the outside world, your son is me and Lin Xiu. Who is Chi Aibei?”
Father Chi opened his mouth but didn’t speak.
Mother Chi shouted, “Chi Aibei is my son!”
Chi Wendong looked at Mother Chi, his eyes covered with a layer of cold frost that hadn’t shown any sign of melting since New Year’s Eve. “Is that so? On New Year’s Eve, who was it that threatened him and told him not to come downstairs, not to show his face in front of the guests, and not to lose face for you?”
Those words from that day were like a boomerang, flying for several months before finally stabbing into Mother Chi’s heart.
She stared at Chi Wendong blankly. In fact, she had noticed it that day—Chi Aibei’s gaze didn’t have the previous dullness. It was just that she herself was immersed in showing off and didn’t take Chi Aibei’s changes to heart.
Chi Wendong put his glasses back on.
He had accidentally overheard Mother Chi saying those words to Chi Aibei that day. Only because Chi Aibei’s reaction was indifferent did he not stand up.
Chi Aibei didn’t care about this family, and he didn’t need to care. Even without these parents, his life would still not change in any way.
Chi Wendong: “Don’t think about making him into someone like me. He isn’t me, he isn’t a weapon for you to show off, and it’s impossible for him to live according to your ideas. If you can’t manage to give up on him, then continue to treat him as that fool from the past. Perhaps you would be more practiced that way.”
…
In order to prevent Father and Mother Chi from looking for Chi Aibei, Chi Wendong took both Chi Aibei and Lin Xiu with him on a business trip the next day.
Chi Wendong had work to attend to. Lin Xiu accompanied Chi Aibei for a stroll outside. Passing a cake shop, Chi Aibei’s footsteps were drawn to the birthday cakes displayed in the glass window.
If he remembered correctly, Lin Xiu’s birthday seemed to be this month.
Lin Xiu never celebrated his birthday. At this time last year, Chi Aibei hadn’t even dared to mention it. Looking at the cakes in the window, Chi Aibei couldn’t help but think of the birthday party He Chenjiang had organized for Lin Xiu on his own authority in the novel…
At the thought of those people unreservedly insulting Lin Xiu on his birthday, Chi Aibei gritted his teeth and let out a huff.
Lin Xiu saw him baring his teeth at the cake like a little wolfhound. He brushed his hand through the top of his head. “What is it?”
Chi Aibei: “Nothing. Gege, let’s buy a birthday cake.”
Lin Xiu didn’t forget his own birthday. Hearing Chi Aibei say to buy a cake, Lin Xiu also thought of the same thing. He frowned slightly.
Seeing him hesitate, Chi Aibei quickly said, “To celebrate us successfully getting into university.”
Lin Xiu saw that he was intentionally making up a reason. “Haven’t we already celebrated?”
Chi Aibei: “But we didn’t buy a cake then. And I didn’t even get to eat cake on my birthday last year. Gege, let’s buy one; I want to eat it.”
Chi Aibei’s birthday was in December. Because Lin Xiu didn’t celebrate his own birthday, he hadn’t paid attention to Chi Aibei’s birthday either. Chi Aibei himself hadn’t mentioned it. By the time he thought to ask Chi Wendong, Chi Aibei’s birthday had already passed. Chi Wendong even said that on Chi Aibei’s birthday, he had originally planned to take him out, but Chi Aibei had said he didn’t want to celebrate.
Entering the cake shop, Chi Aibei ran to pick a cake. Lin Xiu asked the shop assistant who was packing a cake for a customer, “Hello, how long would it take to make a custom birthday cake?”
Assistant: “It can be picked up in two hours.”
“Lin Xiu-ge!” Chi Aibei pointed at a certain cake. “I want this one.”
A woman who had taken her cake and was about to leave suddenly faltered. She looked back at Lin Xiu, who was currently paying. It wasn’t until they had finished paying and left that the woman heard the shop assistant call her.
Assistant: “Ma’am, your phone is ringing.”
The woman snapped out of it and quickly answered the phone. “Mom is buying cake for you. Be good and wait for Mom at the hospital. Mom will be back soon.”
Two and a half hours later, Lin Xiu and Chi Aibei returned. Chi Aibei went to get the cake. Lin Xiu didn’t go in; he stood at the entrance of the cake shop looking toward the other side of the road.
Chi Aibei came out carrying the cake. “Gege, what are you looking at?”
Lin Xiu withdrew his gaze. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
Chi Aibei looked toward the other side of the road curiously. Before he could see clearly, he was pushed by the shoulder and moved away by Lin Xiu.
Chi Aibei looked back again. The woman standing on the other side of the road seemed to be the one who had come to pick up a cake two hours ago.
…
Dinner was with Chi Wendong. Looking at the cake they bought, Chi Wendong said, “When I wanted to celebrate your birthday before, you wouldn’t. Now you’re complaining that others didn’t buy you cake. Why are you so hard to please?”
Chi Aibei giggled. ” I just wanted to eat it.” He asked Lin Xiu, “Do you want to insert candles?”
How could Lin Xiu not see through that little thought of his? But he hadn’t told him about the fact that he doesn’t celebrate birthdays, right?
Lin Xiu: “As you wish.”
Chi Wendong: “It’s not even a birthday, why insert candles?”
While inserting candles, Chi Aibei said, “Brother, you’re not romantic at all.”
Chi Wendong indeed wasn’t romantic, but how could inserting candles on a cake count as a romantic thing?
Watching Chi Aibei pull Lin Xiu to make a wish, Chi Wendong suddenly asked Lin Xiu, “Is today your birthday?”
Chi Aibei had already struck a pose and was about to close his eyes when he heard Chi Wendong ruin the surprise. Just as he was about to speak and stop Chi Wendong, he heard Lin Xiu say, “The day after tomorrow.”
Chi Aibei suddenly looked at Lin Xiu.
Lin Xiu glanced at him. That glance seemed to carry a certain tacit understanding.
This was the first time Lin Xiu had given a response to Chi Aibei’s unauthorized decision. Chi Aibei was stunned for a long time… He knew I wanted to celebrate his birthday? How did he know? Did I do it too obviously?
Wait, something seems wrong…
Before Chi Aibei could figure it out, Chi Wendong gave his head a shove. “If his birthday is the day after tomorrow, why did you buy the cake today?”
Chi Aibei: “…” He didn’t know which day it specifically was; he only knew it was this month.
Lin Xiu saw through Chi Aibei’s hesitation for those few seconds. He said, “It doesn’t matter. I usually don’t celebrate birthdays anyway. This cake was originally bought to celebrate the exam results.”
Although he said that, Chi Aibei still felt Lin Xiu had seen through his intentions. He simply confessed, “Gege, actually, I bought it because I wanted to celebrate your birthday, but I knew you don’t celebrate birthdays, so…”
Lin Xiu: “How did you know I don’t celebrate birthdays?”
Lin Xiu was also exasperated by this kid. He had clearly steered the topic away, but he just had to admit it. If the matter wasn’t brought up, he could have pretended not to know. But now that the words were at the tip of his tongue, how could he continue to hold back and not ask?
Chi Aibei was stunned. Just as he was pondering how to fix the situation, he heard Chi Wendong joining the fun. “That’s right, how did you know he doesn’t celebrate birthdays?”
Chi Aibei looked at Lin Xiu, who was staring at him unblinkingly, and opened his mouth. “That… Grandma told me.”
Translator’s Note:
Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed these chapters! Things are heating up (and cooling down? lol).
- “I haven’t eaten pork, but I’ve seen a pig run” (没吃过猪肉也见过猪跑): This is a very common idiom Mother Chi used in the previous chapters. It means even if you haven’t done something yourself, you’ve seen enough to know how it’s done.
- “Early Love” (早恋 – Zaolian): In China, any romantic relationship in middle or high school is labeled as “early love” and is generally discouraged by parents and teachers who want students to focus solely on the Gaokao.
- Fujoshi Culture: When Wang Yunmiao and her friends get excited about the “Cute partner,” they are acting as “Tanmei” fans (BL fans). In China, the slang “sugar” (糖 – Tang) refers to sweet moments between a couple.
- “Involution” (内卷 – Neijuan): This is a huge buzzword in China representing hyper-competition where everyone works harder and harder just to maintain their status. Aibei triggered a massive “involution” war between the Science and Liberal Arts classes!
- Cheongsams/Qipao for Gaokao: It’s a tradition for mothers (and sometimes brave gym bros!) to wear Qipaos because the first character “Qi” is part of the idiom “Qi Kai De Sheng” (旗开得胜), which means to win victory the moment the battle starts/immediate success.
- Zhuangyuan (状元): Historically, this was the title for the person who ranked first in the Imperial Examination. Nowadays, it’s used for the top scorers of the Gaokao in each province. Having two in one group of friends is basically like winning the lottery twice!
Recommended Reads
![[Esports] I Started an Online Romance with a Big Shot After Retiring](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/esports.jpg)
![Accidentally Turned a Tragic Romance Plotline into a Sweet and Pampering One [Transmigration]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ACCIDENTALLY.png)
