Chapter 77: Happy Birthday, Sheng-sheng
Liang Sheng slumped on the floor, his hands hanging powerless.
Why did it have to be like this…
Why did he have to destroy everything he had…
He didn’t want to say anything, nor did he want to listen.
He knew he should cry.
But when the pain reached its extreme, all that was left was numbness.
It was gone.
Everything was gone.
When his mother died, he couldn’t attend the funeral.
After her death, he couldn’t even keep a single photo.
Shen Xingyu didn’t want to provoke his emotions, but he couldn’t control himself. When he saw this woman, or anything related to her, he would fly into a manic rage.
“Sheng-sheng, I…”
He called out carefully, not knowing what to do. Before, he could destroy the things this person cared about without a second thought, but now, he was being swayed by a feeling he refused to acknowledge, and he began to feel guilty.
“Get out…”
Liang Sheng seemed to use a great deal of strength to force out those hoarse words. He knelt on the floor, staring blankly at the ashes.
The image of his mother being burned in the photo kept repeating in his mind. It was like witnessing his mother’s corpse lying on a hospital bed—helpless and in despair.
Shen Xingyu wanted to hug him, but having just impulsively burned the other’s photo, he felt he couldn’t lower himself to do something so contradictory.
His raised hand hesitated and then dropped. He ultimately followed Liang Sheng’s wish, stood up, and left.
The room fell into a deathly silence.
Liang Sheng lay paralyzed on the floor, curling his entire body up to protect that bit of ash in his embrace.
Tears slid from the corners of his eyes, wetting the tips of his hair.
The tiles were icy cold, but he didn’t notice at all.
Perhaps due to the emotional intensity, his stomach, which had finally been nursed into a slightly better state, began to ache with waves of cramping pain.
It hurt so much…
Liang Sheng tightly clutched his abdomen, whimpering softly.
The medicine… he didn’t want to take it.
It was too bitter.
He wasn’t afraid to die, but he was afraid of pain.
When he was a child, he also frequently had stomach issues. Even after taking medicine, it would still hurt. When he couldn’t sleep at night from the pain, his mother would place her hand on his stomach and rub it gently, watching over him for the entire night.
He missed that warmth so much.
So much so that after his mother’s death, he constantly dreamed of those days, living in those memories day and night.
“Mom… why… why didn’t you take me with you…”
“I really… really miss you so much…”
He murmured to himself, tears flowing silently and violently.
Today was his birthday.
In fact, he didn’t even remember which year, month, or day he was born. His adoptive mother said they would consider the day she adopted him as his birthday—the day he was reborn into the Liang family.
It also happened to be the Dragon Boat Festival—happiness and health.
Perhaps the heavens thought he was living too happily, which was why they broke his family apart, left him with unrequited love, and burdened him with a severe illness.
His mother was the one who gave him his name.
Liang Sheng.
Sheng-sheng, like the phrase “ever-growing and never-ending.”
A pity that, in the end, it didn’t turn out as wished.
He was living so painfully—exhausted in both body and mind.
He was nearly at the point where he couldn’t hold on anymore.
And just like that, as he cried, Liang Sheng drifted into a muddled sleep amidst the torture of his stomach pain.
Lately, he had become very lethargic, always lacking energy and appetite. He didn’t know if his illness was worsening.
The sky after the rain was very clear.
There was no stifling heat. The sunlight was thin, filtering through the window lattice and catching the dust in the air in a dappled play of light and shadow.
Today the wind was quite strong.
It blew against the wind chimes at the window.
They tinkled softly.
Liang Sheng’s brow was furrowed.
He slept for a long time. Nightmares were constant, like sleep paralysis; breathing was also difficult. He tried hard to open his eyes, yet he couldn’t wake up no matter what.
He didn’t know how much time had passed.
The sky grew dark in a daze.
Liang Sheng muddledly felt the surface beneath him moving. His body no longer felt cold; it was warm and very comfortable.
He slowly opened his eyes and saw the warm yellow pendant light above him and a wooden ceiling.
Everywhere in the space, he could see his favorite Cinnamoroll patterns, along with balloon roses and ribbon butterflies.
It was decorated in a very warm and romantic way.
For a good while, Liang Sheng’s mind was blank.
This wasn’t the Shen residence…
Where was he?!
Was he still dreaming?
Liang Sheng patted his cheeks.
His consciousness was very clear now. It wasn’t a dream?
He looked down at the clean sheets on his body. Beneath him was a narrow but comfortable small bed. He then looked at several oil paintings of the ocean hanging on the cabin wall.
He was completely stunned.
Liang Sheng stood up in fear. There was a small window above his head. He leaned against it and looked outside.
The river surface was calm, and the water sparkled with light.
In the distance were tall buildings, their neon lights reflected on the water—a scene of bustling nightlife and shimmering ripples.
But he had no mind to appreciate the scenery.
Where exactly was Shen Xingyu taking him?!
Liang Sheng was terrified. Barefoot, he climbed off the bed and ran out, his feet hitting the cold floor with a patter-patter.
Standing on the deck, the wind was quite strong, blowing his clothes non-stop. Amidst the chaos, he saw a figure standing ahead, leaning against the railing with his back turned.
At a glance, it was Shen Xingyu!
What exactly did he want to do?!
Liang Sheng felt frustrated, his mood abysmal.
He clenched his fingers and walked over aggressively.
Shen Xingyu seemed to hear the footsteps behind him. He turned and saw Liang Sheng in thin clothing, walking toward him barefoot. Before he could speak, he received a heavy, resounding slap.
The boat was moving, and there was a slight sway. Liang Sheng shook for a moment, losing his balance.
Shen Xingyu hurriedly caught him in his arms.
He didn’t fly into a rage because of that slap. Instead, he asked with concern: “Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”
Liang Sheng weakly pushed him away and supported himself against the railing. He stared at the man with red eyes. Just thinking about the photo made him so angry he could barely catch his breath.
“Are you… still angry with me?”
Shen Xingyu asked a question he already knew the answer to.
His tone, however, had become several degrees humbler.
“Where have you brought me?!”
Liang Sheng asked in return. He turned to look at the calm river surface. Fortunately, the lights were bright, so it wasn’t terrifying.
But Shen Xingyu’s methods were wicked; he didn’t dare lower his guard. His watery eyes stared intently at the man.
“Are you… planning to throw me in to drown me?”
“No!”
Shen Xingyu hurriedly denied it. He instinctively wanted to move closer, but Liang Sheng dodged far away from him.
“Don’t come over here!”
Shen Xingyu had no choice but to stand where he was and explain:
“Today is your birthday. I wanted to celebrate it for you. Don’t you like being on boats? You like watching the night scenery on the river, so that’s why I bought a ship.”
Liang Sheng’s mouth twitched, clearly not believing him. “Did I hear that right? You actually remember my preferences?”
Shen Xingyu was embarrassed to say he had secretly read the other’s diary. He shifted the subject with an awkward, apologetic tone:
“I’m sorry for taking matters into my own hands and bringing you up here without your consent.”
Liang Sheng was stunned for a moment, yet he wasn’t fooled by the man’s supposed sincerity. He shouted huffily: “I’m in no mood to watch this now. I want to go back!”
Shen Xingyu automatically ignored his words. He took a deep breath, his expression unreadable, and slowly walked toward him.
“Don’t… don’t come any closer!”
Liang Sheng was startled. Thinking the man was going to push him off, he hurriedly stepped back. There was a fence behind him, so there was nowhere to retreat. He could only grip the railing tightly and close his eyes in fear, his entire body shivering.
But the expected weightlessness didn’t occur. He only heard the man speak very gently:
“Happy Birthday, Sheng-sheng.”
Liang Sheng was surprised. He opened his eyes and saw Shen Xingyu standing straight in front of him, his hands behind his back.
The moment the words left his mouth, countless colorful fireworks shot into the sky from the opposite bank.
With several successive booms, they burst in the air.
It wasn’t a single firework, but a rain of fireworks composed of hundreds of identical bursts.
They were brilliant and dazzling, like the Milky Way falling from the heavens.
Not only were there fireworks of all shapes, but there were also thousands of drones arranged in the night sky.
They formed several sentences.
Happy Birthday, Sheng-sheng.
I wish you a lifetime of peace and joy.
With you through every year, from morning until dusk.
In this life, only you.
A magnificent visual feast.
Liang Sheng was dazed, his mind short-circuiting for a moment.
A sky full of fireworks.
Shen Xingyu stood beneath the fireworks, gazing at him with deep affection. Liang Sheng was stunned. Seeing the gentle smile on the man’s face, his heart rate suddenly accelerated.
He hadn’t heard such words since Shen Xingyu’s car accident. Seeing them now, he felt no joy, only bitterness.
Why couldn’t he have been like this earlier?
Always tormenting him.
As Shen Xingyu wished, he finally wanted a divorce, yet this fickle and heartless man wouldn’t let him go.
What was the point of doing this now?
It was merely locking the stable door after the horse had bolted.
Liang Sheng’s eyes, which had been illuminated by the fireworks, gradually grew dim. He would never forgive the other party.
What was burned wasn’t just a photo.
It was also his last sliver of piteous hope.
Seeing that he remained unhappy, Shen Xingyu felt very frustrated. Didn’t he like it? He vaguely remembered that Liang Sheng used to love these things most of all.
On the bridge on the opposite bank, Su Nian watched all this, gnashing his teeth. He was jealous to the point of going mad.
Those blessings arranged by the drones.
He could see them perfectly clearly.
Using such expensive, high-cost fireworks just to celebrate Liang Sheng’s birthday… he had never received such treatment!
Shen Tingwan walked over. Seeing Su Nian’s dark face, she knew he was unhappy because of those confessions.
She hurriedly handed him the ice cream in her hand and complained: “Brother Su Nian, here. My brother is truly something, why go through such trouble to hold a birthday for that worthless country bumpkin.”
Su Nian smiled strainedly, deceiving himself: “Perhaps he just doesn’t want the Chairman to know he mistreated the Young Madam!”
“Not true. In past birthdays, he was never this obedient to Grandfather! That vixen must have given my brother some kind of bewitching potion! Do you think after all these years of coldness, they’ve suddenly rekindled their old flame?”
Shen Tingwan dug into her ice cream, her face full of distress.
Hearing “rekindled old flame,” Su Nian panicked.
He also knew how much Shen Xingyu loved Liang Sheng in college—the man had given ten thousand times more back then than he was giving now.
Could Shen Xingyu’s coldness toward him be because he had developed feelings for Liang Sheng again?! What should he do, what should he do…
Shen Tingwan seemed to notice his panic and quickly comforted him: “It’s okay. No matter what my brother feels for that country bumpkin, you will always be the sister-in-law in my heart!”
“Thank you, Wan-wan…” Su Nian let out a sigh, appearing very sad. “I feel like… your brother doesn’t love me anymore…”
“How could that be? My brother letting you into the Shen residence to eat and live with us means he has recognized you. It’s just that because of Grandfather, he can’t openly divorce Liang Sheng, but his love for you definitely hasn’t changed!”
Shen Tingwan said with certainty. She had witnessed for years how her brother treated Liang Sheng.
How could things just change like that?
Even if things changed, it wouldn’t be a rekindled flame, would it?
She felt her brother was just looking for something fresh.
