Chapter 40: Happy Birthday
“A collar.” Mu Feng raised his hand, his fingers curling around his own neck. “This?”
“Mm. Do you want one?” Liang Yuhang’s voice rose at the end.
It was as if he were teasing a kitten.
Visibly, Mu Feng’s cheeks flushed instantly. It was as if he were already wearing the collar, his breathing tightening.
“Okay… I’ll like anything you give me,” he stuttered.
Liang Yuhang smiled. “Aren’t you going to ask why I chose that?”
“Because you treat me like a cat.”
Mu Feng was very self-aware. It couldn’t be that Teacher Liang wanted to play some kind of “kinky” game with him.
“Not quite.” Liang Yuhang raised his hand and tapped his own neck. “I saw you wearing one last time. I guessed you liked them. Seems I guessed right.”
Mu Feng let out an “oh,” already impatient to receive Liang Yuhang’s gift.
He blinked. “Will it be sent by courier, or will you give it to me when you return?”
“Wait for me to return,” Liang Yuhang said.
Mu Feng felt as if there were a balloon in his heart, making his whole being feel light enough to fly because of those words.
He repeated, “Okay. I’ll wait for you to come back. Be careful in the war zone.”
For the following time, Liang Yuhang was truly busy. Mu Feng wrote a countdown every day, but even when his birthday arrived, he didn’t receive news of Liang Yuhang’s return.
“Congratulations to our little Mu Mu on turning nineteen!!!! Passersby, don’t forget to say to him: HAPPY! BIRTHDAY!”
At eight in the morning, 0717 had already started broadcasting on a loop at the base entrance.
Mu Feng was woken up by that very sound.
He didn’t even have time to change. Wearing his pajamas and slippers, he rushed out and grabbed 0717 by the neck. “Are you trying to give me a ‘social death’? Do you want to celebrate the anniversary of my death next year?”
The students and professors passing by all stopped when they saw him, holding back laughter as they said, “Happy birthday, Mu Feng.”
He truly received a flood of blessings, but he also felt like he had become the main subject of “cricket chirping” (gossip) behind his back today.
Mu Feng looked blank. What were they laughing at?
“Good morning, Birthday Boy!” 0717 said with a grin. “Next, I will perform a birthday celebration song and dance that I learned specifically for you.”
Mu Feng: “…Thanks. How about… let’s perform it at home…”
Before he could finish, 0717 had already started a very festive celebratory song and began wiggling its butt in a dance.
Enduring everyone’s gazes, Mu Feng now shared the same feeling Liang Yuhang had about wanting to dismantle it. “…Alright, that was a great dance. Let’s not do it next time, okay?”
“Am I not cute?” 0717 continued its hard-working performance while interacting with the audience. “Look! This is our little Birthday Boy! Congratulate him!”
Mu Feng, who prided himself on being a social butterfly, for the first time felt like digging a hole and burying himself.
Jiang Yu’an chased after him with messy hair, clapping expressionlessly. “His mental state is still a level above. He wins. My gift is almost too embarrassing to take out now.”
Zhou Tiantian took a deep breath. “Since it’s come to this, I can only join them if I can’t beat them…”
“I’m begging you, don’t join. I’m the one losing face.” Mu Feng reached out to grab him, while his other hand urgently sent a message to Liang Yuhang.
[M]: 0717 seems to have gone crazy. How do I cut the power?
Mu Feng didn’t have time to explain; he just started a video call and pointed the camera at 0717. “Do you see this? By the time you get back, the grass on my grave will be three feet high.”
Liang Yuhang was actually laughing.
He commented, “Your face looks quite nice.”
Mu Feng: ???
In this lifetime, he actually heard Liang Yuhang praise his face as “nice”?
Wait, something was ten thousand percent wrong.
He looked at his own image in the small window on the screen. At some point, likely by his two “to-be-executed” roommates, three little cat whiskers had been drawn on each side of his face.
“Jiang Yu’an, you’re dead!!!” Mu Feng reached out to pinch him.
The other man was laughing uncontrollably. “It’s very cute! I only intended to take a photo and then wipe it off. Who told you to run straight out?”
“Oh, it’s my fault then.” Mu Feng didn’t know who to “blade” first for a moment.
He pointed the camera back at 0717, who was still singing and dancing. “Teacher Liang, help me out. Handle this.”
“0717, stop messing with him.” As the master, Liang Yuhang had a natural “bloodline suppression.” As soon as he spoke, the other side went silent instantly.
“How are you still video calling him?” Jiang Yu’an snatched the phone, very wary. “Doctor Liang, is the war zone not busy enough? Why are you so leisurely this morning?”
“The work of the last few days is mostly finished. You should watch out; your brother was settling your nightclub records from the past half month last night.” Liang Yuhang gave a friendly reminder.
“What!!!” Jiang Yu’an gasped. “As expected, I’ve been stabbed in the back after all.”
Liang Yuhang didn’t bother talking to him much. “Give the phone back to Mu Feng.”
Jiang Yu’an was immersed in the grief of having his accounts settled. His heart was like dead ashes. “Mu Bao, for the sake of your birthday, I’ll leave you alive until tomorrow.”
Mu Feng took the phone back, using the camera as a mirror to wipe the cat whiskers off his face. “Is something up, Teacher Liang?”
“I can’t make it back,” Liang Yuhang said. “Happy birthday. I’ll give you the gift in a few days.”
Mu Feng let out an “oh.” Although he was still a bit disappointed, he felt that hearing him give his blessings in person was a huge step forward.
He said, “Then just a gift isn’t enough. I want compensation.”
“Pushing your luck.” Liang Yuhang gave him a light glance. “Going to get busy now.”
The other man had already hung up, but Mu Feng was still happily clutching his phone.
You had to know that on his birthday last year, he hadn’t had such good treatment, let alone hearing Liang Yuhang’s blessing with his own ears.
The next second, however, the phone vibrated and his smile froze.
[Mu Shan]: Banquet tonight. Come back early. I’m giving you face by holding a birthday banquet for you, you hear me?
He didn’t want to go, but he was already being put on the spot; he had no choice but to go.
“Did you learn face-changing?” Zhou Tiantian looked at him suspiciously. “How can you go from smiling like a flower to rolling your eyes in a second?”
“Nothing. I have to go home tonight.” Mu Feng felt most of his good mood disappear instantly.
Jiang Yu’an never participated in these superficial banquets. “What are you going for? Just disappear. I’ll take you somewhere more fun to celebrate our Mu Bao’s romantic nineteenth.”
This was the difference between him and Little Jiang—one was a son who was manipulated and disliked, and the other was a favored young master of a prestigious family.
“I’ll just show my face and leave.” Mu Feng was already used to it. “Before I go back, let me handle each of you first.”
0717 had the kitchen make a cake. Mu Feng used the cake to smear a “big flower face” on each of them.
Then he pinned them down to take a group photo and uploaded it to his status. Revenge was taken; he felt better.
In the evening, Mu Feng went home. As soon as he entered, he saw a group of annoying “dead faces.”
Mu Shan, Mu Shui, Mu Mingde… oh, and Liang Jingyi, who should have been in the war zone but had returned at some unknown time.
“You really are everywhere.” Mu Feng’s face turned cold. He could guess with his toes what kind of scheme this birthday banquet was.
“I hurried back specifically for your birthday, and you’re still not happy,” Liang Jingyi said. “You follow my brother around like a tail every day; see if he even pays you any mind.”
Mu Feng couldn’t be bothered with him. He sat down in his seat, pretending to be mute.
“Consider an alliance through marriage with me.” Liang Jingyi sat next to him. “Your father’s intention is also to give you to me.”
Mu Feng suppressed his irritation. “What exactly do you see in me? I’ll change, okay?”
Liang Jingyi raised an eyebrow slightly. “That will be hard. The things and people I want, I will get.”
“I don’t have the energy for your nonsense. Shut up.”
Mu Feng kept his head down and drank tea, one cup after another. For some reason, the more he drank, the thirstier he became.
He lowered his head and secretly sent a message to Liang Yuhang.
[M]: Why is Liang Jingyi so free? He’s back so early.
[Teacher Liang]: He went to find you?
[M]: Mm. He might use my birthday as an excuse to get engaged to me.
Mu Feng raised his hand and unfastened the top button. For some reason, it was very stifling and hot.
He lowered his gaze, looking at the tea that had been refilled.
[M]: Teacher Liang, I don’t seem right. I’m so hot.
[Teacher Liang]: …Why are you acting so thirsty?
[M]: Really, I feel very strange.
It took nearly five minutes for a reply.
This time, Liang Yuhang sent a voice message directly: “I’m on the way back. If you dare lie to me, you know the consequences.”
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