Chapter 83: Birthday
The atmosphere in the private room was electric, with everyone laughing heartily—except for Ruan Yu. Watching Fang Wan occasionally brush against Teng Yi, whether intentionally or not, made her feel extremely irritated.
"Ruan Ruan, see that? Compared to white lotuses and green tea bitches, the 'tomboy bitch' is the most terrifying," Jian Xiangxiang said, having somehow ended up beside Ruan Yu.
"Tomboy bitch?"
Jian Xiangxiang discreetly gestured toward Fang Wan with her chin. "That’s Fang Wan’s type—acting all casual and straightforward, using the excuse of being 'one of the guys' to flirt left and right."
Flirt?
That word choice… was perfect.
"You know what? The other day, I saw her walking arm-in-arm with Zhou Xihe on campus. I was furious and went to confront him. Guess what Zhou Xihe said."
Ruan Yu shook her head.
Jian Xiangxiang took a deep breath, steadying the anger bubbling up again. "Zhou Xihe said they were just 'bros,' that they don’t see Fang Wan as a woman, and she doesn’t see them as men. Bullshit! Absolute nonsense! I hate this kind of thing the most—knowing full well a guy has a girlfriend but still clinging and flirting shamelessly. And of course, the guys are just as bad. They don’t lose anything, so they enjoy the attention."
With that, Jian Xiangxiang jerked her chin toward Ruan Yu again.
"Look, look! She’s at it again!"
Ruan Yu followed her gaze.
Fang Wan swayed her hips, using dance moves as cover while resting one hand on Teng Yi’s shoulder and the other on Xiao Qing’s. To others, it looked natural, but to Ruan Yu, it felt like a thorn in her side.
She lowered her head, grabbed a candy from the coffee table, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth, hoping sweetness would overpower the sourness in her chest. But the candy turned out to be dried tangerine peel—already sour.
Just as Ruan Yu regretted her choice and debated spitting it out, Teng Yi broke free from Fang Wan’s "accidental" touch and strode toward her to the rhythm of the music.
"Ooooh!"
The crowd around them started cheering.
Across the coffee table, Teng Yi stretched out his hands to Ruan Yu, signaling for her to take them.
"Sis-in-law! Sis-in-law! Sis-in-law!" Cai Hong and the others chanted.
Teng Yi pulled Ruan Yu into the center of the crowd. Compared to Fang Wan’s fluid movements, Ruan Yu was stiff-limbed, completely unable to dance or pull off any fancy moves.
"I… can’t dance," Ruan Yu murmured, feeling uncharacteristically insecure for the first time in her life.
"It’s fine, you don’t have to." Teng Yi interlaced his fingers with hers. "Just follow me."
The music continued. Xiao Qing had already picked up the microphone—this was his song choice. The moment he started singing, his voice overlapped with the original track.
"I’ve walked the steepest mountain roads / Watched the most magnificent sunrises / By the midnight highway / Shouted at the sky that I refuse to lose / Bet my life as the stake / Danced with the devil before / Seen through all the tricks long ago / Just a little sincerity is enough..."
Ruan Yu swayed left and right like a kindergarten child. Though it was supposed to be her following Teng Yi, it ended up being Teng Yi following her. Their hands stayed tightly clasped—she was clumsy, so he was clumsy; she was adorable, so he was adorable… The once-legendary street dance king now danced at a kindergarten level, and he seemed perfectly content with it.
The crowd watching them burst into laughter from time to time.
Slowly, Ruan Yu loosened up and let herself go completely, thoroughly enjoying the moment.Fang Wan had slipped away at some point, as if this revelry couldn't accommodate both her and Ruan Yu—one's presence meant the other's absence.
Even the most formidable scheming woman is powerless against a resolute man.
A fly can't penetrate an uncracked egg, and one hand alone can never clap.
The music grew wilder, the laughter more unrestrained.
Throughout it all, Teng Yi's gaze remained fixed solely on Ruan Yu, never straying to anyone else, just as Ruan Yu's eyes held only him.
They didn't need words—their dancing said everything.
--?--
Ruan Yu couldn't recall how Teng Yi had pulled her from the crowd. By the time she realized what was happening, they were already outside the private room. The corridor wasn't any quieter than inside, yet they felt like prisoners who'd finally broken free.
Hand in hand, they leaned against the hallway wall, listening to the boisterous crowd inside searching for Teng Yi.
"Hey? Where'd the boss go?"
"Yeah, how'd he disappear so fast?"
Ruan Yu glanced at Teng Yi, who raised a finger to his lips in a "shush" gesture. They shared a secret smile.
"Come ride with me?" Teng Yi whispered in her ear. "Just us two."
Ruan Yu nodded.
It felt like both a spontaneous whim and a long-planned elopement.
Only after settling into Teng Yi's car did Ruan Yu realize something might be amiss.
"It's your birthday—isn't it bad for the guest of honor to leave like this?"
"So you did know it was my birthday?"
His phone had been flooded with birthday wishes all day, yet hers was conspicuously absent. He'd assumed she didn't know.
"I didn't check my phone all day. I only found out tonight when people mentioned it."
"It's fine. Not that important anyway."
"Birthdays are important. I'm sorry I didn't have time to prepare a gift." She hooked her arm through his, giving it a playful shake. "Can I make it up to you later?"
"Don't bother."
"I insist."
"Really, it's unnecessary."
As he waved his hand, his cuff slid back, revealing his wristwatch—just in time for her to see.
Ruan Yu pushed his arm away, her jealousy surfacing again.
"You'll accept gifts from others but refuse mine? What's that supposed to mean?"
Teng Yi sensed trouble but couldn't pinpoint the source of her irritation.
"Whose gift did I accept?"
Her sidelong glance landed on his watch.
"This?" Teng Yi pointed at his wrist.
Ruan Yu stayed silent, her expression confirming his guess.
Teng Yi laughed. "You're jealous of my mother now?"
"Your mother?"
"Mm."
This was the Breguet classic dual-time zone watch—worth several hundred thousand—that Shen Bing had given him as a college entrance gift.
"I thought it was..."
"Thought it was from who?"
"Never mind." She certainly wouldn't mention Fang Wan's name.
Teng Yi didn't press further. He never accepted birthday gifts from anyone, nor did he bother with cake-cutting or wish-making rituals—partly because his egg allergy prevented him from eating cake, and partly because he found such formalities tedious. Friends used to go through the motions, but once they understood his preferences, they gradually skipped both cake and presents.
These past two years, his birthdays had simply become excuses for friends to make him treat them—utterly devoid of ceremony.“What kind of birthday is it without anything? When I was little, my favorite thing was celebrating birthdays—blowing out candles to make wishes and receiving gifts.”
“So, what gift are you planning to give me?” he asked.
“Uh.” Ruan Yu hesitated. “I haven’t thought of one yet.”
“No need to think.” He leaned in close. “I’ll just take it myself.”
“Wha—”
Her words were swallowed by his kiss, along with the lingering sweetness and slight bitterness of tangerine peel on her tongue.
Perhaps because it was a gift—once given, it belonged to him—so he kissed her leisurely, unhurried, savoring her taste slowly.
Ruan Yu, too, was conscious of being the gift. She wrapped her arms around Teng Yi’s neck, lips at the ready—opening when he sought entry, welcoming him in when he advanced, surrendering all control to him.
Inside the car, the temperature rose.
The cold autumn wind pressed against the windows, silently guarding this little secret of love.
Teng Yi took Ruan Yu for a drive across the Liaocheng River Bridge.
The bridge was brilliantly lit, with yellow and blue LED lights lining both sides, marking the boundary between bridge and river, making it resemble a solitary “house of light” floating above the Liao River in the darkness.
The pristine white, "human"-shaped main tower stood out like a breathtaking marvel.
Teng Yi opened the convertible top.
Ruan Yu raised her hands as the wind rushed through her fingers. The streetlights cast a soft glow, like six-pointed stars hanging just within reach.
“Do you like this bridge?” Teng Yi asked her.
The wind scattered his words. Though they were inches apart, it felt as if they were worlds away.
“What did you say?” Ruan Yu shouted.
Teng Yi raised his voice and repeated the question.
“Yes! I love this bridge!” she yelled—the first word answering him, the next two a passionate declaration to the bridge itself.
“Love” wasn’t enough.
A moment later, she added, “It feels like this bridge leads to a fairyland.”
Such a poetic line didn’t sound pretentious here. Instead, it perfectly captured the beauty before them—neither excessive nor lacking.
Teng Yi nodded. “Great minds think alike.”
“Do you come here often?”
“Occasionally.”
“How did you find this place?”
Teng Yi thought back.
His connection with this bridge began two springs ago, during Lunar New Year, when Shen Bing took him and Teng Hao back to their hometown for a visit. They’d thought driving would save time, but before even reaching the highway, they got stuck on this bridge due to a rear-end collision.
The long line of cars stretched like a giant dragon across the bridge.
For two whole hours, not a single vehicle ahead moved.
Teng Yi sat in the car, stiff and sore, while Teng Hao whined impatiently. Shen Bing suggested the brothers get out and stretch their legs, so they did.
On the bridge, drivers crouched beside their cars, smoking.
Teng Yi walked to the side and loosened up with a few simple street dance moves. Teng Hao eagerly followed, mimicking him. At first, no one paid them any attention—until a clear voice piped up.
“Hey, you guys are so cool! Teach me too!” A boy, about six or seven, poked his head out from a silver sedan behind them.
“Come on!” Teng Hao waved enthusiastically.With his parents' permission, the little boy got out of the car and joined them.
Teng Yi suddenly had two little followers trailing behind him. Whatever move he did, Teng Hao and the little boy would mimic it.
The boy was clever and quick to learn. Simple dance moves were no challenge for him at all. When Teng Yi upped the difficulty with a flip and a handstand, trying to intimidate him, the boy fearlessly followed along without hesitation.
Gradually, the number of little followers grew from two to three, then from three to four... The kids, as if addicted to the fun, laughed and played, turning the traffic jam into an enjoyable wait.
Perhaps it was from that day onward that Teng Yi first conceived the idea of starting a street dance training company, with children's street dance as its most important component.
For lively and energetic kids, street dance was like a game—one that could boost their intellectual development, enhance their physical fitness, improve flexibility, and sharpen their ability to imitate movements and rhythms while fostering an aesthetic sense.
He spent two whole years preparing for this idea.
--?--
As the car descended from the cross-river bridge, that dazzling world gradually faded into the distance.
"Coming up with such an idea during a traffic jam—you're really something," Ruan Yu said, leaning against the passenger window. "Other than street dance, do you even have any other hobbies?"
Teng Yi thought seriously for a moment.
"I do."
"What is it?"
"You."
Ruan Yu froze.
"Me? In your heart, am I just a hobby?" She was dissatisfied.
"Mhm."
And he just said "mhm"?
Her dissatisfaction grew.
Pursing her lips, Ruan Yu tried to give them both an out. "I'll give you a chance to explain. If your explanation isn’t good, I’ll be angry."
"My heart's love, my heart's joy. Does that explanation satisfy you?" His voice was carried over by the wind.
Ruan Yu froze again, but when the words sank in, she was enveloped by overwhelming sweetness.
"Ugh, that’s so cheesy," she said, feigning disdain, though her face was beaming.
Teng Yi also thought he was being cheesy, but as long as she was happy, it was worth it.
"Are you really dating for the first time?"
"Mhm."
"Seems like you have a natural talent for it."
Whether it was making a girl happy or sweet-talking.
Teng Yi smiled. He hadn’t known he could be this cheesy before, but with her, the words just flowed out naturally.
If this counted as a talent, then loving her was his talent.
The car entered the university district.
Throughout the drive, Teng Yi’s phone had been buzzing nonstop—texts, WeChat messages. Those who hadn’t managed to send their blessings earlier seemed determined to make their presence known before the clock struck twelve.
He was truly well-liked. Whether on campus or off, wherever he went, friends were everywhere.
Then again, who wouldn’t like him?
A street dance legend with maxed-out skills, a gentleman whose every gesture exuded courtesy and gentleness, a handsome and generous guy with both wealth and a strong sense of loyalty...
If she hadn’t met him in person, she wouldn’t have believed all these qualities could exist in one man.
Just as Ruan Yu was lost in thought, Teng Yi’s phone rang.
He pulled the car over.
"I need to take this," he said.
Ruan Yu nodded, resting her head against the window as she gazed outside.
After the weather turned cold, students had become reluctant to go out, and the small stalls near the campus had mostly closed for the season. The entire street was quiet and deserted, with only a few scattered food stalls still open.Suddenly, she spotted a sweet potato stall.
"I'm outside... Do I need to report to you? Come on, I already paid the bill when I left..." Teng Yi responded expressionlessly to the sweet talk on the other end of the phone.
Taking advantage of his distraction, Ruan Yu pushed the car door open and stepped out, heading straight for the sweet potato stall.
The stall owner was a woman in her thirties or forties, her hair loosely tied at the back of her head, with two rosy patches on her cheeks. Though the weather hadn't turned completely cold yet, she was already bundled up in a thick military-style coat.
From beneath the woman's coat emerged a little girl with pigtails, her bright eyes sparkling as she beamed at a tiny cake placed on a stool.
It must have been the girl's birthday too. A single candle stood on the small cake, and the woman softly sang "Happy Birthday" to her. The little girl joined in with a shy hum, swaying her head gently to the tune.
Finally, the girl blew out the candle, clasped her hands together, and bowed her head to make a wish.
No one knew what wish she made, but when she whispered it to her mother, the two burst into laughter and hugged each other tightly.
The orange glow of the streetlamp bathed the scene in warmth.
Ruan Yu stood quietly, her eyes moistening as she became utterly captivated by the sight.
OpenNovel