Chapter 575
Extra: A Small Wish
Yes, there's a second challenge; the main story starts tomorrow.
Although Han Zhou was full of enthusiasm and offered to buy a very, very big cake, Xiao Xiaoxiao ultimately chose the smallest four-inch cake.
In her words, since there's a New Year's Eve dinner tonight, the cake should be small, otherwise it would be a waste.
Han Zhou knew, of course, that she just wanted to save him money, but he didn't call her out on it. He just smiled and leaned closer to the glass display case, pointing to the small cake with the cream frosting almost squeezed to the edge, and joked, "This cake is smaller than my palm. Aren't you afraid that there won't even be enough room to put the candles in it?"
"Don't try to fool me. Birthday candles are very thin; how could they not fit?"
Xiao Xiaoxiao snorted, but her eyes were glued to the cake, and she secretly swallowed.
"Han Zhou...you're not lying to me, are you? This cake really isn't expensive?"
"It's not expensive. There's a price list over there. It's only around thirty yuan."
"Thirty yuan is already very expensive, okay..." the girl muttered softly, "That's enough to buy groceries for two days..."
Although she said that, her eyes never left the cake.
Han Zhou chuckled: "We're usually frugal, but today is your birthday. On special occasions like this, it's only right to spend a little more money."
Xiao Xiaoxiao was taken aback.
"...Isn't it because today is New Year's Eve?" she asked instinctively.
What are you saying?
Han Zhou was gesturing for the shop assistant to take out the cake and also asked for some jam. Hearing this, he paused, not quite understanding what she meant, but he didn't mind. He just smiled and said, "Today is indeed New Year's Eve, but it's also your birthday. Even if it weren't New Year's Eve, this money should still be spent."
He took the jam from the shop assistant, squeezed it onto the cake a few times, and then watched as the shop assistant packed the cake into a box. When he looked down, he realized that the girl was staring at him blankly, seemingly lost in thought.
"Are you alright?" He was taken aback.
"N-nothing!"
Xiao Xiaoxiao seemed to wake up suddenly and shook her head vigorously.
"It's good that you're alright."
Han Zhou didn't press further. He simply took the small square box tied with a gold ribbon from the shop assistant and gently placed it on the girl's knees. "Hold on tight. See that smiley face on the cake? I squeezed that on myself. If it gets deformed on the way back, I'll hold you responsible."
Xiao Xiaoxiao took the box in a daze and carefully held it in her arms.
Through the transparent window on the side of the box, she saw a plump cream cake inside, pure white and simple, with a crooked smiley face drawn on top with red jam.
Because her birthday and Lunar New Year's Eve fall on the same day, the only "special day" in her memory is Lunar New Year's Eve. Everyone around her only remembers Lunar New Year's Eve. Occasionally, someone will remember and say, "Oh, today is also your birthday," and then that's it.
This was the first time someone had told her so matter-of-factly that even without New Year's Eve, her birthday was still a very special day.
Her nose suddenly stung, and she hurriedly lowered her head, burying her face in her scarf.
"It's so ugly."
She sniffed and mumbled something as if trying to stay calm.
It's really ugly. It used to look so delicate and cute, but now it looks like a child's doodle.
"What do you know? This is what it means to know how to manage a household."
Han Zhou smiled smugly, not caring that the shop assistant was right in front of him, and began to impart his experience in a serious manner, "If I didn't draw this smiley face, would you get free jam?"
Xiao Xiaoxiao was stunned for a moment, then lifted half of her face from under her scarf, her lips slightly parted, as if she had discovered a new continent: "Can it be done like this?"
"Of course, you still have a lot to learn." Han Zhou had a profound and inscrutable expression.
"Then I'll force a smiley face too!"
Xiao Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up, and she immediately perked up, completely ignoring the shop assistant who was both amused and exasperated.
"Is that okay?" Han Zhou turned to look at the shop assistant.
"of course can."
The shop assistant smiled and nodded, bent down to open the cake box on Xiao Xiaoxiao's lap, and handed her a new bag of jam.
"Thank you sister."
Xiao Xiaoxiao thanked him a little shyly, took the jam, thought about it carefully, and then squeezed a small smiley face into the blank space on the cake.
Because the cake was so small, the two smiley faces, one big and one small, had to be placed right next to each other, making it look even uglier than before.
But looking at her "work," she seemed quite satisfied, proudly raising her face: "How about it? My drawing is much better than yours, isn't it?"
Han Zhou leaned closer, examined it carefully, and asked suspiciously, "Isn't there any difference?"
"nonsense!"
Xiao Xiaoxiao glared at him fiercely, "Your smile looks so smug, mine is much cuter, you can ask this older sister if you don't believe me!"
She looked up at the shop assistant who had been watching the scene with a smile, and a look of anticipation appeared on her little face.
The shop assistant suppressed a laugh, nodded cooperatively, and said to Han Zhou, "This child is indeed very cute."
"I knew it..."
Xiao Xiaoxiao's face lit up with a smile, but she quickly realized something, and her smile froze on her face.
What does "this child" mean?
Seeing that things were not going well, Han Zhou immediately pushed his wheelchair and rushed out of the cake shop as if he were escaping.
……
At night, every household turned on its lights.
Even from a great distance, one could hear the distant sound of fireworks, one after another, leaping into the night sky with a whooshing sound, bursting open and illuminating the sky again and again.
Although he said he would have Xiao Xiaoxiao cook the New Year's Eve dinner, Han Zhou knew very well what she was capable of, and considering that she was already physically disabled, he only had her cook two of her signature dishes before letting her go to the living room to rest.
In the living room, Xiao Xiaoxiao showed no interest in the Spring Festival Gala. Due to the lack of a childhood, her current hobby is still cartoons, but recently she has "advanced" a bit - she heard that mature people prefer to watch Japanese anime. At this moment, she was holding Han Zhou's broken screen phone, watching it intently.
At this point, the plot has reached its climax, and the male and female protagonists, after many twists and turns, finally walk hand in hand into the wedding hall.
“Ichiki-kun… From today onwards, I will change my surname to Chihashi and become ‘Takahashi Chiyuki’.”
"Will you find it difficult to get used to?"
"Just a little bit, but my heart is overflowing with happiness."
"Then please take care of me from now on, Mrs. Takahashi."
"Yes, please guide me, dear."
"..."
Xiao Xiaoxiao was engrossed in watching when she heard Han Zhou's voice from the kitchen: "Xiaoxiao, it's time to eat!"
"understood!"
Xiao Xiaoxiao responded loudly, plugged in her phone to charge, then pushed her wheelchair into the bathroom to wash her hands.
When she came out of the bathroom, Han Zhou had already put all the food on the table. It looked quite plentiful, and the room was filled with a delicious aroma.
She swallowed hard, involuntarily increasing the speed at which she pushed the wheelchair, but complained, "I told you not to cook so much food, the two of us can't finish it."
"Didn't I say that we still need to have the proper sense of ritual?"
Han Zhou smiled and said, "If you can't finish it, you can save it for tomorrow and the day after. It won't be a waste."
Xiao Xiaoxiao was about to nod when she suddenly remembered something. After hesitating for a few seconds, she couldn't help but ask, "Then, before I moved in...did you also have this kind of ritual when you were alone?"
Just as Han Zhou knew about her past, she also knew about Han Zhou's past, knowing that he had been living alone for a long time, and even the terminal illness he kept hidden in his heart that he had never spoken of.
"Of course not, why would a person need any sense of ritual?"
Han Zhou shook his head, his tone relaxed, as if he were joking, "So the fact that you can move in and keep me company has rekindled my passion for life."
Xiao Xiaoxiao didn't respond. This guy was very good at saying nice things, and she wasn't sure if he was saying those things on purpose to comfort her.
But when she thought about how this guy would be sitting alone in an empty room during holidays, facing a large table of food, she felt that her presence wasn't just a burden, but also served a purpose, which made her feel a little better.
Han Zhou got up and handed her the bowl and chopsticks, then continued, "But I still have a sense of ritual when it comes to my birthday. At least I make a wish for that year every year."
"Is making a wish a very ritualistic thing?" Xiao Xiaoxiao asked curiously as she took the bowl and chopsticks.
"Of course, besides your birthday, when else can you make a wish for free?"
"Can't you make a wish for free at Christmas? I heard Santa Claus is very kind and he travels around delivering presents in his carriage..."
"Aren't stockings free? Also, Santa Claus rides a sleigh pulled by reindeer."
"There's no difference..."
Xiao Xiao muttered something under her breath, then suddenly asked, "So what wishes have you made?"
"What do you ask for this?"
Han Zhou looked wary, with an expression that said, "I wouldn't tell you even if you killed me." "Birthday wishes don't come true if you tell them out loud." "I'm about to make a wish too. This is my first time making a birthday wish, so I need to find something to refer to, right?" Xiao Xiaoxiao said matter-of-factly.
Han Zhou was taken aback, then chuckled: "Your wish is your wish, why use mine as a reference?"
He paused for a moment, then continued, "And it's been so long, I can't even remember the wishes I made before."
"Then tell me what you remember." Xiao Xiaoxiao even stopped eating, determined not to give up until she got some answers.
Han Zhou couldn't persuade her otherwise, so he thought about it carefully for a while before saying, "I do remember my childhood wish."
The "childhood" he mentioned was not his childhood in this world, but his childhood on the original Earth before he traveled through time.
"What is your wish?" Xiao Xiaoxiao pressed.
Han Zhou looked over with a half-smile and replied, "Grow up quickly, and grow ten centimeters taller for every year you grow older."
Xiao Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up, and she blurted out, "That's a good wish, that's a good wish!"
However, she quickly realized something, and her face darkened.
Han Zhou knew what she was thinking, suppressed a laugh, and calmly explained, "This really was my wish when I was a child. I was only five years old then, and I loved to compete with other children to see who could touch the leaves on the tree first, so on my birthday, I naturally made this wish."
"Pfft."
Hearing that this guy could be so childish, Xiao Xiaoxiao couldn't help but laugh out loud, then she put on a serious face again, "You can't possibly only remember this one wish."
Han Zhou thought for a moment: "I'm not a very ambitious person, and the wishes I make are mostly very mundane..."
"Stop talking nonsense, I want to hear it."
"Ok."
Han Zhou smiled helplessly, recalled for a long time, put down his chopsticks, and held up one finger:
"My first wish is to study hard and earn lots and lots of money in the future."
This is a wish that almost every child has had, and he was no exception.
After saying that, he extended his second finger.
"My second wish is to buy my own house, with three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom."
This was a wish he made when he was a child in this world: as long as he could buy his own house, he could get rid of the group of guys who were chasing Han Long for debts.
"My third wish is to have a different kind of birthday, to buy a three-tiered cake with each tier having a different flavor, and to put in double the number of candles."
This was a wish from a past life. I can't remember the specific reason, but it was probably due to the children's competitive spirit.
"My fourth wish is not to be alone during the Lunar New Year; I want to invite at least ten friends over to my home."
It was a wish from a past life.
My fifth wish is to have better and better health and to become a successful person in the future.
This is my greatest wish in this life. The so-called "success" is nothing more than the desire to survive and continue to breathe.
"My sixth wish is to confess to the person I like, and for the two of us to become very happy together."
This was his lifelong wish, which at the time would have been considered his last wish. Given his physical condition at the time, confessing his feelings would have been a burden to others. Even now, he still deliberately suppresses his emotions and pretends that he will not fall for anyone.
In the following time, Han Zhou recounted his "wishes" one by one.
But rather than a wish, it's more like a list of plans.
However, as a list of plans, these items seem too fragmented, going off on a tangent, and even including wishes that don't sound like wishes at all, such as "being able to take two clean bowls out of the cupboard at any time."
But Xiao Xiaoxiao did not interrupt.
She listened quietly until the very end, then rolled her eyes and remarked, "You're only a year older than me, where do you get so many birthday wishes to make for me?"
Han Zhou smiled without saying a word, and after a long while, he said, "So, how did your research go?"
"You've corrupted me..."
Xiao Xiaoxiao said irritably, "I thought birthday wishes should be something grand and lofty, but from what you're saying, a wish is just what you want most right now, right?"
"You're very perceptive."
Han Zhou looked pleased and asked curiously, "So what's the thing you want most right now?"
"I'm not telling you."
Xiao Xiaoxiao snorted, and after a while, she suddenly raised her chin and said triumphantly, "By the way, do you know what it means after my birthday?"
Han Zhou pondered for a moment: "Does that mean your chances of growing taller are getting slimmer and slimmer?"
Xiao Xiaoxiao was furious and raised her hand to throw a punch, but the table was too wide and she couldn't reach it, so she had to give up in frustration.
I'll let it slide since this guy bought me a cake...
She comforted herself like this, and then her smug little expression returned: "I'll be sixteen after my birthday. At sixteen, I can legally work. Once I find a job and earn money, I can buy a bigger cake next year."
What she really wanted to say was that after this birthday, she would no longer be a burden. On the contrary, she could go out and earn money to support this guy who still needed to go to school.
But given her personality, it's impossible for her to say such a thing.
Han Zhou was stunned when he saw the girl's bright eyes and her expectant face.
"What's wrong? Don't you believe I can make money?"
Seeing his dazed look, Xiao Xiao glared at him, still holding her chin up, "Even if I have difficulty moving around, I can still find a job!"
Han Zhou came to his senses and chuckled: "It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that I'm thinking, even if you wrote 'sixteen years old' on your forehead, probably no one would believe it."
This time, Xiao Xiaoxiao was unusually not angry about being teased for being short. Instead, she said very seriously, "I will make them start by believing that I am already sixteen years old."
"I've been looking forward to this day for a long time." She paused, then added earnestly.
"I'm really looking forward to this day."
Han Zhou's smile deepened, but he didn't say much. He simply asked curiously, "So this is your wish?"
"of course not."
Xiao Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes. "Didn't you say that wishes won't come true if you say them out loud?"
"Then why did you insist that I say it just now?"
"None of your wishes have come true yet, so they've been forbidden for a long time, haven't they?"
"That's hard to refute..." Han Zhou said with a wry smile.
And so, the two chatted as they ate their New Year's Eve dinner amidst the sounds of fireworks outside the window. Then they took out the cake, inserted sixteen candles, and carefully lit them one by one.
After that, Han Zhou personally put the birthday hat on Xiao Xiaoxiao and turned off the lights in the living room.
Outside the window, the roar and bursts of fireworks rose and fell, and the flickering light pierced through the glass, spreading warm colors across the ceiling moment by moment.
Above the sixteen candles, the small flames flickered gently in the gaps between the light and shadow of the fireworks, casting a warm and focused glow on the girl's lowered face. All the sounds around her seemed to fade away, and only the candlelight danced quietly in her clear eyes.
She clasped her hands together in front of her chest, closed her eyes, and her long eyelashes cast soft shadows in the light, making her appear suddenly dignified.
The sky outside the window was suddenly illuminated by a large golden firework, which, along with the flickering candlelight, was reflected in the girl's pupils, as if all the hopes of the New Year's Eve were gently gathered into this cluster of light.
Before the golden fireworks faded, the girl silently made a wish and blew out the candle with all her might.
At the same time, Han Zhou sang the birthday song with all his might and softly said, "Happy birthday."
She also softly replied, "Thank you."
Watching the smile that quietly bloomed on the girl's face amidst the flickering fireworks, Han Zhou hesitated for a long time before finally asking the question.
"Xiaoxiao, since you hate your surname so much, have you ever thought about... trying to change it?"
Xiao Xiaoxiao, who had just blown out the candles and whose mind seemed to still be floating on the wishing starry sky, paused for a moment.
She really hated her surname because it always reminded her of the parents who abandoned her. She couldn't hate them, but she didn't want to think about them anymore, so she didn't want to hear people mention her surname.
She wasn't angry, but asked curiously, "Change it to what?"
Han Zhou hesitated for a moment.
"For example... changing it to my surname?"
Outside the window, a cluster of fireworks bursts open at that very moment.
The dazzling light and shadow poured in, illuminating the entire room.
Xiao Xiaoxiao's pupils dilated slightly in the light, reflecting Han Zhou's hesitant expression and the still-blooming splendor outside the window.
Is it okay to get married at sixteen?
She stared blankly at the boy who was only a year older than her, her pupils flashing like fireworks, and she held her breath.
"...Huh?" (End of Chapter)