"Are you still going to be busy tonight?" During breakfast, Gu Sijiu sat across from Song Jinzhi, noticing that she was only having a glass of milk before heading off to work. Unable to help herself, she asked. After the previous troubles, Song Jinzhi had actually solidified her position at Song Company through that incident. With many plans and projects under her purview as the general manager, she was naturally quite busy. Normally, no matter how busy she was, she would always come home for dinner, but in the past month and a half, she had rarely returned for meals.
"Yes, the company is planning to collaborate with the Moon on a project that I'm in charge of, so I'm a bit busy." Song Jinzhi replied lightly, glancing at Gu Sijiu, who was fidgeting in her chair.
"I see... It's already October, and the year is coming to an end. Are you busy tomorrow too? Do you have to work late?" Gu Sijiu suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with some expectation and longing. When their eyes met, Song Jinzhi looked down, realizing that she hadn't been able to meet Gu Sijiu's gaze for some time now.
"Yeah, I'll probably be busy tomorrow too. Do you have something to discuss?" Song Jinzhi asked knowingly, and Gu Sijiu quickly shook her head.
"Huh? What could I possibly have? I'm busy enough in the military every day, I don't have the time for anything else. I was just asking, don't think too much about it." Gu Sijiu quickly explained, but it felt like she was digging herself deeper. After hearing this, Song Jinzhi simply nodded and got up to leave.
Seeing her leave like that, Gu Sijiu let out a long sigh, opened her communicator, and looked at the calendar. Tomorrow was already the 15th of October, and Song Jinzhi, the wooden face, was so engrossed in work that she probably forgot even her own birthday. Gu Sijiu had only found out about Song Jinzhi's birthday at the beginning of the month, as they had previously submitted their compatibility tests to the Federal Bureau, which included their birthdays. The Bureau would send reminders to the Alpha or Omega during their partner's birthday month to prepare a surprise, which was quite thoughtful.
Since learning about Song Jinzhi's birthday at the beginning of the month, Gu Sijiu had made a mental note of that day. She wasn't one to procrastinate. If she truly liked Song Jinzhi, Gu Sijiu believed she should speak up. Confessing on her birthday, along with a romantic candlelit dinner, seemed like the perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, though Gu Sijiu had a good plan, she couldn't override Song Jinzhi's own reluctance to celebrate her birthday.
Gu Sijiu lay on the sofa, sighing as she thought about how to get Song Jinzhi to come home early tomorrow. To prepare for the day, she had specifically asked Evie to buy some high-quality red wine and had arranged for the best cream from the Moon, wanting to personally bake a cake for Song Jinzhi. If that person didn't come back, the plan would fall apart.
With a glimmer of hope, Gu Sijiu got up early on October 15th and made two bowls of noodles. She wasn't sure how people celebrated birthdays on this planet, but in her original world, it was customary to eat longevity noodles in the morning—long, unbroken strands of noodles. She specifically prepared two bowls and set the bowl with the whole noodle in front of Song Jinzhi after she came downstairs.
"Why did you suddenly make noodles?"
"I felt like eating noodles, so I made them. It's simple to make anyway. Don't you like noodles?" Gu Sijiu picked up a noodle with her chopsticks, took a satisfied bite, and then sipped the broth with a spoon. Song Jinzhi shook her head and looked down at her own bowl.
Song Jinzhi could tell that her bowl of noodles was fundamentally different from Gu Sijiu's. Gu Sijiu's noodles were thinner, while Song Jinzhi's noodles were relatively flat and wide. The broth was a tomato-based soup, sweet and sour, mixed with some chicken broth. The bowl contained vegetables and shredded chicken, exuding an enticing aroma. At the top lay a round boiled egg with a slightly runny yolk. Song Jinzhi sat quietly, eating her noodles, and waited for Gu Sijiu to speak.
"Wooden Face, do you really not have time tonight? If you're busy, what time do you think you'll be back?" Gu Sijiu felt that no matter how much work Song Jinzhi had, she could still carve out some time to return before midnight. As long as her birthday hadn't passed, her preparations could still go ahead. Gu Sijiu asked earnestly, her gaze filled with such expectation that it nearly overflowed.
"I'll check, but I can't promise I'll have time." Under Gu Sijiu's eager gaze, Song Jinzhi found it hard to give a definitive negative answer. She sensed that Gu Sijiu was hinting at a lot without stating it directly, even deliberately changing the subject to obscure her true intentions. Song Jinzhi could see the tenderness hidden within Gu Sijiu, this person knew it was her birthday and wanted to celebrate it for her, repeatedly probing to see if she would have time to come back.
That time, as Song Jinzhi finished her longevity noodles, she felt a slight warmth, but the more she felt it, the heavier the weight in her heart became. After finishing her noodles, she got up to leave. Seeing that Song Jinzhi had cleaned her bowl completely, even drinking the soup, Gu Sijiu raised an eyebrow and collected the empty bowl. She then took out the ingredients she had prepared in the fridge. Since Song Jinzhi hadn't denied anything, there was still hope. Gu Sijiu knew that no matter how busy Song Jinzhi was, she couldn't be too busy to return by midnight.
During their recent time together, Gu Sijiu had already learned Song Jinzhi's preferred tastes very well. Song Jinzhi enjoyed light dishes, and as long as desserts weren't overly sweet, she would also enjoy them. Gu Sijiu had previously learned about baking, so making a cake wasn't difficult for her, especially since the baking tools in this world were far more advanced than those in her original one.
Throughout the entire day, Gu Sijiu busied herself with making the cake and, by evening, prepared a table full of dishes that Song Jinzhi liked. She set the food on the table and placed the beautiful cake in the center. After everything was ready, Gu Sijiu went to her room to retrieve the gift she had bought earlier. Inside the jewelry box was a lovely women's watch, a limited edition collaboration between IFU and Holographic Electronics. Its design was simple and understated, clean and beautiful, with only a few pieces available in the entire world.
Gu Sijiu had always admired Song Jinzhi's slender and graceful wrists. The watch Song Jinzhi was currently wearing might have been a bit bulky due to its many functions. The watch she would gift was not only aesthetically pleasing but also had many features suitable for her. Next to the watch were two little hamster plushies, which Gu Sijiu had stumbled upon while buying the watch.
The hamsters were only about 3 centimeters tall, small but exquisitely crafted with delicate fur and details. One of them was holding and nibbling on a pine nut happily, while the other looked on with a pitiful expression, tears glistening in its red eyes. Gu Sijiu instantly fell in love with these two little hamster plushies and decided to buy them—one for Song Jinzhi and one for herself.
She placed the gifts at her seat and waited for Song Jinzhi to return. As the sun gradually set, the sky darkened. Gu Sijiu glanced at the time and hesitated about whether she should call Song Jinzhi. She pulled out her communicator, but hesitated before dialing. Was she being too impatient? Gu Sijiu paused for a moment and decided to wait a little longer.
During the wait, she stood up and walked to the mirror. For tonight's confession, Gu Sijiu had specially tailored a pure white dress with a stylist. She applied delicate makeup and styled her deep cherry-colored hair into an updo, aiming to convey her seriousness and formality. At 28 years old, this was her first time confessing to someone. Gu Sijiu didn't know if this counted as the most romantic gesture, but at least for her, she had used every idea she could think of.
The candlelit dinner, birthday wishes, and gifts all seemed perfect, and even the most important person, herself, was all set. Gu Sijiu felt that she looked beautiful today, flawless in every way. She counted her own merits, feeling that Song Jinzhi had no reason to refuse. After admiring herself in the mirror for a while, Gu Sijiu suddenly remembered something and took out what she had prepared in advance from the cabinet. It was several sheets of pure white paper, each containing some cheesy confessions that made Gu Sijiu cringe, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin. She didn't want to admit she had written them, but... they had indeed come from her own hands.
"Wooden Face, although you may look like a clueless block of wood, only eating and not cooking, I just love watching you eat the food I make. What you can't do, I will help you with. I like you." Gu Sijiu read the first confession and thought it was a bit silly, so she deleted it. Was this a confession or just self-praise? No, no... Wooden Face would definitely be unhappy if she heard that.
"Jinzhi, you're beautiful, and I'm good-looking too, we're perfect together." What kind of nonsense was that? It made her seem too superficial, confessing based on looks alone. Gu Sijiu went through those confessions one by one and ended up deleting all of them. Feeling frustrated, she rubbed her head, realizing that without any experience in confessing, she was starting to feel anxious.
After fussing for a while, Gu Sijiu realized that half an hour had passed. She picked up her communicator, unable to resist calling Song Jinzhi. The communicator lit up for a while, but no one answered. Gu Sijiu patiently waited for a minute until the call was automatically disconnected. She figured Song Jinzhi was probably busy and would return soon. Thinking this, she glanced at the dishes that had cooled a bit and carefully covered them with an insulated cover, then sat on the sofa to continue waiting.
Another hour passed, and Gu Sijiu rubbed her sore neck and back. Because of the hairstyle she had, she couldn't lie down and wait, so she had to keep sitting, causing some discomfort in her back. Gu Sijiu tried contacting Song Jinzhi again, and just like the previous time, the call went through, but no one picked up.
The communicator's screen flickered back and forth. Meanwhile, Song Jinzhi sat in the dark office, watching the lights flicker on and off. She knew who was calling but didn't have the courage to answer. It was only when the communicator dimmed again that Song Jinzhi walked over to look at the three characters "Gu Sijiu," momentarily dazed. Just then, her father called in, and Song Jinzhi took a deep breath to calm herself before answering the communicator.
"Dad, what's wrong?"
"Xiao Jin, today is your birthday. Your dad and mom both remember, you should be celebrating with that child, Xiao Gu, right?"
"I'm with her, Dad. Nothing's wrong, I'll hang up now."
Song Jinzhi ended the call, placed the communicator back on the table, and as her colleagues left the company, the once bustling Song's now felt desolate. Song Jinzhi sat on the sofa, watching the lights on the communicator flicker on and off.
Later, the communicator never lit up again.
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