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Chapter 57: Happy Birthday

Xia Liang was in a terrible mood.

She slumped in her office chair, wearing the disguise of Dong Lao, staring blankly at the topographic map in front of her.

Shortly after being exposed by Shu Jun, she returned to Y City. The preparations for the Reunion Festival were a top priority, and her touring performances were suspended. As “Dong Lao”, she naturally had more time for her work. Although living this double life was tiring, it brought her a subtle sense of satisfaction.

She didn’t enjoy singing, but she excelled at it. However, she was determined to learn tactics and achieve impressive results.

She wasn’t a puppet manipulated by the Xia family. She was more outstanding than anyone else and manipulated everyone around her. Even if she couldn’t compare to Zhu Yanchen’s obsession, she could still be proud. The sense of achievement was addictive.

But Shu Jun easily burst this soap bubble.

He casually exposed her disguise as if it were a trivial matter. In that moment of exposure, anger surged through her, accompanied by a slight sense of fear and embarrassment.

Now she couldn’t feel any sense of accomplishment and instead felt like a clown. In the eyes of those who knew the truth, was all this fuss just a self-indulgent game?

The sweetness was gone, and the bitterness became even more bitter. The whole game started to become boring. Xia Liang stood up in frustration and began walking towards Zhu Yanchen’s office. Today, Zhu Yanchen was returning to the settlement, and she needed to submit her reports from the past few days.

When she reached the door, the guard politely stopped her. “Dong Lao, Marshal Zhu is currently on a conference call.”

“Okay.” She squeezed her voice, and the fun of “playing a role” gradually faded. “Then I’ll come back later.”

In Zhu Yanchen’s office, the holographic screen hung in the center of the room.

On the other side of the screen, Zhu Sheng sat upright on a wooden chair, leisurely sipping tea. “How are the preparations for the Reunion Festival going?”

“I’ve reviewed the latest planning proposals, and the resources and manpower are in place. The Old Fourth has been relatively quiet, and with the sweetness of the Reunion Festival itself, they won’t retaliate too strongly,” Zhu Yanchen responded indifferently. “The key is the Tang Family. The Tang Family is a major business family, and although the Reunion Festival plan is designed by us, it’s actually their home ground. They will definitely use this opportunity to support Yi Ning.”

“You’ve made great progress and are becoming more and more like him.” Zhu Sheng casually commented. “‘Zhu Yanchen has returned, so there’s no need to go through the process again. After the Reunion Festival, major voting will begin. Yi Ning is leading in the polls based on his support for increased production of synthetic humans. You just need to come up with a more suitable plan… I’ve already prepared the speech. Memorize it by today.”

“Understood.”

“Also, I heard something interesting.” Zhu Sheng took a sip of tea. “Did you tamper with the city defense in Y City?”

“It’s just a precaution since all the players are gathering. The Blackbirds provided an abnormal report about an Erosion Swamp near X City. Although the city defense will be raised to Level B during the festival, I believe Level A would be more appropriate.”

“Level A defense is for erosion storms. Teaching you to be Zhu Yanchen doesn’t mean teaching you his excessive caution. Well, the order has already been given, and it would be inappropriate to withdraw it. It would only give people something to talk about… There will be no next time.”

Zhu Yanchen’s response was devoid of emotion. “Understood.”

……

“I suspect you don’t want to memorize the speech,” Xia Yufeng complained unhappily after the meeting. “You show up when there’s work to be done, and then you want to leave.”

Zhu Yanchen ignored him.

“I really don’t understand you.” Xia Yufeng sighed after browsing the speech for a while. “Marshal, Zhu Lao wrote this with great detail.”

“…”

“The Tang Family is just a business family with a narrow-minded vision. They’re only interested in promoting Yi Ning’s private ownership of synthetic humans. Zhu Lao intends to create real ‘life players’ who will obey the United Government… Look at this, it even includes a new research report that claims to change the appearance of synthetic humans to prevent human empathy. Yi Ning doesn’t have these means, so the future looks bright.”

Xia Yufeng looked regretful, as if he wished he were the real Zhu Yanchen. Zhu Sheng had prepared a spoonful of food and was trying to feed him, but he refused to eat.

“After spending these years on the outskirts, is this still your mindset?” Unable to bear Xia Yufeng’s nagging, Zhu Yanchen finally spoke up.

“Well, what else can I think? It’s an unavoidable situation. In such a big environment, someone has to make sacrifices. It’s not the humans who are being sacrificed, so it’s not bad—”

“Somebody once told me,” Zhu Yanchen continued, flipping through the detailed plan for the Reunion Festival, “that if something is built on deception and exploitation, there must be hidden dangers behind it.”

“But it’s been two hundred years, and nothing has happened.” Xia Yufeng muttered quietly, feeling frustrated. “It’s already this late. As long as nothing happens while we’re alive, what’s the point of pretending to be a saint?”

There was another knock on the door, and Xia Yufeng quickly retreated into the lounge, swallowing his words.

Xia Liang, disguised as Dong Lao, entered the room and wore a stern expression. “I’m here to discuss the verification of the protection plan. I’ve prepared three different arrangements regarding you and Shu Jun.”

“Okay.” Zhu Yanchen turned on the holographic screen and absentmindedly unfolded the information from Ai Xiaoxiao, filling the screen with a blur of compound names.

“There’s something you might not like to hear, but I have to say it.” Xia Liang crossed her arms, her face still long. “Don’t underestimate Shu Jun. He may seem harmless when he’s with you, but he’s a different person the rest of the time.”

“Mm.” Marshal Zhu not only showed no vigilance but also seemed inexplicably happy.

“I used to think of him as a weapon, controlled by others. But now it seems that he’s just as scheming as you, if not more so. At least I have to admit that I might not be on par with him.”

“Did he figure out who you are?” Zhu Yanchen asked while looking at the plan.

“…”

“Did he blackmail you?”

“Yes.”

“Oh,” Zhu Yanchen said.

“Oh?” Xia Liang couldn’t help but raise her voice. “That’s it?”

“I trust him. At first, it didn’t matter, but now that he knows the big picture—if Shu Jun really wanted to hide, with his abilities, he wouldn’t let us detect a thing.”

“…” Xia Liang felt a bit stifled. Are these two guys reading the same script? Zhu Yanchen’s style of suspicion was like a paranoid delusion. What happened to all his pessimistic angles?

“I’ll figure out this matter tonight,” Zhu Yanchen said, seeing Xia Liang’s increasingly bad mood. “Is there anything else to report?”

“…Nothing.” Xia Liang sighed in resignation. “Take a look at the plan quickly. I want to go for a drink tonight. Don’t contact me.”

“Alright.”

At midnight, Zhu Yanchen skillfully modified the surveillance and left the command center. By the time he reached the settlement, it was almost dawn. Zhu Yanchen paused his steps at the morning market, hesitated for a moment, and casually bought two canned drinks.

Yesterday was his birthday.

He hadn’t celebrated in many years, and he hadn’t even thought about it for a long time. Yesterday, during the video call with Zhu Sheng, the timestamp on the screen reminded him. When they were children, Shu Jun would celebrate his birthday with great seriousness. He would even make two silly pointed hats and tie gaudy bows on the gifts.

With this person returning to his side, certain parts of his heart gradually became aware, prompting him to do some trivial things.

As soon as Zhu Yanchen entered the inn, Uncle Pan stood up abruptly and shouted, “Gray Claw, Smoke is back!”

There was a sound of running footsteps in the corridor, and Shu Jun almost appeared in front of Zhu Yanchen, holding a strip of black cloth aggressively in his hand.

Zhu Yanchen: “???”

“Oh, I’ve been waiting for you. Come, let me tie it on.” Shu Jun’s eyes sparkled, and he lowered his voice mysteriously. “I have something important to tell you.”

Before Zhu Yanchen could react, Shu Jun tied the cloth over his face and pulled him along. His sharp nails almost scratched Zhu Yanchen’s coat.

With an excited look on his face, Shu Jun’s heart couldn’t help but beat faster.

The door opened with a creak.

Shu Jun rushed into the room and pressed Zhu Yanchen onto the sofa. Zhu Yanchen’s leg hit Monday, who was sitting on the side, eliciting a deep hiss from it.

Finally, it was the right time. Shu Jun cleared his throat seriously. He firmly held Zhu Yanchen’s shoulders with his claws.

“A’Yan, when you weren’t here, I thought about many things.” Shu Jun spoke with the sincerest tone he had ever used. “I also know that this behavior might affect the trust between us… But I have to do this, and I hope you can understand. With our situation, hiding things would only make it worse.”

Zhu Yanchen was pinned to the sofa by Shu Jun, motionless, and his shoulders gradually became stiff.

Shu Jun lifted his arms and began to remove Zhu Yanchen’s face mask. The two were extremely close, and despite Shu Jun being cautious, his shoulder almost brushed against Zhu Yanchen’s face.

Zhu Yanchen held his breath.

“Look!” Finally, Shu Jun swiftly removed the obstructing face mask, and the black cloth covering it also fell off.

The lighting in the room was a bit bright, and Zhu Yanchen slowly opened his eyes.

A wall filled with clues crashed into his sight, and two pictures stood out in the center—detailed topographic maps of an unknown area, accompanied by the distribution of the Erosion Swamps. The other was a sketch of a coastline, with a visually impactful monster depicted within.

Zhu Yanchen: “…”

Shu Jun: “…”

For a moment, the atmosphere became cold. Zhu Yanchen’s expression was quite tense, revealing a hint of confusion amidst the tension.

Shu Jun cleared his throat awkwardly, realizing that the other’s reaction was different from what he expected. “…Well, um, I went to meet Sigma and incidentally recorded its appearance. I also witnessed the process of the Erosion Swamp formation…”

Half a minute later, Zhu Yanchen murmured softly, “Let me take a look first. I’ll ask you about it later.”

Shu Jun thought he had been too bold in his actions, causing Zhu Yanchen to become wary. But after observing carefully, he noticed that Zhu Yanchen’s face didn’t show any signs of vigilance or distance, only a subtle hint of disappointment.

‘Forget it,’ Shu Jun thought. ‘This is the best strategic approach, and A’Yan will understand. He still has unfinished business to attend to.’

“Don’t look at it for now. Let’s eat breakfast first. I’ve prepared a meal.” Shu Jun pulled the cord beside the clue wall, and the hidden curtain instantly fell, almost covering Zhu Yanchen’s head.

Zhu Yanchen nodded and walked to the dining table as if he were sleepwalking, staring at the cups on the table with a serious expression.

“Why are you in such a hurry?” Shu Jun grumbled discontentedly. He opened the wardrobe and took out two items. Then he quickly approached Zhu Yanchen, placing one of them on his head.

It was only then that Zhu Yanchen emerged from his frozen state of tension, and he looked at the pointed hat made of paper that Shu Jun held in his hand. His expression gradually relaxed.

“Forget about the cake. I put in a lot of effort to get the cream.” Shu Jun took out a plate from the cupboard, placing a large loaf of bread on it. He roughly spread a layer of cream on top, and even crookedly inserted a candle. “Since you weren’t here yesterday, let’s celebrate a day later. The situation is tense now, so we’ll leave the gift for later, after the battle is over. Happy birthday, A’Yan.”

He placed the plate down and sat next to Zhu Yanchen.

Zhu Yanchen stared at the candle for a long time, his expression completely relaxed but his gaze becoming more complicated. He silently blew out the candle and carefully cut the cream-coated bread.

“Oh, you still close your eyes and make a wish.” Shu Jun propped his cheek up with one hand, grinning. “What did you wish for?”

Zhu Yanchen shook his head.

“…It won’t lose its effectiveness if you say it out loud. A’Yan, even though we were just kids back then, we’re almost thirty now—”

“The wish I made sixteen years ago, I can tell you now.”

“Huh?”

“I wished for you to live longer than me.” Zhu Yanchen reached out and gently patted Shu Jun’s head. “It seems like it has come true, so it goes to show that not saying it out loud worked.”

Shu Jun didn’t know what to say for a moment. He looked at Zhu Yanchen’s calm face, feeling a lump in his throat.

“Now let’s continue.” Zhu Yanchen picked up the sliced cream bread and stood up. “How did you deceive Sigma, and what did you see there? I want to hear the details.”

“…”.

“And also.”

Zhu Yanchen added softly, causing Shu Jun to instinctively shrink his neck.

“Thank you. The cake is really good.”

“That doesn’t count as a cake.”

“I know.”

The author has something to say:

Shu Ge is probably the type of person who gets excited and shows off his glow-in-the-dark watch by turning off the lights.

Marshal: I’ve taken note of this account.jpg

Kinky Thoughts:

Ah, Xia Yufeng is basically the folly of mankind in general. Most people tend not to care what will happen in the future if, by then, they are long dead.