Yan Yan

Although Su Yan’s parents enrolled her in a private school, on the first day she wore a pair of hand-stitched blue calico shoes instead of the pair of sneakers her father bought her because she was angry with her father. To this day, Su Yan regrets that.

Later, she never got angry with her father anymore and finally put on the sports shoes her father bought. She was no longer a left-behind child and lived happily with her parents. However, she couldn’t get to celebrate her birthday as she wished. Her and her cousin, Su Qian’s, birthdays were very close, so Su Yan’s uncle suggested celebrating both of the girls’ birthdays together with the intention of saving money. Reluctantly, Su Yan’s father also agreed with his brother because of his mother’s nagging.

Every time she and Su Qian celebrated their birthdays, it was held at Su Yan’s father’s restaurant. Even her father ordered the birthday cake, while Su Yan’s uncle’s family came empty-handed. They then created a lot of commotion, took over the celebration for their daughter’s birthday, and loudly applauded their daughter while remaining silent about the other birthday star. Meal plates, desserts, and beverages were all packed and taken home.

Before the age of fourteen, Su Yan basically never had a birthday celebration, and after the age of fourteen, her birthday celebration was occupied by someone else. Because of that, Su Yan’s birthday was not special for her.

When she was eighteen, she told her mother that she would never celebrate her birthday again. Her mother asked whether the reason was Su Qian. Although the answer was “yes”, Su Yan never said it aloud. She just said that day, “I am an adult at the age of eighteen, why do I need to celebrate my birthday? I don’t want to be old, the next time I celebrate my birthday, it will be my sixtieth birthday!”

Later, she really didn’t celebrate her birthday, and six years passed in a flash. If it wasn’t for Su Zhan, that silly Baitian who sent her a birthday greeting in the early morning, she would have forgotten that today was her birthday.

She knew that today was a very busy day, and they had to work until the early morning of the next day. However, as soon as she arrived at the crew this morning, Assistant Yang said to her, “The film and television city will be under martial law after 7:00 tonight, and all production crews are not allowed to shoot night scenes.”

Su Yan was very surprised. “When did the announcement happen?”

“Last night.” The assistant surnamed Yang said, “Mr. Su, if we don’t shoot night scenes, it won’t delay you a lot, right? It’s not that you want to change the script.” His tone was a bit yin and yang, there was no longer the respect he had for her now.

In fact, not only his but also the rest of the crew’s attitude towards her gradually returned to its original shape.

Su Yan knew that this change was because Bai Xingfan hadn’t appeared for more than a month, so the deterrent force he brought was gradually disappearing.

In other words, in the eyes of outsiders, she was now a woman who had been abandoned by Bai Xingfan, so in their eyes, she was not worth mentioning.

Although she understood the reason for this sudden change, she didn’t take it to heart as long as they didn’t tell her to change the script. “If we can’t shoot tonight, will the crew suffer a lot?” Su Yan asked.

The assistant surnamed Yang: “Mr. Su, you don’t have to worry about it. The crew can apply for lost wages from the film and television city.” Although he wasn’t so respectful towards Su Yan, he didn’t dare to go too far, and he still answered every question.

Su Yan: “Is it true that all crews in the film and television city can apply for lost wages?”

Assistant Yang: “Of course.”

Su Yan was a little shocked. “How much is that?”

Assistant Yang sighed helplessly and replied, “Mr. Su, you should ask the person in charge of the film and television city about this question.” He then looked at her meaningfully and said, “Or you can ask Mr. Bai. He will surely tell you.”

Su Yan pretended not to hear, turned around, and left.

It was 6.30 p.m., and on the way back to the hotel from the set, Su Yan met many people from other crews. In order to respond to martial law, almost all the crews in the film and television city were off work at the same time.

Sometimes, the more people around you, the lonelier you feel inside. On the way to the hotel, Su Yan felt a strong sense of loneliness in her heart for no reason. Thinking that today was her birthday, she suddenly became hypocritical, feeling like a little cabbage that no one loves. So she just thought of buying a small cake to treat herself.

There was a dessert shop near the hotel. She went inside the shop and chose a piece of strawberry cake for herself. When she was waiting to check out, her phone suddenly rang. She took it out and saw that it was an unfamiliar number, and the call was from Dongfu.

She frowned slightly. ‘Could it be an advertisement for a decoration company?’ Her house would be ready soon, and many decoration companies had called her recently.

After hesitating for a while, she still answered the call. “Hi, hello.”

The other party didn’t speak, and there were only some weak, suppressed breathing sounds from the receiver.

Su Yan frowned again and asked again, “Hi, who are you?”

After waiting for a few long seconds, the other party finally spoke, and the man’s deep voice revealed a slight uneasiness. “Yan Yan, yes I…”

Su Yan froze.

It was Xie Yu.

Xie Yu took a deep breath and finally mustered up the courage to explain the purpose of making this call. “Happy birthday, I always remember it.”