After listening to Zhou Yueting’s story, Su Yang had a feeling that he had somehow made things even more complicated.
It should have been just a conversation to persuade Zhou Yueting, yet it somehow turned into a melodrama between a stay-at-home child and a father trying to make up for his mistakes.
‘How troublesome!’
Su Yang thought for a while and did not simply persuade Zhou Yueting. In simple words, she was already at a rebellious stage, and if he simply asked her to accept Old Zhou’s love, things might get worsen. He might as well persuade Old Zhou to give her some time to think, which was also what the mission asked of him.
Therefore, Su Yang played along and criticized Old Zhou for failing to be a father, and as a friend, he voiced his support for Zhou Yueting. He told her that she did not need irresponsible parents to be in her life.
Zhou Yueting grew fond of Su Yang. Perhaps, it was because she believed that he was on his side.
After he sent her home, Su Yang took the bus to meet Chu Xia, Li Runze, and the others.
The five of them had dinner at a restaurant, and since Su Yang was the birthday boy, the restaurant presented him with a bowl of longevity noodles.
Su Yang was happy and moved, but he would have been happier if the restaurant did not play the birthday song when they served the bowl of noodles. When the birthday song blared out, every other customer in the restaurant looked at him, making him feel shy.
His reaction caused his friends to laugh out loud. Qu Xuan even patted his shoulder and said, “Mr. President, you look really cute when you blush.”
‘W T F…I MUST stay away from this guy. He’s definitely on to me and it’s a huge problem…’
After dinner, Qu Xuan brought everyone to karaoke and made Su Yang sing a duet with his sister, Qu Xiaomeng.
Qu Xiaomeng was not overly concerned, maybe because she did not expect anything from Su Yang. Even though it was slightly awkward, she stood up to the challenge at her brother’s incitement.
Su Yang, on the other hand, felt extremely uncomfortable as if he was sitting on needles. He had a feeling that Chu Xia’s sharp gaze was poking his back into a sieve.
He tried to reject Qu Xuan, but after two to three times, he felt defeated and sang with Qu Xiaomeng. After that, he realized that agreeing to sing was probably the worst choice he made throughout the night because Qu Xiaomeng could not sing at all!
Qu Xiaomeng was seriously out of tune. Her pitch went high and low like a rollercoaster, and Su Yang was lost as he searched for the correct tune during the ‘rollercoaster ride’.
After the first song, even Qu Xuan was stunned. He did not expect his sister to be so terrible at singing.
However, Qu Xiaomeng had no idea about her voice, and the silly girl had the potential to be a microphone hog. She seemed to have glued her hands to the microphone after the first song and she continued singing happily.
Su Yang’s birthday party suddenly became a stage for her solo performance.
The atmosphere was awkward when Su Yang sang a duet with Qu Xiaomeng, but when she started singing alone, things came back to life.
Chu Xia pouted in jealousy at first, but the more Qu Xiaomeng sang, the funnier it got, and she started to giggle before she burst out in laughter.
The girl was never a dull person. She was just jealous when other girls got close to Su Yang. After Qu Xiaomeng ‘moved’ her with her singing, she set herself free and joined her in the next song.
Su Yang was left behind like unwanted baggage.
However, Chu Xia failed to carry Qu Xiaomeng and started to lose her tune in the song too. Despite the out-of-tune singing, the big-hearted girl sang on and got high together with Qu Xiaomeng.
On the other hand, Li Runze was sitting at the corner with a stiff expression. He crossed his arms and watched everyone sing.
Su Yang asked him what happened and he shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just thinking. It seems like having a birthday celebration is quite interesting.”
Su Yang did not understand why Li Runze would sit there with a stiff look if he found the celebration interesting.
‘Hmm, maybe this the difference between us and Mr. Smart Guy…No, Mr. Smart God!’
The five of them had fun at the karaoke until 9 p.m. before Su Yang suggested leaving early. The reason for his suggestion was that he was still thinking about the system’s countdown timer.
Before everyone went home, they each gave him a birthday present.
Qu Xiaomeng gave Su Yang a super member promo code for Tencent Videos. She said the site had a complete selection of American drama series and he could go enjoy them since he liked them so much.
Chu Xia gave him a beautiful belt, but since he never really wore a formal suit, he might not have a chance to put it on.
Li Runze was an oddball. He gave Su Yang a book named ‘Learning From Data’. According to Mr. Smart Guy, the book was an entry-level book for artificial intelligence. He could tell that Su Yang was interested in A.I. development, so he told Su Yang to read it if he had the time.
‘Yeah…This book is what I lack in my rack and it can collect dust there.’
Out of the four, Qu Xuan was the most practical. He pulled Su Yang aside and took a small box out from his pocket. He said, “Since we are all guys, you must pay attention to safety measures when you have fun outside. Here’s my little present.”
Just when Su Yang thought that Qu Xuan was talking about something sexual, he opened the box and saw a…wristguard.
Even though his friends had given him some strange presents, Su Yang believed this was the happiest birthday in his life.
On the way back, Su Yang reminisced about what happened throughout the day and found it fulfilling. Without realizing it, he had already gotten himself a group of interesting friends with whom he could get along.
Maybe because the birthday celebration ended a little later than expected, before Su Yang got back home, a beep sounded in his head.
[Beep! Happy Birthday! Here is your birthday present!]
‘Time’s up? And I even get a present?’
Su Yang excitedly called up the system and a golden gift box was floating on the home page.
He looked around and realized that he was alone on the road. Maybe because of the holidays, everyone else had gone on a vacation.
He ducked into an alleyway. After he made sure he was away from the surveillance cameras, he gulped nervously and prayed hard before he tapped on the golden gift box.
When the box opened, golden light shone from within. It was so bright that it blinded Su Yang for a moment.
As Su Yang blocked the light with his hand, his heart was pounding excitedly.
‘Gold color?! Is this some kind of Legendary item? It’s some Legendary item, isn’t it?! What else can the golden color be if not a Legendary item?!’
After the light faded, Su Yang checked the system. Similar to the item displayed in the system shop, a picture of a handful of soybeans appeared.
[Acquired birthday present: Soybeans +4. Accept? Yes/No.]
‘+4?’ Su Yang was shocked.
‘Lady Luck must be on my side! I’m getting a +4 item?! Yes! YES! I’ll accept it!’
Su Yang tapped [Yes] and a bag of soybeans appeared in his hand. He then checked the system for the description of the soybeans.
After he went through the description, he was ‘shooketh’.
