Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
No matter how strong of a woman Song Yajing was, as Lu Dinghua looked at her like this, she began to blush.
She withdrew her gaze and looked towards her older brother.
Song Jin had a sip of red wine and emotionally said, “Little Sister, I know the education of the Song family has enabled you to have a stable position as Madam Lu. But at the same time, you also lost the happiness of being a woman. Isn’t it better this way? You can start to slowly enjoy life. Let go of the reins, and hand this family over to Ning Qing. She is a great successor; you can tell just by the banquet itself.”
This time, Song Yajing did not rebut him, but she had a faint smile on her face.
At this moment, the grandfather clock in the hall rang. Dong, dong… It struck a total of 8 times. Song Yajing was born at the exact timing of 8 o’clock as the bells rang.
Pa! The lights in the hall all went off, and the door of the kitchen opened up. The flickering lights of candlelight successfully captured the attention of everyone present on the scene immediately.
‘
Everyone turned over to look, and they only saw Ning Qing using her two small hands to hold a beautiful cake as she walked out. The cake was decorated with lit candles.
Song Yajing saw the girl walk slowly towards her, and in the shadow cast by the candles, she could see the reflection of the girl smiling brightly like a flower.
She froze, and at this moment, the sound of a low and charming voice singing rang in the air of the hall. “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Mother…”
Song Yajing looked towards the direction of the sound. Her son Lu Shaoming was standing among the sea of people, and was clapping as he sang a birthday song for her.
The man’s voice was like a cello playing melodiously in the night. It was low and deep, he spoke with authentic English pronunciation, and he could make anyone drown in his voice.
Song Yingjie also started to clap, and he followed behind to sing, “Happy birthday to you…”
At the start, it was one person singing, but many others followed to sing along, then it became a combined chorus of everyone singing. Song Yajing stood in a daze and forgot to react. She felt warmth emanating from her waist; Lu Dinghua held onto her waist and stood beside her.
Ning Qing placed the cake on the table. There was still an apron tied around her. The girl’s voice was soft and sweet as she said, “Mum, I wish you a happy birthday.”
Song Yajing did not know what to say. This was probably the second time she’s ever had a birthday party. The first time was in the Song family home. She and her sister, Song Yashu, had been at home. Her older brother was only 12 years old. In his hands was a cake, and the three siblings gather around a table and happily sang happy birthday.
That time was too long ago, and her memory of it was blurry.
Over the years, she had attended numerous banquets, grand and majestic occasions. The numerous fine wines and delicious spreads, and the constant sea of faces that were masked and acted with hidden agendas… She had slowly become numb.
At this moment, her heart was as soft as sand, like something had come inside, and the occasion made her eyes fill with tears.
“Mother, you are the birthday girl today. Come and make a wish and then blow out the candles quickly.” Ning Qing stood beside Song Yajing and cheekily winked at her.
Making a wish?
Song Yajing looked towards Ning Qing hesitantly.
“That’s right, make a wish.” Ning Qing tugged on Song Yajing’s hands and taught her to place them together. “Mum, close your eyes.”
Song Yajing closed her eyes hurriedly and her movements were a little stiff. It was obvious that in her life, she had never truly experienced such things.
Her mind was in a mess, and she did not know what to think about, then… She hoped that everything would go well for both the Lu and Song families.
Song Yajing opened her eyes, and Ning Qing laughed and said, “Okay, then we will blow out the candles now. Dad, Uncle, Shaoming, Yingjie, let us all blow together with mum.”
“Sure.”
Lu Dinghua held onto Song Yajing’s waist, and they bent down and blew out the candles together with the crowd.
The lights in the hall turned back on at this instant, and the bubbles and balloons above their heads were punctured, showering the partygoers with colorful streamers.
Bang! Lu Shaoming opened the bottle of champagne. He poured the liquid from the 18 storey red wine tower to reach the bottom. Lu Dinghua took a glass and passed it to Song Yajing. “Dear, I wish you a happy birthday. Come, let us cheer.”
“Madam Lu, we wish you a happy birthday. Cheers!” The crowd congratulated her.
Song Yajing channelled her gaze from Lu Dinghua’s face to Song Jin, then from Lu Shaoming to Song Yingjie. She then made a brief glance of those present on the scene. She smiled, and it was a smile from the depths of her heart.
She felt so warm.
At last, she looked at the girl beside her. The girl passed the knife towards her and said, “Father, Mother, you guys cut the cake together. This cake was baked personally by me. This is my first time making a cake; if it does not taste good, please excuse me, Father and Mother.”
Lu Dinghua held onto Song Yajing’s hand and cut the cake down from the middle. He laughed and said, “Ning Qing, we don’t have to taste this cake to know that it is definitely good.”
“That’s right. Director Ning, this cake is full of your filial piety and love; it will definitely taste good.”
Lu Dinghua cut the first piece, and a servant that came to cut the cake into smaller pieces. Lu Dinghua used a small fork to take a piece to send it to the side of Song Yajing’s lips. “Yajing, have a bite.”
Song Yajing blushed. Everyone present was looking. Both of their ages added up to over a hundred, and they were still feeding one another under everyone’s eyes.
She stretched out to receive the cake, and Lu Dinghua withdrew his hand, not allowing her to do so.
Ning Qing was laughing behind them, and she said, “Mum, it is your birthday today. You are the most important today. Dad fed you a piece of cake and you are already reluctant; that means that you have to feed Dad another piece of cake tomorrow.”
“That’s right, Madam Lu. You have been married with President Lu for more than 30 years; we didn’t think that you two would still be so loving.” The crowd gushed on.
Song Yajing wanted to turn around to glare at Ning Qing. She was behaving so rudely, and she dared to tease her?
But in the next moment, she felt herself tumbling, and it turned out Ning Qing who was behind her gave a push, and she unexpectedly crashed into Lu Dinghua’s embrace. Lu Dinghua conveniently grabbed onto her.
“Mum.” Ning Qing directed used her two small hands to cover her own eyes. “Oh, it turns out that Mother actually wanted Dad to hug her while feeding her cake. I am embarrassed to watch.”
Song Yajing: “…” She wanted to retreat.
But she heard Lu Dinghua’s low laughter from above her head. The man locked onto her waist, laughed, and said, “Yajing, have a bite. ” He brought the cake to the sides of her lips.
With this move, everyone laughed.
There were so many people around. Song Yajing’s entire face was crimson red. She had no choice. She lifted her gaze and she could only see Lu Dinghua’s face in her line of sight, and he was smiling gently while looking at her.
They had been married for so many years, and her heart suddenly started to beat faster.
She opened her mouth and had a bite from Lu Dinghua’s hand.
“Mum, what do you think of the taste?” Ning Qing’s face was full of anticipation as she looked at Song Yajing; this had really been her first time baking a cake.
Lu Dinghua let go of her, Song Yajing took a step backwards and she gave it a taste. Her expressions froze, but she smiled very quickly. She complimented Ning Qing and said, “Umm, it’s good.”
“Really?” Ning Qing was immediately delighted.
Everyone got a piece of cake and had a taste. Everyone’s expression was the same as Song Yajing’s. After they froze for a while, they shared intense laughter among themselves. “Haha!”
“Director Ning made this cake personally; it is definitely different from the rest. This taste cannot be found elsewhere. We are all honoured here today to have a taste thanks to Madam Lu.”
Ning Qing smiled even brighter.
Suddenly, music rang out through the hall. The birthday party always had music playing, but this music was different. It started with the sound of a trumpet, then it was slowly joined by the piano, drums…. The banquet hall was filled with a romantic vibe from the melody of France’s Romantic Era Chanson music.
The crowd looked towards the stage. The curtains were lifted up, and there was a French band performing on stage.
At this moment, someone exclaimed, “Oh my god, it was actually Stven Band! This band performs French classical music and has created a new wave throughout China in the previous century. They won many girl’s hearts. Stven Band represents the memories of a generation. They are already over 60! They have been in retirement for decades and have existed only in people’s memories. Who invited them here? This couldn’t have been accomplished with money alone!”
Everyone channelled their gaze at Ning Qing.
The main singer of Stven was already singing. That familiar melody rang out, and the beautiful memories from that generation came back like a flood, Song Yajing looked at the stage in shock.
“Dad.” Ning Qing gave an indication towards Lu Dinghua. The girl’s bright and beautiful eyes were sparkling like the stars in the sky, “What is Dad doing standing there now?”
Lu Dinghua understood, he withdrew his gaze, bent down his waist in a gentlemanly manner, and extended his hand towards Song Yajing. “Dear, can I invite you to have a dance with me?’
Song Yajing glanced at Ning Qing. Ning Qing was smiling brightly with curved eyebrows. “Mum, forget about your burden and enjoy your time!”
Song Yajing slowly curled up her lips into a smile and gave a nod towards Ning Qing. Then, she gave her hand to Lu Dinghua.
The two of them shared a dance.
…
Lu Dinghua was holding onto Song Yajing’s waist, and the two of them were dancing. Lu Dinghua looked towards the Stven band on stage and asked in a gentle voice, “You like Stven? When Stven was popular, you were only 18 at that time; I didn’t expect you to be chasing after stars.”
“That’s right, at that time I was only 18 years old! I was at the age of rebellion. On the surface I acted like a prim and proper daughter of a wealthy family like my parents demanded me to. But I skipped classes, and I would go with my younger sister Yashu to climb over the walls to secretly watch Stvn’s concerts. I did not dare buy tickets, as I was afraid that my parents would find out. So my sister and I hid outside to watch. That was a chilling day in winter. Our feet and hands were all frozen, but we were all so happy.”
Sometimes music could make a person more drunk than a bottle of red wine. All of Song Yajing’s memories retreated to that beautiful time of her youth. She removed the mask on her face and she let out the smile that she had from when she was a youthful girl.
Lu Dinghua looked at her face seriously and smiled while he kept silent.
Song Yajing let go of his hand and said, “Dinghua, I have actually never liked such social dances. You probably do not know about this, but before I married you, I learned how to dance. At that time, my younger sister and I listened to Stven’s songs and danced to this type of music.”
Song Yajing moved her limbs around and danced 4 small steps.
“Mum, you are such a great dancer!” Ning Qing clapped her small hands in applause from a distance away. Lu Shaoming cupped onto her small shoulders and also channelled his gaze towards his own mother.
Song Yajing felt her face go red. She tucked the curled hair by her cheeks behind her ears. Lu Dinghua saw her behaving like this and hugged her in his embrace once again. The movements of the duo were the product of their affluent upbringing, and they were proper and standard. But two of them did not dance the proper steps from then on, and they were casually hugging one another.
“What else do you have to tell me?”
“There is still another secret. When I went on that blind date with you, I actually didn’t like you.”
“Why?”
“Because at that time, I had a crush on a boy in school. He sang Stven’s songs really well. But my father and my older brother said that Lu Dinghua was my only choice.”
