Lin Jinran pushed the door open and went in, with Su Qinian right behind her.
All that greeted her eyes was thick darkness. Lin Jinran was slightly stunned. Just as she was about to turn around to ask him what was going on, suddenly, a lamp beside them lit up, emitting a faint warm glow.
In the darkness, warm - colored lights lit up one after another, shining brightly like tender yellow flower buds dreaming of blooming.
Lin Jinran curiously watched as the KTV hall was illuminated by these clusters of warm lights. There was a lamp hanging on the wall beside her. She leaned closer and was surprised to find that a bunch of pink lychee roses was slantingly inserted into this lamp, giving off a faint fragrance of lychees.
Looking around, the floor, walls, counter, ceiling, etc., everywhere within sight was tied with pink lychee roses.
The fragrance of the pink lychee roses wafted in the air.
It was her favorite scent.
Lin Jinran was both surprised and delighted. She took the pink lychee roses from the lamp beside her, took a deep breath, then turned to Su Qinian with a smile and asked, "Su Qinian, what on earth is going on?"
Su Qinian curved his lips into a smile. His eyes were filled with twinkling starlight, full of tenderness. "Keep walking forward," he said.
Huh? Was it a special day today?
Lin Jinran wondered curiously. She carefully avoided the pink lychee roses on both sides of the floor and slowly walked forward.
All the indoor lights had been turned on. They were warm - toned, giving the pink lychee roses a very faint and light warm - yellow tint. Unlike their usual charm, they seemed to have a bit more fortitude and tenderness.
Passing through the aisle at the entrance, Lin Jinran walked to the middle of the KTV. She subconsciously looked up at the seats where she, Shen Tingsi, and Xu Jiaxin had sat.
The seats were empty. A large area in the middle had been cleared out. There was nothing there.
What... was going on?
Lin Jinran wondered in confusion.
Suddenly, the private room opposite the central hall was pushed open, and a melodious song floated out.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."
Right in front of her, a huge bunch of pink lychee roses and a two - tiered cake were wheeled out by a group of people on a small cart. They hummed the birthday song and walked slowly in, their faces beaming with bright smiles.
Lin Jinran was completely stunned. She stared blankly at her good friends.
Xie Wanyu, Tao Wan, Jiang Xiubin, Lu Youchuan...
Her hands hanging at her waist trembled uncontrollably, and her heart was pounding.
The figures of her friends in her glassy eyes gradually grew larger. It took Lin Jinran a long time to find her voice. Her voice quivered as she said, "You, you all..."
When the group finally walked up to Lin Jinran, they cheered and blessed her, "Happy birthday, Lin Jinran!"
The blessing from Su Qinian also came from beside her, "Happy birthday, Ranran. I wish my Ranran all the best and every day filled with joy. Happy 18th birthday!"
Suddenly, excited tears welled up in her eyes. A warm current rushed through her body. Lin Jinran tightly covered her mouth and smiled with tears in her eyes.
"Thank you, thank you all, thank you all..."
It turned out that today was her birthday. She had even forgotten it herself.
She celebrated her lunar birthday. If she didn't deliberately check the calendar, she usually didn't know the exact date.
The candles on the cake indicated her 18th birthday. They were bright and warm, lighting up others with their own heat.
"Quickly blow out the candles and make a wish, Jinran," Xie Wanyu reminded with a smile.
Lin Jinran nodded vigorously. She tried hard to tilt her head back to make the hot tears flow back to where they belonged.
She clasped her hands together. Suddenly, she felt a hat land on her head. Lin Jinran turned to look and saw that it was Su Qinian who had put the birthday hat on her.
Su Qinian said gently, "No birthday star should be without a birthday hat. Make a wish, Ranran."
"Okay," Lin Jinran stood in front of the cake again. She looked at it firmly and slowly closed her eyes.
I hope my mother can wake up soon. I also hope that I can be admitted to Tsinghua or Peking University smoothly and make my mother proud of me.
After making her wish, Lin Jinran opened her eyes. She took a step forward, lowered her head, and blew hard. All the candles were blown out.
"Come on, Sister Lin, you're the birthday star. You cut the cake," Lu Youchuan, who was standing at the back of the crowd, squeezed to the front like an eel. He excitedly took out a small knife and paper plates for her.
Lin Jinran couldn't help but laugh and took them.
"I think you just want to eat the cake," Su Qinian said without mercy, exposing him.
Lu Youchuan grinned and said confidently, "Yes, that's right. I just want to eat the birthday star's cake. The cake cut by the birthday star is especially delicious."
"In that case, how about giving you the first piece of cake?"
Lu Youchuan quickly waved his hands and refused, "Sister Lin, you should cut the first piece for yourself. I don't mind which one I get."
Lin Jinran pursed her lips and smiled.
Suddenly, the strong fragrance of the flowers wafted into her nose. Lin Jinran took a deep breath and said, "The pink lychee roses are so fragrant. I like them so much."
"Right, right. I like them too. They're especially fragrant," Tao Wan said cheerfully, glancing at Su Qinian. "I wonder who knows your preferences so well. Even the filling of the cake is your favorite."
"The layout of the entire KTV was also carefully planned by Su Qinian. Especially these bunches of pink lychee roses. It's okay for those hanging on the walls or placed on the floor, but look at this huge bunch in front of you. There are 666 roses in total. We hope everything will go smoothly for you."
"These are also fresh flowers that Su Qinian bought from several places. He found tutorials online and learned how to wrap the fresh flowers into this bouquet by himself."
It wasn't 999 but 666, which meant they hoped that everything would go smoothly for her from then on. Their relationship wasn't deep enough for 999 roses.
Jiang Xiubin explained Su Qinian's thoughts for him.
Lin Jinran caught her breath. She slightly opened her mouth and was in a daze for a while. She murmured in a low voice, "Su Qinian, you..."
But Su Qinian shyly turned his head away, avoiding her eyes. "It's not a big deal. Besides, you even went to the neighboring Yun City to celebrate my birthday with me when it was my birthday."
"Thank you, Su Qinian," Lin Jinran smiled sincerely. Her eyes sparkled like clear water, extremely bright.
"Come on, it's really not a big deal. You're the birthday star today. Everyone's waiting for you to cut the cake," Su Qinian coughed dryly, trying to hide his uneasiness, but it was in vain. His blushing ears completely gave him away.
It didn't matter how much time he had spent or how many times he had failed. As long as she was happy today, that was the most important thing.
Lin Jinran picked up the knife and neatly cut the upper - layer of the cake into eight pieces. Then she distributed them to everyone in turn.
Tao Wan wasn't in a hurry to eat. She first took a few beautiful photos of Lin Jinran and everyone before slowly starting to eat.
Someone suddenly got playful and smeared cream on a friend's face. Everyone got excited and rushed to smear cream on each other's faces. Finally, they all aimed at Lin Jinran, the birthday star today, and smeared cream on her face.
Su Qinian wasn't spared either as he tried to help her.
Everyone laughed and joked. The lazy end of spring permeated the lively atmosphere of laughter.