Ran Feng had never cooked for anyone from childhood to adulthood. As living alone, he wouldn’t even bother to cook instant dumplings.
But for Ji Xingchen’s birthday, he specially invited a chef to teach him how to make longevity noodles. He learned it for almost half a month.
Although this might seem simple, just finding a guide online would suffice, but he didn’t want to just go through the motions.
He hoped that the gift he presented to his lover would always be the most exquisite and perfect.
Ji Xingchen was both surprised and delighted, immediately taking a seat and taking a bite.
“It tastes really good,” Ji Xingchen added, unable to resist, “Especially delicious, Brother Feng, you’re truly talented.”
He said this without putting on the filter of a lover, nor was it flattery.
Because the taste was indeed excellent, the noodles were chewy, fresh, and delicious.
Ji Xingchen knew Ran Feng wouldn’t cook, but tonight he had cooked a bowl of delicious longevity noodles for him, which must have taken a lot of effort.
He was deeply moved and very happy.
To not disappoint Ran Feng’s heartfelt gesture, although he had already eaten dinner, Ji Xingchen still slowly finished the noodles bite by bite.
Fortunately, Ran Feng hadn’t served too much, so finishing it as a midnight snack was just right.
Ran Feng had been by his side the whole time. After he finished eating, he handed him a tissue to wipe his mouth, then suddenly brought out six gift boxes from the room.
Each of these boxes was quite large, beautifully packaged, clearly prepared with a lot of thought.
Ji Xingchen was startled and quickly looked at Ran Feng, “Brother Feng, how many surprises did you prepare for me?”
Ran Feng just smiled without saying a word.
So Ji Xingchen approached and took the top gift box, puzzled, “But do you really need to give me so many birthday gifts?”
“Of course.”
Ran Feng glanced at the box in Ji Xingchen’s hand and gave him a meaningful look, “Why not open it and take a look?”
“Yes, please.”
With that, he gently untied the ribbon on the gift box.
Upon opening it, he found a basketball inside.
A limited edition basketball from a certain brand.
“This is your 18th birthday gift that I prepared for you,” Ran Feng’s gentle voice sounded in his ear, “It’s what you requested during New Year’s, saying that after the college entrance exam, you wanted to compare who could dunk more three-pointers with me.”
Ji Xingchen looked up.
It felt like time had turned back to that winter five years ago.
Ran Feng in the backlight was as gentle as ever.
Ji Xingchen’s heart also softened. He lowered his head and continued opening the second gift.
“This is the first album I made for you when you were nineteen,” Ran Feng slowly described to Ji Xingchen with his eyes flickering with a faint smile, “It’s one of a kind in the world.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ji Xingchen dared not look at Ran Feng and lightly ran his fingers over the album.
Ktf jiyew’r cjwf kjr “Vajg,” jcv atf mbnfg ibbxfv ojwliljg—la kjr atf rjwf rajggs rxs lwjuf tf tjv rffc lc Ejc Mfcu’r QfJtja wbwfcar ktfc tf olgra jvvfv tlw.
“P rjk atlr qlmaegf lc sbeg wbwfcar, vlv sbe ajxf la sbegrfio?”
Qtfc tf olgra rjk la, tf atbeuta atf lwjuf kjr qjgalmeijgis yfjealoei, rb tf rfjgmtfv obg la bcilcf yea mbeivc’a olcv la.
Ran Feng nodded, “I took it specially in Finland.”
Ji Xingchen’s fingertips lingered on the brightest yet loneliest star, “It’s beautiful.”
The first time he saw it, he thought the starry sky image was beautiful and gentle yet lonely.
So, what kind of mood did the 19-year-old Brother Feng have when he took this picture?
“And this one? Is it my twentieth birthday gift?”
After receiving gifts for his eighteenth and nineteenth birthdays in a row, Ji Xingchen already understood that Ran Feng prepared gifts for him every year on his birthday. Today, he was returning all the gifts he hadn’t given before.
For Ji Xingchen’s twentieth birthday, Ran Feng gave him a model of a Bentley Mulsanne Extended Edition.
Ji Xingchen remembered this car. When he was young and ignorant, he used to boast to Ran Feng that when he saved up enough money, he would buy this car to take Ran Feng for a drive.
“Didn’t you say you were going to buy it with your own money? I bought it when I earned my first million…”
Originally, Ji Xingchen thought Ran Feng had only given him a model, but upon hearing this, he immediately opened the model car’s door.
Sure enough, there was a key inside.
Ji Xingchen looked at Ran Feng in shock, wanting to return such a precious gift to him, but Ran Feng held his hand firmly, “You promised to take me for a ride, so don’t try to back out now.”
Ji Xingchen wanted to say something, but Ran Feng pressed his lips with the tip of his index finger.
“Look at the next one.”
Ji Xingchen could only obediently open the next birthday gift.
His twenty-first birthday gift was a candy-coated hawthorn skewer.
The small and cute red candy-coated hawthorn was held dearly by Ji Xingchen.
“On your birthday, I went back to school for a bit and saw that the candy-coated hawthorn shop at the entrance was still open,” Ran Feng explained the origin of Ji Xingchen’s birthday gift.
“The day before your third diagnosis, we went out for dinner, but we forgot our phones, so after eating, we only had fifty cents left in our wallets. When you passed by that shop, you said you wanted a candy-coated hawthorn skewer, but I didn’t buy it for you.”
Ran Feng’s word’s brought back Ji Xingchen’s memories. Times flew quickly, but the scenes from the past were vivid in his mind.
Ji Xingchen took over, “You said you’d pay for it later, but then I thought you forgot.”
Ran Feng nodded, “I was indeed watching you every day back then, so I did forget. But when I couldn’t see you anymore, I remembered everything.”
As Ji Xingchen looked at the candy-coated hawthorn skewer in his hand, he suddenly felt a sour and uncomfortable feeling in his heart.
Seeing Ji Xingchen seeming like he wanted to cry, Ran Feng reached out and rubbed his head, “But now, haven’t I made it up to you?”
Ji Xingchen rubbed Ran Feng’s palm, and didn’t dare to lift his eyes to look at him. He was afraid he would burst into tears.
He could only do something to distract himself from this sour feeling, so he quickly opened the fifth box.
Inside was a specially customized spaceship model, with a little figure in the cockpit wearing clothes similar to those of Rabbit.
Outside the cockpit was a line of words—’May your life be filled with shining stars.’
The handwriting was very familiar to Ji Xingchen—it was Ran Feng’s.
Enduring the fullness of his heart, Ji Xingchen finally mustered the courage to look at Ran Feng and smiled as he asked him, “Ran Feng, do you often look at the stars?”
Ran Feng nodded, “Yes.”
“So do I.”
Once upon a time, even if they were thousands of miles apart, they lived under the same sky, striving, lonely, waiting, and guarding…
But they clung to each other so stubbornly, blessing, and missing each other…
“We’re down to the last one.” Ran Feng’s words brought Ji Xingchen’s thoughts back.
He held the last gift to his chest, his eyes shining with expectant starlight.
Each gift before had been meticulously prepared by Ran Feng. Ji Xingchen wondered what kind of surprise the last one would bring.
Full of anticipation, Ji Xingchen untied the bow, but hesitated as he was about to open the box.
He looked at Ran Feng, locking eyes with him for several seconds.
“I suddenly feel reluctant to open it.”
“Reluctant?”
“Because once I open it, it’ll be over…”
But he didn’t want it to be over.
“It’s not that I can’t bear to, it’s just that this feeling is really precious. I feel like I’m not worthy of it.”
Ran Feng opened his arms and embraced Ji Xingchen, gently patting his back to comfort him. “Who are you not worthy of? No matter how precious my heart is, it can’t compare to the weight you place in it.”
Ji Xingchen buried his head in Ran Feng’s shoulder, and his voice was muffled. “I know… but in recent years, because of some things, I feel like I’m not as confident as before. Before I met you, I thought I was quite strong and could live well alone. But recently, I realized that it’s not because I have nothing that I don’t care about losing anything. Now that I suddenly have and gain everything, it feels like a dream come true. So I can’t help but worry if one day it will all vanish like bubbles. Ran Feng, do you think there’s something wrong with me?”
Despite meeting Ran Feng for so long, Ji Xingchen had never mentioned anything that happened in the previous five years.
But tonight, he was just so happy that he almost forgot about all the losses and setbacks he had experienced.
But the pain of treading through thorns in the darkness always haunted him, and he couldn’t help but wonder if he would fall into the abyss again at any moment.
Ji Xingchen felt like he was being overly dramatic at this moment, but his grandparents, parents, and siblings really would never come back.
In his fear, he wanted to hold onto Ran Feng tightly, but he felt unworthy of Ran Feng’s affection now.
Ran Feng didn’t know what Ji Xingchen had been through, but his anxiety at this moment pained him deeply.
He comforted Ji Xingchen by patting his head and then holding his right hand against his own heart.
“Do you feel its beating?”
The strong and steady heartbeat throbbed with each moment. Ji Xingchen silently felt its rhythm, experiencing the sense of security it brought him.
Ji Xingchen looked up, feeling somewhat helpless as he met Ran Feng’s gaze.
From his eyes, Ji Xingchen saw hope and light.
“If you’re sick, then I’ll be your antidote.”
Ji Xingchen’s restless heart finally found peace.
“Brother Feng, thank you for staying with me.”
“I’ll always be with you.”
Ji Xingchen finally mustered the courage to open the last gift.
Inside was an hourglass.
The hourglass had two extremely lifelike imitation roses on each end, and as the sand fell, it scattered around them.
“An hourglass?”
He turned the hourglass over, watching the sand trickle down, feeling the passage of time.
“Mm.”
He thought Ran Feng would explain it to him, but this time he didn’t, so Ji Xingchen just responded softly.
Ji Xingchen could only lean on the table, carefully looking at the sand and then at the roses.
The hourglass represents time, and the rose symbolizes love.
As he watched, Ji Xingchen suddenly understood the message Ran Feng wanted to convey to him.
—Even as time passes, our love remains eternal.
So even though they had been apart for five years, nearly two thousand days and nights without seeing each other, it was because of their steadfast commitment to each other that they could come back together.
Ji Xingchen suddenly felt enlightened.
So what was he feeling insecure and afraid about earlier?
Wasn’t the sense of security Ran Feng gave him enough?
After opening the birthday gifts for six years, Ji Xingchen felt both short and long.
The table was already filled with various items, large and small.
He arranged them into two rows and carefully examined each one.
From eighteen to twenty-three.
From five years ago to now.
Looking at each gift Ran Feng had meticulously prepared for him every year, he suddenly felt like he had also accompanied Ran Feng through these five years of separation.
Although just a few words, it seemed to fill in some of the regrets they had missed during that time.
Ji Xingchen turned around, hooked his arms around Ran Feng’s neck, and took the initiative to plant a kiss on his lips.
“Brother Feng, I also have a gift I want to give you.”
I am getting emotional my gosh. ಥ‿ಥ
So emotional presents
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