Chapter 496: This works too
At the stroke of the midnight hour came a chirpy voice followed by the rain of confetti.
"Happy Birthday, Mingsheeeeen!!!"
The party poppers burst with a jazzy pop and strangely enough, soap bubbles floated in the room.
"...Good night."
Yang Bingqing yanked the blanket from over him. "Wake up sleepy head. It’s your birthday!"
"The birthday boy wants to sleep," he dragged back the blanket - only to be stopped by his mother again.
"Ha-Happy Birthday B-Boss...!" Bojing hopped on bed, enveloping him in his warm embrace. Mingshen would have wholeheartedly accepted it had it not been a crushing one.
"Off! Get off me! I feel my bones cracking! Why do you have to hug me so hard, idiot assistant!"
Bojing sniffled. "I-I am so happy for you, B-Boss..."
"Lower the intensity of that happiness...You are choking me..." he coughed.
His father, Yang Cheng, overlooked his struggle completely and said, his voice neutral and measured as always. "Happy birthday."
"We won’t have a next birthday to celebrate if he doesn’t get off me..!"
"Oof, you are just being dramatic," Yang Bingqing pouted, then glanced at her left. "Right, Jia?"
Suddenly, an awkward silence fell and Mingshen’s earlier struggle from escaping Bojing’s crushing embrace died down like someone walking down a gradual slope.
She coughed. "Yes, yes."
Despite her voice loud and clear, Mingshen’s back remained facing her. He made no attempt to turn or greet her.
"Happy Birthday, Mingshen."
The silence stretched for so long as if he hadn’t heard her wishes.
"...Thanks."
Jia swallowed a gulp. A long pause and a cold response. She wished she could hide underground.
"Mingshen! What kind of a dry response is that?" Yang Bingqing fumed. "It’s Jia! Show some enthusiasm~"
"It’s past twelve, Mom. I don’t have any enthusiasm in my body, only sleep."
"Nonsense. You wreck your sleep cycle all the time being cooped up in the lab and working like a zombie," her nostrils flared. "Now suddenly, you are devoted to sleep?"
"People change."
Yang Bingqing narrowed her eyes.
Something is wrong. Very wrong.
As a mother who had spent thirty-one years observing her son’s nonsense, she immediately sensed the disturbance the moment he had refused to turn around.
"Mingshen. Look at Jia."
"No."
The answer came so fast the whole room fell silent. Even Bojing stopped trying to crush him.
"B-Boss...?" Tears pooled in his eyes.
"...What?" Yang Bingqing blinked.
"I said no."
The blanket shifted as Mingshen stubbornly rolled over further, presenting with an even clearer view of his back. Yang Bingqing’s gaze darted from him to Jia and back again.
"...Did you two have a fight?"
"No," Jia answered immediately.
"Yes," Mingshen answered at the same time.
She froze.
Yang Bingqing gasped dramatically. "You fought on your birthday!?"
"It started before my birthday."
"Mingshen!"
"What?" he grumbled from beneath the blanket. "I’m grieving."
Yang Cheng finally spoke. "Who died?"
"My hopes and dreams."
Jia’s eyebrow twitched.
Yang Bingqing looked utterly horrified. "What did Jia do? She is such a cutie pie!"
Aunt...Jia wanted to cry.
"Ask that to your cutie pie yourself."
"..."
Jia cast an awkward smile at the trio. "I-It’s a misunderstanding honestly."
"Huh," Mingshen let out a sarcastic scoff.
Her brow threatened to twitch at that again.
Yang Bingqing pouted. "Misunderstandings can easily be sorted out with talking. Why fight on a birthday?"
"Ask that to your cutie pie yourself."
"Aish, Mingshen. Will you sulk for the whole day? It’s your birthday, after all! How will you enjoy your birthday celebration in this mood?"
"You organized it on your own in the first place without asking me. It has nothing to do with me. I will smile if I want to smile. Sulk if I want to sulk."
Damn, things look serious. Mingshen has never acted like this before, Yang Bingqing sweated slightly.
"B-Boss, you shouldn’t be f-fighting with sis...Fighting is bad...!" Bojing resumed his crushing embrace to make his point.
"Ah..! You get off my bed first!"
He then half-lifted the blanket and glared at the party. "And you all - off my room."
"But-"
His eyes squinted dangerously.
After being kicked out of the room, three out of the four simply exchanged puzzled glances.
Jia bowed. "I am so sorry! It’s all my fault. I...I said some hurtful things to Mingshen. It my fault that he is angry and sulking. But I will definitely make up to him."
"Oh my! No need to apologize dear~ I finally saw my son’s cute, sulking side," she grinned. "It’s refreshing to see it."
Her kind-hearted response further weighed down upon her. Because of a disagreement with her, he was keeping a distance from his family too.
So heavy...
"Aish, you are taking this too seriously!" She held her head up and harrumphed. "Arguments and misunderstandings happen all the time. What’s more important is to have healthy communication and listen to each other. And then hug and kiss!!!"
She choked. "Th-That’s a bit..."
She patted her shoulders hard. "It will be fine! It will be fine! Men are simple creatures. Kiss them and half of their anger deflates like a burst out balloon! Right, Cheng?" She sparkled at him.
Yang Cheng glanced at her. "Mhm."
"See!" She chirped.
Silence settled after everyone left but Jia remained where she was. She would take a half step forward before retracting it. Eventually, she walked back and knocked.
No response. She knocked again.
"Let me sleep, Mom!"
The frustration laced in his voice made her heart stop, yet with courage, she knocked once again.
The door finally opened with the weight of his fury. But an abrupt stop came to his words when he saw Jia. His eyes narrowed in response.
"Hey..."
"When I said leave, I meant it for everyone."
She pursed her lips. "I know. But I wanted to apologize."
"Do leeches apologize too? Huh. News to me," he tilted his head.
Talking to him in this very moment felt like she stood near the mouth of a volcano with its lava spewing out fiery and unforgiving sparks that would burn one’s body like acid. But she didn’t blame his bitterness.
"I am not a leech. I am Song Jia. I work at Beijing Public Security Bureau. I work a respectable job as a cop and dump bad guys to jail. I am honest and sincere at my work. I am very proud of what I do."
He raised his brow. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I realized I said some very hurtful things about myself. Degrading yourself like that hurts the people around you who care about you too...I am very sorry."
His eyes squinted further. "Is that so?"
"Y-Yes. That’s all I wanted to say. I don’t want you to sulk on your birthday. Birthdays are special. It’s fine if you are still angry at me. I will try to make it up to you with my present tonight."
"Hoooo..."
She clasped her nervous hands together. "Anyway, I will take my leave..! Sorry for disturbing your sleep..."
She turned and zapped away - but halfway she returned, panting slightly.
He smiled, still not very forgiving. "Anything else you forgot to say, Inspector Song? I guess there is something still left."
Jia had an inkling to what he was referring to, but she didn’t respond on that subject. Instead, she tiptoed and kissed his cheek.
"Happy Birthday, Mingshen."
Her face was tomato-red by the time she withdrew and flashed away like lightning.
Sorry Aunt but kissing on lips when he is so angry at me feels really shameless to me! She cried internally. I hope a peck on the cheek is fine...
Mingshen had no time to react before she had already kissed and left, leaving a panicked gust of wind behind. He held his cheek in a daze as though still registering what just happened. Then bloomed a wide grin across his lips before he knew it.
"A kiss on the lips would have been sexier, but well...this works too~"
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