Chapter 616: 【Chapter 24: Painting】Request for Monthly Pass
Chapter 24 Painting
(Thanks to a group of old friends for helping out with Monthly Passes on the last day of doubling them!)
Birthdays are one of those things that people celebrate every single day of the year. Even for those born once every four years on February 29th, there are still 366 days in a year. Theoretically speaking, there are millions nationwide and tens of millions worldwide who share the same birthday with you. Even those born on the same year, month, and day, there are tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.
But in reality, it’s rare to find friends having the same birthday, let alone the same year, month, and day. That’s because while the population is vast, it’s not very dispersed. In a city, even with a population of ten million, it’s theoretically just three people, making it hard to encounter the other two in such a vast population.
Moreover, the average value greatly differs from reality. For instance, among the 365 days, people born on any given day have much higher chances than those born on February 29th. Additionally, Yun Country People have a tradition of timing marriages, leading to certain months being peak birth periods.
For example, traditional rural areas avoid marrying during busy farming seasons or on holidays and choose auspicious dates, filtering out many marriage days, resulting in multiple marriages on the same day. Modern folks are busy adapting to both sides’ holidays and relatives’ holidays, often opting for golden week or extended holidays as marriage peak periods. Some even have several friends marrying on the same day. Marriages grouped together often result in a birth peak nine or ten months later.
Now it’s December, and Little Di’s birthday is approaching. It seems like Yu Hong and Chen Mingying might have gotten married around New Year back then.
Because Little Di mentioned her upcoming birthday, Li Yan suddenly remembered someone else’s birthday was near too. Initially, he couldn’t recall who; after thinking carefully, he realized there were actually two people whose birthdays were coming. The unexpected coincidence wasn’t that someone shared Little Di’s birthday but that these two shared the same birthday!
Li Yan didn’t recall many women’s birthdays, yet these two shared the same day, and he hadn’t realized it earlier for a reason.
These two aren’t just birthday twins; they’re highly likely born on the exact same year, month, and day!
One is Wen Qianyi; the other is Zhang Yurong.
Li Yan knew Zhang Yurong’s birthday, naturally due to marriage registration. Wen Qianyi’s birthday, he learned it because when Wen Qianyi came for a company interview, he accompanied Human Resources’ Sun Hui. He went through many profiles that day, yet Wen Qianyi’s brilliance overshadowed them all. Though he had no plans at the time, he retained a stronger impression of her profile.
Back then, his relationship with Zhang Yurong was distant; apart from pretending to be affectionate at family gatherings, they barely interacted. He routinely went drinking and girl-hunting, so noticing Wen Qianyi’s birthday wouldn’t remind him of Zhang Yurong.
But now their relationships have completely shifted: having kissed Wen Qianyi, though it’s not above friendship, it’s rather intimate; likewise, his bond with Zhang Yurong has grown deeper in this half-year.
He hadn’t previously considered the birthday factor, thus not intersecting the data. When Little Di mentioned it now, he didn’t recall immediately who; upon reflection, noticed they shared the same birth date and year.
...
After hearing Li Yan’s response, seemingly a bit unnatural, Little Di thought for a while and quietly asked, "Li Yan, what are you thinking about?"
"Hmm? Nothing, just thinking about what birthday present to get you." Li Yan smiled.
"Are you worried? Worried I might throw a grand birthday party and introduce you to everyone, formally presenting you to my parents?"
That indeed poses a problem, yet Li Yan hadn’t thought about it until now. If that’s the case, should he attend or not? Attending might hurt Yurong and cause lots of trouble; not attending might make Little Di sad.
"Haha, don’t worry, I won’t put you in a tough spot. Anyway, my parents don’t pressure me to find a boyfriend now so there’s no need for a formal introduction. Plus, I’ve agreed with Zhang Yurong, there’s still a year left for that. Haha, perhaps by my birthday next year, we’ll have our answer."
Seeing her smiling face, Li Yan sat beside her, "But you..."
"I really don’t mind. Previously, on birthdays, sometimes they were busy, merely bought me gifts; other times threw big birthday parties. It’s all quite boring; this year I want a quiet celebration. Can I ask you to spend the whole day with me?" Little Di gazed up at him.
Perhaps due to illness, normally youthful and lively Little Di now appeared somewhat fragile.
"Of course, no problem! Even if the sky falls that day, as long as it doesn’t crush me to death, I’ll spend the entire day with you!" Li Yan said seriously, unable to offer Little Di anything else, making her happy is the only thing he can do.
Seeing him speak so seriously, Little Di quickly covered his mouth and playfully threatened, "You said it! Remember, I’m very greedy! I won’t say as long as you keep me in mind, it’s enough. I want you! If you don’t show up, I won’t care whether it’s company business or Zhang Yurong forbids it—I’ll go right after you!"
