Sheng Tang sat in the car, sending messages to Gu Shiting.
She thanked him for the birthday gift he had prepared for her and also for the birthday meal.
"As long as you like it." Gu Shiting replied.
Sheng Tang: "I like it very much."
Holding his phone, Gu Shiting felt as if a cup of honey water had been poured into his heart, sweet and warm.
However, after Sheng Tang put down her phone, her face darkened slightly. She thought about how she would still have to face her family when she got home.
From her grandmother’s and parents’ reactions over the past few days, she could surmise that they were largely intending to uncover the past.
Sheng Tang did not want to uncover it.
Life is rare; it’s good to be a bit muddle-headed. She didn’t want to investigate every single thing thoroughly. Her resemblance to Cheng Ruojun already proved her suspicions.
She took a deep breath.
When she got home, several cold dishes were already placed in the dining room. Her brother was sitting on the sofa watching TV, and her parents were in the kitchen helping her grandmother cook.
Sheng Tang changed her shoes and went straight into the kitchen: "I’m back. Is it time to eat?"
Her grandmother hurriedly pushed her: "Go, go, this place is dirty and messy, and I can’t move around."
The kitchen wasn’t very big.
Sheng Tang returned to her room to change clothes.
She took off her cloak and skirt, put on her own pajamas and a short down jacket, and squeezed onto the sofa to fight with her brother for the remote control.
Sheng Zong obediently handed her the remote control, then whispered: "Sis, wait for me a moment..."
He sneakily went back to his room.
A moment later, he came out with a small box, tightly wrapped in gift paper.
"Your birthday present." Sheng Zong said.
Sheng Tang smiled and opened it.
——A pink knitted scarf.
Sheng Tang: "...."
A straight man’s taste, hard to put into words.
She still had to show an expression of liking it; her cheek muscles were almost sore from smiling.
"I asked my deskmate to help me buy it. She said it’s very pretty. Sis, do you like it?" Sheng Zong asked.
His deskmate was a girl.
So, it wasn’t straight man’s taste, but a middle school girl’s taste.
Sheng Tang had never really liked pink since she was a child. She preferred cool colors, always feeling that they were more elegant.
She forced a smile: "I like it, it’s vibrant and warm."
Sheng Zong was delighted.
Sheng Tang asked again: "Where did you get the money to buy it?"
Though the scarf was garish, it was long and soft, likely not cheap. Sheng Zong’s daily allowance was twenty yuan, which included his lunch and bus fare.
Their school lunches were relatively cheap, with a bit of charity involved. Ten yuan could get you a great meal with both meat and vegetables, plus a carton of milk.
Even so, it wasn’t easy for him to save up tens of yuan.
"Last weekend, I went out with some classmates, and Grandma gave me fifty yuan, but I didn’t use it. I also had some loose change, so I scraped it together." Sheng Zong said, a bit embarrassed.
Suddenly, Sheng Tang found the color of the scarf not so annoying anymore; it was somewhat cute and warm.
Warm enough to reach her heart.
She ruffled her brother’s hair: "Thank you."
Sheng Zong grinned foolishly.
At six o’clock, dinner officially started. Her grandmother and parents had prepared a table full of dishes.
Before they ate, her grandmother first asked everyone to raise their glasses to wish Sheng Tang a happy eighteenth birthday.
Sheng Tang took a sip of milk, then stood up and said: "Today is my birthday, and I want to take this opportunity to say a few words to Mom, Dad, Grandma, and my brother."
Everyone in the family looked at her.
Her parents were a bit nervous.
Her brother looked perplexed.
Her grandmother’s expression was relatively gentle: "Go ahead, go ahead."
Sheng Tang smiled first, then slowly began to speak: "Raising children is not easy. I’ve grown up now, and I’m grateful to Mom, Dad, and Grandma. Giving birth to me was already a great kindness; raising me was an even greater one.
The grace of raising me is greater than the grace of giving birth to me. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for bringing me into the world. Thank you, Grandma, for raising me along with Mom and Dad. I will love you all forever.
My greatest wish in this life is to always be with you. May Grandma be healthy and live a long life, may Mom and Dad have smooth careers, and may my brother be successful in his studies. This wish can come true, right?"
The family members were momentarily stunned.
Except for Sheng Zong, the others all understood the deeper meaning of her words: the grace of raising is greater than the grace of giving birth.
The things they originally planned to reveal were no longer necessary; Sheng Tang understood everything.
How did she know?
At this moment, her grandmother and parents couldn’t care less to delve into that question, as their hearts were overflowing with emotion, and their previous apprehension had vanished.