Everyone saw that Li Qingshen had taken a drink and followed suit by raising their glasses to drink. Bao Chongchong was the first to present the gift she had prepared, offering it to Li Qingshen with both hands. Her action shifted the atmosphere in the room toward a more relaxed direction, "Qingshen, happy birthday!"
Li Qingshen bowed his head to accept the present from Bao Chongchong. Upon opening it, he found a pure gold tie clip, simple and stylish in design, much like himself—proud yet understated.
Li Qingshen smiled and offered his thanks, "Thank you!"
Then Qin Sheng, Su Chen, Yi Qian, and the others also came forward with their gifts and well wishes. Li Qingshen accepted each one. Every gift was lavish—yachts, luxury cars, villas...
Even though such items were easily within Li Qingshen’s reach and didn’t excite him much, they were tokens of everyone’s intentions and carried the blessings they had for him. Li Qingshen cast his gaze down, masking a trace of dim disappointment. When he looked up again, his eyes were shining, and his smile was exceptionally natural.
Seeing Li Qingshen’s smile, everyone else also gradually relaxed, the jokes flowed freely, and the drinks were enjoyed merrily. Because Li Qingshen was allergic to alcohol, everyone took great care not to let him drink too much. After his first drink, they simply replaced his alcohol with tea.
By the time dinner was over, it was already 11:30 pm. There was only half an hour left until Li Qingshen’s birthday was over, and Ling Momo had still not appeared. The bit of hope that had lingered in the depths of Li Qingshen’s heart began to fade away, replaced by desolation.
The birthday cake had been prepared in advance. After dinner, Bao Chongchong and Yi Xihuan quietly left the room. Qin Sheng stood by the master power switch and silently counted to five, then turned off the power in the room all at once. Then, the door was opened by Su Chen and Yi Qian, and Bao Chongchong and Yi Xihuan entered with the cake, lit up with candles. The most update n0vels are published on Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
Everyone sang the Happy Birthday song with childish but undiminished enthusiasm. After the song concluded, they blew out the candles together.
Then Qin Sheng turned the power back on. Everyone was full and couldn’t possibly eat any cake, so they started to playfully smear the cream from the cake on each other. Before long, everyone’s hair and clothes were covered with sticky white cream.
By the time everyone had grown tired of playing and drinking, it was already past 1 am. Xi Jianjin excused himself with grace, Bao Chongchong seized the opportunity to claim she had drunk too much and asked him to give her a lift, so the two of them left together.
Yi Xihuan didn’t like staying in hotels, and Yi Qian indulged her by calling the Yi Family’s driver to pick them up and take them home.
In the spacious suite, only Su Chen, Qin Sheng, Li Qingshen, and You Yi remained—four men. Su Chen, Qin Sheng, and You Yi hadn’t finished drinking and were raucously playing drinking games. Li Qingshen sat to one side, holding a cup of hot tea and quietly watching them for a while before he stood up, pushed open a bedroom door, and walked in. He stood at the floor-to-ceiling window and flung it open. It was nearing autumn, and the wind was cool and moist, chilling to the bone as it rushed through the window and enveloped Li Qingshen.
Li Qingshen stood there indifferently, focusing on the tranquil night scene outside, yet his gaze seemed somewhat absent.
Thus, when You Yi entered the room and approached him, Li Qingshen didn’t show the slightest reaction.