"Within the fiery candlelight, there are beautiful wishes."
"The moon and stars weave the crown for your years of life."
"May the fragrance of flowers and sweetness of honey accompany you year after year."
"Happy birthday to you. No matter where your heart is, the blessings remain forever—"
An exaggerated operatic rendition of the widely popular birthday song from the Magic Kingdom reverberated through the small room, carried by the flickering candlelight and reaching everyone's ears.
The entire Fangting City team, no matter what they had been doing before, all unanimously paused and turned their gazes to the top of the cake, where the number "37" burned brightly.
None of them spoke, because whether it was Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, Bai Jingxuan, or Emerald Sparrow herself, they were all digesting the real significance of this sight. For Emerald Sparrow, the thoughts occupying her mind outnumbered those of her juniors.
Undoubtedly, the immediate challenge she faced was figuring out how to explain the candle's reaction.
Should she feign ignorance and claim the candle was faulty? Or point out that the candle had just been measuring magic power activity, proving it had nothing to do with "astrology"? Or perhaps assert it was her doing, saying she used a magic technique to light the untouched candle?
All three options seemed unreliable. First, the first option amounted to her distorting the truth by leveraging her reputation: though the candle was clearly a cheap product, it was functioning as intended. If another junior used this kind of candle for their birthday in the future, her lie would be exposed, leading to greater suspicion.
As for the second option, it wasn't ideal either. Given that she was Emerald Sparrow now, she technically shouldn't know what Lin Yun's daughter and the others had revealed about the candle's function. Even if she managed to sidestep this issue and clarify the true function of the candle, how could she explain her heightened magic power activity caused by her nervousness?
The third option wasn't viable from a logical standpoint, either. Merely passing by had somehow triggered the candle's ignition, yet she hadn't performed any obvious prior steps to activate a magic technique. Using this excuse to fool her daughter would almost seem like an insult to their intelligence.
Underlying all of these options was a greater paradox: if she adamantly denied that today was her birthday, what would she say if asked about her actual one? Would she make up a random date on the spot, only to patch it up with more lies in the future? A fabricated date would inevitably demand more lies to support it, and falsehoods never gain legitimacy through sheer volume. Layering lie upon lie would only heighten the risk of exposure.
Emerald Sparrow found herself momentarily at an impasse.
But just because she hesitated did not mean the juniors would remain silent. When Lin Xiaolu gradually grasped the implications of the scene before her, she first let her mouth fall open, then cried out in shock:
"So it's your birthday today too, Emerald Sparrow!"
Her statement immediately broke the stagnant atmosphere, making it fluid once more.
Equally surprised, Bai Jingxuan glanced at the candle before shaking Emerald Sparrow's arm—an arm she had been linked with—as if demanding an explanation. Xia Liang, already privy to some of the truth, feigned shock as she aligned herself with Lin Xiaolu: "Seriously? What a coincidence!"
"Come on, Emerald Sparrow, why didn't you tell us earlier?"
Lin Xiaolu stood up abruptly: "We had absolutely no idea it was your birthday today!"
"No, well… it's not exactly my…." Emerald Sparrow was struggling to retract the notion that it was her birthday. The rapid escalation of events left her feeling outpaced. Her plans to dispel this misunderstanding fell apart as she discovered, to her dismay, how inadequate words could be in such a situation.
"Wow, that is insane! The same day as my dad's birthday?"
Lin Xiaolu was fully engrossed in the staggering coincidence, so much so that she completely overlooked Emerald Sparrow's attempts to refute it. "I've never known someone else who shares my dad's birthday!"
"Why didn't you tell us, teacher?"
Bai Jingxuan voiced mild annoyance: "If it hadn't been for the candle, we'd have completely missed celebrating your birthday today!"
"I already told you, it's not that I didn't say anything, but that today really isn't my…." Emerald Sparrow sighed and tried to keep calm, sticking to a composed tone for her explanation. Yet, she found her voice drowned out by the birthday song broadcasting from the candle.
Though she wanted to raise her voice, doing so might make her appear guilty. She found herself utterly at a loss.
"Alright, team! Looks like we've got action now!"
Lin Xiaolu sprang up from her chair, rubbing her hands together eagerly: "Good thing there's still half a cake left. Time to gear up for the second round of this birthday party!"
As she spoke, Lin Xiaolu strode over to Emerald Sparrow and gave her shoulder a pat. "Birthday girl, head over there and take a seat. Now that we know it's your birthday, it definitely deserves a proper celebration."
Did no one find it odd how "Emerald Sparrow" had the same birthday as "Lin Yun"?
Emerald Sparrow, rendered speechless, felt a pang of bewilderment.
Once again, she was struck by the gap between her thinking and that of the younger generation. Seeing that Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan didn't seem to suspect anything at all, Emerald Sparrow couldn't help but feel the absurdity of her earlier deliberations.
So, should she just go with the flow and admit today was her birthday?
She couldn't deny that this would be a choice that greatly alleviated her stress.
If she insisted on denying that today was her birthday and fabricated a false date, the web of deception would only grow larger. Lies compounded by other lies would never create truth, and the accumulation of falsehoods would escalate the risk of exposure.
After careful consideration, Emerald Sparrow realized that in light of the unexpected situation, and given Lin Xiaolu's lack of suspicion, perhaps acknowledging the claims would pose less risk than denying them.
This evaluation ultimately prompted her to accept the cake Lin Xiaolu handed her.
"Sorry, it's just been so many years since I've celebrated my birthday. Honestly, sometimes I forget I even have one."
She cradled the cake plate while uttering half-truths mixed with excuses: "So I didn't think it was necessary to celebrate this year either."
"But I made a cake for my dad already!"
Lin Xiaolu widened her eyes and grumbled playfully at Emerald Sparrow: "We're already at this point, but you still didn't want to say anything? Were you intentionally trying to make us miss your birthday?"
"Well, that's your dad's cake," Emerald Sparrow replied helplessly. "If I suddenly claimed it was my birthday, wouldn't that just unnecessarily burden you?"
"But if you, teacher, never told us—and if it hadn't been for my dad… er, uncle's birthday—we'd really have missed it entirely."
Bai Jingxuan tightened her hold on Emerald Sparrow's other arm: "Birthdays are important. It'd be such a shame to not celebrate them."
"Exactly! Emerald Sparrow, you're way too indifferent about personal matters!"
Lin Xiaolu nodded emphatically: "This kind of thing absolutely needs to be spoken out loud, or it becomes a serious regret for everyone!"
Emerald Sparrow didn't understand what was so regretful about it.
But she knew now wasn't the time to ask such questions. So in the end, she sighed, surrendering to the situation: "Fine. Next time something similar happens, I'll make sure to tell you all in advance."
With that, she sat down at the table, picked up her fork, and stared at the cake, feeling a mixture of humor and exasperation welling inside her.
Celebrating two birthdays in one day, with the same group of people, under two different identities—this kind of bizarre experience was certainly rare.
As the younger generation echoed their cheerful "Happy Birthday" wishes once more, the whole sequence of events seemed to merge seamlessly into the continuation of a video chat at the tavern. This time, Emerald Sparrow replaced Lin Yun within the frame, sitting in front of the cake and lifting a bite to her mouth.
And so, this February 14th—a day that had long been special to Emerald Sparrow—finally reached its conclusion.
The cake tasted sweet.