43

Yu Mingjiao and Cen Lingqiu's birthdays were close together—Yu Mingjiao's on the winter solstice, marking the end of the year, and Cen Lingqiu's on the Spring Festival, the beginning of a new year.

Yu Mingjiao had been secretly preparing a birthday gift for Cen Lingqiu. It was the first time she was celebrating someone else's birthday, and she had spent a long time deciding what to give. She planned to give it to her on her birthday.

Meanwhile, Cen Lingqiu was also pondering what to give Yu Mingjiao. She truly didn't know what to get, as Yu Mingjiao didn't seem particularly passionate about anything. When Cen Lingqiu asked her what she wanted most, Yu Mingjiao hesitated for a moment before saying, "I want you not to leave me."

Cen Lingqiu sighed. "Can you ask for something else, Jiao Jiao? That gift is a bit difficult for me."

"Then I don't want anything else," Yu Mingjiao replied, leaning her head on Cen Lingqiu's shoulder, her voice low and sad. "Lingqiu, if you can't give me what I want most, then I don't want anything."

Cen Lingqiu gazed at her pale and delicate face. "Are you sure there's nothing else you want?"

Yu Mingjiao tightened her grip on Cen Lingqiu's hand, holding on so tightly it seemed like she wanted to merge with her. She turned her head, resting her forehead on Cen Lingqiu's shoulder in a posture that showed her lack of security.

She was silent, a deep bitterness emanating from her.

"Lingqiu."

"What is it?"

"Will you stay with me on my birthday this time?" Yu Mingjiao's voice was low and hoarse, tinged with fear. "Stay with me, all day."

Cen Lingqiu knew that Yu Mingjiao was afraid she might disappear like she did a year ago. She smiled softly, feeling the tickle of Yu Mingjiao's soft hair against her skin. When she looked down, she saw Yu Mingjiao's beautiful, sad features.

She looked like a doll, silently crying.

For some reason, Cen Lingqiu suddenly felt an urge to kiss her. She pitied Yu Mingjiao's pale face, her eyes that always seemed on the verge of tears, her bloodless lips, and her overly thin body.

Her frail appearance stirred something in Cen Lingqiu—a fierce, protective emotion.

Only when you love someone do you feel pity for them.

Yu Mingjiao leaned weakly against her, and Cen Lingqiu wrapped an arm around her. Her lips were so close to Yu Mingjiao's forehead, just a few centimeters away.

A mix of desires surged through Cen Lingqiu, and she found herself caressing Yu Mingjiao's sharp chin. Like a quiet cat, Yu Mingjiao gently nuzzled her.

So obedient, so beautiful.

Cen Lingqiu lifted her chin, and Yu Mingjiao looked up at her with wet, dark eyes.

She looked so sad, her eyes red, on the verge of tears.

Cen Lingqiu stroked her cheek and, driven by an inexplicable impulse, leaned in and kissed Yu Mingjiao's eyes.

Yu Mingjiao's eyelids trembled violently as she closed her eyes, her grip on Cen Lingqiu's clothes tightening, her hands shaking slightly.

Cen Lingqiu's kisses moved from her eyes to her brow, gently pressing against her forehead.

A kiss of comfort, filled with indescribable emotion.

It was light as a bubble yet heavy as the entire ocean.

It easily stirred a powerful wave of emotions between them.

Cen Lingqiu's kiss lasted only a few seconds before she pulled away. She held Yu Mingjiao's face, gazing into her eyes. "Jiao Jiao," she whispered.

Yu Mingjiao's eyelids were still trembling, her eyes even wetter now, as if she had shed a few tears. Her lashes were slightly damp, and she lowered her head, her expression one of suppressed shyness and sudden pain.

She looked even more sorrowful.

She responded with a soft "mm" and said nothing more.

Cen Lingqiu didn't continue. There was no need to say anything further. The inexplicable kiss had already conveyed what she wanted to express.

Some things can't be said out loud.

"Don't cry," Cen Lingqiu said, touching Yu Mingjiao's trembling eyelids.

Yu Mingjiao, having received a kiss, should have been happy, but she couldn't feel any joy.

She only felt overwhelming sadness.

She realized she truly couldn't bear to be without Cen Lingqiu.

It was even harder than she had imagined.

"Lingqiu," her voice choked with emotion, "I really need you."

"Will you come back?"

"…"

"If you care about me, come back to me."

"I…"

Yu Mingjiao tightened her grip on Cen Lingqiu's clothes, then suddenly leaned forward and bit her lip.

Cen Lingqiu gasped, touching her lips. It seemed she had been bitten hard enough to draw blood.

"Are you a little dog, Jiao Jiao?"

Yu Mingjiao's expression was dark, but her voice was soft.

"No."

"I belong to you, Lingqiu."

Cen Lingqiu was taken aback for a moment before she smiled and shook her head with a hint of helplessness. "You're really…"

Yu Mingjiao sat quietly on the bed, her gaze fixed. "Lingqiu, I'll be so sad without you."

She extended a finger, tracing circles on Cen Lingqiu's neck with a soft touch. "You care about me, right? If that's true, don't be so cruel to me. I can wait, but don't make me suffer forever."

Cen Lingqiu responded only with silence.

After a long while, she finally spoke.

"I understand."

"I'll come back to you."

She planned to ask the system if there was any way she could stay in this world.

—

As Yu Mingjiao's birthday approached, Cen Lingqiu still hadn't decided on a gift. She was determined to make up for last year when she couldn't properly celebrate it. Since she had no idea what to get, she even asked Yu Suian for help.

"What does your sister like?" Yu Suian bit her lip and thought for a moment. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I didn't spend much time with her growing up. We… didn't have the best relationship. My sister is a very reserved person."

Cen Lingqiu's expression turned somber.

Yu Suian added, "But I think she really likes lisianthus flowers."

Cen Lingqiu looked up. "Lisianthus?"

"Yes." Yu Suian nodded. "My sister used to spend a lot of time in the back garden, where there were many lisianthus flowers. Dad told me that my sister's mother planted them."

Yu Suian lowered her gaze. "Her mother often played the piano in the garden, and my sister would always hide among the flowers to listen."

"After her mother passed away, my sister still loved to go to the garden, her eyes always fixed on where the piano used to be. Later, Dad had the flowers removed and the garden dismantled, and she never went back."

Yu Suian guessed, "But I think my sister must really miss that garden filled with lisianthus flowers."

"Lisianthus and piano," Cen Lingqiu murmured.

She quickly realized what she wanted to give Yu Mingjiao.

Cen Lingqiu remembered that Zhang Li had once casually given her a small estate. It wasn't large, but Cen Lingqiu liked it a lot. When she saw it, she even thought that it would be the perfect place for her and Yu Mingjiao to live together.

Cen Lingqiu had the estate cleaned up and ordered a large number of lisianthus flowers to decorate the garden.

She planned to spend Yu Mingjiao's birthday with her in that garden, even going so far as to buy a piano to place there.

At the same time, she had a pair of rings custom-made.

Even though giving rings might seem a bit odd, the unspoken connection between her and Yu Mingjiao made this the first gift that came to her mind.

She would have to leave eventually.

But she couldn't bear to part with Yu Mingjiao.

She wanted to leave something of herself in this world to keep Yu Mingjiao company.

The rings were engraved with both their names.

It was her way of marking her presence in this world.

It was also her silent confession to Yu Mingjiao.

She didn't know when she would have to leave, but on this special, beautiful day, Cen Lingqiu wanted to express all her feelings.

The garden was filled with white lisianthus flowers, like a dreamlike world of purity and innocence.

The weather was bright and clear, and it was Yu Mingjiao's birthday.

Cen Lingqiu had already arranged for Yu Suian to bring her here, and they were due to arrive soon. She was adjusting the flowers in the garden, determined to make the day as perfect and happy as possible.

Because this might be the last birthday she would spend with Yu Mingjiao.

Footsteps sounded behind her, and Cen Lingqiu thought it was Yu Mingjiao, surprised she had arrived so quickly. She turned around, "You're early—Lin Dong?"

Cen Lingqiu frowned as she saw the man before her. "What are you doing here?"

"Jia asked me to come," Lin Dong replied. "She said she had something to tell me."

"Jia?" A sense of unease crept into Cen Lingqiu's heart. "What does she want now?"

"I'm not planning anything." Ning Jia walked in, casually plucking a lisianthus flower. "With these decorations, are you planning a birthday or a proposal, Lin Qiu?"

Cen Lingqiu's gaze was steady as she responded, "Ning Jia, have you been following me?"

Ning Jia covered her mouth with a laugh. "You're quite sharp, Lin Qiu."

Lin Dong frowned. "Ning Jia, what do you want to say?"

Ning Jia wandered around, almost as if she were on a leisurely stroll. She then mocked, "Lin Qiu, you really have it good, don't you? Celebrating while some people don't even have the chance to see another birthday. It's tragic when you think about it."

Cen Lingqiu had always felt there was more to her words and decided to be direct. "You're blaming me for something. Why?"

Ning Jia bent over, laughing. "You really don't remember, do you, Lin Qiu? How can you not remember? You and your brother are murderers. How can you live so peacefully, so contentedly? I don't understand it, Lin Qiu."

Both Lin Dong and Cen Lingqiu's expressions darkened.

Lin Dong spoke first. "Ning Jia, what are you talking about? My sister and I could never be murderers."

Ning Jia scoffed at his denial. She ignored him, instead continuing to speak with Cen Lingqiu.

She held out her phone, showing Cen Lingqiu a photo. "Do you remember her?"

Cen Lingqiu glanced at the photo, recognizing the girl, but couldn't immediately recall where she had seen her. After a moment's thought, she realized it was the daughter of the innkeeper from the ancient town who had drowned herself.

"And what does she have to do with me?" Cen Lingqiu asked calmly.

Ning Jia was sickened by her calm reaction and laughed bitterly. "You really forgot, didn't you, Lin Qiu? Do you remember how she died? Don't you?"

Before Cen Lingqiu could respond, Ning Jia snarled, her voice filled with hatred. "She was killed by you, Lin Qiu. It was your fault, you wretch! You killed her!"

Cen Lingqiu frowned deeply. This wasn't part of the original story.

Ning Jia stepped forward and shoved her hard, shouting, "You killed her, and now you're celebrating someone else's birthday! She could have been celebrating her birthdays every year, but because of you, she lost everything, even her life!"

Ning Jia raised her hand, aiming to slap Cen Lingqiu, but Lin Dong rushed forward, grabbing her arm. "Ning Jia, don't touch my sister. She's recovering from a car accident; her body isn't well."

Ning Jia violently shook off his grip, her rage boiling over. She grabbed the vase from the stone table and smashed it over Lin Dong's head. Taken by surprise, Lin Dong stumbled backward, falling to the ground with his vision blurring.

Ning Jia's mind had snapped completely. "A car accident? Don't you know? I was the one driving that night. I tried to kill her, but she survived. Too bad!"

Cen Lingqiu had always found Ning Jia's face vaguely familiar, and now she remembered. On the night of the accident, she had caught a fleeting glimpse of the driver's face—dark, cold eyes in the chaos. She hadn't recognized them at the time, but now she knew it had been Ning Jia.

"You hate me that much?" Cen Lingqiu realized Ning Jia's mental state was unhinged. She began to look for a way to control the situation.

"I don't just hate you. I despise you and your disgusting brother!" Ning Jia's voice dripped with venom. "Lin Qiu, you're nothing but a filthy wretch. You pretended to be my friend, but you never respected my feelings. Just because your brother liked me, you tried to force us together, even though you knew I was in love with someone else. Someone you tried to destroy."

She took a deep breath. "You knew my girlfriend was a game character designer. You tried to sabotage her, falsely accusing her of plagiarism. You thought that would make her leave me, but she loved me too much to go. So, she quit her job and went back home. She was already mentally unstable, and on her birthday, she told me everything that had happened before drowning herself."

Ning Jia's voice broke. "She was everything to me."

Ning Jia's voice rose to a hysterical pitch. "You knew I loved women, but you still tricked me onto that ship, forcing me to face your brother's disgusting proposal! You killed the person I loved most in the world!"

Cen Lingqiu was stunned.

This was Lin Qiu's past, but while Cen Lingqiu inhabited her body, she hadn't inherited all of her memories.

For a moment, Cen Lingqiu was at a loss for words. This was a story of Ning Jia's entanglement with Lin Qiu, but now Cen Lingqiu was Lin Qiu, even though she wasn't Lin Qiu. How should these sins be accounted for?

Lin Dong, clutching his bleeding forehead, looked at her in shock and whispered, "Ning Jia, you like…"

"Yes, I love women!" Ning Jia no longer hid anything. "I could never love a heartless, disgusting man like you. You and your sister are murderers—"

She threw a few photographs at Lin Dong's face. "Recognize this child?"

Lin Dong's head throbbed too much to focus on them.

Ning Jia spoke as if to herself. "You probably don't remember. Ten years ago, you ran over a little boy. Your family covered it up, didn't they? Does it ring a bell?"

Lin Dong's eyes widened, his face turning ashen.

His terror made Ning Jia laugh coldly. "So, you do remember."

Lin Dong did remember. Ten years ago, he had indeed run over a child, but his family had managed to cover it up, and Lin Dong, seeing that nothing had come of it, had gradually forgotten about it.

But Ning Jia hadn't. Her parents were gone, leaving her to care for her brother, and that night, her brother had been hit by a speeding car while trying to retrieve a lost balloon. He had died instantly, the driver pausing for only a moment before driving off.

Ning Jia returned to find her brother dead, and from that moment on, she was alone.

It wasn't until she went to university that she met Lin Qiu. Lin Qiu had taken her in as a friend, and even more ironically, Lin Dong had fallen for her at first sight.

Ning Jia saw it as an opportunity to get close to them, to find a way to avenge her brother. But she had underestimated Lin Qiu's selfishness. Lin Qiu indulged Lin Dong, giving him whatever he wanted.

Lin Qiu wanted Ning Jia to be with Lin Dong, and when she discovered Ning Jia was in a relationship with a woman, she used underhanded tactics to force them apart. But Ning Jia's girlfriend wouldn't leave her, and in the end, unable to bear the pressure, she quit her job and went back home, where she took her own life.

After that, Ning Jia had no one left to love.

"It's all because of you!" Ning Jia's hand went to her mouth, coughing up blood, her stomach wracked with pain. She was nearing the end of her rope, her face deathly pale.

She wiped the blood away, her eyes empty. "You and your brother took away the two most important people in my life. I want you both to die."

"But it's okay." Ning Jia smiled eerily. "Lin Qiu, you have someone you care about too, don't you?"

Cen Lingqiu's eyes darkened. "What are you going to do to Jiao Jiao?"

As she spoke, Yu Suian had already brought Yu Mingjiao closer.

"Here comes your sweetheart," Ning Jia sneered, looking in Yu Mingjiao's direction.

Cen Lingqiu's heart raced. She didn't know what Ning Jia was planning, but she instinctively stepped forward. Then, she felt a cold, sharp pain on her neck.

"Lin Qiu—" Lin Dong shouted in alarm.

By then, Yu Mingjiao was close enough to see Cen Lingqiu's throat suddenly burst with blood.

Her eyes widened in shock, her entire body freezing with cold.

"Lingqiu!" Yu Suian gasped.

Cen Lingqiu was dazed, her hand moving sluggishly to her neck, feeling the warm, wet blood gushing out.

Ning Jia's voice was a distant echo in her ears.

"Lin Qiu, I couldn't spend my beloved's birthday with her. You won't get to either. I want you to know what it feels like to lose someone you love. I want Lin Dong to feel the pain of losing family."

"This is what you owe me."

Cen Lingqiu's strength drained away, and she collapsed to her knees, her hand pressing uselessly against the wound, feeling the blood continue to pour out.

Her vision blurred.

She struggled to lift her heavy eyelids, looking toward Yu Mingjiao.

She saw Yu Mingjiao crawling frantically toward her, having fallen from her wheelchair in her rush. As she crawled over the rough cobblestones, every movement looked agonizingly painful.

In that moment, Cen Lingqiu had only one thought.

The ground was covered in cobblestones. How much pain must she be in from the fall?

Yu Mingjiao finally reached her, trembling hands pressing against Cen Lingqiu's neck, desperately trying to stop the blood flow.

Tears streamed down Yu Mingjiao's face uncontrollably as she frantically tried to stem the bleeding, but it was no use.

She began to cry, her whole body shaking violently, and she kept calling out, "Lingqiu jie…"

Cen Lingqiu felt her body grow colder and colder. She wanted to say something, but her vocal cords were severed, making it impossible to speak.

Her consciousness grew more and more distant. She couldn't think of anything except Yu Mingjiao's tear-streaked face, her red-rimmed eyes, her pale, tear-stained cheeks, and her hands trembling like a leaf in the wind.

Yu Mingjiao had never cried this hard before.

Cen Lingqiu's heart ached terribly.

She managed to lift her hand with great difficulty, wanting to stroke Yu Mingjiao's head just like she always did when Yu Mingjiao was upset or scared. It was a comforting gesture they had between them—a sign of reassurance.

This small, familiar gesture made Yu Mingjiao break down even more. She cried out in a hoarse voice, full of despair.

"Lingqiu jie…"

"Don't leave me…"

"Please, I'm begging you, Lingqiu jie, don't leave me like this…"

Yu Mingjiao sobbed, her voice raw and broken. Each word seemed to be torn from her soul.

"Lingqiu jie, it hurts so much…"

"It hurts so much… It hurts so much, Lingqiu jie…"

"Please save me…"

Yu Mingjiao's hands and clothes were drenched in blood, and the once-white lisianthus flowers around them were now stained red.

Cen Lingqiu's eyelids felt impossibly heavy, and her body was growing colder by the second. She wanted to hug Yu Mingjiao one last time, but she no longer had the strength.

How terrible this was.

Why was she unable to properly celebrate Yu Mingjiao's birthday again?

They hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye.

A single tear slipped from Cen Lingqiu's eye as she used the last of her strength to gently guide Yu Mingjiao's head closer to her. She leaned forward ever so slightly, their lips brushing together in the lightest, most fleeting of kisses.

Afterward, Cen Lingqiu could do no more. Her hands fell limply to her sides, and with a final, lingering look at Yu Mingjiao, she closed her eyes. Her head drooped forward, and she moved no more.

Yu Mingjiao felt as though her entire being had been shattered into a thousand pieces, her heart pierced by icy shards. She was so cold it felt as if she were dying too, her face drained of all color.

Holding Cen Lingqiu's blood-soaked body in her arms, Yu Mingjiao cried out in the middle of the garden filled with white lisianthus, her voice full of sorrow and despair.

Yu Mingjiao thought to herself.

She would never celebrate her birthday again.