I Take Back What I Just Said

"Happy birthday!"

Jiang Xueming sat at the front desk of [JoeStar] bar and brought A Xing a plate of bright red cake.

There were exposed walls everywhere, and the air still smelled of lime powder and cement. Fortunately, the dust removal work had been completed.

The solid wood countertop hadn't been primed yet, so the plastic chairs and paint buckets left behind by the bricklayers became the brothers' temporary seats.

A Xing looked at Jiang Xueming in surprise, then at the cake in Xue Ming's hand. "Ming Ge! Is this for me?"

It was a ten-pound cake. When the lid was lifted, a golden chocolate wolf mask was revealed, adorned with Rose Shining Stone embellished with bright pink hawthorns. Beneath the cake tower were A Xing's illustrious achievements.

You can see humanoid monsters from the Fang Feng, the Blood-Bestowing Dragonman of the Skull and Bones Society, as well as the Vampire Bats and the Ice Man's arm.

These clay and sugar sculptures are incredibly lifelike, with Surter's sword stuck on top of the cake.

Jiang Xueming laughed heartily, "My styling isn't bad, is it?"

The meteor didn't react for a moment.

Jason Megan came out of the kitchen, her face covered in patches of cream. She said to A Xing, "I baked the cake."

Meteor finally realized. "Oh yeah!!! That's awesome! That's awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome!"

Then the kid grabbed Jason's shoulder and kept apologizing.

"Excuse me, Jason. Look in the mirror! Your face is covered in cream. Making such a big pastry must have been hard work, right?"

"No, no, no," Jason said with a frown, "It has nothing to do with your birthday present."

Meteor: "It's okay?"

Before the words were finished, a loud commotion erupted from the kitchen.

Wendy and Katusha, one big and one small, are having a fierce battle with frosted butter, each holding a whipping machine and a hairdryer tube.

"Take this Sweetheart Storm with a radius of 1.5 meters!"

"Hmph! Hmph hmph hmph! Katusha! The moment you stepped into the yeast and flour counter, you had already lost!"

Before Meteor could even figure out what those two crazy women were up to, an egg was already stuck to his face.

3301 quickly cleaned the eggshell off the employer's face, collected the egg yolk into a wine glass, and invited the birthday boy back to his seat.

Bu Liuxing, however, was being secretive, and asked Jiang Xueming about it.

"What's with Jason's Soul Power? And why are Wendy and Katusha acting so crazy?"

Jiang Xueming continued to laugh heartily, "I don't know!"

This left A Xing speechless, and he immediately started tugging at Bailu's sleeve.

"What's wrong with your brother?"

Bailu sat by the bar, drooling over the large cake, when Liu Xing suddenly tugged at her, causing her to instinctively draw her gun.

Meteor raised both hands high. "Whoa! Whoa whoa whoa!"

When Bailu realized that the person who had suddenly attacked her was Bu Liuxing, she finally relaxed and apologized.

"Excuse me, Brother A Xing, for the past six months I've been doing nothing but studying and shooting. My head's been buzzing—when you grabbed my sleeve just now, I thought the instructor wanted me to do counter-attack training. What's up?"

Bu Liuxing whispered, "Why is Ming Ge so happy?"

Bailu: "Huh? Is that strange?"

Bu Liuxing: "It's so strange! It's really strange. I've never seen him laugh like that before. Ming Ge used to be more reserved when he laughed, but now it's like Pigsy entering the Spider Cave—"

Bailu immediately interrupted, "--You should organize your thoughts properly, don't use those proverbs."

Bu Liuxing: "Anyway, it's very mysterious."

The two peeked through the gaps in the lamplight. Jiang Xueming looked around, first holding Xiao Qi's hand and giggling for a while, then explaining to Anna the Earth Dragon, "[That's cake, not human flesh]," before bursting into laughter.

After a while, Xue Ming asked Tang Ning to eat the vampire bat on the cake. He deliberately wore gloves to guard against Tang Ning's sudden attack—because Tang Ning wanted to fall asleep again and was very concerned about the boss's fleshy hands, wishing he could attack Xue Ming's fists with his head.

That smile was terrifying; Bu Liuxing had never seen such a carefree smile since he met Jiang Xueming.

Just then, the little finger came closer.

"Brother Meteor, perhaps this is Jiang Xueming has completely let down his guard, no longer needs to think about certain things, and finally has time to rest properly."

After dealing with the Skull and Bones Society and retrieving Steel Heart, Xue Ming also showed a similar smile, mostly a toothless, dazed smile.

After returning from Niflheim, Ming Ge seemed like a completely different person. To put it simply, his intelligence dropped by about fifty percent when he laughed heartily.

Bu Liuxing then asked, "Bailu, do you have any clues?"

Jiang Bailu immediately said, "How could I possibly have any clue? My brother is very complicated. If one day he's not complicated anymore, and he's like he is now, then it means he's truly, truly super happy."

Bu Liuxing: "Has this happened before?"

Jiang Bailu: "Yes, when I got on the train."

Bu Liuxing: "Get on the train?"

"Exactly." Bailu thought for a moment and finally decided to give the little birthday boy something spicy on this joyous day, "It's about how anxious he was when we ran away from home, how quickly he sneaked onto the train, how flustered he was when he got off, and how happy he was when he looked at the unfamiliar city after we entered the small hotel."

A Xing fell silent.

Bailu continued—

"--We initially looked for a place to stay in the Jiulong West. As soon as my brother found a place to stay, he would howl angrily every day, wanting to vent all his emotions to the sea. To be honest, it was quite a disturbance to the neighbors. Meteor Brother, if you see that kind of expression on my brother's face now, don't be surprised. Brother Ye Bei told us that people can't always be on edge; they need to find an outlet. People who don't know how to rest don't know how to work."

Only a few seconds later, the meteor finally came to its senses.

With lightning speed, he suddenly grabbed the mask from the large cake and, taking advantage of Xue Ming's inattention, smeared the chocolate icing and cream all over the boss's face.

Xue Ming immediately retaliated, picking up Surter's sugar glass sword and shoving it back into A Xing's mouth.

"Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"

Bu Liuxing: "Ugh!! Ugh ugh ugh!"

Almost instantly, the large cake that could feed ten people turned into weapons and toys in their hands.

The room was in complete chaos, with only Anna, the Earth Dragon sister, chasing after the bright red candy coating, calling out anxiously.

"Don't waste food! Don't waste food!"

Jason Megan was furious, veins bulging on her forehead.

"You bunch of little rascals! Stop it right now!"

Tang Ning, Bailu, and Bu Liuxing, who were seventeen or eighteen years old, were stunned for a moment.

Twenty-three or twenty-four-year-old Xiao Qi, Xue Ming, and 3301 had no intention of stopping, especially Xiao Qi, who was extremely competitive and wanted to lick Xue Ming's face clean with her tongue.

Thirty-four-year-old Jason Megan looked menacing, with bulging veins that seemed to run from her temples down her neck.

"--Damn it! I spent four hours painstakingly making this dessert! Do you know how hard it is to bake? This is such a big cake! It's all my hard work!"

People finally stopped fooling around and all looked at Jason.

Jason then rolled up his sleeves, pouted, and looked menacing, as if he were going to the kitchen to grab a rolling pin and beat someone up.

Bu Liuxing whispered to Xue Ming, "Ming Ge, is he really angry?"

Xue Ming: "I don't know."

Xiao Qi: "What is he planning to do?"

Tang Ning: "I guess he wants to beat up the dough, since he can't beat anyone here."

Bailu: "Excuse me."

Tang Ning: "Why?"

Bailu: "The merit of your mouth fell on the ground, but I can pick it up, wash it, and still use it."

One minute passed --

--Jason Megan pushed the food cart out through gritted teeth.

He bared his gleaming white teeth at each of his [JoeStar] brothers and sisters, trying to look like the ultimate villain.

"Come on, you little brats! Your big brother has already prepared a second cake! But this time, you're not allowed to use it as a sugar-coated bullet; you'd better eat it all up!"

Bu Liuxing: "Wuhu!!!--"

The excited howls were like battle horns, drawing out intense emotions.

Happy times are always fleeting; they disappear in the blink of an eye.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, and were finally quite pregnant by the chef, they started asking each other what dishes were served to the fathers of their babies—

Jiang Xueming sat on the steps of the porch, wrung out a handkerchief, and wiped the cream off her face.

He still had that same smiling face, as if he had finally seen a good day. Xiao Qi took three steps at a time, carrying the Iron Knight whiskey and swaying unsteadily, before finally plopping down next to Xue Ming and holding Xue Ming's hand without moving.

Xiao Qi mumbled sleepily, "Want some more? Maybe a little more?"

Jiang Xueming: "Would this make things easier for you after you've been drinking?"

Xiao Qi: "Hey! We're brothers, don't be so polite!"

Jiang Xueming glanced at his lover beside him and saw two blushes on her face, like fiery clouds.

Xiao Qi: "It's beautiful! It's really beautiful! You! You look so beautiful when you smile."

"Wait a minute," Jiang Xueming suddenly called out.

He took the bottle from Xiao Qi's hand and tossed it aside.

Then she used a warm towel to wipe away the frost from her lover's face and tidied her hair.

He cupped Xiao Qi's face in his hands—

"--I can't believe it, I can't believe it!"

Xiao Qi: "Can't believe what?"

Jiang Xueming: "Is this true? I can't believe it."

Xiao Qi immediately raised her head, her expression demanding a kiss like a student waiting for praise from her teacher. She pouted and closed her eyes, only to open them again a second later—because at this most beautiful moment, she wanted to see her beloved's face clearly.

Jiang Xueming: "It feels like a dream."

Xiao Qi: "Kiss me."

Jiang Xueming: "I'm serious, I haven't been this happy in a very, very long time."

Xiao Qi: "So kiss me."

Jiang Xueming: "Qingqing, will you marry me?"

Xiao Qi: "Kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss, I'm so anxious, so anxious, so anxious, so anxious, so anxious!"

Jiang Xueming: "I'm fine with it, why don't you take a look back?"

9527 turned his head and saw a group of people sitting in a circle behind him with ambiguous glances. Anna, the Earth Dragon Girl, was holding two mobile phones and was about to record this scene.

Bailu was quite sensible; she didn't take any pictures herself, but instead handed the phone to Anna's tail, letting Miss Earth Dragon handle the three-way operation.

Xiao Qi immediately started sounding the fire alarm.

--Her whimpering and covering her face looked exactly like a drunken shrew caught in the act.

No, no, no, I need to be more confident and remove the phrase "[it looks exactly like]".

Bu Liuxing shouted, "What are we waiting for?"

Jason: "You might not believe it, but my Soul Power is flirting with my waitresses—they've already started licking each other's lips with their tongues. Your interaction is like a love movie. I hope all the rich people in the world can find their happy ending."

Jiang Xueming: "Not surprising. I had a fight with my Soul Might this morning."

Jason: "What's all the noise about?"

Jiang Xueming: "It cried while it was grinding the workpiece, saying it didn't want to work."

Jason: "So."

Before Jason could finish speaking--

Xiao Qi pouncing on her prey like a tiger, as if she had made up her mind and overcome all her shyness, finally giving Xue Ming a deep kiss in front of everyone.

Jiang Xueming whispered, "Don't stick out your tongue."

Xiao Qi suddenly tackled her employer to the ground. "You reminded me!"

On the roof of the Council of Five Kings--

--BOSS practically hugged the binoculars, spying on [JoeStar] more than twenty stories below. Its mouth stretched almost to its ears, revealing a maternal smile like that of the man-eating cat old lady.

The Hunter King didn't quite understand this strange sense of ritual.

"I don't understand why you're so happy?"

Teacher Victor, who had been waiting for a long time, explained, "There's a very interesting pattern in the many paradigms of literary stories, the Hunter King—if you have the patience, why don't you let me explain?"

The Hunter King immediately perked up, eager to hear what Victor, the newly crowned Detective King, had to say.

Victor: "Whether it's an adventure story or a love story—once the two people have a happy ending, the male and female protagonists meet, get to know each other, stay together, and fall in love, it seems like the story has reached its end, meaning it's about to conclude, right?"

Hunter King: "It seems so."

Victor: "The warrior defeated the dragon, took the princess home, and lived happily ever after. Nobody knows what happened after that, nobody knows—because the story ends there."

Hunter King: "Yes."

Victor: "That's just a story—for the BOSS, the station he painstakingly built, selecting the right attendant for each passenger, is itself a ritualistic magic that creates miracles. If it succeeds, it's like Jiang Xueming and Bai Ziqing, a newlywed couple, about to blossom and bear fruit. Their journey is very long, and they will walk hand in hand through the rest of their lives."

Hunter King: "Oh, is the BOSS also seeking a sense of security?"

Victor: "That's right, the couple you were following is finally together. There's always that reassuring feeling of relief and security."

Ming De: "Hehehehehehehehehehe! I can't wait! I can't wait! What kind of babies will they have? Sell your youth and offspring at my station, hehehehe! What kind of cards will they have? Will they have multiple babies? I'd love to get a ten-pull in one go!"

The Hunter King asked in a low voice, "Does it have some serious mental illness?"

Victor shrugged indifferently.

"I'm sorry, I take back what I just said."