The "aesthetic" electronic voice inside played the accompaniment to "Happy New Year," sounding especially cheerful.
The petals could even spin, whirring smoothly around and around.
Qin Heng looked at the candle flower, confusion and incomprehension appearing on his face for the first time.
Chi Ning looked at Qin Heng and burst out laughing. "It's kind of fun too."
New Year's was supposed to be happy.
He cleared his throat, coughed lightly, and pointed outside. "New Year."
Then he pointed at the cake. "Fireworks."
Trying not to laugh, he added, "It fits the occasion."
The cold-spark flower inside the lotus quickly burned out, but a tiny light came on instead, with no sign of stopping, as though it intended to spin all night.
After thinking for a moment, Chi Ning brought over the sea urchin shell he had picked up at the beach earlier and gently placed it on top of the flower bud. The little light beneath it shone through the patterns in the shell, scattering fine halos of light across the ceiling.
It was pretty, like a little night-light.
And it came with music and spinning.
Qin Heng was amused. He picked up the cake knife and cut the round ball into two pieces. "Eat. We're both hungry."
He was never going to that fucking cake shop again. This kind of candle was far too early for him; the romantic atmosphere had gradually turned ridiculous.
Chi Ning took a few bites of cake while looking at Qin Heng's bright red ears, then suddenly thought of the huge bag of coins Qin Heng had collected.
"Did you bring any coins?"
Qin Heng said, "A few. What do you want to buy? How many?"
Chi Ning pressed his lips together over the cream on his spoon. "Five."
Qin Heng placed the