By the time they finished the cake, it was already half past midnight.
Uncle Wen and Aunt Lan could not hold out any longer and went back to their room to sleep first.
Wen Zhixia, however, still looked full of energy. Sitting cross-legged on the sofa with her phone, she composed her birthday Moments post, selected the nine photos she liked best, and uploaded them.
In chronological order, the photos in the nine-image grid were:
[Taoist riding her home][Mom's lavish dinner][The adorable Fat Cat plushie]
[Taoist making the cake][A solo photo of her holding the castle cake][A photo of her and Taoist]
[A family photo][A photo of the pile of presents][Fat Cat devouring cake]
The girl's solo photo of her [holding the castle cake] sat in the center, surrounded by the other eight like stars around the moon. In an age when most people no longer liked posting on Moments, she still openly shared her happiness and joy.
After she published the post, quite a few classmates, friends, teachers, and relatives who were still awake saw it, liked it, and sent her birthday wishes.
Wen Zhixia replied to them one by one. Even Sister Wanyin and Ice Block Spirit, who had only just given her presents that afternoon, tagged her in the group chat and wished her a happy birthday again.
Zhizhi: [@Little Echo @Ling, thank you, Sister Wanyin! Thank you, Lin Meng Qiu!]
Little Echo: [[Giggle][Giggle]]
Little Echo: [Still awake, Zhizhi? It's almost one.]
Zhizhi: [Going to sleep soon. Why are you still up too, Sister Wanyin?]
Little Echo: [Already in bed. Closing my eyes now, closing my eyes.]
Zhizhi: [@Ling Why are you still awake too, Lin Meng Qiu?]
Ling: [[Sleeping]]
How could Li Wanyin and Lin Meng Qiu possibly sleep right now, despite claiming they were sleeping?