Extra 7: His Birthday

October 30th, Friday.

This day isn't particularly special; at most, it's just a short break for students after finishing their classes.

But for Xiao Ling, today is a special day.

"Time flies, starting today I'm a twenty-year-old old man..." he chuckled, teasing himself.

"Hmm... how about I treat myself to some barbecue after school? Just to celebrate another year of doing absolutely nothing?"

Let's rewind to a few days ago.

"Are you going to throw a birthday party for A-Yu?"

Wearing her pajamas, Little Ai stared at Dania, who had suddenly visited her room, and looked somewhat surprised by the important decision Dania had suddenly proposed.

"That's right," Dania said seriously. "Ling has never really cared about me. Even my birthday was just a hasty affair. At most, he'd have a nice meal to celebrate another year of doing nothing."

Why do you say that?

"That's what Mom said."

"ε=(´ο`*))) Sigh... So, Xiao Ya, what are your thoughts now?"

"I have no ideas." Dania shook her head honestly twice. "I don't have much experience organizing birthday parties. The one I attended was the one with you guys. I've turned down invitations to be part of the atmosphere-building team before."

"Actually, it was because of that guy, the president of the Fractsidus, that he was targeting you, right?"

"... You understand me."

"A-Yu said she played a part in my losing my physical body, what a pity." Little Ai spat in disgust. "If I ever get the chance, I must send those scumbags a thorough Luminous Starsea."

"The biggest problem is how to clean it up afterward."

(If it just vaporizes, why bother cleaning it?)

"Alright, enough of this small talk. Let's get back to business. What do you need me to do?"

Little Ai nimbly climbed onto the bed from her gaming chair, then hugged the black cat plush toy beside her pillow, her bright, starry eyes fixed on Dania, looking ready to be at her beck and call.

"There's still a lot to do..." Dania listed out the tasks one by one to Aemeath.

"Is that all?" Aemeath tilted her head and asked again to confirm.

"That's all I can think of for now," Dania said, scratching her cheek sheepishly.

"Sure, sure," Aemeath said with a smile. "Let's start a group chat first, so everyone can brainstorm together."

"Oh, by the way, Xiao Ya, do you have any ideas about the cake?"

"Hmm... I guess I should make one myself, right? After all, he made the cake he prepared for me last time too."

"To be precise, he and Little Cart prepared it together." Aemeath created a new group chat and added the other girls. "By the way, can you make it?"

"Actually, I have absolutely no clue..."

"Oh, that's alright. I mentioned it to Cartethyia, and she should come to see you tomorrow."

"That must have been really tough on her..."

It was 11 a. m. on Xiao Ling's birthday.

As the saying goes, ideals are beautiful, but reality is harsh. Although Dania had made up her mind to get up early to prepare a birthday cake for Xiao Ling, unfortunately, she couldn't be woken up by the alarm clock on time like her boyfriend.

So when she finally struggled to get out of bed, she glanced at the time and was instantly terrified.

"It's all over, it...!!!"

She hurriedly jumped out of bed, not even having time to tidy herself up, and rushed downstairs after putting on her usual loungewear and Winnie the Pooh slippers.

After rushing for a while, Dania finally arrived at the kitchen door. Without thinking, she pushed it open, only to be greeted by this scene—

It's fair to say that all the girls in the family who know a little about cooking gathered around the stove, bustling about. The sounds of beating eggs, stirring, and their excited chatter as they prepared for this surprise together created the lively atmosphere of the kitchen.

"What are you doing...?"

"Hmm? Just woke up, Xiao Ya?" Suisui happened to pass by Dania and saw her finally arrive at the kitchen. She casually tidied Dania's still messy bangs. "As you can see, we're preparing a cake."

"I was planning to do it all by myself..." Dania scratched her cheek sheepishly, "But the alarm didn't wake me up..."

"Hey, that's not quite right. I know you took the day off specifically to stay home and prepare a cake for Brother Ling, but we're part of the family too. How can you be the one to handle everything?"

Before Dania could explain herself, another pair of hands reached around her waist and tied an apron around her waist.

"Eh...?"

"Perfect!" Miss Xuanqing clapped her hands and said with a smile, "Little Chef Yaya is online."

Actually, I'm not that good at cooking...

"You've already been learning from Cart for a few days, and even if you still don't understand, you can just ask others." Xuanqing patted her shoulder and said, "Okay, enough chit-chat, we still have a lot of tasks to do! Let's go!"

So, Miss Honey Peach was half-pushed and half-reluctantly pulled into the kitchen by Suisui and Xuanqing to work together with everyone to prepare for tonight's birthday party.

"Little Ai, shall we put this decoration here?" Chisa asked Little Ai, holding up the decoration and placing it in the designated spot.

"Hmm... let me see." Aemeath made a camera gesture. "OK! Absolutely no problem."

"Good."

In the afternoon, a different group of people were busy at home. In order to avoid Hajiling, who was at school, noticing anything unusual, they chose to split into two groups to make an appearance in front of him.

At this moment, the head chefs in the kitchen have become Shorekeeper and Qingxiao. These two beauties in blue are basically doing their own thing, one is concentrating on stir-frying vegetables, and the other is kneading dough.

The cake-making is currently being handled by the fruit-loving best friends group, and there aren't any major problems. The cake base was baked this morning, and now they just need to assemble it.

"Like this... like this, and like this again, okay, done!"

After covering the entire cake with snow-white cream, Dania stood with her hands on her hips, admiring her masterpiece, and then called out, "Xixi, do you have any fresh fruit?"

"Here you are!" Sigrika walked up to Dania with a plate of freshly cut and washed fruit. "Look, I cut a lot of fruit!"

Dania casually picked up a blueberry and popped it into her mouth, then said, "The cream is all spread now, so we can decorate with these fruits and then pipe some more..."

Clang!

The sudden sound of a sword striking made the two little ones instantly alert. They looked in the direction from which the sound came and saw Qingxiao holding a sword in one hand and kneading dough in the other, facing the boiling water in the pot. It seemed she was preparing to make noodles.

"Uh, although it's Ling's birthday today, Sister Qingxiao, you don't have to make dough to celebrate, do you..." Dania looked at Qingxiao's icy blue eyes and couldn't help but think that this sword immortal's cooking style was truly wild.

Qingxiao paused for a moment, holding the sword, then said, word by word, "I just wanted to slice noodles; this sword is more convenient to use than a kitchen knife."

Dania smiled helplessly and continued to work with Sigrika to finish the cake.

"Xiao Ya, is the cake ready?" A pink-fuzzy dumpling popped its head into the kitchen.

"Coming soon."

"Why don't you come out for a moment and help us check how the scene setup is going?"

"Good."

So Dania put down her work and went to the living room with Aemeath, where her eyes lit up.

To be fair, Little Ai's aesthetic sense has always been spot-on. Under her guidance, an ordinary living room instantly transforms into a party atmosphere, and it's completely different from the party setup last time.

Leaving aside the essential party elements like balloons and ribbons, Crimson Snow's origami cranes and the photos everyone took during their summer trip became the finishing touch to this party.

"How are you feeling?" Aemeath asked with a smile, patting Dania on the shoulder.

Dania looked at the party venue that had already been set up, and then at her noisy friends in the living room, and couldn't help but smile.

"I think Ling will really enjoy the birthday party we've prepared for him."

night.

"Ugh... I told you not to send so many snacks..."

Xiao Ling finally arrived at her doorstep with large and small packages of parcels. Without exception, each package contained a large gift bag of snacks sent by her mother from the Imperial Capital.

Although he's already twenty years old, Xiao Yue still sends him a huge amount of snacks every year for his birthday, enough to last him for more than a month. However, now that there are quite a few gluttonous girls in the house, these snack gift packs will probably be gone in less than a week.

"Never mind, let's go home and put these things down first..."

Xiao Ling opened the door and entered the foyer, only to be greeted by complete darkness.

"The power is out?"

Just as he was wondering about this, the lights suddenly turned on, and the cannons exploded in his ears.

"Happy Birthday!" This is a heartfelt blessing from the girls of Solaris.

Xiao Ling was stunned for a moment, and before she could ask a question, Little Ai took her hand and led her to the birthday cake.

What caught his eye was a three-tiered chocolate fruit cake, which smelled sweet and delicious, and he imagined it would taste amazing. Around the cake were also a variety of delicious dishes, the main course being plain noodles, which looked freshly made. The aroma of the noodle soup wafted into his nostrils, and for a moment he was reminded of his childhood.

"Ling, squat down." Dania saw Xiao Ling arrive and immediately told him to squat down.

Xiao Ling complied, and Dania put the birthday hat she had made herself on his head, just like a princess crowning her prince.

"How do you look now? Aren't you even more handsome?" he suddenly asked.

"Dream on." Dania pinched the back of his hand in an annoyed tone.

"Ha ha."

Xiao Ling chuckled twice, then turned to look at the three-tiered cake and asked, "Who made this cake?"

All the girls present turned their gaze to Dania and revealed the identity of the head chef.

Dania:?

"It's the result of everyone's hard work," Dania, who was pushed forward, explained somewhat helplessly. "I couldn't have made such a big cake by myself."

"I thought so too. If you don't finish this, none of you will escape." Xiao Ling grinned wickedly. "I'm going to cover your cute faces with chocolate cream, heahiahia."

"Alright, let's talk about the pranks later. A-Yu, hurry up and make a wish. I can't wait to taste the fruits of everyone's labor!" Aemeath urged Xiao Ling to make a wish of her own.

"You little rascal..."

Looking at the birthday cake with twenty candles in front of her, Xiao Ling smiled sincerely, then put her hands together and began to make a wish.

Then, he blew out all the candles in one breath.

"Yay, we can eat cake now!" Lynae exclaimed excitedly, handing the cake cutter to Xiao Ling. "Here, the birthday boy/girl, cut the first slice."

Xiao Ling chuckled twice, calmly took the knife, and sliced the cake in two, as if bidding a solemn farewell to something.

Dear children, I'm finally celebrating my twentieth birthday. Now I'm a twenty-year-old old man, and I wish all the readers who have read this far will be as happy as I am today.