He Shiwen waited in the store early. When he saw them appear, he couldnβt wait to go to the freezer to bring out the cake.
βIt is the most beautiful cake Iβve ever made,β He Shiwen smiled and said to Pei Qingyuan. βYou are the same as your grandfather. The cake drawing you brought is very good-looking.β
Inside the transparent cake box was a tan planet with a large field of brightly colored flowers on it. Next to the garden stood a bean-green robot and a blue and white dinosaur.
The whole cake was like a fine work of art.
Ji Tong was amazed and asked Pei Qingyuan in his heart, βWhy arenβt you on the cake?β
βI am there,β Pei Qingyuan said. βI am just relatively small.β
Ji Tong looked closer again and found a white butterfly parked on the shoulder of the little robot.
This should be a butterfly made of white chocolate.
They said goodbye to He Shiwen with the cake and received an additional card written by He Xingxing in advance.
In the street covered with sunlight, Pei Qingyuan carried a cake. Ji Tong opened the car and smiled while reading it. βBrother Xiao Ji, happy birthday. I hope you will be as cute as before when you grow up. P.S. I will do my homework in my fatherβs store on the weekends.β
He couldnβt stop laughing. βIs this asking me out?β
Pei Qingyuan also smiled. βYes, but she came one step late.β
Ji Tong had been accompanying him to do his homework every day since a long time ago.
They returned home with a full load. The coffee table and dining table in the living room were filled with things that Ji Tong took out from the storage space in the blink of an eye.
Today, Pei Qingyuan was going to cook him a rich dinner with complicated procedures so he started preparing it early.
Ji Tong helped him tie the apron straps and discovered a strange thing at the same time.
Hua Hua lay motionless on the balcony like a sculpture.
βHua Hua?β He called out tentatively.
The cat turned his head and there was a trace of melancholy in the blue eyes.
Then when he saw Pei Qingyuanβs eyes, the melancholy disappeared immediately as if he was frightened.
βIβll go and cook.β
Pei Qingyuan took a meaningful look at it and walked to the kitchen.
Hua Hua had no choice but to move as well. He slowly walked toward Ji Tong, who was looking dazed.
Ji Tong crouched down and touched his head. βWhatβs wrong with you?β
It was nothing. He was just being threatened by terrible humans.
Hua Huaβs whiskers moved. For a cat, this sentence was really hard to say.
Thus, he meowed unusually quietly.
βMeow meow meow.β Walk me.
Ji Tong heard clearly but thought he was hallucinating. βDo you want to be walked?β
Hua Hua glanced at his first master holding a kitchen knife in the kitchen and decided to endure the humiliation.
βMeow meow.β I do.
Ji Tong was shocked. βArenβt you a cat?β
Hua Hua turned his head away, unwilling to meow again.
He thought for a while and suddenly realized, βI know. Are you tired of being a cat and want to try becoming a dog?β
Hua Hua: β……β
What cat would want to become a stupid dog?!
But he would rather become a dog than be a cat walked among dogs.
The latter was too shameful.
A few minutes later, Pei Qingyuan watched Ji Tong lead a short-legged, little white dog out of the house.
βOriginally, his legs were going to become longer.β Ji Tong laughed so hard that he couldnβt finish his sentence. βBut as soon as his legs grew longer, he… just walked like a cat.β
The little white dogβs legs were so short that he could only jump forward like a stuffed animal.
βMeow meow meow!β Donβt laugh at me!
βI will stop laughing, stop laughing.β The moment Ji Tong stopped, he immediately laughed again. βNo, you should bark now.β
He absolutely wouldnβt bark!
Once the elevator door closed, one person and one βdogβ disappeared. Pei Qingyuan also smiled as he closed the door.
Now was the time to hide the gifts.
Ji Tong walked his dog in the community for the first time and instantly attracted a lot of attention.
βOh, you have a dog too?β
Ji Tong replied to these familiar neighbors with a smile, βThis is a dog from a friendβs house. He is being fostered for a day.β
Looking at the state of Hua Hua, it was obvious that wanting to be a dog was impulsive.
The little white dog lay at Ji Tongβs feet in a trance. The huge dogs raised by humans looked at him curiously.
βThis dog is so cute. He is well-behaved and quiet.β
βYes, he looks like a toy.β
βHahaha, he isnβt a toy. You see, he can hug peopleβs legs.β
Surrounded by dogs, Hua Hua straightened up and hugged Ji Tongβs ankle. Unfortunately, his little short legs werenβt long enough. He hugged it and then slid down.
The little white dog with his front paws on the ground had wide round eyes.
This turned into Ji Tong and a group of strange neighbors laughing together.
Once the laughter was over, Ji Tong continued to lead him around the community. When he reached a place with no one present and no big down, Ji Tong crouched down and asked, βYou donβt want to go for a walk, do you?β
The little white dog nodded resentfully.
Ji Tong thought for a few seconds before saying coldly, βWhat gift did Ruan Ruan prepare for me?β
βMeowββ The little white dog had just meowed when closing his mouth alertly.
Human beings were really insidious and cunning!
How could he even set the words of a cat?!
Ji Tong reasoned with it. βYou are now a dog. If you tell me, it is the dog telling me, not the cat Hua Hua.β
…It seemed to make sense.
Hua Hua decided to take revenge on his savage first master.
He gestured with his tiny paws.
βMeow meow meow!β There are many, many!
The aunt walking the dog not far away had twitching ears. βWhere did the cat meowing come from?β
Ji Tong quickly picked up the little white dog and ran away.
Sitting on the bench with the floating shadows of the trees, Ji Tong looked at the clouds in the sky. He occasionally touched the little white dog around him who was lazily shrunk into a ball and seriously thought, βWhat does many, many mean?β
According to Hua Huaβs language ability, did it mean the gift was large?
He wasnβt certain.
But he loved the feeling of guessing gifts.
From the moment the cat became a dog, the ordinary birthday gradually started to become unique.
Once dusk approached, Ji Tong had already noted the appearance of each cloud. He held Hua Hua in his arms and walked home.
He pushed open the door and a rich aroma wafted from the kitchen. He turned on the light in the living room and the light in the house suddenly blended with the sunset outside.
Ji Tong saw that the door of Pei Qingyuanβs room, which had been closed since the morning, was opened. Everything was as usual inside. Now the door to Ji Tongβs room was closed.
He pretended not to notice anything unusual as he greeted Pei Qingyuan, who was busy in the kitchen. Then he went straight to his bedroom with excitement.
Pei Qingyuan also pretended not to notice his particularly excited eyes and watched him enter the room with gentle eyes.
The moment Ji Tong pushed open the door and saw the scene in front of him, he knew that βmanyβ was literal.
His room was filled with gift boxes, large and small.
Ji Tong counted in a stunned manner.
There were 19.
Counting the days spent in this world, he should be 19 years old.
Each gift box had numbers written on it in familiar handwriting.
Ji Tong found a small box with one year old written on it. There were scissors next to it, as if it had been waiting for him to open it for a long time.
He sat quietly for a while and started to open the first gift.
Inside the tiny box was a golden longevity lock pendant.
The longevity lock was small and lay in the palm of his hand. It was like a small golden cloud and was just right on the neck of a one year old baby.
The first birthday gift was a longevity lock.
Ji Tong held it tightly in his palm and went to open the second gift.
The second gift was softness.
It was a set of sky-blue baby pants with many cute little dinosaurs printed on the pure cotton fabric.
The birthday present for his second birthday was cute clothes.
Ji Tong put it on his arm and continued to unwrap the third gift.
This gift box was larger. Inside was a furry cat doll with snow-white fur and blue eyes.
A three year old child had reached the age of attachment to dolls.
Ji Tong wanted to continue to hold it but there was no way to open the next gift. So he had to reluctantly put the gift he received earlier by his side.
The fourth birthday present was a piggy bank,
The fifth birthday present came in a large box and was a small, three-wheeled bicycle.
Ji Tong quietly opened the gift.
He received a school bag and stationary bag for his eighth birthday present.
He received a drawing board and paints for his 11th birthday.
He received a basketball with the autograph of a famous player on it for his 14th birthday.
His 16th birthday present looked like a thin piece of paper but the actual weight might be the heaviest.
The paper read: A piano that will be placed in a new home.
His 17th birthday was a black sports watch.
The dusk outside the window was getting thicker and his birthday present for his 18th birthday was a large square box.
Ji Tong thought that this might be the only gift he could guess.
Inside the box was an elegant black suit that looked tailor made. It was much better than the one he had once chosen.
However, he didnβt guess all the details.
There was also a small suede box next to the suit.
Inside the box lay a pair of beautiful gold cufflinks.
Once he finished going through the 18 gifts one by one, only the unopened 19 year old gift remained in the room.
Ji Tong finally couldnβt help turning around to look at Pei Qingyuan, who was standing at the door and staring at him.
βI thought you were going to celebrate my 18th birthday.β
Pei Qingyuan answered, βYou have grown up by a year. Now you are 19 years old.β
More than a year had truly passed. Even though Ji Tongβs past life had stood still, he hoped to make up for those lost years and experiences.
Ji Tong responded happily and opened the box for this 19th birthday gift.
Inside was a delicately shaped chest that fit his gaudy aesthetics. The outside was carved with stars and a moon and there was a keyhole in the center of the moon.
Ji Tong was stunned and instinctively touched the golden key that was always hanging around his neck.
This key was a gift from Pei Qingyuan on his birthday last year.
On that day, he said that the treasure chest was hidden in the future.
Ji Tong was surprised. βHave you prepared this gift a long time ago?β
At that time, his human identity hadnβt been revealed and Pei Qingyuan still believed that he was an artificial intelligence system.
Pei Qingyuan nodded. βIt was ready at that time, but I never figured out when to take it out.β
He took a few steps forward, took off the necklace for Ji Tong and let him get the key.
What gift would Pei Qingyuan prepare for an artificial intelligence?
Ji Tong couldnβt wait to put the golden key in the keyhole and turn it.
The chest opened and revealed a stack of paper.
Ji Tong was a bit surprised. He picked up the top folded paper, opened it and quickly laughed.
The paper was pink with cartoon patterns on it. There were two lines of large characters in the center.
[You are so cute, I liked you first. Can you marry me when I grow up?]
This sentence was even more childish than He Xingxingβs birthday card today.
It was straightforward and warm, braving a childish silliness. It was clear that only kindergarten students could write such words.
Ji Tong opened another piece of paper below it. This time, it was a green-striped white paper torn from a workbook. The handwriting looked more correct.
[Ji Tong, do you want to go to the bookstore to read books on the weekend?]
This was full of the arrogance of elementary school students.
Ji Tong was still smiling but his tears wet the paper.
It was the first time in his life that he shed tears like this.
He was in the future but he received a series of love letters from the past.
System 0587 was an artificial intelligence full of yearning for human life.
Thus, Pei Qingyuan thought he must also yearn for the feeling of being loved.
Even if he never really experienced those days.
But he would love the smell of love.
So Pei Qingyuan tried to imitate the handwriting and tone that should be present at different ages, trying to make up for the love that the system didnβt get.
Just by mistake, the human teenager behind the system had never really experienced these tastes.
So this became the most suitable 19th birthday present.
In the love letters that belonged to different stages of life, it seemed that he also accompanied Ji Tong through that lonely life in a different world, never being absent.
In high school, his youthful affection was packed into a clean white envelope.
[I havenβt figured out what college to go to. Have you? Where do you want to go in the future?]
JI Tong couldnβt stop crying. βWe are now in the same college.β
It was the first time he cried but the tears seemed to have accumulated for many years. They fell on the page one by one.
Love was more worthy of tears than pain.
Pei Qingyuan sat beside him, wiped away the tears that slipped down his cheeks and quietly waited for him to smile again.
Ji Tong picked up the last love letter. It was a thick book.
βCollege Love Lettersβ was a romantic and gorgeous anthology of love poems.
The blazing and bright love was written on the title page of the collection of poems.
[I love you.]
[Whoever you are.]
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damn im crying tf
thanks for bringing this wonderful story to us
I’m crying too π’
ahhhhh crying π Love you, Xiao Yuan. Glad that Ji Tong felt love π
ππππβ₯οΈππ₯°ππ
godDAMN this made me cry. Thank you for translating!
SEE, this was the art of gift-giving π€§ honestly I’m a bit sick of rich gongs showering their lover with branded gifts or casually sweeping black cards without thinking… π but THIS, this is so personal, absolutely can’t be replaced by anything else, and was very thoughtfully prepared for a long time with love and understanding to give the person happiness ππ how can you not love a gong like this?
Honestly gongs surnamed Pei are SSSSR tier π€§ I’ve read Pei Shaoze (Accidental Mark), Pei Feng (Gold Medal Coach) and now Pei Qingyuan… they’re all so green flag and gentle and loving and absolutely know how to cherish their lover ahh I love them ππππ
Theyre so pure AHHH
gosh this is such a wonderful story!!! Thank u very much for sharing this with us!! im so toucheddddπ©π«Άπ
uuu i just know my eyes are gonna be puffy in the morning ( T n T )
so sweet and thoughtful orz