Gu Zhuoyan actually had very little experience with celebrating birthdays. For those he had a good relationship with, he would just buy a gift. Strictly speaking, only when celebrating birthdays for Lu Wen and the others did he put in a bit of thought.

But not with too much thought.

It was already the 15th. Excluding the first and last day, there were still eight or nine days until Christmas. Gu Zhuoyan began his preparations in an orderly manner.

A light rain fell during the night, making it a bit colder. Zhuang Fanxin wore a mask when he went out in the morning. Gu Zhuoyan had been waiting under a tree for a while and said with a laugh, "Is it that cold? Southerners really can't handle the cold."

Zhuang Fanxin shot him a glare, only speaking after walking a little way, "My mouth is swollen. Southerners can't handle being kissed so hard."

Hearing this, Gu Zhuoyan became very excited, as if he'd accomplished something amazing, and insisted on taking a look. It was indeed a bit swollen and red. He spouted nonsense, "Passionate kisses are like this. After it swells a few more times, you'll build up a tolerance."

"Bullshit." Zhuang Fanxin was not easy to fool. "French kisses aren't like this."

Gu Zhuoyan said, "Worshipping foreign things now, are we? This is the Gu-style."

Bantering shamelessly, they entered the subway station. It was packed with people, and Zhuang Fanxin's trouser leg got wet from a man's umbrella beside him. He scooted closer into Gu Zhuoyan's embrace, lightly rubbing against Gu Zhuoyan's calf to dry it off.

Gu Zhuoyan endured it for three stops. Just as Zhuang Fanxin was rubbing enthusiastically, he grabbed his waist. Using the span from his thumb to his middle finger as a unit, he wrapped his hand around to measure the waist circumference, then measured the chest circumference in the same way. Just as he was measuring the hip circumference, he was jostled by someone, and his hand pressed down too hard.

Zhuang Fanxin suddenly looked up, his voice as quiet as a mosquito's buzz, "Not here..."

Gu Zhuoyan was being treated like a pervert but deliberately didn't explain himself. "I just want to do it here." He didn't pull his hand back, even giving a squeeze. Through the pants, he could feel the two butt cheeks clenching tightly.

Embarrassed and scared, Zhuang Fanxin grabbed Gu Zhuoyan's collar and pulled it down. Leaning in close, he tilted his head and quickly asked into the other's ear, "Did you watch porn?"

Gu Zhuoyan kept up the act, giving a vague "En." The emotions in Zhuang Fanxin's eyes flickered. Even through the mask, Gu Zhuoyan could guess he was biting his lip in anger. After a long moment, he finally couldn't hold back, "...Share the link with me."

"Damn you." Gu Zhuoyan surrendered. He quickly left after they arrived at the station.

A calendar hung next to the blackboard. He'd never looked at it before. Today, as Gu Zhuoyan entered the room, he glanced at it and saw that Christmas Day was a Friday.

After the fourth period, Zhuang Fanxin went to the art gallery. Qi Nan was bored out of his mind the entire afternoon. On Zhuang Fanxin's desk, he wrote a few lines of lyrics: When I miss you, you are at the horizon, when I miss you, you are before my eyes, when I miss you, you are in my mind... Before he could finish the last line, Gu Zhuoyan slapped a hand on the desk and said, "Stop thinking about him. You have a customer."

Qi Nan trotted over to the last row, holding a chemistry book. "Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron... my technique is pretty good."

Gu Zhuoyan laid out a piece of scratch paper and said directly, "I want to order a birthday cake. You deliver it on the 25th. I'll contact you beforehand with the specific time and location."

Qi Nan understood at once. "For my deskmate? No problem. How many inches? What flavor? What kind of cream?"

As expected of the heir to a dessert shop, he was quite reliable. Qi Nan took out his phone and scrolled through his photo album, which contained over a hundred pictures of various cakes, interspersed with some straight-guy selfies taken from unflattering angles. The two of them lowered their heads to look under the desk as Gu Zhuoyan reviewed each picture. Zhuang Fanxin didn't eat chocolate, the flowery one was too girly, the fondant one looked good but wasn't tasty...

"Damn, you're so picky," Qi Nan complained.

Gu Zhuoyan said, "Money is not an issue. Use the best of everything."

Qi Nan changed his tune, "I just love customers like you, who have high standards."

Being first in the grade was like a get-out-of-jail-free card. Gu Zhuoyan pretended to be explaining problems to Qi Nan, and they openly huddled together for two whole study periods. At first, Qi Nan only thought that Gu Zhuoyan and Zhuang Fanxin had a really good relationship. Gradually, something began to stir deep inside him. After they finally decided on the flavor and design, he couldn't help but ask, "Have you and Zhuang Fanxin become sworn brothers?"

Gu Zhuoyan rubbed the spot between his eyebrows. "En, the kind where we'd take a knife for each other."

Qi Nan sighed enviously and continued to look at candles. Gu Zhuoyan wanted number candles, just a "1" and a "7". "Then there's no problem," Qi Nan said. "By the way, should 'Happy Birthday' be in Chinese or English?"

"Chinese." Gu Zhuoyan hesitated for a moment. "Add... Baby."

Qi Nan stared blankly: "Huh?"

Gu Zhuoyan said, "Just write: Baby, Happy Birthday."

Qi Nan was dumbfounded. This isn't how sworn brotherhood works! Gu Zhuoyan couldn't be bothered with that anymore. He took out six hundred yuan and shoved it at him. Qi Nan came to his senses and tried to refuse, saying he wouldn't dare charge so much even if he were ripping off a friend.

"The rest is hush money. Don't go spouting nonsense." Gu Zhuoyan had the air of a big boss. "Don't you want to buy a new skin? Consider it my Christmas present to you."

Qi Nan was sorely tempted, but he still didn't understand why two guys would call each other 'Baby'.

The rain in Rong City was strange. As soon as it got dark, it would start pouring. Gu Zhuoyan stayed in the classroom after school to do his homework. Head Teacher Feng saw him on his patrol and, gratified, wished him another brilliant success in the final exams.

When the time came, he went to the art gallery to pick up Zhuang Fanxin. The taxi was pulled over on the side of the road. He rolled down the window a bit and, through the curtain of rain, saw Zhuang Fanxin and Pei Zhi coming out together. Just as he was about to open the car door, a Tesla drove by. It was Zhuang Xianyang.

"Master, let's go," Gu Zhuoyan said to the driver.

A layer of rainwater collected on the second-floor terrace. The raindrops beat against the floor and the floor-to-ceiling windows like a drum, not letting up until midnight. A few people were online in his contact list. The three of them all had the status "Playing QQ Doudizhu". After waiting a moment, Lian Yiming and Lu Wen both updated their statuses at the same time: Su Wang, you're not human!

Gu Zhuoyan called Lian Yiming. The call connected. "Not asleep yet?"

"Sleep my ass, I'm about to be pissed to death by Su Wang." Lian Yiming took a deep breath. "Wanna play mahjong? Help me absolutely crush him."

Gu Zhuoyan said, "I need something from you. Do me a favor."

He wanted to gift Zhuang Fanxin a custom-made fencing suit, including shoes, a helmet, and a sword. The last time he'd asked for a favor was to buy sneakers; this time, it was to custom-order clothes. Lian Yiming felt like a personal shopper.

After he sent the measurements, Lian Yiming said, "So skinny. Isn't he bony to the touch?"

"None of your damn business." Gu Zhuoyan wasn't finished. "And go to my place again, to the small storage room in my apartment building. On the fourth shelf of the cabinet, there are my award medals from fencing competitions. Send them over with the suit."

Lian Yiming asked, "You're giving him the award medals too? What's the occasion, are you two getting married?"

Gu Zhuoyan said, "It's his birthday."

After settling the arrangements, he hung up and casually opened his browser. His search engine had been on the verge of exploding these past few days; he was even searching for 'birthday gift' while walking the dog. He didn't even notice Bond eating shit under a tree. In case the suit wasn't ready in time, he couldn't be left unprepared, so he needed a backup. He typed in 'Christmas gift,' and saw a bunch of red and green things. Then he searched 'quality Christmas gift,' and the first result was a KFC Christmas bucket.

As for the restaurant, there were over a hundred in Rong City with more than two thousand online reviews, and Gu Zhuoyan scrolled through them until his eyes were about to go blind. From racking his brains so much, he'd been unusually lazy and aloof these past few days. At school, whenever he had a free moment, he would just gaze out the window, waiting for Christmas to arrive.

"Gu Zhuoyan, wanna play ball?"

Not playing, no time.

"Zhuoyan, did you understand question four? Come explain it to us."

Not explaining, didn't understand it.

"Gu Zhuoyan, a girl from Class 1 is asking for your phone number. Should I give it to her?"

Give her what? I don't like girls.

On the 24th, the fencing suit arrived. Lian Yiming's taste was really something else; he had actually used a pinkish-purple gift box and even tied a bow on it. Gu Zhuoyan thought about it. If Zhuang Fanxin could accept a snow globe, he would probably like this.

It was Christmas Eve. Preparations for the art exhibition were complete, and the volunteers clocked off at eight.

Gu Zhuoyan didn't go home after school, heading straight for a residential complex. He familiarly took the elevator to the eighteenth floor. Before he could even ring the doorbell, the door opened from the inside.

Pei Zhi was startled to see him. As they took the elevator back down, Pei Zhi asked, "You... were looking for me?"

Gu Zhuoyan said, "Give me your work pass for the art exhibition. I'm accompanying Fanxin tomorrow."

It was too direct. Pei Zhi was bewildered. "I still need it."

"Schools in the USA are on break, right?" Gu Zhuoyan smiled. "Where are you off to so late at night? Meeting a friend? It's not easy for someone to fly all the way back here. Aren't you going to spend Christmas with them tomorrow?"

Pei Zhi looked shocked. "You're terrifying."

As he said this, he couldn't help but offer up his work pass.

Gu Zhuoyan put it away and said gentlemanly, "I won't leak any secrets, rest assured."

He left briskly. After getting back, he set an alarm and, in the final second of Christmas Eve, wished Zhuang Fanxin a "Happy Birthday."

On Christmas morning, Zhuang Fanxin started getting all dressed up the moment he woke up. Afraid others might forget, he even posted on his Moments—'Getting a year older every Christmas.' He couldn't wait to leave the house. He had expected Gu Zhuoyan to be waiting for him, but he hadn't expected the other boy not to be wearing his school uniform.

"How come you're not wearing yours either?" He had been going to the art exhibition, so he hadn't been wearing his uniform lately.

Gu Zhuoyan said showily, "To look handsome for you."

Zhuang Fanxin was truly dumbstruck by his handsomeness. He was halfway there before he noticed the work pass around Gu Zhuoyan's neck. Gu Zhuoyan just said that Pei Zhi had something to attend to, and he was taking the opportunity. Zhuang Fanxin wasn't the least bit curious about what that 'something' was and said excitedly, "Then you can come with me?"

Gu Zhuoyan said, "I'll leave two periods later, so the teachers won't get suspicious."

"Oh right, how will you get excused?"

"I'm not. Gu Baoyan painted for you, so I'll skip a class for you."

When they got to school, it was morning English reading. As soon as Zhuang Fanxin stood on the podium, he was engulfed by catcalls. The class arts representative made an announcement: Please enjoy the annual Zhuang Fanxin personal talent show, a capella 'Jingle Bells'.

Gu Zhuoyan leaned back in his chair, enjoying the show. His expression was completely different from when he watched Gu Baoyan play the violin; a smile never left his lips. It was his first time hearing Zhuang Fanxin sing. Hmm, he was a bit off-key.

After he finished singing, the Class Monitor deliberately said, "Alright, let's read the textbook now."

Zhuang Fanxin slammed his hand on the podium. "No way! All of you, sing!"

Qi Nan took a gift out from his schoolbag. "Happy birthday to you—"

Gu Zhuoyan craned his neck to see and was struck speechless. Last year, it was a snow globe; this year, it was a carousel music box. And if you listened closely, the music was even from "Castle in the Sky."

The whole class sang the birthday song together. Xia Wei came in and stood by the door, clapping along. Zhuang Fanxin was slumped over the podium, so happy he was about to faint.

At noon, Zhuang Fanxin treated the entire class to milk tea. Only after they finished did he go to the art exhibition. Gu Zhuoyan waited two more periods, then slipped out during the long break. The halo effect of a top student was too powerful; everyone simply assumed his empty seat meant he'd gone to the restroom, so much so that the teacher hadn't even noticed his absence by evening study hall.

A red carpet was laid out in front of the art gallery, and members of the media were arriving one after another. Inside, a final inspection was underway. It was Gu Zhuoyan's first time here, and he followed Zhuang Fanxin around the entire time, as obedient as an attendant.

The person in charge of reception was carrying several coffee carriers, delivering them to the lounges one by one. Zhuang Fanxin went to help, saying as he walked, "So many guests have arrived. More than forty artists, and even celebrities, they're all in the lounges."

Gu Zhuoyan said, "Let me carry those. Which room are we going to?"

Zhuang Fanxin looked. "That one. Pei Zhi's grandmother is in there."

Gu Zhuoyan followed behind, his gaze falling on the nameplate on the door: Lounge One, Professor Pei Yuanzhou, Professor Sun Hai, Investor Representative—CEO of GSG Group.

His heart skipped a beat. Was it the GSG he knew...

Zhuang Fanxin had already pushed the door open. Gu Zhuoyan unavoidably looked inside and saw Xue Manzi sitting there, looking glamorous. As she looked over, the smile on her face had yet to fade.

The author has something to say:　There are no definite side CPs at the moment, so feel free to ship whoever you like. But please don't imagine some epic romance on your own, or you'll be disappointed when what I write is different. After all, I often go against the grain ==