DMMY Chapter 4: Birthday

A low and cold tone, carrying a natural sense of detachment.

It wasn’t the voice that should utter such words, yet it seemed so accustomed, without boundaries, and indulgent.

So incredibly natural.

Natural to the point that the three adults and the parties involved didn’t even react.

Did Qin Zigui just bark?

Did he admit he’s a puppy?

Was he going to take care of himself?

Sheng Yan wondered if he had a bit too much Wine, his brain neurons beginning to function sluggishly.

He looked at Qin Zigui, blinking in confusion.

Then, the next moment, the sharp pain in his throat that couldn’t be suppressed forced his consciousness back, and he couldn’t help but double over and cough violently again.

Qin Zigui seemed helpless in his gaze, squatting down, patting his back gently, handing over a cup, and saying softly, “I’m a puppy, drink the water.”

Perhaps due to the Wine, Sheng Yan’s brain was somewhat sluggish, and he didn’t continue his heroic resistance this time. Instead, he took the water cup and gulped it down.

Then came the sliced snow pear and rinsing with salt water.

Finally, opening his mouth, he allowed Qin Zigui to spray throat spray on him.

After this series of procedures, Sheng Yan obviously felt much better.

Moreover, he became more and more cooperative, to the point where he could even be described as obedient.

Feeling the bewildered, astonished, and admiring gazes of the three adults around him, Qin Zigui peeled a throat lozenge and put it into Sheng Yan’s mouth. Then, he stood up, explaining, “He used to love eating spicy snacks as a child, but he has a narrow trachea and is prone to choking.”

Xu Qingrong was a single mother, managing a large company, so it went without saying how busy she was. Qin Ru and Jiang Ping also started their own businesses from scratch, so they were extremely busy in their younger years, and they still didn’t have their own children. These two children were basically raised by nannies.

And Qin Zigui was a year older than Sheng Yan and matured early, so Sheng Yan could be said to have been taken care of by Qin Zigui.

So at this point, the three adults were actually no match for one child.

Thinking back to the scene just now when her own son refused to acknowledge unless Qin Zigui admitted to being a puppy, and Qin Zigui really did bark, Xu Qingrong felt a bit guilty.

“Well, Zigui, Xiao Yan, you know, here…” Xu Qingrong pointed to her head, gesturing, “it’s a bit different from others, don’t argue with him.”

Indeed, Sheng Yan’s thought process had been unique since childhood, always coming up with strange ideas that even adults and children couldn’t think of, but they usually found it cute rather than annoying.

“Don’t worry, Aunt Xu.”

Qin Zigui looked at Xu Qingrong, his reply calm but somehow reassuring.

Xu Qingrong felt both moved and relieved in her heart.

Looking at other people’s children, so sensible, so outstanding, with a good temper, and even taking care of others, unlike her own, except for a pretty face that could charm people, everything else about him was headache-inducing.

Xu Qingrong was thinking, and Qin Ru nudged her, “Look at Xiao Yan, why do I feel something’s not right?”

Qin Zigui and Xu Qingrong turned their heads to look, and sure enough, they saw Sheng Yan, who had somehow returned to leaning on the table, his chin resting on the back of his hand, his long eyelashes fluttering slowly, his gaze hazy, looking a bit…

Dazed.

After a brief observation, Xu Qingrong tentatively asked, “Is the aftereffect kicking in?”

Qin Ru gave her a look, “Your son, you’re asking me?”

Jiang Ping squinted for a while, “Distracted gaze, slow movements, seems like he’s a bit tipsy, your Wine is authentic.”

A brief silence followed.

Xu Qingrong didn’t deny it, “The Wine I bought is indeed authentic.”

Qin Ru was a bit worried, “But they have classes tomorrow.”

Jiang Ping waved his hand, “Hmph, whether Xiao Yan goes to class or not doesn’t make much difference, might as well just take sick leave directly.”

Another brief silence followed.

Xu Qingrong said, “Makes sense.”

Qin Ru agreed, “Good idea.”

Jiang Ping said, “I’ll call their teachers.”

Standing aside, Qin Zigui said, “…”

Was this the reaction of all parents?

“I’ll take Sheng Yan back to his room to rest first.” Qin Zigui thought it was better to rely on himself, so he picked up Sheng Yan’s backpack with one hand, helped him up with the other, letting him lazily lean against his waist, then turned to ask Xu Qingrong, “Did you bring his toiletries and change of clothes?”

Xu Qingrong nodded quickly, “I brought them, I brought them. Toothpaste, toothbrush, towel, bath towel, shower gel, shampoo, they’re all in your bathroom. Pajamas are hanging in the first cabinet, underwear is in the bottom drawer.”

“Okay, good. Aunt Xu, Uncle and Aunt, you guys take your time eating. Leave some light and mild food in the fridge. When Sheng Yan wakes up from his alcohol, I’ll heat it up for him.”

“Okay, Aunt will make some porridge for you later. It’ll be on the stove. Let us know if you need anything.” Qin Ru replied warmly.

She and Xu Qingrong also wanted to take care of it themselves, but after all, Sheng Yan was already a teenager, and many things were different from when he was a child.

“You said our Sheng Yan, he’s grown so tall now, why is he still behaving like a child?” Xu Qingrong looked at Qin Zigui holding Sheng Yan back to the room, sighed, “And why isn’t your Qin Zigui a girl, otherwise, it would be great for him to be our daughter-in-law, our family’s industry is big enough to have someone to inherit it.”

Xu Qingrong shook her head, sighing with genuine regret.

She and Qin Ru had been joking about this for many years. If Qin Zigui or Sheng Yan were indeed girls, they would probably have been engaged by now.

It’s a pity that both of them are genuine tall men over 1.8 meters.

Qin Zigui listened to this, indifferent as he took Sheng Yan back to his room, closed the door, put him on the bed, and looked at the wound on his forehead that had cracked open again due to the intense coughing, “Sit tight, don’t move, I’ll apply some medicine for you.”

After saying that, he turned and opened the drawer.

Sheng Yan, who was sitting upright on the bed, seemed to suddenly come to his senses, raising one hand high and lowering the other straight down, indicating a full arm’s length, then said seriously, “So much.” 

Qin Zigui took out the iodine, and when he turned back, he saw Sheng Yan like that, not understanding: “What’s with so much?”

Sheng Yan gestured with his finger: “Come here.”

Qin Zigui approached as instructed.

Sheng Yan gestured with his finger again.

Qin Zigui bent down.

Then Sheng Yan leaned close to his ear, whispered three words mysteriously, “Wife, material.”

Qin Zigui: “…”

Now he was sure that Sheng Yan was truly drunk on the Wine.

Now that you are an adult, do you want wife material?

And so many of them.

Thinking about it, he whispered: “Which fairy do you want to marry?”

Sheng Yan hummed proudly, “I want to marry those who are good-looking and smart celestial maidens, preferably the kind who ranks first in the grade every time.”

Qin Zigui: “?”

Sheng Yan squinted, fierce and domineering: “This way, our family will also have a first-place student, then I can beat you to death!”

Qin Zigui: “…”

Such deep-seated resentment.

But he wasn’t going to argue with a little drunkard. He dabbed some iodine on a cotton swab, lifted Sheng Yan’s chin, and casually replied, “Sure, marry a fairy, marry one who ranks first in the grade.”

Sheng Yan was probably subconsciously used to this scene, so he didn’t resist or struggle. He just lifted his head, looked at Qin Zigui, narrowed his eyes again, and mysteriously said, “Let me tell you another secret.”

Qin Zigui applied the medicine to him, saying: “Go on.”

“That thing I just said, that wish, hoping that all posers stay away from me, that, it’s fake, I fooled you.” Sheng Yan sat on the edge of the bed, hands supporting the edge of the bed, shaking his head, “My real wish isn’t that.”

Qin Zigui pressed his head slightly harder, continuing to apply the medicine, not saying anything.

Sheng Yan asked unwillingly, “Don’t you want to know what my real wish is?”

Qin Zigui casually said, “I do.”

But Sheng Yan said, “I’m not telling you.”

Qin Zigui pressed Sheng Yan’s head: “…”

How could a drunk person be so unmanageable?

It’s as if he wanted to twist his little head off and see what was inside.

But Sheng Yan seemed oblivious to the imminent danger, continuing to hum: “You said we need to set boundaries, keep our distance, so I’m not going to tell you.”

Sheng Yan said, and his head began to sway left and right autonomously under Qin Zigui’s palm, his expression proud yet serious.

Qin Zigui looked at him, watched for three seconds, and couldn’t help but lower his head, lips slightly curved.

Like thin ice meeting warm sunlight, suddenly melting, leaving only gentle spring water.

Sheng Yan, who had been shaking his head along with Dumbledore just now, suddenly stopped, blinked his eyes, and looked at Qin Zigui.

Qin Zigui’s lips curved slightly, and he asked softly, “What’s wrong?”

Sheng Yan blinked: “You smiled.”

Qin Zigui: “?”

Sheng Yan drooped his head sadly: “It’s been a long time since you smiled at me after hating me.”

Qin Zigui paused slightly at the joints of his fingers holding the cotton swab.

He was thinking about how to respond when Sheng Yan suddenly stood up abruptly, his tone very serious: “I want to study.”

Even though Qin Zigui knew that Sheng Yan’s thought process was different from others, he still felt a bit caught off guard.

What’s this all about?

Sheng Yan looked at him, full of conviction: “You must think I’m not good at studying and love to fight, that I’m useless, so you don’t want to play with me. Then I want to study too. If I study well, you won’t hate me anymore.”

As he spoke, he was about to get something, but because he was drunk, he was dizzy and unsteady on his feet. He took a few steps, stumbled, and almost fell.

Seeing that he was about to fall, Qin Zigui hurriedly supported him and lifted him back onto the bed: “What do you want, I’ll get it for you.”

“I want my backpack, I want to study.”

Sheng Yan sat back on the bed, his eyes too tired to open, but still stubbornly eager for knowledge.

Well, at least he still wanted to study when he was drunk.

Qin Zigui also felt somewhat relieved, handing the heavy backpack to Sheng Yan’s arms.

Sheng Yan took it and placed it on his lap, unzipping it solemnly.

A power bank, a small Lego set, an iPad, a bottle of chilled Coca-Cola, three cans of cat food, two packets of wafers…

The backpack was bulging with items. Flipping through it, there was only one book in the end.

A worn-out, thick book as heavy as a brick.

On the cover, there was a line of large characters—”After obtaining the Wish Fulfillment System, I reached the pinnacle of life.”

Qin Zigui suddenly felt a bit relieved in advance.

Sheng Yan also seemed a bit surprised by the contents of his backpack. He turned it over completely, shook it, but didn’t shake out another piece of paper or a pen.

After an awkward pause of three seconds, he casually picked up the only book, patting it, and said solemnly, “This book, this one, um, that one… oh, it’s that one, the book about sending the student union president to the nightclub to be a young master, it’s written so well, so satisfying.”

Sheng Yan sounded very confident.

Qin Zigui felt that he didn’t deserve this.

Sure enough, Sheng the young master was generous: “But I won’t send you to be a young master.”

Qin Zigui finally felt somewhat relieved. “Can you tell me why?”

Sheng Yan snorted coldly, with an imposing manner, “Because looking like you, you’ll definitely earn a lot of money by going to the nightclub to be a young master, so it’s not good, not satisfying, I’ll send you to feed pigs! Feed pigs in the countryside!”

Qin Zigui: “…”

What did he expect from Sheng Yan?

This heartless little drunkard, one worse than the other, should all be stripped naked, cleaned, tied to the bed, and left alone to avoid being driven crazy.

Qin Zigui’s face turned cold, and he was about to put his thoughts into action when Sheng Yan suddenly flopped his head with the big yellow book, closed his eyes, and didn’t move.

He looked like he suddenly fell asleep.

Qin Zigui reached out to touch his face, but halfway through, Sheng Yan suddenly opened his eyes again, looking at Qin Zigui and asked out of the blue, “Why don’t I have the Wish Fulfillment System like him?”

Qin Zigui: “?”

“Just this, he has the Wish Fulfillment System, why don’t I?” Sheng Yan seemed quite wronged, patting the big yellow book pitifully, lowering his eyes, “I made a wish last year that I wanted everything to go as I wished, it’s been a year now, why hasn’t it come true yet? It used to work very well before. Is it because Guanyin Bodhisattva, like you, doesn’t like me anymore?”

Sheng Yan always had a young master’s temperament, loved face, and loved to show off. He also hated pretentiousness and never lacked friends and a lively atmosphere.

So when Qin Zigui said to keep a distance, Sheng Yan, apart from throwing a few tantrums, didn’t show any signs of sadness. Or rather, compared to being sad, he behaved more like being sulky and irritable after losing face.

So Qin Zigui never thought that Sheng Yan would have such thoughts.

It turned out that even the beloved young master would worry that others didn’t like him.

At that moment, Qin Zigui suddenly felt that he might have made the wrong choice a year ago.

But he thought it was the best choice at the time.

He looked at Sheng Yan for a while, then rubbed his head, “No, Guanyin Bodhisattva likes you very much. It’s just that some wishes take a little longer to come true. For example, the wish you made last year may only come true this year, so just wait a little longer.”

Sheng Yan blinked, “Really?”

Qin Zigui nodded, “Yes, really.”

Sheng Yan seemed appeased, lowered his eyelids, rested his chin on the thick book, and asked somewhat uncertainty, “Will my wish made last year to have everything go as I wish come true?”

Qin Zigui lowered his eyelashes, using his fingertips to wipe off the excess iodine from Sheng Yan’s forehead, “It will, just sleep well, and it will come true when you wake up tomorrow.”

“Will my wish this year come true too?”

“It will, but you have to say it out loud. Guanyin Bodhisattva can only hear it and help you make it come true if you say it out loud.”

Under the influence of alcohol, Sheng Yan was already too tired to think properly. His eyes were slanted, his brain became sluggish, and after hearing Qin Zigui’s answer, he thought slowly for a long time before nodding slowly, “Then Guanyin Bodhisattva, listen carefully. My birthday wish is that Qin Zigui and I stop quarreling. I want us to be as good as before… forever… good.”

As his speech slowed down and his voice became quieter, by the time he finished the last word “good,” Sheng Yan had already collapsed on the bed with the thick book, completely closing his eyelids.

Even gentle breathing sounded peaceful. The old-fashioned alarm clock placed on the bedside, both the hour and minute hands unknowingly pointed to twelve, emitting a solemn “click” sound.

Qin Zigui reached out to tidy up his slightly messy hair, his voice low and slow in the night, “Happy birthday, A-Yan.”

Your wishes will all come true.