BIAC CH 31

Chapter 31: Surprise! Happy Birthday!

Ever since Yan Qiao teamed up with the photographer Xiao Li, the two quickly reached an agreement: The man handles outside affairs, the woman handles the inside.

Xiao Li would be responsible for tailing and photographing all of Du Jianyou’s activities outside, while Yan Qiao would monitor his every move inside the company.

They decided the focus of surveillance would be on Du Jianyou.

First, because Tang He was too difficult to approach, and they couldn’t afford to provoke him. Second, because if they could catch Du Jianyou in a compromising position, even if they couldn’t get their hands on Tang He, they could still find a way to completely bring Du Jianyou down.

Yan Qiao hated Du Jianyou. But what she didn’t expect was that Xiao Li hated him even more. That delighted Yan Qiao. She had originally thought she might have to offer something in return for this collaboration, but to her surprise, the moment Xiao Li heard the target was Du Jianyou, he agreed without hesitation and even immediately came up with a detailed operation plan—leaving Yan Qiao thoroughly impressed.

Meanwhile, Du Jianyou was completely unaware that he was under siege from both the front and the back. In his innocent little world, he was only worried about one thing: how to teach Tang He, that careless idiot, a lesson.

Truthfully, Du Jianyou wasn’t really planning to hold a grudge over the mix-up with his birthday. He just wanted to spend a proper birthday with him.

Their first birthday together since becoming a couple.

But that muddleheaded guy couldn’t even get the birthday right—how could Jianyou expect him to plan anything properly? So, Jianyou decided to take matters into his own hands: he’d plan the birthday himself like usual and then invite Tang He to attend. That way, at least he could maximize Tang He’s guilt.

“Ge, next week—” Du Jianyou had just been thoroughly ravished and was lying snuggled in Tang He’s satisfied embrace, about to open his mouth to schedule the birthday dinner—when Tang He beat him to it.

“I’ll be flying to the U.S. the day after tomorrow. Got some meetings and site visits for a few branch offices. Might take two or three weeks. Probably won’t be back until the end of August.”

“You behave while I’m gone, okay?” Tang He noticed Du Jianyou’s sudden emotional drop and assumed he was reluctant to part, which only made him hug him tighter with a sense of smug satisfaction.

Du Jianyou sat there in a daze, unable to believe their first birthday together was just gone like that. He hadn’t even had time to plan it properly, and now it was ruined. He was so dejected he barely had the strength to speak. And even though he was furious, he couldn’t bring himself to lash out. Being the reasonable type, Du Jianyou understood—a business trip was a business trip. It’d be too petty to get mad over that…

If Tang He had just taken the time to properly look up the correct birthday, they wouldn’t have ended up being apart on that very day.

Hope was, once again, replaced by disappointment.

Fuming but helpless, Du Jianyou could only let it go. He figured, “Forget it. On my birthday, I’ll just ask him to at least say happy birthday.”

But as life goes, things rarely go the way we wish. And even this tiny little wish was not meant to be fulfilled.

After arriving in the U.S., Tang He was slammed with work, running around nonstop. At one point, he even went completely off the grid for two full days. Yes, that’s right—from August 7th onward, he was unreachable. By the time they got back in touch, it was already 2 a.m. on August 9th.

Du Jianyou sat staring at the clock on the wall. Then glanced down at the message from Tang He, who had finally reappeared. The sweet, whiny lines he had prepared in advance—all went to waste.

His belly full of frustration had been slowly dissolved over those two days of worry for Tang He’s safety.

“Let’s just chalk it up to fate,” he thought.

“Just a little joke from the heavens.”

By now, Du Jianyou had completely given up on his birthday.

But—The heavens weren’t done with their little joke.

On September 8th, right around lunchtime, Tang He—the ever-proud CEO—strolled in with a massive bouquet of fresh flowers in one hand, and a giant birthday cake in the other. Trailing behind him were a few people carrying loads of supplies.

The whole crew arrived at Dream Advertising agency and found an open space. They began setting everything up. Turns out, Tang He had booked catering from “La Chanson Française,” a high-end Michelin three-star restaurant that people typically had to wait forever just to reserve. Several staff who happened to be free at the time caught wind of it— and upon hearing which restaurant it was, they rushed over excitedly to help set up tables and chairs.

By the time Du Jianyou finally crawled out of the studio from a hectic shoot,
what greeted him was:

A giant bouquet of long-stemmed red roses

A custom cream cake from La Chanson

A long table overflowing with exquisite dishes

He stood there, completely dumbfounded.

What the heck… was all this?

“Surprise! Happy Birthday!” Tang He beamed as he declared it.

“Huh? Oh! Oh—Happy birthday, happy birthday…” Zhao Tiancheng, who had followed behind Director Du, quickly clapped to break the awkward silence and tried to hype the mood, frantically winking at the others to join in.

“Happy birthday, happy birthday…” Scattered voices of well-wishers rang out. At this point, other than Tang He and his entourage, all the employees of Dream Initial were very puzzled: Didn’t everyone just celebrated boss’ birthday last month? Why did president Tang suddenly came to celebrate boss’ birthday now??

Zhao Tiancheng quietly approached Du Jianyou, whose expression was growing darker by the second. He whispered, “What happened? He didn’t know when was your birthday? What now?”

Du Jianyou was both angry and humiliated.

You really are something, Tang He. I already let it go that you didn’t spend my real birthday with me, and I didn’t even hold it against you. And now you pull something like this? You’ve made a complete fool out of me in front of all my coworkers!

He grabbed Tang He and dragged him out of the room, nearly bumping into Yan Qiao, who was in the middle of snapping pictures and squealing about how beautiful the flowers were. Seeing those flowers only poured more fuel onto Du Jianyou’s fire.

What, does he think he’s coaxing some woman with these?

Dragging Tang He all the way outside the office and down to the street, Du Jianyou bluntly told him to take his people and leave. He didn’t want them disrupting the shoot.

“What’s wrong with you?” Tang He asked, stunned.

“You have to eat even when you’re busy, don’t you? I came all the way here just to celebrate your birthday, and now you’re telling me to leave?”

His cheerful mood was doused with cold water. His expression turned sour.

“My birthday is a private matter. There’s no need to make such a spectacle out of it,” Du Jianyou snapped.

“What exactly are we to each other? You come waltzing in like this and throw me a birthday party at my workplace—what do you expect my employees to think about our relationship?”

Because of how extravagant Tang He had been, Du Jianyou couldn’t even bring himself to explain that Tang had actually gotten his birthday wrong. And since this screw-up was 80% the fault of his own company, he had no choice but to come up with some excuse to brush it off.

“I don’t care what they think,” Tang He shot back.

“But you—why do you keep hiding? What, am I so embarrassing to be seen with?”

Now Tang He was being petty, completely forgetting how he used to overthink things before they even officially got together—from social stigma all the way to global financial collapse. Yet now, he was turning the blame on Du Jianyou, accusing him of not wanting to be seen in public together.

Du Jianyou took a deep breath and held back an eye roll.

“It’s not about being ashamed of you,” he replied.

“In this whole city, who’s more presentable than you, Tang He? You’re boardroom-ready and kitchen-capable—I must’ve saved the universe in a past life to meet someone like you. But we still need to keep a low profile, don’t we?”

Tang He remained stony-faced.

“Alright, alright, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have brushed off your feelings,” Du Jianyou said gently.

“But a birthday… I just wanted to spend it with you—alone. Why let those guys benefit? Once they’re full, they’ll all be sleepy and unmotivated for the rest of the day. When that happens, who do you think I’ll have to chew out to get things back on track?”

He shook Tang He’s arm playfully to calm him down. Looking at Tang’s sulking expression, Du Jianyou suddenly felt a warmth rising in his heart. That shrewd and sharp Tang He could also be childish and irrational sometimes. And that version of him—this unreasonable, pouty side—was something only Du Jianyou got to see.

Even in the middle of a public street, he couldn’t resist hugging him.

He wrapped his arms around Tang He in a flash and pulled away before Tang could even react.

Then, still acting all serious, he pushed Tang He toward his car.

“But you haven’t even opened your present yet…” Tang He protested.

“You’re my best present,” Du Jianyou whispered in his ear with a sly smile.

“Just wait till I unwrap you later.”

The tension between them finally melted away. They gazed at each other with soft, amused smiles…unaware that not too far away, someone else was also watching them.

Just then, Tang He’s driver arrived. Du Jianyou half-pushed, half-guided Tang He into the car.

And then… he left.

(To be continued…)