Chapter 27

Bai Shuangshuang remembered crying her heart out later on, burying her face in Bai Tongsheng’s arms until her throat was raw and hoarse.

Bai Tongsheng never let her go, holding her tightly and quietly keeping watch over her.

Exhausted from sobbing, she drifted off to sleep. Just before her consciousness faded, a shadowy figure appeared ahead of her.

She forced her eyes open to look. The person was familiar.

The figure smiled gently and mouthed a silent goodbye.

Only then did Bai Shuangshuang realize—oh, it was her from her previous life.

Why say goodbye to herself?

She found the answer when she woke.

The other woman lay sleeping within arm’s reach. Bai Shuangshuang watched her for a long time before finally taking the initiative to wrap her arms around her.

In her sleep, the woman unconsciously pulled her closer.

Bai Shuangshuang knew then that in this life, she would never have to grasp that Silver Knife again.

~~~

“Shuangshuang, have you finished filling out your college applications? What did you end up choosing?”

Yu Xichi had been dying to ask Bai Shuangshuang this question for days, but she’d held back, worried that bringing it up might influence her decision. Now that the application window had closed, she finally voiced it.

Bai Shuangshuang took a sip of her milk tea and replied, “Fashion design.”

“Nice choice! Auntie has faith in you—you’re bound to make your mark in that field!”

She gave a helpless smile. “I haven’t even started studying it yet, Auntie. You’re giving me way too much credit.”

“Of course! To tell you the truth, I’ve got a real knack for judging people!”

~~~

“Shengsheng, you didn’t get Shuangshuang a birthday gift this year either?”

Yu Xichi asked this every year on Shuangshuang’s birthday.

Bai Tongsheng’s answer was always the same two words: “No.”

Bai Shuangshuang had been a little hurt the first year, but she’d gotten used to it since then.

This year was no different: “No.”

Yu Xichi shrugged. “I thought maybe this time you’d do something special, since she just finished the Gaokao and all. Such a milestone! Sigh, guess I got my hopes up. You little ingrate—never mind who spends half the day every year baking your birthday cake and rounding up presents for you.”

Bai Tongsheng ignored her completely, her expression unchanging.

~~~

“Bai Shuangshuang, open the door.”

Bai Shuangshuang was about to climb into bed when she heard the knock. Puzzled—why would Bai Tongsheng come looking for her at this hour?—she padded barefoot over and opened the door.

Bai Tongsheng placed something in her hands.

“Happy birthday.”

By the time Bai Shuangshuang snapped out of her daze, Bai Tongsheng had already closed the door behind her and walked away.

She looked down to see what she’d been given: the tablet from Bai Tongsheng’s childhood.

The device had seen years of use, but its owner had taken such good care of it that it looked as good as new.

Perplexed and a little surprised—Bai Tongsheng hadn’t let her touch this tablet in ages—Bai Shuangshuang stared at it. It must have been around the time she stopped giving birthday gifts. Once, when Bai Shuangshuang needed to look something up and this was the only device handy, she’d just picked it up when Bai Tongsheng stormed in and snatched it back with a fierce glare.

She’d been deadly serious: no touching her tablet ever again.

Bai Shuangshuang had figured it held some private diary or the like and hadn’t minded. She’d respected the boundary and never touched it since.

And now—

She carried it back to bed, thought for a moment, then pressed the power button.

The nine-dot grid appeared, prompting her for the passcode.

Years had passed; she’d long forgotten the code.

She tried Bai Tongsheng’s birthday first.

Wrong.

Then four zeros.

Wrong.

After several failed attempts—another mistake and it’d lock her out for a while—she hesitated, then entered her own birthday.

The screen unlocked.

She was a bit surprised, though not overly so. If Bai Tongsheng was giving her the tablet as a birthday gift, using her birthday as the passcode made perfect sense.

But why give her the tablet at all?

The home screen was spotless—no third-party apps, just the defaults. No diary app, either, like she’d imagined.

Wait—there was one.

It was a digital drawing tool.

Bai Shuangshuang opened it and froze at what filled the screen.

Every single image was of her.

Her, at every age.

And in the bottom right corner of every drawing: the words “Happy Birthday.”

~~~

The gift Bai Tongsheng had given her carried too much weight. It left Bai Shuangshuang agonizing for more than half a month, unable to think of anything more meaningful to give her this year.

But no matter how much she agonized, Bai Tongsheng’s birthday still arrived.

She hadn’t chosen a gift yet, but she couldn’t put off the cake and the rest.

This year was different from the past. Trouble had cropped up at the overseas branch office, so a week earlier, Yu Xichi and Uncle had rushed abroad. As a result, only Bai Shuangshuang was there to celebrate Bai Tongsheng’s birthday this time around.

Yu Xichi and Auntie felt terrible about it, but Bai Tongsheng—the guest of honor—couldn’t have cared less.

Bai Shuangshuang still rose early as usual. After washing up, she headed straight to the kitchen to start preparing the birthday cake.

As she worked, she wondered if she still had time to prepare something truly special for Bai Tongsheng.

Bai Tongsheng got up for breakfast and saw her bustling about. In a calm voice, she said, “It doesn’t matter if we skip it this year.”

“No way that’s happening. With Auntie and the others out of town, it’s up to me to make your day special. And this isn’t just any birthday—it’s your coming-of-age. Of course we have to celebrate.”

That was right. Today marked Bai Tongsheng officially becoming an adult. They didn’t go in for elaborate coming-of-age rituals, but she ought to make the gift memorable at least.

That was precisely why Bai Shuangshuang had been so torn, to the point where she still hadn’t made up her mind even now.

Bai Tongsheng gave her a glance before looking away. “Do whatever you want.”

~~~

“A-Sheng, I’m sorry. This day means so much that I haven’t found the right gift for you yet. But I promise, I’ll get you something perfect soon.”

Before they lit the candles, Bai Shuangshuang decided to come clean.

She watched Bai Tongsheng anxiously, terrified that her face might cloud over.

Bai Tongsheng was in high spirits, though. Even without a gift, she didn’t show the slightest hint of disappointment.

Her delicate features softened into a smile, her clear eyes sparkling like pools of water. There was something uniquely alluring about Bai Tongsheng when she smiled like that.

“You don’t need to give me anything. What if I just take what I want from you? Would that work?”

Bai Shuangshuang blinked in confusion. “Huh? What do I even have that you need? If it’s mine, you can just have it—that hardly counts as a birthday gift.”

Bai Tongsheng shook her head lightly. “This is important. To both of us. That’s all I want.”

Now Bai Shuangshuang was even more baffled. “What could I possibly have that’s that important?”

Bai Tongsheng said nothing more. Instead, she eyed the cake on the table. “No candles?”

“Oh! I forgot. Let me get them.”

Bai Shuangshuang stuck in the candles and lit them with a lighter. She waited for Bai Tongsheng to blow them out in one big puff, just like always.

This time, though, Bai Tongsheng closed her eyes with uncharacteristic seriousness. She clasped her hands and made a silent wish.

Bai Shuangshuang could scarcely believe her eyes. When Bai Tongsheng finally opened them and blew out the candles with a gentle breath, she couldn’t hold back. “A-Sheng, didn’t you always say you should save up your wishes for one special day? That way, they’re more likely to come true?”

The corner of Bai Tongsheng’s mouth quirked up. “Today is that day.”

Bai Shuangshuang knew this life’s Bai Tongsheng wasn’t the same as the one from her previous life. Still, those bone-chilling words from before lingered, and as soon as Bai Tongsheng spoke, her breath caught in her throat.

The question slipped out before she could stop it. “What did you wish for?”

Bai Tongsheng met her gaze. “Do you want to know?”

Her pupils constricted. For a moment, it felt like she was teetering on a cliff’s edge again, frigid winds from the depths clawing through her clothes and raising goosebumps across her skin. Then she nodded.

Bai Tongsheng’s lips curved. “I’ll tell you once the day’s over.”

Regret hit Bai Shuangshuang like a wave. What if—what if Bai Tongsheng’s wish was the same as last time? Could she handle it?

But she clenched her jaw. She had to trust Bai Tongsheng. Trust this version of her, the one who wanted her to live for herself.

So she nodded. “All right.”

~~~

The digits on her phone screen finally ticked over from 0 to 1.

The one who had waited so patiently in the dark could hold back no longer. She flung off the covers, slid out of bed, and threw open her bedroom door.

Relentless knocking dragged Bai Shuangshuang from sleep. Still groggy, she yawned and rubbed her eyes on her way to the door.

She opened it and mumbled, “A-Sheng, what’s up?”

Bai Tongsheng’s eyes gleamed with an eerie brightness in the darkness, as if something long suppressed was finally about to break free.

She squeezed through the narrow gap in the door, then quickly pushed it shut behind her.

Bai Shuangshuang blinked in confusion, half-squinting her eyes as she yawned. “What’s wrong, A-Sheng? Can’t you sleep?”

In the next instant, all her drowsiness vanished in the face of the other’s sudden, unexpected movement.

Bai Tongsheng bent down, wrapped her arms around Shuangshuang’s knees, and hoisted her straight up onto her shoulder, carrying her back to the bedside. She gently laid her on the bed. Just as Shuangshuang started to let out a startled whimper in fright, Bai Tongsheng seized her slender wrist, yanked it upward, and pinned it above her head.

She lowered her head, gazing intently in the darkness at her possession.

“It’s the second day. I’m here to claim my birthday gift from you.”