Zhu Lexing quietly turned on the TV. The drama’s background chatter would normally annoy her, but in the quiet with just the two of them, she welcomed any sound to distract from her wandering attention.
She unpacked the cake, setting the candles aside. Inside was a card bearing just four words.
—Mom loves you
Beneath the card lay a box containing the keys to the same model car Zhu Lin had given.
Zhu Lexing was speechless at the sudden synchronicity between the two. She snapped the box shut and, before inserting the candles, paused in thought. She decided to crack open a bottle of wine for the occasion.
She’d drink; Yan Mian could skip it.
Zhu Lexing had some confidence in her tolerance.
The Zhu Family had a wine cabinet stocked with Zhu Lin’s prized collection.
Zhu Lexing grabbed what the System had called the most expensive bottle. She uncorked it, but Yan Mian still hadn’t emerged from her room.
What gift? Zhu Lexing felt a spark of instinctive curiosity, but she quickly shifted her attention back to the cake right in front of her.
She first stuck in a candle shaped like the number 20—the kind that would automatically belt out a birthday song once lit, complete with plenty of fanfare. She had no intention of lighting it, yet the System had already begun playing a birthday blessing tune inside her head.
Zhu Lexing’s face remained impassive as she said: 【It’s too late to butter me up now. First, tell me what surprises your month-long maintenance turned up.】
The System’s music cut off abruptly, and only then did it reply: 【The System can help the Host fulfill one wish.】
Zhu Lexing: ?
For a moment, she wondered if she’d misheard. 【Fulfill a wish? Anything at all?】
The System explained: 【Fixed timelines cannot be altered.】
It offered Zhu Lexing an example.
She couldn’t wish to have never come to this world and simply carry on with her old life back home.
But she could wish for a dazzling career here, one that would draw even more fans than she’d had in her previous life.
Zhu Lexing got the picture.
She stood before the cake, eyes fixed on the unlit candle, as the air filled with the sweet, creamy scent of frosting.
“My wish is—” Zhu Lexing began.
She hoped every single one of Yan Mian’s future birthday wishes would come true.
That way, even if Zhu Lexing herself left this world behind, Yan Mian could still have everything her heart desired.
A crisp “ding-dong” rang out. Zhu Lexing let out a breath of relief, assuming her wish had been granted—only for the System to chime in her ear: 【Unable to fulfill.】
Zhu Lexing: “……”
Who the hell used a success chime for failure?
【Yan Mian is the protagonist of this world,】 the System said. 【The System cannot alter all of her fate.】
After a moment’s hesitation, the System’s tone grew a touch more solemn: 【This is a very precious opportunity. If the Host isn’t ready to admit her true feelings, then please weigh your choice carefully.】
Zhu Lexing asked in a daze: 【Admit what true feelings?】
In the next instant, clarity hit her—and with it, the memory of Yan Mian’s gaze fixed on her.
“As long as you’re by my side, I won’t be afraid.”
A single sentence echoed relentlessly through Zhu Lexing’s mind.
If only she were really Zhu Lexing.
If she truly were Zhu Lexing, every problem would melt away. No more inferiority, no lack of confidence, no endless hesitation or inner turmoil. The very day Yan Mian reached out and took her hand, Zhu Lexing would ask her plainly:
Can we be together?
But she wasn’t.
So.
【…If you’re dead set that Yan Mian likes me,】 Zhu Lexing said, 【assuming the favorability readings aren’t buggy… does she like me, or just ‘Zhu Lexing’? I’m not her at all, am I?】
The System hadn’t anticipated that this would still be her hang-up after all this time. It faltered for a beat: 【Once the Host became Zhu Lexing, the Host is Zhu Lexing.】
【Yeah, right.】 Zhu Lexing took a sip of her wine. 【I’m going back home eventually. Starting something romantic with Yan Mian under these circumstances… wouldn’t that just be irresponsible? You don’t think so?】
System: 【…】
What Zhu Lexing had never wanted was some casual fling—hook up, have fun, then bail. That would make her a total sleaze.
Yan Mian was an incredibly good person. Zhu Lexing had known it from the very first moment they’d met: she had to treat her right.
And whose idea of “treating someone right” involved dragging them into a romance completely out of her control?
Zhu Lexing, at least, couldn’t stomach it.
They could be friends. They could hold hands. They could embrace.
But love? Never.
That way, it would all remain a beautiful illusion—one Zhu Lexing could cherish as a dream she might occasionally recall after returning to reality.
Exactly when things had started to shift… even she couldn’t pinpoint it.
The System couldn’t bear her soul-searching any longer: 【If you’re so sharp at reading people, how have you still not figured out Yan Mian’s favorability toward you?】
Zhu Lexing thought: Of course not. She didn’t dare believe it.
Yan Mian was so wonderful, so gentle, so exceptional. Why on earth would she like someone like her?
Zhu Lexing couldn’t spot a single redeeming quality in herself.
And just like that, they were right back where they’d started.
The System had no idea how to nudge things forward anymore.
Of course, the “bug” had been a white lie all along. Right from the initial binding, the System had laid out just two paths for Zhu Lexing: Build a strong bond with Yan Mian, or die. Falling in love would make Zhu happy, so it had deliberately concealed Yan Mian’s true favorability.
…Starting from the moment Yan Mian had suspected that Zhu Lexing wasn’t the “real” Zhu Lexing.
That supposed negative favorability had been multiplying every second, yet it had stalled at 80%. Pushing it further seemed to require becoming lovers—doing everything lovers do—and crafting the perfect happy ending novel.
Once favorability hit 100%, the System would wipe both their memories. It had seen this as fostering a beautiful union… until Zhu Lexing came along.
The path it had mapped out for her struck straight at her deepest aversion.
Zhu Lexing had no desire to rehash her emotional journey with the System. She griped about how useless its wish function was instead, and before long, she settled for second best: 【Fine, then what can I wish for? Something involving Yan Mian.】
The System sounded resigned: 【You can pick any one of Yan Mian’s past eighteen wishes and make it come true for her.】
Zhu Lexing froze.
【Can I find out what those wishes were?】
The answer was a firm no.
They were Yan Mian’s private thoughts; Zhu Lexing hadn’t held out much hope anyway.
The System offered just three options: age seven, fourteen, or seventeen.
Yan Mian’s sparse wish history left Zhu Lexing stunned—and all the more heartbroken for her.
With no further hints from the System, Zhu Lexing had to puzzle it out herself: What had Yan Mian wished for at those points in her life?
By age seven, Yan Mian’s father had already passed away. She had probably hoped for a stable life, free from constant upheaval, and maybe just a little more love from her mother.
At fourteen, in the throes of puberty… the hopes one harbored at that age were probably no different from those at seven.
Only now did Zhu Lexing realize just how “barren” Yan Mian’s past had truly been. Her entire life, aside from the past year, had unfolded entirely in Jiang Yue’s shadow. That was why, in the original work, she had always obeyed the other woman without question, like a beautiful and exquisite puppet.
The only remaining choice seemed to be seventeen.
Zhu Lexing tried to weasel her way out: 【Can’t you reveal even a tiny bit? Can I wish for the world to end?】
The System replied: 【No. Yes.】
But since it had even agreed to a wish for the world’s destruction, Zhu Lexing knew she was outmatched—like going barefoot against someone with shoes. She decided to wave the white flag.
It was just like drawing from a blind box; she had no idea if the outcome would be good or bad.
Even so, Zhu Lexing’s wish remained: “I hope the wish Yan Mian made at seventeen comes true.”
Once it was over, Zhu Lexing said, “Mm. Sooner or later, I’ll pack you and Lin Song up together and ship you both off to Mars.”
She was about to say more when the door was suddenly opened by Yan Mian.
Zhu Lexing looked up. Yan Mian was dressed in a white knee-length skirt, her bunny cotton slippers swaying with floppy ears. In her hands, surprisingly, was another cake, which she carried slowly toward Zhu Lexing. But in terms of craftsmanship or design, it was far inferior to the one sitting before Zhu Lexing.
Zhu Lexing instantly realized what was happening and asked blankly, “D-did you make this?”
Yan Mian nodded, looking a little embarrassed. “I thought Auntie wouldn’t prepare one…”
As she spoke, her gaze fell on the cake in front of Zhu Lexing. Zhu Lexing had only removed the 0 earlier, leaving a prominent 2 on top.
No matter how one looked at it, Zhu Lexing’s nineteenth birthday had nothing to do with a “2.”
Yan Mian paused, instantly realizing that this must have been Zhu Lexing’s original birthday cake.
She recalled how Zhu Lexing had awkwardly inquired about “sister” at the banquet, and Yan Mian bit her lip.
Zhu Lexing noticed her gaze and hurriedly yanked off the candle, racking her brain for an explanation. But Yan Mian smoothly provided an out: “Did I grab the wrong one? Eat mine first.”
Zhu Lexing mumbled something in agreement.
The two sat down at the long table. Yan Mian switched off the lights and lit the candles, which became the only source of light in the darkness.
The birthday song played in its tinny electronic chirp, and Yan Mian clapped slowly along before singing a line: “Happy birthday to you.”
Yan Mian’s voice was naturally lovely, and when she sang, her pitch was spot-on. Her clear, sweet tones were deliberately softened in the darkness, the final note lingering with an alluring pull.
Zhu Lexing closed her eyes. In the pitch black, surrounded only by Yan Mian’s voice, her mind filled with nothing but the other girl.
In truth, Zhu Lexing rarely made wishes. To her, birthday cakes were merely desserts, and wishes were something only she could fulfill herself.
When she opened her eyes, Yan Mian had stopped singing.
The candles’ singing program had ended too, and they burned quietly in the silence. Before Zhu Lexing could speak, a soft, fluffy sensation suddenly covered her right hand.
Yan Mian produced a Star Plush Toy from somewhere and placed it beside Zhu Lexing’s hand.
“Where did you get the…”
Plush toy?
Before Zhu Lexing could finish asking, she saw Yan Mian holding a Little Sheep Doll and pressing it against the Star plush.
The dolls’ fabric lips bumped together, and she said gently, “Xingxing, today is your birthday. Happy birthday.”
Zhu Lexing thought, What is this, playing house?
She wouldn’t let me call her Lexing, so she calls the Star plush Xingxing instead.
How is Yan Mian so childish?
Even as these thoughts crossed her mind, Zhu Lexing’s hand unconsciously jiggled the Star plush. “Thank you.”
Yan Mian asked, “Can I play with you too?”
The candlelight faintly illuminated the girl’s face, her expression utterly serious.
Zhu Lexing stared at her. “No.”
Yan Mian’s tone turned pitiful. “Why not?”
Zhu Lexing replied, “I want Yan Mian to keep me company.”
Yan Mian paused and looked up at her.
Yan Mian asked, “Can’t Little Sheep do it?”
Zhu Lexing set the Star plush next to the Little Sheep one, her face expressionless. “I prefer Yan Mian.”
