Under meals

Chapter 29 Cream

Tao Mingzhuo fell into a state of brain shutdown.

He first looked at the bouquet of flowers again, and then at the box of cakes. Obviously his brain was messed up, but he subconsciously retorted: "I, I'm not unhappy..."

"So, today is your birthday." Tao Mingzhuo paused, then said with some difficulty, "This cake is actually a birthday cake, and it was given to you by your brother..."

Jing Ci said, "Yes."

Tao Mingzhuo: "...brother?"

Jing Ci: "Brother, half-brother."

Although Tao Mingzhuo has never heard Jing Ci mention that he has an older brother, but thinking about it carefully, he remembered that he had chatted with Li Lan in the studio before. Every time Li Lan mentioned Jing Ci, he said, "My little son ".

This means that Li Lan should have an older son.

Tao Mingzhuo breathed a sigh of relief silently at first, but then he realized something again, looking at Jing Ci's face, he fell into a state of bewilderment again.

"So, you will invite me to dinner today," he took a deep breath, "...to celebrate your birthday?"

"Yes." Jing Ci sighed, "If I had told you earlier, you should have prepared a gift for me, right?"

Tao Mingzhuo said subconsciously: "That's for sure, how can I not prepare a gift for your birthday?"

Jing Ci smiled and said: "My original intention is that I don't want you to bother to prepare gifts, because you have taken care of me a lot these days."

"But now it seems that it's a bit self-defeating." He looked a little helpless.

"This, that's it." Tao Mingzhuo's voice was a little hoarse, he lowered his head, "I thought..."

He didn't say the second half of the sentence for a long time, Jing Ci paused, and asked with a little confusion: "Why?"

Jing Ci saw Tao Mingzhuo's face suddenly flushed red, as if extremely embarrassed.

Tao Mingzhuo didn't answer Jingci's question, but suddenly picked up the cake box on the coffee table and walked to the kitchen in a panic: "Go and eat cake, I... I'm suddenly a little hungry."

In fact, a few minutes ago, Tao Mingzhuo had just made speeches such as "I don't want to eat cake", "You can eat it yourself", "I'm quite full".

Tao Mingzhuo knew that Jing Ci had been watching him.

In just a few hours, Tao Mingzhuo's mood can be said to be ups and downs. When he saw the card calling Jingci "Xiaoci", Tao Mingzhuo almost immediately realized that the person who wrote the card should be Jingci. The man who appeared in the same room as Ci when he called himself on a business trip last time.

Tao Mingzhuo's heart sank at that moment.

The phrase "Don't let Doctor Wen eat it" on the card made Tao Mingzhuo feel even more sour.Because before that, he always thought that the bond between himself and Doctor Wen was very special.Why did this person not only know about the existence of Imperial Doctor Wen, but also make such an exhortation in such a familiar tone?

In other words, Tao Mingzhuo always thought that he was the most special person in Jing Ci's life.

It turned out to be my brother.

Tao Mingzhuo first felt his heart drop to the ground, but he stared at the cake box for a while, and then felt nothingness and bewilderment.

It turns out...it turns out that today is Jing Ci's birthday.

The few words on a small card made Tao Mingzhuo almost understand his heart in a daze, but Jing Ci... didn't want to confess to himself.

Tao Mingzhuo took a deep breath. He realized that Jing Ci was observing him, so he had to act busy immediately.

He first slowly took the cake out of the box, then unpacked the candles that came with it, and inserted a few candles crookedly in the center of the cake.

Tao Mingzhuo rubbed his hands together, raised his head and asked Jing Ci, "Is there a lighter?"

Jing Ci was quiet for a while, then said, "Yes, I'll get it."

After the candle was lit, Jing Ci didn't directly make a wish or blow out the candle, but stared quietly at the fire for a while, and then looked into Tao Mingzhuo's eyes.

Tao Mingzhuo pretended to be happy, pushed the cake in front of Jing Ci, grinned at him, "It's your birthday, hurry up and make a wish and blow out the candles."

But Jing Ci said: "The candles are very beautiful, if you just lit them up, let them burn for a while."

"Didn't you say you were hungry just now?" He looked into Tao Mingzhuo's eyes and said, "Then cut some cake and eat it first, just avoid places with candles."

Tao Mingzhuo was taken aback, and said, "Okay, I'll cut it."

Tao Mingzhuo picked up the plastic knife and began to look for a suitable place to cut it. Jing Ci looked at his face and said nothing.

Jing Ci looked at the young man's stiff side face, and suddenly recalled what the restaurant waiter said, and Tao Mingzhuo's subtle look on Tao Mingzhuo's face when he was leaving after dinner, as if he was waiting for him to do something .

Jing Ci suddenly realized something.

Tao Mingzhuo placed the divided cake in front of Jing Ci, and carefully placed the plastic fork next to the paper plate, when Jing Ci called his name.

"Tao Mingzhuo." Jing Ci asked, "Do you think I invited you to dinner today for some other reason?"

Tao Mingzhuo's hand holding the fork suddenly paused.

He said nonchalantly, "...No."

It is precisely because Tao Mingzhuo has always firmly believed that Jing Ci likes him very much, so the feeling of being self-confident now makes him feel particularly embarrassed and sad.

Such a misunderstanding is inherently embarrassing, and it is even more impossible for Tao Mingzhuo to tell Jing Ci the truth, saying something like "Yes, actually, I thought you were going to confess to me today".

Tao Mingzhuo lowered his head and slowly scraped the cake plate with a fork, drawing parallel lines on the cream.

The atmosphere gradually became dull, Jing Ci didn't speak for a long time, Tao Mingzhuo realized that he probably didn't believe his own words.

"Okay." Tao Mingzhuo smiled at Jing Ci, pretending to be generous and admitted, "I really thought that you invited me to dinner today because of the day of 520."

"I was taken aback at first, but now that I think about it...it's quite embarrassing." Tao Mingzhuo said.

"But it's a misunderstanding." He shrugged his shoulders pretending to be relaxed, "Now it's clear, so don't mention it again, let's celebrate your birthday together."

The air was quiet for a moment, and Tao Mingzhuo's jaw tightened slightly, because even he himself didn't quite believe what he just said.

Jing Ci was silent for a moment, and said "Yes", "I'm sorry, it's true that I didn't make it clear to you."

"We can stop talking about this matter." Jing Ci smiled, "But I have a birthday wish and I want you to help me realize it. I wonder if it is possible?"

Tao Mingzhuo didn't expect that Jing Ci would give up the question so easily, and suddenly talked about something unrelated, he was stunned for a moment: "...you say it."

In fact, just a few minutes ago, Jing Ci had just told Tao Mingzhuo that he didn't want Tao Mingzhuo to prepare a birthday present for him.

Now he changed the subject again and suddenly said something completely contradictory like "I have a birthday wish", which made Tao Mingzhuo feel a little confused.

But no matter what, Tao Mingzhuo originally planned to give Jingci a gift after today, so if Jingci said directly what he wanted now, it would save trouble.

Tao Mingzhuo thought that Jing Ci would tell himself directly what he wanted.

But Jing Ci didn't say anything else, he just nodded with a smile, and then picked up the plastic fork at hand.

Tao Mingzhuo saw Jing Ci lower her head, fork a piece of cake from the plate, put it in her mouth, and chew slowly.

The piece of cake that Jing Ci had just forked up was quite big, with fresh cream and peach jam spread on it. Tao Mingzhuo saw Jing Ci's cheeks puffed up, and he chewed for a long time before swallowing it completely.

Then he saw Jing Ci put down the fork, and asked, "Can you help me see if there is any cream on the corner of my mouth?"

Tao Mingzhuo was stunned for a moment, then stared at Jing Ci's lips for a while, then nodded after a while: "It's a little stained."

Jing Ci said: "I can't see it, can you wipe it for me?"

Tao Mingzhuo was puzzled, because the paper drawer was on the table, within Jing Ci's reach.

But Tao Mingzhuo just hesitated and said, "Okay."

When Tao Mingzhuo raised his hand, wanting to take out a few napkins from the paper drawer, Jing Ci suddenly raised his hand and directly pressed Tao Mingzhuo's two hands.

The warm orange candlelight was flickering, and the sweet and creamy smell of the cake filled the air. They looked at each other quietly for a few seconds.

Jing Ci looked into Tao Mingzhuo's eyes and said gently: "Wipe off the cream for me, this is my birthday wish."

"Can such a simple wish come true for me?" he asked.

Tao Mingzhuo's mind was blank, because he didn't understand what Jing Ci meant.

Of course, it's not that he doesn't want to wipe it, but that Jing Ci is holding his hand and won't let go. Tao Mingzhuo only has two hands in total, and he doesn't have any free hands to do things now.

Tao Mingzhuo said blankly: "It's not impossible, it's you holding my hand now, I... how can I wipe it for you...?"

Jing Ci looked into Tao Mingzhuo's eyes and didn't speak. After a while, Tao Mingzhuo saw his eyelashes trembling, lowered his head, and couldn't help but smiled softly.

He said: "...really stupid."

Tao Mingzhuo stared blankly at the smile on Jing Ci's face.

Although Tao Mingzhuo's brain turned a little slower, it didn't stop working completely. After a few seconds, he suddenly understood the meaning of Jing Ci's words.

Tao Mingzhuo's face turned red all of a sudden, and he looked at Jing Ci in disbelief: "You, do you want me to—"

"It's okay." Jing Ci raised her head again and interrupted him gently, "Then this time, I'll teach you first."

The candle burned little by little, the fire was warm, and the melted wax covered the surface of the cream.

Tao Mingzhuo's hand was already clasped by Jing Ci, but before he could react, Jing Ci gently took his hand, and the two of them interlocked their fingers.

Then Jing Ci slightly raised her face, and gently kissed Tao Mingzhuo's lips.

Jing Ci's kiss was the same as his own, gentle and patient.His lips were slightly cool, with the sweet smell of peach and cream, covering Tao Mingzhuo's somewhat dry and slightly hot lips.

It seems to be probing, but it also seems to be comforting.

It was actually a very short kiss, but Tao Mingzhuo froze the moment their lips touched.

After an unknown amount of time, Jing Ci opened the distance between the two and ended the kiss.

He stared at Tao Mingzhuo's face silently, let go of his hand after a moment, and took a step back.

Then Tao Mingzhuo saw Jing Ci turn his face away, and gently blew out the few candles on the cake that were about to burn out.

The light white smoke dispersed in the air. After a while, Jing Ci raised her eyes and looked at Tao Mingzhuo's face again. He smiled.

"Wish granted," he said. "Good night, then."