Chapter 58: Birthday Celebration

Chapter 58: Birthday Celebration

Shi Ling was indeed very busy, but not *that* busy.

The promotion and public opinion monitoring for *Calamity* had been handed over to Fang Lingyun and the team borrowed from the Fang family. Therefore, after resolving the trouble brought by the Zhou family and Jiang Yulin, Shi Ling only needed to focus on some bugs within the game.

The preliminary work done by Shi Ling and the team was quite solid, and after several public tests, there were indeed very few internal bugs left.

Moreover, Fang Lingyun had always been monitoring public opinion with his team. If any bugs did appear within the game, he would definitely receive a phone call, and they could address it promptly.

In comparison, Shi Ling alone wouldn’t be able to handle monitoring public opinion effectively even if he tried.

After fending off the Zhou family and Jiang Yulin’s people, Shi Ling found himself with some free time.

During this time, he went online and browsed the public opinion about their game.

The results were quite positive. Although there were some freeloaders and comparisons being drawn to disparage other games, the majority of the feedback was in their favor. Most of it came from genuine players who had experienced the game’s open beta.

In short, they now had their first batch of real players who were speaking sincerely on their behalf.

While the final number of players who would stay was uncertain, for their newly established small studio, this was already a very good start.

Shi Ling was satisfied.

He put away his phone, stood up from his seat, and waved his hand in front of Ji Mingxiu: "What are you looking at so intently? Aren't you on vacation today? Do they still need you to handle company affairs?"

Ji Mingxiu snapped out of it and shook his head: "No, I was just discussing something with Jiang Sicong."

He looked at Shi Ling: "You're done already? That fast?"

The Zhou family was still a fairly capable enterprise. The people they hired to handle such matters should have some skill. And yet, they were stopped by Shi Ling just like that?

Ji Mingxiu still found it a bit unbelievable.

Originally, he was considering whether to pull some people out to help Shi Ling!

Shi Ling smugly chuckled: "Of course, taking them down might be difficult, but keeping them outside isn't a problem."

He waved at Ji Mingxiu: "Come on, let's make you a cake. The cake I promised you before won't be missing."

Ji Mingxiu immediately stood up and followed: "Is there anything I can help with?"

Shi Ling waved him off: "Don't mess around. It's your birthday today. How can we have the birthday boy help? Just sit and wait for the food."

"But I have to warn you, my skills... hmm, how should I put it? Although I practiced a bit yesterday, it still can't compare to store-bought cakes. And I can only make small pieces; if I try to make a larger one, it falls apart. So, just mentally prepare yourself and accept it!"

Shi Ling looked at Ji Mingxiu awkwardly: "Next year, I'll practice more and make you a bigger one, alright?"

The way Shi Ling wanted to give his best to him made Ji Mingxiu feel warm inside.

Ji Mingxiu followed Shi Ling into the kitchen.

Although Shi Ling said Ji Mingxiu only needed to sit and wait today, Ji Mingxiu really wanted to do something together with Shi Ling now.

He rolled up his sleeves: "What can I do?"

Shi Ling looked at his eager expression and thought for a moment: "How about cracking some eggs?"

The cake batter made together by the two of them was successfully placed into the oven.

Shi Ling set the baking time, clapped his hands, and turned to Ji Mingxiu: "Alright, now we just need to wait..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he noticed two additional people had appeared at the kitchen door.

He blinked, looking at Ji Mingxiu in confusion.

These were two unfamiliar faces.

Seeing Shi Ling's reaction, Ji Mingxiu also turned around and saw the man and woman leaning against the kitchen door.

He looked at them helplessly: "Brother, sister-in-law, why are you two blocking the kitchen door?"

The man shrugged: "We just found it novel to see you in the kitchen. Before this, when have you ever stepped into a kitchen?"

Ji Mingxiu looked at Shi Ling and noticed that the term "boyfriend" didn’t seem to offend him, so he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and retorted to his brother at the door: "Big brother, don't talk nonsense. Otherwise, I'll pull out the messy love letters you wrote but never gave to sister-in-law!"

The sister-in-law was very curious: "Really? Where are they? Let me see!"

The brother: "Can you stop?"

Ji Mingxiu snorted and asked: "Why are you two back so soon? I thought, according to Lin Ze, it would be a few more days?"

At this point, the brother didn’t want to deal with his younger brother who had just exposed his embarrassing past. It was his wife who answered: "We finished the important matters abroad ahead of schedule. There won’t be any particularly important tasks from now on, and even if we work remotely, there won’t be any issues. Also, our daughter Nannan has been calling us, saying she wanted us to come back sooner, so we returned ahead of time."

But she was more interested in the undelivered love letters: "Mingxiu, tell me secretly, where did your brother hide the love letters?"

Ji Mingxiu glanced at his brother and chuckled: "At home. When Dad accidentally found that stack of love letters, he secretly put them in your new bedroom."

The sister-in-law blinked and made an "OK" sign: "Alright, I’ll go look for them later."

After finishing their conversation with Ji Mingxiu, the couple shifted their attention to Shi Ling.

Seeing this, Ji Mingxiu stepped forward and blocked most of Shi Ling with his body.

He cleared his throat and introduced to his brother and sister-in-law: "This is my soon-to-be boyfriend, Shi Ling."

The older brother raised an eyebrow: "Soon-to-be boyfriend, huh? Not officially appointed yet!"

"Ji Mingxiu, are you capable?"

Sister-in-law Ji smiled friendly at Shi Ling, "Hello, I'm Yu Ting, Mingxiu's elder sister-in-law, and that's Mingxiu's older brother, Ji Mingyuan."

"Don't be fooled by how fiercely they bicker; their relationship is actually quite good."

Shi Ling nodded, "I can tell."

Ji Mingxiu, having lost the verbal sparring match with his older brother, turned away and ignored him, instead taking Shi Ling's hand, "There are too many people in the kitchen. Let's go outside."

Shi Ling took a moment to look back and wave at them.

Ji Mingyuan watched the two leave, his eyes narrowing slightly. He then turned to Yu Ting, "Ah Ting, why do you think Shi Ling hasn't agreed to be with Mingxiu? Mingxiu's conditions are already so good..."

Yu Ting circled the kitchen looking for something to eat but found nothing, "Maybe it's because he's too good, which makes people hesitate. If you're really curious, I'll find a time to ask."

Finally, she spotted the cake Shi Ling had just put in the oven, "It looks like he baked quite a lot. Do you think Mingxiu will share a piece with me? I'm starving after rushing all the way here!"

Upon hearing this, Ji Mingyuan immediately shook off his previous mood, "Of course! If Mingxiu doesn't give you any, I'll remind him who's the elder brother—acting like a father!"

Yu Ting looked doubtful, "Can you even beat him? I think Mingxiu is an inch or two taller than you."

Ji Mingxiu interjected, "Don't talk nonsense, that's impossible! I'm definitely taller than him!"

After returning to the country, Ji Mingyuan and his wife spent most of their time at the old family estate.

Especially since their daughter was still there with the old man!

This time, they had come over suddenly, curious after hearing that Ji Mingxiu had found someone. Now that they'd seen the person for themselves and even snagged a few small cakes on the way out, the couple left feeling satisfied.

Watching them leave in a hurry, Shi Ling looked confused, "They're leaving just like that?"

Ji Mingxiu nodded, "Yeah, they've been away for too long this time. They're in a rush to see their daughter now!"

Shi Ling said, "But today's your birthday, isn't it? I thought they'd at least stay for your birthday."

Ji Mingxiu smiled and ruffled Shi Ling's hair, "My family doesn't really emphasize birthdays. Everyone's pretty busy, and apart from major holidays like Chinese New Year, it's hard to get everyone together. If they can send a gift, that's already good enough. During birthdays, if there's a gathering, a lot of unfamiliar people show up, and you can't tell if it's a party for the birthday person or just a gathering for strangers."

"Someone like you, who went out of their way to prepare a birthday gift and bake a cake, is usually a partner."

Shi Ling turned his head, "Friends would do that too, and my gift wasn't that much effort."

Ji Mingxiu looked at him, "Didn't you ask Grandpa for advice?"

Shi Ling felt a little embarrassed, "I did, but still..."

Ji Mingxiu picked out one of the already baked small cakes and unwrapped it, "This is enough."

——

Ji Mingxiu had a very pleasant birthday this year.

When he returned to his room, he placed the wooden carving Shi Ling had given him on the bedside table.

Under the dim light, the dragon-shaped carving looked even more imposing than it had during the day.

Satisfied, Ji Mingxiu nodded, but after a while, he began to feel that leaving it there wasn't quite right.

It was too easy for something to go wrong.

Since it was a wooden item, a single bump might damage it.

Thinking this, Ji Mingxiu decided to measure the base and height of the carving while there was still time, planning to have a glass case custom-made the next day.

Although it might not be very useful, it would still be better than leaving it out in the open.

After finishing this, Ji Mingxiu washed his hands and lay down on the bed.

He found it hard to sleep.

He had been living alone for a long time, ever since graduating from university. He had moved to a large apartment closer to the city center for work, so he should have been used to living alone by now.

But today, he felt like there was someone missing by his side.

Ji Mingxiu thought back to when he introduced Shi Ling to his brother earlier that day, using the term "quasi-boyfriend."

It was time to drop the "quasi."