Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Held in his big brother's arms, Su Ximu looked at the beautiful candle placed in his hand and asked curiously, "What is this?"

He knew it was a candle, but what he truly wanted to ask was why his big brother could suddenly conjure a candle out of nowhere and give it to him.

As the recipient of the item, 241 naturally understood the candle's use and effects.

However, he didn’t quite grasp the meaning of "lighting" and "cake."

Though he didn't fully comprehend these concepts, he understood one other thing: this item was a reward for surviving and returning from that place.

"Reward" was a good word.

It represented something positive.

That was why the researchers and managers who sent him there desired it.

Looking down at the little one still waiting for an explanation, 241 avoided addressing his own confusion. Instead, he gently held the child’s small hand clutching the candle, adopting the casual manner of someone handing a toy to a child.

The unspoken message was: "Take it and play. How to use it isn’t that important."

And so, Su Ximu truly stopped thinking about it, treating the beautiful candle as nothing more than a toy gifted by his big brother. From time to time, he would hold it up and admire it.

He had collected many treasures recently, but none seemed as pretty as this little candle.

"Big brother, is this a candle from a fairy tale?" After asking, the little one didn’t really expect an answer. He nodded to himself seriously, convinced that it must be.

After all, ordinary candles couldn’t be conjured out of thin air like that.

The big brother held onto his younger brother and wouldn't let go. Understanding that the big brother hadn’t been home for several days, 242 held back and, together with 243, decided not to make an issue of it.

Su Ximu thoroughly cherished his new treasure for several days, but what concerned him most was whether his big brother would be taken away again without warning.

Because of this, the child slept lightly during those nights, waking at the slightest sound.

On the fifth night after 241 returned home safely, the three brothers were awakened by soft whimpers.

242 was no longer the hard-hearted person he had been when they first met, able to watch the little one cry for hours. Even before his eyes were fully open, he recognized whose cries they were. Instinctively, he tightened his arms around the child before finally opening his eyes.

With his enhanced abilities, darkness no longer hindered his vision.

Crying while half-asleep, even with his awakened brother patting and soothing him, the child still couldn’t sleep soundly.

After a bout of coughing, Su Ximu finally woke up groggily, rubbing his eyes. As soon as he opened them, he saw two dark figures beside him.

Instinctively, he wanted to retreat, run away, or crawl off, but he realized he was still held securely in his brother’s arms. His brother had already sat up.

The two dark figures he saw upon waking were none other than his big brother and second brother, both looking at him.

Realizing this, he immediately calmed down and stopped squirming, allowing himself to be held obediently.

242 patted and soothed him for a while longer before asking, "Why... were you crying?"

After another two or three months of learning, 242 had begun to grasp two languages, though he seldom spoke.

"I... I don’t remember," the child said pitifully, having just finished crying.

Since he couldn’t remember, 242 didn’t press further. Gently rocking the child in his arms, he asked, "Do you... want to go back to sleep?"

"Mm," the little one nodded, still groggy. With red-rimmed eyes, he drifted back to sleep under his brother’s gentle rocking.

The other three people in the room maintained their positions for the rest of the night, not moving back to their own sleeping spots.

It was as if they were guardian dragons protecting the world’s most precious treasure.

***

Perhaps because he had cried himself awake during the night and found it hard to fall into deep sleep afterward, Su Ximu seemed listless the next day.

He hadn't thought about his childhood in a long time.

For a five-year-old, being three or four years old counted as childhood.

Thinking back carefully when his mind was clear, Su Ximu finally recalled the dream he had the previous night.

He dreamed of his fourth birthday.

That day, his mother was very happy, seemingly because his father had made money from his business.

His father was happy too and bought him a very, very big cake—one that none of the other children had.

When his parents argued, his grandmother would also feel a little sad.

But when they stopped arguing and celebrated his birthday together, his grandmother was happy too.

Everyone was happy.

At the thought of birthdays, the little one paused, unable to resist counting on his fingers.

Was his birthday coming soon?

He thought so.

He had almost forgotten about birthdays.

The last time he asked his grandmother, she said there were 270 days until his birthday. 270 days meant collecting one small stone every day—when he had collected two hundreds and one seventy, that would be 270 days.

After he died and came here, small stones were easy to find. Each one was somewhat translucent and very pretty. So, he collected one small stone every day.

With this thought, he walked over to his little bundle of treasures, opened it, took out his small stones, and began counting them one by one.

His third brother saw him counting and helped him.

One, two, three...

They accidentally miscounted twice along the way.

But the little one was very patient and didn’t blame his third brother for the mistakes. They simply started over.

Finally, on the third try, they counted the exact number of stones.

There were 270.

So, today was his birthday~

On birthdays, you were supposed to eat cake and blow out candles.

There was no cake here, but he had a candle.

The little one ran off on his own, dragging another small bundle of his treasures from the corner and pulling out the candle he'd kept in good condition.

He had the candle, but how would he light it?

Su Ximu held the candle and scanned the room, his eyes finally landing on Third Brother.

He picked up a small stone, walked over, and handed it to Third Brother: "Third Brother, could you do me a favor?"

Of course, 243 said yes.

So, under the little one’s direction, he picked up the small stone and began rubbing it vigorously against the metal wall.

Normally, it would be difficult for an ordinary person to produce results this way.

But seeing his younger brother standing beside him, holding the small candle with hopeful eyes, the word "impossible" wasn't in 243’s vocabulary.

If you asked him, he'd say it was possible!

243’s hand moved so fast it almost blurred as he rubbed the stone against the wall.

This drew the attention of First Brother and Second Brother, who came over to watch.

Finally, 243’s speed reached its peak, and in an instant, a bright spark appeared in the gap between the stone and the wall.

Su Ximu’s eyes sparkled too, and he raised his candle, holding it up to the spark.

Having roughly understood his younger brother’s intention, 243 naturally made sure not to harm him with his swift movements. With a skillful pause, a spark flew out and landed precisely on the candle’s wick.

Almost instantly upon contact with the flame, the candle lit up, its warm orange flame dancing gently.

The candle burned slowly, with barely any wax dripping. Su Ximu carefully carried the candle to the center of the room and said to his brothers, who had gathered around him, "First Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, I remember now."

"Everyone has birthdays to celebrate."

"When it’s your birthday, you blow out the candles, make a wish, and then eat cake."

The brothers didn't understand, but they paid close attention.

Seeing this, Su Ximu didn’t explain further while the candle was lit. Instead, he put his hands together, closed his eyes, and said, "Anyway, now everyone should close their eyes like this."

"And quietly think about the thing you most want to come true."

While remembering birthdays, Su Ximu not only thought of his own but also his brothers’ birthdays.

He thought his brothers had probably never celebrated their birthdays before.

Since today was his birthday, he could share his wish with his brothers.

241, 242, and 243 were puzzled but went along with it.

The thing they most wanted to come true?

"Come true" meant becoming reality, something that would last forever.

241 thought carefully, closed his eyes, and wished that nothing would change.

242 lowered his head, closed his eyes, and thinking of the little one crying last night, wished there would be no more tears.

243 found the wishing process novel and amusing. Smiling, he copied his brother’s movements precisely.

He wished for things to stay just like this forever—that was what he liked most.

It was "forever."

Su Ximu closed his eyes and made a wish for everyone, hoping they would all be happy.

After making their wishes, everyone opened their eyes. Su Ximu demonstrated blowing, signaling his brothers to join him.

Whoosh!

The small candle was extinguished by four breaths from all sides.

Thinking the ceremony was over, Su Ximu was about to put the candle away when, in another flash, a magnificent three-tiered cake appeared right there before him.

When he sat down, he was only slightly taller than the cake.

With his previous experiences and being just a child, Su Ximu was quite accepting of magical occurrences.

He looked at the candle, then at the cake, then at First Brother.

Then back at the candle, the cake, and First Brother again.

After going back and forth like this a few times, the little one finally understood.

So, the candle First Brother gave him was really a magic candle after all.

Only magic candles could be both beautiful and turn into a cake.

The cake was as beautiful as the candle, in a style he'd never laid eyes on before. On the top tier stood a little prince decoration wearing a crown.

Worried the cake might not be real, he picked up the fork that came with it and gently touched the bottom edge of the cake, scooping up a bit of frosting.

Then he put the fork in his mouth.

The sweet, milky flavor told him it was real frosting.

243, always copying others, saw his younger brother do this and did the same, picking up a small fork, dipping it into the frosting, and tasting it.

At that moment, volcanoes erupted in his mind, the wasteland world exploded, and fireworks went off.

He gasped in amazement, pointing at the cake in front of him.

In that moment, 243 felt he had discovered his second favorite thing.

His first favorite was his younger brother.

The second was this cake right in front of him!

Author's Note:

Third Brother: Who came up with this, I wonder?