Chapter 156 I will never speak to you again!

By the time he finished his busy tasks, it was already nearly two a.m. Pushing the door open, he was surprised to see the living room lights still on.

Tang Xiaoyu was sitting on the sofa, her head bobbing as she dozed off.

"Hey, wake up." Li Changqing gently shook her and asked, "Why aren't you getting a proper night's sleep? What are you doing sitting out here?"

Tang Xiaoyu snapped awake, her face lighting up with joy. "Li Changqing, you're back! I—I—today is my birthday!"

With that, she slipped into her slippers, hurried over to the refrigerator, took out a cake she had painstakingly made, and placed it on the coffee table.

Li Changqing paused. He looked at the cake—which could hardly be called exquisite and was, in truth, rather crude—and couldn't help smiling. "You silly girl, is this what you've been trying to tell me all this time? That today is your birthday?"

"That's right!"

Tang Xiaoyu nodded eagerly, like a chick pecking at rice. Beaming, she said, "I spent a really long time making this, I..."

"Hold on," Li Changqing said, rubbing his chin with a hint of perplexity. "You can't even remember your own past, yet you somehow remember today is your birthday?"

"Never you mind." Tang Xiaoyu puffed out her cheeks. "Starting from right now, today is officially my birthday!"

Carefully, she lit a candle, stuck it into the cake, and blinked. "I've made a wish!"

With that, she closed her eyes, pressed her palms together, and after a long moment, blew out the candle.

"What did you wish for?" Li Changqing asked, removing the extinguished candle from the cake.

Tang Xiaoyu answered happily, "I won't tell you. If you say it out loud, it won't come true!"

"Li Changqing, will you spend my birthday with me every single year from now on?"

Without thinking much of it, Li Changqing casually agreed, "Sure."

"Hurry up and eat the cake!" Tang Xiaoyu said, handing a kitchen knife to Li Changqing and gesturing for him to do the honors.

He had to discover the property deed for himself; only then would this have any meaning...

Li Changqing picked up the knife. With a swift motion, he brought it down, instantly chopping the cake into eight pieces with rapid vertical and horizontal slashes.

Tang Xiaoyu froze completely.

Cutting a cake—wasn't it supposed to be done slowly, slice by delicate slice?

Wasn't Li Changqing supposed to slice downward gently, encounter something solid inside, pull it out, and thus discover the property deed?

"What's wrong?" Li Changqing noticed Tang Xiaoyu sitting beside him, her eyes welling up with tears as if she were desperately holding back a sob.

"Is celebrating a birthday really this emotional? What is there to cry about?" Li Changqing asked, thoroughly baffled.

"You—you—you—" Tang Xiaoyu pointed a trembling finger at the cake. "When you were cutting it, didn't you feel anything at all?"

"Didn't feel a thing. Though I must say, this cake of yours is hard as a rock. You really need to work on your baking skills. Thank goodness I've been practicing the sword lately; my knife work was fierce, precise, and fast."

"Hey, hey, hey! What's wrong? Don't cry."

An expression of utter grievance washed over Tang Xiaoyu's face, and she burst into tears. "You jerk, Li Changqing! Drop dead!"

With that, she bolted back into her room and slammed the door.

***

This was an item Tang Xiaoyu cherished so much that even a speck of dust would break her heart; she wished she could wipe it clean seven or eight times a day.

It was her precious gift to Li Changqing.

And just like that, Li Changqing had chopped it to pieces.

"Hey, it's your birthday," Li Changqing said, staring at the closed door and scratching his head. "Did this girl swallow a box of gunpowder?"

"Hey, if you're not coming out, I'm going to start eating the cake without you."

With that, Li Changqing began to eat the cake. But halfway through...

He gathered the eight pieces of the property deed hidden inside the cake, pieced them back together, and wiped off the cream.

Only then did he recognize what it was.

A property deed.

"This girl..." Li Changqing froze. Sitting on the sofa, his gaze drifted toward Tang Xiaoyu's bedroom door.

He finally understood why she had reacted that way...

Hastily, he grabbed some scotch tape and carefully mended the property deed.

He walked over to Tang Xiaoyu's door and knocked.

"Hey, Xiaoyu."

"Xiaoyu, are you in there?"

"Asleep yet?"

"Can you hear me?"

Li Changqing launched into his repertoire of clueless questions.

Not a single sound came from inside.

"Look..." Li Changqing stood in the doorway, saying, "I've taped it back together. Don't worry, a property deed is registered in the official records. Even if you chopped it into sixteen pieces instead of eight, it's still completely valid."

"If you don't believe me, I—"

"Are you asleep already? Fine, I'll go back to eating the cake then. I'll save a piece for you in the fridge..."

Suddenly, Tang Xiaoyu's voice rang out from within: "I'm not eating it!"

Li Changqing fell silent for a moment. "Well, then I'm going to eat it all..."

The door was finally yanked open. Tang Xiaoyu glared at Li Changqing with tear-filled eyes, looking deeply aggrieved. She snatched the property deed right out of his hand and snapped, "I'm selling it tomorrow!"

*Bang!* The door slammed shut once more.

Li Changqing quickly called out, "Don't do that!"

Hiding behind the door, Tang Xiaoyu felt a sudden surge of secret delight upon hearing Li Changqing's anxious tone.

Outside, Li Changqing continued, "Don't be so hasty. If you really want to sell it, wait a while longer. Properties in this neighborhood appreciate in value."

***

Tang Xiaoyu's muffled voice came from inside:

"Ahhhhhhhhh!"

"I am never speaking to you again!"

"Hey, Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu." Li Changqing rubbed the back of his head, muttering in bewilderment, "This girl really must have swallowed gunpowder."

He still set aside a slice of cake for Tang Xiaoyu. Exhausted from a full day's work, he returned to his own room, lay down on the bed, and began to turn several thoughts over in his mind.

If...

If that malevolent spirit was indeed after Tang Xiaoyu.

He needed to find and eliminate Li Guangxu as soon as possible. Once the secret leaked, given his and Tang Xiaoyu's current strength, surviving would be nearly impossible.

He could never let anything happen to Xiaoyu.

Immersed in these worries, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

By noon the next day, Li Changqing was still fast asleep.

Tang Xiaoyu was pacing back and forth in the living room.

Every now and then, she glanced toward Li Changqing's bedroom door. "I said yesterday I'd never talk to him again. If I go looking for him now, won't that mean I broke my word?"

"But it's been nearly ten hours since I last spoke to him, from last night until now."

"He must have realized his mistake by now."

"Besides, since he slept all the way till noon, he's bound to be hungry."

"Not to mention he saved me some cake. Should I... just forgive him?"

After weighing it back and forth, Tang Xiaoyu decided that ignoring Li Changqing for ten hours was already a severe enough punishment.

"Li Changqing, Li Changqing, what do you want for lunch? I'll make it for you."

Crouching beside Li Changqing's bed, she poked him in the cheek with her finger.

Li Changqing opened his eyes and mumbled, "Egg fried rice, please."

"Mm-hmm!"

Tang Xiaoyu nodded happily. "I'll go make it right now!"

Humming a cheerful little tune, she set about preparing the meal with great enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, Li Changqing picked up his phone and texted Hu Xiong to ask if there was any news regarding Li Guangxu.

Before long, a fragrant plate of egg fried rice was ready.

Li Changqing got up, ate the fried rice, and asked with a puzzled expression, "By the way, kiddo, what suddenly made you want to buy property?"