Jiang Tan knew he was just showering her with sweet words. Zhou Yinghuai, when he chose to coax, could make a person extremely happy.
Have you ever celebrated someone else's birthday like this? —— Jiang Tan wanted to ask, yet she dismissed the thought in the blink of an eye.
She didn't want to ask.
If she didn't ask, regardless of whether there was or wasn't, she could pretend there wasn't.
She hooked the corner of her mouth into a sweet smile, raising her arm from the hot spring and wrapping it around Zhou Yinghuai's neck.
She said: "So, happy birthday to me, huh?"
Zhou Yinghuai responded in a low voice: "I'm spending your birthday with you, what more could you want?"
Jiang Tan didn't want anything else.
She just wanted Zhou Yinghuai.
Just as she had fallen head over heels for him the moment she caught sight of him amid the crowd at the entrance of the Weixi Group six months ago, and so she had come to his side, asking only for him.
However, Jiang Tan also knew that she could ask Zhou Yinghai for anything, just not for him himself.
That's why she said: "I want a diamond necklace."
This unimaginative gift was the best Jiang Tan, with her limited imagination, could think of.
Zhou Yinghuai pinched her face, asking why she suddenly wanted this.
Jiang Tan could only say, she'd wanted it for a long time.
"I prepared something else for you today, we'll get the necklace later." Zhou Yinghuai indulged her, unbothered by Jiang Tan's request. He paused before asking: "Is there anything else you want?"
Jiang Tan shook her head earnestly, insisting that there was nothing else she wanted, that this was already wonderful enough.
At night, sleeping in a room in the Hot Spring Manor made entirely from glass, Jiang Tan sat up on the bed, covering herself with a blanket, watching out warily.
Zhou Yinghuai found it amusing, questioning her: "Why aren't you going to take a bath yet?"
Jiang Tan's face burned red, she protested: "If I take a bath here, wouldn't people outside be able to see?"
"It's one-way glass, no one outside can see," Zhou Yinghuai explained, before handing Jiang Tan her sleepwear, "Go take a bath, quickly."
Jiang Tan thought of her dilapidated house back in her hometown and the outdoor cinema where the power would often cut off.
Jiang Tan grew up in an orphanage in a small town after the death of her parents when she was young.
The small town is located in the southern part of the country, but not in the affluent South, but in a well-known poverty-stricken county.
Jiang Tan grew up here, she had never seen a steamship, airplane, or even a train.
With Zhou Yinghuai, she had seen many new things. He had pampered her with silk and indulgence, molding a new Jiang Tan.
Still, she had the same blood as the old Jiang Tan, unfamiliar with the one-way glass Zhou Yinghuai took for granted.
Was it merely a piece of transparent glass though?
What stood between them was a long river carved out by the hairpin of the Queen Mother of the West.
Yet, Jiang Tan couldn't summon any magpies to help bridge the river, hence she could only watch Zhou Yinghuai from the other side.
He was a high mountain flower, unattainable.
Jiang Tan took her pajamas and headed off to bathe without a word.
She knew she was yearning for the most luxurious luxury in the world. In her guilt, yet fearful of others finding out, she used up all the toothpaste in the bathroom, leaving none for this luxury item.
Zhou Yinghuai was oblivious to Jiang Tan's secret thoughts. Watching her emerge from the bathroom, he patted the spot beside him and said, "Come here."
Jiang Tan sauntered over, sat down, and asked him what he wanted.
Zhou Yinghuai said: "To give you your birthday gift? Are you not eager to accept it with that attitude?"
Jiang Tan wanted it, thus her expression softened, saying: "Oh, I do want it, give it to me."
Zhou Yinghuai took Jiang Tan's hand, the cool metallic sensation wrapping around her wrist.
Jiang Tan lowered her head and asked, "A bracelet?"
"Yes," Zhou Yinghuai introduced: "This bracelet is named Epiphyllum."
The bracelet was incredibly exquisite, formed with cool-colored gemstones that reminded one of sunshine falling on a snow-covered mountaintop in winter, with an Epiphyllum flower made of diamonds at the center, and an aura of saintly purity.
Jiang Tan estimated the size of the flower, it was about one and a half times as big as a one-yuan coin.
Jiang Tan took a closer look and was delighted, telling Zhou Yinghuai: "Make sure the necklace is also of the Epiphyllum series."
"Sure." He agreed without hesitation.
Satisfied, Jiang Tan remembered what she had done earlier, and guilt flooded her.
She touched her hair and said softly: "I used up all the toothpaste in the bathroom just now, remember to have someone refill it."
The young lady had used up four tubes of toothpaste all by herself.
Zhou Yinghuai looked at her with amusement, "It's good that you're clean, but was it necessary to use up all the toothpaste? Why not finish the shower gel and shampoo too?"
How could Jiang Tan admit that she was just acting out of jealousy?
She simply hummed lightly, her pout was alluring but not annoying, "Oh, if you think I'm using too much, then don't ask me to stay."
Zhou Yinghuai assured her he would never think that way. He even said, "When you spend my money, it brings me luck."
Through her interactions with Zhou Yinghuai, Jiang Tan learned an important principle: never take things too seriously, and never delve too deep.
So she didn't ask, can I spend for a lifetime?
She just asked, will I bankrupt you by spending too much?
Zhou Yinghuai laughed, stroking her freshly washed, soft, and fluffy hair, "That won't happen, it's not that big a deal to take care of a Little Tanhua."
That year, a new phrase was circulating around: sunk cost.
The internet crowd explained it like this: the more time you spend on a person, the greater your sunk cost, making it harder to let go when you think of giving up on them.
But when it comes to Zhou Yinghuai, Jiang Tan didn't dare to speculate on these costs.
If measured in terms of money, it was insignificant to Zhou Yinghuai.
If measured in time, it was priceless, carved piece by piece.
She was his carefully nurtured Epiphyllum flower.
Just like the rose nurtured by the Little Prince, she was different from other roses in this world.
Jiang Tan, with a sense of satisfaction she couldn't quite describe, grinned.
Later, while Zhou Yinghuai was washing up in the bathroom, Jiang Tan ran to him barefoot and hugged him from behind. Looking at the man's handsome face in the mirror, she whispered, "Zhou Yinghuai, will you sleep with me? I have trouble sleeping in unfamiliar beds."
"I still have some work to do, and Zhao Qi is coming over later." He covered her hand tightened around his waist with his palm, trying to soothe her. He added with a calm voice, "You go to sleep first, okay?"
Jiang Tan agreed.
She looked up at him, with an innocent expression, "But the floor is cold, and it takes a while to walk back to the bed."
Zhou Yinghuai carried her back without a word, his silence already an indication of indulgence.
Jiang Tan liked to collect these moments of indulgence from Zhou Yinghuai, piece by piece, turning them into vague and self-deceiving metaphors.
She lay on the bed, closing her eyes, but she couldn't sleep. Not until the bed tipped slightly to one side, did Jiang Tan know that Zhou Yinghuai had returned.
There was a subtle, cool fragrance on the man. He wore a Sandalwood bracelet which rested on her waist now. His long fingers gently pressed the soft flesh on her belly. He said, "If you're not asleep, there's a red packet."