play off

"Brother Yan, what constellation are you from?"

Wang Keyi was holding an iPad in his hand. The little girl was studying the compatibility of the twelve constellations, so she insisted on giving Duan Yan an analysis.

To Duan Yan, constellations are no different from metaphysics. To be honest, he has lived for more than 20 years, and he still doesn't know which constellation he belongs to.

"How can you not know such an important thing?!"

Duan Yan felt that Wang Keyi's surprised reaction was a bit exaggerated.

"What's so unexpected about this? It's not that people can't live without such boring things as constellations, but you, school will start in two days, have you done your summer homework?"

Wang Keyi sighed: "Unexpectedly, you, a young man, are more verbose than my mother."

"..."

"I have arranged homework and so on. Tell me your birthday now, and I will check your zodiac sign for you."

Duan Yan's birthday is easy to remember, it is the last day of August, and the day after the birthday is the opening ceremony.

"Fuck! So it's your birthday tomorrow! Brother Yan, why didn't you tell me earlier, I didn't even prepare a birthday present for you."

"I didn't say I wanted you to give me something."

"However, what a coincidence, you and Brother Qiu's birthdays are on the same day!"

Duan Yan who was drinking water was startled for a moment, the hand holding the glass trembled accidentally, the water splashed out and wet his pants.

"How do you know when Xiang Mingqiu's birthday is? He told you himself?"

"I asked Brother Qiu when I was chatting with him before." Wang Keyi rolled his round eyes, "Although you and Brother Qiu are both Virgos, I found that you two are completely different. , Brother Yan, you are a very typical Virgo personality trait."

"What kind of feature is it?" Duan Yan put the water glass back to a fixed position on the right hand side, and took out a tissue to wipe off the water stains on his pants.

"It's very hairy, and the obsessive-compulsive disorder is very serious. Look at you, every time you put a water glass, you have to put it so neatly, and there can't even be a slight deviation in the position, tsk tsk."

Duan Yan silently glanced at the water glass just now, not knowing how to refute for a moment.

"What are you talking about? You're talking so happily." The door outside was pushed open, Xiang Mingqiu played with the key in his hand, and walked into the house.

Duan Yan glanced at the helmet that Ming Qiu was carrying in his hand, obviously he came here on a motorcycle today.

"Brother Qiu, you came just in time. I was discussing constellations with Brother Yan just now." Wang Keyi couldn't wait to tell him his new discovery, "Brother Qiu, do you know that you and Brother Yan have the same birthday!"

"He was also born on August 8 in the new calendar?"

"Yes, a Virgo just like you!"

Duan Yan didn't know what the little girl was excited about, she rushed to answer all the questions.

As for Xiang Mingqiu...

Duan Yan swept towards the next door from the corner of his eye, but the guy didn't react too much, he was still naturally calm, just nodded with a smile: "That's really a coincidence, it's a coincidence."

Birthday is not a day worth celebrating for Duan Yan, and it is the same this year.

Just the day before his birthday, Xia Lerong went to St. Barth Island with her new boyfriend to enjoy sunny beaches and duty-free shopping.

Previously, Xia Lerong vowed to come back to celebrate with her son, but due to the weather, she was unable to leave the island and had to reschedule to return home.

I couldn't catch up with my son's birthday, Xia Lerong said on the phone that I was very sorry, but after I hung up the line, I turned around and happily checked several circles of friends, eating, drinking and having fun. There was no mention of my son's birthday.

In fact, it's not a big deal, after all, Duan Yan has already gotten used to it.

Their family of three was like a mess, with parents and sons living their own lives.

Duan Yan's concept of birthday originated from some cartoons he watched when he was a child.

Celebrating a birthday means having cake to eat and gifts to receive, and family and friends around will send heartfelt congratulations to the little birthday star on that day.

But his parents did not get along for a day or two. In order to avoid quarreling when they met, Duan Chenglin spent very little time at home on weekdays. Coupled with his busy schedule, he always missed his son's birthday again and again.

After a year of hard work, Duan Yan was finally looking forward to having his parents accompany him on his birthday, but Duan Chenglin and Xia Lerong quarreled at the dining table again because of a trivial matter. All overturned.

From that day on, Duan Yan completely lost expectations for his birthday.

He told Mingqiu's employees and friends that he would hold a birthday party for him, thinking that since the two of them had the same birthday, he planned to invite Duan Yan as well.

Having said that, Duan Yan resolutely refused, because he made a special trip to hold a relaxing party for Xiang Mingqiu, so it was no fun for him to go for a ride.

Some friends who are familiar with Duan Yan know that Duan Yan doesn't like to have a birthday party celebration process.

So this year's birthday is the same as in previous years. Everyone spontaneously sends blessings to the birthday star on WeChat, and then sends a small red envelope of a few hundred yuan to express their hearts, which saves both parties worry and trouble.

After lunch, Duan Yan returned to his room to rest as usual.

He played games all night yesterday, and got up early today, and now he is very tired. Duan Yan lay down on the bed, closed his eyes, and fell asleep in a short time.

In a daze, Duan Yan felt that he was being pushed. He thought he was dreaming, so he turned over and went back to sleep.

The person standing by the bed pushed him hard again: "Huo Huo Huo, get up soon, when are you going to sleep?"

Duan Yan yawned sleepily, and opened his eyelids reluctantly.

That guy Xiang Mingqiu came back at some point, and broke into his room without authorization.

"Would you be polite to enter someone else's room without knocking?" Duan Yan was obviously still asleep, and his voice was low and thin, trying to warn the other party, but it didn't have the slightest deterrent effect.

"I had a knock on the door, but there was no answer, so I came in to see what was going on."

"Didn't you say you went to a party? Why are you back?"

"Of course we're going to scatter our things after the party, why don't we stay there overnight?"

Duan Yan really thought that Xiang Mingqiu was going to spend the night outside.

He sat up from the bed, stretched his waist, and turned his head to glance at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It was only 05:30 in the afternoon. It shouldn't be so soon to end the party.

"So what are you doing in my room? Don't bother me if you have nothing to do."

Seeing that Duan Yan was about to fall down and sleep soundly again, Xiang Mingqiu hurriedly pulled him up again.

"Don't sleep, get up and change clothes."

"Why change clothes?"

"When I go home to have dinner, it's rare for us to have the same birthday, right? Birthdays should be celebrated once a year."

"Haven't you already celebrated?!"

"I celebrated, but you haven't."

"?"

Duan Yan sat cross-legged on the bed, he never thought of this happening, so Xiang Mingqiu's answer made him unable to recover for a while.

Seeing that he didn't refuse, Xiang Mingqiu took it as his agreement: "I'll give you 5 minutes, hurry up and change your clothes, I'll go downstairs and wait for you first. Oh and also, this is Yiyi's birthday present for you, little girl I came to look for you once in the afternoon, but no one answered the door, so I put the things on your desk."

Duan Yan: "..."

This was the first time Duan Yan was called to the house by Xiang Mingqiu as a guest.

After some previous renovations, Xiang Mingqiu made some minor adjustments to the layout of his home.

Duan Yan was walking around the house with nothing to do. After a while, he entered the kitchen, his chin slightly raised, looking at Xiang Mingqiu who was standing in front of the sink washing vegetables, and asked, "Do you want to help?"

"You, young master, have never been in the kitchen, have you? All right, sit in the living room, I can take care of things here myself."

The Akita dog is looking down on people again, okay, if you don't help, you won't help.

Duan Yan's business has nothing to do with himself and folded his arms in front of his chest.

He didn't go back to the living room, but leaned half on the refrigerator next to him, watching Xiang Mingqiu orderly wash rice, chop vegetables, chop meat, boil the water pot...

Every process is quite smooth. It is obviously not the first time to cook, and the technique is quite skilled, but I don't know how the food tastes.

Duan Yan took out his mobile phone, secretly took a picture of Xiang Mingqiu's backside cooking, and quietly posted it on his Akita Observer Weibo.

[New discovery: It turned out to be an Akita dog who can cook]

"Do you often cook at home?"

Xiang Mingqiu was busy cooking, and it took a while before he realized that Duan Yan was asking him a question.

"My mother used to give lessons to the students. Sometimes she was too busy to take care of family affairs. When I was just in primary school, I started to learn to cook by myself to help relieve her burden."

"Then how did you celebrate your birthday before?"

"No matter how busy my mother is, she will set aside a day to celebrate with me on my birthday. During the day, she will take me to the playground to play, and when she is tired, she will go home and cook me a delicious meal. After dinner , we both blow out the candles and cut the cake together."

Recalling all the past events, Xiang Mingqiu's brows and eyes were full of smiles. To be honest, Duan Yan was quite envious of this bland and happy way of celebrating his birthday.

"Brother Qiu, I'm back—"

The voice came from the entrance outside. Yang Rong, who just came back from school, changed into his slippers and rushed over to the kitchen immediately. His excited face sank instantly after seeing Duan Yan, and he didn't even hide it. .

"Why are you?" Yang Rong directly omitted the greeting and asked him, "What are you doing here?"

Duan Yan quarreled with him as usual: "It's my birthday today, and Brother Qiu specially invited me over for dinner. Why? Are you going to drive me away?"

"Nonsense, today is Brother Qiu's birthday."

"Can't I have the same birthday as him?"

"Ah?!" Yang Rong still didn't believe it, he looked towards Ming Qiu, "Brother Qiu, is this true?"

"He didn't lie to you, it's true." Xiang Mingqiu smiled, and took off the apron tied around his body while talking, "Okay, it's time for dinner, come and help take out the dishes."

Yang Rong couldn't say anything for a while, he didn't like Duan Yan very much, but he had nothing to do, so he had to wash his hands and clean up the dishes.

Xiang Mingqiu's cooking skills are much better than expected. Apart from his terrible drawing, this guy seems to be quite capable in other aspects.

I thought it was just an ordinary home-cooked meal, but I didn't expect that there would be a cake-cutting session after dinner.

It was the red velvet cake that Xiang Mingqiu had ordered in advance. It was 7 inches taller and filled with fruit. The pastry chef neatly wrote the names of Xiang Mingqiu and Duan Yan on the smooth cream surface with chocolate sauce.

The moment Duan Yan saw his name appearing on the cake, there was an indescribable emotional fluctuation in Duan Yan's heart.

A dinner, a cake, simple, but full of sincerity, he really hasn't had such a birthday for a long time.

I don't know about other things, but when it comes to birthdays, Duan Yan feels that Xiang Mingqiu is very fussy. He lights candles, sings birthday songs, and makes a serious wish when it's over.

After a series of solemn ceremonies were completed, Xiang Mingqiu wanted to take a photo before cutting the cake, Duan Yan half-pushed and moved to his side.

"Are you ready?" Xiang Mingqiu raised the phone and pointed the front camera at the faces of the two of them.

"Don't dawdle, hurry up."

After the countdown ended, Duan Yan quickly raised his hand and gave the camera a middle finger when he pressed the shutter to Ming Qiu.

......

"Shall I drive you back?" Xiang Mingqiu stood at the entrance, looking at Duan Yan who was changing shoes.

"I'll go downstairs and take a taxi myself."

"Okay, then be careful."

Duan Yan glanced in the direction of the bathroom and saw that Yang Rong was still in the shower, so he asked, "Why did you celebrate my birthday?"

Xiang Mingqiu smiled and shrugged his shoulders lightly: "Just do what you want, there are so many reasons."

Duan Yan stood on the spot, he put his hand into his trouser pocket, after thinking for a while, he said to Xiang Mingqiu: "Take out your hand."

"Huh?" Although he didn't know what Duan Yan wanted to do, he still stretched out his hand.

"Spread out."

Xiang Mingqiu followed suit.

In the next second, there was a green frog seed pendant on his palm.

"Just take it as a return gift tonight." Duan Yan hurriedly explained, "The woolen felt pendant I learned to make from Yiyi in the past few days."

Duan Yan stared at the change of Xiang Mingqiu's expression without showing any emotion, seeing the curved arc of the corner of the other's mouth, he felt a lot more relieved in an instant.

"I made it by hand by myself, keep it well." After he finished emphasizing it, he felt a little embarrassed again, turned around quickly, opened the door and left the room.

On the way back, Duan Yan was sitting in the taxi, his mind still kept recalling the scene at the entrance just now.

He took out his mobile phone, checked into WeChat, and found that there was no new information. For some reason, he was a little disappointed.

He clicked on Xiang Mingqiu's chat page, then backed out, and after a while, clicked in again, and then began to delete, delete, and type in the input box.

[Duan Yan]: [You are such a bastard! .JPG]

[Duan Yan]: Send me the photo you just took

Not long after, the other party replied to the message.

Duan Yan received a group photo of the two of them. Immediately afterwards, he discovered that Xiang Mingqiu's profile picture had changed. The original Kawasaki H2 had been removed and replaced with a wool felt pendant made of frog seeds.

It was the first time for Duan Yan to poke wool felt ornaments. Although he was guided by a teacher, some details were still not handled properly. The eyes of the frog seed were a bit cross-eyed, and the effect of taking pictures was more funny and silly than the real thing.

Duan Yan was in an inexplicably good mood. He took a screenshot of the chat interface and saved it in the phone album.