Late at night
Downtown.
Somewhere around a block
Under the dim street lamps, Xu Lun sat alone on the steps, holding a discounted muffin that he had just bought from a 7/24 shop.
It was his 24th birthday, and the cheap muffin in his hands was the birthday cake for him.
It was kind of ridiculous to realize that Today was supposed to be his birthday and he had planned to take a day off to go to a popular club nearby and enjoy himself completely.
The hot girl with the tag "escort No.18" worked there who had not only a pretty face but also a lovely voice and a warm heart.
More than that, the main reason for her being so popular was that she was highly skilled, having a lot of mechanics and always being willing to try something new. The couriers who worked with Lun in the same community had been there quite often and they talked so much about the girl.
"As long as she joined in, even the most boring games, like the ones against the stupid bots in lol and cs, became so intriguing and funny. Trust me, she'll make your day."
That was what the other couriers said often. Thus, Lun couldn't expect more than meeting this girl on his birthday night.
However, an unfortunate phone call from home had completely ruined his birthday and changed everything:
Mom came again asking for money.
Lun's parents divorced when he was eight years old, and since then he had lived with his mother and younger brother.
Lun's younger brother was playing basketball in high school and often had to go on a trip called "special training camps" with the basketball team, which was not for free and soon became the excuse that his mother often used for taking money from him.
Training cost money. Trip, including food and accommodation, cost money. The basketball shoes also cost money...
It seemed like everything his younger brother needed was his duty instead of his mom.
But the key point was that this jerk often won championships, and there were actually awards,namely prizes in money.
Lun often argued with his mother because of this.
Whenever he raised a question, his mother would always say the same:
"Look, Lun, the prize was hard-won by your brother. You have to save it for him. Look at your brother, how hard he trained, how hard it was to achieve such an honor at such a young age. That money was earned by himself. Keep it for him and use it when he needs it in the future."
Over time, Lun was tired of hearing all the bullshit and had long been immune to it.
Whenever it came to this point, the mother would start playing her emotional tricks:
"... Life was really hard and struggling for me being a single mom to bring up you two kids all by myself. You know it, Lun. Do you remember how helpless your little brother was then? I held him in my arms to defend the cold and took you away from..."
"All right...all right...fine! Stop it! I'll transfer it to you later."
......
Eventually, Xu Lun did the transfer and sent his mother a message to remind her.
Now, the time on the phone showed 23:58, with two minutes left until the end of his birthday.
However, up to now, there was still no response from his mother.
Only Lun's transfer message alone in the chat box seemed insignificant at all.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Xu Lun didn't have much feeling because he had seen this coming too many times.
But at the moment of realizing that there would be no more response, he still felt a strange sense of loss deep down in his heart.
"It's okay…doesn't matter at all. I'm already used to it..."
Xu Lun said to himself facing the air.
"What's the point of having a birthday or not? Once tonight is over, tomorrow will be another day filled with hope!"
The last line was the slogan that reminded him of what the company used to go over every single day in the so called "courier training class", and his muscle memory immediately responded:
He saw his cheeks tightened up automatically, both sides of his mouth lifted reluctantly, and his face turned forward with a fake smile.
Two seconds later, Xu Lun seemed to have refreshed his mind with nothing left, and took out a cigarette, putting it between his lips, and then lit it up.
The time on the phone was 23:59, and there was only one minute left before his birthday ended.
Xu Lun, without hesitation, opened the transparent plastic box of the little cake and carefully held it in his hands.
"Shoo..."
He suddenly thought of something.
As a birthday cake, it was impossible to make a wish without candles.
But it was too late to buy it now.
Xu Lun looked around, time passing second by second, and he couldn't find any substitute at all.
"Wait..."
Xu Lun paused slightly, as if he had come up with the idea.
He took the cigarette out of his mouth and planted it upside down on the muffin.
"That's it. Well done, Lun."
Xu Lun was quite satisfied with the creative "accessory" that he added to the little birthday cake and it finally looked complete.
However, it might depend on the way you looked at it. For him, this cake with a cigarette stuck on it seemed good so far. But the longer you looked at it, the more you felt like a weird offering for being in memory of someone.
"Oh, man...whatever...I don't have time for this."
Xu Lun had no time to refine those details.
So he stood up, turning around to place the muffin on higher steps, and then stepped back down. He put hands together, ready for a pray, and sincerely made a wish facing the "birthday cake":
"My name is Xu Lun. This is my 24th birthday.
Although making a wish is just...you know...some sort of expression for things impossible.
But I still have to say:
Please...
The story of those fantastic guys in web novels...
Let me be one of them for one time, just one time!
Let me play in such a story..."
Then, Xu Lun opened his eyes and blew quickly on the muffin.
As soon as he made the wish and blew, all the lights around suddenly turned off!
What?!
What's going on?
Xu Lun was a bit confused. He was just going through the process of making a wish with the birthday cake, absolutely nothing wrong.
From street lamps to the shop windows, from upstairs to downstairs, there was not any trace of a glimmer of light found around the street, and the whole place was instantly plunged into endless darkness.
"What the..."
Xu Lun was just getting a sense of danger and quickly took out his phone, ready to turn on the flashlight function for illumination.
Just then, "buzz-buzz!"
Accompanied by an unusual noise, the street lamp above started to flicker over and over again.
Soon enough, this strange thing spread out along the entire street.
All the street lamps and shop windows, even the lights upstairs in the buildings, you could tell by the reflection on the windows that they were flickering rapidly!
Xu Lun was frightened by the scene.
Just as his mind totally went blank, the phone in his hand rang suddenly.
Looking down, it was a voice call from the manager who was now supposed to be in the service center where couriers usually went when they were not busy.
But Xu Lun had no time for a talk.
The situation was so strange that his only thought at the moment was to leave quickly.
With all the lights flickering so rapidly, the world in his eyes was changing between bright and dark all the time.
That left Lun no time to hesitate and he rushed towards his scooter to get out of this place right away, not forgetting to grab the birthday cake on steps.
The scooter was parked at the bike zone not far away.
Xu Lun ran up to it, immediately putting the muffin into the delivery trunk, like a tail box on the back end of the scooter, and then pulled out the cigarette from the muffin, putting it back in his mouth and taking a quick breath to calm down.
Then he rode on the scooter and was about to leave.
All of a sudden, a pale hand grabbed his arm which almost freaked him out.
At that moment, Xu Lun felt his body temperature dropping by several degrees instantly.
Following that pale hand to look further, he saw a girl with pink hair, staring at him with a painful look, who seemed extremely weak.
"Tuskett...Ku...dassai..."
The girl said.
