Accidental Mark

It had been a long time since Pei Shaoze had played this type of block-building game. He remembered that the last time he played it was when he received a gift from his father on his 8th birthday. It was a super-large model of Harry Potter’s magic castle composed of thousands of parts. As a child, he assembled the parts piece by piece according to the instructions. It took him the whole summer vacation to put them together.

His childhood memories had become blurred. Now when picking up these delicate small parts, Pei Shaoze found that his hands seemed to be less flexible than when he was a child. After all, he was now an adult. He held these small pieces in his hands and placed them together patiently. He would make mistakes if he wasn’t careful.

The car model bought by Cheng Xia wasn’t particularly complicated when putting together the parts. There were only around one thousand parts but it wasn’t so easy to part them together and assemble a small car.

Pei Shaoze stayed at the hotel for three days and worked hard before finally completing it. Then Pei Shaoze put it back in its box intact and tied a nice knot with a ribbon. From the outside, it looked like he just bought the model from the store. No one knew that the car inside had been assembled by him. It was only when Cheng Xia opened the gift that he would feel Pei Shaoze’s intentions.

Pei Shaoze prepared the gift and in the blink of an eye, it was March 20th. This afternoon, Pei Shaoze went to the set to observe. The agent Zhou Yan saw him and hurriedly came over to ask, “President Pei, Cheng Xia’s birthday is tomorrow. Do you want to order a cake for everyone to help him celebrate?”

Pei Shaoze answered casually, “Yes, it’s time to celebrate. I’ve already ordered the cake.”

Zhou Yan, “……?”

President Pei was so concerned about Tianxuan’s artists that he actually remembered Cheng Xia’s birthday? Such a good boss was rare. Zhou Yan was dumbfounded for a few seconds before asking, “Then do I need to prepare anything?”

She had already placed an order for tomorrow’s birthday cake but now it seemed that she could return it.

Pei Shaoze told her, “Find a way to inform the entire crew that they will go to the third floor of the hotel to celebrate Cheng Xia’s birthday tomorrow. You don’t need to prepare anything. The hotel has a ready-made buffet. We can eat the cake together and celebrate Cheng Xia’s birthday.”

Zhou Yan nodded and immediately ran to inform the rest of the crew.

At dinner time, Director Liu asked Pei Shaoze, “President Pei, I heard that tomorrow is Cheng Xia’s birthday. Should we prepare some gifts for him? Alas, I have been so busy filming these days that I haven’t paid attention to it.”

Pei Shaoze answered, “It doesn’t matter. I can give Cheng Xia some small gifts on behalf of the crew. Let me prepare it.”

Liu Xueyi was relieved. “Then I will trouble President Pei!”

Cheng Xia was an Aries born in the early hours of March 21st. His sunny, optimistic, straightforward, and enthusiastic personality was in line with the characteristics of an Aries. In the early morning, two messages popped up on his mobile phone. It was from the ‘Family of Three’ WeChat group. [Happy birthday to my son!]

[Xia Xia is growing quickly. Everything will go smoothly in the new year!]

Both his parents privately sent a red envelope of 520 yuan as a birthday gift. Cheng Xia had been busy memorizing the script these days and was about to fuse himself with the role of ‘Qin Nian.’ He had forgotten the date a long time ago. It was only after seeing the messages that he remembered that today was March 21st, the day he turned 19 years old.

Cheng Xia received the red envelopes and replied, [Thank you, Mom and Dad!]

Cheng Yiming asked, [How are you celebrating your birthday in the crew?]

Jiang Qiong was worried, [Is there anyone to accompany you when going out?]

Cheng Xia sent a smiley face emoji. [Don’t worry, birthdays happen every year. The crew is rushing to complete the schedule these days. Tomorrow’s schedule is very full. It doesn’t matter if it passes or not. I almost forgot about it myself!]

Cheng Yiming thought for a moment. [Yes, work is important. Then when you return to Rong City, I’ll make up the gifts with your mother.]

Just then, a message from his agent Zhou Yan popped up on his phone. [Happy birthday, Cheng Xia.] She also sent a red envelope. Cheng Xia accepted it and replied, [Thank you, Sister Yan.]

Zhou Yan wanted to tell Cheng Xia that President Pei had prepared a birthday party but she thought that since it was a surprise, she better wait until today’s shoot was finished so that he wouldn’t be distracted all day.

The phone fell quiet.

Pei Shaoze didn’t send a blessing message. Cheng Xia waited a while and felt a bit disappointed. Then he soon comforted himself. President Pei was so busy every day and it was normal not to remember his birthday. After all, Cheng Xia himself almost forgot. President Pei’s birthday was November 23rd, the first day of Sagittarius. Cheng Xia thought that if President Pei forgot his birthday then he would help President Pei celebrate his birthday at that time!

Cheng Xia wasn’t the type to fuss over small matters. He thought like this and felt relieved. He got into bed and had a good sleep.

Early the next morning, he received a notice and came to the set. Today’s shoot was all scenes with him and Shen Kai and there were a lot of lines. Fortunately, the two of them have become used to each other in this period of time. The NGs were controlled within five times and the shooting process was fairly smooth.

Cheng Xia couldn’t yell ‘It’s my birthday today’ everywhere. He acted no differently from usual. He didn’t think it would matter if others didn’t know. After all, he was just a small star. Did he wish for everyone to wish him a happy birthday?

It wasn’t until the evening that Pei Shaoze suddenly got up. “You have worked hard. Today is Cheng Xia’s 19th birthday. I have prepared a birthday dinner. Everyone, pack up as soon as possible and go to the third-floor banquet hall of the hotel. Let’s celebrate Cheng Xia’s birthday.”

There was enthusiastic applause around them and the blessing words of ‘Happy birthday, Cheng Xia’ from the staff kept entering his ears.

Cheng Xia was completely confused. He stood there in a daze, completely unable to believe that President Pei had prepared this.

This feeling of surprise and joy was like drawing a prize at random and getting the special prize? Cheng Xia looked up at the man not far away. Pei Shaoze’s eyes were indescribably soft. He walked up to Cheng Xia and tried to resist the urge to rub this little guy’s head. He whispered, “Happy birthday. You’re now 19 years old.”

Cheng Xia’s ears were red and he couldn’t help his eyes feeling hot. “Thank you… I didn’t expect you to remember…”

Pei Shaoze spoke warmly. “Of course, I remember. This is your first birthday in the crew. Let’s go and celebrate it.”

Cheng Xia nodded and followed him to the third floor of the hotel.

Once they arrived at the banquet scene, it wasn’t just Cheng Xia but the entire crew was stunned. Wasn’t this scene too romantic? It was enough to use it as a proposal or wedding! The colorful streamers on the ceiling made the atmosphere particularly warm. The dining table was filled with flowers freshly picked today. The background of the big stage had orange balloons spelling out ‘Happy birthday, Cheng Xia.’

Cheng Xia’s heart thumped and his cheeks were so hot that he was about to catch on fire. The feeling of being cherished and loved by others made him feel dizzy. He was so old but he had never had such a formal birthday party. In the past, he would just buy a cake and eat it with his parents. This made him happy enough. Today’s luxurious birthday party treatment made Cheng Xia feel like he was in a dream.

Pei Shaoze saw the young man’s excitement. His heart softened and he softly whispered in Cheng Xia’s ears. “Let’s go, today you are the protagonist.”

‘In fact, in this whole world, you are the protagonist.’

Cheng Xia returned to his senses and followed Pei Shaoze into the banquet hall.

Today’s birthday banquet was a buffet. There were two rows of dining areas on both sides of the hall. There were all types of hot dishes, cold dishes, seafood, and a large number of cakes, desserts, fruits, and drinks. The staff members’ eyes brightened when they saw so many delicious foods. They deeply felt that the food of Folding Paper directly promoted the food standards of online dramas to a higher level.

The birthday party that President Pei prepared for Cheng Xia was simply star treatment. The actors who didn’t have birthdays soon couldn’t help feeling envious.

At 7:30 in the evening, the birthday party officially began.

Everyone applauded warmly as Pei Shaoze took to the stage, picked up the microphone, and said, “Today is Cheng Xia’s 19th birthday. I am very glad to meet you in the Folding Paper crew. As the producer, I prepared this birthday dinner for Cheng Xia on behalf of the crew. Cheng Xia has become one year older and I hope that everything you want will go well. I also hope that our Folding Paper drama can be successfully filmed and released smoothly!”

Cheng Xia stood under the stage and clapped warmly. ‘President Pei, you wished that everything I want would go well. Do you know what I want the most?’

The eyes of the two people met in the air. Pei Shaoze smiled slightly and his expression became very gentle. “Cheng Xia, come here.”

Cheng Xia walked over and stood face to face with him. Pei Shaoze reached out and placed the golden birthday crown on Cheng Xia’s head. The lighting from the ceiling was very soft. Looking at the handsome appearance of the alpha smiling in front of him, Cheng Xia’s heart beat faster and faster. The applause around him became illusory. It seemed that only Pei Shaoze was left in his eyes and heart.

Pei Shaoze made a gesture behind him and Pei Shaoyan immediately carried up the gifts that had been prepared. Pei Shaoze held the gift box and handed it to Cheng Xia. “This is my birthday present to you on behalf of the crew. I hope you like it.”

Cheng Xia looked at the box in front of him in amazement. Wasn’t this his favorite building block puzzle? He liked this type of thing since he was a child and had collected over a dozen car models. He would soon be able to hold a ‘car show.’ Based on the packaging pattern, wasn’t this the latest limited edition orange sports car? Cheng Xia had liked it when it was put on sale on the official website. However, the price of 20,000 yuan had made him hesitate to put it in the shopping cart as he currently wasn’t earning much.

Unexpectedly, President Pei knew about his hobby…

Cheng Xia took the gift box with trembling hands. “T-Thank you, President Pei!”

There was thunderous applause while Cheng Xia’s eyes ached.

‘President Pei, you’re too good to me. What if I really fall completely?’

Light and shadows intertwined above their heads. Facing the young man’s eyes that had become brighter due to his touched emotions, Pei Shaoze smiled and asked softly in a voice only the two of them could hear, “You’re now 19 years old and have grown a bit older. Do you like the gift?”

Cheng Xia nodded with a red face. “I especially like it!”

“That’s good. Let’s cut the cake.”

Pei Shaoyan actively worked as a tool person and quickly pushed over the ordered cake.

The three-tiered fruit cake was very beautiful and this made it hard for people to cut it. Zhou Yan couldn’t help feeling ashamed when seeing this cake. It was a really huge cake. The one she ordered was just an ordinary chocolate mousse cake. Meanwhile, President Pei’s cake was obviously a personal order! The cake had the theme of ‘orange’ and the top layer had ‘Happy birthday Cheng Xia’ written in orange jam. 19 candles were arranged neatly and orderly.

Pei Shaoze walked off the stage and let Cheng Xia stand in the C position on the stage.

The lights went out and the candles on the cake burned. As the birthday cake played, everyone present started to sing together. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…”

Pei Shaoze was singing as well. The man’s eyes were gentle. His low voice mixed in with the crowd but Cheng Xia clearly remembered his voice.

The birthday song ended and Director Liu exclaimed excitedly, “Cheng Xia, make a wish and blow out the candles!”

“Make a wish!”

Cheng Xia closed his eyes and clasped his hands together. He looked incredibly pious as he seriously made a wish on the birthday cake. At this moment, he only had one wish. It was to be with Pei Shaoze until they were both old.

Cheng Xia blew out the candles and the lights turned back on. Then Cheng Xia took the knife from the tool man Pei Shaoyan and cut the birthday cake. The three-layered cake wasn’t easy to cut so he only cut the first layer. Pei Shaoze stepped onto the stage to help him cut the lower two layers.

Applause once again rang out. Cheng Xia enthusiastically distributed the birthday cake to everyone and the crew had an extremely rich buffet dinner. Cheng Xia was indeed the protagonist tonight. No matter where he went, there was someone wishing him a happy birthday. The kindness and blessings from the entire crew made him feel warm.

He was really happy today. Today was his happiest birthday from when he was a child until now. There was a schedule the next day so they couldn’t stay too late. Combined with President Pei’s presence, the part of smearing the cake on the face was omitted. Zhou Yan quickly snapped a few photos and asked Cheng Xia to upload it to Weibo.

At around 10 p.m., everyone returned to their hotel rooms. Cheng Xia put the gift box on the bed, unwrapped it, and became stunned…

It was put together? Why was it already put together?!

He had bought the building blocks many times. Every time he bought them, they were in pieces. The merchant had never sold the assembled model. Suddenly, a thought came to mind. Cheng Xia picked up his phone with trembling hands and asked, [President Pei, who put the model together?]

President Pei calmly replied, [I did it.]

Cheng Xia, “……”

Pei Shaoze, [Aren’t you busy lately? You have to read the script in the evening and don’t have time to put it together. I helped do it for you. You can play with it directly. If you want to do it yourself in the future then just take it apart and do it again.]

Cheng Xia gently touched the complete model placed in the gift box and couldn’t speak for a minute. Don’t look at the small size. This had at least 1,000 parts and would take several days of working patiently!

‘President Pei put it together himself?’

Cheng Xia thought of the man sitting at the table and seriously putting the parts together and he couldn’t help his eyes becoming a bit hot. Every small part of the car was put together by President Pei personally. The gift he gave to Cheng Xia was so special that Cheng Xia felt his heart being soaked in a honey jar. Who wouldn’t like such a gift?

Cheng Xia wiped his eyes and replied, [Thank you, I will cherish this gift!]

Take it apart? How could the car that President Pei assembled himself be dismantled? He wanted to install a transparent cover and store it for a lifetime.

Proofreader: Cat