After being reborn, I gained a childhood sweetheart who appeared out of nowhere.

Lin Chuan reached out and grasped the doorknob, turned it gently, the latch extended, and the door slowly opened.

"Happy birthday!"

Someone shouted, followed by a loud bang. Small ribbons and sequins exploded in front of Lin Chuan. He stood in the rain of confetti and was completely stunned.

"How about it? Do you remember what day it is today?" Chen Xiyu asked, pointing a firework tube at him.

Lin Chuan finally realized what special day it was—it was his birthday.

"Don't stand there, come in and eat," Mom called from behind.

Everyone sat down at the dining table. Perhaps because it was Lin Chuan's birthday, the meal was exceptionally lavish, with plenty of fish and meat, soup, and vegetables—comparable to what they ate during the Lunar New Year.

"Mom, how did you remember it's my birthday today?" Lin Chuan asked.

"We don't remember either, Xiaoxi told us," Mom said with a smile. "She said she wanted to throw you a birthday party. Your dad and I don't know much about these things. Oh, and Xiaoxi bought the cake too."

As soon as he came in, he saw a beautifully packaged cake gift box on the small table in front of the sofa.

Logically, his birthday should have come soon after Chen Xiyu's, but he still didn't remember because he had never celebrated his birthday before.

So when he arrived, he wouldn't remember, and naturally he wouldn't receive any birthday wishes or special birthday celebrations for him. This was the first time since he was born.

Lin Chuan looked at Chen Xiyu and was slightly taken aback.

"It's alright. I've always been a kind person. How could I bear to see my good neighbor's birthday go unremembered?" Chen Xiyu said with a smile.

"Yes, Miss Chen, you are the kindest."

"That's right," Chen Xiyu said proudly, "but don't be too touched."

Lin Chuan grinned and smiled.

After enjoying dinner together, the cake was placed on the table. Upon opening the wrapped gift box, a very exquisite three-tiered cake was revealed, decorated with strawberries and chocolates, and a line of words written in cream by the pastry chef.

Happy birthday, Lin Chuan!

This cake alone looks expensive; I reckon it's no cheaper than his Rilakkuma.

At this moment, Chen Xiyu pulled out a paper hat for the birthday person from somewhere. It looked like a small paper crown. She came closer and said, "Come on, put this on."

"I don't think I need to," Lin Chuan thought to himself. It would be a bit strange for someone his age to wear this, and it felt like something a child would do for their birthday.

"no."

"Then I'll do it myself," Lin Chuan said, having no other choice.

"Don't move, I'll help you carry it." Chen Xiyu's voice left no room for argument.

Chen Xiyu walked up to him. The two were about the same height now, and they stood face to face, looking at each other. She leaned over and put the cardboard hat on Lin Chuan's head, then straightened it a few times before nodding in satisfaction.

She then jogged over and turned off the living room lights, plunging the room into darkness.

Lin Chuan then lit the candles with a lighter, and the flickering candlelight instantly illuminated the faces of the group.

"Happy birthday to you..." Chen Xiyu led the singing of the birthday song. It was a very ordinary song that anyone could sing, but she sang it so beautifully.

Dad and Mom weren't very good at these things, but they hummed along. Standing in the candlelight and amidst the singing, Lin Chuan felt a slight stirring in his heart.

As the song ended, everyone applauded, and Lin Chuan blew out the candles. The living room lights came back on, and it was time to eat the cake.

"I'll cut the cake, I'm good at it!" Chen Xiyu volunteered to cut the cake.

She picked up a plastic knife and fork, cut off a large slice of cake with Lin Chuan's name on it, and handed it over, saying, "Here, you can have the first slice."

Lin Chuan didn't stand on ceremony. Just as he was about to reach out to take it, Chen Xiyu suddenly smeared a white cream mark on his face with her other hand.

"Hahaha." Chen Xiyu laughed triumphantly.

"A sneak attack?" Lin Chuan said, and he also smeared some cream on his finger, wanting to make a cut on Chen Xiyu's face as well. Just as he reached out, Chen Xiyu dodged and hid behind her mother.

The two girls, holding a cake, kept circling around their mother. Lin Chuan said something like, "What a real man! He should be responsible for his actions. Why are you running away?" Chen Xiyu retorted, "I'm a woman, not a real man." Their mother didn't stop them; she just smiled and watched the two of them frolicking in the living room.

The small living room was filled with the laughter of a boy and a girl, as lively as a festival.

Finally, when their eyes met, they looked at each other's faces covered in white cream, like scratches on a cat, and couldn't help but laugh.

Many years later, Lin Chuan still remembers his first birthday party and that cake that was a little too sweet.

After everyone shared the cake, the birthday party officially came to an end.

Lin Chuan helped his mother tidy up the somewhat messy living room. While packing things up, he kept looking around, unaware that Chen Xiyu had already run off to.

Chen Xiyu bought this cake, and it was also her suggestion to celebrate my birthday, so I should say thank you.

Lin Chuan was wondering whether he should go next door to tell her when the door was pushed open again and Chen Xiyu walked in. Her face was still wet with water droplets, so it seemed that she had just gone back to her room and washed her face.

However, Lin Chuan noticed that she was also carrying a cardboard box. Upon seeing the familiar box, he paused slightly, as if he understood why Chen Xiyu had insisted on spending the whole day with him instead of letting him go to fix her laptop.

"Here, this is a gift for you." Chen Xiyu handed over the gift box, which wasn't as fancy as a cake box; it looked more like a regular square shopping box.

Lin Chuan looked at the packaging box but didn't take it immediately. "Why did you buy this?"

"I bought it because I wanted to, why should I?" Chen Xiyu said.

"Isn't what you're giving me too expensive? I can't accept it. You can take it back. If you really want to give a gift, you can give me a greeting card instead," Lin Chuan suggested.

Chen Xiyu frowned. "Hey, you can refuse a birthday present, can you?"

Lin Chuan was speechless for a moment; it really wasn't easy to refuse a birthday gift.

"I didn't refuse the gift you gave me last time."

"That's different. The bear I bought only cost a few hundred yuan."

"It's all about the sentiment," Chen Xiyu asked. "How much did you spend when you bought me this gift?"

"Several hundred yuan."

"That's enough," Chen Xiyu said.

Lin Chuan seemed to understand what she meant.

Some people don't care how expensive the gift you buy for them; what they care about is how much you care about them. A gift worth 100 yuan that you have 1,000 yuan for is not as pleasing to her as a gift worth 80 yuan that you have 100 yuan for.

"Hurry up and take it, it's a bit heavy." Chen Xiyu shoved the box into Lin Chuan's hands without saying a word.

After accepting the somewhat heavy box, Lin Chuan remained silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Chen Xiyu smiled, then couldn't help but yawn. "I got up too early today, I'm so sleepy, I'm going back to take a shower and go to bed." She usually doesn't get up this early except when she's going to school, let alone after playing outside all day.

Now that the commotion is over, fatigue is creeping in, and my eyelids are drooping.

"Okay, bye-bye."

"Hehe, goodnight."

"Good night."

It was already late at night when Lin Chuan returned to his room. He opened the box and found a brand-new black laptop inside.

I glanced at the brand, and wow, it's Sony. This is back in 2009. This kind of laptop looks pretty high-end. I'd guess it cost around 10,000 to 20,000 yuan.

This was indeed a rather expensive gift for a high school student, but he couldn't refuse it. Knowing Chen Xiyu's personality, he figured she would get angry if he didn't accept it.

Even if this is considered owing someone a favor, Lin Chuan doesn't like owing favors. When he was a child, his mother always said that even if the family didn't have money, they shouldn't be short-sighted and shouldn't take advantage of others. In fact, she didn't want to be looked down upon by others.

He took out his laptop and found an exquisite greeting card pressed inside the box. It seemed quite different from his cheap one, which had gold embossing and looked like an invitation to a high-class party or something custom-made.

Happy birthday, Lin Chuan.

You didn't expect me to remember your birthday, hahaha.

I don't know much about laptops. I had someone buy this for me, so I don't know if it's good or not. Anyway, you have to keep it whether it's good or not, so all I can say is that it's good!

I quite liked the gift you gave me last time, so we're even. Neither of us owes the other anything.

And the first time you met me at school, you didn't recognize me. I still remember that. I recognized you right away, but since you've already sincerely apologized, I'll reluctantly forgive you. But it's only reluctantly. You still have to treat me to one more (scratch that), three more late-night snacks.

I sense you've been quite busy lately. I wonder how your studies are going. But since you said you know what you're doing, I'll believe you. You can't lie to me, or I'll tell Aunt Wang.

Since you've already come to the No. 1 High School, seize the opportunity and don't let your uncles and aunts down. If you get into a good university in the future, your uncles and aunts will be very happy.

Finally, while studying and writing novels, don't forget to enjoy your high school life. After all, you only get to go to high school once.

Your perfect neighbor.

Chen Xiyu.

Seeing the tone of the other person, which was somewhere between an "adult's" entrustment and a "child's" nagging, Lin Chuan couldn't help but smile. He put the greeting card away and placed it in the drawer of his desk.

Finally, I turned on my brand-new laptop, plugged in the network cable, and started downloading what I needed: QQ, websites, and so on. The new computer was indeed exceptionally smooth to use…

Sunday, noon.

Lin Chuan had just finished typing and stepped out of the living room when he ran into his parents, both of whom had changed into their work clothes.

"Are you going to work?" Lin Chuan asked.

"Hmm," Mom nodded, "This time it's a short-term job, it'll probably last two days, so he probably won't be back tonight. You and Xiaoxi can go have dinner by yourselves and then go to school."

"Okay." Lin Chuan nodded. After all, this situation was not uncommon. The longest he had ever been away was when his parents went to work for more than a week. During that time, he was home alone. However, he was in junior high school then and only cared about going online. He didn't eat much of the food money his parents gave him and spent it all at internet cafes.

Mom took out a hundred yuan from her pocket. "Take this money first, so you can have dinner tonight. If there's any left, put it on your meal card and use it for meals at school."

"No need, I have money." Lin Chuan waved his hand in refusal.

"You have money? Where did you get the money?" Mom asked, puzzled.

"I already mentioned it last time, do you write novels on your computer? Actually, I received my royalties the day before yesterday, but I haven't had a chance to tell you yet," Lin Chuan explained.

"Royalties? How much is it?" Mom asked.

"It's alright, I made a little over five thousand last month," Lin Chuan said.

"How much did you say?" The father, who hadn't spoken before, couldn't help but ask, thinking he had misheard.

In their minds, writing novels, which only requires typing on a computer, probably doesn't earn much money, since it doesn't require any real "work," and having a hundred or two hundred yuan of pocket money a month is considered a lot.

But isn't five thousand yuan a bit too much?

Lin Chuan didn't explain. He went back to his room, then took out a stack of money. After a quick glance, he estimated it to be about two thousand yuan. He had taken it to fix his computer or do something else.

He then showed the two of them his bank notification, which clearly stated that his account had received over five thousand this month.

After reading it, Dad and Mom looked at each other, their eyes full of surprise. They couldn't earn that much money even if they worked odd jobs together for a month.

"You don't need to give me money for food anymore," Lin Chuan continued.

Mom only realized what was happening then, and couldn't help but laugh, saying, "Xiao Chuan is amazing now, he can earn so much money already."

"Pretty good." The usually taciturn father gave a thumbs up, a smile that had been absent from his face for a long time.

"It's alright, it's not a lot of money," Lin Chuan said with a smile.

"You brat, your dad and I combined don't even earn that much in a month," Mom said.

"hey-hey."

"Okay then. I won't give you any money for food for now. Just let me know if you need anything later," Mom said. "Also, you can't just spend the money recklessly or buy things indiscriminately."

"What constitutes 'random spending'?" Lin Chuan asked.

Mom was stumped. Where would a high school student go to waste money? Playing games or going to internet cafes? But Lin Chuan didn't have much free time at the city's No. 1 High School these days, besides going to school.

Occasionally, I would study at home on weekends or go out with Xiaoxi. If I went out with Xiaoxi, it was even less likely that I would go to places like internet cafes.

"Just kidding, I know what I'm doing," Lin Chuan said.

The mother nodded. In the past, she would have been a little worried that her son had so much money, but now she trusted him completely. The two of them said goodbye to their child and went out to work.

As evening fell, Lin Chuan stood at the door of Chen Xiyu's house and knocked twice.

A short while later, Chen Xiyu opened the door. "What's up? Are you ready for dinner?"

"My parents aren't coming home tonight, so we're going out to eat, and then we'll go to school," Lin Chuan said.

"Okay, wait for me a moment." Chen Xiyu went back to her room and came out more than ten minutes later. She had changed into her school uniform and was carrying her schoolbag. She stood in front of him.

"Let's go."

The two went downstairs together, and Chen Xiyu asked, "What are we having for dinner tonight?"

"How was the pizza we had when school started?" Lin Chuan asked.

"Are you treating?"

"Yeah yeah."

"Wow, that's so generous!"

"Yeah yeah."

"Are you a broken record?"

No, that's not it.

Chen Xiyu simply raised her hand and patted him on the shoulder, "Speak properly."

Lin Chuan smiled and didn't dodge, since her hits didn't hurt anyway.