This is not the date I wanted.

"Ah... That's true. Thank you. I will cherish it."

Looking at Mengyue, whose face was instantly filled with joy, Shidao could only nod in response with a wry smile.

"Well, we need to prepare a sterile safe to store it... Ratatoskr should have one... I'll ask Kotori-chan to take a look later..."

Looking at Mengyue who was immersed in some thoughts and started to mutter, Shidou decided to pretend that he heard nothing.

buzz-

"Ok?"

Suddenly, there was a slight vibration in his pocket. Shidao took out his cell phone and saw that it was a text message from Reine.

(What’s going on? Is there a problem at home?)

Shidou couldn't help but frown secretly. Since using wireless headphones to communicate would be detected by Mengyue, Shidou and the others decided to do the opposite and use ordinary mobile phones to communicate to avoid Mengyue's suspicion.

[Shen... the progress here is a little slow... Sorry, could you please delay it for ten minutes? ]

(Why do you look like you’re about to fall asleep even when you’re sending a text message, Miss Lingyin?)

Shidou complained speechlessly in his mind.

"Well... if it's ten minutes, then it should be fine."

Shidao pondered for a moment and decided that if he took a detour to a convenience store farther away to buy some drinks on the pretext of being thirsty, he should be able to buy himself ten minutes.

"What's wrong Shidou?"

At this time, Mengyue had come back to her senses from her wild imagination and looked at Shidao with a little confusion.

"Nothing. Just an advertising text message."

Shidou quickly hung up the phone and replied pretending nothing happened.

"Speaking of which, Mengyue, I'm a little thirsty. Do you want to go to the convenience store together to have a drink?"

"Yeah, sure."

Mengyue nodded, followed Shidao around the corner and walked towards the convenience store.

"But it's really not easy for you, Shidou. In order to prepare a surprise party for me, you actually have to turn into a girl and delay time like this."

Meng Yue said in a chatty tone.

"There's nothing we can do about it. If we don't do this, we'll definitely... be... noticed...?!"

Shidou answered subconsciously, but halfway through his words, he seemed to be paying attention to something wrong and stopped listening.

"Eh?"

"Really? Really? You went this far for me. Even though you failed, I'm still very happy, Shidao."

Mengyue patted Shidao's shoulder to express her satisfaction.

"Hey - what are you talking about? What is a surprise party? How come I don't know."

"...Well, Shidou. I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to trick you."

Looking at Shidou who was pretending to be confused, Mengyue sighed with a wry smile and said.

"Today they are preparing a surprise party for my birthday. Yui and Yakuya are choosing gifts, Tohka Origami and Yoshino are in charge of ordering cakes, and the others are probably preparing for the party at home. And, in order to prevent me from finding out, you asked a girl to date me to distract me, right?"

Completely correct.

"…When did you notice it?"

Being seen through so clearly, Shidou knew that it was pointless to continue playing dumb. His face instantly turned bitter and he asked unwillingly.

To be honest, in order to hide the truth from Mengyue, he almost lost all his moral integrity and face.

"Well...how should I put it? Actually, you did a pretty good job, Shidou. At first, I really thought you had forgotten about it. When I met Yamai and Tohka, I felt a little uncomfortable, but I didn't pay much attention to it because my mind was full of Shiori's affairs. It's just..."

"only?"

Meng Yue scratched her cheek awkwardly.

"It's just... As soon as you turned back into a boy, Shidou, I immediately realized that everything before was just everyone preparing a surprise party for me."

“You don’t bring this kind of thing, do you?”

Shidao felt like crying but had no tears. If he had known earlier, he should not have been tempted by Meng Yue's proposal and insisted on sending her home as a daughter.

Wait? If that's the case, then Meng Yue is going to kidnap me and elope?

Didn’t the option of achieving the goal of the relationship exist from the beginning?

"But I didn't expect that you would still remember my birthday, Shidou."

Meng Yue couldn't help but sigh.

"Of course, Mengyue, you told me my birthday yourself, how could I forget it?"

After adjusting his mood a little, Shidao heard Mengyue's words and suddenly remembered the cute and adorable look of Mengyue when she recited the magic spell in a soft and tender voice on Christmas in the extraordinary date in the computer world.

It’s better to say that it’s hard to forget.

"Shidou, what were you thinking about just now?"

"No, I didn't think of anything."

Looking at the gentle smile beside him that concealed murderous intent, Shidou decisively chose to play dumb and began to change the subject.

"Then, since it's a rare birthday, I wanted to give Mengyue a surprise, so I asked everyone to hold a surprise party."

"And they all actively offered to help, right?"

"That's right. After hearing this, everyone said they wanted to give you, Mengyue, a surprise. They were all very motivated... um, but..."

However, this surprise party was exposed before it even started. Thinking of this, Shidao couldn't help but lower his head in frustration.

"Well, don't be so disappointed, Shidao."

Meng Yue patted the other person's shoulder and comforted him.

"It's okay. I won't tell anyone that I found out about the surprise party. I'll wait until I get home later. I'll pretend to be unaware and let everyone be scared."

“No, um, honestly, it would be a big help if I could do this. But… what’s wrong?!”

Didn't I prepare a surprise party for Mengyue without telling her? Why did I ask her to help me cover up the lie for others?

"Well, don't worry about the small details. It's great that everyone can prepare a birthday party for me. Even if it's not a surprise, I'm happy."

"Uh-oh."

Although it was still a little hard to accept, Shidao also knew that his plan had been discovered by Mengyue, so no matter how upset he was, it would be useless.

(Sorry, Shidou.)

Perhaps she felt that the timing of her discovery was a bit inappropriate, Mengyue couldn't help feeling guilty and apologized quietly in her heart.

Then, after buying drinks at the convenience store, Mengyue took a detour for ten minutes before walking back to Wuhe's house.

"call……"

Stopping at the door, Meng Yue took a deep breath with some trepidation. After hesitating for a moment, she seemed to have made up her mind and opened the door.

"Happy birthday! Mengyue/my compatriot/Sister Mengyue/Honey!"

Snap! Snap! Snap!

The moment the door opened, gorgeous fireworks bloomed before Mengyue's eyes.

……

On the second day of Christmas, the child did not continue to argue with his father. They both tacitly kept silent about what happened yesterday, and the matter was left unresolved.

However, this does not mean reconciliation. Since then, there seems to be an invisible wall between the lives of the father and son, and the relationship between the father and son has gradually become cold.

Why is this happening?

To be honest, the child regretted saying those words yesterday.

I didn't want to have a quarrel with my father. I just hoped that he could think more about the fact that today was my birthday. I hoped that he wouldn't just think about visiting the grave on my birthday, but could help me celebrate.

Perhaps, this is really my own willfulness.

My mother died giving birth to me, so forcing my father to celebrate my birthday will only bring back his sad memories.

Perhaps, somewhere in his heart, my father also hopes that it would be better if he had not been born.

The child regrets his desire for unnecessary things and keeps praying to get back what he has lost.

The young child didn't know what to do to restore his relationship with his father. Being clumsy, he could only keep trying to do his best in what he was supposed to do.

Overcome your dislike for eating vegetables, learn to tidy up your room, stop running around, stop asking for all kinds of snacks and toys, and study hard in school. If you have finished learning the knowledge in the textbooks, ask the teacher for knowledge for the next grade.

Because of this, teachers and neighbors began to praise the child, saying that he had matured a lot.

However, even so, he and his father still did not reconcile.

A year passed like this, and Christmas came again.

Unlike in the past, the father did not ask the teacher for leave today to go with him to sweep the grave, so the child finished the day's classes and returned home normally.

——At this time, Dad should still be visiting the cemetery.

Feeling no movement in the house, the child sighed with some disappointment, and at the same time began to feel disgusted with himself for being accustomed to living like this.

however--

"Happy birthday! Guan Meng!"

"Wow!"

Startled by the sudden sound of the salute, the child couldn't help but scream.

“The surprise party was a huge success!”

As if satisfied with his son's reaction, the father showed a happy smile like a child on his face.

Gradually recovering, the child noticed that, unlike the quiet room he had expected, the room was decorated with all kinds of decorative ribbons, and there was a fruit cake on the table with candles burning with warm light.

--What's this?

"Hmm? As you can see, it's a birthday party."

——Huh? Why didn’t you go to visit the graves today?

"Ah - I went to my mother's place yesterday. Although the time is a little wrong, a one or two day difference shouldn't be a big deal."

——But! But! Father was not angry because I said something bad about Mom.

"Ah - if possible, I really don't want to recall it. I did something wrong and beat my own son. There must be a limit to how much I can do as a scumbag. Sorry!"

——No! That's not the case. I, I am the one who wants to apologize to my father.

The child suddenly lowered his head and realized how many detours he had taken. If he wanted to reconcile, he just had to muster up the courage to talk.

——Um, Dad. Is it really okay? If celebrating your birthday today makes you unhappy, I can do it. It hurts.

"Silly child, don't push yourself too hard. It's too early for you to pretend to be mature and caring about adults."

After hitting the child's head in annoyance, the father sighed helplessly and hugged him in his arms.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to figure this out. I'm no longer a qualified husband, so I have to at least be a qualified father. So, don't worry—"

Patting Guan Meng's back gently, the father comforted her with gentle words.

——Your mother and I express our heartfelt gratitude and blessings for your birth.

……

Tick ​​tock——!

At some point, a tear slid down Meng Yue's cheek. This completely unexpected reaction made everyone panic in an instant.

"Mengyue, are you feeling unwell? Did you eat something bad?"

"What should I do, Xixian? I didn't scare Mengyue."

"Worried. Are you okay? Did any debris from the salute get in your eyes?"

"Honey, don't cry. Do you remember anything sad?"

"Hey! Shidou, did you do something to make Sister Mengyue sad?"

"It's unfair! I didn't do anything!"