Lemon Soda Candy - 99

"Where's my birthday present?" Chen Luobai held out his hand, palm up.

Zhou Anran's face crumpled. "It's gone."

"What do you mean, 'gone'?" He braced a hand on the back of her chair and leaned in, studying her closely. "Is this some new kind of surprise you've pulled for me this year?"

"No," Zhou Anran shook her head. "It's really gone."

This year, for Chen Luobai's birthday, both of them had been completely swamped.

Zhou Anran had been stuck in the lab until ten tonight. The birthday man himself had just gotten back from a days-long business trip, only walking through that door about ten minutes ago at a little past eleven.

Thankfully, tomorrow was a rest day. And thankfully, there was still one last sliver of his birthday left, just enough to squeeze in a little celebration.

The plan was simple: get the pre-ordered cake from the fridge, light the candles, turn off the lights, and sing him the birthday song. 

He'd make a few grand wishes like he did every year, blow out the candles, switch the lights back on, share a small slice of cake with her, and then she'd give him the gift she'd prepared. That would tie a perfect little bow on the day.

The problem was, the prepared gift had vanished.

Zhou Anran got home just a little earlier before him, planning to use the time to beautifully wrap the gift she'd bought. But when she pulled open the drawer, it was completely empty. The gift had simply disappeared.

"Really gone?" Chen Luobai was genuinely surprised now. "Did you leave it in your bag, or was it here at home?”

Zhou Anran: “Here at home.”

"Maybe the housekeeper moved it somewhere else while cleaning?" he guessed.

Zhou Anran shook her head again. "I'm sure it was still there last Friday. The housekeeper has been on vacation since last Thursday."

"Could you have put it somewhere yourself while tidying up, and then forgotten?"

She wasn't the forgetful type; she was always careful and meticulous. But with the year-end chaos, both of them had been running ragged. Forgetting things for a moment wasn't impossible. Just last week, he'd been so exhausted he'd forgotten his car keys twice.

"I don't think so." Zhou Anran frowned, thinking. "I haven't had time to clean the house lately. And just now, before you got home, I already checked all around the house. Nothing.”

Maybe because she stayed in academia, she didn't look all that different from her high school or college days. Her eyes were still clear, her cheeks still fair and clean, looking as pinchable as ever.

Chen Luobai couldn't resist. He reached out and pinched them.

He asked her for a gift because he knew she prepared one every year.

But more than the gift itself, what he truly valued was the thought she put into it.

"What's there to frown about?" His hand moved up to smooth the crease between her brows. "A gift won't just walk out of the house. Just treat this as an unexpected surprise. Tomorrow, I'll search with you. I haven't played this kind of treasure hunt in years.”

Zhou Anran finally smiled. "But this game doesn't come with hints."

She herself had no idea where the thing had gone.

“No hints is what makes it fun.” Chen Luobai went on. “It's late. Let's sleep first? Maybe you'll remember in the morning."

It really was late, and he'd just come off a multi-day business trip. Zhou Anran nodded. “Mm. Let's sleep. We'll look tomorrow.”

That was what she said, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. Even while brushing her teeth, her mind was still turning it over.

But the second she set her toothbrush down, a certain someone scooped her up by the waist and carried her into the bathroom.

Winter nights were cold. Even with the heating on, it still wasn’t anything like the stifling heat of summer, hardly the kind of weather for pressing against the glass wall of the shower.

But the bathroom had a large bathtub, more than spacious enough for two. No matter how they moved around, the water probably wouldn’t spill over the edge.

It was a different kind of experience. The water moved with him, in and out...

So...

Where exactly was that gift?

A small, sharp sting on her lower lip snapped Zhou Anran back. She focused to find the man with damp, dark hair looking at her with open dissatisfaction.

"Zhou Anran, please focus right now?"

It had been days since they'd seen each other.

She'd really missed him, too.

Zhou Anran reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

The water still ultimately rippled and spilled over the tub's edge.

By the time they got back to the bedroom, it was the early hours of the morning. Zhou Anran was exhausted and sleepy, but it felt like a taut, unresolved string was still pulled tight in her mind.

 

“Where could it be?” she couldn't help murmuring, eyes closed.

Beside her, Chen Luobai found the sight both adorable and hilarious. "Should we just skip sleep tonight? I can start searching with you right now."

"Sleep." She didn't want him losing more rest. She forced her eyes open. "We'll look tomorrow."

"Alright." Chen Luobai turned off the light and, with practiced ease, pulled her into his arms.

As the bright room plunged into darkness, Zhou Anran's thoughts drifted involuntarily.

"Chen Luobai." She wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Yeah?"

"You don't think... someone broke in, do you?" She burrowed deeper into his chest.

"How would that happen?" Chen Luobai was once again utterly charmed by her. He fought back a smile. "The front door and living room both have cameras. We'd get an alert if a stranger broke in. And didn't you search around the house yourself tonight? Nothing else valuable was missing, right?”

Zhou Anran: “No, nothing else.”

"So, you see?" Chen Luobai patted her back. "What kind of burglar ignores all the valuables and only steals the birthday present you got for me?"

Zhou Anran relaxed a little. "That's true."

Sensing that she wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon, Chen Luobai asked, “Where did you put it? Let me help you think.”

Zhou Anran: “In the drawer of the small desk in the guest room."

Chen Luobai's tone shifted to one of sudden enlightenment. "So that's where you secretly hide all the presents you prepared for me."

Zhou Anran let out a tiny yawn. "You never go into the guest room. It was the safest place."

"Now I know," Chen Luobai laughed.

Zhou Anran's voice grew softer, "I'll definitely find a new spot now."

"Hold on," Chen Luobai paused as if remembering something. "Didn't Zhu Ran sleep in that guest room last Saturday? Was it that room?"

They've been so unbelievably busy lately. Only with his prompting that the memory resurfaced.

Last weekend, Zhu Ran had somehow managed to get on Yu Bingqin's bad side and been "kicked out" of the house. He'd shown up at their door, pitifully clutching a small overnight bag, asking to crash.

"That's the one."

“Then he might have accidentally messed with it, moved it somewhere else.”

Zhou Anran laughed despite herself. "Zhu Ran's not that bored. Don't go making up stories just to make me feel better."

"Fine, I won't slander him." Chen Luobai lowered his voice. "So, what exactly did you get me? Is it small?"

Something bulky wasn't easy to misplace, and if it was, it would be easy to spot.

She hadn't told him what the gift was because she'd wanted it to be a surprise.

But now that it was turning into a source of dread, there was no point in keeping it secret.

"A pair of couple rings. I saw them when I went shopping with Qin-jie a while ago and thought they looked really nice, so I bought them. Qin-jie thought they were nice too, and bought a pair of earrings from the same collection."

"A while ago," a certain someone said, his voice taking on a mock-accusatory tone, "oh, you mean the day you stood me up last week?"

“I didn't stand you up. Qin-jie asked me first." Zhou Anran's protest was soft. "And I came back to be with you right after we finished shopping, didn't I?”

"Wait." Chen Luobai seemed to have another thought. “You said my sister also bought a pair of earrings from the same collection. Was the packaging the same as the rings?"

Zhou Anran: “Same collection, same packaging.”

"Then Zhu Ran really might have taken them," Chen Luobai said. "Wasn't he drunk that night?”

It wasn't Zhu Ran's first time crashing at their place.

He just never did it right before Chen Luobai's birthday.

Zhou Anran had been away at a conference that day and didn't know Zhu Ran was coming to stay, so she hadn't moved the gift. It wasn't that she was worried Zhu Ran would take it—after years of friendship, he even knew their door code. It was more that if he'd found it, he might have tipped Chen Luobai off early.

"He doesn't have a habit of rummaging through random drawers when he's drunk, does he?"

"He doesn't, but Sanjin sure might," Chen Luobai said. "When he's drunk, nobody watches Sanjin."

Sanjin was a little corgi Yu Bingqin found a few years ago. It had probably been abandoned, soaking wet and injured at the time. After being rescued, it had spent a long while at the vet's, and then a long recovery at home, before bouncing back to its lively self.

"Sanjin came too?"

"Yeah. You weren't home, so he brought Sanjin with him. And honestly, if he hadn't brought the dog, he probably wouldn't have been allowed back home so fast."

Zhou Anran had been chased by a dog in the countryside as a child. It left a psychological scar. She was a bit afraid of dogs.

But that didn't stop her from finding Sanjin adorable, as long as the dog didn't get too close. She was happy to admire from afar.

“Sanjin's pretty well-behaved in other people's homes, isn't he?”

"But the packaging for your rings is the same as my sister's earrings," Chen Luobai said. "My sister spoils Sanjin rotten. Everything in the house that isn't dangerous is fair game as a toy. I'm guessing that box was a toy for Sanjin too. You didn't do any extra wrapping on the rings?”

Zhou Anran nodded against his chest. "Didn't get the chance."

“Then Sanjin probably saw it and thought it was one of his toys and made off with it.”

“The box isn't that small. If he'd carried it off, I think you would have noticed.” Zhou Anran considered.

Chen Luobai: "It probably played with it and then hid it in Zhu Ran's bag. Sanjin loves hiding things. A quick call to Zhu Ran and we'll know."

"It's so late. They're probably asleep," Zhou Anran said. "Let's call tomorrow."

"Can you actually sleep without knowing where the gift is?"

Zhou Anran said, "I can... probably?"

She didn't sound remotely certain.

Chen Luobai found her incredibly endearing. He couldn't help reaching out in the darkness to pinch her cheek again. "How about I tell you a story to lull you to sleep?"

"What kind of story?"

“A long, long time ago, there was a beautiful princess. And this beautiful princess, she had a very lovely surname—" He deliberately dragged out the last syllable. "Let me think... Oh, right. Her surname was Zhou."

Zhou Anran couldn't hold back a laugh. "You're just making this up as you go."

Someone refused to admit it. "I've barely started. How do you know I'm making it up?”

"Then go on."

"Okay. Our beautiful little Princess Zhou was gentle, sweet, and brilliant. From a young age, she had countless admirers. But her heart belonged only to a prince from the neighboring kingdom, whose surname was Chen..."

In the end, lulled by the man's improvised story, Zhou Anran sank into a deep sleep.

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