Chapter 2

Jiang Haozhi didn’t only buy me eel rice.

He also bought a new comforter and pillow.

Although I knew they were mainly for himself.

Before going to sleep, he suddenly said with studied casualness,

“Xiaohe, tomorrow’s my birthday.”

“A few days ago, I delivered a cake that cost more than six hundred yuan. It was only this tiny little piece.”

“What do you think a cake that expensive tastes like?”

I knew why he had suddenly told me all this.

When you were amusing yourself with a poor girl, what could be more entertaining than watching her spend money on you?

I thought for a moment and said, “Oh. Happy birthday. I’ll boil you an egg.”

“What flavor of cake do you like? I’ll buy you one on my way home tomorrow.”

Jiang Haozhi immediately put on a show of refusing.

“No, no, don’t. I was just mentioning it.”

I smiled without saying anything, went back to my bedroom, and recalculated next month’s budget.

After work the next day, I stopped at a chain bakery.

I bought a small cake for forty-five yuan.

Jiang Haozhi wasn’t home when I returned carrying it.

Drowsiness swept over me, and the brightly colored hair clips before my eyes blurred.

If he came back, I would have someone to keep me company.

If he disappeared forever, I could eat this beautiful cake all by myself.

Either way, something good would happen today.

Thinking that, I leaned back against the couch and fell asleep without realizing it.

I don’t know how long I slept before I suddenly felt someone nudging me.

All right. He had come back.

I didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved.

“Xiaohe, sorry I’m late. I had a lot of orders today.”

I pretended not to smell the faint alcohol on him and smiled.

“It’s okay. I bought you a cake.”

I took it out and handed it to him.

He clearly froze.

“You really bought one?”

I knew I ought to make light of it for his sake.

I should say it was fine as an occasional treat, that it hadn’t been very expensive.

But if he wanted a show, that didn’t seem like the right thing to say.

So after a moment’s thought, I said,

“I’m sorry. I really can’t afford a six-hundred-yuan cake. This is the most expensive one I could buy.”

“I hope you don’t mind. Happy birthday.”

Jiang Haozhi guiltily avoided my eyes.

“Ahem. Well, thank you.”

He unwrapped the cake, handed me a fork, and told me to share it with him.

Very carefully, I scooped up a piece and put it in my mouth.

Jiang Haozhi looked at me.

“Why are you eating so slowly? Afraid of gaining weight?”

I waited until the sweetness in my mouth had slowly faded before answering. “No. I just want to eat it slowly and really taste it.”

The soft, delicate, cloudlike dessert truly made me feel happy.

So I smiled at him.

“This is the first time I’ve ever eaten cake. If it weren’t for you, I would never have bought one for myself.”

“Thank you, Haozhi.”

Jiang Haozhi said nothing.

He pushed the cake toward me.

“Then you finish it. I never liked sweets anyway. Really.”

I almost laughed again.

We truly looked like a poor young couple who sincerely cared about each other.

After a few more bites, I put the rest of the cake in the refrigerator.

But in the middle of the night, Jiang Haozhi woke me up.

Maybe I slept too quietly.

He hadn’t realized how thin the walls were.

Even though he kept his voice low outside my room, I could hear him clearly in the stillness of the night.

“Cut the crap. I’ll pick any car I want out of your garage. You lost the bet, so pay up.”

“Didn’t I send you the picture? She really bought it for me!”

“Fuck, that’s enough. Don’t take it too far. She’s a nice girl…”

I watched the streetlight shining through the gap in the curtains.

Would he ask for anything besides cake?

That was absolutely out of the question.

If he tried claiming next that someone in his family was sick and needed money, or that he’d had an accident making deliveries and needed money,

I would kick him out of my home.