Half a beat later, the girl said awkwardly, "I forgot to sneak out the lighter."
Ling Chujin shook her head.
"...Fine." The girl seemed a little sad, "I was thinking of having a birthday before I die, but forget it, we're both going to die anyway, so one more birthday doesn't make a difference."
"It's your birthday today too?" Ling Chujin was surprised.
"Too?" The girl was also shocked, "It's your birthday today too? What a coincidence!"
After speaking, the other girl's eyebrows drooped down again, "It's a pity we didn't meet earlier, otherwise two poor souls could have celebrated birthdays together."
Ling Chujin was silent for a moment, looking at the other's disappointed expression, she uncontrollably felt compassion.
"We can still celebrate now."
This girl looks so pitiful, she was beaten up, and spending her birthday alone...she's even more miserable than me!
Ling Chujin softened a little, since they were both suicide jumpers, having a simple birthday together wouldn't be too much, right?
"Really?" The girl's eyes lit up, but she waved her hand and said,
"Forget it, don't waste your time, I've lived through so many bitter days, one more birthday doesn't make a difference."
After speaking, the girl took a deep breath, and gave her a bright smile, the fingerprints on her face even more obvious.
"Let's go, I'm ready, let's jump together!"
After saying that, Ling Chujin saw the girl turn her head and quickly rush in the other direction—
"Wait a minute!!"
Ling Chujin subconsciously called out to stop her.
"What's the matter?" The girl stopped, puzzled.
When she turned back, there were still traces of red blood on her teeth that hadn't been wiped clean.
What's the matter?
Ling Chujin couldn't help but start asking herself, why did she call out to stop her? Was it sympathy? Or—
It was reluctance.
Reluctant to see the lively girl end her life just like that.
At that moment, the thought to help the girl appeared instantly.
So she tentatively said:
"Um...I'm not in a rush either, why don't we celebrate our birthdays together first!"
After speaking, the leg that was outside the wall slowly retracted back in.
"Really?" The girl was a little suspicious.
"You're not trying to trick me right? Don't say we'll celebrate and then jump by yourself when I'm not paying attention!
I'm telling you, I've never ranked first since I was little, if I can't even die first, I won't let you off as a ghost if you steal my first place!"
"Really!" Ling Chujin said as she walked closer to show her attitude,
"Don't worry, I'm the same as you, I've always been at the bottom in exams since I was little, bad at everything, I understand you, I won't do that to you."
After speaking, she walked closer, then turned around and stretched out her hand to the girl who was almost at the short wall,
"Let's celebrate our birthdays together!"
And so, the two girls who were supposed to commit suicide together, sat on the dusty rooftop holding hands and celebrated each other's birthdays.
The small cake was in a white paper plate, with only a layer of plain white cream and an unlit bent candle on top.
But this did not affect the sincerity of the two girls when making a wish.
Not until the two finished making wishes and ate the sweet cake, Ling Chujin looked at the girl eating deliciously and carefully asked:
"Are you still going to jump later?"
"I'll do whatever you do."
The girl took out a napkin and wiped her mouth vigorously.
Ling Chujin: ???
She can just go with the flow on this???
Wait!
Ling Chujin's eyes suddenly widened, "Your face..."
The girl's hand paused, seeming to remember the "injury" on her face. She took out a small mirror and wet wipes from her pocket and wiped off the fake wounds directly while looking in the mirror.
"Don't panic, these are all makeup, I'm not hurt." She said with a laugh while wiping, "Our crew is filming at your school recently, I had a cameo as a bullied student, how was my acting? Pretty good right?"
Ling Chujin numbly nodded her head, not just good, it was a sense of déjà vu as if she was being bullied herself.
"Then why did you still—"
"I was afraid you would really jump off the building." The girl said, even more resentful that she didn't get to jump off, "Let me tell you, with your looks, you could have become a popular starlet in the entertainment industry. You can play the violin, have good temperament and voice, and a good personality. How could such an outstanding person want to jump off a building?"
......
That was the first time Ling Chujin heard someone praise her, and praise her so matter-of-factly and...down-to-earth.
That day, she heard an unpleasant story on the rooftop.
The girl in the story was named Tan Ruo. She grew up in an orphanage since she was little, and even celebrated her birthday with other children.
She barely got into college, and while working part-time jobs to pay her tuition, she was discovered by an agent at a cafe who signed her on. After graduating, she became a vase actress.
The agent wanted her to socialize and make connections, but she refused, offending the agent. The consequence was she had no income, she could only continue working part-time jobs while acting as an extra, barely earning enough to survive.
"Actually today isn't my birthday, I don't even know what day I was born, but I'm quite ceremonial, since I don't know when my actual birthday is, I just pick a day whenever I want to celebrate it.
So from today on, our birthdays will be on the same day. I'll make this my birthday from now on."
And so, starting that day, Ling Chujin had a celebrity friend born on the same day of the same month of the same year.
"As for me, I'm an orphan without any family or friends. From now on, we can rely on each other!"
"Don't worry, I'll always be here, always with you!"
"If you're bored, you can be my fan! I don't have any fans yet..."
"When you're sad or upset, go check in and post on my super topic, and I'll reply and leave you messages when I'm free, okay?"
"Let me tell you, you're my first fan, you can't think about ending it all anymore, or else I won't have any fans left!"
"Rest assured, I'm very principled, I definitely won't let you down!"
"It's settled then!"
"Hey hey—little fan, why are you crying again? Don't cry, you have to be happy!"
......
"Mom, why are you crying again? Don't cry, you have to be happy! Dad and I will always be by your side!"
At that moment, Ling Chujin couldn't even speak. She just hugged her daughter and nodded.
She wondered, how could she be so fortunate?
In her youth, she met someone so amazing who gave her strength.
Now she could even have such a warm and kind little angel.
She really must have saved the Milky Way in her past life like people say online...
Ling Chujin didn't know if she had saved the Milky Way or not, Ji Ruochu only knew that without the Ling family, she would have disappeared long ago.
So, whether it was for their past relationship, or gratitude for her new life, she could not ignore Ling Chujin's recurring depression.
As a baby, Ji Ruochu saw Ling Chujin standing in her room, staring blankly out the balcony and floor-to-ceiling windows more than once.
She also saw her staring blankly at the knife blade more than once when cutting fruit with a paring knife.
So she started finding ways to make this couple work, doing everything slower than other children her age, lazy all the time.
As long as she could get them to do the work for her, she resolutely refused to do it herself, giving Ji Mochen more reason to stay home and discover his wife's abnormality.
And so, when Ling Chujin was staring blankly out the window, 6-month old Ji Ruochu suddenly rolled over, and let out a loud "Ah" towards her on the balcony.
When she was shocked by her own agility, she hurriedly went in to coax herself to do it again, then lazily held up her milk bottle and didn't move.
When Ling Chujin subconsciously started gesturing the paring knife towards her hand, she kicked an apple over, and let out another "Ah", signaling her to peel it.
In addition, after noticing something was off, Ji Mochen pushed away most of his work with the excuse of "needing to take care of my daughter at home", and Ling Chujin's condition gradually improved day by day.
Now, four years have passed, it's time to completely eliminate this illness.
"Mom, from now on you can only be my fan!"
Ling Chujin, it's time for you to get better...
