Something Just Like This

"What the...?" No smoking in public places? Did this kid really just pop out of nowhere just to say that? Encountering something like this at such a tense juncture felt utterly absurd to the men. It was like a street gang bracing to hack their rivals to pieces, only to turn around and see a little kid bringing a basin of hot water to a traffic cop, saying, "Uncle Officer, you've worked so hard, let me wash your feet," right before a passing youth drop-kicked a speeding mobility scooter straight into a department store, baring his teeth at the kid while shouting across the street, "The civic virtue competition officially begins today!"... It was roughly that brand of preposterous, comical absurdity. Then, they watched as the youth in the black trench coat reached out, plucked the cigarette straight from the leader's mouth, threw it on the ground, and crushed it beneath his foot. Just like yanking up a turnip. This abrupt pluck from the tiger's maw left the man staring blankly, completely stunned for a moment. Being conscientious was admirable, but... did the servers at this KTV have a death wish? "Inside, they've prepared a birthday surprise for a girl." Then, they heard the youth continue: "A rare moment like this shouldn't be casually ruined by shady outsiders, right?" Now, they understood. Not a server. Trouble had arrived! "You here to pick a fight?" Cold glares settled over their faces. The man whose hand had rested on the door handle pulled back, turning toward the trench-coated youth while cracking his knuckles. Even if they needed to keep their identities under wraps, they were hardly the types to exercise restraint. Otherwise, they wouldn't have lit up the moment they walked upstairs, their unmasked, ferocious aura having already terrified the white-dressed girl at the front desk into silence. The girl had secretly called security, but the guard who came up to investigate had backed off in fright the moment he heard the name "Hongzi Security Group." "I mean—" The trench-coated youth cleared his throat as if about to deliver some profound speech, prompting everyone to prick up their ears. Yet his voice abruptly cut off. Because the moment their focus narrowed, a clenched fist expanded rapidly and silently in the vision of one of the suited men. "This girl is under my protection!" The youth's voice finally caught up, arriving a beat too late. "Only I get to take her away. None of you can." *Thud!* A man's forehead crashed straight into the wall, and he slumped limply down along it into unconsciousness. "Wait—!" Shock seized the others; they hadn't even caught the youth's movements. They moved to strike at once. One raised a hand to press his earpiece, preparing to report the situation upstairs. Yet in the next instant, their eyes grew unfocused. The fist that had struck hung suspended in midair, then suddenly spun upward, extending an index finger that swayed in front of them several times, almost tauntingly. *Hum...* A low thrum rippled through the air. The men fell instantly silent, their expressions dazed and vacant like imbeciles. "What is it?" The comm had connected, and Luo Si's voice came through. Bai Zhou remained expressionless, waving his finger a few times at the suited man wearing the earpiece. "Boss, everything is going smoothly... I wanted to ask, should we go in and grab her directly, or wait until she's alone?" "There's no rush on time... Look for a chance when she steps out alone. If there isn't one, create it." Luo Si's voice remained steady and unhurried: "If you don't find a good opportunity within twenty minutes, come up with an excuse to take her away directly... Use the school's name, or impersonate an official agency. Use your judgment." "Mind the fallout. Don't let things escalate... Above all, try not to give the girl too much of a scare." With that, Luo Si paused briefly: "You're sharp to consult me on this. Remember to come collect your reward when you're back." On this end of the comm, under Bai Zhou's direction, the suited man's expression remained vacuous, yet his voice took on an eager edge as he replied, "Understood! Thank you for the promotion, Director!" *Beep.* The comm disconnected. Bai Zhou nodded with satisfaction, then turned away. Only then did he glance up at the surveillance camera overhead and snap his fingers. The paint smeared across the lens vanished instantly. The feed displayed on the camera returned to normal, seamlessly matching the ritual illusion previously generated by the pigment. That sketching paintbrush could produce its own paint, flicking it out on demand. When Bai Zhou pulled it out, it had even shown immense enthusiasm, leaving him slightly embarrassed and prompting him to reward it with an extra cinder. According to Crow, now that Bai Zhou possessed the sketching paintbrush, while the quality of his ritual engravings might not match a master's, his sheer efficiency already surpassed several ranked ritualists. By now, the man who had been knocked out stood back up. Like the others, he wore a blank expression, marked only by a large swelling on his forehead. The men stood rigidly around Bai Zhou, reminding him of the massive crosses erected in Wancheng's civic square. "Clean and decisive," Crow remarked. She shot Bai Zhou a meaningful look, leaving him thoroughly baffled. "And next, you get to make a grand entrance before the girl like a savior." "What grand entrance..." Bai Zhou blinked, sounding somewhat helpless. "I'll be glad enough if she doesn't blame me for ruining her birthday surprise." At his words, a faint smile touched Crow's lips. Yet she merely smiled without uttering a word—a profound, knowing smile. Her smile gave Bai Zhou goosebumps. Turning back, he placed his hand on the door handle, preparing to push it open. With an Extraordinary's keen hearing, he could already pick up the cheerful clamor through the door, confirming the lively atmosphere inside. Faintly, words like "cake" and "Fang Xiaoxia" drifted through. Were they already celebrating Fang Xiaoxia's birthday? Bai Zhou pondered. He remembered how happy and full of anticipation Fang Xiaoxia had looked. Perhaps this moment was the very happiness she had longed for all this time. Yet an uninvited guest was about to barge in, shattering this hard-won moment of joy. Perhaps it would linger as a regret for a long time to come. After all, the life Fang Xiaoxia was about to face might be entirely different from everything before... In truth, a birthday was a wonderful milestone in life. It could fill someone with excitement half a month in advance, letting them count down the days on a calendar, greeting each morning brimming with hope. It could make someone realize that they were the continuation of another's life, that they had been brought into this world because they were loved. It could also let someone discover that they were loved by those around them. Surrounded by blessings and gifts, you knew you weren't facing an unknown future alone. And so, you strode forward into your new chapter, forever carrying that bright anticipation in your heart. How nice that was. Bai Zhou had never celebrated a birthday. He had never eaten cake or received a present. On his birthday, cooking a bowl of noodles with sesame paste was his way of marking another year older—one day closer to graduating from the training corps, when he would earn wages and never have to worry about meals again. Even the date itself was something he had picked arbitrarily, pieced together from passing remarks by neighbors. People often said a birthday was the day of a mother's suffering, yet in Bai Zhou's memories, there had never been the shadow of a mother. Thus, he could truly understand Fang Xiaoxia's feelings at this moment. He knew that no matter how mundane and insignificant an ordinary person's birthday might seem in the eyes of an Extraordinary... To Fang Xiaoxia's small life right now, it was a matter of utmost importance. Just as no one's suffering should be measured against another's, no one's joy or cherished moments deserved to be looked down upon. —Yet Bai Zhou had no choice. Luo Si was lurking outside the KTV like a predator. He had given Bai Zhou only twenty minutes. In the shadows of Tinghai, dark currents surged and killing intent brewed, with powerful forces lying in wait. As the figure at the center of the storm, how could this girl afford the luxury of leisurely celebrating a birthday here? If time allowed, he would have granted Fang Xiaoxia a few more moments of warmth. But... Why hadn't he heard Fang Xiaoxia speak inside? "...Mm?" Bai Zhou held the door handle, tilting his ear to listen for a few seconds. He seemed to hear something else from within. Bai Zhou blinked, his expression gradually turning odd. "This seems... a bit different from what I imagined?" *** Fang Xiaoxia's cheeks burned as she sat in the corner of the KTV's large sofa beside a girl whose under-eye makeup looked like dark circles. The lesson from the last time she secretly wore her mother's dress and makeup to the restaurant remained vivid in her mind, so today her face was bare and she wore a simple white dress. The dress fluttered like a butterfly, carrying the pleasant scent of laundry detergent that paired naturally with the subtle, milky fragrance on Fang Xiaoxia. Her mother often told her that whenever she wore a white dress, she looked like a fairy from the moon palace. *Xiaoxia, you're as lovely as a painting.* Nothing could be further from the truth. Fang Xiaoxia knew how invisible she was, and she knew that dressing like this might only draw teasing and mockery from classmates who were used to her fading into the background. But tonight was her birthday. So she had summoned the courage to put on this little white dress—plain and fresh, like a small white flower glistening with morning dew. —Yet when she arrived in the dazzling, radiant KTV and saw her classmates, she discovered that the girls were all dressed in evening gowns and the boys wore bowties. Even the sports representative, who always wore athletic tracksuits, had squeezed into an ill-fitting suit. It was as if everyone had grown up overnight into sophisticated adults, leaving only Fang Xiaoxia looking like a middle schooler in an infantile white dress. "Xiaoxia?" A passing girl, accustomed to seeing Fang Xiaoxia slouching in her school uniform like an unlucky loser, was caught off guard by the sight of her in the white dress, revealing a pure aura and strikingly delicate features. Surprise and admiration flashed across her eyes: "Didn't anyone tell you about our dress code?" "N-no..." Fang Xiaoxia froze. Involuntarily, she tightened her grip on the straps of the backpack she carried, lowering her head once more. "I remember someone was supposed to—" The girl was cut off halfway by another girl hurrying over. "Xiaoxia!" A girl wearing under-eye makeup that resembled dark circles suddenly appeared at Fang Xiaoxia's side. Beaming with warmth and intimacy, she stared curiously with wide eyes at the bulging backpack on Fang Xiaoxia's back. "What's in there? It looks so heavy!" "Ah..." Fang Xiaoxia didn't know how to explain, her gaze darting away. "By the way, what are you wearing?" The girl in the backless black evening gown blinked. "Did anyone warn you?" she asked, her voice abruptly dropping to a whisper. "What?" Fang Xiaoxia blinked in confusion. "You're basically twinning with the KTV receptionist." At that moment, several classmates passing by caught the remark and let out soft snickers. Before long, more classmates learned of it. Looking at Fang Xiaoxia standing near the entrance in her white dress, the initial admiration faded, replaced by shared, mocking laughter. Fang Xiaoxia's face flushed crimson instantly. Thinking back carefully, it really was true. At a total loss, Fang Xiaoxia hung her head, the spine she had managed to straighten slumping once more. Like a hiding ostrich, she desperately hoped no one would notice her. The stunning Fang Xiaoxia in the white dress vanished. The socially anxious, invisible Fang Xiaoxia of old had returned in the blink of an eye. Fortunately, the girl with the under-eye makeup in the black dress came to her rescue. With a casual, easygoing demeanor, she pulled Fang Xiaoxia to a corner of the sofa and asked if she wanted sunflower seeds. Occasionally, a couple of tall, lean youths with dyed hair and cigarettes strolled past, greeting the girl casually with a respectful "Sis." Feeling as though she had found someone to lean on, Fang Xiaoxia looked at the girl with gratitude and closeness. —This was Li Wanwan, a new friend Fang Xiaoxia had made recently. Fang Xiaoxia wasn't entirely sure if they counted as friends; after all, she had never had many. When preparing for this class gathering, Fang Xiaoxia had been eager to fit in, contributing more effort than anyone else. Li Wanwan had been the second most active. Since their responsibilities overlapped, Fang Xiaoxia had volunteered to take on a lot of work for her. For some reason, Li Wanwan was ostracized by the other girls in class, but unlike Fang Xiaoxia, she was fairly popular among certain boys. Bonding over their shared sense of alienation, the two had quickly grown close. During a chat, Li Wanwan had learned with surprise that Fang Xiaoxia's birthday was tonight. A few days later, Fang Xiaoxia overheard chatter about a "cake" while in the girls' restroom. Fang Xiaoxia was certain that everyone had noticed her efforts to belong and had even prepared a birthday gift for her... and her new friend, Li Wanwan, had surely played a huge part in that. If this didn't count as a friend, what did? The party kicked off. Pizza and fried chicken were brought in, and as people sang, ate, and drank, the room quickly heated up. Halfway through, after being asked "what's in the bag" yet again, Fang Xiaoxia finally plucked up the courage to pull out the contents. "What's this...?" Her classmates gathered around. They were dozens of chibi clay figurines. Each small figurine wore a crown-shaped birthday hat, with a round face and slightly droopy eyes. The features resembled the pink-haired puppy Doro, but the facial contours also looked a bit like Fang Xiaoxia herself. Handmade by Fang Xiaoxia. She had spent two weeks in advance, staying up late under her desk lamp every night after finishing her homework, shaping each one while imagining the faint pleasant surprise on their faces when they received them, giggling foolishly to herself all the while. "Whoa! So cute!" "Don't tell me you made these yourself!" "Amazing! Thank you!" The classmates broke into chatter. When someone asked why she was handing these out, Fang Xiaoxia couldn't bring herself to say they were keepsakes to thank them for celebrating her birthday. She could only stammer that it was to celebrate the gathering, cheap trinkets bought from a roadside stall. And so, every classmate received a gift from Fang Xiaoxia, with the very first one formally presented to the smiling Li Wanwan beside her. In the end, only one flawed pink puppy was left—its shape slightly crooked, its head flattened, its forehead a little pointed. Fang Xiaoxia kept it for herself. For that brief moment, surrounded by her classmates, Fang Xiaoxia experienced the sensation of being a superstar for the very first time. Her social anxiety flared up, but the breathless rush was intoxicating. She felt tipsy, floating on air, giggling silly in her heart over and over. Yet the crowd dispersed as quickly as it had gathered. Everyone soon returned to their seats, leaving Fang Xiaoxia alone to savor the lingering afterglow. The figurines were set aside. Some slipped them casually into pockets; some remarked, "Pretty cute"; others tossed them carelessly onto the snack-strewn coffee table. After all, they were just clay figures—far from exquisite, even somewhat crude. All of them combined weren't worth as much as the drinks on the table. No one asked why the little figures wore birthday hats. Most people, having accepted the figurines, merely rested them on their laps, their gazes already drifting toward the flickering screens as if waiting in silent consensus for something. *What are they waiting for?* Fang Xiaoxia noticed as well, and tension suddenly gripped her heart. Tense, yet brimming with anticipation! Because she had guessed the truth. Sure enough, moments later— The door to the KTV room opened. The lights in the room were switched off. A heart-shaped cake lit with candles was wheeled in by several boys, adorned with roses, beneath which lay layers of strawberries and chocolate shards. *It's here!* Fang Xiaoxia's heart skipped a beat. An immense wave of happiness nearly overwhelmed her; she could barely stop herself from jumping onto the table to hum "Happy Birthday." —Yet in reality, she merely covered her flushed cheeks with both hands. In the next instant. Special effects flashed across all three large screens in the room, while the rotating colored lights overhead cast bizarre, kaleidoscopic beams. With the loud *pop* of party poppers, ribbons showered over Fang Xiaoxia sitting in the corner. Carefully designed pixel hearts and the words "Marry Me" flashed across the three LED screens. Flanked by his close friends, class president Li Heng stepped forward from the crowd holding a massive bouquet of roses. Under everyone's watchful eyes, he shouted: "Everyone, listen up!" "We've spent over two years together. Now in our senior year, some are heading abroad, and others have already secured early admissions. This might be our last class gathering." "On the eve of our parting, there's something I want to say—" "Sun Jinyan! I've liked you for a long time. Will you be my girlfriend?" The crowd turned toward Sun Jinyan. The arts representative had always been quiet and reserved; right now, she ducked her head shyly, her eyes brimming with tender warmth, yet anyone could see her radiant surprise and joy. The bright, handsome class president and the gentle, shy arts representative—a match made in heaven, standing together in perfect harmony. The crowd swarmed around them, cheering, hooting, and shouting. "Way to go, Pres!" "Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!" Only the girl ignored in the corner slowly pulled her hands away from her face, her eyes glazed and blank. "...Huh?" A cake? Like this? The so-called class gathering... was a long-planned confession? Judging by everyone's reactions, many had known this would happen and had prepared extensively for today. Only Fang Xiaoxia had been kept in the dark. She had even comically assumed that she would be the star of the night. Amid the boisterous jostling and jeering of the crowd, a crisp *crack* sounded under someone's foot. A pink-haired puppy wearing a birthday hat—or rather, the chibi figurine Fang Xiaoxia had spent two weeks crafting of herself—had fallen to the floor unnoticed, now trampled mercilessly beneath their shoes. The clay shattered, the crown crushed flat, yet that round chibi face resembling Fang Xiaoxia still wore its timid, gentle smile. No one noticed. Right then, the door opened once more. "Happy birthday!" A beaming server wheeled in another cake cart. The moment he entered, he spotted Fang Xiaoxia in her white dress and announced cheerfully, "This guest reserved the room in advance and settled the bill herself. Our manager said that since today is your birthday, this fruit cake is a small token from our establishment. Wishing you—" His voice broke off. The server stared dumbfounded at the much larger, far more extravagant heart-shaped cake already sitting inside the room. One large, one small—two cake carts stood awkwardly side by side. One was an oversized cake adorned with roses; the other was a pitiful, six-inch cake simply topped with kiwi and dragon fruit. The dazzling light from the big screens swept over them, and over Fang Xiaoxia's instantly drained, pale face. Dead silence. It's... it's over... Fang Xiaoxia knew in her heart that everything was ruined. Her own misunderstanding was one thing—after all, no one knew what she had been thinking. But now? This entirely unexpected ambush by the KTV staff pushed Fang Xiaoxia into utter social ruin before everyone. Right now, she wished the ground would swallow her whole, or that she could leap straight from the eleventh floor and elbow-drop the concrete. Yet it was too late. After a brief, excruciating pause, someone in the crowd reacted. A faint sneer rang out with agonizing clarity in the dead silence. "No wonder..." Beside her, the girl in the backless black dress took a sip of the cocktail in her glass: "I was wondering why you suddenly handed out these anime figurines... Xiaoxia, don't tell me you actually thought everyone came here to celebrate your birthday?" With that, she narrowed her eyes and laughed, bursting with uncontrollable amusement. It was Li Wanwan. The very Li Wanwan who knew Fang Xiaoxia's birthday was tonight, the one Fang Xiaoxia had considered a new friend. At this moment, a malicious, triumphant smirk hung at the corner of her lips, laced with a faint thrill of petty revenge. Blood rushed to Fang Xiaoxia's head with a deafening roar, only to drain away completely a second later, leaving her entire body turning icy cold. She looked at the faces blurred yet distinct in the dim light, seeing their bewilderment, realization, ridicule, and above all, indifferent detachment. Sun Jinyan, clutching the bouquet of roses, stared at her in shock. The tall, handsome class president looked at Fang Xiaoxia in surprise, his eyes tinged with sullen annoyance at having his thunder stolen. In this instant, Fang Xiaoxia had gotten her wish to stand at the center of attention, but she felt more like a ridiculous exhibit shoved onto center stage—wearing a dress that matched the server's, hauling a laughable, oversized backpack, having orchestrated an embarrassing blunder with homemade dolls. Near the door, the cloying, cheap cream of the kiwi cake mixed with the stale air of the room, suffocating Fang Xiaoxia. She looked back at Li Wanwan, who was practically convulsing with laughter, and a sharp, stinging ache shot up into her nose. This wasn't funny at all. Grief and fury churned in her chest. She clenched her fist, wanting nothing more than to smash it into Li Wanwan's laughing face, but in the end she held back—not out of kindness, but because several rough-looking youths with dyed hair were sitting right beside her. Seeming to notice Fang Xiaoxia's anger, Li Wanwan even made a silly face at her, like a grotesque little monkey. Yet Fang Xiaoxia knew Li Wanwan wasn't the monkey. She was. Humiliation, rage, bitterness, shock, shame, and a crushing sense of disillusionment... Too many emotions tangled together, leaving Fang Xiaoxia unsure of what she was even supposed to feel. Even as someone who had endured countless setbacks and could always comfort herself like a female Ah Q claiming "I won in the end," she found herself utterly unable to self-soothe right now. At that moment, the visual effects on the big screens concluded. A song someone had queued earlier began playing automatically, its melody rising steadily. No one picked up the microphone, nor did anyone sing along; only the original, low male vocals echoed through the room. *"I've been reading books of old..."* It was an English song that had once been wildly popular, though it had since faded into a more niche classic. The male voice sang deeply: *"I've been reading books of old, the legends and the myths..."* *"Achilles and his gold, Hercules and his gifts, Spiderman's control, and Batman with his fists... Clearly, I don't see myself upon that list."* Under the collective gaze of the room, Fang Xiaoxia began praying for the floor beneath her feet to melt. She wished the tiles would split open and swallow her, or that nine dragons would descend from the sky pulling a bronze coffin to whisk her away to Mars. Or, just like in every cliché story—that a hero would kick open the door at this very moment and pull her out of this suffocating, humiliating nightmare. Yet there was none. Amid the growing snickers, the lyrics pressed on: *"She said, 'Where'd you wanna go? How much you wanna risk?'"* *"'I'm not looking for somebody with some superhuman gifts, some superhero, some fairytale bliss...'"* *"'Just something I can turn to, somebody I can kiss...'"* *"'I want something just like this.'"* Never before had Fang Xiaoxia resonated with the lyrics of a song as deeply as she did now. Her legs felt filled with lead. She knew she ought to leave; under everyone's gaze, she should tactfully and quietly slink away, returning the stage to the perfect couple... but she simply couldn't move her feet. She couldn't breathe. Just as the lyrics went, she had read of myths and legends, yet clearly she found no place among them. She was a girl who loved to daydream, but even with her wild imagination, having fallen to such a pathetic state, she had long accepted reality. She no longer yearned to become a superhero, nor did she dream of meeting one. Even so, she still wished someone would take her away right now— It didn't have to be a hero; anyone, anyone at all would do... Her eyes flicked across her jeering, noisy classmates, an almost pleading thought flashing through her heart. Could someone... please pull her out? Just then, the closed door was shoved open once more— Light from the corridor poured in from behind the girl, ruthlessly scattering the cloying scent of cream and the foul, stale air inside the room. Like storm clouds torn apart by a god brandishing a bolt of lightning, on the day of Fang Xiaoxia's eighteenth birthday— With a resounding crash, someone threw open the door to the room.