Chapter 261 - 53: Truth or Dare

[September 23, 2025. Weather: Sunny]

[Tonight, I’m celebrating my birthday with friends.

In truth, I haven’t celebrated my birthday in a very long time.

I don’t have the right to celebrate it.

My time is forever frozen on that day in my childhood.

I can’t move past it, can’t let it go, can’t grow up.

That scene is still as vivid as if it were yesterday, a regret I’ll carry for the rest of my life.

The Priest said he would help me remedy my regrets.

I have waited my entire life for this day.

A flower, yet not a flower; a mist, yet not a mist.

It comes at midnight and leaves at dawn.

It comes like a spring dream, for how long does it last?

It leaves like a morning cloud, with no trace to be found.

Even if I am not me.

Even if you don’t recognize me.

But as long as you can come back...

I am willing to give everything.]

...

...

...

Inside the private room of the restaurant, everyone was stunned.

They watched as Cheng Mengxue patted Jiang Ran’s head with such an odd expression, their minds racing—

Wh-wh-what.

What was this situation?

What was happening?

Is this some new kind of play?

They were obviously childhood friends, so how did they suddenly start playing out an older-woman-younger-man romance!

And with all this depth and melancholy, it even seemed to be the forbidden, unrequited kind!

Steam was practically pouring from Chi Xiaoguo’s ears as she frantically searched her mental library of gal game scenarios...

’This... this atmosphere isn’t good.’

’All-ages gal games aren’t supposed to go in this direction!’

"Pfft—"

Cheng Mengxue’s expression suddenly changed as she covered her mouth, unable to stifle her laughter.

"Hehe, you know, even though you’re only eight months younger than me, you’ll be my little brother for life! I’ll always have a head start on growing up!"

Her laugh instantly broke the tense atmosphere in the room.

"Hey! You two are flirting! Can’t you do that when you’re alone?!"

Wang Hao shot them a look.

"You guys really know how to have fun! What an eye-opener!"

Everyone crowded around Cheng Mengxue to offer their congratulations, completely dismissing the previous moment as a joke.

But...

Jiang Ran’s expression remained unchanged. He sat in his seat, picked up his juice, and took a tactical sip.

A flaw.

His heart was pounding, and he needed to calm down quickly.

This wasn’t a nervous heartbeat.

It was the excited thump of someone who had finally found the tell!

He had to admit it.

For the longest time, he hadn’t been able to find a single flaw in Cheng Mengxue’s "performance."

Because she was simply too perfect.

So perfect, in fact, that she seemed more like Cheng Mengxue than the real Cheng Mengxue, to the point where Jiang Ran had repeatedly found it hard to tell if she was genuine or not.

But...

Just now, in that split second, she had clearly revealed a flaw.

From anyone else’s perspective, it might have been unnoticeable.

But Jiang Ran was right in front of her, having his hair stroked, locked in her gaze.

So he saw it clearly—

’When Cheng Mengxue spoke those strange words, she wasn’t looking at him, and she wasn’t talking to him.’

Even though she had immediately readjusted and tried to pass off that bizarre moment as a joke,

Jiang Ran knew better than anyone...

She wasn’t joking.

It was a momentary lapse! She’d slipped up!

Before this, through countless details and countless moments, Jiang Ran couldn’t find a single, tiny flaw in this Cheng Mengxue.

Even the mismatch in her alcohol tolerance wasn’t definitive proof, because at all other times, this Cheng Mengxue felt so familiar, so nostalgic, so close.

But just for that one moment.

The Cheng Mengxue in that moment was a complete stranger.

So unfamiliar that Jiang Ran couldn’t see any trace of Cheng Mengxue in her.

’She isn’t Cheng Mengxue. She’s just someone who looks exactly like her.’

Although this feeling of unfamiliarity had only lasted for an instant, after which Cheng Mengxue had reverted to the familiar childhood friend he knew,

a fact was a fact.

The real Cheng Mengxue would never, ever have such a momentary lapse. A single crack shatters the whole facade.

Jiang Ran truly couldn’t have imagined that such a perfect impostor would give herself away here, of all places.

’What... was the reason?’

He carefully recalled the words Cheng Mengxue had just said.

"You little brother! Little brother!"

"I’m sorry."

"Big sis... has grown up before you."

Right.

Those were the three lines.

The first line was clearly a joke at his expense. Basically, every time it was her birthday, Cheng Mengxue would tease him for being younger, for being her "little brother," and for how he should call her "big sister."

Jiang Ran, of course, would never stand for it. He would never in his life call Cheng Mengxue "big sister."

In his eyes, they had been equals since they were kids. How could he possibly stoop to calling her "big sister" over a measly eight-month age difference?

Because of this, Cheng Mengxue made it a tradition to poke fun at him on her birthday, which had made it a bit of a sore spot for him.

Normally, this kind of joke was something they’d just laugh off.

But today,

Cheng Mengxue was obviously serious.

Especially that last line, "Big sis... has grown up before you." Those were words she had spoken involuntarily, as if in a daze.

That feeling—it was clearly something a real older sister would say to her real younger brother.

It was a tenderness unique to familial bonds;

the unique care an older sister has for her younger brother;

something that only children like Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue could never experience or understand.

’Could it be...?’

A bold idea suddenly formed in Jiang Ran’s mind.

But he still needed the right opportunity to verify it.

...

The birthday party continued, and it was naturally time for presents.

They were all poor students, not as extravagant as Nan Xiuxiu’s clique of model friends, so the gifts were simple but had all been chosen with great care.

In terms of monetary value, they might be lacking; in terms of sentiment, they were full of sincerity.

The climax of the evening came when Jiang Ran took out the gift he had prepared—

a beautifully wrapped Rhine Cat rice cooker!

"Ooooooooooh!!"

Chi Xiaoguo jumped up before Cheng Mengxue even could, her eyes wide.