After the excitement, Shen Jintai was sitting in the car looking at his phone. He had calmed down and felt a little tired. Since today was his birthday, Li Meilan told him he needed to post on Weibo to interact with his fans. It was also the day when new episodes of <The East Place is Coming> premieres, so there were many hot searches related to the drama.
The hottest search though was "Shen Jintai's Birthday."
When you're popular, birthdays are a big deal, at least to the fans. They were quite generous. His birthday celebration was themed "The 29th of the twelfth lunar month. Gold powder will accompany you forever" and the party was still ongoing in a lively state late into the night*.
*Translations help: (无人机表白都是小case了) I omitted this because I have no idea what it's trying to say and made no sense with the rest of the translation. Something about drone confession in a small case?
From Time Square New York to the bustling streets of Shibuya in Tokyo, to the most lively and prosperous commercial centers of the 34 top cities in China, along with commercial boxes on major subway stations, were all looping greeting videos and warm wishes for Shen Jintai.
Gold powder's prosperity had finally reappeared into the world and today they will accompany Shen Jintai with their golden light!
Shen Jintai had been watching these videos on his way back to the hotel. Tears filled his eyes. Even someone as worldly as Mrs. Yan was dumbstruck to see such a grand birthday celebration for him.
This was the pure love of millions of people. Shen Jintai posted a thank you Weibo, accompanied by a photo of him making a wish and blowing out the candle on set with the text: [I wish to be with you, and for you to be with me, forever.]
As soon as it was posted, Weibo exploded.
"Brother, don't worry, gold powder will always follow!"
"Always be with you! Always be with you and call you brother every day!"
"Long-term! Long-term! I'll accompany you forever!"
"Have we received all our blessings? Be sure to pay attention to your body."
Though he knew his fans loved him, he was able to climb to the top hot search on his birthday due the blessing of other celebrities like Song Wei, Yang Lizhi, Bai Qingquan, Zheng Siqi and many others. Even artists from Monsoon Entertainment, whether he was familiar with them or not sent him birthday wishes.
The rich have distant relatives in the mountains*!
*Full saying is No one asks the poor and downtrodden, and the rich have distant relatives in the mountains (贫居闹市无人问，富在深山有远亲) = idiom nobody talks to the poor, and everyone claim they're connected somehow to the rich . Excerpt from Zeng Guan Xian Wen. || In this context it means every celebrity claims they are good friends with Shen Jintai because his fans.
Shen Jintai, perhaps due to drinking a bit too much, was a bit tired and his heart soften. He replied to all the warm wishes from his friends and acquaintances.
When he reached the hotel, he found they have prepared him a birthday gift. The manager personally came to congratulate him and gave him a bouquet of flowers when he entered the lobby.
"Thank you." Shen Jintai hugged the flowers and took pictures with the people in the hotel. When he returned to his room, he found that there was also a bouquet of flowers on the table in the room. Between the red roses, there was a bottle of red wine.
"It has finally calmed down." Mrs. Yan picked up the wine, took a look, and said: "This wine is okay."
Shen Jintai put away the card and put down the flowers in his arms.
Mrs. Yan: "There are still cake that haven't been eaten yet. Do you still want to eat them?"
Shen Jintai said: "Yes!"
Mrs. Yan was very happy. She kept thinking about the cake she baked herself. When they got out of the car, she had asked the driver to bring it up to the room. She opened the cake box. The cake looked cold and still fresh.
"I'll see if the brothers want to come over." As Mrs. Yan said, she called the Yan brothers. Both had declined the invitation saying they didn't want to eat cake.
Mrs. Yan was so angry: "Is this really about eating cake?"
Shen Jintai smiled and said: "Why don't I call my agent and the others. Just as well, I need to have a small meeting with them later anyways." Shen Jintai called his team and invited them over.
Seeing that he was still busy, Mrs. Yan went back to her room after eating two bites of cake. Shen Jintai went to see her off. She waved her hand hurriedly: "No, just stay."
Shen Jintai still sent her out to the elevator. When they arrived at the elevator entrance, Mrs. Yan said: "Okay, go back. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Auntie, hug." Shen Jintai said with a smile, and he stretched out his arms. Mrs. Yan grinned and hugged him tightly. Shen Jintai returned her hug and said: "Thank you." He really appreciated Mrs. Yan for allowing him to feel the only affection he had in this world.
Mrs. Yan patted him then entered the elevator. When she arrived in her room, she remembered the birthday gift she had prepared for Shen Jintai. She had forgotten to take it out of the car. She only remembered his birthday cake that she made.
She called Yan Qiuchi: "What's your driver's name again, and how can I contact him? The birthday gift I prepared for Xiao Jin is still in your car. Ask the driver to bring it up for me."
"I'll get it." Yan Qiuchi said.
Mrs. Yan asked: "What going on with you. I asked you to come for cake, but you rejected my invitation. Same with your brother."
"I'm going to shower now." Yan Qiuchi hung up the phone after speaking. After getting dressed, he went down to the underground garage to where the car was parked, opened the trunk, and took out the birthday gift prepared by Mrs. Yan. He didn't know what the gift was, but it was quite heavy.
In the innermost part of the trunk was also the gift he bought. It was a Patek Philippe watch*.
* = luxury brand company that specializes in watches. Their watches range from $12,500 USD to 2 million+ USD.
When he arrived at Shen Jintai's room, Shen Jintai was live broadcasting. He was overwhelmed with emotions from seeing his fans celebrate his birthday in such a big way. He had been too busy with his schedule and the fan meeting was cancelled* so he wanted to repay them back while he was still grateful and enthusiastic. When you've been a star for a long time, you'll get used to the fan's admiration and devotion that it eventually becomes a bit numbing.
*Clarity: referring to that time when he went to do promotional event but it was cancelled due to insufficient security.
The impromptu live broadcast made all his gold powders feel as if they were injected with chicken blood.
There was a knock that came from the door. When Xiao Tang went to open it, he saw Yan Qiuchi. He immediately became nervous. Seeing so many people in the room, Yan Qiuchi asked: "Working?"
"Brother Jin is broadcasting live." Xiao Tang anxiously rubbed his hands together.
Yan Qiuchi handed Xiao Tang the gifts in his hands: "This is a birthday gift from my mother. Can you give it to him?"
Xiao Tang hurriedly picked it up and asked Yan Qiuchi to come in, but Yan Qiuchi simply waved his hand and closed the door.
Li Meilan had walked over quietly when she saw Xiao Tang come in with the gifts. He leaned into her ear and whispered. Li Meilan raised her eyebrows and saw there was a card on it, so she picked it up and look. It turned out to be a birthday gift from Mrs. Yan.
Rich people are really different. The gifts they give were all luxurious.
After Shen Jintai finished the live broadcast, it was already late at night. The rainbow farts from the fans were so powerful it made him feel as if he had been injected with chicken blood. He was so energetic he didn't feel tired at all.
"What is this?" He asked Li Meilan.
"Mrs. Yan's birthday gift for you." Li Meilan said: "Quickly, unwrap it and let us see what kind of gift an elite wealthy lady would give."
Shen Jintai opened the big gift box first. Though it looked big on the outside, it was mainly due to the layers of wrapping paper. The box itself was also very heavy. In the end, after stripping it of all its boxes and wrapping paper, there was only a small box the size of a hand left. After opening it, everyone was amazed.
It turned out to be a gemstone. It shined brilliantly under the light.
Li Meilan finally understood what Mrs. Yan birthday card meant: [May you always shine as bright as a gemstone because you are the brightest gemstone in my heart.]
Even Shen Jintai was astonished. This gift was probably much more valuable than the RV Yan Yaoxuan tried to give him. When he read the original novel, he'd only seen descriptions of how wealthy the Yan family was. Now, witnessing it with his very own eyes, this gem was worth a thousand words. He felt the reality of how wealthy they truly were.
In addition to this gemstone, the second gift was a Patek Phillippe watch. Compared to the flashy gemstone, the watch looked much more low-key, despite still being a luxury item. When everyone saw the brand, they knew the weight.
The watch was very simple, with a white dial and a black hand strap. Shen Jintai liked the gift a lot. When he looked at it, his heart kept beating faster.
"Wow..." An assistant from their team took out his phone and said: "Let a friend of mine appraise it. He said that the retail price of this watch is... one... ten... one hundred... one thousand... ten... one hundred... no one million! Oh my god! He said it was more than three million*!"
*I am not sure if they are using USD or yuan as it does not specify but, in all likelihood, it's probably yuan since the setting is in China. The watch is worth about $470k USD at the time of this post exchange rate.
Shen Jintai was in complete shock. He immediately put the watch down. As a star, he had much better knowledge about these kinds of things than ordinary people, but even he felt that it was too expensive. He felt that watches that were worth tens of thousands was more than enough to match him.
He immediately called Mrs. Yan and said: "Auntie, the gift you gave is too valuable."
Mrs. Yan: "Your 20th birthday is definitely different from other birthdays."
Shen Jintai: "It's too expensive, I can't accept it."
"If you say that again I'll be angry. You are like a son to me. A mother can give her son whatever she wants as gifts." Mrs. Yan's tone was like chiding a small child.
When he got off the phone, Li Meilan and the other were already gossiping about how rich the Yan family was. The scene was ironic. A group of poor people who were gossiping about how rich the rich was, but their gossip was so boiling that it made it seems as if they were rich themselves.
After listening to their gossip, it really hit Shen Jintai. The wealth of a big celebrity in the entertainment world was nothing compared to the real giants. The Yan family was beyond the realm of just "rich".
Yan Qiuchi hadn't actually planned to buy such an expensive watch. Not all rich people were local tyrants. He had thought carefully regarding his relationship with Shen Jintai when he went to pick out a watch. He originally planned to buy one that ranged between ten to a few hundred thousand. He knew if it was too expensive, it would be inappropriate.
The problem was, whatever he ate, used, and wore since he was a child were all top-notch. He didn't have any semblance of what a normal standard and price range was. To him, it was only whether he liked or disliked it. When he was at the store, the clerks, who were only human beings, immediately knew how expensive he was and recommended him only the top tier watches. They were all over a million. Yan Qiuchi deliberated for hours trying to find the right one that he thought looked good and was suitable for Shen Jintai.
He finally settled on one as soon as he saw it. It was the same watch that he had. He immediately thought that Shen Jintai should wear this watch in his heart. The price wasn't important. All men love watches and Shen Jintai would be no exception.
—
Mrs. Yan had asked Shen Jintai to go to their house for New Year's. Shen Jintai said he would visit but before going to the Yan's manor, he planned to visit father Shen's family first. It wasn't good if he didn't see them for a prolong period of time.
"Then have a meal at home." Mrs. Yan said.
The weather was good today. The winter sun was warm and golden. Before Shen Jintai got into his car, he waved his hand goodbye to Mrs. Yan and the others.
Yan Qiuchi's gaze was on Shen Jintai's wrist. He saw that he was wearing the watch he gifted. Its dial was shining brightly under the sunlight. He thought to himself that he had such good vision. Indeed, that watch really matched Shen Jintai. Such a watch deserves such a person.
He felt uncontrollable joy coming out of the bottom of his heart. It turns out the giving gifts to people you like could also make you happy. It didn't matter if Shen Jintai knew if it was him who gave him the watch.
Facing the sun, a small smile appeared at the corner of Yan Qiuchi's mouth. It was brisk and fleeting as Yan Qiuchi returned to his normal abstinence and coldness.
Internally Yan Qiuchi thought he was right to buy such an expensive gift for Shen Jintai. In this way, Shen Jintai would be more reluctant to throw away such an expensive item. In fact, he may wear it for a long time, perhaps even for the rest of his life.
The author has something to say：
Koike: The candy that I ate secretly is also very sweet.
The birthday support part comes from the comments of readers "Shen Jintai Station", thank you!
Kinky Thoughts: Yan Qiuchi inner monologue: 'Yes, this watch is most suitable for Shen Jintai. I have the same exact one so of course it feels right that he should wear it too and for a long time... like forever! There's no other hidden meaning behind this.'
Me: Honey, it's called a couple's watch...