Instead of writing the actual fic… I end up writing omakes *smh* The plot ran away and now I have no idea what I'm writing. It most likely doesn't make sense either. _(:з)_∠)
Please R&R~ Do let me know if there's any mistakes / typos, it's a pain checking as ffn will remove my formatting.
"Hey, Little Lin's 18th birthday is coming up soon, what should we get for her?"
"Rare materials?"
Chen Guo smacked Wei Chen with a roll of newspaper. "Be serious!"
"Perhaps a birthday party?" Wu Chen proposed.
"It's a nice idea, but every girl only turns 18 once."
"Well, we have no idea what young girls want. Why don't you suggest?" Ye Xiu shrugged.
Chen Guo glared. "I wouldn't be asking you if I know right?!"
"Why not wait for the others to return? I'm sure they'll have some ideas."
"Well...Little Tang and Mu Mu are thinking of a short trip to Yushui Hot Springs Resort to relax and recharge. Yi Fan, Wen Yi and Luo Ji are planning to get her the complete collection of her favourite BL titles. Fang Rui I've yet to ask." Chen Guo summed up.
"Sounds like they've got everything planned, why can't we just go ahead with it?"
"Well… that trip to the hot springs is something that we're planning for the whole team. It's not something that we plan specially for her birthday, you know?" Chen Guo sighed.
"Why not ask Jing Jing, then? I'm sure she knows her sister best." Wu Chen suggested.
"Yea, let's split them up and distract Little Lin after dinner." Ye Xiu said.
"Tch. Ya ok fine." Wei Chen grumbled.
After dinner, everyone split up to clean up the remains, with Jing Jing and Wen Yi on dishwashing duty.
True to his words, Wei Chen bragged to Cai Lin of his past exploits in Blue Rain, and dissed all his past opponents. Bao Zi happily joined, adding his own commentary.
Fang Rui and Ye Xiu hovered nearby, having their own mini discussion, while keeping an ear on Wei Chen's bragging and calling out his lies.
Seeing Cai Lin sufficiently distracted, Chen Guo slipped into the kitchen, with Mu Cheng and Tang Rou loitering near the door, keeping an eye on the overall situation.
"Jing Jing, what should we get for Little Lin's birthday?"
"Hmm, weren't we planning for that short trip to Yushui? Did we change our plans?"
"It's just that the trip is for Happy, and it's not something specially planned for her."
"Ahhh… right, it's her 18th after all." Jing Jing nodded, and thought hard. We've been so busy with helping the team, working hard to make sure Happy wins the championship like in canon. We both deserve a break, and make happy memories here. Oh, right!
"Cai Lin did mention she wishes to dine with the penguins. I don't think it has been done before, and I'm not sure if it's even allowed? We might need to pull some strings." Jing Jing said, staring meaningfully at Tang Rou.
"What's that got to do with me?" Tang Rou asked, confused.
Before Jing Jing could answer, Mu Cheng interrupted, "Guo Guo, do you have any dried sour plums? I think I ate too much."
Wen Yi quickly replied, "there should be some in the cupboard." He gestured to the cupboards on his right.
"Ah… I'll get it for you." Chen Guo volunteered, just as Cai Lin wandered into the kitchen.
"Can I have one too?" Cai Lin asked.
"Ah… sure!" Chen Guo replied, slightly on edge. Cai Lin stared suspiciously at Chen Guo, which flustered the latter even more.
Tang Rou interrupted with a z-shake, sidestepping Cai Lin and effectively blocked their line of sight. "Guo Guo, can I have one sour plum too?" Tang Rou stared meaningfully, hoping Chen Guo would break out of her nervousness.
"...Oh… of course!" Coming to her senses, Chen Guo hastily took out the bottle of sour plums and passed to Tang Rou. She took one plum, and passed it around.
When Cai Lin accepted the bottle from Mu Cheng, she was observing everyone and their interactions, a mischievous smile on her lips. Uh-oh. Jing Jing thought.
Much much later, Cai Lin had told them, "Guo Guo Jie was just too obvious! I knew y'all were planning something! Plus, my birthday is coming up, so it's not too hard to guess! I just had to interfere and make your planning much, much harder!" Cai Lin laughs gleefully.
Over the next few days, Cai Lin would stick to the rest like glue, and whenever Chen Guo thought she was safe to start planning Cai Lin's birthday surprise, Cai Lin would pop out, seemingly from nowhere, making the older lady skittish.
Jing Jing decided to intervene, and quickly called for a short meeting while Cai Lin was in the shower. Jing Jing shared her suspicions on Cai Lin, and thus, she will distract her mei mei while the rest make the preparations. Jing Jing also roped in Tang Rou, Yi Fan, and Ye Xiu to help with the distractions. Fang Rui and Wei Chen will help to keep Bao Zi occupied, so that he does not accidentally ruin the surprise.
With the division of tasks, planning went smoothly. Or, as smooth as a durian husk.
"Xiao Lin wants to eat with penguins. What penguins? Don't tell me those small, flightless birds in the zoo? Can't be, right?" Chen Guo said.
"Well… Jing Jing might not have meant the actual birds." Wen Yi hedged.
"What do you mean?" Wu Chen asked.
An Wen Yi looked very pained to say out his theory, "...she might have meant Captain Zhou. Zhou Ze Kai, Samsara."
"Oh oh! Is it because of all the BL fanfics she read?" Mu Cheng asked, her eyes full of mirth.
All the males in the room gave a collective wince, as Wen Yi nodded.
Hahaha, yup, Cai Lin has corrupted them indeed. Mu Cheng thought gleefully. They didn't even need me to hint!
"How do we even get Samsara to agree to this? They're richer than us, and busier than us, will they even bother?"
"Well… perhaps we can arrange for a joint training session?" Mu Cheng pondered. "I'd better run it over with Ye Xiu ge, see what he thinks."
"You want to arrange a joint training session with Samsara? As a cover to celebrate Cai Lin's birthday?"
"Yes, it's the best possible way we can meet up with Samsara, and we can arrange it as part of the rest and relaxation tour we're planning for the team."
"What part of that is rest and relaxation?"
"Well… it's a training session? It's not like we can ask Captain Zhou to be our tour guide, we'd be mobbed."
"...Why not just have them turn up at the hotel we will be staying at? Won't that be easier?"
"Yes, but how else can we meet Samsara? They've got so many fans stalking all exits, I doubt they will want to come out of their club just to celebrate Lin Lin's birthday."
"Hahaha they're scared of leaving their club house? How ridiculous." Wei Chen scoffed.
"Well, do you have any bright ideas, Wei ge?"
Wei Chen scoffed. "Look, if they're scared of running into fans, why can't they disguise themselves and leave the club?"
"They've tried it before, but failed."
"It must be because their disguise sucks. Honestly it's not that hard to sneak out of the club, I snuck out many times before." Wei Chen snorted.
Mu Cheng smiled sweetly. "Well then, since your disguise skills are top notch, please help them to sneak out!"
"Why, I didn't know you are such a benevolent bodhisattva1. Thank you for volunteering." Ye Xiu smirked.
"Oi oi! I said no such thing!"
"Smuggle them out via a TTK Express2 delivery van."
"Oh, hi Mo Fan! You were here all along!" Mu Cheng beamed. "That's a fantastic idea, why didn't we think of that?"
"Because we don't have an actual courier?" Wei Chen snorted.
"Haha, don't we have you?" Ye Xiu chuckled.
"Oi! This father here, is the founder of Blue Rain! How dare you ask me to drive a delivery van?!"
"Then how else do you suggest we slip them out?"
Mu Cheng tuned out their bickering, and smilingly announced, "thanks Mo Fan and Wei ge! I'll go let Guo Guo know, at least we've sorted out one part of the plan!" She happily skipped out of the room, evading Wei Chen's desperate grab. Of course, once Chen Guo got on board with the plan, there was no way Wei Chen could weasel his way out.
Despite the many hiccups, Happy managed to prepare for Cai Lin's birthday successfully. Happy kicked off the plans by bringing her to Shanghai Disneyland after a rejuvenating stay at the Yushui Hot Springs. There, Cai Lin went crazy on the rides, laughing and screaming her head off. They ate tons of snacks, from Mickey Bars to corn dogs, while exploring all the attractions Disneyland has got to offer. They even got to play hide and seek with Mu Cheng's overzealous fans when they spotted the celebrity hidden behind a pair of shades and a hat. At 7pm, when Jing Jing tried to drag Cai Lin to dinner, the younger girl whined unhappily, "but I'm not hungry! I can go for another 2 or 3 more rounds! There's also fireworks at 8.30pm!"
"Lin Lin, we can get dinner first, then come back in time for the fireworks!"
"Bu-but…"
"Lin Lin, the sooner we eat, the sooner we can get back." Tang Rou explained. "Besides, we've already booked a place."
"Oh, alright." Cai Lin begrudged.
Mu Cheng and Jing Jing cajoled the younger girl, soothing her fussing. After all, it would not do if the birthday girl is upset, especially not with the surprise in store for her. Just outside the doors, Tang Rou gently suggested blindfolding Cai Lin, stating that they do not wish to spoil the surprise. Cai Lin agreed, and wore a Mickey Mouse patterned eye mask.
The doors opened, and someone took Cai Lin's hands, gently steering her into the room. The doors closed, and Jing Jing asked Cai Lin to remove her eye mask. Blinking owlishly, Cai Lin saw Zhou Ze Kai in front of her.
…Wait, what?!
"Happy birthday Lin Lin/Cai Lin/Little Lin!" Confetti was popped, showering them in glitter and paper.
Seeing her confused face, Chen Guo piped up, "remember you told Jing Jing about wanting to dine with Zhou Ze Kai? Well, he has generously agreed, and even the whole team came to celebrate!"
"I…" Cailin. exe has stopped working.
I think we fucked up. Jing Jing thought, looking at Cai Lin's shock.
"I…never said that? I told Jing Jing jie that I wanted to eat with penguins. You know, like Breakfast with Orangutans in the Singapore Zoo?"
Groans and face palms could be heard.
Jing Jing bowed to Jiang Bo Tao, apologising, "I'm so sorry for all the trouble we've caused."
Jiang Bo Tao waved his hands, "oh, it's alright, we are happy to celebrate Cai Lin's birthday."
Having processed the situation, Cai Lin turned to stare at Jing Jing and the rest of Happy. Zhou Ze Kai stepped back, delighted by the turn of events. Cai Lin raised an eyebrow, gaze penetrating. Sighing, Jing Jing explained, "you were talking about how you wanted to visit Shanghai and eat with the penguins, and then you got distracted when Footprints of Time3 updated. So…I assumed. Wrongly."
"Pfft! Hahahaha!" Cai Ling burst into laughter, laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of everything.
"Truthfully, I wasn't quite sure whether you meant an actual penguin or Captain Zhou, so I left it vague when telling Guo Guo jie. I didn't know that they would think immediately of Captain Zhou too."
"Hahaha! Jing Jing jie, this means that we've trained them well!" Cai Lin chortled gleefully, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Anyways!" Ye Xiu interrupted. Best to get the party started, before Cai Lin decides to start 'training' them. "Let's get the party started, I'm sure everyone is starving, no?"
A chorus of agreements rang out, and everyone scattered, some queueing at the buffet line while others found a seat to sit and chat, all mingling happily. Of course, Du Ming tried to make his moves on Tang Rou, but Cai Lin happily clung on to Tang Rou, calling, "Rou Rou jie, Rou Rou jie" sweetly. Today is my birthday, not his lucky day!
The dinner celebrations drew to a close as Mickey Mouse wheeled in a three tier cake, and all sang Happy Birthday to Cai Lin. A wish was made, the candles were blown, and the fireworks started as everyone got their slice of cake. This is the best birthday ever!
This post is not sponsored by the mentioned attractions. I'm just sad that I cannot travel. Unfortunately, because I've never been to the above places, I demand a lot of creative liberties in my writing. (Not like I didn't do research on Shanghai Disneyland, including a map of their attractions and fireworks timing.)
1: Bodhisattva is a Sanskrit word meaning "enlightened being". This idea comes from Buddhism, and is used to describe someone trying to become a Buddha ("the awakened one"), and their compassion motivates them to help ordinary beings (h t t p s : / / www. britannica. c o m/ topic/bodhisattva) warning Warning Warning! I am a Buddhist, but not that religious and a failure as one. I have no idea how to explain Bodhisattva to others so I'm just copying off the net.
2: TTK Express (天天快递) is one of the many huge delivery companies in China, based in Nanjing. I simply chose a random one out of the many, since Shanghai and Hangzhou (I'm assuming they are City S and City H) are first tier cities in China, hence there would definitely be many courier companies around.
3: Footprints of Time is an actual fanfic! The original was written in Chinese by 楚谓之聿, and has been translated to English by ohmyladysif on AO3. You can Google it ;P