APCF – Chapter 120 Receiving

April 8th was Bo Ye’s birthday. In past years, he always spent it with friends or buried in work. But this year, he turned down all invitations—he didn’t want to go anywhere. He just wanted to stay curled up at home with Qi Xingchen for the whole day.

Lately, their schedule had been completely flipped—sleeping until noon and coming alive at night. The reason for that energy spike after dark wasn’t exactly Qi Xingchen’s fault. His sleep habits had always been healthy. The real culprit was someone who simply wouldn’t let him sleep.

That is, until Qi Xingchen looked up the zodiac sign associated with April 8th.

Aries.

Then he checked Aries traits.

He got it.

He wanted to cry.

A birthday didn’t need to be loud or festive, but there had to be cake. After the wave of sadness passed, Qi Xingchen wiped his tears, got out of bed, and followed a recipe he found on an app. He baked the cake layers, whipped the cream, chopped up the fruit, and mixed it with jam—enjoying a rare moment of peace in the kitchen.

Unfortunately, the moment didn’t last long. A certain devilish someone shuffled in wearing slippers. His T-shirt hung loose and low, revealing a cool, pale shoulder. The waistband of his lounge pants was untied. Clearly, he had just gotten up and came straight over without even tidying himself.

Qi Xingchen tensed like facing a mortal enemy. “I’m cooking.”

“For what, cake?” Bo Ye glanced at the cream. “Not as sweet as you.”

Qi Xingchen’s hair stood on end at those four words. He looked at Bo Ye with three parts caution and seven parts flattery. “It’s not ready yet—once it’s done, you can try it. I didn’t add much sugar, it’s not too sweet.”

Seeing those pitiful puppy eyes, Bo Ye couldn’t help but laugh. “Look how scared you are. Fine, I won’t touch you today.”

He said he wouldn’t, but instead of being relieved, Qi Xingchen felt a little… disappointed.

It was Bo Ye’s birthday. He had a duty to fulfill all his wishes—all of them.

Besides, aside from sore legs and waist, a hoarse throat the next day, and general exhaustion, doing it with Bo Ye was… well, it felt pretty good.

Especially when that voice—capable of singing like heaven itself—teased him right by the ear. That kind of stimulation always drove him wild.

“It’s fine,” Qi Xingchen said generously. “It’s your birthday—you can do whatever you want.”

Bo Ye raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Mm.”

Bo Ye walked over and whispered four words into Qi Xingchen’s ear. Instantly, Qi Xingchen’s face turned bright red. He waved the whisk in his hand and chased Bo Ye out of the kitchen.

Qi Xingchen had never baked a cake before, so he didn’t dare attempt anything complicated. Just two simple sponge layers, with whipped cream in the middle and a thin layer covering the outside. Thanks to his mild OCD, he smoothed the cream perfectly.

On top of the cake, he used jam to draw two little stick figures. One was tall and thin, holding a standing microphone. The other sat beside him, holding a little star.

It wasn’t the best drawing. He wanted to fix it, but didn’t know where to start, so he could only carry it over nervously, smiling obsequiously and hoping to get by on cuteness.

To his surprise, Young Master Bo didn’t seem to notice anything wrong. He looked at it in surprise. “You drew us on the cake?”

“…Yeah,” Qi Xingchen kept smiling. “Looks pretty accurate, right?”

“From the details, sure—but I think I’m a bit more handsome than that. My face isn’t… that crooked.” Bo Ye phrased it very politely.

Qi Xingchen nodded fiercely. “Totally! You’re way more handsome!!”

Bo Ye had been showered in flattery for eight years and had long since grown numb to it. But hearing this little fan’s simple, sincere “more handsome” actually struck a chord. Even the stick figure started looking kind of good—he could even vaguely see the resemblance.

Feeling smug, he kept observing. “Why is your star tilted toward me? Did you mess up the angle?”

“I didn’t mess it up—it’s on purpose,” Qi Xingchen stammered a little. “I-I wanted to give the star… to you.”

The star carries many beautiful meanings. Typically, when a boy makes a promise to a girl, he’ll say something like, “If you want the stars in the sky, I’ll pluck them down for you”—a way to express his willingness to do anything for her.

But stars have another meaning too.

Bo Ye raised his left eyebrow. “You’re trying to give yourself to me.”

It wasn’t a question—it was a statement. And he said it so bluntly that Qi Xingchen panicked a little. “I’ve already given myself to you!”

“Then what’s this? A formal handover ceremony?”

Qi Xingchen: “…”

Do you even understand or not…

When he didn’t respond, Bo Ye reached out and gave his cheek a playful, messy rub. Then he placed the hand that had touched Qi Xingchen over his own heart and said seriously, “Alright. I’ve received my star. I’m keeping it safe.”

Qi Xingchen was both moved and speechless at how childish he was being.

But Bo Ye wasn’t done. He picked up his phone and started snapping photos from every angle—left, right, close-up, overhead. A whole bunch of cake pics. Then he opened Weibo and posted:

—Bo Ye: I’ll treasure it always.

📷📷📷

📷📷📷

📷📷📷

As soon as the fan app notified that their idol was online, Night Sky—who’d been refreshing like crazy for Bo Ye’s birthday—rushed to the scene.

The sheer number of images stunned them.

“WTF, aside from promo posts, my idol actually used the nine-photo grid?!”

They tapped the pics open one by one.

“WTF, it’s nine shots of the same cake from different angles. What is this, “a mountain looks different from every angle” poetry?!”

Then they looked closer at the cake decorations.

Night Sky: “……”

So basically, after forever of not posting, you finally drop a nine-grid post… just to show off your relationship??

Do you have any regard for the lives of us single people?! This is too cruel, aaahhh!!!

You could say Bo Ye didn’t care for formalities—yet on the one-year anniversary of their meeting, he opened a bottle of red wine. But if you said he was into them, then today’s birthday was extremely simple: an ugly little cake, one candle shaped like the number 25, a hand-drawn yellow paper crown from Qi Xingchen, and the silhouettes of two people leaning on each other. That was all it took to keep a soft smile on his lips the whole night.

After making his wish and finishing the cake, Bo Ye really did keep his word—he didn’t pounce on Qi Xingchen. He picked a newly released movie, and the two of them sat on the carpet across from the projector, heads leaning together, chatting aimlessly as they watched.

But far from this cozy domestic scene, in a shadowy corner of a restaurant, a woman gently swirled the wine in her glass and spoke in a soft voice.

“You did well last time. Now I need you to do something else for me.”

The man across from her frowned. “You said you’d get my son out immediately.”

“I’ve changed my mind,” the woman smiled, her red lips curving. “You can refuse, of course. But you know perfectly well—no one else can overturn your son’s confession. And no one else has the backing I do, enough to stand against the Qi family.”

“You—!”

The man, whose temper hadn’t flared in a long time, clenched his jaw. Veins popped at his temple, and he slammed a fist down on the table. The clatter of utensils echoed loudly, but the woman didn’t flinch. She kept smiling, completely unbothered.

Or rather—she was certain he would agree.

And sure enough, after a moment of shaking hands and clenched teeth, the man growled, “Fine. Tell me what you want me to do.”

The woman rose, walked over to him, bent down, and whispered in his ear. Then she patted his shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile.

She turned and left the restaurant, stepping into a car with a red-prefixed license plate.

_{So about Aries…
When Qi Xingchen realizes Bo Ye is an Aries (April 8), he just gets it—and wants to cry. 😩 The chapter doesn’t spell it out, but we’re definitely talking typical Aries energy here: passionate, impulsive, full of enthusiasm, maybe a bit too much energy in bed (ahem). Qi Xingchen’s sleep schedule certainly agrees. 😂}

_{Red license plate = 🚨 Not your average car
That red license plate at the end? Big deal. In China, red plate prefixes usually mean the car belongs to the military or some top-tier government department. So yeah—that woman has serious backing. Like, scary serious. No wonder she’s so confident about taking on the Qi family.}