{PS: Dog food warning ahead...}
"Happy birthday to you..." Yang Yi hummed his birthday song again, slowly pushing the cake forward.
"She's coming, she's coming!" Xixi, no longer afraid now that she saw her dad, cheered and circled around him, eager to get a good look at the big cake.
Worried she might bump into something in the dark, Murphy quickly grabbed her. "Don't run around! Wait until your dad sets it up!"
In the middle of the venue, surrounded by twinkling colored lights, Murphy and Xixi finally got a clear view of the cake.
It was truly a lavish custom order worth over ten thousand yuan!
The cake was shaped like a castle, perched on a mountain. Using a reflective technique, small trees made of chocolate and fruit were embedded in the cake, highlighting the castle's grandeur.
Snow-covered and desolate, the lonely castle stood alone on the peak. Murphy frowned as she looked at it.
"What's the meaning of this? Why order a cake like this?" Murphy thought birthday cakes shouldn't have such a dark theme!
But Xixi shouted excitedly, "Sister Elsa! And Anna! And Olaf!"
Only Xixi understood the meaning behind this lonely castle. Yang Yi had drawn similar pictures for her before, telling her that when Elsa fled from everyone, she lived in an ice castle like this, with only Olaf for company.
The four candles representing Xixi's fourth birthday were placed with great care. Two were stuck on the castle, their flickering light illuminating the silhouette of Sister Elsa gazing longingly toward her hometown from the window.
Her blue, ice-crystal-like dress revealed her identity to Xixi. Though it couldn't be made from cake, it was a small wooden figurine—carved by Yang Yi, then colored with food dye by the bakery's master.
Similarly, Anna, gazing from the forest below the castle, was also a wooden puppet. Her red cloak hinted at her identity, and the other two candles were placed on her sled.
Olaf, meanwhile, was entirely made of cream. The baker's skill was superb, bringing Olaf's mischievous expression to life. Yang Yi had placed him at the castle gate, just like in the story where he appears to welcome Anna.
It was originally an Easter egg, with no candle lighting it, but Xixi spotted it right away.
"Do you like this cake? Dad put a lot of effort into having it made!" Yang Yi laughed, picking up the little girl so she could get a better view.
"I love it! It's Sister Elsa's castle!" Xixi was so happy she couldn't find the words to express herself.
Murphy looked from the cake to Yang Yi and their daughter, her heart full of confusion.
Why would they like such a dark-themed cake? Was there a story behind it she didn't know? She'd often heard Xixi mention Sister Elsa and Anna, but she'd never pressed for details.
Murphy decided that tonight, after Xixi had played enough and gone to sleep, she'd pull Yang Yi aside and ask him properly.
"Come on, make a wish first, then blow out the candles. After that, we can eat the cake!" Yang Yi said to Xixi.
Making a wish—the little girl knew what that meant. She quickly clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and mumbled softly.
Yang Yi and Murphy stayed quiet. In the silence, Xixi's voice reached them clearly: "Xixi hopes that Daddy and Mommy will always be with Xixi, together, okay? Xixi doesn't want them to be apart..."
Murphy froze. She instinctively looked up and met Yang Yi's gaze.
This time, neither of them looked away. They just stood there, quietly watching each other. In the darkness, their expressions and thoughts were hard to read, but the candlelight reflected in their eyes was unmistakable.
After Xixi made her wish and blew out the candles, Yang Yi turned on the fluorescent light.
Under the bright light, the Frozen-themed cake looked even more beautiful.
"Don't you want to know what I wished for?" Xixi had somehow gotten a bit of cream on her nose—probably from blowing out the candles. As Murphy wiped it off with a tissue, the little girl spoke in a muffled voice.
"If you tell, it won't come true," Murphy said, playfully pinching Xixi's cute little nose.
"Then I won't say!" Xixi quickly covered her mouth, unaware that her parents had already heard her wish.
The cake was too big for the three of them to finish, so Yang Yi cut a few pieces from the edge, dividing them into three portions without touching the castle. Xixi was most protective of the castle now, forbidding Dad from cutting it and only allowing him to slice the forest below.
But those three portions were more than enough. Xixi ate the most enthusiastically, but as a little girl who'd already had snacks, she couldn't eat much before feeling full. Still, she kept glancing toward the big cake.
Yang Yi, never a big fan of cake, just took a few bites. Noticing Murphy scraping off the cream and eating only the sponge part, he smiled and said, "Not eating the cream? Still trying to lose weight?"
Life's hard enough without pointing it out. Murphy shot Yang Yi an annoyed glare. As a celebrity, she always had to watch her figure—otherwise, wouldn't she love cream?
"Cough, I'm not teasing you. I'm just saying, later upstairs, I'll make you something to eat, and we'll share it," Yang Yi explained awkwardly.
But Murphy suddenly reached out and touched Yang Yi's face.
Yang Yi stiffened, completely baffled as to why Murphy, who'd always kept her distance, would make such an intimate move.
He soon understood, though, and wiped his face—it was sticky cream!
Murphy then giggled, shooting Yang Yi a playful, defiant glance.
"Alright!" Yang Yi deliberately raised his plate, which still had some cake and cream. He wasn't foolish enough to throw it, just meant to scare Murphy.
She yelped and quickly turned to dodge, only laughing from a distance once she was sure Yang Yi hadn't pounced.
Murphy was in a genuinely good mood today, even laughing out loud. It was probably more laughter than she'd managed in the past six months combined!
After the fun, it was time to open presents!
"Yang Yi, where's your gift?" Murphy held her box, tied with a beautiful ribbon, and shook it at him with a hint of pride.
Yang Yi was ready. He brought out a long box from behind the bar. Though it lacked fancy decoration, it was the same rectangular shape as Murphy's, but much... much bigger!
"You cheated!" Murphy pouted in frustration.
But Xixi didn't care about her parents' exchanged glances. She happily ran over, took the boxes from both Dad and Mom—Dad's was a bit heavier—and dragged them to the middle to sit down.
"These are all my presents!" Xixi said blissfully.
Murphy looked at her daughter and, for some reason, sighed to Yang Yi, "Xixi is so easily satisfied. When I was little, I got so many birthday gifts—from family, from classmates—piled up in a room. But she's happy with just two."
Hearing this, Yang Yi suddenly froze, lost in thought.