He lit the candles and arranged the roses on the table.

Sheng Jiaoyang sat on one end, holding a wine glass and toasting it to Shen Zhining. “Zhining, happy birthday.”

On the other end, Shen Zhining also held up a wine glass.

He stared at her. She was wearing a black evening dress he had bought for her with a jacket draped over her shoulders. Her black hair was pulled into a bun, revealing her pearl earrings. Complete with delicately applied makeup, she appeared very classy.

Compared to the immature and young appearance she had when he met her for the first time as 'Xu Jiaojiao', she now appeared to have fully bloomed.

The previous Jiaoyang was like a flower that blossomed at the cost of its own lifespan. As beautiful as it was, those in the know wouldn’t bring it back to grow because such beauty was too capricious; at any time, it could turn to ash.

But now, although her shell wasn’t as stunning, her beauty didn’t diminish at all. Rather,...