For the next two weeks, everything was peaceful and He Juan did not get any unusual news about Mo Feng from the people he had hired to monitor the man.

Mo Feng was making full use of his extended leave to recuperate at home. When he went out once in a while, it would be to the nearest supermarket to restock his groceries, or to Huang Zhiyan’s house to have a drink or two. The listening device He Juan had planted on him did not catch anything notable either. So far, Mo Feng had not met any suspicious person nor had he received calls from any unknown party. His life was the repetition of routines and if not for that one lie, He Juan wouldn’t have suspected him as a traitor – at all.

Mo Feng was still utterly oblivious to the fact that he had entered He Juan’s radar, and He Juan planned to keep it that way until he got a result. He had deliberately spread the word that he was going to find Boss Xuan for private reasons, that he planned to leave as soon as he got the news and thus, if there was a perfect time for Mo Feng to lower his guard, it would be around this period of time.

For now, he could only wait.

In these two weeks, He Juan made another trip to Doctor Jia’s clinic in order to take off his splint and do another x-ray on his broken ribs. Thankfully, the superior Alpha’s superb healing ability worked wonders to repair the fractured bones in He Juan’s body and very soon, he returned to full health.

He Juan also tried to appear in public as much as possible – within the amount he had strictly set for himself. He wanted to see if the mysterious girl from two weeks ago would try to approach him again, but much to his disappointment, the girl seemed to vanish into thin air after she got off a train in Yuyang. Even A-Mu was unable to help him in this one.

Just like that, days stretched into weeks and the temperature was steadily getting lower. Reddish brown leaves left their comforting nest among the trees and piled on the ground with their magnificent colors, stripping whatever lingering warmth was left in the air.

Winter descended gently upon the city, bringing with it the freezing and crisp air, icy vapor curling out of warm mouths as well as – Mu Yuze’s birthday.

This would be the first birthday he celebrated with He Juan – and quite possibly, the first birthday he had ever celebrated with someone else. Thus, He Juan was determined to make it a perfect day for Mu Yuze. He thanked God for the day when he accidentally stumbled upon Mu Yuze’s date of birth in his medical data form or else he would be deprived of this wonderful day where he was finally allowed to spoil Mu Yuze with lots of gifts under the pretext of birthday presents!

And if Mu Yuze raised a protest, He Juan would just retort that he was making up for the past fourteen birthdays he had missed. It was a perfect excuse, if he had to say!

He Juan had been planning for more than a week and he would not allow anything – or anyone – to get on his way. Failure was definitely not an option!

First, he had to make sure that Mu Yuze’s schedule was free for a whole day. Asking for leave from school was an extremely easy task; the most important thing was to keep Mu Yuze in the dark all day long so that the surprise He Juan had prepared for him would be worthwhile.

For this, He Juan had to bring out his top-notch acting skills.

Early in the morning, he dragged the boy out of the house and stuffed him into the car. Mu Yuze was still sitting quite rigidly in the shotgun seat, clad in an old sweater, fleece pants and a threadbare jacket that did nothing to shelter him from the cold.

He Juan had been aghast when he saw it for the first time, but then he told himself to be patient. In a few hours... just a few more hours and Mu Yuze would get five new winter coats to his collection. For now though, all He Juan had to do was exercise his patience to the limit.

’For the grand surprise,’ he repeated to himself for the nth time after hearing Mu Yuze sniffle beside him, his adorable little nose tinged in red.

He adjusted the temperature in the car higher. "Still feeling cold?" He asked in concern.

"Don’t worry about me," he said while pressing his hands to the heater, his thin frame shivering ever so slightly. "It’s always like this when winter comes."

What other reason could there be other than Mu Yuze’s malnourished body that made it difficult for him to put on fat?

He Juan let out a sigh. These past few weeks, he had strictly adhered to the healthy diet recommended by Jia Molei, barely preventing himself from stuffing Mu Yuze’s mouth with food all the time. He had known early on that it would be a long fight and had even prepared himself for it, yet he still could not resist the wild joy blossoming in his heart when he noticed that Mu Yuze’s cheeks did not look sunken anymore.

The boy was starting to gain a healthy complexion. The bruises on his skin had quite faded and his entire person seemed to have been cloaked in a radiant glow. Alas, for his body to start growing according to his age, they had to wait a little longer for that.

Trying not to think of the past winters Mu Yuze had spent suffering all alone, He Juan made small talk and drove steadily until they arrived at a temple forty minutes later.

It was quite desolate at a time like this for the callous weather had made people reluctant to leave the warm cocoon of their blankets, but this was exactly what He Juan had been aiming for. He parked the car in an empty slot, turned off the engine and undid the seatbelt. "Let’s go," he told Mu Yuze, who was still peering out of the window curiously.

"What is this place..." He Juan heard him mumble in a small voice, more like a query to himself rather than directed toward He Juan.

Still, he took the initiative to explain it. "It’s a Buddhist temple," he said while leaning forward to undo Mu Yuze’s seatbelt for him. "You haven’t come here before, right?"

Mu Yuze shook his head, looking a whole lot confused and bewildered. He Juan could not resist the itch on his hand to mess up the boy’s hair when he saw him looking adorably so lost like this.

"No, but... what are we here for?" he asked.

There it goes, the first hurdle for the day. From now on, everything has to rely on your acting skills, He Juan!