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Guzi woke up with a start, pulling the many layers of blankets off of him as he sat up in his bed. He’d never really known his birthday (after all, he grew up poor so he never celebrated such a day) and so, after Lang Qianqiu took him in, he was given one. Originally, he had asked for his birthday to be the same day as Lang Qianqiu’s (he was eight, give him a break). But after lots of discussion, they decided that December 2nd was as good a day as any to be born on.
And today was that day. Guzi didn’t think he’d ever get used to the excitement that birthdays brought, but he always indulged in them for his papa. And this year seemed especially important, as Guzi was turning seventeen.
He sifted through the many piles of clothes scattered on his floor, making a mental note to clean his room before papa sees how messy it’s gotten. He finally picked out a suitable outfit for the occasion after a bit more searching. Red hanfu.
He gritted his teeth as he combed through his tangly hair, which had gotten ruined overnight. He still didn’t understand how it could become so unruly in only a few hours. He tried to decide on a hairstyle as he painfully brushed. Some type of braids maybe? Half up half down? It was always such a pain to do his hair by himself. He should probably keep it simple.
He threw his hair up into a ponytail, with his bangs pulled out and framing his face. He added a small braid in his long ponytail, hoping to add a pop of detail. It didn’t really matter how his hair looked though, as the real star of the show was his red mo’e, which papa had gifted him many years ago.
He loudly raced down the steps, into the main hall. He found papa in the kitchen, hard at work.
“Is that my birthday meal?” Guzi asked, looking over papa’s shoulder.
“Yes.” he answered, straining his shoulders, “You’re all ready for the party, right?” he was focused heavily on rolling out the noodles as he spoke, not bothering to look up.
“Mhm. When will everyone be here?”
“In maybe an hour or so. You slept in really late, y’know.”
Guzi nodded, walking off into the dining hall. His jaw dropped in awe at the amount of decorations hanging from the walls and ceiling: paper lanterns, streamers, candles, you name it. He walked around the long table, reading off all the different carefully placed name tags in each spot. He was supposed to sit at the head of the table, with papa and Xie Lian on opposite sides of him. His smile grew a bit wider the more he went around the table, seeing all the familiar names pop up.
Ling Wen, Shi Qingxuan, Mu Qing, Feng Xin, Quan Yizhen-it was like every heavenly official was coming!
“Hey, papa-” Guzi stepped back into the kitchen, but was met with Lang Qianqiu almost out the door.
“-where’re you going?” he asked. His party was in almost an hour, what in the world could be more important?
“Ah, Guzi. Uhm, I have a meeting to go to..”
Guzi’s shoulders deflated slightly, “Oh. Really? So will almost everyone be late or-”
“No, no. Just me. Don’t worry. I’m sure it won’t be too long.” With that he went out the door, leaving Guzi behind. His face scrunched up in thought. Papa was a horrible liar. Was it a surprise for his party? A last minute present? He’d find out soon enough. Hopefully.
…
Papa wasn’t back by the time guests were arriving, which only worried Guzi. He happily greeted each person that came in, but was just a little disappointed each time he’d open the door and see that it wasn’t his papa.
“Where’s Qianqiu?” Quan Yizhen questioned, glancing around the dining room as he confusingly walked around the table.
“Papa is just running a bit late. He’ll be here.” Guzi assured, grabbing Quan Yizhen’s arm and guiding him to his seat.
“Hm. I can’t believe he’d be late for something like this..” Mu Qing commented, who just happened to arrive thirty minutes before anyone else.
Guzi shrugged, giving a nonchalant laugh as he moved across the room to Xie Lian. He leaned in slightly, “Gege, papa’s been gone for awhile. He said he had a meeting to go to, but I think he might’ve been lying..do you know where he might be?”
Xie Lian gave a thoughtful expression, his eyebrows creasing. Guzi impatiently tapped the table, waiting for an answer.
“I’ll go look.” Xie Lian said, standing up. Hua Cheng gave a disappointed glance over to them but stayed silent. Guzi nodded, sitting back down at the head of the table.
…
It wasn’t very hard to find Lang Qianqiu. Xie Lian’s guess was that he had just been walking around the heavenly capital aimlessly until he finally sat down on one of the benches, looking more lost than anything.
Xie Lian sat down next to him, folding his hands into his lap.
“Do your meetings usually consist of you sitting alone on a bench?” Xie Lian asked, trying to keep it light-hearted.
Lang Qianqiu sighed, “I don’t know what to do.” He admitted. He put his hands on his knees, holding onto his outer robes tightly.
“I knew it was coming. I mean he’s a human, obviously he’ll age. But I still wasn’t ready.” He pinched his eyes closed, “And I keep worrying that somehow I’ll ruin it.”
Xie Lian put his hand on Lang Qianqiu’s shoulder, “Why would you be ruining anything? You’ve been an incredible father for Guzi for so long-“
“I don’t know!” Lang Qianqiu snapped, his head now buried in his hands, “I just keep telling myself that I will somehow! My seventeenth was the worst day of my entire life. And horrible things happened to you and so-“
“-You’re worried that it’s a cycle.” Xie Lian finished for him.
Lang Qianqiu lifted his head, turning to look at him with his now glossed over eyes, “I don’t want to ruin anything for him. I really don’t.”
Xie Lian smiled, “The only way you’re ruining anything right now is by not being there. Guzi wants you there. He needs you there.”
Lang Qianqiu sniffled, “You don’t think the decorations are too much, right?”
Personally, Xie Lian hasn’t seen such an extravagantly decorated room in 300 years.
“No, no. I think they’re just perfect.” he stood up, holding his hand out to Lang Qianqiu, “Though I think the whole room would look better if you were in it, don’t you think?”
Lang Qianqiu stifled a laugh, accepting the helping hand.
He was met with a suffocating hug from Guzi when he came inside. He was quickly led to his seat right by the head of the table, which he had carefully placed a name tag at only a few hours before.
“Happy seventeenth, son.” Lang Qianqiu said, watching as Guzi served himself a hefty ladle-full of noodles.
Guzi looked over to him, the same vibrant look in his eyes as Lang Qianqiu could’ve sworn was in his own hundreds of years ago, “This is the best day of my life!”