"Ah, it turns out that iced coffee is the best in summer!"

Leaning on the sofa in the coffee shop, Qinggong stretched comfortably and leaned lazily in front of the window.

This dessert and coffee shop called Joseph’s is the most common place in Qing Palace. The environment is warm and quiet, and the variety of desserts inside naturally became one of the shops that Qing Palace often comes. In addition, the coffee here is the most suitable for the taste of Qing Palace, so he will come to this shop as long as he has nothing to do, just to relax.

Since the battle with Mikoto on the river bank that day, it has been nearly a week since now. Today is his 16th birthday. In addition, it is rare for the weekend, the Qing Palace simply relaxed and came to this store to order a strawberry cake for himself, and celebrated his birthday with afternoon tea, and spent the afternoon relaxing here.

Apart from receiving a greeting card from Dr. Gutai, Qinggong has not received anyone’s birthday gift this year, just like in previous years, but he has long been used to it. Over the years, Qinggong has actually been used to it, and he has not felt lonely. He is really just used to it. So now, even if he has a partner of OWlet, if he really has something to do, as long as he can handle it, he generally won’t ask others. He is such a person.

"By the way, July is coming soon?" Qing Gong murmured to himself, "This semester is really fast... Hum? What is that?" His light swept across a place, which was a place by the window. But strangely, there was a black cloth covering the table, and there was a rustling ball below, as if someone was hiding below.

"This..." After accidentally swept over the exposed feet under the table, Qing Gong shook his head, picked up the iced coffee and took a sip, "It's not that coincidental."

"—Hey! This is not scary at all!" Suddenly, the black cloth was suddenly lifted up, and a tea-haired girl suddenly stood up from her seat and shouted.

"Uh..." The two girls in school uniforms across the opposite side looked at the tea-haired girl with innocent expressions. The next moment, the black cloth slowly falling from the sky, directly covering their heads.

"Puff!" Seeing this scene, the iced coffee in Qing Gong's mouth immediately spewed out.

"Hey?" Mikoto turned around in surprise and happened to meet the Qing Palace who was choking.

...

"Urban legend?" After the Qing Palace finally stopped coughing, he looked at Satoriko and Hakura Kazuri, who were sitting opposite him with a funny look. "What did you just say?"

"You are." Mikoto looked at Qinggong with her eyes squinted, "Why are you here!"

"I finally created an atmosphere, but was it told this kind of story?" Kuroko Shirai, who was sitting next to Mikoto, looked at Sato with an awkward smile, "And you, senior, shouldn't you always follow your sister?" Speaking of this, Kuroko's eyes were filled with vigilance.

"I'm not a stalker!" Qinggong looked at Kuroko Shirai with a vigilant look speechlessly, "I'm just here to celebrate my birthday for myself. It just happened to meet you, right? Besides, Misaka didn't say anything, why are you so anxious?"

"Hey?" Sato and Hakura were both surprised when they heard this, "Senior, are you today's birthday?"

"Nothing wrong." Qinggong smiled, "June 21 is the summer solstice, and it is also the source of my name!"

"What, why do you give such a casual name?" Heizi curled his lips, "But it's not bad..."

"Since today is the senior's birthday, I think the senior's parents should send a lot of gifts to the senior!" Chuchun looked yearning, "The senior looks so handsome and tasteful, I think he should be from a noble family, right?"

"I'm really sorry." Qing Gong couldn't help laughing, "I'm neither a noble nor anyone mailing me gifts, and there's only one elder. And..." Speaking of this, Qing Gong's voice was slightly low, "I don't have parents, either."

The air is silent for a moment.

Chukra's face was embarrassed and apologized, which made her little face look a little stiff. Satoshi was also surprised. When Kuroko heard this, she became silent.

He... is an orphan? Mikoto looked at the boy in front of her and her heart suddenly twitched, as if the softest part of her heart had been touched.

"I grew up in a research institute." Qing Gong whispered, "I don't have parents, I have only one dad who adopts me. But..."

Hearing this, the four of them fell into silence again, especially Mikoto.

In Mikoto's mind, the boy in front of her never had a gentle or slightly slanderous smile on his face, and he had never seen him show any negative emotions, starting from the time she was saved by him.

What is your past... like?

Why... I never saw it? Mikoto was silently thinking in her heart, and a hint of sadness couldn't help but reveal her amber eyes.

"I won't talk about these!" Qing Gong suddenly laughed, "But, this year's birthday is much more than before!"

"Since that's the case, we will celebrate our senior's birthday every year!" Zuotian lashed his thighs and looked at Qinggong with a smile, "After all, senior is our friend, right?"

"No problem, but...Student Zuotian, you are hammering my legs." Chuchun, who was beside him, looked at Zuotian Leizi, who was beside him with resentment.

"That's all!" Mikoto stood up suddenly, patted Qinggong's shoulder hard, and said with a heroic smile, "Every year's summer solstice, right? This birthday is really easy to remember."

"Since my sister said that, I will join in with difficulty." Kuroko Shirai shrugged and said pretending, "But Kuroko will not give up on her sister! Even if the other party is a senior, Kuroko will never give up!" After saying that, she rushed forward and hugged Mikoto's slender waist, and couldn't help but show a trace of a macaque expression on her face.

"Let go! You pervert!" Mikoto was shocked and struggled to do her best, but she couldn't get rid of Kuroko's "claws".

"Well, Misaka Senior..." Chukra, who was standing beside him, looked at Mikoto with a serious look on his face, "The summer solstice is not necessarily the same every year! You can't calculate it like this."

"Chaochun... you are too serious." Zuotian, who was standing beside him, was slightly ashamed, and then looked at the Qing Palace with a smile, "In this way, the senior's birthday will not be so miserable every year, right?"

"...It's not miserable." After staring at the girls in front of him for a while, a chuckled suddenly appeared on the corner of Qinggong's mouth, and the unfinished ice in his heart quietly cracked a crack again.

Friends...?

Not bad.

At this moment, Qing Gong's cell phone whispered, which made Qing Gong slightly stunned. Then he took out his cell phone from his pocket and slowly opened it.

There is a text message inside.

The text message is a bit long.

"By the way, today is your birthday for Qing Palace? It's really concealed. Although OWlet is temporarily on holiday, we are still here! Happy birthday to Yunchuan Qinya."

"Happy birthday, Brother Qinggong! Ps. Fremea wants to eat chocolate!"

"So you are only sixteen years old today? Then you are younger than me, hahaha, don't say I am younger in the future! - Flander."

"Happy sixteen years old, I have written this message long ago. Please ask Qin Yajia to it. - The cloth shoji I added."

"These guys..." Qing Gong looked at the text message on his phone that almost exceeded the number of words, and felt a little warm in his heart, "What the hell is I adding..." Having said that, a long-lost touch surged in his heart.

This feeling...it's been a long time since.

At this moment, my phone was shocked again, and another text message was opened and found that it was sent by Teacher Xiao Meng this time.

"Happy 16th birthday, Xiaoqing Palace, the teacher remembers your birthday! I really remember it! I will never forget it again! I have prepared birthday gifts for you! Remember to come to the teacher's house to eat hot pot in the evening!"

"Sir, your cake." Before Qinggong could be moved more, a gentle voice came from the side. Qinggong looked back and said with a gentle smile, holding the strawberry cake he ordered in his hand.

"Oh! There's a cake!" Mikoto stood up immediately, looked at Qinggong's golden eyes, and smiled slightly, "How is it?"

Looking at the sunny smile on Mikoto's face, Qinggong suddenly felt a little fluctuating in his heart, and then he chuckled.

"Of course...it's OK!"

"I think so!" Mikoto took the cake from the waiter who was still a little stunned and placed it directly on the table. "This time I will count it as one! I will make it up for you later!"

"No problem." Qing Gong chuckled, and then, in the dazed eyes of everyone, the two smiled tacitly.

This chapter... is written in a heartwarming way... Although sometimes I want to try the "healing" style, it turns out that most of the time I still can't do it (▔,▔)ㄏ

(End of this chapter)
Chapter completed!