(Photo/Weibo account of Ma'anshan police)

A picture of a birthday cake has recently gone viral on Chinese social media. Differing from an ordinary birthday cake, which would typically come with a “Happy Birthday” message written in icing, this cake came with the message “14 is the age when one turns criminally liable”.

The birthday cake was designed by the son of a policewoman in Ma'anshan, eastern China’s Anhui province, who turned 14 on Nov. 30.

Police officer Yan Chengyan told Beijing Youth Daily that both she and her husband work for the police department. They often teach their son about common law, and he's inherited a love of the subject.

Yan said she had previously told her son about criminal liability, so he knew that the age of 14 was significant. Therefore, he asked for “14 is the age when one turns criminally liable” to be iced onto his cake, alongside the Black Cat Detective, a famous Chinese cartoon figure.

“Personally, we were not that surprised when he came up with the idea, but it did surprise the cake maker,” Yan said.

She told Beijing Youth Daily that her son loves to read police-related magazines, and hopes to become a lawyer or policeman when he's older.