Chapter 2: Black Umbrella

The cicadas’ chirping finally came to a complete stop in the dewy morning.

Fanshi City officially entered autumn.

In the blink of an eye, nearly a month had passed since the start of the new school term.

The legendary transfer student still had not appeared. The desk and chair that had been specially moved in were left empty in the corner of the classroom for a long time and had already gathered dust. During spare moments after class, classmates occasionally discussed it in passing.

“Could Instructor Zhang have been tricking us? Is there really such a thing as a transfer student?”

“Yeah, the desk and chair have been here for so long already.”

“Did this guy just stand up the whole school?”

“Impressive. What kind of background does he have?”

…

The guesses came one after another, and while some were pure gossip, they all passed quickly, serving only as casual seasoning for idle moments.

The new semester had settled into a steady rhythm. Song Shiyue continued her routine of attending classes and returning home, and her daily life had not changed much.

Only during breaks did she fulfill Teacher Zhang’s instructions and take the time to send a few routine messages to that “special classmate.”

【Classmate, here is this week’s homework summary】

【Classmate, the reference book list recommended by the teachers】

【Classmate, summaries of the key points from each subject’s lessons】

…

Gradually, she became more perfunctory and even stopped writing “Zhu” at the beginning. His replies also grew from polite to brief.

【Thank you】

【Received】

【Okay】

Most of the materials were already compiled and distributed by the subject teachers to the entire class. Since Zhu Xingyan was absent from school for long periods, Song Shiyue, as class monitor, felt it was her duty to forward everything to him separately once more.

From Teacher Zhang, she learned that he was currently filming with a drama crew. Teachers accompanied the crew to provide one-on-one lessons so he could keep up with the school’s progress as much as possible.

At the end of October, the city-level English speech competition took place as scheduled. Song Shiyue had prepared for it half a month in advance. Her English teacher had also revised several versions of her script and helped her practice repeatedly after class.

The competition was held in the morning at the city grand auditorium. The school had sent a total of eight participating students, all led by the grade’s English group leader.

In the front rows sat city leaders. Among the contestants were several familiar faces — long-time rivals from other schools who had competed against each other since childhood.

Song Shiyue stood on stage, calm and composed, and delivered her speech without notes.

In the center of the grand auditorium, the girl stood under the spotlight. She wore her hair in a high ponytail and a formal suit. She spoke fluently with perfect pronunciation, occasionally adding light, natural improvisations in her tone. Her emotions were perfectly measured, and her whole presence radiated effortless confidence.

There was a quiet, moonlit brilliance about her.

Gentle yet powerful.

When the speech ended, thunderous applause filled the hall. The leading teacher came forward with a proud smile, excitedly patted her shoulder, and encouraged her, “You did very well. There’s a good chance you’ll take first place.”

After all the contestants finished, the ten on-site judges quickly discussed and scored. The rankings were announced right there.

Song Shiyue tied for first place with a boy from the city’s top middle school. Coincidentally, he was someone she already knew.

On the award podium, the two stood side by side and received their trophies. Once the leaders had walked away, Song Shiyue heard a familiar male voice beside her, tinged with a smile.

“Hey, Song Shiyue. We meet again.”

—

They hurried back to school before the lunch break ended.

In just one short morning, the usually peaceful campus seemed to have turned upside down. It was now buzzing with excitement.

From the school gate, students had already gathered in clusters, craning their necks to look outside. As they walked in, the crowd did not thin at all. The once quiet tree-lined path was now filled with groups of four or five people, all excitedly discussing something.

It seemed that today, the entire school had spilled out of the classrooms.

Faintly, amid the noise, the name “Zhu Xingyan” drifted into her ears.

Together with the people who had just finished competing nearby, everyone could not help but grow curious and start gossiping. They were stretching their necks to find out more when Song Shiyue spotted a familiar face in the crowd ahead — it was none other than Dali.

As soon as she waved toward that direction, Dali’s eyes lit up. She ran toward her excitedly.

“Yueyue!!! Zhu Xingyan just came to our school!!! Ahhhhhh, he actually transferred to our school this semester!!! Oh my god, oh my god!!” She grabbed Song Shiyue’s hand and screamed, unable to control her strength, so Song Shiyue’s hand turned bright red from the pinching.

“What?!!”

“Is it real?!”

“What on earth did we miss this morning…” The classmates who had just returned looked up at the sky in despair.

“He just left after reporting in at the school office. You have no idea how many people were watching — I almost got my head squished.” Dali’s cheeks were flushed red as she passionately replayed the scene for them on the spot.

“Zhu Xingyan is just too handsome!!! It was my first time seeing a real-life celebrity!!! That face is literally a work of art, like Nüwa personally crafted her ultimate masterpiece. He’s tall and slim, and his aura is incredible. Quick, quick, quick — let me show you the photos I secretly took!”

She excitedly opened her phone and showed them the pictures she had just snapped.

The photo quality was blurry. All that could be seen was a tall, slender figure dressed in black, wearing a baseball cap and looking down, revealing a fair and distinct jawline with beautifully sharp contours.

Even in such a blurry, stolen shot, the person’s radiance seemed ready to burst forth. He carried the unmistakable aura of a big star.

That afternoon, the school forum was completely dominated by Zhu Xingyan.

Photos and news about him spread like wildfire, and soon fans caught wind of it. The topic surged onto the trending list the same day.

#ZhuXingyanTransfersSchool#

The trending topic only lasted a little over ten minutes before it was mysteriously suppressed and disappeared from the bottom of the list.

When Song Shiyue returned to the classroom, her desk mate Xiao Simin was staring blankly at her phone, her face frozen in a dazed, wooden expression. Only after Song Shiyue sat down did Xiao Simin slowly turn her head and speak in a quiet, dreamy voice.

“Do you know that the transfer student in our class is Zhu Xingyan?”

Song Shiyue’s heart skipped a beat. She almost thought Xiao Simin had found out something, but she steadied herself and answered, “I know.”

The next second, Xiao Simin turned back around, gazed toward the corner of the classroom at the empty desk and chair — which someone had already polished until they shone — and murmured, “That one… that’s Zhu Xingyan’s desk.”

“Oh my god, I’m not dreaming, right? Please, heavens, send a bolt of lightning to wake me up!”

“…………”

Seeing yet another person on the verge of losing it, Song Shiyue picked up her thermos and took a sip of water to calm her nerves.

In the days that followed, Class 1 became unusually lively, drawing unprecedented attention. Every break, groups of students would come over, reverently touch the empty desk and chair that Zhu Xingyan had not yet sat in, and take commemorative photos.

【Preemptive photo with the big star’s desk】

Whenever Song Shiyue scrolled through her feed in spare moments, she was flooded with the same “desk check-in” photos. The excitement continued like this for many days.

On Monday, the whole school gathered for the flag-raising ceremony.

The principal stood at the front and first solemnly criticized the recent entertainment craze in the school. Then he emphasized that Zhu Xingyan was just an ordinary student at the school. Finally, he announced a new school rule.

Anyone who spreads a classmate’s private information online without permission will have points deducted from their student record once discovered.

As soon as this new rule was announced, the restless atmosphere in the school instantly calmed down. People stopped eating gossip like melons, stopped discussing the celebrity, and obediently turned their minds back to studying. Most importantly, during the whole-school assembly, the principal clearly stated that Zhu Xingyan was only here on a temporary borrowing status and would not come to school regularly.

The surging excitement gradually cooled off, like a lake returning to its peaceful surface. Breaks became quiet again, and those noisy sounds in the background disappeared.

Song Shiyue quietly let out a breath of relief, as if she had witnessed the end of a wild, chaotic farce. The stage returned to normal, and order silently resumed its operation.

In the early autumn morning, fiery red bougainvillea peeked out over the enclosing wall. Thin mist lingered at the school gate. Students came in and out steadily, while the security guards stood strictly on duty.

Song Shiyue and Dali crossed the zebra crossing and noticed a group of young girls crowded near the school entrance. They took turns taking photos and checking in, happily flashing peace signs at the camera.

When the girls saw Song Shiyue and Dali approaching in their school uniforms, one of them brightened up and walked over eagerly to strike up a conversation.

“Classmates, are you from Fanhua High School?” The girl tried hard to suppress her excitement, but the thrill was still hidden in her smile.

The two hesitated and nodded. Immediately, the girl clenched her fist and raised her voice uncontrollably as she asked, “Then… have you seen Zhu Xingyan?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, the other girls who had been taking photos stopped what they were doing and gathered around, looking at them expectantly.

“…………” Although in recent days they had occasionally seen Zhu Xingyan’s fans lingering outside the school, this was the first time someone had approached them directly to talk.

Song Shiyue and Dali exchanged a glance and slowly nodded.

“We saw him from afar once. He only came to report in on that day and left very quickly,” Dali answered. She observed the girl’s expression and quickly added, “And since then, he hasn’t come back at all.”

“The school said he’s only here on a temporary basis and probably won’t come often.”

Dali explained everything honestly and in detail. The group of girls in front of them immediately showed disappointment on their faces, and their deflated expressions were very obvious.

The atmosphere turned silent for a moment. Seeing this, Dali seized the chance to pull Song Shiyue away and slip off quickly.

Once inside the school, the gate slowly closed behind them. The surroundings grew quiet, shaded by trees.

Dali let out a long breath, as if she had just survived a tribulation.

“Zhu Xingyan’s fans are way too intense. They even followed him all the way to school. Thank goodness he only showed up that one time.” Speaking of this, she could not help feeling relieved, with none of the earlier anticipation left.

The double-edged nature of fame came fast and hit hard.

“Being a celebrity really isn’t easy,” Song Shiyue agreed and nodded with a sympathetic look on her face. Dali burst out laughing. “Us ordinary folks should stop trying to comment on a big star’s troubles. Maybe their biggest problem in that world is — what to do when too many people like you?”

Song Shiyue completely agreed and nodded again. She praised, “Dali, your commentary is really sharp.”

The big star everyone was talking about was, in her contact list, nothing more than a quiet single character lying there.

The school distributed the latest supplementary study materials. They were thick printed books in paper form, handed down from Teacher Zhang Feng to every student.

After class, he called Song Shiyue to the office. He finished briefing her on the recent class matters as usual, then picked up the last remaining stack of materials from his desk and handed it to her.

“These are the tutoring books sent down from above. The school specially compiled them, and you can’t buy them outside. Ask Zhu Xingyan for an address and help mail them to him by express delivery.”

“Oh, right — make sure it’s cash-on-delivery. Definitely don’t pay out of your own pocket.” Just before Song Shiyue left the office hugging the heavy pile, she heard him call out loudly behind her. She felt a little embarrassed but still answered obediently.

“Got it.”

「Moon」: 【Classmate, the latest supplementary materials have been distributed. The teacher asked me to mail them to you. Could you please provide a convenient address?】

Song Shiyue sent the message the moment she stepped out of the office. After sending it, she closed her phone without waiting for a reply.

This had become her accumulated experience from dealing with this big-star classmate over the past days. He always seemed very busy and rarely replied instantly, so every time Song Shiyue sent him a message, she considered the task done. Only when she had free time later would she check again.

The whole afternoon was packed with classes. After busily organizing her notes and thoughts, Song Shiyue finally put down her pen, rubbed her sore wrist, and let her tense mind relax a little.

She slowly packed her things. When she saw the stack of materials in her desk, she remembered there was still something unfinished. She took out her phone and logged in.

In her message list, a new little red dot had appeared. This time, the content was different from the usual brief replies. It was the first real sentence since they had added each other.

Xing: 【Are you still at school? If it’s convenient, I can have the driver come pick it up.】

The message had been sent several hours ago.

Song Shiyue glanced at the time in the top-right corner, thought for a moment, and replied.

「Moon」: 【I am. Should I wait for him at the school gate?】

This time, the reply came almost immediately.

Xing: 【Thank you. It’ll take about fifteen minutes. Here’s his phone number.】

Followed by a string of digits.

Song Shiyue stayed in the classroom a little longer, finished her English homework, checked the time on her watch, and only then packed her bag and headed out.

By now the school was completely empty. When she stepped outside, she noticed the sky had turned overcast, as if a storm was about to break.

Song Shiyue carried her backpack and waited on one side of the school gate. There were very few pedestrians on the road. A flash of lightning streaked across the horizon, and within two minutes, fine raindrops began to fall.

Worry crept into her eyes. She looked around, raised her backpack over her head, and jogged toward the convenience store nearby. Once she reached the steps, the eaves sheltered her. The rain looked heavy but fell gently, drifting like misty silk threads.

The pavement gradually grew wet, and the street emptied completely. The convenience store lights came on. Song Shiyue took out her phone, called the driver, told him her exact location, and received a reply that he would arrive in a few minutes. She stood alone under the eaves, arms wrapped around the books, letting her mind go blank as she waited.

Cars sped by on the wide road, splashing small puddles of water.

Time passed silently. Song Shiyue saw a black car pull up and slowly park just a few steps below the convenience store.

Somehow sensing it, she hugged the materials tighter and trotted toward it.

Outside, the fine rain created a hazy veil. Droplets quickly clung to her eyelashes and hair, blurring her vision as if a soft filter had been placed over the world.

Song Shiyue stood in front of the car and was about to raise her hand to knock on the front window when, unexpectedly, the rear window rolled down. A hand reached out and offered her a black umbrella.

Fair, clearly defined fingers rested on the umbrella handle. The contrast between pale skin and dark umbrella was striking to the extreme. The misty curtain of rain seemed to part invisibly, and the scene suddenly became sharp and clear.

Song Shiyue saw the face behind the window.

The person handing her the umbrella was Zhu Xingyan.