Chapter 36: Star

The two of them spent a very long time digesting and accepting this matter.

After the initial shock passed, rationality gradually returned. Xu Mi quickly connected it to the netizen in Song Shiyue’s phone as well as that secretive night.

She swiftly pulled out the photo from her album and kept zooming in repeatedly on the figure under the tree, so shocked that she held her breath.

“Don’t tell me the person inside is Zhu Xingyan?” She raised her phone and shoved it right in front of Song Shiyue. Song Shiyue felt even more guilty. She looked at her for a long while before carefully nodding.

“It is him…”

Xu Mi pinched her philtrum with her fingers, almost about to faint.

“Song Shiyue!!!” She was so angry that she lost her usual composure and shouted.

“Zhu Xingyan was right in front of you and you didn’t tell us!!! Do you know how difficult it is for us to meet him even once?!!! I am going to kill you!!” She frantically shook Song Shiyue’s shoulders, her face twisted fiercely. The emotions that had just calmed down went completely crazy, and all rationality disappeared.

Bai Jia covered her chest with one hand. Her brain went blank from the shock of this news. She had no mind to stop Xu Mi’s “evil deeds” at all and silently turned her head, staring at Song Shiyue with dazed eyes.

“Mom, am I not dreaming…”

This chaos finally ended with the ringing of Song Shiyue’s phone.

The two of them had now formed a conditioned reflex. As soon as they heard Song Shiyue’s phone ring, their brains immediately sounded the alarm. They stopped all actions and stared fixedly at her phone.

Song Shiyue felt her scalp go numb and suddenly felt some regret. However, paper cannot wrap fire. Rather than letting them find out about this matter later from other channels, it was better for her to confess first. Perhaps she could still gain some forgiveness.

Under the two burning hot gazes, she tentatively reached for her phone. Whether fortunate or unfortunate, the name displayed on it happened to be Zhu Xingyan.

He still could not hold back and called her after the incident tonight had ended.

Under the pressure of the two pairs of eyes, Song Shiyue answered the call. The boy’s voice was as usual, gentle and pleasant.

“Have you slept yet?”

“Not yet…” Song Shiyue lacked confidence, and her voice was weak.

To Zhu Xingyan, it sounded as if she had been affected by tonight’s unexpected disaster, which had impacted her mood and made even her speech seem tired.

His heart ached, and his tone became even gentler.

“I am sorry. Today’s matter affected you. I guarantee it will absolutely not happen again next time.”

“It is not… it is not that.” Song Shiyue quickly explained. The moment she raised her volume, she saw the two roommates in front of her frantically mouthing words at her.

“Put on speakerphone, put on speakerphone—”

“………………”

She turned her head, covered the receiver with her hand, and whispered to Zhu Xingyan: “It is not that. It is because I confessed to my roommates tonight about knowing you, so I was just explaining earlier.”

“Hmm?” There was a pause on the other end, and he seemed to smile. “How did you explain it?”

“I did not… not much.”

“Did they blame you?”

“Not really…” Her tone hesitated.

“For example?” Zhu Xingyan gently guided her.

“It is just that they might be a bit more excited.” Song Shiyue glanced sideways at the two roommates who had circled back in front of her again. They could not speak, so they were gesturing excitedly with hands and feet.

Bai Jia was silently mouthing “signed photo!” “signed photo!”, while Xu Mi was blushing and repeating “speakerphone” “speakerphone”. Afraid the meaning was not conveyed enough, she directly typed on her phone and shoved the screen in front of her.

【Let me hear Zhu Xingyan’s voice please!!!!】

She could not help but sigh. The slight sound was still caught by Zhu Xingyan. The arc of his lips deepened, and he asked patiently: “What is wrong?”

“They are all your fans.” Song Shiyue struggled, searching for the right words.

Zhu Xingyan vaguely remembered her mentioning this matter before. At this moment, he did not show too much surprise and simply continued waiting: “Hmm?”

After a few seconds without hearing her voice from the other side, he thought for a moment and proactively asked with consideration: “Do you need me to say hello to them?”

“…………” It was as if he had learned mind reading.

Song Shiyue was in a dilemma but still asked cautiously: “Is it okay?”

He chuckled lightly: “Of course it is okay.”

“Put on speakerphone.”

Song Shiyue pressed the speakerphone key with an unconscious sense of facing death calmly. Bai Jia and Xu Mi’s gazes suddenly fixed on the screen in her hand. Their eyes widened as they held their breath in disbelief and stared.

The quiet dormitory, after an unusually long period of dead silence, a male voice came through, carrying a few traces of clear and bright laughter.

“Hello roommates, I am Shiyue’s friend Zhu Xingyan. Very happy to meet you all.”

“Ahhhhhhh!!!” Bai Jia’s excitement was so strong that she did not dare make too much noise. She secretly clenched her fists and jumped in place countless times before she calmed down a little, tidied her appearance, cleared her throat, and was about to speak—

“Hello hello!!” Xu Mi could not wait any longer and spoke first. Facing Song Shiyue’s phone, she could not hold back her surprise. “Is it really Zhu Xingyan? I am so excited! I don’t even know what to say, wuwuwu…”

“Very happy to talk to you, no, very happy to meet you!”

“I hope there will be a chance to meet you! Come visit our school more often! Especially Shiyue has been quite free recently! It would be no problem even if you come to find her three times a day! —”

“…………” Song Shiyue’s face felt a little warm.

“Yes yes yes, my turn.” Bai Jia could not wait any longer. She grabbed Song Shiyue’s hand and moved the phone in front of herself. Facing the person on the other end, she called out in a suppressed voice, “Zhu Xingyan I like you so much!!! My favorite is the Zhou Dubai you played in Du Bai and— mmmph.” Her mouth was quickly covered by Xu Mi, who was quick with her eyes and hands. Xu Mi hurriedly added toward the phone.

“She likes your Zhou Dubai the most.”

“Thank you for liking it. If it is convenient, next time I will ask Shiyue to bring a few signed photos from the movie for you.” Zhu Xingyan’s tone was gentle and patient, carrying an innocent look of knowing nothing.

Song Shiyue let out a light sigh of relief. She quickly moved the phone back. Amid Bai Jia’s excited and joyful thanks, she turned off the speakerphone and ended this friendly meeting.

She held the phone to her ear and spoke a few more words with him before ending this extremely torturous call.

At the end of the call, she only heard his voice wrapped in laughter as he deliberately asked her.

“Are you really quite free during this period?”

Song Shiyue did not dare answer. She could only hum vaguely to brush it off and hurriedly pressed to hang up.

The moment the call ended, as expected, Bai Jia grabbed her hand so hard that it turned red. Her eyes sparkled with anticipation. “Signed photos from the movie are no problem at all. How far can a signed group photo with two people be? Shiyue, your sister’s happiness depends on you!”

“………………”

The competition ended, and summer vacation was approaching. Final exams were coming again.

On Monday, the teacher called her to the office and talked about the academic exchange visit.

The award-winning contestants from this competition had the opportunity to study in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States. As the champion of the competition, Song Shiyue naturally received the application form. The program would take place during summer vacation and last for one month.

She took the application form back, filled it out without much hesitation, submitted it, and then roughly mentioned the matter to her family.

Song Qing and the others were all very supportive and urged her to prepare early.

After the last phone call ended, Zhu Xingyan did not come to the school again. Although he said on the surface that everything was fine, deep down he was still afraid of bringing her trouble.

He probably stayed quiet for more than half a month until two weeks before the exams, when he suddenly asked her out.

On Friday after school, as dusk fell, a car waited not far from the school gate.

The license plate was unfamiliar, not the one he usually used. The car drove all the way out of the city and arrived at the nearby suburbs.

In the distance, mountains and forests could be seen. Further ahead was an endless stretch of grassland, with a villa building standing beside it.

The dark blue sky resembled a night curtain, with a pale yellow crescent moon hanging on one side.

This seemed to be a private estate.

Song Shiyue could not help but look at the person beside her. Zhu Xingyan explained with a faint smile: “It is a private property belonging to a friend. There will be no outsiders here, so it is relatively safe.”

“There are many fun things inside. I will teach you how to ride horses.” Seeming to sense her uneasiness, the boy’s voice was soft and coaxing, like a naughty boy who had secretly brought a well behaved child out to play from kindergarten.

Song Shiyue had already gotten on the pirate ship and had no room left to regret. Before leaving, he had only told her to bring her personal items. He did not mention that he would keep her here overnight.

The car drove straight into the villa’s garage. The entire building stood brightly lit in the middle of the grassland. The huge floor to ceiling glass windows made it look like a transparent glass house at night.

Song Shiyue followed him up to the third floor. Pushing open the room door, inside was a spacious suite with warm yellow tones and cozy decorations. A bouquet of pink and white lisianthus flowers was placed on the table.

“Is this room okay for you? If you do not like it, we can switch to another one.” Zhu Xingyan had been smiling all evening. He was smiling when she got into the car, throughout the entire journey, and even now while showing her the room. The corners of his mouth carried a smile that was difficult to suppress, and his black eyes were even brighter than stars under the light.

Song Shiyue seemed to be infected by his mood and nodded unconsciously, her cheeks slightly warm.

“It is fine.”

“Then rest and freshen up first. Come down for dinner later.”

He stepped out and gently closed the door behind him. With only her left in the room, Song Shiyue relaxed a little and looked around.

This room seemed to have the best view in the entire building. The floor to ceiling windows faced the grassland and the distant mountains and forests. Standing by the window, one could also see the scenery in the courtyard.

She suddenly realized that she had forgotten to ask Zhu Xingyan which room he was staying in.

Apart from the two of them, there were also staff members managing the estate in the villa. When Song Shiyue went downstairs, the table was already set with hot dishes emitting steam.

Zhu Xingyan was sitting at the table quietly waiting for her. Seeing her come down, he first served a bowl of soup and handed it to her: “Try this mushroom and chicken soup. It is very delicious.”

“The mushrooms were picked from the mountains, and the chicken is free range from the farm here.”

“It is delicious.” Song Shiyue took several sips. The fresh flavor spread across her tongue. She held back for a while but could not help it and kept glancing at him hesitantly.

“What is wrong?” Zhu Xingyan asked patiently with a smile upon seeing this.

“Nothing.” She swallowed the words she wanted to say but hesitated over, smiled at him, and continued eating as usual.

After the two finished dinner, night completely enveloped everything.

Zhu Xingyan carefully sprayed mosquito repellent all over her from head to toe, then took her outside.

There was a small path behind the house leading straight up the mountain. Man made stone steps had been built, clean and tidy on both sides with almost no weeds.

After climbing for a short while, a small hill slope appeared ahead, also neatly maintained.

Zhu Xingyan held a small night lamp in his hand and led her up. His breathing remained steady as he introduced: “On clear nights here, there are always many fireflies. I wonder if we are lucky today…”

Before he finished speaking, light spots flew out one after another from the grass beside the slope. The fireflies flickered, gathering like stars in the night sky and slowly forming a river of stars.

“So beautiful…” Song Shiyue had lived in the city since childhood and had almost no chance to encounter such small creatures. She was mesmerized and sighed in a daze.

“They look like stars.” She unconsciously stretched out her hand, wanting to touch the light spots in front of her. Just then, one firefly fluttered its wings and flew toward her. As if lost in direction, its light flashed on and off as it shuttled between her fingers.

“The star has been caught by you.” Beside her, Zhu Xingyan turned his gaze to look at her. Starlight reflected in his eyes as he gently told her.