Chapter 7: Strawberry Milk

Zhu Xingyan attended classes at school for one week.

The following Monday, news spread that he had returned to the film set.

More precisely, the news came from Weibo.

The production team for Death of Startling Spring released an official announcement: male lead Zhu Xingyan, paired with a film emperor, directed by a renowned director and written by a top industry screenwriter. The lineup was nothing short of luxurious. Fans were enthusiastically promoting it below the post, filled with joy and excitement.

The official account, newly created not long ago, had already gained hundreds of thousands of followers. That Weibo post surged onto the trending list, and the comments under Zhu Xingyan’s repost reached several hundred thousand, with the numbers still climbing steadily.

People in the industry marveled at his fan count.

【Zhu Xingyan’s traffic is number one in the domestic entertainment industry】

【A true top-tier star】

“I still can’t imagine that he was actually in the same classroom as us.”

Xiao Simin held her phone and murmured in wonder.

It was not just her. Everyone in the class who had attended lessons alongside Zhu Xingyan felt a strange sense of disconnection when looking at the person on the promotional poster. The one who had been in the same classroom with them not long ago now seemed like a figment of their imagination.

If not for the handwritten autographs they still kept, those few days would have felt like nothing more than a dream.

Dali was especially thrilled when she received Zhu Xingyan’s signed photo. She had never expected to get a personalized “to” signature. When she saw the two characters “Dali” written by Zhu Xingyan himself, she could not hold back her emotions. She lifted the photo to her lips and kissed it twice.

“From today onward, I’m someone who has shown her face in front of a big star!”

“With such a special name like Dali, Zhu Xingyan definitely won’t forget me, right? Right?” She clung to Song Shiyue and kept asking. The latter nodded helplessly and echoed, “Yes, yes, yes.”

“He definitely remembered you.”

“Thank you, my friend!” Dali was so moved that she threw her arms around Song Shiyue, her eyes almost brimming with tears.

“Right, Yueyue, did you get a signature from him? What did he write for you? Quick, let me see!” After wiping her nose and tears all over Song Shiyue, Dali’s gossip mode immediately kicked back in. She lifted her head and pressed her for details.

Song Shiyue paused for a moment. Without realizing it, she was pulled back to that empty classroom at dusk.

—“Do you need a signed photo of mine too?”

After he asked, Song Shiyue froze on the spot. It took her quite a while to gather her thoughts again.

“Is that okay?” Her mind went blank for a second, but she instinctively followed his words with a polite response.

“Of course.” Zhu Xingyan was much calmer and more composed than she was. He had already picked up the pen again and asked gently,

“Do you have any special message you’d like me to write?”

Song Shiyue was slightly stunned and shook her head. “No.”

He seemed to think for a moment, then quickly lowered his head and began writing.

When Song Shiyue took the finished postcard from him, she was momentarily taken aback by the words on it.

In the center was just one simple line:

“Bright moonlight illuminates the night shadows.”

At the bottom, however, he had signed her name.

— To Song Shiyue.

Followed by his signature: Zhu Xingyan.

And finally, today’s date.

This seemed… different from what he wrote for Dali.

A thought flashed through Song Shiyue’s mind, only to be quickly replaced by another.

So he remembered her name after all.

—

Unknowingly, the way she went to school in the morning had changed to taking the bus.

About a month earlier, Fanshi City had experienced a sudden sharp drop in temperature.

In the early morning, the cold air drilled straight into her collar as she walked along the road. Within moments her hands turned red from the cold.

A thin layer of frost had formed on the pavement overnight and melted after sunrise, leaving only wet traces behind.

The bus swayed and rattled along, doors and windows tightly closed. The heating inside was very strong, making her cheeks flushed and warm.

“Zhu Xingyan just announced two more endorsements — one luxury brand, one national beverage series. He really covers both high-end and mass-market, sweeping up every kind of consumer.”

“Last week he was still in Spain attending a fashion show.”

“You’re basking in glorious sunshine in the south of the planet, while we’re freezing to death in Chinese winter.”

“Same age, same high-school student — how can the gap between people be so huge?”

Dali was surfing the internet during a spare moment and inevitably came across news about the top star on her feed. Her face twisted with mock jealousy and she turned into a grumbling machine.

“Wake up, he’s a big celebrity to begin with,” Song Shiyue said. She was listening to BBC current affairs news through her earphones. When she encountered some unfamiliar vocabulary, she had to concentrate hard. Being interrupted by Dali caused her to completely miss the key information.

She frowned and pressed replay.

“Sigh, exactly. It’s all because of this brief shared-school connection that made me delusional enough to think I could reach for the stars and the moon.” Dali sighed heavily beside her.

Song Shiyue, who had been listening attentively to her audio lesson, suddenly lost focus for a moment without knowing why.

Outside the window, the street scenes flashed by. No one spoke inside the bus, and silence settled in. She quickly refocused.

Physical education class on a cloudy day without rain.

Since winter began, Fanshi City had rarely seen sunlight. Thick clouds always covered the sky overhead.

After the PE teacher supervised them running laps, he arranged free time. The boys played basketball, and the girls played badminton. Song Shiyue played two rounds before some lazy girls in the class dragged her to the school supermarket to buy drinks.

“Class monitor, what do you want to drink?”

Since winter, the cold drink cabinet had been removed. The shelves were filled with room-temperature beverages.

Song Shiyue noticed a row of fruit-flavored milk on the top shelf. Coincidentally, every bottle featured a familiar face printed on it: Zhu Xingyan. Not long ago, Dali had mentioned this national brand to her. The packaging had already been quickly updated with the new spokesperson’s photos.

This brand’s fruit milk was one of her usual favorite flavors.

Song Shiyue fell silent for a moment, then still reached up and took down a bottle of strawberry-flavored milk before heading to the cashier to pay.

“Huh? Class monitor, do you like Zhu Xingyan?” A girl’s casual question broke the quiet. Song Shiyue could only explain, “I just happen to like this flavor of milk.”

“Oh yeah, a lot of people in our class drink this brand too. But didn’t they just change the spokesperson? I didn’t even notice at first.” She leaned closer to examine the packaging carefully and could not help sighing.

“Zhu Xingyan looks really handsome in this photo.”

“Who would have thought that the person on the poster was actually our classmate.”

“Yeah… although he’s only a nominal classmate.”

It had already been nearly three months since Zhu Xingyan last came to school.

He had returned to his life as a big star, shining brightly under all kinds of spotlights.

In comparison, he had only been a student for a very short time.

Those dazzling, colorful moments were his real everyday life.

“I wonder when he’ll come back to school again…”

The final bell had not yet rung. The two girls finished paying and walked back toward the sports field. The girl beside her was still sighing, and Song Shiyue politely responded.

“Maybe soon. I heard he finished filming his movie.”

“Class monitor, you always go to Instructor Zhang’s office. Do you know some first-hand news?” The girl’s eyes lit up with interest as she eagerly pressed for details.

“Uh.” Song Shiyue was at a loss for words. After a moment, she showed a troubled expression.

“The homeroom teacher hasn’t given an exact time.”

“Alright then.” The girl tactfully did not pursue the matter further.

She secretly glanced at Song Shiyue’s side profile — fair as moonlight, gentle and quietly cool.

Song Shiyue had always been a somewhat unique presence in the class. She had a mild temper and treated people neither too warmly nor too coldly. She would take the initiative to help others and solve any difficulties her classmates faced within her ability.

Even back in first year of high school, she had quietly organized a private donation drive for a classmate from a struggling family.

At that time, school had just started and no one knew each other very well. Several classmates had secretly seen that girl collecting and selling recyclables after school. They only whispered about it a few times in private. But one day Song Shiyue caught sight of it. She later reported it to the homeroom teacher and organized a donation collection.

The girl’s mother had just been hospitalized and needed money urgently. Although the final amount was not huge, it came at the right moment and covered half a semester of her living expenses.

And after that incident, whenever anyone saw her collecting recyclables, it no longer felt strange. Instead, classmates in the class began actively saving empty bottles after drinking and leaving them for her, neatly gathered in a corner of the classroom.

Overall, compared to her peers, she seemed unusually mature.

There was an indescribable quality about her.

If one had to describe it specifically, it was like the moon — gentle, bright, and quietly radiating light.

So, more than calling her by name, everyone preferred to call her “Class Monitor.”

Class Monitor.

Even the most mischievous boys in the class obediently addressed her that way.

“Class Monitor.”

She had not finished drinking the strawberry milk yet. As Song Shiyue and the girl walked in front of the flower bed, they caught sight of a familiar yet unfamiliar figure.

The person who had appeared on the posters they were just discussing was now standing vividly in front of them. Zhu Xingyan glanced briefly at the boxed drink in Song Shiyue’s hand, then quickly looked away.

“The PE teacher asked me to come find you to get the sportswear.”

His expression remained calm, as though his sudden appearance here was the most ordinary thing in the world.

The girl beside Song Shiyue had already widened her eyes dramatically, desperately holding back a scream to avoid making an undignified sound.

Song Shiyue nearly choked on her drink. After a moment to compose herself, she replied as calmly as possible: “It’s in the equipment room. I’ll take you there to get it.”

She walked with Zhu Xingyan toward the equipment room. When they parted ways, the girl frantically winked at her, her face flushed with excitement, as if she were silently shouting: “Sister, this is a heaven-sent fortune!”

Yet Song Shiyue felt she could hardly bear this kind of “fortune.”

The flower-bed path had suddenly become quiet, with only the two of them walking side by side. Feeling slightly uneasy, Song Shiyue unconsciously tightened her grip on the box in her hand. When she sensed his gaze fall upon her, she jolted in surprise.

“You like drinking this?” The boy’s calm voice came from beside her.

Song Shiyue reacted very slowly at first, then nodded: “Yes.”

“When I was little, my family often bought it, and I just got used to the taste.”

She deliberately avoided mentioning the person printed on the packaging. Zhu Xingyan’s attitude remained perfectly ordinary, his words natural.

“I endorsed this brand last time, and they sent a few cases of new flavors that haven’t been released yet. I haven’t had a chance to try them. Next time I can bring some to share with the class, and we can do a little user survey for the brand.”

“As an endorser… you’re really dedicated to your job,” Song Shiyue said, racking her brain for a compliment.

Zhu Xingyan did not reply further.

A moment of quiet followed. Neither of them was particularly talkative. They continued until they reached the equipment room, where Song Shiyue searched for his size.

“XL. Try this?” She handed him a new set of sportswear.

“Okay.”

Song Shiyue stepped out and carefully closed the door of the equipment room behind her.

Fanhua’s sportswear came in a black-and-white color scheme, loose athletic style, and unisex design.

When Song Shiyue saw Zhu Xingyan step out, she felt the size fit him perfectly. No boy in the class looked better in it than he did.

The big star from the posters had instantly transformed into a clean-cut high school student.

The walk from the equipment room back to the sports field still took a few minutes.

To avoid awkward silence, Song Shiyue took the initiative to find a topic.

“Why did you suddenly come to school today?”

It was still during the afternoon break.

The suddenness had caught everyone off guard.

The sports field was probably already buzzing like a pot of boiling porridge right now.

“I just finished some work and returned to Fanshi City this morning,” Zhu Xingyan explained in a tone with very little fluctuation.

“I slept for a while, woke up, and checked the schedule.”

“I realized I hadn’t attended a physical education class in a long time.”

So that was it.

He was squeezing in a little campus life during a gap in work.

Song Shiyue nodded and did not ask further. After a few brief words, the red-and-white running track was already visible in the distance. The person beside her suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke up.

“Last time I came, I think I saw you running.”

“Ah?” She was slightly stunned.

“You took first place. Very impressive.”

On the basketball court, because of Zhu Xingyan’s participation, the boys in the class were full of energy and played with the intensity of a city league match.

Badminton had been completely ignored. The girls gathered in a circle around the court, excited and cheering, hands cupped around their mouths like megaphones.

“Zhu Xingyan! You’re the best!”

“Ahhhh — three-pointer!”

“So handsome!!!”

The praise came in waves like heat, rolling toward him. Yet the person at the center seemed completely unaware. Amid the group of boys, he skillfully dribbled and jumped, and on his usually calm face, a rare relaxed and joyful smile appeared.

He was full of youthful energy.

It was only then that Song Shiyue seemed to remember: he was originally just a teenager after all.

It was only because he had entered the world of fame and fortune too early — surrounded by jewels and treasures, gold and luxury, flowers and splendor — that people forgot his true age.

In a way, he had perhaps also lost the ordinary high school life he should have had.

Before the end-of-class bell rang, the basketball game finished.

Zhu Xingyan avoided the peak crowd of the break and left early.

The girls in the class were still buzzing with excitement. As they walked back to the classroom together, the lingering excitement spilled into their conversation, their voices full of thrill.

“Zhu Xingyan is just too good. That last three-pointer — clean, crisp, and beautiful beyond words. Amazing, absolutely amazing…”

The word “amazing” kept echoing beside her. In an instant, a pair of smiling eyes appeared in her mind, the dark pupils gently rippling like a lake filled with scattered stars.

His tone had carried an inexplicable note of praise and pride.

—“You took first place. Very impressive.”

Or perhaps memory had added a filter.

It was her illusion.