On a rainy weekend, it would have been perfect for sleeping at home. But at this moment, Fu Xueli had heavy dark circles under her eyes, squinting as she let the makeup artist apply setting powder on her face.
She had been drinking all night yesterday and was now struggling not to throw up.
“It must have been tough lately. You don’t look well,” the makeup artist said, holding Fu Xueli’s shoulders and nodding appreciatively. Then she gently lifted her chin, gesturing towards the mirror. “Look at this beauty. All done.”
The woman in the mirror had a soft cheeks and red lips, her face stunningly beautiful. A peach-red off-shoulder dress revealed skin as white as fresh snow, truly like a glowing pearl. There was a hint of allure in her purity, soft but not coquettish, with an air of sensuality in every move. Even in the entertainment industry full of beauties, her exquisite looks could rank highly.
Hearing this, Fu Xueli only glanced perfunctorily, smiled, and picked up her phone from the table to check messages. She also unwrapped a piece of candy to eat.
Participating in this variety show was actually just to promote the upcoming new movie and generate some buzz. On stage, a bunch of people interacted with the host following the usual routine. Fu Xueli responded when jokes were thrown her way. Since she wasn’t the female lead, she didn’t try to steal the spotlight, just quietly being a background character.
But even trying to be a background character, someone wouldn’t let her be at peace. Because of a previous reality show, the “couple” pairing of Fu Xueli and He Lu was currently trending hot, and the host kept bringing it up to tease them.
Just for those measly ratings…
Fu Xueli smiled on the surface, laughing it off and pretending not to understand. She wasn’t intentionally being perfunctory or playing dumb, it was just that Ming Heqi standing next to her had rolled her eyes about a thousand times.
Actually, most people in the industry knew about Ming Heqi and He Lu’s relationship, but it couldn’t be openly discussed. Now the rumored girlfriend and the real girlfriend were standing together, and the host kept teasing Fu Xueli, it was truly painfully awkward.
Throughout, Fu Xueli held back her anger, dealing with the questions without addressing the He Lu topic. She thought they were finally entering the game segment, but unexpectedly, the first game required two female guests to stand on rocking dolls and push each other.
Fu Xueli adjusted the sportswear she had just changed into, clipped the microphone to her collar, and gave a hand signal to indicate she was ready. Ming Heqi’s smile deepened as she turned to nod at the backstage control.
Both were women without much strength, and in this kind of public game, Fu Xueli opened her hands, cooperating with light play, gently pushing back and forth to test.
The audience below started to cheer and egg them on.
Fu Xueli looked behind her, suddenly feeling a force pushing towards her, and instinctively stepped back a few steps. Suddenly, there was a scream from Ming Heqi.
She turned her head to see Ming Heqi losing balance, falling sideways, her knee hitting the ground first, her flesh making a dull thud as it hit the floor.
Her heart sank, and she instinctively met Ming Heqi’s eyes. The latter’s eyes were already brimming with tears, looking very weak, but when her gaze fell on Fu Xueli, there was an undisguisable flash of hatred.
People around gathered to check on the situation. Fu Xueli cursed inwardly, breaking out in a cold sweat, and immediately got off the rocking doll.
The scene was in chaos due to the incident, and they had to pause the recording. Everything was captured by the cameras in the corners.
After Ming Heqi rested for half an hour, the show resumed recording after this small episode. They played two or three more games, and the atmosphere quickly heated up again. Midway through, a non-celebrity guest arrived, considered pretty among ordinary people, but when standing next to a group of celebrities, the contrast became immediately apparent.
In the fourth segment, all the guests sat together, taking turns to flip cards and choose between telling a truth or doing a dare. When it was Fu Xueli’s turn, she really didn’t want to bother anymore and chose truth without much hesitation.
There were only two questions, and she could make up answers anyway, which was less effort than doing a dare.
The host flipped the question card: Q1. What type of boy did you like during your school days? Q2. Have you done anything crazy when you were younger?
These ambiguous questions immediately caused a stir on set. Everyone’s eyes fell on Fu Xueli as she bent her arm, resting the microphone against her chin, tilting her head with her ponytail, looking both cute and beautiful.
School days?
In front of the camera, Fu Xueli furrowed her brow, deep in thought.
For this kind of question… the only person she could think of was Xu Xingchun.
In her memory, Xu Xingchun didn’t really like to smile, always silent. Because of his good grades and being the class monitor, he was especially popular among classmates and teachers. He always had a sense of loneliness about him, detached from others, with a particularly cold personality.
“Xueli hasn’t thought of an answer yet?” the host joked, barely bringing Fu Xueli back to reality.
She made a couple of sounds, pretending to think for two seconds, then after a brief silence, said very sincerely, “Me? I liked an introverted top student.”
The people sitting nearby thought they had misheard for a moment, and quickly jumped in to tease, “Tsk tsk, you actually liked that type? Didn’t see that coming.”
“What type did you think I liked?” Fu Xueli turned her head, frowning at him.
The person answered, “The wild type.”
The atmosphere on set was lively. To save time, the host asked the second question.
Because of the first question, Fu Xueli’s mind was still pondering about Xu Xingchun. She slightly raised her eyes and said slowly, “Yes, I once celebrated a birthday for a boy. I felt it was quite thrilling.”
The host seemed very interested, “Oh? Can you tell us more? That sounds romantic. What was so crazy about it?”
Fu Xueli calmly refused, “I was quite wild when I was younger. Better not say it out loud and set a bad example for kids. Otherwise, I might end up as the top trending topic.”
She was naturally rebellious, and even after becoming a public figure, she never hid her past as a delinquent girl.
The host didn’t push, laughed it off, and continued to ask the next person. Because of the questions in this segment, everyone started to recall interesting stories from their school days, and the recording studio was filled with laughter. Fu Xueli spoke less afterwards, absentmindedly listening to others share while scenes from the past replayed in her mind.
Back in high school, she was surrounded by friends like Song Yifan and Xie Ci. Everyone was idle, uneducated, happily wasting time without feeling it was a waste.
Once, Xie Ci was helping Xu You celebrate her birthday on the playground, and a group of people rushed over after hearing about it. Towards the end, things got rowdy. Everyone knew Xie Ci had put in a lot of effort to pursue this transfer student with excellent grades. Xie Ci had a bad temper, and people usually didn’t dare to tease the two of them openly. Now, with such a rare good opportunity, how could they easily let it pass?
They surrounded Xu You, trapping her in the middle, insisting on forcing Xie Ci to smash cake on her face with his own hands. They said it would create the right atmosphere.
Although Xu You was helpless, she smiled good-naturedly, not wanting to spoil everyone’s fun. She didn’t refuse and just stood there waiting.
Xie Ci stood in front of her, swaying back and forth casually, holding the cake in his hand. He looked at her face for a moment, seemingly carefully considering where to smash it, then teased, “Xu You, if you don’t object, I’m really going to do it. Don’t cry, okay?”
Xu You responded perfunctorily, but from the corner of her eye, she saw Xie Ci raising his hand towards her face and reflexively closed her eyes in fear.
After waiting for a while, she suddenly heard the voices of people around her exploding.
“Wow — Brother Ci, you’re awesome!”
“Holy crap, bro, have you gone crazy? Hahahahaha?!”
Xu You didn’t experience the expected prank. Her eyelashes trembled slightly as she slowly opened her eyes, somewhat bewildered.
People around were laughing and making noise, all joining in the commotion. The sky behind the playground was like burning clouds.
Xie Ci, standing in front of her, had his handsome face covered in cream. He was lazy and casual, hands in his pockets, smiling at her.
He tossed aside the plate he had just used to smash cake on his own face, his eyes full of teasing laughter. He bent down slightly, leaning in close, his eyes lowering to look behind her ear as he blew a breath of air, “You think I’d dare to touch you?”
This incident caused quite a stir in their grade for a while. Everyone was boasting about how they would celebrate birthdays for their partners.
Xu Xingchun and Fu Xueli were very low-key together. Not many people around knew about them. She watched them talk excitedly, feeling a bit sour, unable to join in. Then she reflected a bit, realizing she had never really cared much about him…
It was almost Xu Xingchun’s birthday. That day after school, Fu Xueli suddenly remembered this and called out to Xu Xingchun from her seat, “Hey, Xu Xingchun, I have something to tell you.”
She pointed at herself, then snapped her fingers, saying casually, “Tonight, I’ll help you have an unforgettable birthday.”
Xu Xingchun was in the middle of explaining a problem to someone else. He froze, holding his pen, clearly caught off guard.
After a moment, he remembered to nod. He wanted to ask something but thought better of it and didn’t speak.
Fu Xueli rarely initiated conversations with him in class.
The people nearby were surprised and secretly looked at him, asking softly, “Class monitor, it’s your birthday today?”
“Mm.”
“Then… what’s your relationship with Fu Xueli?”
This question ultimately went unanswered.
Actually, that birthday wasn’t particularly memorable, it could even be described as a mess.
Everything was fine during the day, but around 10 PM, an unexpected autumn rain suddenly started.
After the evening self-study session of their senior year, the campus was quiet with sparse lighting. Fu Xueli only worried for a moment before decisively pulling Xu Xingchun along, leading him to climb over the wall from the back door of the girls’ dormitory.
She picked smooth stones from the ground, threw them up to secure footing, and nimbly climbed over.
The light drizzle dampened their hair and coats, the street lamps were dim. Fu Xueli, leading the way in front, was full of energy. She would occasionally peek out to check for night security guards patrolling with flashlights.
Xu Xingchun looked at her back for a while, then lowered his eyes and smiled.
Later, she led him to the flagpole square in front of the teaching building. Fu Xueli stood on the steps looking down, glancing around, then pressed on his thin shoulder blades, earnestly instructing, “Just stay here and don’t move. I’ll be right back to find you.”
Xu Xingchun held her arm, worried she might accidentally fall, and gently reminded her, “Run slowly, the road is slippery.”
He stood in a circle of light, his eyes full of smiles, with a dimple slightly indenting his right cheek.
“Come on, just stand like this.” Fu Xueli adjusted his position, pointing across, “Face the teaching building, like this, okay, don’t move.”
His cheeks were thin, and in the night, he kept quietly watching her. There was something indecipherable in his eyes.
“Fu Xueli.”
Xu Xingchun’s smile faded as he softly called her name. It was a bit scary. Fu Xueli took two steps back, feeling strange, “What?”
Every time he stared at her like this, she felt a chill down her spine, uncomfortable with her whole body damp and cold. Fu Xueli impatiently shoved Xu Xingchun, feeling that his grip was hurting her a bit, “Let go of me, I’ll be right back.”
“Mm.” Xu Xingchun’s lower lip tightened, his lowered voice a bit hoarse, hiding undisguisable emotion. He agreed and released her wrist.
Fu Xueli ran off in a flash.
A few minutes later, the campus broadcast suddenly blared the Athletes’ March, then switched to the Happy Birthday song two or three seconds later, the commotion even waking up the boarding students who were preparing to sleep.
In the deep night, with the sound of rain and cool wind rustling, strange songs abruptly rang out in the empty campus.
Suddenly, very suddenly, on the dark corridor of the fourth floor of the teaching building, a row of white lights lit up one by one with a series of clicks. Xu Xingchun heard the noise, his heart stirred, and he looked up at the sound. The scene that met his eyes was perfect, not a second off.
Colorful fireworks suddenly exploded on the top floor of the teaching building!
Tiny sparks fell, like half the night sky was burning, illuminating that part of the dark night. Immediately after, on the fourth floor, a long red banner reading ‘Happy Birthday’ unfurled in an instant with the wind!
“Xu Xingchun –“
From afar, Fu Xueli called out to him laughing, holding a megaphone, bending over the railing of the corridor and waving. Both proud and free.
She opened her mouth, with the recklessness of youth, her shout almost splitting half the national flag square, carried by the wind to his ears.
“– Happy birthday today?!!”
How to describe that feeling?
In the instant of seeing this scene.
Xu Xingchun quietly looked up at her in the distance, and at that moment, his heart felt like it fell heavily from a high building.
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