Thank you Jess Crafting, Elysiafaith, and Silvertonguedmaiden for the ko-fi donations! As for Jess Crafting’s donation, since you didn’t specify for which series, I’ll use it as a donation for [Dwarf] instead. Again, thank you for the donation~ As for the bonus chapter, I’ll upload it tomorrow!
Next ko-fi donation goals for the bonus chapter (0/2)
Fu Jinxiao pretended he didn’t see Shen Xingsui’s blush. He just spoke frankly. “I just talked with Auntie just now. She said that she originally planned to let the driver pick you up, but since you are with me, she let the driver go home.”
Shen Xingsui: “Eh?”
His mother is really his real mother.
He really didn’t expect this day to end with him spending a night in his idol’s house. It was a very pleasant surprise.
Fu Jinxiao took him to the guest room and said, “This was originally my study room, but you can use it for the night. My room is just next room over, come to me if you need anything.”
Shen Xingsui nodded obediently. “Okay.”
After the movie emperor left, Shen Xingsui finally could fully relax. After making sure he was alone, he rummaged through his suitcase, and retrieved a thick stack of music scores. It was about twenty different songs if he remembered correctly. He searched through it for quite a long time, and finally found the music score that Jian Zhi stole.
Shen Xingsui took a photo of the score and sent it to Wang Meican.
Wang Meican has been waiting, and after receiving the WeChat message, she immediately sent a message to Shen Xingsui, saying: “Thank you Suisui. I will contact a professional musician to compare this to Jian Zhi’s plagiarized song for extra credibility. Now is not the best time for us to clarify. I asked around and found out that Jian Zhi’s PR team has made quite the moves during these past two days. They should be waiting to release something to slander you. So, once he posted this, let’s hammer him to death in one swift blow. I’d like to see how he will try to crawl his way back to stardom.”
Shen Xingsui was not in a hurry, so was fine with this arrangement. “Mm. I think that’s a solid plan. Thank you Wang-jie.”
He hung up the phone, then began to work on a piece of music that he was supposed to submit within five days – the one that Zhang Jiang tasked him to do.
Shen Xingsui attached great importance to this score. Because of Jian Zhi’s matter, he has been delayed for a day. He must go all out to finish it within four days. Since this place used to be a study, there was a big table not far away. With a pen and paper still in place, Shen Xingsui went over and took a blank piece of paper, sat on the bed and began to try to write the outline of the song.
He has a bad habit. When he was fully focused on composing, he tended to forget the time. When he finally was satisfied with the part he wrote, he finally realized how tired he felt. So, he conked out not long after.
When he woke up, he still felt dizzy and tired. Then, he looked at the window.
The sun… was already up. Quite high in the sky, too.
“…”
It’s over.
Shen Xingsui saw that it was nine o’clock. He was surprised that Actor Fu didn’t wake him up.
He got up quickly and opened the door, only to see that there was still breakfast on the dining table. Next to the already-cold breakfast, there was a note written by Fu Jinxiao. It seemed… the actor had already expected him to oversleep. He even reminded him to finish eating the breakfast before going home.
Shen Xingsui felt ashamed.
It was the first time he stayed overnight at his idol’s house, but he actually overslept until this late. He didn’t even see him off in the morning!
But after thinking about it, he looked around the room, and suddenly felt a little moved. How could Fu Jinxiao trust him so much? They only have a senior-junior relationship – they’re not that close. And yet, he was trusted enough to be left alone at the actor’s home?
A burst of warm joy bloomed inside his heart at this realization.
It’s such a great feeling to be trusted.
Shen Xingsui quickly ate breakfast, then cleaned the dishes. Because he was still feeling a little guilty, he went out of his way to clean both the toilets and the floor. He also went back to the study-slash-guest room to tidy it up. He didn’t want to leave a bad impression on his idol, so he cleaned everything until it was spotless.
Coming out of Actor Fu’s house, Shen Xingsui first went back to Shen family’s house to put his suitcase and box. The album and photos were a little worn out, so he thought about buying some new photo frames. Thankfully, there was a shopping mall nearby. He donned a hat and went there.
There were many people in the mall, but he wasn’t recognized by anyone there.
Shen Xingsui quickly picked out a suitable photo frame, took it and went to the cashier to check it out. But, there was an old woman in front of the line who lingered at the cashier for a long time and did not leave.
The cashier said, “I’m sorry, Madam, you are short 5 yuan for this bag of potatoes.”
The old woman seemed to have no money with him, so he kept saying, “Can I wait for my grandson? He will be here in a while, and I will ask him to pay.”
The cashier smiled awkwardly, “Ah… There are still many people queueing behind you. May I ask you to queue again after your grandson is here?”
The old woman didn’t quite understand, he hesitated.
Shen Xingsui took a step forward and said, “It’s okay, put it on my account, I’ll pay for him.”
The old woman glanced at Shen Xingsui with gratitude and said, “Thank you, thank you young man, I’ll pay it back later..”
Shen Xingsui smiled, “It’s okay, it’s just a trivial matter.”
He was about to leave after paying the payment, but he didn’t expect that the granny in front hadn’t left yet. She came over and took Shen Xingsui’s hand and said, “Young man, wait a minute, my grandson will be here soon.”
Shen Xingsui was helpless, “It’s okay grandma, I really…”
Then, a young man really came over.
A young man with a cropped head came over in a gray down jacket and said, “Grandma, I’m back from the toilet. Have you finished your shopping? Let’s go back together…”
The man’s words came to an abrupt end after meeting Shen Xingsui’s eyes.
Shen Xingsui was taken aback when he saw him, and finally smiled lightly: “Hello.”
The short-haired young man hesitated and said, “Is it… Suisui?”
Shen Xingsui didn’t expect that he still remembered him, so he nodded and spoke, “It’s me, long time no see.”
“I didn’t expect to meet you here. I’m Zhang Chi. Do you still remember me?” The young man stuttered a little, “I just came back from abroad this year. I saw you on TV. You are now a star. Yes, you sing very well…”
Shen Xingsui smiled and said, “Thank you.”
Zhang Chi was his high school classmate and was once one of his best buddies.
Later, Anran also transferred in. Everyone liked the kind and gentle Anran, and disliked Shen Xingsui, who had poor grades and was naughty. Later, under Anran’s persuasion, many people alienated Shen Xingsui… including Zhang Chi, his closest friend back then.
The old woman motioned Shen Xingsui to her grandson with a smile on her face, “Thanks to this young man, he helped me pay for the potatoes.”
After hearing this, Zhang Chi smiled and said, “Thank you Suisui. Let me return your money back.”
“No need, no need.” Shen Xingsui shook his head and hand. “Next time, just make sure to stay with your Grandma, okay?”
Zhang Chi felt a little ashamed of his negligence. “Yeah. Got it.”
The truth is, seeing Shen Xingsui like this reminded Zhang Chi of his foolish youth. He felt… really guilty.
During his high school year, he knew he was at fault to follow the masses and alienated his good friend, who he knew wasn’t the vicious boy everyone had painted him as. But… everyone hated Shen Xingsui back then, so he felt like he had to follow the crowd, or he’ll be the next person to be excluded from everything.
Now, a little older and wiser, he obviously knew what he had done back then was wrong. Shen Xingsui didn’t do anything deserving of that kind of treatment back then.
Shen Xingsui said, snapping Zhang Chi out of his thoughts. “Then I’ll go first.”
Zhang Chi looked at his ex-best friend’s thin back, and subconsciously shouted: “Suisui!”
Shen Xingsui turned around.
“I, I mean, we are all old classmates. C-can we… get together sometimes? Like for a meal or a cafe?” Zhang Chi licked his dry lips. “I haven’t seen you for so many years now…”
After Shen Xingsui listened, he smiled softly. His eyes were clear and bright, and he was stunning and gorgeous.
Zhang Chi could only look in a stupid daze.
However, Shen Xingsui instead said, “Is it necessary?”
Zhang Chi regained his senses, his heart slowly sank.
“Well, since we haven’t seen each other for years and we have carved our own place in the world… it’s better for us to stay that way, no?” Shen Xingsui said softly, but the brightness behind his eyes seemed to dim with every word he spoke. He could vividly recall his lonely high school years with perfect clarity now. “Plus, you never contacted me before this. I think… you no longer consider me as your friend. Am I right?”
Looking at his face, Zhang Chi felt an inexplicable pain in his heart, and he subconsciously said, “No…”
Shen Xingsui turned his back. “It doesn’t matter.”
Zhang Chi was a little stunned.
“It’s over.” Shen Xingsui walked away, then waved his hand with an empty smile on his face. “I don’t care anymore.”
There was no longer any recognition, any hurt, or any strong emotions behind that parting gaze. Shen Xingsui could smile freely, but Zhang Chi could only stand here, shackled by his past.
He remembered one day many years ago. At that time, it was Shen Xingsui who looked for him. It was clear that the alienation had been too much for him. And yet… Zhang Chi only dodged him, pretending they were never friends to begin with.
The hurt look in Shen Xingsui’s eyes was something he could never forget.
It was that afternoon, and many times later, even after graduation, he would often dream about it, and then wake up from the dream.
At that time, it was Shen Xingsui who watched him leave. But this time, he stood here and watched Shen Xingsui leave. He didn’t look back or take glances. He has firmly moved on from his past.