Chapter Nineteenth: A Starry Sky That Exists Only in Memory

  It turned out that Sanpi's game rule setting was not reasonable enough. The "pairing" game played until the end, only Yao Qiyun, Situ Xuan, Wu Jiang and Qu Xiaowei were left. Since there were fewer people, and it happened to be an even number, no matter how small the circle was drawn, when the drum stopped, they could all accurately form "one pair". The competition had been going on for a long time without distinguishing the final winner or loser, and the audience was getting anxious. Therefore, Sanpi, who had been eliminated early and was still resentful, took advantage of the situation to end the game as the host.

  The game has ended, and everyone naturally returned to their positions. Yao Qiyun walked a few steps before realizing that he was still tightly holding onto Situ Xue's hand, while on the other side, even Wu Jiang, who had been openly pursuing Qu Xiaowei, had let go of her hand. He felt deeply ashamed of his "unconscious" actions and hastily released his grip in great embarrassment.

  Who would have thought that his sudden release of Si Tu Jue's posture was too abrupt, and the force was too strong. In the eyes of Si Tu Jue, who did not understand the situation at the time, it seemed as if he had been heavily pushed away in front of everyone. Along with her blushing face, she dared not look directly at him, which was naturally interpreted as estrangement and rejection. How could the proud Si Tu Jue swallow this insult? The sunny weather after the rain just now turned into dark clouds again. Coincidentally, Wu Jiang came over excitedly at this time to take Si Tu away, saying that he wanted to formally introduce Qu Xiaojuan to her. Si Tu nodded happily and followed him, leaving behind a cold and hard back view for Yao Qiyun, whose face remained unchanged but was filled with regret.

  Yao Qiyun gazed from afar at Si Tu Jue chatting happily with the girl beside Wu Jiang. Wu Jiang seemed to have said something amusing, and the three of them burst into laughter. For some reason, wherever Si Tu Jue was, the lights always seemed particularly bright and dazzling. She had never been someone who lacked friends or felt lonely, surrounded by so many admiring glances and gazes. Having a falling out with an uninteresting person like him wouldn't be any loss at all.

  He lowered his head and pulled at the grass by his feet, when he suddenly heard Xiao Gen say in a puzzled tone: "Huh? How did Shaocheng suddenly disappear?"

  At this time, the bonfire party was driven by the host Sanpi's enthusiasm and entered one after another new climax. Young people always have inexhaustible energy, fully immersing themselves in laughter and noise. Xiaogen stood up and looked around at the bustling big circle, while Yao Qiyun instinctively glanced at the least noticeable place. Sure enough, not far away, a lonely figure gradually left the crowd and walked towards the small forest shrouded in dark shadows.

  The small woods were cool and green in the daytime, but no one knew what dangers lay hidden in them at night. Yao Qiyun, who was feeling down and preoccupied, had intended to signal to Xiao Gen, but Xiao Gen, with his limited mental faculties, stretched out his neck, not knowing where he was going. He could only anxiously throw away the grass in his hand and hastily chase after that figure in the distance.

  He caught up with Tan Shaoshi at the edge of the forest and stopped her with one hand.

  "What are you doing? This is the wilderness. Don't you know that walking around randomly at night can be dangerous?"

  Tan Shaocheng silently shed tears, "Don't bother about me anymore."

  She also didn't know why Yao Qiyun, who was usually very polite and courteous, had such a heavy tone this time. "Do you think I want to control you? I can't even take care of myself. But what's worth risking your own safety for? If something happens to you, many people here will have to take responsibility."

  Tan Shaocheng's tears flowed even more fiercely, and he slightly bent his waist in his crying: "Who would care about this? What am I? I know, I'm rustic and stupid, like a monster, no one can stand the sight of me!"

  "If you want others to respect you, you must first respect yourself!" Yao Qiyun said loudly to her. After finishing his words, he lowered his head, as if repeating to himself, "That's right, you have to respect yourself. Dignity is given by oneself, just like the last piece of clothing on one's body. Others may not care what's underneath, but if one strips it off voluntarily, then there's really nothing left."

  He finished speaking and pointed towards the direction of the noisy crowd, "I'm going back, do whatever you want. Xiao Gen is still looking for you, he's quite worried about you."

  Then he really turned around and left, leaving Tan Shaicheng with tears in his eyes. After a while, he heard the sound of footsteps following him, but the voice was heavy and dragging.

  "Is there something wrong with your foot?" he asked as Tan Shaocheng hesitated and followed him back to the light.

  Tan Shaochen shook his head, trying to make every step more normal, but his eyebrows were slightly furrowed due to the pain he was enduring.

  Yao Qiyun sighed and stopped, saying: "Lift up your foot, let me take a look."

  She remained still at first, then slowly extended her foot out of the shoe in his silent wait. The sole wrapped in gauze had somehow seeped out blood stains again.

  "Your feet are like this, why bother to participate in any games?"

  Tan Shaocheng smiled wryly and said, "I don't know if you believe me or not, but when I received the invitation to this summer camp, it was like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - many people and things were unfamiliar to me. My mind was hot and messy, and I didn't know what to do. I was too eager to fit in with everyone, so I forced myself to be braver, thinking that if I knew a few more people and participated in all the activities, I could be like everyone else. But in the end, I became a clown. Actually, being different is just being different - when others were learning piano, I was herding cattle and picking firewood. Why should I deceive myself?" She said, wiping away tears from her face. "You're absolutely right, I shouldn't look down on myself. Even if I'm not like others, I have to be stronger than them."

  Yao Qiyun silently stretched out his hand and helped her up.

  Looking at Yao Qiyun, who was carefully keeping a physical distance from herself, Tan Shaochen suddenly said seriously: "Thank you, you're a good person." After she finished speaking, she smiled slightly, and this smile was no longer the humble and modest one that wore a mask as before, but a heartfelt gratitude and friendliness.

  Yao Qiyun helped Tan Shaochen walk to the crowd, then let her sit under a tree and went to find a senior student who was in charge of the medical box to help her re-bandage the wound. Xiao Gen also came over, asking with concern, making sure she was emotionally stable and that the wound was not serious, after which Yao Qiyun excused himself and left, leaving only Xiao Gen to accompany Tan Shaochen.

  After all the commotion, the party was nearing its end, and most people were reluctantly gathering in twos and threes to chat. He easily found Si Tu Jue's location among the countless people. What was strange was that Wu Jiang had disappeared, and surrounding her were several unfamiliar boys, one of whom was the tall and sturdy boy who had been clinging to her during the game.

  However, Situ Xuan, who was surrounded by stars, seemed to be in a poor state and couldn't tell whether it was due to the lighting, her complexion wasn't very good, and her usual bright smile also looked a bit forced.

  Although he knew that going to find her at this time would definitely lead to trouble, Yao Qiyun observed secretly for a while and still felt uneasy. He steeled himself and walked over to their vicinity. Since there were unrelated people around, he called out from a distance: "Situ Yue, come here, I have something to discuss with you."

  Situ Xun looked over and curled his lip, saying: "You call me over, I'll go over. Am I a little dog? You have something to say, can't you come over?"

  Yao Qiyun endured for a moment, then walked over as she was told, pulling her up from the grass and walking several steps away.

  "Sidney Siu shook his head in disgust and pushed him away. 'If you have something to say, just say it. Why are you being so ambiguous?'"

  Yao Qiyun finally got angry, and he didn't know why he always lost control in front of her. He patted his own hand as if there was dust on it. "Why is your face so bad? Did you take the wrong medicine?"

  "You mind your own business? You think you're some kind of hero who appears wherever there's trouble? Save that move for someone who eats this up, I'm not impressed."

  She didn't leave any face, and Yao Qiyun also stopped being polite, coldly sneering: "If it weren't for your mom repeatedly telling me to take care of you before she left, I wouldn't care about your life or death!"

  "Get out!" Si Tu's face turned even paler, using both hands and feet to drive him away, just like driving away a fly. "Get out of here!"

  "I have legs, no need to roll. Besides, don't be in a hurry, I was going to leave anyway, you can do as you please." Yao Qiyun threw out this sentence and left, without needing to look back with his eyes, he could also imagine the fierce gaze of Situ Yue like she wanted to eat him alive. As he walked, he gave her one punch, and then two more to himself, the urge to make everyone's head clear was getting stronger and stronger. What's wrong with them? Why can't they just have a good conversation? No matter how annoying someone is, he could tolerate it, no matter how despicable someone is, he could observe coldly, why couldn't he just put up with one Situ Yue?

  He knew that something was wrong with Situ Jin, and he didn't go far. In fact, Situ Jin was indeed not feeling well, and the problem lay in her stomach. Since childhood, Situ Jin had been taken care of by Xue Shaoping, who advocated for a scientific approach to health, and she had never gone hungry or had any problems with her meals. This time, the outdoor barbecue had been ruined, and she had felt full at first, but after eating the chocolate given by Wu Jiang on an empty stomach, and then being blown by the cold wind at night, her stomach was like a sharp knife stabbing repeatedly.

  When Wu Jiang took her to greet Qu Xiaojuan, she was already uncomfortable, but she was afraid that Wu Jiang would notice and worry about her, which would affect the matter between her and Qu Xiaojuan. So she pretended to be normal and even rejected Wu Jiang's suggestion to take them for a walk by the water together. Wu Jiang didn't want her to be alone, he was being friendly, so she had to be considerate and not be a third wheel.

  After seeing Wu Jiang off, Si Tu Jue finally found a place to catch her breath, only to realize that none of the people she knew were around. Although some unfamiliar boys came over to chat her up soon after, when she saw Yao Qi Yun walking towards her with Tan Shao Cheng from the direction of the small woods, not only did her stomach hurt, but even her liver was trembling in pain. Fine, now that the two of them had a big fight again, it could be considered that they had thoroughly broken up. Anyway, she was in so much pain that she didn't even have the energy to think about those annoying things.

  It turned out that the few boys who came over to chat were not just shameless and heartless, they accompanied her in laughter for a while, and the tall boy first noticed that Si Tu Yu's expression was not that his jokes were uninteresting, but rather that he was feeling unwell, and also guessed a bit when she unconsciously pressed her stomach, and hurriedly went to ask if there was any medicine in the medical box to treat stomach pain.

  At first, Yao Qiyun didn't pay much attention to the boy rushing towards the medicine box of their senior, but after that boy got the medicine and quickly returned to Si Tu Jue's side, finding mineral water for her to take it with, his heart suddenly "thudded". He hurriedly asked the senior what kind of medicine that person had just taken.

  After concluding that Situ Xuan had taken stomach medicine, Yao Qiyun couldn't express the taste in his heart. He was so careless, originally thinking that he was the one who accompanied her day and night, understood her best, and should take care of her most. He clearly knew that Situ Xuan had an empty stomach tonight, clearly knew that with her strong personality, if she wasn't really holding on, she wouldn't show her suffering in front of people, how could he not think of the possible consequences, and still quarreled with her, not even as good as a stranger!

  Just as Yao Qiyun's mind was in a state of turmoil, he heard the senior who was in charge of the medicine box and another boy discussing something behind him.

  One of them said: "You see, it's a waste of opportunity. The medicine was in your hands, but the favor was taken away by someone else."

  "Hey, let's be realistic, we're all just toads dreaming of eating swan meat, it's not going to happen."

  "That's also uncertain. Besides, even if it were a swan, it would be a 'black swan', and if she were any whiter, I'd thoroughly let go, no one could stop me."

  "Stop comforting yourself. I just think she looks pretty good now, and her smile is quite captivating... I don't have that kind of luck, it won't even come to me..."

  As he watched the two of them joking and humming Chen Xiaochun's song, Yao Qiyun only realized that his fists had been clenched tightly for some time. When others were recklessly discussing her skin color, he was extremely angry, but when others were lusting after her, he was already beyond anger. What qualifications did he have to stop all this? If it weren't for the help of Uncle Sutu, he would not be able to be under the same roof as her. What difference was there between him and these people? Except that he was even more sinister and despicable than them.

  The party dispersed, and it was time to set up camp. Everyone went to the organizer to collect their own single-person tent. For beginners, setting up a tent is a technical task, especially for girls. However, what Si Tu Jue needed to worry about wasn't this, but rather several boys gathered around her tent, arguing over how to make it better and getting red in the face. In the end, she couldn't bear it anymore and, in front of them, personally set up a standard tent with ease, successfully driving them away with her actions.

  After she hid in the tent, the surrounding noise also gradually dispersed, and it seemed that many people had entered their own small world like her, experiencing the rare night in the suburbs. What is he doing now? Maybe he's busy helping that poor "little wife" set up a tent, enjoying the thrill of being worshipped. How could he think that the strong "landlady" would also exhaust herself for a small tent, almost collapsing from exhaustion.

  Situ Xin was soon drowsy with extreme fatigue, and in her dream, her mother was carefully taking care of her, wiping away the cold sweat from her forehead, saying: "It's okay, it's okay, Mommy's baby..." But even such a dream couldn't last long, and someone had to come and deliberately interrupt.

  "Situ Xuan, have you fallen asleep?"

  Situ Xuan cursed inwardly and had actually fallen asleep. How could she have answered? She feigned a voice and said, "Situ Xuan is not in this tent."

  He said: "If you don't come out, I'll go in."

  As they spoke, Yao Qiyun had already crawled into the tent through the opening.

  Xī Tù Jìn had just taken off his jeans to use as a pillow, and seeing this, he hastily grabbed the thin blanket that had been distributed to him and covered himself, angrily saying: "Are you a bandit?"

  Yao Qiyun placed the things she had brought with her one by one beside her: a small blanket that could be used as a pillow, mosquito repellent, toiletries, her skincare products, and even some snacks.

  "Yao Qiyun, does your family run a grocery store?"

  Yao Qiyun said: "It's not our family who opened it, but Qu Yuan's wife's family."

  Even the clever and resourceful Situ Xuan was stumped by his inexplicable remark, and she asked in confusion: "What do you mean?"

  Yao Qiyun smiled and said, "Mrs. Qu Yuan's surname is Chen, all of these were bought in the Qu (Chen) family home."

  Situ Xuan was frightened by this extremely cold joke, and she trembled as she reached out to feel Yao Qiyun's forehead. She had a stomachache, her brain shouldn't be damaged, that is, he has a problem.

  He dodged her hand, pressing it against his bent knee, and had already collected his smile when he spoke. "Alright, this time I'm wrong, don't be angry, is that better?"

  Situ Xuan's eyes flushed with anger, but his mouth still pretended to be strong, "Nonsense, I'm fine, hurry up and get out, don't blame me if someone sees you!"

  "Your face is already pale and you're still pretending? Do you know that stomach pain can be severe or mild? You, fundamentally don't know how to take care of yourself."

  Xīng Tuò Jǐn's face turned red with rage, "My mom is not here right now, and even if I go back, I won't speak ill of you. Why must you pretend to be so concerned? Besides, I'm not that pitiful, don't need anyone to take care of me."

  "Boiling it down, it's still the same thing. From start to finish, I helped her just out of a sense of duty as a passerby. No matter who encountered her situation, I would do the same. Ah Yue, can you try not to look at someone with colored glasses? She's not as malicious as you think. If it were you, and you met an ordinary person who only needed a little help, would you refuse? Besides, if you think I did something wrong, you can say so, why keep it in your heart?"

  "You don't have to say these things in front of me, this is your business and has nothing to do with me. This is my tent, a single-person tent, just for one person, do you understand?" Si Tu Jue pushed him out without hesitation.

  "Sima Yue, are you jealous of me and her?"

  "Sze-to was furious, 'Get out! You don't even reflect on yourself, spouting nonsense. Hurry up and leave, I don't want to see you anymore.'"

  Yao Qiyun fended off her outstretched hand while continuing, "If it's because of what I said, then you've been getting along great with those few boys, what did I say?"

  "How dare you! Have you ever cared about my life or death? I'm dying of pain, and you're having the time of your life!" Siu Yuk hurled everything she could grab at him, but since they were too close and the tent was too cramped, most things bounced back onto her own body after hitting him.

  Yao Qiyun didn't know how he ended up holding her in his arms, but the reason he gave himself was that this way, she wouldn't be able to move or run wild again.

  "I admit it's my fault, isn't that enough? Let's not quarrel anymore, Ah Yue. Whatever it is, let's talk about it later. You don't look well and you're all sweaty..."

  "It's not you who is suffering."

  "How did you know I saw you and didn't feel uncomfortable?"

  Xī Tù Jìn also fell silent, the two of them panting heavily in the tent, an eerie silence was maintained for a while, as if neither of them wanted to reveal anything, nor did they want to break it.

  Finally, Yao Qiyun smiled wryly and said: "It's best if no one outside saw it, otherwise with the commotion just now, they'd think something... bad was going on inside."

  "Aren't you doing it now?" Situ Xuan habitually bickered with him, but her own words sounded a bit ambiguous. She blushed and redundantly explained: "I mean you're restricting my personal freedom, you're really bad."

  Yao Qiyun also let go of her, suddenly changing color, stiffly turning her face away.

  "What the...?!" Xī Tù Jìn looked at him with a puzzled expression, his red ears making him wonder. It wasn't until later that he realized that during their earlier horseplay, the thin blanket on him had become useless, and when he lowered his head, he saw his own two bare legs sticking out from under his T-shirt.

  She let out an "ah" and covered herself with a quilt, including her head, "It's all your fault!"

  Yao Qiyun suppressed a smile and said, "Yes, it's all my fault, but can you, Situ Xuan, occasionally put away your quick temper? You always don't distinguish between right and wrong, and act impulsively without thinking things through."

  "You just know how to criticize me, anyway I'm all wrong and she's all right, isn't that so?" Si Tu Jue said with a huff.

  Yao Qiyun said in a serious tone: "It's precisely because it's you that I'm saying this, if it were someone else, what business would it be of mine?"

  Situ Xuan popped his head out from under the quilt, "You mean to say, she's someone else?"

  "Nonsense!"

  Si Tu Xuan let out a "hmm" and suddenly felt her mood clear up miraculously. The wind blew, causing the tent to move slightly, and Yao Qi Yun touched her arm that was outside. "Cold?"

  She nodded and wrapped the blanket tighter around her. If she still had that long-sleeved hoodie, it would have been enough to keep her warm at least.

  "Or I'll go find you a set of clothes?" Yao Qiyun said as she was about to head out.

  Situ Xuan grabbed him, "Where are you going? I won't wear someone else's clothes." She looked him up and down and said, "You have no style. Why don't you take off your own clothes and put them on me? That's how they do it on TV."

  Yao Qiyun was both angry and amused, "I'm not refusing to take it off for you, I only have this one piece on me. The male lead in TV shows wouldn't strip naked for the female lead either."

  Situ Xun lay down, and Yao Qiyun tucked the quilt in for her. Her curled up posture told him that her stomachache had not completely disappeared.

  "Yao Qiyun, come and chat with me." said Situ Xuan vaguely.

  "Go to sleep quickly."

  She shifted her body a bit and patted the empty space beside her, "Will you lie down?"

  Yao Qiyun was stunned, initially hesitant, but where could he bear to refuse? He carefully lay down beside her, this single-person tent was really saving space without any ambiguity. Two not-fat young people had to get very close, so close that Situ Yue's hair tickled his face and made it itch. He could smell the scent of her shampoo and the "thumping" heartbeat coming from her back. This way of sleeping was actually very uncomfortable, if you asked again "aren't you cold", that would be a very silly question, because he was as close as an ant on a hot pot.

  Just then, Shi Tu Xuan added fuel to the fire, she felt her way to his hand and grabbed it, inserting it into the quilt. The moment he touched her skin, Yao Qi Yun's brain went "boom", he restrained himself, afraid that his hands would not listen, almost biting his own lips apart.

  He wanted to say, "A Wei, is this really okay?" But another part of him was selfishly indulging his own desires. Why did he have to be so hypocritical and say things that completely went against the voice in his heart? No matter where she would take his hand from now on, from the day he began to awaken from his confusion, he had been holding her photo tightly in his hand, thinking about it constantly - was this not what he had wanted all along?

  His hand landed on her waist, feeling the soft curve above, and then she led him further down. Just as he felt he couldn't take it anymore, Situ Xuan pressed her hand, stopping at a certain place. Yao Qiyun's passionate tide finally crashed into a rational reef, where her stomach was hurting. He almost died of shame for his own depravity, while Situ Xuan only hoped he would comfort her pain, yet he kept thinking about something else.

  "What are you thinking?" Si Tu Xin asked in surprise at his inexplicable silence, slightly turning her head.

  Her breath sprayed on the edge of his cheek, Yao Qiyun closed her eyes, he couldn't say: "I miss you."

  "I was thinking about when I first met you." He had to tell a lie.

  "Sidney seemed quite interested in this topic. 'I know you came to my house in the afternoon, and my dad brought you there. You were so ugly back then.'"

  "No, not that time."

  "I shouldn't be mistaken, should I?" Situ Xing said with a hint of doubt.

  Yao Qiyun smiled and said, "You don't remember, do you? At that time I was still in my hometown, and you had just started junior high school. I remember you wore a pink skirt with many small braids."

  "That was all my mom's nonsense." Si Tu Xuan vaguely knew he was talking about the time his dad took her to the countryside "to experience life", but what was strange was that no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't remember ever meeting Yao Qi Yun on that day.

  It was as if I could hear her inner voice, Yao Qiyun continued: "You don't have an impression of me, which is not surprising, because there were too many people from the village who came to see you, and you were curious about too many things. I still remember you smiling and distributing chocolates brought from the city everywhere."

  "Then I'll give you chocolate too?" Si Tu said excitedly, wanting to sit up, but was pressed back down by Yao Qi Yun, and had no choice but to lie there obediently listening to him speak.

  "Ah, still a wine heart."

  "Was it then that you started liking me?" she asked brazenly.

  Yao Qiyun had already gotten used to her narcissism, letting out a few muffled laughs from her chest cavity. "If you hadn't been chased by my neighbor's chicken so desperately and even got pecked on the butt in the end, I might have actually liked you back then."

  "How did you like hiding in the dark and watching me from the beginning?" Obviously, Situ Xuan also remembered this matter, muttering and complaining.

  Actually, Yao Qiyun didn't tell her that it would be better to say that on that day he fell in love with Si Tu Jue, but rather he loved the pink dream of his dark life, a kind of unreachable life, a segment that made him know it was impossible and let his desires grow wildly. She stirred up his secret greed, just like moss is infatuated with flowers under the sun, just like dark clouds are infatuated with the moon.

  That day, after she and Uncle Sze left, he secretly put the chocolate in his mouth. Then, even when Mom left and Dad was seriously ill, Yao Qiyun, who had never shed a tear, suddenly burst into tears for no reason. He shouldn't have tasted such flavor, that cruelty was like lighting a torch in a world that had never seen light, and then extinguishing it, only to realize the horror of darkness. He knew too well that she was like that piece of liqueur chocolate, no matter how sweet, no matter how carefully held on the tip of his tongue, but once it melted, there would be no next time, never again.

  Until... until even fate heard his humble plea and gave him the opportunity he had been dreaming of, he didn't want to go back to the past, didn't want to return to that world filled with misfortune, as long as he could continue living in this dream, he was willing to do anything.

  Xī zǐ juàn woke up in a daze, and the difficulty of turning over and the stuffiness made her realize that she was not waking up in her own bed. She propped herself up and saw Yáo qǐ yún with his eyes closed, seemingly fast asleep. This discovery made her feel incredibly wonderful.

  She had never seen him sleep before.

  Situ Xuan opened the skylight on top of the tent, and with the bright light outside shining through, she let her gaze wander over his face. His cheekbones were thin and sharp, his eyebrows were elegant, but if he didn't often furrow them, he would look even more handsome. The corners of his eyes still drooped slightly, making him appear lonely and melancholic, his nose was straight, and his chin was pointed. Situ Xuan couldn't find the right words to describe his appearance, many years later, when she accompanied Lin Xi to watch a foreign art film called "The Best Times", she had completely forgotten the plot, but Lin Xi loved the male lead, while Situ Xuan felt like it was a dream, and in fact, wasn't the reason why Zhang Zhen in that movie seemed familiar to her because he resembled Yao Qiyun?

  At this time, however, 18-year-old Situ Xuan was admiring the living Yao Qiyun in her own "best time". As she looked at him, she suddenly covered her chest, as if something inside was stirring, and as soon as her hand relaxed, a shiny red heart would jump out and hit him, with three embarrassing big words written on it.

  This is the most real self reflected from his face.

  Situ Xuan wanted to shout loudly in this suddenly clear and bright atmosphere, but she restrained herself, lowering her head and sneaking closer with a sly expression. Since he was asleep, it would be a waste not to take advantage of the opportunity.

  Yao Qiyun remained in a position with his face slightly turned to the opposite side, Situ Xuan wanted to sneak a kiss on his lips, but unfortunately, the angle was not right, and forcing it would only startle him awake, which was not worth it. She had to settle for lightly pecking at his cheek instead, originally already very satisfied, but the mischievous heavens were really making things difficult, Yao Qiyun furrowed his brow in his sleep, turned over, yet didn't wake up.

  Now, his entire face was right in front of her, completely at her mercy. Situ Xuan sneaked a smile and leaned down, lightly brushing his lips against hers, and still not satisfied, playfully licked them.

  She thought: "If Yao Qiyun knew that he was being treated so lightly, he would definitely be furious. Right, let him be furious!"

  After getting her way, she held her own flushed face and struck a victorious pose, then went to sleep with a satisfied heart. It was unclear whether it was because of her big movements when lying down again, but this time, Yao Qiyun moved slightly and woke up completely.

  "Situ Xuan, what are you doing instead of sleeping?"

  "No." Situ Jin replied succinctly, "I got up to swat mosquitoes."

  "Is it?" Yao Qiyun didn't say another word.

  Situ Xuan turned his back to him, the corners of his mouth rising as he listened to the harmonious breathing of the two. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, having gained an advantage and pretending to be clever, he suddenly asked: "Yao Qiyun, is your first kiss still there?"

  She thought, it's better to confirm, if she is still there, then she really made a profit.

  Yao Qiyun remained silent behind her back, with his temper, not answering was normal, which usually meant a positive answer.

  Situ Xuan was overjoyed, but this joy was soon ruined by him.

  "That one... is gone, of course."

  "What did you say?" Situ Jin was shocked and gritted her teeth in anger, thinking how this could be possible and when it happened without her knowing. She turned over and glared at him, trying to make her voice sound interested rather than angry, "Oh, who did it? Tell me."

  She was so annoyed in her heart that she ignored his strange expression on his face.

  "Wasn't it you who did it, Situ Xuan?" Yao Qiyun drawled with a hint of a smile.

  Xīng Tū's glib tongue stumbled for the first time in front of Yáo Qǐyún, and he couldn't even string a sentence together. He had lost face, and it was a loss that had reached outer space.

  She especially wanted to quibble and stuttered: "Wh...what's that? I didn't do anything!"

  "Oh, so that's what it means to do nothing." Yao Qiyun suddenly realized and resolutely repeated her previous action, "Then I've done nothing too."

  Situ Xuan struggled to catch his breath and muttered vaguely, "I wasn't like this before, you're more of a rogue than me, I... I'm going to report you."

  Yao Qiyun's voice lingered on her lips with a hint of smile, and he said, "Alright, then will you come visit me in prison?"

  She twisted her body in his tight embrace and saw the starry sky of that day. The dawn was hazy, with numerous stars filling the sky.

  In fact, it rained heavily the next morning, and according to Sutu's knowledge of meteorology, she knew that the stars shouldn't have been so dazzling the night before. Many years later, in order to repeatedly verify and overturn this memory, she had also checked the weather report for that evening countless times, and all the data confirmed that it was overcast with scattered showers at the time. However, the starry sky she saw was so vivid, each one smiling down at her, and she could even say where they were located at the time.

  She can forget everything, even Yao Qiyun, but she will remember this scene until death, that is the starry sky that made her sleepless all night. How many sleepless nights were comforted by this starry sky?

  This starry sky exists solely for Situ Xinyue's memory.