Starlight Falls

[The print edition is now available, with a new campus bonus story and the author's afterword. On sale at all major platforms. Weibo: @QiyaoShuiLe]

[The next book will be Summer Night at Nine-Thirty]

1.

Qi Yao had loved Yu Jiashu for ten years.

In high school, he was bold and free-spirited, dazzling like a star in the night sky.

She was just the most ordinary girl in the class next door, so unremarkable that she could disappear into a crowd.

On the eve of graduation, she anonymously wrote him a letter. Every line was sincere, wishing him top marks in the exams and a bright future.

And that was exactly what he got.

When they met again, he had become a rising star in the tech world, his brilliance impossible to conceal, every gesture refined and distinguished. At the time, she had already made a modest name for herself. Ignoring the paparazzi's cameras, she summoned her courage, eyes red, and called out to him.

Yu Jiashu turned around. With polite detachment, he asked her:

"Who are you?"

2.

With a face like the nation's first love, Qi Yao had played every kind of ethereal first love in youth dramas. During an interview, the host smiled and asked whether she'd been just as popular back in school.

Qi Yao's eyes curved as she shook her head. "I was the ordinary girl looking up at the stars."

That night, the hashtag #PopularActressQiYaoConfessedWithInvisibleInkInHighSchool climbed to number two on the trending list, sparking countless discussions about first love.

At number one was #TheStory'sProtagonistResponds:

"XM Chip Developer Yu Jiashu": I saw it.

3.

Qi Yao later felt that every dark moment in her life had ended right then.

His usually cool, languid gaze was clear and bright. Standing in the bleak winter wind, he looked like a cedar whose branches were laden with white snow. In a low voice, he asked her:

"Would it be too late to write back after ten years?"

"When you appeared, all the stars in the sky came down and settled upon me."

*"Love is an ever-fixed mark."*

/ Shakespeare's Sonnets

Reader's Guide:

1. A reunion after a long separation, with a secret love finally fulfilled.

2. The heroine has a personal growth arc, and the hero is no playboy.

3. This is not a showbiz story. There are no real-life inspirations, and it does not allude to the real entertainment industry.

4. Please don't make baseless claims that the characters resemble so-and-so. They are not stand-ins for any celebrity.

5. All professional knowledge in the story comes from professional books, academic journals, and online sources. Please contact me for removal if there are any issues.

[Important] This is not a substitute for any celebrity ship! This is not a substitute for any celebrity ship! This is not a substitute for any celebrity ship! Important things should be said three times.

----Coming Soon: Summer Night at Nine-Thirty----

1.

The day Liang Yueting moved to Nancheng, the rain had just stopped.

The cramped alley was full of puddles. She dragged her suitcase along, its wheels splashing mud onto the pants of the person standing by the wall.

The boy pushed himself upright with one arm, getting to his feet without a care. Beneath the hood of his sweatshirt were eyes as dark as ink. His expression was cold and impatient as he said in a low voice, "Apologize."

That was the first thing Lin Zhaoye ever said to her.

2.

On the day she left Nancheng, the boy pulled his sweatshirt hood over his head and saw her off at the train station.

Her already-fragile family was falling apart again. The two middle-aged adults had long since grown tired of dealing with each other, and stood far apart.

The suitcase rattled over the uneven ground, making her hands go numb. Amid the noisy whistles of the old green train, Liang Yueting thought she saw him open his mouth.

Just like her own muddled, barely audible, one and only "Brother."

She never heard Lin Zhaoye's last words.

3.

They met again years later.

He stood on a brightly lit stage, surrounded by a swaying sea of people. Just a couple of casual strums on his guitar were enough to draw screams and cheers.

Yet across the sea of people, he looked only at her. His pupils glimmered in the darkness, his jawline sharp and clear, as he repeated softly:

"Liang Yueting, look at me."

After all these years, she finally heard what he had said at the dividing point between his frantic, helpless boyhood and the years that followed:

"I will always love you."

Liang Yueting, I will always love you.

*"My muse cannot lack a theme; you yourself are the delight of poetry."

"You should know, I am always writing about you."

/ Shakespeare's Sonnets

----Coming Soon: Ying Zhong----

1.

The Fang family had a tradition of going to Qi'an Temple on the second day of the new year to burn incense and pray for peace and good fortune in the year ahead. Fang Shuji had never believed in it, but she'd still taken the child staying at her house with her.

The child was always well-behaved, but this time he had turned around and run off somewhere.

When Fang Shuji found him amid the bustling crowd, twelve-year-old Cen Ningnan was leaning over the incense table, carefully writing:

"I hope everything goes smoothly for Sister, and that she meets a considerate boss who pays her on time. I hope Panpan stays healthy and keeps Sister company until she's ninety-nine. I'll study hard and work hard to make money so I can be a client one day."

He had written on and on, listing countless wishes, not one of them for himself.

She stared in a daze, then looked away and saw his dark eyes and earnest expression.

2.

The years flew by.

Later, Fang Shuji returned to Qi'an Temple on an errand, where, by chance, she spotted familiar handwriting.

Twenty-year-old Cen Ningnan had written only a brief wish: "I hope Fang Shuji's every wish comes true."

Standing in the breeze filled with incense smoke, she suddenly realized that the boy had grown into an adult, and that at some point he had stopped calling her Sister.

But the nights he guarded her alone as snow fell, the first New Year's greeting at midnight...

Through all those long, long days, Cen Ningnan had always been her puppy.

"How could time wait for anyone? I'm the one who's waiting for you."

An eight-year age gap, devoted puppy-boy romance.

.

Theme: What is cherished and never forgotten will eventually be answered.