He and the Stars Are Both Just Passersby

Zhuang Xingxuan had loved astronomy ever since she was a child. Her middle school textbooks were densely covered with the names and data of celestial bodies and planets, and she could talk about them endlessly to anyone she met, almost to the point of obsession.

Yet seven years later, after graduating from university, Zhuang Xingxuan had become an ordinary finance professional, earning a handsome salary. Now, when she occasionally passed a planetarium, all she could do was smile bitterly.

Later, Cheng Yuli, the heir to the Starry Media Group, came to her while seeking investment for an astronomy-themed film. Two parallel lines that seemed to have nothing to do with each other crossed briefly, only to be pulled apart again by fate.

Zhuang Xingxuan politely declined his generous invitation and handed him a locked, heavy box of notebooks. They were filled with every trace of the things she had once loved.

The rusty little lock seemed to seal away a memory. Looking at the girl across from him, smiling brightly, Cheng Yuli felt that her smile did not reach her eyes at all.

They talked about everything under the sun, from the stock market to domestic TV dramas, from celebrities in Chinese entertainment to their carefree youth.

They could even talk openly about the embarrassing past neither of them wanted to mention, but when it came to their old dreams, they both avoided the subject.

Thinking back to their middle school days, Zhuang Xingxuan jokingly brought up the foolish things they had done when they were young. She said she wished the flight to Canada back then had waited a little longer. She had promised to see him off, but she hadn't made it in time.

"Was I the one who didn't wait for you?" Cheng Yuli replied with a question of his own, smiling scornfully. "You were the one who didn't want me."

"What about now?"

"It's too late."

Zhuang Xingxuan didn't care much. They had always been parallel lines with nothing to do with each other, and they would never cross paths again.

"Zhuang Xingxuan," Cheng Yuli finally let go of all his restraint and pride after holding back for so long. "You've already given up on me. Now, are you giving up on your stars, too?"

-

"The wind rests on my shoulders,

and above the wind, a glittering field of stars."

Bei Dao, "Ending or Beginning: In Memory of Yu Luoke"

*The protagonists' names are inspired by the phrase "stars suspended, jade plums" in Jin Lou Zi. Jade plum is the name of a star.

*The first version of this blurb was written on August 17, 2022.

Theme: A toast to the wind, to dreams, and to freedom.