Flying Through the Wilderness

On New Year's Eve, news spread across the internet that Sheng Jinyu had won the Hottest Star Award again.

A giant poster of her appeared on the commercial building across from the office tower. Beneath the camera's gaze, the woman had snow-white skin and red lips, breathtakingly beautiful.

Her coworkers chattered away. "Come to think of it, Sheng Jinyu is from Jiangcheng too. She went to school with you, Xu Nan Zhi."

"What was it like being classmates with a big star? Must've been so cool!"

Xu Nanzhi lowered her head. After a long pause, she finally said, "We weren't close."

It was only natural that they weren't close. A big star and an ordinary person might occasionally brush past each other, but they would never walk the same path.

*

Still, Xu Nanzhi sometimes found herself remembering the past.

Back then, Sheng Jinyu wasn't a big star yet. With her short hair, she climbed in through the window and into Xu Nanzhi's bedroom.

Her eyes sparkling, she slipped a plastic rhinestone ring into Xu Nanzhi's palm.

Xu Nanzhi smiled. "Who gives someone a ring without putting it on their finger?"

Sheng Jinyu shook her head. "This thing is too cheap-looking. It's not good enough for our Princess Xu."

"Once I'm a big star, I'll buy you the biggest, prettiest ring and give you a wedding of the century. I'll let the whole world know!"

She laughed at Sheng Jinyu's dream, but her cheeks were flushed red.

*

Too bad there was never going to be a future for them.

One sudden upheaval changed everything overnight. Xu Nanzhi was the first to break her promise.

Perhaps the snow on New Year's Eve was too bright. Xu Nanzhi clenched the ring in her hand, staring at the poster until her eyes burned with pain. Suddenly, tears began to fall.

"...I miss you so much."

Throughout all the years they'd been apart, Xu Nanzhi kept having the same dream.

In it, they were in a boundless wilderness, like butterflies, flying and alighting wherever they pleased;

falling together in an embrace.

[Obsessive, ambitious schemer × A sun that breaks at the slightest touch]

Theme: You should be like a bird, flying to your mountain