Chapter 33: Starry Sky
Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Starry Sky
The film ran for 102 minutes, making up more than twenty five-minute increments.
As the movie ended and the credits rolled, the audience got up and left the theater one by one. It was a very good movie. Even though Zhang Yan couldn’t even name the male and female leads, he still came to this conclusion.
When the dim yellow lights came on and the cleaning lady entered to clear the hall, the two people snuggled in the back corner finally stood up. With Zhang Yan’s help, his junior carefully straightened out her clothes before they headed out.
Zhang Yan’s hand naturally rested on her left hip, pulling her closer into his embrace. This time, the younger girl didn’t react much; she leaned against him meekly. She had already grown accustomed to his touch.
"Are you hungry? Do you want to get something to eat?" Zhang Yan asked. Seeing her shake her head, he continued, "Don’t go home just yet. I’m taking you somewhere."
She pulled out her phone to check the time. It was already 10:00 PM. A place to go at this hour...
"Aren’t we moving too fast? Zhang Yan, I’m really not ready yet..." she spoke in a low voice, though her footsteps didn’t stop.
"What are you thinking about? Trust me. Just come with me."
After a long inner struggle, she ultimately decided to trust him. She believed he wouldn’t force her to do anything. Allowing him to lead her outside, she saw a black Audi A6 already parked in the open space outside the theater. It seemed it had been arranged in advance.
As the car drove on, she suddenly realized their route was heading toward the suburbs. A hint of nervousness rose in her heart, having no idea where Zhang Yan was taking her.
The streetlights gradually dwindled, and the surroundings grew darker. She subconsciously leaned closer to Zhang Yan. "Where are we going?"
"Don’t worry. We’ll be there soon."
A little while later, the car stopped in front of a detached villa.
Looking at the building before her—which wasn’t exactly new but still decent enough—and the pitch-black surroundings, she was completely bewildered.
"Senior, what is this place?"
"Just a homestay. It was probably built during the trend five or six years ago. But Meng City doesn’t really have much tourism value, so it gradually declined. Now you can rent it for 1,500 a day."
The luxury sedan had already driven off after dropping them off. The younger girl looked at the dark, isolated environment and nervously pursed her lips. It was just the two of them here now. If Zhang Yan really tried to force himself on her, a girl like her would have nowhere to run.
After unlocking the door with the keypad, Zhang Yan looked at her. He didn’t rush her; he just stood silently in the doorway, issuing a wordless invitation.
Finally, she took a step forward. She walked to the door and followed Zhang Yan inside the villa that belonged solely to them for the night. Once inside, Zhang Yan took her hand and led her upstairs.
Generally speaking, the master bedroom in this type of villa was on the upper floor. Because of this, her heart grew tense again. She really wasn’t prepared to give everything to him tonight.
"But he told me to ’trust him’," she reminded herself.
They reached the second floor and saw the master bedroom, but they walked right past it. Relief washed over her. Eventually, the two of them went all the way up to the rooftop terrace.
There was no wind tonight, nor were there any clouds. Two lounge chairs and a small coffee table sat on the terrace, with a few bottles of water resting on the tabletop.
"Come on, lie down and take a look."
She did as she was told, and then she saw it—a river of stars.
She didn’t know when it had started, but a starry sky had gradually become a luxurious sight. It was nearly impossible to see stars in the city. Aside from a few of the brightest stars proving that the sky above wasn’t a fake canopy, city dwellers had practically forgotten what the night sky was supposed to look like.
She had seen the dazzling Milky Way when she was a child, but ever since she moved to the city for school, her memory of the starry sky had slowly faded. There were far too many things more captivating than the stars. Her gaze had been drawn to the ground, entirely consumed by the mundane world. It had indeed been a very, very long time since she had looked up at the night sky.
Seeing the boundless, brilliant river of stars once more, she felt the gloom in her heart clear away significantly.
Zhang Yan suddenly spoke up. "I’ve always felt like you had something on your mind, so I wanted to bring you here to relax. How is it? The stars are beautiful, aren’t they?"
Her eyes flickered. She turned her head to look at Zhang Yan, who was gazing up at the stars with his hands resting behind his head.
"Did he actually notice?" she thought. "Even my best friend, who spends all day with me, only started getting suspicious recently after hearing I was moving back to the dorms..."
Ever since the system had enlightened Zhang Yan and helped him break free from his hopeless romantic mindset, he felt a wave of lingering fear and chills whenever he thought of what his "destined" ending was supposed to be. Therefore, he had learned from his past mistakes. Now, he was much more thoughtful and observant when interacting with women. He no longer limited himself to just admiring their beauty. Moreover, whenever he had free time after going home, he would review his interactions to weigh his gains and losses.
He had actually harbored a vague feeling about his junior’s unusual behavior for a while, but he hadn’t been able to pinpoint exactly what was wrong with her. Having a large block of free time today, he carefully analyzed their time together. By temporarily stripping away his halo of being a "handsome guy" and a "rich tycoon," he finally understood the problem.
She was too rushed.
Even if it was love at first sight, she seemed far too eager. So eager that she came across as a bit... easy?
So, was Chi Xinyue a gold digger who threw away her pride and started groveling the moment she saw his wealth?
Zhang Yan didn’t think that was the case, but to verify his theory, he had planned today’s itinerary. If Chi Xinyue hadn’t followed him here, or if she had subtly laid out some conditions, Zhang Yan would have adjusted his view of her and interacted with her differently.
But she hadn’t. She trusted him deeply, resolutely following him to the middle of nowhere all by herself. During the entire trip, she hadn’t even taken out her phone to let her best friend or anyone else know where she was going.
If she wanted to exchange herself for something, this was her last chance. Every gold digger knew that the best time to bleed a man dry was right before he finally had her.
Now, the relationship between him and Chi Xinyue had progressed by leaps and bounds. It could be said that aside from taking that final step, there was no room left to advance. Yet, to this day, she hadn’t made a single material demand, and Zhang Yan had never offered to buy her anything either.
Therefore, he could be certain that Chi Xinyue wasn’t a girl like Cheng Lu.
Furthermore, looking back on his memories of them alone together, she would occasionally stare blankly into the distance, lost in thought. Zhang Yan was convinced that she must have run into some sort of trouble that was driving her to take urgent action, even while her heart strongly resisted it.
That was why she had ended up in this contradictory state, nearly giving herself away for nothing.
Zhang Yan turned his head and met his junior’s gaze, looking into those eyes that were as radiant as the starry sky above.
"Promise me that, at least for today, you won’t think about anything else. Just quietly watch the stars and get a good night’s sleep. Alright, baby?"