Iceberg Challenge

Chapter 5, Section 1

At the bonfire party, the female guest, Jiang Li, sat by the fire with a guitar, playing and singing a light folk song.

Zhao Yin sat on the rock next to me, turning an empty wine bottle in his hand, his eyes fixed on the dancing flames.

"Wenxi, do you want to sing?" Jiang Li finished singing a song, looked up and smiled at me, "I heard that you sing very well, but you never show off."

I was about to wave my hand when Zhao Yin suddenly said, "His voice is a little hoarse, let me do it."

Jiang Li was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "That's fine, Brother Yin has debuted before, it's just right for us to hear about his stage performance back then."

Zhao Yin didn't refuse, took the guitar and tuned it.

His fingers were long and bony, and he plucked the strings with an indescribable sense of dexterity.

I stared at his hands and suddenly remembered that he used these hands to take over the trophy backstage at the awards ceremony five years ago. At that time, I almost couldn't hold mine.

At that time, I wrote on my trumpet: "Brother Yin's hands are more dazzling than the trophy. I suggest he debuts solo."

The guitar started playing, it was a very old love song with a soothing tune.

His voice was lower than usual, with a hint of hoarseness from the sea breeze. When he sang the chorus, he raised his eyes slightly, and his gaze fell squarely on my face.

"...Moonlight streams over the windowsill, your eyelashes tremble, I count my heartbeats, waiting for a greeting..."

The charcoal fire popped and sparks flew out. I suddenly lowered my head and pretended to cough.

Xiao Chen was sitting opposite, holding up his phone and filming something.

When the song ended, the applause was sparse - mainly because everyone was stunned.

Jiang Li was the first to react. The male guest beside her whistled: "Brother Yin is hiding his talent. His level is no worse than before."

Zhao Yin handed the guitar back without saying anything. He just picked up the bottle of mineral water next to him and handed it to me: "Drink some water."

I took it and tried to twist the bottle cap. Just as my fingers touched the plastic bottle, he suddenly reached out, pressed his thumb on the bottle cap and twisted it gently to open it.

"Thank you...thank you." I stuttered and took two gulps with my head tilted back.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a WeChat message from Xiao Chen:

[Teacher Wen, check Weibo! #ZhaoYinSingsToWenXi# has exploded!]

I opened Weibo and saw that we almost monopolized the top of the trending search list.

#赵银文熙一直在慢# is still in third place, while #赵银歌手歌手文熙# has jumped to first place. When I clicked on it, all I saw were the leaked videos from before. I don’t know which fan took it, but the camera was very close, capturing the look in Zhao Yin’s eyes clearly.

[Help! I can't hide this look anymore! What kind of brotherly love can involve staring at each other while singing a love song?]

[I can watch Wenxi's blushing face a hundred times! He must be moved!]

[It's been five years! I've been shipping this ever since we passed each other at the awards ceremony, and today I finally got the sweet treat!]

Did anyone notice how Yin-ge unscrewed the bottle cap? He was so skilled it was heartbreaking. How many times has he helped Wen-xi unscrew it?

I scrolled down and suddenly saw a comment that had been pushed to the front row: [Is it possible that five years ago, backstage at the awards ceremony, when Wen Xi handed the microphone to Zhao Yin, his hands were also shaking violently? I was there and saw Zhao Yin help him up.]

Someone replied: [!!! The microscope girl appeared! Let’s go do some archaeology now!]

Did he notice me at that time?

Zhao Yin leaned over to take a look at some point. He tapped the screen with his fingertips. It was the comment praising his skill at unscrewing bottle caps: "They have quite a rich imagination."

"Yeah," I laughed dryly, "it's just a blind guess."

He didn't say anything, just smiled and lowered his head. The firelight flickered in his eyes, like a handful of falling stars.

Chapter 5, Section 2

The bonfire party lasted until late at night.

Everyone drank a little wine and walked towards the B&B with unsteady steps. Jiang Li pulled the director aside and said she wanted to talk about the script for a while. Xiao Chen was dragged away by other staff members to pack up, and in the end only Zhao Yin and I were left behind.

"Does your foot still hurt?" Zhao Yin suddenly asked.

"Much better." I moved my ankle. "Thank you for today."

"Thank you for what?"

“…Thank you for singing.”

I didn't have the courage to thank him for helping me out, let alone mention the bottle cap.

He chuckled, "As long as you like it."

This sentence was said so naturally, as if it was saying "The weather is nice today", but I happened to hear something else in it.

My heart started pounding again, and I quickly changed the subject: "Brother Yin, why did you suddenly stop singing?"

He debuted as the center of a boy group. His singles were popular in the streets and alleys at that time. However, after the group disbanded, he suddenly switched to making movies and never sang in public again.

Fans all said that it was because of exploitation by the company, but he himself never responded.

Zhao Yin was silent for a moment, then kicked the stones under his feet. "At that time, I felt that singing didn't seem to have any meaning."

"Why?"

"Who are you singing for?" He glanced at me sideways. "There are so many people in the audience, and none of them is the one I want to sing for."

My breath hitched.

What does he mean by this? Is he saying...

"Wenxi," he suddenly stopped and turned to face me, "Five years ago, backstage at the awards ceremony, were you hiding behind a pillar and crying?"

I was stunned.

I remembered that incident for a long time.

I had just won the New Artist Award that day, and a senior from my industry was blocking me backstage, accusing me of relying on connections to get to the top and even throwing my trophy on the ground. I had just debuted at the time, and I was too timid to talk back. I could only hide behind a pillar and cry secretly, then smile and go out for the interview.

I always thought no one knew.

"You...you saw it?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I went to look for you to say congratulations, but I saw you squatting there."

My face flushed instantly, feeling embarrassed and ashamed: "It was so embarrassing back then..."

"It's not shameful."

He interrupted me, "I was thinking at that time, it would have been great if I had met you earlier."

I looked at him and was suddenly speechless.

"Brother Yin..."

"Don't call me Brother Yin." He took half a step forward and was so close to me that his breath could spray on my forehead. "Call me Zhao Yin."

Chapter 5, Section 3

When I returned to the B&B, the lights in the living room were still on.

Xiao Chen fell asleep on the sofa, her phone screen lit up, lingering on our CP super topic page. The latest post was from her: [Exclusive Reuters! Brother Yin and Brother Xi spent half an hour alone at the beach! Don't ask, they're just talking about life!]

There were a lot of replies like "I understand" below, and someone even photoshopped a picture of our wedding together, which looked pretty realistic.

I tiptoed over and tried to turn off her phone, but Zhao Yin suddenly grabbed my wrist and said, "Stop bothering her."

"I'll take you upstairs," he said.

"No, I can do it myself." I pointed to the stairs. "It's just a few steps."

He didn't listen and continued to follow me.

I stopped at the second floor stairs and said, "I'm here."

"Yeah." He nodded, "Go to bed early."

"The same to you."

I turned around to open the door, and just as my hand touched the door handle, he suddenly said, "Wenxi."

"Huh?" I turned around.

He looked at me, silent for a few seconds, and then slowly said, "What do you want to eat tomorrow morning? I'll ask the kitchen to prepare it."

"Ah?" I was stunned for a moment. "All...all are fine."

"Soft-boiled eggs?"

"……good."

He then nodded and turned to walk downstairs.

Back in the room, I leaned against the door and touched my face. It was hot.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a WeChat message from Zhao Yinfa: [Soak your feet before bed. I asked Auntie to boil some hot water.]

I replied "OK" and just as I put down my phone, I heard a knock on the door. I opened it and it was the hostess from the B&B, holding a wooden basin filled with steaming water.

"Mr. Wen, Mr. Zhao asked me to bring this to you. He said it contains some mugwort, which is good for sprains."

Auntie smiled ambiguously.

"Thank you, Auntie." I took the basin of water.

After soaking my feet, I tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.

I picked up my phone, opened my fake account, hesitated for a long time, and posted a new Weibo: [He knew I cried five years ago, and he said it would have been great if he had met me earlier.]

There were no pictures or topics, just this bare sentence. Within two minutes of posting it, the comments were overwhelming.

【!!! Is that Yin Ge? It must be him!】

[Five years ago? Was it the awards ceremony? I told you Xixi wasn't in the right mood that day!]

"I wish we had met earlier"—What kind of a statement is that! I'm going crazy!

So, Yin Ge noticed Xixi back then? A mutual crush, right?!

I stared at the words "mutual crush," my heart beating so fast it felt like it was about to explode. Was it really a mutual crush? He'd saved my number for five years because I was on this variety show. He knew I liked soft-boiled eggs, that I was afraid of the dark, and even... that I'd secretly cried five years ago.

Are these really just the care that seniors give to juniors?

The phone vibrated again. It was a message from Zhao Yin: [Are you asleep?]

I replied almost immediately: [Not yet.]

What are you thinking about?

I stared at the screen, my finger hovering over the input box. I typed and deleted, deleted and typed again, and finally asked: [Why did you come to me at that time?]

He replied quickly: [I want to tell you that I watched the movie you starred in three times.]

I was stunned.

That was the first movie I made when I just debuted. It was a box office flop and the word of mouth was average. I almost forgot about it.

He actually watched it three times?

“Why?” I asked.

This time he was a little slow in replying. After about a minute, a line of words popped up on the screen: [Because I want to see you more.]

Chapter 5, Section 4

I stared at that sentence for a full five minutes until the phone screen automatically dimmed.

"Look at you more."

These six words are like feathers, gently scratching the heart, making people want to laugh but also a little sad.

It turns out that he had already noticed me at that time, so my five years of secret love for him didn't seem too lonely.

I buried my face in the pillow, laughed for a long time, and then picked up my phone to reply: [That movie is not well made, you should stop watching it.]

"It's pretty good." He replied, "Especially the scene where you cry in the rain. It's very touching."

I thought of that scene again.

It was winter when we were filming, and it was raining artificially. I was shivering with cold, and my tears mixed with the raindrops fell down. The director even praised me for my emotional expression.

I only now realized that there was someone who watched that embarrassing crying scene three times in front of the screen.

I cried ugly at that time.

[Not ugly.] He replied quickly, [his eyes shining.]

I didn't reply, turned my phone to silent mode and stuffed it under my pillow.

My heart was beating so fast that I couldn't sleep at all. I could only stare at the ceiling with my eyes open. All I could think about was Zhao Yin's appearance - his profile when he was singing, the look in his eyes when he looked at me, and the tone of his voice when he said "Call me Zhao Yin" at the stairs just now.

I don’t know how much time passed, but when I was about to fall asleep, my phone suddenly vibrated.

I took it out and saw it was a Weibo push from the host of the "Xiyouyin" super topic: [Urgent Notice! Brother Yin's private account seems to have liked our super topic's CP video! Screenshots are provided as proof!]

I woke up instantly and opened the super topic.

The screenshot is pinned at the top. The avatar of Zhao Yin’s personal account is obviously a black cat. In the likes record, there is a collection of our interactions, with the title "Five years of secret love, from passing by to watching the sea side by side."

The comments section has gone crazy.

[Holy crap! Is this true?! Was this a slip of the hand?!]

[It's a private account! He actually used it to browse the CP super topic?!]

[The title "Five Years of Secret Love"... Brother Yin, do you know something?!]

[Combined with Wen Xi's second account line, "He knew I cried five years ago," I have reason to suspect these two have been secretly in love with each other for a long time!]

[Help! If this works out, I'm willing to hand-copy "Five Years of College Entrance Examination and Three Years of Simulation" a hundred times!]

I scrolled down and saw someone @Zhao Yin’s studio and asked if it was a slip of the hand.

The studio has not responded yet, but Zhao Yin’s likes have been cancelled, leaving only a lonely screenshot of the like record, which was forwarded crazily by fans.

I looked at the screenshot and suddenly remembered how he leaned over to look at my phone in the living room during the day.

Did he see this video at that time? That's why he said those words to me that night?

My heart started pounding again...

I hesitated for a long time, then opened Zhao Yin's WeChat and sent him a message: [Have you... seen the super topic? ]

He replied immediately: [Yeah.]

[That like...]

【It wasn't a slip of the hand.】

I stared at these four words and my breathing stopped.

It wasn't a slip of the hand? It was...

The cell phone suddenly rang. It was Zhao Yin calling.

I was startled and picked up the phone in a panic, my voice trembling: "Hello?"

"Can't sleep?" His voice came through the receiver, sounding even deeper than on WeChat. "I'm at your door."

I was stunned for a moment, then quickly got up and ran to the door, looking out through the peephole.

Zhao Yin was standing in the corridor with his back to me, holding a cell phone in his hand with the screen still on.

I took a deep breath and opened the door.

He turned and looked at me.

"That comment just now," he said, "'Five years of secret love, from passing each other to watching the sea side by side', is quite right."

My heart suddenly hit my throat. I opened my mouth, but no word came out.

He took a half step forward and raised his hand to touch my hair gently.

He whispered, "My interest in you didn't start with this variety show, but five years ago when I saw you squatting behind a pillar crying backstage."

I looked into his eyes and suddenly felt a little warm. Those words that I had hidden for five years came flooding back like a tide...

"Zhao Yin," I sniffed, my voice a little tearful, yet remarkably clear, "I hope you'll tell me the truth one day."

I think so too. I have liked him since I first saw him at an awards ceremony five years ago.

It’s a pity that our current status is not enough to be a couple.

Then let this feeling indulge for a while longer.