Chapter 1 Love Letter "Look at the handsome guy."
Old Love Letters / Yu Ling
Exclusive publication
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The freshmen military training is coming to an end.
Even though it's early autumn, the sweltering air still envelops you like a dense, impenetrable wave, with heat seeping into your skin with every breath you take. Even remaining still is a form of torture.
Sticky and humid was Zhou Yu's objective impression of the city. She had disliked these months since she was a child, as the summer heat stretched the time endlessly, making it a long and arduous ordeal for her.
After a full day of training, Zhou Yu was so hot that he had no appetite. He only ate a few bites of the dinner he bought at the cafeteria before putting down his chopsticks. He felt it was a waste, so he forced himself to finish the meal slowly.
Sometimes she felt like an NPC, going to different places to complete every task that had to be done.
Fortunately, after two weeks, she has gradually gotten used to the training intensity and is no longer as sore and exhausted as she was in the first few days. Walking on the cement road where cicadas chirp incessantly, the only motivation that drives her to walk faster is to get back to the dormitory and enjoy the air conditioning.
Walking back to the dormitory under the last rays of the setting sun, Zhou Yu felt as if he had been reborn as the cool air from the air conditioner hit him in the face.
"Zhou Zhou's back!" An Kejia, from the next bed, sat backwards on the stool, swinging the stool legs back and forth as she asked, "Want to come with us to grab seats on Saturday?"
They were both 18-year-old girls, but while the others were exhausted after a day of military training, looking like wilted, dehydrated vegetables, she remained full of energy, as if she had inexhaustible vitality.
Zhou Yu witnessed for the first time what a young female college student truly meant through her.
One bed in the four-person dormitory was empty, with only three people living there. They came from different provinces in the south, and their living habits were quite similar. After half a month of living together, they got along fairly well. Although it was a media university, they all entered the Chinese Language and Literature major as liberal arts students, so they had a lot in common.
Upon enrolling, Zhou Yu was added to a ton of group chats. Annoyed by the constant ringing and messages, she had long ago set her phone to "Do Not Disturb," so she was always a step behind when it came to school events and announcements. She asked blankly, "What's the point of grabbing a spot?"
"The music academy's welcome party," Fan Xin, who was sitting across from me, stopped tidying her wardrobe and turned around to say. "I heard that our year's big star will be the headliner."
"If it's true, a lot of people will definitely go to see it," An Kejia said expectantly. "I really want to go see it in person too."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuxin understood.
Jiangbei Communication University has never lacked celebrities, but this year, the one who has generated a lot of discussion is Chen Jingchi, a freshman who won a million-dollar signing fee from Shengyu Music before the start of the semester with his song "Youji".
Several debuted celebrities with built-in fanbases were among this year's freshmen, gaining initial attention upon enrollment, but that attention quickly faded. Only Chen Jingchi's popularity soared; within a week or two of military training, his name, accompanied by several videos, spread throughout the university, his fame resounding across all colleges.
Many people's focus has long since shifted from the music itself to more obvious aspects—
That face that netizens commented was "a real loss to the film and television industry as a singer."
Fan Xin opened her phone's music player, looked at the playlist, and sighed: "It's just that he has too few works. I can sing these few songs over and over again, even if I play them backwards."
That's no exaggeration.
When school started, Chen Jingchi's songs were played in the dormitory every day. Three of his cover songs, which were only a little over a minute long, were performed in the competition, plus one original song, which was played on repeat. Every now and then, people would request his songs on the radio station. At that time, An Kejia joked that his voice was even in her dreams and she couldn't get it out of her mind.
Zhou Yu glanced at her, took out a few tissues to wipe the sweat from his face, and answered the previous question: "If it's the grand finale, just arrive right on time."
"Then we can only see the big screen and not the people," Fan Xin urged her. "Zhou Zhou, don't you want to see the handsome guys up close?"
Zhou Yu casually said, "I want to get up close to the stage."
"I wish I could be a host. Aren't all the hosts people vying for?" Fan Xin shrugged. "You know we're all here because of our talent. If I had that kind of looks, I would have gone to art school and studied acting long ago."
An Kejia's artificial rocking chair stopped, and she turned to look at Zhou Yu: "It's a pity that the best-looking person in our dormitory is a socially awkward person."
Zhou Yu followed her words: "I stutter when I go on stage."
“I also have social anxiety, but I’m only afraid of boys.” Fan Xin nodded in agreement. “I even stutter when I see a man.”
“You two are really alike,” An Kejia said. “Xinxin, teach Zhouzhou how not to be afraid of women.”
Zhou Yu remained noncommittal, grabbed his clothes, and prepared to go into the bathroom to take a shower.
Seeing that she hadn't given an answer yet, Fan Xin quickly confirmed, "Why don't you come with us? We can take up adjacent seats!"
"Okay," Zhou Yu mumbled through the door.
After turning on the shower, Zhou Yu could still hear Fan Xin's words echoing in his ears.
Don't you want to see him up close?
She closed her eyes, but the scene of her first meeting with Chen Jingchi five years ago still lingered in her mind.
Time has cast a thick filter over the scenes in Zhou Yu's memory, making it impossible for her to recall what Chen Jingchi looked like back then.
All she remembers is that, for her at the time, the cheap black guitar and the unrestrained, carefree singing of a young man on the street, which left an indelible mark on her short life.
Like an old scar left on the skin, it still shows its presence even after the wound has healed.
*
After turning off the lights at night, Zhou Yu habitually opens QQ. She's usually too busy training during the day to check her phone, but fearing she might miss important messages, she always browses it before bed.
In a series of group chats, the class group was buzzing with activity. Zhou Yu clicked in and scrolled up, glancing at it briefly. He saw that everyone was discussing the welcome party that An Kejia had mentioned not long ago.
The humanities college's evening parties have never been very interesting; a single grand but dry recitation is enough to deter most people. In contrast, the music college has many handsome men and beautiful women, with rich and attractive talents, drawing crowds of students from other colleges every year.
The class is predominantly female, and they all expressed their desire to see the celebrity.
Scrolling to the latest chat history, a line of text caught Zhou Yu's eye.
Xuan Bin: [Isn't he just a celebrity created by capital? His singing ability is much easier to be spoiled than his acting ability.]
Judging from the name, it was posted by a boy who is quite active in the class.
As soon as these words were spoken, several rebuttals immediately appeared.
[So what if it's trending? Just tell me if it's popular or not.]
If he really had the talent, how could he have made it to the top six? He would have won the championship!
You're mistaken. What everyone's admiring isn't singing ability, it's looks.
Come on, the ultimate goal of internet fame is acting. Singing can't earn as much as acting.
[His face is terrifying; is he playing a character with facial paralysis?]
Why resort to personal attacks? Take a good look in the mirror.
As the group members started arguing amongst themselves, Zhou Yu lost his patience to continue watching.
Just then, Fan Xin's questioning voice rang out from the darkness: "Actually, I'm curious too. I saw some people online saying that he withdrew from the competition on his own, while others said that he was removed from the show. Which one is true?"
Chen Jingchi first appeared in public in July on the popular Chinese music reality show "Hear Your Voice." With his striking good looks and, relatively easily overlooked, excellent singing skills, he stood out among the other contestants.
Unfortunately, they were eliminated in the top six.
The program team explained that the contestant withdrew from the competition due to health reasons.
This incident sparked heated discussions on the internet at the time, and many people are still discussing it today.
“I don’t understand.” An Kejia’s voice came from the other side, in a joking tone. “I don’t have any musical talent either. I just think he sings well and is handsome. I even watched that variety show during the summer vacation, but I stopped watching after I heard that he withdrew from the competition.”
“Yes, his appearance in the first episode immediately went viral on social media.” Fan Xin steered the spokesperson towards Zhou Yu, “Zhou Zhou, what do you think?”
After a few seconds of silence in the darkness, Zhou Yu spoke up: "Perhaps he doesn't really want to participate in this program."
"Probably not," Fan Xin guessed. "This show has such a huge exposure, and he only appeared for a few episodes, yet his online popularity vote plummeted. His withdrawal at such a crucial moment suggests he was set up by investors?"
“I think so too,” An Kejia said. “If we hadn’t withdrawn from the competition, we might have actually won the championship.”
Zhou Yu didn't want to make pointless assumptions about things that hadn't happened. The two chatted for a few minutes before getting ready to sleep. Zhou Yu also pulled himself out of the class group chat and stared blankly at the glowing phone screen.
The screen automatically turned off, the surrounding discussions ceased, and a deep, inky silence returned.
**
On Friday, the final day of the farewell ceremony, many girls wiped away tears as they said goodbye to their instructors. However, the sadness did not last long, and the anticipation for Saturday's party quickly dispelled the feelings of parting.
Compared to the extreme joy and sorrow of others, Zhou Yu breathed a sigh of relief.
Instead, she was glad that she wouldn't have to get up before dawn to stand at attention and then fall asleep exhausted after a long day.
Zhou Yu belongs to the long sleep group. She needs to sleep at least nine hours a day to have enough energy to cope with her studies and life. Even in the time-pressured senior year of high school, she would catch up on sleep during her lunch break.
The three weeks of military training disrupted her regular biological clock, causing her to feel constantly drowsy when standing at attention every day, and she was frequently criticized by the instructors. Every time the instructors' loud "Zhou Yu" rang out on the parade ground, she would jolt awake.
Having no masochistic tendencies, she would never develop deep feelings for her instructor. Even if she shed tears, they were from happiness.
She went to bed exceptionally early that night, and didn't wake up until almost noon the next day. She got out of bed and ate the breakfast that An Kejia had brought her for lunch.
The only good thing about hot weather is that food can be eaten cold without any problems, saving the trouble of reheating.
An Kejia is a restless person who goes out to play every weekend. Fan Xin is the only one in the dormitory. She is putting on makeup and says to Zhou Yu, "Zhou Zhou, you went to bed early yesterday. We discussed that we should eat dinner early and go grab a seat as soon as we finish eating."
Upon hearing this, a thought popped into Zhou Yu's mind, but she quickly suppressed it and nodded, "Okay."
Seeing her succinct agreement, Fan Xin adopted a probing look and said with a smile, "You don't seem very interested. You're not just coming with us to fit in, are you?"
Zhou Yu thought for two seconds, wanting to give her some positive feedback: "Wow, I'm really looking forward to tonight's performance."
"...Are you serious?" Fan Xin pointed the brush in her hand at her, commenting seriously, "It's a good thing you got into our major. If you had gone to the acting department, you would only be able to play a tree on the side of the road."
She showed no emotional fluctuations while reciting her lines; even the AI was far more emotional than her.
"I'm still very self-aware." Zhou Yu turned on the tap, bent down and washed his face, finally waking up. "Playing the protagonist of my own life is already exhausting."
"You seem pretty pessimistic," Fan Xin said, moving her chair closer. "Don't you like following celebrities?"
Zhou paused in his act of getting water, and before he could reply, Fan Xin continued, "I've heard that musicians are all romantic, otherwise where would they get their inspiration for those love songs, right?"
It's difficult to separate a celebrity's work from their character when following them. Most people like the person for who they are, and other attributes are just a matter of liking them because of their personality.
The "spoiling" mentioned in the group last night was not an exaggeration.
“The music is unclear,” Zhou Yu countered. “Then what about the author of the love story?”
This question stumped Fan Xin. After thinking for a moment, she had an idea: "I heard that there is an elective course in our major where the teacher will assign the task of serializing online novels. I'll go and ask those senior students who have successfully signed contracts with websites for advice."
Zhou Yu didn't expect that her casual remark would actually pique Fan Xin's curiosity. She stood there for two seconds, then suddenly felt it was absurd and walked a few steps behind Fan Xin: "Help me ask what this course is called, so I can avoid it."
“Okay.” Fan Xin said while scrolling through her contact list, “If you feel uncomfortable, it’s fine if you don’t go tonight. Jiajia and I can understand.”
Zhou Yu rested her left hand on the back of the chair, the hard wood digging into her palm and causing a slight pain. She relaxed and said, "It's okay, I'm just looking at handsome guys."
A note from the author:
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*The album lyrics mentioned in this article are original works by the author and are not plagiarized. Any lyrics from cover songs that are quoted will be acknowledged.*
Please add my next novel in the same genre, "Stealing Hearts," to your collection!
Buddhist-like indifference × Vicious deep affection
Intentionally approaching × Using a stratagem
When the senior year of high school started, a stunningly beautiful girl transferred to the school. She wore a string of Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist, but unfortunately, she was aloof and cold, like a celestial being, and no one could get close to her.
Some people compared her to Chen Xu, the top student in the grade, and called them the two faces of the school.
The first time Si Fan met Chen Xu, he opened a Coke for the girl next to him, prying open the tab with one hand, the bubbles bubbling.
My friend said that he is never short of admirers, but he only has eyes for the one beside him.
Later, Si Fan discovered his secret.
Not long after, news spread throughout the school that Chen Xu had changed his mind. Someone saw him cornering the transfer student with a nonchalant smile.
"Little nun, will you come down the mountain with me?"
Her friends all thought Chen Xu couldn't catch up with her, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy for him.
However, this relationship was short-lived, lasting only a month after the college entrance examination before it ended.
Everyone assumed that Chen Xu had changed his mind again and found a new love.
Little did he know that he had been abruptly dumped, and all his contact information had been blocked, making it impossible for him to reach Si Fan again.
Later, Chen Xu, who had never believed in gods or Buddhas, started wearing a string of Buddhist prayer beads on his wrist and never took them off again.
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Years later, at a class reunion, they met again at the dinner table. When asked which of his many girlfriends was the most unforgettable, Chen Xu laughed freely: "The first one."
His friends egged him on to make the call, and he thought he wouldn't be able to get through, but when he pressed the number, it went through, but no one answered for a long time.
Si Fan's phone vibrated for a full 30 seconds.
After the party, Si Fan was cornered by Chen Xu in the underground parking lot, where Chen Xu questioned him angrily, "What, you're finally willing to unblock me?"
Si Fan looked up at him: "My phone broke before."
He tore away his calm facade and gritted his teeth: "Back then, you treated me like a dog, do you think I would still believe your nonsense?"
But later, he humbled himself and begged her: "Fanfan, play with me one more time."
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