Chapter 67 Old Love Letters: I Want to Love Her Again.
During the two years that Zhou Yu dated Chen Jingchi, there were no photos of her online. There were only a few videos of them appearing at the airport together, with Zhou Yu wearing a mask and hat to cover her face, so her full appearance could not be seen.
No one knew that the person in the middle of the big screen was Zhou Yu.
But Chen Jingchi recognized him at a glance.
He had thought of her countless times over the past five years; how could he possibly forget her face?
She's back.
The "indefinite period" that had left him utterly despondent has finally come to an end today.
No one knew why Chen Jingchi remained standing on the stage. On the big screen, he seemed to have entered a frozen state, remaining motionless for two minutes until the staff came on stage again to call him, at which point he slowly walked off the side of the stage.
Zhou Yu felt her heart pounding against her chest, her heartbeat erratic. She looked away and glanced down at the seat number on the screen again, confirming that it was the last number Chen Jingchi had just read out: row 21, seat 17.
She looked at Tan Bei, who quickly explained, "I'm sorry, baby, Zhan Li saw the screenshot you sent me when she came to my house last night. This number must have been written by Zhan Li."
Judging from Chen Jingchi's state just now, it was obvious that he didn't know she was here.
Zhan Li hadn't told Chen Jingchi; he had simply taken advantage of the lottery mechanism. Tan Bei felt guilty and hugged her apologetically, "Don't be angry with me. I'll tell Zhan Li later that he's not allowed to come to my house again."
Zhou Yu's mind was in turmoil at this moment, but she didn't care about these things and said, "I'm not angry. He will find out about my return sooner or later."
She just didn't expect it to happen so quickly, so quickly that she didn't even have time to prepare.
Tan Bei looked at her cautiously and asked, "Then you..."
Zhou Yu didn't respond for a long time.
A few minutes later, Chen Jingchi changed into his last outfit: a simple white short-sleeved shirt and dark blue jeans. He sat down at the piano in the center of the stage, amidst waves of screams.
With the microphone clipped to the stand, he looked down at the deep blue sea of stars below the stage and began, "Today's encore was originally planned to be 'Landing,' but I just discussed it with my manager, and he generously decided to give me the opportunity to change the song."
This move caused an uproar in the audience, and many people couldn't help but recall Chen Jingchi's experience of suddenly changing songs at the end of a previous performance.
Zhou Yu heard the girl sitting to his left ask in surprise, "No way, are we going to sing 'The Pillar of Shame' again?"
Her friend chimed in, "Impossible. So many years have passed, who remembers their first love? They've probably dated several others in private."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu frowned almost imperceptibly and gripped his phone tightly.
"I'm sorry, this song 'Hesitant to Speak' has no lyrics. You can just listen to me sing it."
As soon as he finished speaking, his fingers pressed the first note on the piano keys.
He hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
This was the last song he collaborated on with Zhou Yu.
In the five years following the breakup, Chen Jingchi never sang it in any public setting. The song title, like the name "Zhou Yu," became something Chen Jingchi was most reluctant to hear.
However, during his encore at the eighth-anniversary concert, he sang this song alone.
"Hesitant to Speak" was popular for a while after its release, but due to a lack of follow-up promotion and the singer's apparent lack of attention, its popularity quickly faded, becoming an obscure single for Chen Jingchi. Surprisingly, not many people in the audience sang along.
As he said, there were no lyrics on the big screen, but Chen Jingchi remembered every single word clearly.
For three and a half minutes, the entire venue was silent, with only his voice heard, accompanied by the solitary sound of the piano.
Zhou Yu dared not look up at the big screen again. Under the cover of the night, she blinked hard, trying to force back the tears that were welling up in her eyes.
The heart-wrenching farewell words she wrote after breaking up with him were sung by him in the gentlest tone on the day they reunited many years later.
Only those who have loved passionately know how to deeply touch her heart.
Chen Jingchi has always been an expert in this area.
As he finished speaking, he didn't get up immediately. Instead, he picked up the microphone from the stand and looked at the camera.
"Seven years ago, at my first concert, I confessed my love to the person I loved most at the time."
"Today, at our eighth anniversary concert, I still have a few words I want to say to her. I hope you can give me some time."
Hearing what he was about to say, a loud cheer erupted from all around. Zhou Yu felt Tan Bei grip her hand tightly, seemingly even more nervous than she was.
He finally stood up, walked to the edge of the stage, and squatted down casually. At this moment, he was no longer the singer Chen Jingchi, admired by thousands, but Chen Jingchi, the ex-boyfriend who humbled himself and wanted to tell her the truth.
He couldn't see where she was sitting, but he knew that Zhou Yu was definitely watching him.
The screams of the girls around me were deafening.
"Holy crap, has Chen Jingchi gone mad? Not again?"
"Who is it this time? Is it Zhou Yu again?"
"What's going on? It's been so long, why are you still thinking about it?"
"Is the power of the White Moonlight really that great?"
"Wait, Zhou Yu is here? No way?!"
Zhou Yu tilted her head back, as if looking directly at the person on the screen, and even her breathing became soft.
"The lyrics of this song are a microcosm of myself."
"Joy and Pain"
Loneliness and Heartbeat
Some people are deeply involved.
Some people are not telling the truth.
She brought him joy and pain, but more than anything, he was overwhelmed by the sight of her, and he was deeply in love with her.
He said softly, "I didn't know how to love before, but she made me understand what deep love is."
"A short and absurd dream"
It taught me to fall deeply in love.
On the surface, he had emerged from the shadow of heartbreak, but he had only buried his restless feelings deep in his heart. Today, after only three short seconds of seeing her, the overwhelming love that had been suppressed for so long was about to burst forth and overwhelm his mind.
He never truly let go; the pain gradually lessened with time, but the love never disappeared.
"When I love her, I am willing to put aside my pride and dignity, just so that she will look at me once more."
"If there's even the slightest possibility, I'd like to try again; maybe the outcome will be different."
"It's not that I'm unwilling to accept it, it's that I want to love her properly again."
Just when everyone thought he had long forgotten that relationship, five years later, Chen Jingchi made another bold decision.
He grabbed the collar of his shirt and ripped it open with force, several white buttons popping off and falling into an unseen corner.
On the big screen, countless people saw him pull open his shirt to reveal a large "desire" character tattooed near his heart.
Chen Jingchi paused for a few seconds before finishing his last sentence, "I will win her back."
*
After the performance ended, Chen Jingchi's fourth album's single "Nostalgia" played on the stereo, and the audience gradually left.
Zhou Yu hadn't recovered from Chen Jingchi's last words. Just as she was about to get up, Tan Bei suddenly hugged her, sobbing on her shoulder, "I don't know what's wrong with me. I should be happy for you, so why am I so sad?"
She was the first person to know that Zhou Yu had a crush on Chen Jingchi, and also the first person to know the inside story of their breakup.
During her senior year winter break, Tan Bei flew to Ireland to spend the New Year with her and Liu Xianya. While they were watching the Spring Festival Gala together, Chen Jingchi happened to be performing on stage.
Tan Bei clearly remembers that even though more than half a year had passed since their breakup, Zhou Yu's eyes still welled up with tears when he saw her face. She didn't have the courage to look at him, yet she was reluctant to get up and leave.
He couldn't get over it for a long time, but she wasn't going to do it so easily.
That night, Zhou Yu finally opened up to her and told her their story from beginning to end. Tan Bei barely slept that night until dawn.
She then realized that what she had seen on the surface was just the tip of the iceberg.
Her crying stopped Zhou Yu's tears, and he hugged her, both amused and exasperated: "I haven't even cried yet."
"Don't cry." Tan Bei pulled her to her feet. "Let's go home."
On the taxi ride home, Tan Bei turned to look at her and asked softly, "If he pursues you again, will you say yes?"
Zhou Yu seemed bewitched, his mind repeatedly flashing back to the scene on the big screen where Chen Jingchi pulled open his collar to reveal his tattoo.
Instead of answering the question, she asked, "Do you know when he got the tattoo?"
Tan Bei's breath hitched; she dared not tell Chen Jingchi about the crazy things she had witnessed him doing.
She could only pick and choose what to say: "His birthday."
Her birthday the year she went abroad.
Zhou Yu lowered his head, making his expression unreadable, but he nodded slightly.
*
As soon as he got into the car on his way back, Du Heng saw that Chen Jingchi had dominated the trending topics list, and the name "Zhou Yu" had also reappeared in the trending topics after a long absence.
A new fan, unfamiliar with her, asked in the comments section: "Who is this? I thought her tattoo meant 'emptiness of all worldly desires'."
A long-time fan replied: [My white moonlight, my indelible mark, a woman I can never forget, a woman who should never be mentioned.]
This comment received nearly 100,000 likes.
The video of him tearing his clothes at the end of the performance went viral, drawing praise for his physique.
"He just loves to show off." Du Heng sighed, "That last outfit was provided by the brand, and they want to take it back."
"This also shows that the clothes aren't very good quality; they tear easily." Zhuo Wencheng suppressed a laugh. "Wouldn't this damage the brand image? Will we have to pay compensation?"
Du Heng told him to shut his mouth.
In the van, Xu Yue sat in the same row as Chen Jingchi. Looking at Chen Jingchi's open collar, Xu Yue asked curiously, "Do you have to censor tattoos when you post them online?"
“That doesn’t matter, anyway, those who wanted to see it have already seen it,” Zhan Li replied.
Chen Jingchi seemed to have finally booted up, turned to look at him, and asked, "Did you know she was coming?"
There's nothing left to hide now, Zhan Li revealed: "Tan Bei knows."
Zhuo Wencheng asked in surprise, "Didn't you break up with Tan Bei a long time ago? Why are you still in contact?"
"Where do you think he goes to party every Saturday night? Does he hide at home like you, watching short videos and eating barbecue?" Du Heng exclaimed in anguish, "I don't have a stupid son like you!"
Zhuo Wencheng belatedly realized: "Ah...ah?!"
Knowing there would be a lucky draw that evening, Zhan Li asked the staff for a chance to participate while getting her makeup done this afternoon. To cover for them, she also called Zhuo Wencheng and Xu Yue over to write down the numbers together.
As his closest brothers, no one knew better than them how important Zhou Yu was to Chen Jingchi, and he really didn't want them to miss this opportunity.
Perhaps this can be seen as compensation for his previous behavior.
Xu Yue then asked on his behalf, "How long has she been back? What is she doing now?"
Zhan Li said helplessly, "She didn't tell me, so I didn't know either."
"You'd better behave tonight and try to get some information out of them," Du Heng chimed in. "Those two girls definitely talk about everything."
Zhan Li was speechless: "You said it yourself, it's every Saturday."
Then, a surge of male pride suddenly ignited within him: "I always perform very well."
"..."
Chen Jingchi didn't respond to the joke and said in a low voice, "No rush."
Now that she's back, he's not in a hurry. At the very least, he needs to make a good impression on her this time.
Thinking of the news link Xu Yue had sent him earlier, Chen Jingchi guessed that she wouldn't leave.
A few minutes later, another topic climbed up from the bottom of the trending list: #Is Zhou Yu in this?#
An audience member at the scene filmed Chen Jingchi's prize draw. It was clear from the video that after the last seat number was announced, Chen Jingchi immediately acted strangely after seeing the screen.
The audience took screenshots of the screen and asked Chen Jingchi if he saw Zhou Yu among these people, which led to the impromptu song change and the second confession.
Among the audience members in the screenshots, the girl sitting in the very center became the focus of everyone's speculation due to her striking appearance.
The picture quickly spread across the internet, but no one identified whether the girl in the picture was Zhou Yu.
The vast majority are strangers, and even among the very few I do know, I dare not speak.
*
Two days later, Chen Jingchi came out of the recording studio and went downstairs with Du Heng for dinner.
The group sat together discussing travel. After finally taking a break, they decided to go on a trip to Xinjiang.
Just as they were having a pleasant chat, Zhan Li's phone rang. He had received a message on WeChat from his nephew.
Liang Shuchen: [Uncle, thank goodness you're on my side and let me choose English B!]
When Zhan Li last visited his parents, he talked to his sister about the IBDP language course selection for their child. He successfully persuaded his sister to give up the idea of a bilingual diploma and choose the simpler English B, which made his nephew extremely happy.
He started school today. Zhan Li opened the input box, about to say something encouraging, when the child sent another message.
Liang Shuchen: [I heard from my classmate that the teacher who teaches English A is a middle-aged woman, but my teacher is young and beautiful!!!]
The three exclamation marks are enough to show how excited he was.
Zhan Li was speechless: [Are you going to study or to see pretty girls?]
Liang Shuchen: [Have you seen that concert photo that's been going viral online lately?]
Liang Shuchen: [That's my teacher! Ahhhhh!]
Zhan Li: [Blocked after another outburst]
Two minutes later.
Liang Shuchen: [Image]
Seeing that he had sent over the picture, Zhan Li took a deep breath, just about to reprimand him, when her eyes were drawn to the picture.
When I clicked on it, I saw that these were photos from the concert a couple of days ago.
Perhaps due to being shared too many times, the image quality was somewhat blurry, but it didn't prevent him from recognizing the faces. A large group of audience faces appeared on the screen, with two familiar faces in the center. Tan Bei was only shown in profile, looking towards Zhou Yu's direction, and even half of her face revealed her panic.
He remembered that this was the scene captured when Chen Jingchi announced the last winner.
Zhan Li put down her chopsticks and typed: "Which one is your teacher?"
Liang Shuchen sent an edited image, with Zhou Yu's face circled in red.
Liang Shuchen: [Isn't it beautiful!]
"Holy shit."
Zhan Li cursed and said to Chen Jingchi across from him, "I know where Zhou Yu works now."
Everyone looked over.
"Huh?" Zhuo Wencheng was shocked. "You're using Tianyancha (a Chinese business information platform)?"
“Didn’t I mention last time that my nephew is studying at an international high school?” Zhan Li also found it amazing. “She teaches my nephew English.”
He took his phone and showed them the chat history. After reading it, Du Heng also cursed, "Damn it."
There really are things in this world that are predestined; it seems like fate was bringing them together again.
“It’s a good thing you persuaded your sister to choose English B for him,” Xu Yue said. “What a coincidence.”
Chen Jingchi asked, "Which high school?"
"Jiangbei International School," Zhan Li said. "It just started today."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Zhuo Wencheng asked anxiously for him. "Go now!"
"School's out." Zhan Li gestured for him to sit down. "Do you think this is the kind of high school we go to? They don't have classes until four in the afternoon."
“…That’s awesome,” Xu Yue interjected. “It’s so good to be rich.”
"I've only ever experienced kindergarten where school ended at four in the afternoon," Du Heng laughed angrily.
Zhan Li chuckled and said, "Tomorrow, I'll help you think of a reason."
*
The pace of learning in international high schools is completely different from that in regular high schools. Students here have more opportunities to take the "college entrance examination" than other high school students. What they learn at school is not only test-taking skills, but also the cultivation of comprehensive abilities and the broadening of international perspectives.
On her second day at work, Zhou Yu had already fallen in love with the work environment. Her colleagues were all graduates of world-renowned universities, so there wasn't much backstabbing or infighting among them. There were only 15 students in each class, so there was no pressure to get into higher education, and she could leave work at 4:30 every day—a working schedule that Tan Bei envied immensely.
After the second class that afternoon, several girls from the class gathered around her, each bringing her some snacks.
"These are cookies I made myself, have a taste."
The girls liked her a lot. After class, they acted more like friends than teachers and students, chatting and sharing their daily lives with her. Zhou Yu smiled and thanked her, when she heard one of them ask, "Egeria, do you like Chen Jingchi too?"
We've all seen the photos of you at the concert!
Zhou Yu teaches entirely in English, and the students call her by her English name. Upon hearing this, she looked slightly awkward for a second, then explained, "I went with a friend."
"I really want to go to his concert too!" one person exclaimed. "Let's try to buy tickets together next time!"
Zhou Yu nodded: "Okay."
After chatting for a while, the girls agreed to play tennis together. Zhou Yu slung her bag over her shoulder and was about to leave when she noticed that there was still one person left in the classroom. The boy in the second row was lying on the table, clutching his stomach, looking somewhat pained.
She went over to him and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
"My stomach hurts," Liang Shuchen said weakly.
Hearing this, she asked him if he could stand up: "I'll take you to the infirmary."
"I...I'm allergic to many medications, so I can't take any medicine without consulting a doctor!" Liang Shuchen was sweating profusely, not from pain, but from nervousness.
This was the first time he had acted in front of his teacher, and he was afraid of revealing any flaws.
During his lunch break, Liang Shuchen received a message from his uncle saying that a friend of his wanted to pursue his English teacher and asked him to help put on a show. He also sent a 200 yuan red envelope.
When Liang Shuchen heard that all he had to do was lie and make a phone call to his teacher, he thought it was easy and immediately accepted the money and agreed. However, he overestimated his acting skills and only realized the job was difficult when he was about to go on stage; his teacher didn't seem like someone who could be easily fooled.
He asked hesitantly, "My phone is dead. Could you call my parents and have them come pick me up?"
Seeing him wince in pain, Zhou Yu didn't suspect anything. After all, Liu Xianya had worked as a family doctor before and knew that some wealthy children had private doctors at home.
Those who can afford to attend international high schools are all aiming to study abroad; they are all wealthy people.
She took out her phone and opened the dial pad: "Give me your parent's number."
Seeing her looking down at her phone, Liang Shuchen quickly took his own phone out from under the table and read out the string of numbers his uncle had sent him.
As Zhou Yu listened, she pressed the buttons. When she reached the seventh button, she frowned and glanced at him.
While secretly glancing at his phone, Liang Shuchen observed her. When she suddenly looked over, he was so frightened that his heart almost stopped, and his face turned deathly pale.
Zhou asked, "What about the next four?"
Liang Shuchen stammered, “6…6254.”
Zhou Yu's heart skipped a beat, and she asked again, "You didn't report a mistake?"
Liang Shuchen had almost memorized the string of numbers. He was sure he hadn't made a mistake, so he shook his head vigorously.
Zhou Yu's finger hovered over the green button, hesitating to press it. Staring at the all-too-familiar number, his mind was momentarily in turmoil.
Her voice softened: "Who is he to you?"
Liang Shuchen's brain was about to shut down. He thought that his uncle was only ten years older than him, and if he was his friend, it shouldn't be a problem to call him "brother." So he opened his mouth and said, "My brother."
Then he saw his teacher staring at him with an extremely strange look. When their eyes met, Liang Shuchen felt his scalp tingle and cold sweat pour down his face under her scrutinizing gaze. His psychological defenses were on the verge of collapse, and he was about to give up the act.
Fortunately, Zhou Yu didn't pursue the matter further. She looked back at her phone screen, remained silent for a few seconds, and then dialed the number.
The beeping sound came from the empty classroom, and Liang Shuchen's heart jumped.
Zhou Yu lowered her gaze, listening to the phone call coming from her ear, her free left hand unconsciously gripping the edge of the desk tightly.
The beeping stopped, and the call was connected.
Zhou Yu's heart was pounding. Before the other person could speak, she asked in a low voice, "When did you have a 16-year-old brother?"
She heard a soft laugh from across the room, and at the same time, the classroom door was pushed open from the outside.
Chen Jingchi stood at the door, looking at her from a distance of more than ten meters.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Thank you so much for the landmines and nutrient solutions, everyone!!! [Orange Heart][Yellow Heart]
Yvonne :) threw a grenade
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