When the Stars Tremble

The Forty-Second Star

It wasn’t that Jiang Chuyi wanted to back out, but rather that Zong Ye’s current disheveled state made her feel that if she continued to “adapt” to the situation, he might not be able to handle it.

She couldn’t judge Zong Ye’s exact state, but could only rely on intuition. He probably wasn’t feeling joyful, as he said he wasn’t comfortable.

But when he looked at her helplessly, his whole demeanor was indescribably hazy, mixed with rare vulnerability and hope, as if waiting for her to save him.

Jiang Chuyi’s face showed difficulty. Steeling herself, she put her hands behind her back, “No more touching. Let’s stop here for today.”

Zong Ye apologized, “I won’t make those sounds anymore.”

“It’s not about that.”

Jiang Chuyi sighed, truly captured by his “wronged” expression.

Ever since hearing Chen Xiangliang’s words, she had been feeling uneasy.

Every time Zong Ye showed a “humble” attitude, she couldn’t help but wonder how much trauma he had endured, how much suffering he had gone through, to still be so timid in front of her after so many years.

In the quiet of the night, under the dim yellow light, with the faint coolness from the central air conditioning, his disheveled state acted like a catalyst, stirring up an impulse in Jiang Chuyi’s heart.

She tentatively suggested a solution: “If you’re feeling very uncomfortable, how about I give you a hug? Would that be okay?”

“Hug… hug me?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Hug him.

In the car by the hospital, on the couch when she woke from a nightmare, on New Year’s Eve when she discovered his tears, Jiang Chuyi had always wanted to hug him.

She wanted to hug him.

Jiang Chuyi stepped forward and embraced the person leaning against the dining table.

She opened her arms and hugged his waist, her whole body pressing against him. So, at the moment of contact, all the minute sensations were magnified. She could clearly feel Zong Ye’s body tremble.

Before doing this, Jiang Chuyi was actually a bit nervous, but once she actually hugged him, she felt strangely at ease.

Compared to those ambiguous, desire-tinged mutual explorations, Jiang Chuyi preferred this solid, warm way of telling Zong Ye that she liked him too.

After hugging for a while, Jiang Chuyi looked down at him with some concern, “Zong Ye, why are you shaking?”

“I’m not…”

Held in her embrace, Zong Ye still didn’t dare to move. He hesitated for a long time, then raised his weak hand, slowly feeling for her shirt hem, and carefully grasping it.

The tall, handsome man of 1.85 meters, in this half-curled posture, bent down and rested his forehead on her shoulder.

“Really not?”

She felt the fabric of her shoulder was about to be soaked by the sweat on his face.

“Chuyi…”

Jiang Chuyi: “Hm?”

“I…” Zong Ye couldn’t speak.

Jiang Chuyi asked softly, “Zong Ye, do you like me hugging you like this?”

“I like it,” he choked, “I like it very much.”

He liked it so much that he didn’t even have the courage to hug her back.

In many of his dreams, in many days and nights, Zong Ye had imagined countless things related to Jiang Chuyi.

From her sitting on the sofa agreeing to give it a try with him, from her allowing him to occupy her private time, from her stepping into this home, from her placing her hand on him, to her taking the initiative to come close and hug him at this moment, all fantasies came true one by one. Zong Ye still felt like he was in a beautiful dream tailored for him.

He didn’t dare to move at all.

Afraid of waking her up.

Afraid of waking up from this long-desired beautiful dream.

Being so close, Zong Ye could easily smell the clean fragrance on her, he could easily absorb the warmth of her body that he had been longing for.

Zong Ye couldn’t help but smile, “Chuyi, I haven’t asked you yet…”

“Ask what?”

Zong Ye clutched her shirt hem tightly, “A while ago, when I couldn’t control myself and did many strange things to you, did you hate me for that?”

“I…” Jiang Chuyi hesitated, softening her tone, “You mean during the show recording? It’s not that I hated it, I was just a bit confused at the time. I thought you wanted to flirt with me? Or just play around or something.”

She joked, “You’d better be more direct in the future. Otherwise, telling girls you want to play games might easily make others think you’re a player.”

“I didn’t want to play games with you. I just wasn’t sure if I could like you.”

“When I first met you in middle school, I went through many embarrassing things. Those things made it impossible for me to get close to you.”

He silently moved his fingers, slowly wrapping around her waist.

Jiang Chuyi listened to him attentively, not noticing anything unusual.

“Admitting that I like you isn’t difficult for me at all,” Zong Ye looked up at her slightly, his expression gentle, “Chuyi, I just wanted to be a bit more presentable in front of you.”

Zong Ye seemed to know exactly how to hit her soft spot.

He was all damp, reminding Jiang Chuyi of that stray dog she had brought home. Soaked in the heavy rain, abandoned by its owner, confused and helpless.

She swallowed, stroking the back of his head sympathetically, comforting him, “I know, I don’t blame you.”

“Chuyi…” he murmured against her shoulder, his hot breath brushing against her neck. Jiang Chuyi only then realized that Zong Ye was no longer clutching her shirt hem, but had wrapped his arms around her in return.

The force suddenly increased, and Jiang Chuyi was held tightly by him. She felt a tightness in her chest, even feeling like her feet no longer needed to find a point of support.

There was not a hint of space between them, his breath entangling and clinging, with a kind of distorted fervor.

Jiang Chuyi had to pat him weakly, saying with some effort: “Zong Ye, I can’t, I can’t breathe.”

Zong Ye seemed to have lost his soul, completely unable to hear what she was saying, using the tip of his nose to gently rub against the exposed skin on her shoulder.

Struggling, Jiang Chuyi called out again, “Zong Ye, let me go first.”

His expression went blank for two seconds before he asked hoarsely, “What?”

“You’re holding too tight.”

His expression was bewildered, but his embrace didn’t loosen at all, “I want to hold you a bit longer, can I?”

Jiang Chuyi really wanted to ignore Zong Ye’s physical reaction in a certain part of his body, but they were pressed too close together. Even she, naive as she was, knew what it meant.

She tried to shrink away several times, but couldn’t escape, and was too embarrassed to say anything.

Mainly because Zong Ye was indeed just hugging her, not doing anything more inappropriate. But, Jiang Chuyi looked down, seeing his fidgeting, and couldn’t help but wonder if Zong Ye might have developed skin hunger due to a lack of security since childhood.

She wanted to break free, but was physically unable to, and could only ask in a muffled voice, “You’re, um, having a reaction again. Do you need to go take care of it?”

“I’m sorry, Chuyi.” His tone carried a faint guilt, “I think I’m feeling strange too.”

Jiang Chuyi was starting to feel flushed herself, “It’s okay, it’s normal, you don’t need to blame yourself. You can hug me a bit longer then.”

Jiang Chuyi hadn’t expected that a simple hug could be drawn out for so long by Zong Ye. At first, she naively thought, if Zong Ye wanted to hug for a while, she’d let him hug for a while. Fifteen minutes should be enough.

But her legs had gone numb, and he still showed no sign of letting go. Later, somehow, they changed positions, and she was pulled onto his lap, completely encircled by him.

At that time, Jiang Chuyi’s mind was also in a fog, and she was being held tightly. After recording the show all day, her body was exhausted to the extreme.

She asked a few times, but the answer was always that he wanted to hug a bit longer.

Allowing Zong Ye to hold her, Jiang Chuyi’s eyelids grew heavy with fatigue. Unable to hold on any longer, she actually fell asleep.

She woke up once in the middle of the night, feeling like someone had gently placed her on the bed.
In the darkness, someone touched her face and said softly, “Go to sleep.”

…
…

The next day, when Jiang Chuyi woke up, it was already bright outside.

She was dazed for a moment, rubbed her eyes, and started to recall what happened last night.

Jiang Chuyi leaned back, examining this unfamiliar room, then looked down at her clothes, which were still the same as yesterday’s.

Her phone was charging on the bedside table.

Jiang Chuyi felt a bit more at ease and picked up her phone.

WeChat showed 99+ new messages.

Chen Yi: “????”

Chen Yi: “You and Zong Ye are really dating, right?”

Jiang Chuyi was startled, instantly alert: “How did you know?”

Chen Yi: “…?”

Chen Yi: “What do you mean, how did I know? You’re really dating Zong Ye?!”

Jiang Chuyi: “…”

Chen Yi immediately called, her voice nearly bursting Jiang Chuyi’s eardrums, “You really hooked Zong Ye?! Don’t scare me, Lady Jiang!”

“I didn’t hook him,” Jiang Chuyi retorted, then asked, “But how did you know Zong Ye and I are dating? Who told you?”

“Damn, what were you doing last night? Didn’t you watch the second episode of ‘Shining Stars’? The internet’s gone crazy discussing it!”

Jiang Chuyi avoided the main point and answered, “I forgot to watch it last night.”

“Are you even human?” Chen Yi was clearly in disbelief, her words coming out one by one through her teeth, “You’re dating Zong Ye and you didn’t tell me?”

“It’s not settled yet,” Jiang Chuyi tried to say diplomatically. “I don’t even feel like it’s real yet.”

“I really think you’re amazing, truly. Lady Jiang, do you know how many people’s husband you’ve stolen?”

“If it’s mutual, how can it be stealing…”

As she was speaking, there was a knock at the door.

Zong Ye: “Chuyi, can I come in?”

Jiang Chuyi glanced quickly and called out, “Just a moment.”

On the other end of the phone, Chen Yi had calmed down, “Don’t tell me you’ve already progressed to spending the night with Zong Ye.”

Jiang Chuyi: “You’re overthinking. I’ll tell you later.”

She hung up the phone.

Throwing back the covers and getting out of bed, Jiang Chuyi went to the bathroom barefoot.

Disposable toiletries were already set out on the vanity. She faced the mirror, smoothed her hair, finished washing up, and walked out of the room with her phone.

Hearing footsteps, the man with his back to her turned around.

Zong Ye was plating food. He smiled slightly and said to her, “Are you hungry?”

“A little.”

“I made you something.”

Jiang Chuyi glanced at the dining table and stopped, remembering last night’s events.

The secret intimacy of the night had dissipated, and in the broad daylight, facing a fully dressed Zong Ye, she felt a bit awkward.

Jiang Chuyi walked over casually, “I accidentally fell asleep yesterday…”

Zong Ye paused, handed her a pair of chopsticks, “I carried you back to the room.”

They sat down together.

The table was already set with soy milk, sandwiches, fried eggs, a portion of shrimp porridge, boiled eggs, and steamed dumplings.

Jiang Chuyi cleared her throat, “Did you make all this?”

“I just whipped up a few things, not sure if you’ll like them.”

Zong Ye leaned forward, pulled out a tissue, and wiped his hands clean.

Jiang Chuyi sipped her porridge, glancing sideways at Zong Ye. His focused expression as he peeled an egg somehow made him look like a dutiful housewife.

Jiang Chuyi remembered Wang Tan’s sarcastic “advertising” comment and couldn’t help but laugh.

Zong Ye turned his head, offering the peeled egg to her mouth: “What is it?”

“Nothing.” She wasn’t used to being fed, so she took the egg, “Thanks, but I can do it myself.”

Zong Ye paused, hiding the emotion in his eyes.

…
…

That evening, Kaijun had a meeting, and after spending half the day at Zong Ye’s place, Jiang Chuyi was urged by several calls from Gao Ning.

She had to reluctantly push away the person holding her.

Since last night, Zong Ye seemed to have become addicted, and Jiang Chuyi had become his human pillow. He wouldn’t even get a glass of water without bringing her along.

Jiang Chuyi really couldn’t handle this clinginess and tried to pry the hands off her waist, “I’ll come see you another day. I really have something to do now, I need to go to the company.”

Zong Ye rested his chin on her shoulder, “I never realized before how busy you are.”

“It’s getting close to the end of the year, there’s a lot to do.”

He used a gentle, negotiating tone: “Can we hug for ten more minutes?”

Jiang Chuyi compromised: “Really just ten minutes, don’t try to cheat.”

Zong Ye chuckled lightly: “I know, I won’t.”

As it turned out, not a word from a man’s mouth can be trusted. Jiang Chuyi was held up for another half hour before she finally left Zong Ye’s house.

Just making it in time to get in the car, Jiang Chuyi sent a few messages to Zong Ye. After sending them, she suddenly remembered Chen Yi’s words and went to check the trending topics.

Sure enough, there were those familiar hashtags: #ZongYe OUT#, #YiJianZongQing#, #ZongYeThrowing#…

Even without watching yesterday’s second episode of “Shining Stars”, since it was recorded in Guangdong, Jiang Chuyi could easily imagine how much criticism it would receive when aired.

She opened Chen Yi’s WeChat.

Chen Yi: “I’m stuck in your and Teacher Zong’s super topics”

Chen Yi: “Teacher Zong’s power move is quite explosive even in our entire variety show industry”

Chen Yi: “Do you know how strong your and Zong Ye’s CP fans are? They’ve already started battling with toxic fans in Zong Ye’s comment section. Do you know how dramatic it is? Even Fu Cheng’s solo fans used to bow down to them, but your CP fans can actually face off against them… It’s too crazy = =”

Chen Yi: “I underestimated the power of love”

Chen Yi: “Here are a few images from the super topics for you to ponder [Image][Image][Image]”

[A bet’s a bet, the star is yours”, a legendary scene that will go down in history. Not just for CP fans, it’s too shocking for casual viewers too, don’t kill me with feels…]

[Jin An is so accurate with the ‘bad’ prediction, Teacher Zong really maxed out his ‘bad’ buff. It can’t still be one-sided, right? So crazy, I don’t believe ‘Love Klutz’ is a coincidence. ‘Retiring the mic, only singing for you’, no wonder the fans are breaking down and coming to our super topic to cause trouble…]

[Bilibili already has a 0.5x speed ‘YiJianZongQing’ clip, 35 minutes long. Folks, take a close look at how Zong Ye stares at Chuyi, looking straight at her without blinking, with a restrained yet yearning feel… It feels like if there weren’t so many people around, he would have taken her to a corner and pinned her down for some intense action.]

[Is Zhao Guangyu Chuyi’s friend? God… the way Zong Ye looks at him is worth analyzing too, the aggression is about to overflow the screen… Have they started dating or not? After dating, with Teacher Zong’s possessiveness, Chuyi probably can’t handle it… There’s some truth in those metaphysical posts.]

[Bold prediction: #YiJianZongQing, unparalleled across the entire internet.]

Jiang Chuyi had some trouble keeping up with the current trends, finding it difficult to understand some of the CP fans’ lingo. She listlessly skimmed through a couple of lines and messaged Chen Yi: “Remember to keep it a secret for me for now”

Chen Yi: “I can keep it a secret for you. In return, when you kiss Zong Ye, do a livestream for me to watch”

Jiang Chuyi: “Have you gone crazy?”

Chen Yi: “Yes, I’ve gone crazy along with the CP fans. The internet says he looks like he’d be very strong, after you experience it, remember to share with your sister, let me see if the ‘magnitude 10 earthquake’ is just bragging.”

Jiang Chuyi: “Goodbye, I can’t continue this conversation with you.”

*

On October 1st, during the National Day holiday, “Catching a Star” was released simultaneously in major theaters across the country. On the same day, IM’s Wanjiang Cinema held a premiere.

All major popular media outlets in China rushed to the scene for live broadcasts.

Jiang Chuyi and Xin He arrived at the cinema in the same car.

Outside the security line, the crowd surged, and camera flashes lit up continuously.

“What a grand scene,” Xin He glanced back and chuckled, “No wonder.”

Jiang Chuyi turned to look as well.

Just behind them, arriving at the same time, was a black car that had just stopped. Fans held back at the perimeter began to shout excitedly.

Amidst the deafening noise, the car door was opened from the outside, and four people got out one after another.

More and more people gathered to watch, constantly taking out their phones to photograph them.

Xin He turned back and clicked her tongue, “Zong Ye is so over the top, does his popularity need to be this high?”

The crowd was in an uproar, with bodyguards clearing the way in front.

Fu Cehng, Wang Tan, Ji Kai, and Zong Ye were surrounded in the center, with IM’s top executives around them.

Jiang Chuyi stood in place, looking from afar at the person surrounded by reporters.

Perhaps because he had been dressing casually around her lately, seeing him back in formal wear suddenly made him seem unfamiliar.

Zong Ye’s tall figure was constrained by the smoothly tailored suit without a tie. He walked while lowering his eyes to adjust his cuffs.

Facing the cameras, his demeanor was calm and composed, as if he had once again become that high-and-mighty superstar.

After a gap of several months, Zong Ye’s first public appearance was quickly uploaded to the internet.

The chaotic internet once again welcomed a rare carnival—

[Do you know what it means to dominate the entertainment industry? Do you know what a top star’s presence looks like? Everyone, take a good look at this on-site video. Why is Zong Ye the top star? Wherever he appears, there’s no need to look for the camera. Wherever he looks, all the cameras follow.]

[Zong is his surname, fame is his destiny. The entertainment industry kneels to open the door, your father has returned!]

…
…

Before the premiere began, in the backstage dressing room, Xin He was complaining to Jiang Chuyi about her recent experience filming Li Qunwu’s movie in the Gobi Desert.

Jiang Chuyi couldn’t stop laughing.

Soon after, the door was pushed open.

Xin He didn’t stop talking. Jiang Chuyi smiled, nodding at each person who entered, then quickly looked away.

A staff member instructed, “The main cast, please wait here for a while. We’ll come to call you when it’s time to start.”

The door was closed again.

Zong Ye sat down next to Jiang Chuyi and casually asked, “What is Xin He talking about? You seem to be laughing so happily.”

Before Jiang Chuyi could speak, Xin He glanced at him puzzled, “Why do you care so much?”

“Xin He, stop asking,” Wang Tan lazily interjected, “These days, even if a passing dog says a word to Jiang Chuyi, Zong Ye would kick it.”