Shy?

After the monthly exams, September arrived. Two weeks of tedious studying later, the major universities began their vibrant campus sports meets.

For a tall, handsome guy like Ding Yebai, he was bound to be forced to sign up for one or two events.

Truthfully, he wasn't interested in these things. If his homeroom teacher hadn't said everyone had to sign up for at least one event, he wouldn't have ended up registering for the 800-meter race at the last minute.

There were no classes on the days of the sports meet. Students who lived at the dormitory would watch movies in the classroom during evening study hall.

Day students would just go home to play.

He had nothing to do on the first day, as the long-distance races were scheduled for the later days.

He spent the day idly in the campus class resting area before returning home and lazily flopping onto his bed.

"It's been so long since I've had such a leisurely time."

He stared blankly at the ceiling, sighing.

That's right, junior year was actually very boring. Every day was just doing practice tests, listening to the teacher lecture, then doing more practice tests, and listening to more lectures.

Nothing new.

It was a rare chance to not have to attend classes and study, so he should take this opportunity to rest well.

He rolled over, got up, walked into the music room, and sat down at the piano, calmly playing a piece called River Flows In You.

Before he knew it, the melodious and soothing piano music had drifted out the window.

It fell into Yang Zhi's ears.

She happened to be walking by his house and, upon hearing the piano, didn't ring the doorbell to disturb him.

She felt it would be a sin to interrupt such beautiful piano music.

She smiled slightly, tightened the strap of her bag, took out a White Rabbit milk candy, and popped it into her mouth. Her gaze drifted towards the music room.

"I didn't expect you to play the piano so beautifully."

"No wonder your sister said you're super popular. Thinking about it now, it's actually understandable."

After a silent sigh, the smile on Yang Zhi's lips grew sweeter.

After a while, when the music ended, she finally rang the doorbell and went inside to start her tutoring session.

When Ding Yebai encountered an unfamiliar word while reading, he casually asked Yang Zhi about it.

In his eyes, Yang Zhi was omniscient, knowing everything and able to explain anything clearly to him.

After all, he'd heard she was the top scorer in the humanities stream, so she should be quite capable.

During the five-minute break in between, Ding Yebai went to the balcony to feel the evening breeze, just like before.

This time, Yang Zhi wasn't sitting in the bedroom. She walked over slowly with her hands behind her back and stood beside him.

"What are you looking at?" she asked softly.

Ding Yebai glanced at her, then turned his face up to look at the night sky, involuntarily curling his lips into a smile. "I don't know. I just want to simply look at the stars."

Yang Zhi smiled and looked up with him.

"I've always thought your name, Ding Yebai, and Ding Yuerong's names sound beautiful. You can tell they're related to the night just by hearing them."

"Yeah. My mom says the same thing."

"'Yue se rong rong' means the moonlight is soft and gentle, the way the moonlight ripples. And Ye Bai... 'Lu cong jin ye bai, yue shi gu xiang ming' (Dew from tonight is white, the moon shines brightest on my hometown). Haha, I don't know if my guess is right, but when I hear Ye Bai, I think of this poem."

"You guessed correctly."

"Haha~ Right, are you planning to apply to Huaqing University?"

"Yeah. My cousin and his wife both went to Huaqing. I want to go too."

"Is it because of them?"

"Not entirely. I also want to prove myself by getting into Huaqing. I'm still a bit short right now. But I'll keep working hard."

After saying that, he looked at Yang Zhi, his tone slightly less cold. "Please continue to help me, Sister Yang Zhi, okay?"

This question completely stunned Yang Zhi.

She looked at Ding Yebai's face and felt a moment of awkwardness.

Her pupils instantly widened, her mouth fell slightly open, and after a few seconds, she finally calmed herself down and nodded.

"Of, of course. I promised your sister, after all. It's my responsibility."

Ding Yebai was overjoyed inside, but his expression remained cold.

He rested his hands on the railing, looked up at the night sky, gazing at the twinkling stars, and said, "Looking at these stars, I suddenly remembered something I read once."

"What?" Yang Zhi asked him.

Ding Yebai: "Every atom in your body comes from an exploding star. The atoms in your left hand might come from a different star than the atoms in your right hand. So..."

He paused, then looked at Yang Zhi, his eyes curving downwards, his tone softening by half.

"So, everything about you is stardust."

"..."

Yang Zhi froze on the spot.

She stared straight ahead, but couldn't really take anything in.

What kind of feeling was this?

It was like an orange quietly uncovering the night and snowing a gentle, dream-preserving snowfall. Even though she had seen the first snow before, a surge of uncontrollable excitement still welled up in her heart.

That's right.

As someone so learned, how could she not know this sentence?

But she had never imagined that one day, someone would say it to her so tenderly, face to face.

Yang Zhi's hands were clasped behind her back. When she heard Ding Yebai say that, she got so nervous she started fiddling with the hem of her clothes.

She, who was usually so composed, rarely found herself at a loss.

She abruptly turned her head away, her gaze drifting, and cleared her throat to ease the awkwardness. "Mm. It's quite nice."

Ding Yebai: "Don't you think this sentence is beautiful?"

Yang Zhi: "Huh?"

This dialogue feels so familiar. Did we have something similar when we first met?

Ding Yebai: "Isn't it romantic?"

Yang Zhi: "...Romantic."

After saying that, she glanced at the watch on her arm and said, "Um... class is starting. Let's go."

She really didn't know what else to say, so she used class as an excuse to end the conversation.

Ding Yebai looked at her profile, sighed after a moment.

It seemed Sister Yang Zhi had known this sentence for a long time. He had thought he could make her happy for a little while.

That made sense; after all, she was well-read, how could she not know it?

"Sister Yang Zhi, do you think I'm saying cheesy pickup lines...?"

"Huh?"

"Your expression says it all. Don't laugh at me in your heart. Let's go, class." Ding Yebai said, then turned and walked towards the bedroom on his own.

Yang Zhi: "???"

Yang Zhi blinked, watching his retreating back, finding him a bit strange.

Ding Yebai continued walking forward. After a while, a soft voice drifted into his ears. He turned his head and found Yang Zhi standing behind him.

She had a beautiful, serene expression, her hands clasped behind her back, still the same tranquil girl.

"Honestly, I've heard this sentence before. It's from Lawrence Krauss's A Universe from Nothing."

"..."

"I don't think it's a cheesy pickup line at all. It's the most poetic sentence I know about physics."

She smiled sweetly. "Everything about you is starlight... Mm, I read it a long time ago. Thanks to you, I remembered this warm and romantic sentence again."

Ding Yebai's heart raced just looking at her; his little heart felt like it was about to leap out of his throat.

He forced a cool demeanor and said, "It's nothing, I just suddenly remembered it." Then he quickly turned and went back to the bedroom.

"Learned something, learned something."

"Mm."

Harmony was restored, just like at the beginning.

Thanks to 20201025143756411 for 100 Origin Point Coins, book friend 20210424010319025 for 500 Origin Point Coins, Naming is Always Repetitive for 500 Origin Point Coins, and Amireux for 100 Origin Point Coins.