No Farewell to the Star on a Long Voyage

(A long chapter of over 3,000 Chinese characters, focusing on this song. It's my favorite!)

Zhou Yu's whisper was so soft that not even the goji berries stirred.

But Chisaki heard it.

Her fingers paused on her knee for a tenth of a second, then she added in the tone of someone announcing an experimental result,

"The unit's movement trajectories match Aimis's free combat data from the mechanical engineering department's annual physical assessment with 99.8 percent accuracy."

"The remaining 0.2 percent was deducted because the skirt affected her aerodynamics."

Chisaki: (─.─)

Zhou Yu tightened the lid on his thermos.

Good grief. So much for being sent back to the factory for repairs. She was on paid leave, using an alternate identity to work a side gig.

"When did you figure it out?"

"The third measure of the first song. The angle at which she jumped off her left foot was identical to the data from her physical assessment video."

Chisaki's voice was flat.

"I only make comparisons. I don't draw inferences."

"Got it. Academic confidentiality agreement."

Zhou Yu was just about to say something else when all the lights onstage went out.

The entire venue was plunged into utter darkness, with only a sea of pink stars formed by countless glow sticks surging through it.

A spotlight slammed down on center stage.

Flying Snow Velvet had changed into a long, starry gown studded with tiny diamonds. When the light hit her, it was as though she were wearing the Milky Way.

She sat back down on the high stool with her guitar, and the sound of her breathing, warm and damp from exertion, carried through the microphone across the auditorium.

"Thank you, everyone."

Her voice was soft, touched with a smile.

"This last song is for all the friends who were once in darkness, but were still brought back to the world by a hand, or perhaps a serving of sweet-and-sour pork ribs."

A wave of good-natured laughter rose from the audience.

Dania rubbed her round, full belly.

"How does she know about the sweet-and-sour pork ribs?"

Zhou Yu didn't answer.

Linnai's eyes lit up, and she slapped Sigelica's arm repeatedly.

"This one! 'Farewell to the Star on a Long Voyage'! It's a masterpiece!"

"Why are you hitting me?!"

Sigelica hissed, but her eyes were already fixed on the stage.

The guitar sounded softly, and a distant, stirring prelude slowly flowed out.

Flying Snow Velvet began to sing, her voice clear and gentle.

"That snowflake once fell on my nose, now flying backwards to last winter-"

That snowflake once fell on the tip of my nose, but now it flies backward to last winter.

Dania's fingers curled slightly.

"I realize that hellos are goodbyes, the moment I softly let go of your hand-"

I finally realized that every hello was a goodbye, at the moment I gently let go of your hand.

The bag of potato chips beside her crinkled faintly in her grip.

"Zhou Yu."

Her voice was so soft it was swallowed by the melody.

"What is she singing about?"

"Goodbyes."

"What does saying goodbye feel like?"

Zhou Yu unscrewed the lid of his thermos, then screwed it back on.

"It's when you're standing together, but you've already started to feel the other person growing distant."

Dania hugged the bag of chips a little tighter.

There were no goodbyes in the culture dish, only disposal.

The song continued.

"Winds hum through the trembling branches, a song for a soul bound to soar to the very edge of the starry ocean-"

The wind passes through the trembling branches, singing a song for a soul destined to fly to the edge of the sea of stars.

"Even if we're meant to fall apart, I will gaze at where you are for all time-"

Even if we're destined to part, I will forever gaze at the place where you are.

Dania's tears fell.

One, then two, landing with soft taps on the bag of chips in her arms.

She made no sound, just wept quietly.

The broadcasts in that culture dish, the cold data, the towering sacrificial platform, the containers and fate that repeated endlessly-all of it churned through her mind with the song.

Zhou Yu didn't look at her.

He merely nudged the opened bag of chips farther into her arms.

Linnai's glow stick gradually came to a stop. She hugged her knees and buried her face in them, her shoulders trembling.

Linnai: (｡;＿;｡)

Sigelica's eyes reddened. She opened her mouth, but couldn't get a single word out, and her glow stick creaked in her grip.

Sigelica: (TДT)

The chorus began, the melody growing expansive and bright.

"Bon voyage, may your path be clear, may you get to where dreams are all crystalline and sweet-"

Bon voyage. May your path be clear, and may you reach a place where dreams are sweet.

"Please crack a little smile, you won't be alone, in this world you've chosen as your own-"

Please give a little smile. You won't be alone in this world you've chosen as your own.

Dania's tears flowed even harder, but the corners of her mouth rose uncontrollably.

"Zhou Yu, she says I won't be alone."

"Mm."

"Really?"

"Count how many people are sitting next to you."

Dania rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and tilted her head to look.

Linnai was crying, Sigelica was crying too, Chisaki was recording data, and Zhou Yu was drinking goji berry tea.

"Four."

"There you go."

"Don't worry, I'm well aware that all snowflakes melt in the end, which is a sign of warmth and hope of spring-"

Don't worry. I know all snowflakes will eventually melt. That's a sign of warmth and the hope of spring.

"So I'll dance flamboyantly into that good night-"

So I'll dance flamboyantly into that good night.

The guitar strings were brushed gently, their notes echoing softly.

Sigelica finally couldn't hold back anymore. Tears pattered down her face as she fumbled out a crumpled tissue and clumsily pressed it against Dania's face.

"You're crying again!"

"So are you."

Dania's voice was muffled.

"The wind got in my eyes!"

"What wind? We're indoors."

"The air conditioning!"

"The air vent is three rows behind you."

Chisaki rubbed it in, her fingers still flying across her electronic notepad.

[Subject Dania: heart rate stable between 120 and 135; tear secretion exceeds threshold, but corners of mouth are trending upward. Classification: healing-type crying.]

[Resonance-triggering keywords: snowflake, goodbye, bon voyage.]

[Conclusion: parting can be warm too.]

"What are you writing, Chisaki?"

Linnai leaned over, the tip of her nose still red.

"Academic records."

"You even have to record crying?"

"Emotional fluctuations are valid data."

"Your eyes are red too."

"Abnormal corneal moisture."

"You're just like Sigelica."

Chisaki pushed up her glasses and didn't reply.

Zhou Yu glanced at the words on her screen, then looked at Dania and Sigelica, who were crying their eyes out but still stuffing chips into their mouths.

He opened his assessment form and put a check mark next to the music therapy evaluation.

Beside it, he added a note: highly effective; side effects include high tissue and potato chip consumption.

Onstage, the song entered its final section.

Flying Snow Velvet's voice grew even softer.

"Timing is such a dazzling riddle, guess I'll spend my whole life unraveling it-"

Timing is such a dazzling riddle. I think I'll spend my whole life unraveling it.

"Though it might cost me everything I have, I never regret it, wouldn't have it any other way-"

Though it might cost me everything I have, I never regret it.

"Those who trace starlight on their lonely roads will find their destinations in the cosmos-"

Those who follow starlight along lonely roads will eventually find where they belong in the cosmos.

"Meeting you in that swirling snowfall is the most beautiful thing ever happened to me-"

Meeting you amid the swirling snow was the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me.

The final line ended, and the lingering notes of the guitar slowly faded away.

The entire venue fell deathly silent.

Three seconds later, applause and cheers erupted in an overwhelming roar.

"Snow Velvet! Snow Velvet! Snow Velvet!"

"Encore! Encore!"

Holographic starlight rained down from the dome, falling on everyone's shoulders.

Flying Snow Velvet stood amid the light and shadows and bowed deeply.

The lights came on again.

Dania was still standing where she was, tear tracks on her face and half a potato chip in her hand, staring blankly at the empty stage.

Sigelica was still wiping her face, even though she was crying harder than anyone.

Linnai had shouted herself hoarse. All she could do was cry and clap with all her might, until her hands turned red.

Dania moved.

She stuffed the remaining half chip into her mouth, bit down with a crunch, then suddenly stood up on her chair.

"Lady Snow Velvet!"

She shouted with all her might.

She swung the glow stick in her hand into a spinning pink wheel, looking ready to tear the roof off.

An unprecedented radiance bloomed on her little face, streaked with tears and dotted with potato chip crumbs.

Dania: (☆o☆)

Sigelica and Linnai stared in astonishment.

Zhou Yu leaned back in his chair, casually raised his wrist, and checked his old-fashioned digital watch.

Its pixel-style schedule was clearly visible on the screen.

He reached out and tapped the entry for Flying Snow Velvet's concert.

A small green [Task complete] icon popped up.

"All right."

He stood up and patted the dust off his yellow vest.

"The show's over. Time for the audience to leave."

Zhou Yu glanced at Dania, who was still standing on her chair and yelling, and at the two girls beside her, both drenched in tears.

He cleared his throat and said, in the tone of someone announcing afternoon tea,

"Next, we move on to the next part of this team-building activity."

"Follow me. It's time for the backstage fan visit."

Linnai sprang to her feet, tears still on her face, her voice already cracking.

"Backstage? You can get backstage?"

Zhou Yu waved his gold staff ID card.

"Logistics is conducting a routine inspection of the sound wiring and bringing three interns along to observe. Perfectly reasonable."

"Wait."

Sigelica's voice was taut, and the tear tracks on her face had not yet dried.

"If the person sitting backstage, once she takes off her mask, is..."

She trailed off and glanced at Chisaki.

Chisaki put away her notes, her glasses reflecting the light.

"Ninety-nine point eight percent."

Dania jumped down from her chair, still clutching her glow stick, and jogged a couple of steps to catch up with Zhou Yu.

"Zhou Yu."

"Mm."

"If it really is Aimis..."

Her fingers tightened around the bottom of the glow stick.

"Why didn't she tell us?"

Zhou Yu pushed open the door marked "Stage Equipment Area" without looking back.

"Some things only count when the person says them herself."

Beyond the door, the white dry-ice fog had not fully cleared, and pink glitter covered the floor along the way.

At the end of the corridor, the dressing room door stood ajar, and the sound of guitar strings being idly plucked drifted out from inside.