When the three of them returned to the campsite, everyone was already back.

Sensen was roughhoused by a group of people, and after finally breaking free from the adults’ clutches, Ruirui and Guoguo came pestering him again.

Unable to escape, Sensen had no choice but to play with them listlessly.

Ruirui used an empty beverage box to make a small table, went to the bonfire to grab a pile of snacks, and seriously arranged them on the cardboard box.

Then she used apricot juice as liquor, imitating the adults as she clinked glasses with Sensen and Guoguo.

Sensen drank a bottle cap of apricot juice while his gaze searched through the crowd for Qin Lie.

They’d been back for quite a while, but Qin Lie hadn’t mentioned anything about the autograph. Sensen increasingly felt like he’d been fooled.

Ruirui wrinkled her little brow, scrunching up her features as she smacked her lips exaggeratedly, “Good liquor.”

Guoguo also imitated Ruirui, gasping as she said, “Good liquor, good liquor.”

Sensen looked speechlessly at the two little fools, his gaze involuntarily drifting toward Qin Lie’s direction again.

Chen Xi sat by the bonfire, took a sip of beer, looked around, and casually asked, “Qin Zhan and Sister Fangfang aren’t back yet?”

Liu Boyang smiled suggestively, “They drove out to cruise around the desert.”

Chen Xi smiled, “That’s quite fun.”

She actually wanted to drive into the desert to go wild too. The moonlight was so beautiful tonight—it must be gorgeous out in the desert.

She inexplicably glanced at Qin Lie, something stirring restlessly in her heart.

“Where’s Yang Guan?”

Chen Xi asked again.

Han Susu replied, “He went back to his tent.”

Yang Shan looked confused. “The second half hasn’t even started yet. Why is he sleeping so early?”

Han Susu glanced at the tent but said nothing.

Chen Xi suddenly remembered something and looked at Qin Lie, asking, “The thing you promised Sensen earlier—is it reliable?”

Qin Lie nodded.

Just as they were talking, Qin Lie’s phone rang.

He answered the call, made an acknowledging sound, then raised his eyes to look toward the music festival venue, saying calmly, “Yeah, keep heading north. There’s a bonfire.”

“Oh, found it.”

A man’s voice came from the distance, “Mr. Qin, I see a bonfire. Are you there?”

Qin Lie stood up and raised his hand. “Can you see me?”

“Oh, I see you.”

The voice was getting closer, along with footsteps approaching the bonfire.

Chen Xi turned to look behind her, and her entire body suddenly froze.

Not far away, Sensen’s mouth hung open, the bottle cap in his hand dropped to the ground, and his eyes grew wider and wider.

His little brain went blank for a moment, then became very surreal.

All the bizarre dreams he’d ever had combined couldn’t compare to how strange this moment was.

He saw Zhou Qi from the Hot Fever band walking toward them step by step.

Even though Zhou Qi was wearing a baseball cap, Sensen recognized him immediately.

Sensen: “…”

He watched Zhou Qi walk to the bonfire and shake hands with Qin Lie.

Qin Lie said something to Zhou Qi, then turned to look in their direction.

Sensen’s little heart jumped violently, as if someone had struck his pressure points, freezing him from head to toe.

Sure enough, Qin Lie beckoned to him.

Zhou Qi turned to look at him, his narrow eyes suddenly crinkling as he broke into a big smile.

“Hi there, little friend.”

Sensen stood up mechanically, his expression still one of disbelief.

He shuffled his feet, his head buzzing as he walked over with the same arm and leg moving together.

“You’re the one who wants an autograph?”

Zhou Qi bent down and asked Sensen with a smile.

Sensen nodded blankly, looking at Qin Lie incredulously, finding his expression completely normal.

An indescribable feeling of happiness swept over the dazed little boy.

Looking at Qin Lie, he felt like he was an omnipotent superhero.

“Where should I sign?”

Zhou Qi asked.

Sensen stared stupidly at Zhou Qi’s handsome face, taking a moment to react.

He hurriedly took off his small backpack and pulled out a commemorative album from inside.

Qin Lie was slightly stunned—it was a limited edition commemorative album released when Tunnel collaborated with a certain anime.

Back then he was still at Dawn, leading a group of young people, working overtime day and night.

The air seemed to be filled with stimulants then; they seemed to need no sleep.

They had made the game Tunnel popular all over the world.

Sensen opened the commemorative album and held it up to Zhou Qi, too nervous to speak.

Zhou Qi took the album and asked with a smile, “What’s your name?”

“Guan Sensen.”

After Sensen spoke, his face turned red.

Zhou Qi uncapped his pen and was about to write when he heard the little boy’s whispered voice.

“Can you write it for my deskmate?”

Zhou Qi paused and looked up at Sensen, “Of course. What’s his name?”

Sensen: “Wang Ziqiu.”

Zhou Qi nodded and wrote in the blank space of the album: “To Wang Ziqiu.”

He stopped writing and asked again, “Is there anything you’d like me to say to him?”

Sensen’s eyes lit up, and he asked somewhat shyly, “Is that okay?”

Zhou Qi smiled, “Of course.”

Sensen thought for a moment and said, “Keep going, you’ll get better.”

Zhou Qi repeated Sensen’s words as he carefully wrote in the album: “Keep going, you’ll get better.”

Then he signed his name.

Sensen blinked his bright eyes, so happy he was almost crying.

He took the album Zhou Qi handed back to him and shyly said Thank you.

Zhou Qi suddenly asked him, “What about you?”

Sensen looked up at Zhou Qi blankly.

“Don’t you want my autograph?”

Zhou Qi’s face carried a hint of mock disappointment and teasing.

Sensen smiled with a red face, “I do, of course I do.”

Zhou Qi took off his baseball cap and used the pen to write a line on the inside of the brim.

“Guan Sensen, you’re an amazing person.”

Then he signed his name and gently placed the cap on Sensen’s head.

The little boy was completely at a loss, finally burying his head in Chen Xi’s arms.

Chen Xi hugged Sensen and said to Zhou Qi with a smile, “Thank you.”

Zhou Qi waved at Chen Xi with a smile, “We’re family—no need to be polite.”

Chen Xi: “…”

She smiled, not knowing how to respond to that.

The other party seemed to be trying to get close to them.

Chen Xi’s mind flashed to the scene of Zhou Qi on stage.

Every gesture and movement of his could elicit thunderous responses from the audience below.

This person was now sitting among them.

Calling everyone “bro” and “sis,” and being incredibly well-behaved.

Chen Xi certainly understood that all the enthusiasm and courtesy this little rock singer was showing wasn’t directed at them.

Chen Xi quietly glanced at Qin Lie, who was taking a cigarette Zhou Qi offered him, his expression unchanged.

She listened absently to Zhou Qi and Qin Lie’s conversation, occasionally catching words like “endorsement” and “thanks” from Zhou Qi’s mouth.

Chen Xi gradually became somewhat dazed, her gaze unconsciously settling on Qin Lie.

When she first saw this man, she felt he had an aura that was out of place with the people around him.

Only now did she suddenly realize—he was never from their world to begin with.

Chen Xi took Yang Shan’s car keys and quietly left.

The desert at night was bathed in moonlight, like a hazy sea.

Chen Xi rolled down the windows, and wind rushed in.

She drove farther and farther away, the rock music and singing behind her gradually becoming ethereal.

She sped over dune after dune, going wild alone in the empty, desolate desert.

She showed off her driving skills, with only the moonlight as witness.

She experienced the thrill and racing heartbeat of high-speed drifting.

Only the wind outside the window shared her feelings.

After Chen Xi went wild for a while, her speed gradually slowed down.

She propped her elbow on the car window, one hand on the steering wheel.

She suddenly remembered this time last year, when she and Bai Yuning were in the tent, making love silently.

She had wanted to drag Bai Yuning out for night driving, just like now.

To feel the ultimate thrill together in the desert that was so vast it was almost frightening.

But Bai Yuning refused. He wouldn’t let Chen Xi do dangerous things.

So Chen Xi channeled her longing for night driving, her untamed wildness that she couldn’t unleash, all into the tent.

Bai Yuning was scared by her initiative, covering her mouth tightly, making her swallow back all her broken moans.

He was afraid of being heard by people in the neighboring tents.

Chen Xi looked at the lonely dunes in the distant moonlight and smiled softly.

Walking so far with him had taken quite some effort on her part.

Finally, when she couldn’t go on anymore, she realized that in the adult world, not asking about the future and enjoying the moment was a kind of wisdom.

Her phone suddenly rang abruptly. Chen Xi answered, and Qin Lie’s rough, deep voice came through.

“Where did you go?”

Chen Xi: “The desert.”

Qin Lie: “Where?”

Chen Xi: “I don’t know.”

Qin Lie: “Are you crazy?”

Chen Xi smiled and made a low sound of agreement.

She was indeed crazy—when she went wild, she feared nothing.

Qin Lie: “Wait for me.”

Chen Xi: “You’re the one who’s crazy. In such a huge desert, how would you find me?”

She smiled and hung up, continuing to race aimlessly.

After driving alone until midnight, she could vaguely see that the night sky in the distance was brighter than the surroundings.

She had probably circled and returned to the desert not far from the music festival.

Suddenly, headlights from behind and to the side flashed at her. Chen Xi’s rearview mirror was dazzled, and she couldn’t see clearly whose car it was.

But instinct told her it was Qin Lie’s.

She curved her lips and floored the accelerator, flying forward.

The car behind seemed to suddenly speed up as well.

The two cars began a chase in the quiet desert night.

Just as Chen Xi was about to be caught up to, she made a sharp turn and drifted away, leaving the car far behind in the distance.

Not to be outdone, that car quickly caught up again.

Wind howled in her ears as sand flew wildly everywhere.

Chen Xi suddenly remembered their motorcycle racing scene in the VR arcade.

She smiled—this man was always racing alongside her when her heart was pounding wildly.

Under the moonlight, sand and dust flew as the two cars raced unrestrained, chasing, pulling, and competing.

Suddenly, Qin Lie’s car disappeared, then in the next instant, it burst out from behind a dune.

Chen Xi slammed on the brakes, stopping less than a meter away from the other car.

She leaned back heavily against her seat, breathing hard and laughing.

Qin Lie got out of his car and walked toward her step by step.

In the moonlight, his tall, sturdy figure had a heart-stirring wildness.

He approached and stood outside her car window, knocking on the car body.

“Want a smoke?”

Chen Xi gave him a meaningful look and pushed open her door to get out.

The two of them leaned against the car hood, lit cigarettes, two sparks flickering in the darkness.

The desert was covered with a hazy halo of light, looking unreal, with faint, languid singing drifting from the distance.

Chen Xi lightly exhaled smoke and said softly, “It’s so late, and people are still singing.”

Qin Lie listened quietly to the faint singing in the distance, and after a while, chuckled softly, “If you’re going to be crazy, might as well go all the way.”

Chen Xi also smiled, thinking, yes, exactly.

The two of them remained silent, finishing their cigarettes.

Qin Lie turned and asked Chen Xi, “Shall we go back?”