After Xu Zhinan got out of the car and returned to the dormitory, Lin Qingye stayed in the car for a while before driving away. He didn’t go back to his apartment but went to the cemetery instead.

Time Heng’s cemetery.

He rarely visited, deliberately avoiding it.

The cemetery security guard came out and asked, “Why are you coming so late? Is there something special?”

“No, just coming for a visit,” Lin Qingye said.

The security guard didn’t say anything more. After registering his name, he let him in.

Lin Qingye stood before Time Heng’s gravestone, quietly looking at the photo on it. In the past, he never dared to look at this photo for long. This was the first time.

In the photo, Time Heng had the appearance of a standard good student, fair-skinned and handsome.

His age remained forever at 16. Counting the years, Lin Qingye was now 7 years older than him.

“Time Heng,” he began.

The night wind suddenly grew stronger, whistling as it blew his freshly washed hair into disarray.

He paused, then changed his words: “Brother.”

Lin Qingye couldn’t even remember if he had ever called him brother before. Perhaps when he was very young, back before he realized how differently Fu Xueming viewed him compared to Time Heng.

But now, as this word “brother” left his lips, he suddenly felt as if the stone that had been painfully weighing on his heart for so many years had somehow lightened.

Xu Zhinan had repeatedly told him that he wasn’t at fault.

But Lin Qingye wouldn’t truly believe he was blameless just because of her words. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have tortured himself for so many years.

He was the fuse that lit everything. He couldn’t shirk that responsibility.

Lin Guancheng had said that Fu Xueming was stubborn, that for all these years she had been holding a grudge against herself, against Lin Qingye, against Time Heng’s accident.

But wasn’t he also holding a grudge?

Everyone said he was wrong, but he stubbornly refused to admit it, as if obstinately trying to prove something. Yet what he was trying to prove, even he didn’t know.

Now that Xu Zhinan had told him he wasn’t wrong, he suddenly felt he no longer needed to desperately cling to those empty things.

The cemetery was quiet and deserted at night. Lin Qingye removed his mask and crouched before the gravestone, quietly gazing at the young man in the photo.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly, looking at the photo.

In the photo, Time Heng smiled faintly, just watching him.

In his memory, he couldn’t recall ever seeing Time Heng angry. His temperament was impossibly good, no wonder Fu Xueming liked him so much.

“These words are seven years late,” Lin Qingye said. “I’m sorry, brother.”

The National Day holiday passed quickly. Xu Zhinan finally caught up with all her previously postponed client appointments. On the afternoon of October 7th, she closed the shop and took the subway home.

She had been too busy to visit home even once since the semester began a month ago.

As soon as she walked through the door, she smelled the aroma of food. Her mother had prepared a table full of dishes, just waiting for her return.

“Mom, why did you make so many dishes?” Xu Zhinan entered the house and put down her backpack.

“Did you come alone?” Her mother looked behind her. “Isn’t tomorrow your birthday? I thought you might bring your friends over for a meal. Tomorrow you’ll have classes, so I won’t be able to wish my Ah Nan a happy birthday in person.”

Xu Zhinan smiled. “You’re already saying it in person now. My friends are all really busy lately, so I didn’t invite them over. It takes so long to get here by subway.”

Her mother had often heard her mention her dormitory friends before.

“I know Yue Yue is preparing for graduate school exams, but why is Qian Qian also busy now?”

“Well, we’re in our senior year. She participated in the campus autumn recruitment fair a few days ago and started her internship today.”

“Autumn recruitment fair? Did you go too?”

“No, I don’t have time for an internship. Business has been really good lately.”

“So you plan to continue running your tattoo shop in the future?”

Xu Zhinan nodded, making an affirmative sound as she went to the kitchen to wash her hands.

Her mother hesitated, speaking haltingly: “It’s not that I have job discrimination or anything like that. I’m just sharing my thoughts with you. As a girl, I’m always going to worry about you running a tattoo shop long-term.”

Xu Zhinan’s mother was formerly a teacher, and Xu Yuanwen was a police officer. Both had what society considered stable, proper jobs. She did indeed hope that Xu Zhinan would find a job suitable for a girl—something stable. Running one’s own business meant dealing with too many concerns, and society’s view of tattoos was generally negative, with groundless prejudice everywhere. She didn’t want Xu Zhinan to face such treatment in the future.

“There’s nothing to worry about. I’ve won the competition championship now, business is good, and I’ve met many other excellent tattoo artists. The tattoo artist named Lu that I mentioned to you before, he’s especially nice,” Xu Zhinan said. “Besides, I like this job. It’s very interesting.”

Hearing her say this, her mother had nothing more to add.

So she changed the subject: “What about your other dormmate? Is she busy lately, too?”

Her mother was referring to Ruan Yuanyuan.

Since Ruan Yuanyuan had changed dormitories at the end of last semester because of the incident with Lin Qingye, they hadn’t had much further communication.

“Yes, I think she’s preparing to study abroad, working on various application materials,” Xu Zhinan didn’t elaborate.

“Well, all four of you in the dormitory are certainly heading in different directions,” her mother patted her shoulder. “Alright, let’s eat.”

After dinner, Xu Zhinan didn’t stay home long. She had classes the next day, so she took the subway back to school.

The next morning, October 8th, was Xu Zhinan’s 22nd birthday.

Last night, she had noticed Zhao Qian pulling Jiang Yue aside to whisper secretively for quite a while, and a few days earlier, she had accidentally overheard them discussing buying a cake. She knew very well they were probably preparing a birthday surprise for her.

Sure enough, throughout the morning classes, they pretended not to know anything, interacting normally as usual, without mentioning her birthday at all.

Xu Zhinan played along and didn’t expose their plan.

It was still the elderly professor’s elective class. As soon as class began, he commented on their self-portraits from last time, singling out Xu Zhinan’s for praise.

Everyone in the class knew who she was.

Someone teased from below: “Professor, she has a head start! Maybe it’s not that our paintings aren’t good, but that we don’t look good to begin with.”

Everyone laughed.

The elderly professor pushed his metal-framed glasses and looked at him, smiling: “You little rascal.”

After finishing the praise for the previous assignments, the lecture began.

Zhao Qian and Jiang Yue were passing notes, acting as if Xu Zhinan couldn’t see them, passing messages back and forth endlessly.

Not wanting to spoil their surprise, Xu Zhinan focused on taking notes, even though this course didn’t even have a final exam.

She had been writing for a while when her phone buzzed with a message from Lin Qingye.

[Lin Qingye: What are you doing?]

[Xu Zhinan: In class.]

[Lin Qingye: Still attending class on your birthday?]

[Xu Zhinan: You still have to go to class on your birthday.]

Lin Qingye was sitting in the makeup room backstage at “I Come for Music.” The finals of the show would be broadcast live that evening, so they had started preparing hair and makeup early.

He barely needed any makeup, just some styling of his hair.

Looking at Xu Zhinan’s message saying “You still have to go to class on your birthday,” he laughed, almost able to imagine her tone of voice saying those words.

The makeup artist teased: “What’s making you so happy?”

He smiled faintly: “Nothing.”

“How about dyeing your hair? We still have time. I saw that your blue hair at the Yan City Music Festival got a great response. The finals are being broadcast live tonight—want to dye it again?”

[Xu Zhinan: Are you recording the show?]

[Lin Qingye: Live broadcast at 8 PM. Still in makeup.]

[Xu Zhinan: Do you always wear makeup on stage? I never noticed.]

[Lin Qingye: Not much. The makeup artist wants me to dye my hair blue.]

[Xu Zhinan: Like last time? I think it looked really good on you.]

The makeup artist, not getting a response from Lin Qingye, assumed he didn’t want to dye his hair and didn’t press further.

But just then, he suddenly spoke up: “Okay.”

“Huh?”

“Blue hair.”

“Great!”

The makeup artist was about to get hair spray dye when Lin Qingye asked: “For a permanent dye, is there enough time?”

“Permanent dye?” The makeup artist didn’t immediately understand.

“Yes.”

“There’s enough time. The color will look more natural and better than spray dye, but changing the color later will require dyeing again.”

Many idols and celebrities change hair colors for each set of photos, and in recent years, hair colors have become increasingly bold and striking. Having enough different colors to form a rainbow isn’t uncommon.

But the makeup artist mentioned this because Lin Qingye had always kept his hair black.

Lin Qingye maintained his casual demeanor: “Let’s dye it.”

By evening, Jiang Yue and Zhao Qian asked Xu Zhinan to go to the cafeteria to buy them dinner.

She bought three meals and returned to the dormitory. When she opened the door, the curtains were tightly drawn and the lights were off, with only a dim light from the corridor seeping in.

Jiang Yue and Zhao Qian emerged from the darkness, humming the birthday song, carrying a cake with a “22” candle on top.

“Happy birthday, Ah Nan!” they shouted.

Xu Zhinan, still holding the three meals, couldn’t help but smile: “Thank you both.”

“How about that!” Zhao Qian looked excited. “This morning you must have been so disappointed! Thinking we’d forgotten your birthday! Surprised?”

She thought her surprise had been completely unsuspected.

Xu Zhinan didn’t dampen their enthusiasm and smiled with an affirmative “Mmm.”

Zhao Qian dipped her finger in some cream and smeared it on Xu Zhinan’s face. Xu Zhinan let out a soft “Ah!” and covered her face with her hand, getting cream all over her hand as well.

Zhao Qian laughed loudly: “Don’t wipe it off! This is what birthdays are supposed to be like.”

Xu Zhinan wasn’t fooled this time: “On your birthday, you smeared cream on my face too and said the same thing.”

She then dipped her finger in a dollop of cream and tried to smear it on Zhao Qian, but Zhao Qian quickly caught her wrist and pushed back, causing the cream to smear on Xu Zhinan’s face again.

After being smeared twice, she stamped her foot in frustration.

Zhao Qian laughed even harder.

Jiang Yue “mediated”: “Okay, okay, if you keep smearing each other, there won’t be any cake left to eat.”

She turned on the lights. Xu Zhinan went to the bathroom to wash her face, and when she came out, Jiang Yue and Zhao Qian presented their prepared gifts.

Jiang Yue had drawn a picture for her, based on the photo of Xu Zhinan holding the trophy on stage when she won the tattoo design competition championship, and had framed it in wood.

“I spent a lot of my living expenses on textbooks and online courses recently, so I couldn’t afford to buy you something from the mall. I just drew you this picture as a record of your first tattoo award.”

Zhao Qian gave her a bracelet: “I’d embarrass myself drawing in front of you two, so I kept it simple. This bracelet cost me a month’s internship salary.”

Xu Zhinan sincerely thanked them both.

Besides the cake, they had bought many high-calorie foods like fried chicken and pizza.

With graduation approaching, the three sat together eating and chatting, discussing life. Halfway through, Gu Congwang called.

Since he’d gone abroad, they hadn’t chatted much due to the time difference.

Xu Zhinan stood up and walked to the balcony to answer the call. Before she could speak, Gu Congwang shouted: “Ah Nan! Happy birthday!”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile. “What time is it there?”

“Noon. I don’t have morning classes, so I just woke up.”

They chatted casually for a while. As they were about to hang up, Gu Congwang suddenly called her name: “Ah Nan…”

Xu Zhinan put the phone back to her ear: “What is it?”

He was silent for a moment, then sighed almost inaudibly: “Nothing.”

“Are you sure nothing’s wrong?” Xu Zhinan had never seen him like this and was concerned. “If something’s wrong, you need to tell me.”

Gu Congwang let out a lazy laugh: “What could be wrong with your big brother?”

His tone returned to normal, which reassured Xu Zhinan. She said goodbye and hung up. As soon as she pushed open the balcony door, Zhao Qian shouted: “Come quick, Ah Nan! The ‘I Come for Music’ finals are starting!”

She had already turned on the computer. There were so many people watching the live stream online that it was a bit laggy.

The finals broadcast of “I Come for Music” was a grand affair. The audience accumulated during previous promotions and two music festivals had completely turned into show fans. Tickets for the finals were sold at sky-high prices. Topics about the finals had topped the trending list early on, everyone waiting for the broadcast to begin.

Soon, the host took the stage. After an opening speech, the first performer came on stage.

The program’s official account had already posted the performance order that they had drawn backstage in the afternoon. Zhao Qian checked and saw that Lin Qingye would perform fifth, in the middle.

The camera panned to the audience, showing sections of fans holding Lin Qingye’s light boards.

Soon, it was Lin Qingye’s turn.

He walked out of the dazzling lights.

He had dyed his hair blue again, slightly different from the music festival. This time the blue was deeper, shimmering with mottled light under the stage lights. Instantly, screams erupted.

A white T-shirt under a denim shirt gives him a youthful appearance.

He walked to the microphone stand, nodded, leaned close, and in his magnetic, deep voice said: “Hello everyone, I’m Lin Qingye.”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!” Zhao Qian immediately howled, holding a chicken leg in the air. “Why! Why is even his self-introduction so captivating!!!”

“Ah Nan, I admire you so much!! How have you managed to resist Lin Qingye for so long!!!!” Zhao Qian shouted, hugging Xu Zhinan.

Xu Zhinan let her hug her, never taking her eyes off the screen.

For some reason, she could always think of Lin Qingye’s vulnerable moments even when he was shining so brilliantly like this.

Nothing showed on his face. All his fans described him as carefree and radiant, with the arrogance and pride of youth.

But Xu Zhinan felt sorry for him.

He was so proud, clearly trying hard to break free from his past constraints.

How she wished that Lin Qingye could truly be as he appeared now—brilliantly shining under the spotlight, standing at the center of all attention.

Xu Zhinan rarely watched variety shows, and neither did Jiang Yue. It was rare for the three roommates to watch together. They watched from eight o’clock until ten, and finally all ten finalists had finished their performances.

To ensure fairness, voting wasn’t determined solely by the audience. The audience’s votes had a very small proportion. The main factor was the panel of professional music critics on the other side.

Xu Zhinan unconsciously clenched her fists, her palms sweating.

Two by two, they competed. Professional critics held up scoring cards, while the audience pressed voting buttons.

Soon, ten became five, with Lin Qingye among them.

Five became three, with Lin Qingye still among them.

The finals only ranked the top three, with no further rankings for the remaining contestants.

The three stood in the center of the stage, three spotlights shining down on them from above, casting three circles of light on the ground.

Row after row of cards were held up for voting, with the scores very close. All the audience members waited anxiously for the final results.

The last row of voting finished.

The bar graph on the background screen behind them rose again, with Lin Qingye surpassing the previous second place to reach first.

—Champion!

Instantly, the audience screamed and applauded. Everyone stood up, raising Lin Qingye’s light boards and shouting his name hoarsely. Some emotional fans were even in tears.

An even brighter beam of light followed him, falling on Lin Qingye.

He turned to look at the voting scores on the screen behind him, lazily curling his lips into a smile. The close-up was projected onto the big screen.

The youth in splendid attire, riding high.

Accompanied by Zhao Qian’s screams beside her, Xu Zhinan watched as staff members brought up the trophy and handed it to Lin Qingye.

Gold paper confetti showered from the stage ceiling, with some pieces landing on his head and shoulders.

Xu Zhinan’s gaze remained fixed on him.

The voices of Zhao Qian and Jiang Yue in the dormitory, as well as the screams of fans in the broadcast, all seemed to recede, becoming indistinct.

She just kept watching Lin Qingye.

At the same time, her phone vibrated. It was Lin Qingye calling.

There was a few minutes’ delay between the live broadcast and real-time events. He had already left the stage.

Xu Zhinan answered the phone, a moment of silence, and then a soft: “Hello?”

Due to the delay, the computer screen still showed the scene from a few minutes ago.

Xu Zhinan had answered Lin Qingye’s call, but she was still watching him stand on stage, raising the trophy, lifting his chin.

In the close-up shot, he looked at the center of the camera, as if trying to see the person behind it. Then he smiled at the camera.

Xu Zhinan couldn’t help but smile too.

Across the screen.

Then she heard the voice of the real Lin Qingye in her ear: “Ah Nan, happy birthday.”

“I won your birthday present back,” he said.