The posts on the forum gradually began to gain traction, and one after another, hate threads about Ji Zhaoxi started appearing.
“Does everyone remember how J.C.X. refused to do a PK with Sanzi before? Sanzi got blamed for it, even though she used to be J.C.X.’s mentor.”
“Are people really only finding out now that this is what she’s like? She always wears a sour expression during her livestreams.”
“Who understands the feeling of finally having everyone discover that the person you’ve always hated really is awful? [Crying hysterically]”
“The company’s pretty impressive too. They’re always marketing her as beautiful, but there are plenty of girls at school who look better than her. I heard from a friend that even her academic credentials might be padded…”
Meanwhile, the one-day store manager event had finally come to an end, and Ji Zhaoxi was so exhausted that her legs were trembling.
Luckily, she had prepared enough gifts for everyone, and all the fans had received one.
There were still plenty of fans gathered outside, with countless phones pointed at her. Ji Zhaoxi had wanted to exchange a few glances with them, but everyone was staring at her through their phone screens instead.
“Everyone, head home soon. It’s getting late,” Ji Zhaoxi said with a smile as she bid them farewell.
“Xixi, eat more and take good care of yourself.”
“Sing whenever you want. We really like listening to you sing.”
“Baby, will there be more offline events next time?”
Ji Zhaoxi was nearly squeezed off her feet, but she answered their questions one by one.
She didn’t take the comments about singing to heart, though.
She had matured now. She knew the difference between words meant to comfort her and words that came from genuine appreciation…
Just then, Ji Zhaoxi noticed a middle-aged man standing impatiently by the entrance. In the next second, he looked ready to start cursing.
Ji Zhaoxi hurriedly pulled several fans inside.
“Everyone, move in a little. Don’t block the way for other people.”
The man froze when the path suddenly opened up, then muttered under his breath, “Why do they have to crowd together like this every day?”
People really went crazy over celebrities.
This was exactly the sort of situation Ji Zhaoxi feared most. While answering her fans’ questions, she kept observing her surroundings, worried that they might be blocking pedestrians.
Almost all the fans had cars on the way.
“Goodbye, everyone. Send a message in the group once you get home,” Ji Zhaoxi said, standing there and waving at them.
“Goodbye, Xixi. Take care of yourself.”
“Don’t read all those nasty comments online.”
“Bye-bye. See you next time.”
The fans leaned out of their car windows, their eyes red as they continued speaking to Ji Zhaoxi.
After all the fans had left, Ji Zhaoxi lugged a huge bag of letters toward the subway station, huffing and puffing with every step.
Traffic around the school was especially terrible. Taking the subway was faster than driving.
When Ji Zhaoxi saw the nearly empty station, she was delighted. She would definitely be able to get a seat later.
Since coming to City A, the number of times she had managed to sit down on the subway could be counted on one hand. Most of the time, she was pressed into a corner in a state of complete despair, with all kinds of bags and hair repeatedly smacking her in the face.
Ji Zhaoxi’s large bag was stuffed to the brim. It was so full that she couldn’t even pull the zipper shut. Just as she was about to reach the security checkpoint, the zipper burst open, sending handmade gifts and letters scattering across the floor.
Ji Zhaoxi quickly bent down to pick everything up. She was frantic. Surely no one had taken a picture, right? If someone photographed this and claimed she had deliberately thrown the gifts on the ground, she would be done for.
Not far away, a security officer silently watched the scene with a detector in hand.
Just then, the light in front of her dimmed, and a hand reached down to help pick up the letters from the floor.
“Thank you, thank you.” Ji Zhaoxi continued gathering the things around her as she thanked the person.
Please, don’t let anyone take a picture!
The hand paused for a moment, then continued helping her tidy everything up.
A familiar voice suddenly sounded in front of her.
“Are you going back to school now?”
Ji Zhaoxi froze when she heard the voice she knew so well and finally looked up.
Lu Huainan lowered his gaze as he stuffed the things from the floor back into her bag.
“Lu Huainan? What are you doing here?” Ji Zhaoxi still hadn’t quite processed what was happening.
Lu Huainan was silent for a moment before answering, “I came to hang out.”
If he hadn’t spoken to her, would she have realized that he was the one helping her pick everything up?
At last, all the letters and gifts had been put back into the bag, and Ji Zhaoxi let out a sigh of relief.
The two of them carried the bag farther into the station. Just then, someone wearing a mask took it from them.
Not long afterward, a new post appeared on the anonymous forum.
“Is this a certain someone? She tried to throw her fans’ gifts on the ground at the subway station and only reluctantly picked everything up after being reprimanded by a staff member.”
The post even included several photos. In the first, Ji Zhaoxi stood motionless while letters and gifts were scattered all over the floor.
In the second, Ji Zhaoxi had her head lowered as she stuffed the gifts back into the bag, while a staff member stood beside her with a stern expression.
The post quickly shot to the top of the trending threads.
At that moment, Ji Zhaoxi was sitting in a seat, utterly exhausted.
If she had become an influencer during her freshman or sophomore year, she would have been full of energy.
But by now, her experiments had worn her down into an old woman.
When they first returned to campus, the two of them carried the bag together. Before long, though, Lu Huainan was the only one carrying it.
The breeze carried a hint of chill, and the lights along the road had dimmed considerably. The two of them walked slowly toward the women’s dormitory.
It was quiet between them. Unable to hold back any longer, Ji Zhaoxi spoke.
“Lu Huainan, don’t you hate me?”
Lu Huainan instinctively denied it. “No.”
“You do!”
Lu Huainan was silent for a while before finally saying, “Because you ignored me.”
Ji Zhaoxi felt terribly wronged. “When did I ever ignore you? I would never ignore anyone.”
Lu Huainan looked into her eyes, suddenly at a loss for words.
He lowered his gaze to their shadows on the ground and fell silent again. It wasn’t that she had ignored him. He had simply been too timid to start a conversation with her.
Ji Zhaoxi frowned and stepped in front of him, blocking his way.
When Lu Huainan moved left, Ji Zhaoxi moved left too. When he moved right, she moved right to block him again.
Lu Huainan’s ears turned bright red, and his heart tightened. He gripped the bag tightly and avoided her gaze.
“You’re the one who ignored me. I always responded whenever you spoke to me,” Ji Zhaoxi said, sounding a little hurt.
She wasn’t the kind of person who lacked basic manners.
Lu Huainan knew that if he didn’t come up with something, she wouldn’t let the matter go.
So he could only mention something that had happened back in high school.
“On the day we graduated, I asked you to take a photo with me. Then someone else called you, and that person pulled you away…”
Lu Huainan’s voice was hoarse. In truth, it hadn’t been anything particularly important.
There had been plenty of people asking Ji Zhaoxi to take photos with them that day. He had finally worked up the courage to ask her too, joining the crowd around her. But just as they were about to take the picture, someone else pulled her aside.
They never got a photo together.
Ji Zhaoxi froze. “That happened?”
Lu Huainan said nothing, a wave of sadness seeming to surround him.
Ji Zhaoxi looked at him guiltily. “You could have pulled me back.”
She vaguely remembered being tugged this way and that by different people on graduation day. She couldn’t even remember who she had taken photos with.
Lu Huainan’s voice was very soft. “But you didn’t know me back then.”
“You still could have. You were there first, weren’t you?” Ji Zhaoxi said.
Lu Huainan stared blankly at Ji Zhaoxi.
It had never occurred to him that he could simply pull her back.
She went to take photos with other people, while he stood watching her from a short distance away, hoping she still remembered him. But until he left, she remained surrounded by everyone else.
“It’s okay. Then let’s take a few more pictures together now.”
Ji Zhaoxi opened the camera and took photos with him. Lu Huainan was still somewhat slow to react, but his body instinctively bent down.
In the frame, Ji Zhaoxi was smiling at the camera, while Lu Huainan, holding a large bag, looked at her helplessly.
After returning to the dormitory, Lu Huainan sat silently on his bed. The room was unbearably dark.
He took out his phone. The bluish glow from the screen illuminated his face, which was tense with nervousness, and he posted a Weibo update.
[Today.]
The accompanying image showed two blurry silhouettes.
