The words spoken just moments prior by Song Anna and Bai Yu had hit painfully close to home for Xie Weiyi, piercing straight into her heart. She knew all too well that she had stepped on every single landmine they mentioned—lack of communication, self-righteous assumptions…
Thinking back to how she had recently dragged Su Leli into playing out a deeply affectionate best-friend dynamic just to make Jiang Tong jealous, Xie Weiyi felt a sudden wave of sheepish embarrassment.
Clearly, Su Leli had reached the exact same realization, hence why she was teasing her about it.
Rubbing her nose awkwardly, Xie Weiyi tossed the question back: “I wonder what views our master artist has?”
Clearing her throat and lifting her teacup to blow gently across the surface, Su Leli very cooperatively assumed an artist’s airs: “Love and separation are the eternal themes of artistic creation. Movies give us an ideal template for reuniting after a broken mirror, but reality is often such that once people part ways, meeting again is a rare luxury…”
As she spoke, Su Leli’s tone gradually dipped into a more subdued note, her gaze sweeping past Jiang Tong and Xie Weiyi as she pressed her lips together and said, “There are so many people in this world; being able to cross paths and reunite is a gift from the heavens. You must hold onto it tightly.”
“Not necessarily,” Yu Ningzhi suddenly cut in, interrupting them. “Personally, I think movies are movies and life is life. In reality, where are there so many profound loves? What’s in the past should just stay in the past.”
Tilting her head with a sweet smile, Yu Ningzhi cast her gaze toward Xie Weiyi and continued pointedly: “How exhausting is it to always dwell on things and refuse to let go? Better to just look forward.”
Ignoring Yu Ningzhi’s insinuation entirely, Xie Weiyi turned her gaze onto Jiang Tong: “What about Teacher Jiang? What does Teacher Jiang think?”
Hearing this, Yu Ningzhi slammed her cup down onto the table with a sharp clack, casting a displeased glare at Jiang Tong.
Noticing how unfriendly she was being, Xia Yuan frowned and leaned her body forward, shielding Jiang Tong from Yu Ningzhi’s line of sight as much as possible.
Xia Yuan then turned around, smiled at Jiang Tong, and encouraged her: “Sister Jiang Tong, I’d love to hear your thoughts too.”
The innocent, naive kid simply assumed Yu Ningzhi was throwing a diva tantrum and trying to block Jiang Tong from getting screen time.
Knowing that Xie Weiyi wanted to hear her explanation regarding what happened back then, Jiang Tong rested her chin in her hand and pondered for a moment before speaking with a steady, resolute tone: “I think Teacher Su is right; art is a more idealized template than real life.”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was crisp and stable. Skillfully omitting the external pressures and struggles of that year, she spoke purely from her own reflections.
“The love depicted in films is wonderful, but in reality, sometimes parting ways isn’t necessarily because of a lack of love.” Pausing after saying this, Jiang Tong finally raised her eyes.
Instead of looking at Xie Weiyi first, her gaze swept calmly across everyone present.
“Perhaps it is precisely because of loving too much—loving so deeply that one realizes their own presence will only bring misfortune and danger to the other person… and thus, she chooses to leave, believing that is the best way to protect each other.”
Jiang Tong’s voice was very soft, sounding as though she were merely stating a fact, yet simultaneously defending herself. Every single word carried a profound sense of helplessness.
“The forces of fate and reality are formidable; they always manage to push individuals into making choices, even when those choices turn out terribly.” Finishing slowly, she locked eyes with Xie Weiyi’s gorgeous, glass-colored orbs.
Xie Weiyi was gazing at her quietly.
Having received the exact answer she wanted, Xie Weiyi felt the corners of her lips curl upward uncontrollably. Nodding slightly, she murmured softly, “I understand now.”
After the remaining members each shared their own reflections, Liang Xin smoothly announced the conclusion of the evening’s movie discussion segment.
Returning to her room, Xie Weiyi collapsed face-first onto the soft, oversized bed, burying her face into a pillow as she laughed soundlessly, her shoulders shaking gently.
Replaying Jiang Tong’s words—”parting isn’t because of a lack of love”—over and over in her mind, fireworks of pure joy burst in her chest. The knot that had been tightly coiled in her heart for seven full years completely evaporated under the warmth of this belated explanation.
Suddenly, a bold idea rapidly took shape in her mind.
Reaching for her phone, she flipped through her contacts until she found assistant Xiao Tang’s WeChat, calling her via a direct voice link.
The phone rang seven or eight times before being picked up, greeted by Xiao Tang’s voice, thick with heavy sleep and an utter resignation to life: “Hello, Aine-jie? Do you have any idea what time it is? It’s one in the morning, my dear sister! Don’t tell me you ran off to the island to watch the sunrise and lost track of time?”
“Good Xiao Tang~” Xie Weiyi cooed, unable to mask the lightness bubbling in her voice as she cajoled her, “Do me a favor, won’t you?”
Xiao Tang instantly grew defensive: “Aine-jie, what are you trying to pull now?!”
Xie Weiyi giggled. “Go buy me some things, will you? I need some red silk fabric—doesn’t need to be too thick, but good quality, suitable for writing on. Also, buy a few permanent gold oil-based pens. Oh, and the silk fabric needs to be about three fingers wide and around twenty centimeters long. Go ahead and buy… ninety-nine strips of them!”
“Red silk fabric? Gold pens? Aine-jie, are you trying to write a curse letter or perform some mysterious ritual?” Xiao Tang’s sleepiness vanished by more than half, replaced by gossip-fueled excitement.
“Less chatter,” Xie Weiyi laughed and scolded playfully. “Just go buy them. Now. Right now. Immediately.”
“Right now?! It’s one in the morning, Jie! The malls are all closed! Where am I supposed to conjure up red silk fabric and gold pens for you right this second? Even wholesale markets have to wait until dawn!” Xiao Tang wailed.
Without missing a beat, Xie Weiyi opened her payment app, entered the numbers: [20000], and added the note: [Errand fee plus hush money (voluntarily bestowed)].
The very next second, Xiao Tang’s pitch skyrocketed through the phone speaker, instantly energized with the fiery dedication of a zealot: “You got it, Boss! No problem, Boss! Guaranteed mission success, Boss! I’m mobilizing every single connection I have right now to dig into the earth three feet deep if I have to, just to get these items for you! Before dawn—no, within two hours—they will definitely be delivered to your room! Does Boss have any other instructions?!”
“Nope, go on.” Chuckling, Xie Weiyi hung up the phone.
True to her word, around 2:00 AM, the almighty Xiao Tang successfully delivered the items into Xie Weiyi’s hands.
Xie Weiyi didn’t sleep a wink that night. Washing her face and brewing a cup of strong coffee, she sat at the writing desk and laid out the red silk strips one by one.
Picking up a gold pen, she hovered the tip over the fabric, pondering for a long time without ever letting the ink touch the surface.
A thousand words and surging emotional currents ultimately condensed into the simplest, most sincere wishes.
Xie Weiyi finally put pen to fabric. Her handwriting was unusually neat, executed with extreme focus and care, stroke by stroke:
[May Jiang Tong be safe, joyful, and smooth in all things.]
[May Jiang Tong enjoy a bright future and a smooth path among the stars.]
[May Jiang Tong be healthy, carefree, and smile every single day.]
[May Jiang Tong attain all her heart’s desires, living freely as her heart pleases.]
…
Strip after strip—the exact same name paired with different blessings.
As she wrote on, her wrist grew sore and her eyes began to smart from dryness. She refilled her coffee three or four times, unable to shake off the encroaching wave of exhaustion, yet her gaze grew brighter and brighter while the corners of her mouth remained permanently upturned.
Just thinking about how all these blessings were piling up around Jiang Tong made Xie Weiyi’s heart feel warm and fuzzy.
Outside the window, the night sky shifted from pitch black to deep indigo, and finally bled into the first gray streaks of dawn.
[May Jiang Tong and Xie Weiyi have an enduring love, year after year.]
When the final red ribbon was completed, the world outside was already bathed in a hazy morning light. Xie Weiyi set down her pen with a satisfied sigh.
Carefully rolling up the previously dried silk ribbons, she slumped across her desk, gazing down at the final strip where both of their names were listed sequentially, drying side by side.
With profound tenderness, she lifted that ribbon and pressed a light kiss against Jiang Tong’s name, whispering silently to herself: “May Jiang Tong and Xie Weiyi have an enduring love, year after year.”
After binding all the red ribbons together with a silk cord, she rubbed her tired shoulders and neck, dragged herself toward the bed, and dropped into a deep sleep the instant her head hit the pillow.
She didn’t wake until the production team knocked on her door. Blinking her eyes open, Xie Weiyi greeted them with a pair of faint dark circles under her eyes, looking thoroughly exhausted.
Finding it utterly rare to see her usually dazzling superstar looking so bedraggled, Xiao Tang let out a soft “Whoa.”
Yawning, Xie Weiyi shoved the bundle of red ribbons into Xiao Tang’s hands and murmured her instructions: “Take a chance sometime today and help me hang these up on the wishing tree in the village.”
Carrying a serious tone, Xie Weiyi watched as Xiao Tang looked down at the premium-textured red silk in her hands, instantly feeling the heavy weight of responsibility resting on her shoulders as she thumped her chest and swore: “Aine-jie, don’t you worry! I guarantee I’ll hang them high and make them stand out!”
The weather cleared up. Washed clean by the rain, the island air felt crisp, fresh, and bathed in brilliant sunshine.
Following breakfast, Liang Xin gathered all the guests to announce the day’s mission: “Everyone, tonight is the bonfire party we’ve all been looking forward to! To give everyone a greater sense of participation and to thank the villagers for their invitation, our task for today is to help the villagers decorate the party venue together!”
“We’ll split into two groups,” Liang Xin continued. “Group One will handle decorating the venue site—including setting up the bonfire stack, arranging the seating, hanging decorations, and so on. Group Two will head into town to purchase the ingredients we need for tonight’s barbecue.”
The grouping results were announced shortly after: Yu Ningzhi, Song Anna, Bai Yu, and Xie An formed Group One, taking charge of venue decoration. Jiang Tong, Xia Yuan, Xie Weiyi, and Su Leli formed Group Two, responsible for procurement.
Inside the minibus heading into town, Xia Yuan naturally took the seat right next to Jiang Tong, chattering away animatedly about tonight’s arrangements and even inviting Jiang Tong to film a costume-transition short video together with her.
In a rare occurrence, Xie Weiyi didn’t get jealous.
Sensing something was amiss, Su Leli poked her head over with a curious look, only to find that Xie Weiyi was actually dozing off.
Giving Xie Weiyi’s arm a gentle nudge, Su Leli lowered her voice to a volume only the two of them could catch: “Didn’t sleep well last night? Go on a thieving spree?”
Her gaze drifted meaningfully toward Jiang Tong sitting in the row ahead.
Suppressing a tiny yawn while wiping away a tear of physiological exhaustion welling up in the corner of her eye, Xie Weiyi lazily leaned back against her seat and lowered her voice as well: “Mhm, went making wishes.”
Raising an eyebrow, Su Leli teased her: “Making wishes? Praying to which deity? So pious it requires sporting a pair of panda eyes.”
The corners of Xie Weiyi’s mouth curved upward as her gaze landed on the sliver of fair, exposed nape visible just above the back collar of Jiang Tong’s shirt. “You wouldn’t understand,” she replied softly.
Although their whispered conversation was kept low, the space inside the car was small, and with Jiang Tong sitting just ahead of them, it was inevitable that a few vague words drifted over.
However, hearing phrases like “making wishes” and “pandas,” Jiang Tong was completely baffled, unable to piece the fragments together into any coherent sentence.
Besides, she didn’t recall there being any panda zoo on this island.
Curious, Jiang Tong turned her head back just in time to catch Xie Weiyi’s large, dark-circled eyes staring right at her. Oh, so the panda was right here.
“Pfft…” Failing to hold back, Jiang Tong pressed a hand over her mouth and quickly turned back around to face forward.
Watching Xie Weiyi shyly toss her long hair across her face to cover her eyes, Su Leli let out a soft chuckle of amusement right alongside her.