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Just then, Lu Ji received a call on his phone. Half an hour later, after hanging up, he stared at Lin Jiayu’s two messages and gave a self-deprecating smile. He never expected someone like Jiang Tu would introduce him to potential blind dates.
He gradually reined in his smile, lowering his gaze and falling silent for a moment.
Since Jiang Tu returned, his contact with Lin Jiayu had gradually increased. Last year, after Waiting for Stars was exposed, he learned that Lin Jiayu liked him in high school. Whenever she sent him messages or red packets, he accepted them.
He knew Lin Jiayu still had feelings for him, but he didn’t reject her. There was an indescribable and unspoken connection between the two of them.
If there was one girl in this world who could make him be his most genuine and relaxed self, it would definitely be Lin Jiayu.
He felt no burden in front of her, no need to pretend. Even his worst side didn’t scare him from being seen by her. To him, Lin Jiayu was different from other girls—she held a special place.
Lu Ji didn’t know what kind of emotion this was. Was it liking?
Perhaps… not enough.
But he had no intention of introducing her to any blind dates, nor did he like her bringing up this topic. He also disliked her overly carefree attitude. Lu Ji frowned, pondering for a moment before replying.
After Lin Jiayu landed, she saw the message Lu Ji sent over an hour ago.
Lu Ji: “Impossible.”
Upon seeing this answer, Lin Jiayu’s mood suddenly soared. She couldn’t help but smile, sending him a small sun emoji and asking, “Why?”
Lu Ji was probably busy. After arriving home from the airport, Lin Jiayu finally received his reply.
Lu Ji: “Not feeling well.”
Lin Jiayu paused, sitting on the edge of the bed, biting her lip, before slowly replying, “Why?”
Lu Ji: “Lin Jiayu, are you ten thousand whys?”
Lin Jiayu: “...”
She looked at those three words, her heart belatedly quickening its pace, a bit excited. She wasn’t a little girl anymore; she was twenty-seven, a romance novelist. She knew what she was doing and understood the implications behind certain words.
Did Lu Ji... have some affection for her too?
At least, he wasn’t completely indifferent.
She always believed that love that comes early isn’t as good as love that comes at the right time, just like Jiang Tu and Zhu Xingyao.
The right time, the right person.
Lin Jiayu felt she was very suitable for Lu Ji. She didn’t think “suitable” was inferior in love. Some couples, no matter how much they loved each other, weren’t suitable. One day, their relationship would change flavor.
Moreover, she and Lu Ji were more than just suitable.
After that day, their communication became frequent, and it was no longer Lin Jiayu contacting him alone. Lu Ji started initiating WeChat messages to Lin Jiayu more often, even more than the number of times Lin Jiayu used to message him.
On October 1st, Lu Ji flipped through Embracing the Moon on the plane back to Jiangcheng. He bought this book last night at the bookstore. He rarely read romance novels or watched romantic movies, finding them meaningless.
Lin Jiayu’s books were typical romance novels, the kind girls liked. In the past, he would never have touched them, but recently, he had read two in a row. The first one was Waiting for Stars , all because of Lin Jiayu.
Lu Ji read more than half of it on the plane and spent another hour finishing the rest that evening. If reading Waiting for Stars made Lu Ji feel complicated, then reading Embracing the Moon left him only with a sense of touch.
Lu Ji never imagined he was so dull in high school. Lin Jiayu sat beside him for two years, liking him for so long, and he didn’t even realize it. Leaning back against the chair, looking up at the ceiling, he mumbled to himself, “How interesting. I wonder if everyone has unspeakable secrets?”
He tried to recall Lin Jiayu at seventeen. That girl had quite a temper, often sulking in silence. Sometimes she liked to oppose him, occasionally a bit clumsy, unable to solve math problems quickly. When she got angry, she didn’t need comforting; she naturally healed and shamelessly brought exercise books to ask him to teach her again...
Summary: Very resilient, forgetful, non-resentful, realistic.
And also cute.
Thinking about it, Lu Ji suddenly laughed out loud.
Recently, Lin Jiayu had been staying at the filming set, which happened to be at First High School in Jiangcheng. Tonight, they filmed a night scene, and she didn’t get home until eleven o’clock. After taking a bath and lying down, it was almost midnight.
Lu Ji hadn’t sent her any messages all day. Lin Jiayu didn’t know if he was busy or... perhaps after flirting, he decided they weren’t suitable and suddenly gave up? But that didn’t make sense either; they talked about Xu Xiangyang preparing to propose last night.
She didn’t want to initiate a message to him, deciding to wait until twelve o’clock. If nothing came, she would sleep.
Finally, at 11:58 PM, just as she was dozing off, she finally received his message.
Lu Ji: “Is the male protagonist in Embracing the Moon based on me?”
Lin Jiayu instantly woke up, sitting upright on the bed. What was wrong with this person? Was he addicted to her books? Resting her chin on her hand, she was somewhat troubled. Finally, she replied, “You’re thinking too much. You’re just the damned second male lead in Waiting for Stars . Where does the protagonist come from?”
Lu Ji: “I won’t charge you for it. Tell the truth.”
Lin Jiayu: “No.”
Lu Ji: “Tsk, Lin Jiayu, I never realized how stubborn your mouth is.”
Lin Jiayu: “... There are many things you don’t know!”
Lu Ji thought, indeed.
There were many things he didn’t know.
Lu Ji: “Let’s have dinner tomorrow?”
Lin Jiayu: “The crew is preparing to shoot key scenes these few days. I can’t leave.”
Lu Ji fell silent. The key scenes should be the starlight lamps. He stood up and replied, “Then sleep early. See you in two days.”
Lu Ji: “Goodnight.”
Lin Jiayu scrolled up. Last night’s conversation ended with his “goodnight.” Unknowingly, they had become the type of relationship where they exchanged goodnights before bed.
What did this mean? It meant she might be the last woman he thought of before sleeping.
Lin Jiayu couldn’t help but ask, “Lu Ji, will you chat with other women later?”
Lu Ji: “...”
He frowned slightly and sent a voice message, “Lin Jiayu, with whom am I chatting late at night?”
Lin Jiayu listened to his voice message three times before slowly sending three words: “Flirting around.”
Lu Ji snorted with laughter, replying, “No.”
Lin Jiayu happily responded, “Goodnight [moon].”
She tacitly acknowledged that the prototype in Embracing the Moon was him.
The next day, Lu Ji’s mother tried to persuade him to go on a blind date again, praising the girl excessively. Lu Ji wore an expression of “I’m not interested.” Lu Senior, who had just been discharged from the hospital not long ago, leaned back in his recliner and said leisurely, “Stop urging him. Look how handsome he is; plenty of girls like him. Are you worried he can’t find a girlfriend?”
Lu Ji’s mother sighed, “In high school, there were indeed many girls coming to our house. But now? Where are they? How long has it been since a girl came knocking... And you know his circumstances. I’m just worried about him. He’s almost twenty-eight.”
Lu Ji chuckled, “Mom, stop mentioning high school.”
Realizing her slip of tongue, Lu Ji’s mother quickly said, “Cough, let’s not talk about that. Then bring me a daughter-in-law.”
Lu Ji paused, looking at her, “What kind of daughter-in-law do you hope for?”
“Of course, beautiful and well-behaved.”
“What counts as beautiful?”
“That depends on what you see. A girl’s beauty comes in various forms—some are stunning, some delicate, some grow on you...”
“Indeed.”
An image of Lin Jiayu flashed through Lu Ji’s mind. That girl was delicate and grew on you. He lowered his head to scroll through his social media feed. “Mom, don’t arrange any blind dates for me. I’ll find a girlfriend myself. I’m nearly thirty, and you worrying about these things makes people laugh.”
Lu Ji’s mother: “...”
“Yes, no need to worry. It depends on fate,” Lu Senior chuckled. “I think that little Lin is good. Xiao Ji, does she have a boyfriend?”
Lu Ji paused typing, replying, “No.” Lin Jiayu’s recent social media posts had no photos. He quickly scrolled down, finding a few pictures from half a year ago—but they were group photos with Zhu Xingyao and Li Xixi.
Scrolling further down.
Lu Ji’s mother asked, “Which little Lin?”
Lu Senior: “The one who writes novels, his female deskmate in high school. Didn’t she like him back then? I think that girl is good—transparent, smart, sensible, and talented...”
“She is pretty, I saw her photos on Weibo the other day,” Lu Ji’s mother remarked under her breath. “But she’s best friends with... stars. This...” She glanced at Lu Ji, hesitating to continue.
Lu Ji paused. Photos on Weibo? Because of previous commotion on Weibo, he hadn’t logged in for a long time and hadn’t checked Lin Jiayu’s Weibo.
He logged into Weibo and found that she had indeed posted photos with readers—the day they had dinner together in Beijing.
Lu Ji sent Lin Jiayu a WeChat message: “Send me a photo of yourself.”
Lin Jiayu: “?”
After just finishing a scene, she sat behind the monitor, sipping milk tea through a straw, slowly replying, “What do you want my photo for?”
Lu Ji: “To take a look.”
Lin Jiayu: “...”
She thought for a moment, teasingly asking, “Oh? So what type do you want? Seductive and charming or pure?”
Lu Ji: “Seductive and charming?”
Lu Ji: “Lin Jiayu, that’s not your style. Just send a normal one.”
Lin Jiayu: “...”
She thought for a moment, flipping through her selfies and sending one to him.
Lu Ji opened the photo and looked at it for a few seconds. Holding the screen, he placed it in front of his mother, smiling and asking, “Mom, what do you think of this one? If you think she’s okay, I’ll pursue her.”
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