Chapter 45
Chapter 45
Lu Yao announced her retirement at fifty.
She said goodbye to all the fans who loved her, explaining that she had focused on her career for so many years and truly neglected her family. From then on, she would devote more of her energy to them.
At the time, Zhu Yin had just obtained a pilot’s license in this world when she suddenly received an alert from the system.
She had encountered an acquaintance.
More precisely, she did not recognize him at all. He was the one who recognized her.
“Zhu Yin?” The man’s voice held uncertainty and shock.
Zhu Yin turned. He was no longer young. Dressed in a jacket, he looked down-and-out, with frost already dusting his temples.
…She did not know him.
Seeing no recognition in her expression, Wei Sheng fell silent for a moment before smiling. “I’m Wei Sheng. We appeared on a variety show together many years ago. Do you remember?”
No one could understand the shock he felt at that moment.
Although he had lived abroad all these years, he still followed news from home. In earlier years, he had constantly heard rumors about Zhu Yin: that she was a descendant of a powerful reclusive lineage, that she excelled at restoring people’s health, that she knew how to preserve her youth, and so on…
But the latest news concerning Zhu Yin was already more than a decade old. For all those years, the public had barely caught another glimpse of her.
Back then, she had only been in her thirties. Maintaining a girlish appearance at that age was rare, but not entirely impossible.
But in her fifties?
What person in their fifties could remain as young and fresh as a girl?
“Oh, it’s you.” Zhu Yin did not deny it. “You look as though life has been rough.”
Wei Sheng: “…”
How could it not have been?
When his WeChat history was exposed, the collapse of his reputation was only the beginning. One ex-girlfriend after another, along with women he had hooked up with, came forward with revelations. Countless people were shocked by his promiscuity, and plenty of viral jokes sprang from the scandal.
He could no longer remain in Xia and was saddled with a mountain of debts from contract penalties.
Over the years, he had survived abroad on support from his family and singing at bars. He was not destitute, but all vitality and spirit had drained out of him.
He briefly described his situation. Zhu Yin patiently heard him out, then commented, “You certainly deserved it.”
Wei Sheng: ?
He knew Zhu Yin was no ordinary person and had originally hoped to win some sympathy with his tale of misery. If she was willing to lend him a hand… he had had enough of this life!
But what had she just said?
Was that any way for a person to talk?
Wei Sheng gritted his teeth, dropped the act, and sneered. “You stopped appearing in public all these years to hide your secret, didn’t you?”
His voice carried a threat. “Let me think. Youth that never fades and a face unchanged for decades… If word got out, how many people do you think would take an interest in you?”
Zhu Yin found it rather funny. “Then why don’t you think a little harder about how I have remained young for decades?”
Wei Sheng froze.
Zhu Yin had no desire to waste time on someone like him. She turned and walked away.
Wei Sheng had not expected his threat to have no effect whatsoever. His gaze followed her, and he instinctively reached for his phone to take a picture.
In the next instant, however, everything before his eyes blurred into shadows, and the figure ahead of him dissolved like ripples on water.
An inexplicable drowsiness engulfed him. His phone fell to the ground, and he dropped where he stood, fast asleep.
The next day, a foreign tabloid ran a story: foreign man falls asleep on street and is cleaned out by a homeless man; awakens wearing nothing but his briefs, with even his shoes stolen.
No one back in Xia cared about news like that anymore.
Zhu Yin went to see Lu Yao.
The villa stood empty. After receiving her message, Lu Yao had sent everyone in the household away in advance and waited for her alone.
She was unsurprised by Zhu Yin’s appearance. She was the only person in this world who knew where Zhu Yin came from. How could a celestial maiden who had descended to the mortal realm with a meteor fear something as trifling as time?
Zhu Yin did not soften her words. “Your life is complete now. It’s time for me to leave as well.”
They had seen less and less of each other over the years, so Lu Yao had been somewhat prepared.
Even so, hearing those words brought a surge of melancholy. Zhu Yin had long since become as important to her as family.
She blinked hard to suppress the heat gathering in her eyes, then smiled. “We haven’t seen each other in years, and I have so much to tell you. My cooking has improved tremendously. How about I show you?”
There was no rush to leave that very instant. Zhu Yin smiled. “Sure.”
That evening, they sat in the terrace garden, and Lu Yao gazed up at the brilliant stars overhead.
“I haven’t seen a sky this bright in years,” she sighed. “It’s just like the night you came to me.”
She had drunk a little and was pleasantly tipsy, which made her talkative. Fine lines had gathered at the corners of her eyes, but to Zhu Yin, she looked no different from the young woman who had gotten drunk and mumbled to herself more than a decade ago.
She said that whenever she saw Zhu Yin, the intervening decades seemed to vanish. She felt as though she were still that young, reckless girl without a worry in the world.
She said retirement was more boring than she had imagined. Her husband had his career, and her child was grown and had friends of her own. Perhaps she would eventually return to acting and take a few interesting roles.
She said someone from the Ji family had come to see her last month and wanted her to visit Ji Lingze. It had made no sense at all, and of course she refused.
She said…
As the alcohol gradually took hold, Lu Yao slowly lost track of what she was saying. She simply murmured on, letting every stray thought tumble out.
Her eyelids gradually closed. No longer young, the woman rested her head on her arm and, just as she had many years ago, fell into a deep sleep in the gentle breeze.
Through the haze, the sky blazed bright, and a magnificent meteor shower fell into her dreams.