Chapter 32

In the hotel room, a freshly bathed Xia Xingcheng was clothed in a bathrobe and standing in front of the bathroom mirror, and around his neck was the necklace that Yang Youming had given him.

The bathroom's lighting was a little dim, and the fog that resulted from his hot bath had not yet completely dissipated. Unable to see clearly, Xia Xingcheng exited the bathroom and turned on the bright overhead lights. He stood in front of the dressing mirror to take a closer look at the necklace.

The necklace must be platinum, its chain links made up of round adjoining bars. It was not at all smooth to the touch—there was a pattern engraved into the round links.

Xia Xingcheng couldn't help getting nearer to look closely at the pattern on the necklace. When he finally saw it clearly, he instantly held his breath. It turned out that each round link had a star engraved on it.

This necklace full of stars was not a birthday gift that Yang Youming had Li Yun casually choose.

The 'xing' in xia xingcheng's name means 'star'.

His heart pounded in an instant. Added with the alcohol in his body, everything rushed to his head. Wearing a bathrobe and slippers, he opened his room door and went to the next room, raising his hand to knock on the door.

The door opened faster than he thought it would. Yang Youming, who hadn't even changed his clothes since he came back, stood at the door in trousers and a T-shirt, slightly surprised, "Xingcheng, what's the matter?"

Xia Xingcheng opened his mouth, staring at the man. His boiling blood instantly cooled, only leaving a blush across his face. He pursed his lips and said, "That doll, the one my fans gave you—can I take a picture of it? I want to thank my fans on Weibo."

Yang Youming smiled at his words. "So that's it. Come in first."

Xia Xingcheng entered the room and abruptly remembered that he didn't bring his room card and cellphone, and had even left the door open. He hurriedly returned to his room, fetched his things, and then came back to Yang Youming's room, yet there was no time to change out of his bathrobe.

Yang Youming's room looked no different from the last time Xia Xingcheng came, still as tidy as before. But Xia Xingcheng didn't see the doll anywhere in the room.

Xia Xingcheng saw Yang Youming go to the window and take out his phone to make a call. Yang Youming motioned him with his eyes to have a seat. When his call connected, he said, "Sorry to trouble you like this so late. Could you bring the doll I received today to my room?"

Xia Xingcheng realized that Yang Youming hadn't brought the doll back to his room at all. Seeing Yang Youming hang up the phone, he was slightly flustered and immediately said, "No need, I didn't know that you didn't bring it back. It's okay if we don't take a picture."

Yang Youming put his phone on the bay window in passing and he walked over and sat down by the bed, opposite of Xia Xingcheng. "It's fine, they'll bring it over soon."

Xia Xingcheng stood up, "I really don't need it."

"I also want you to thank your fans for me," Yang Youming said.

When Xia Xingcheng heard this, he slowly sat down again. He was only wearing briefs under his bathrobe, and when he sat down, it opened up to show his chest and most of his legs were exposed. He flustered and feigned to casually pull at the hem of the bathrobe.

When he looked up, he found Yang Youming staring at the necklace around his neck.

Yang Youming said, "Did you see the necklace yourself?"

Xia Xingcheng squeezed his hands and relaxed. He smiled as he told Yang Youming, "I did. It looks really nice, I couldn't bear to take it off."

Yang Youming was still staring at the necklace. "There are stars on it. I only heard about your birthday today, and I don't know why but I immediately remembered this necklace, so I asked Li Yun to hurry and buy it. She also went through a lot of trouble."

Xia Xingcheng's hands subconsciously reached for the necklace, touching the engraved starry pattern. He wanted to say something but didn't know what to say, so he could only humbly lower his head in silence.

At this time, somebody knocked on the door.

Yang Youming got up and opened the door, said a few simple words to the people outside, and then brought in the doll that was nearly as tall as himself. He set the doll down on the bed and arranged it to lean on the headboard in a sitting posture. He said, "Go ahead."

Xia Xingcheng took his cellphone and stood up to take a picture of the doll.

Putting his hands in his trouser pockets, Yang Youming leaned against the wall, looking at Xia Xingcheng as he took photos. Even when wearing loose cotton pants and a T-shirt, his tall and slender figure couldn't be hidden. When he focused his eyes on someone, his long fine eyelashes would quiver slightly, and half covered, one could see a warmth in his eyes, only a portion of his usual indifference remaining.

Xia Xingcheng took two photos from different angles. Gripping his phone, he walked over and stood in front of Yang Youming, saying, "Then in that case, I'll be going back, Ming ge." He was a little shorter than Yang Youming, and the man's lips were right in front of his eyes, in full view. Looking down slightly, what he saw was Yang Youming's fine jaw and neck, as well as his beautiful slightly protruding Adam's apple.

There must be only one person in the world who's born so perfect, Xia Xingcheng thought.

Yang Youming answered him with a lone "Mm."

Tightly clenching his cellphone, Xia Xingcheng walked to the door. Yang Youming followed closely behind him, walking him all the way to the door. He greeted, "Good night."

Xia Xingcheng beamed, "Good night, Ming ge." With that, he turned and walked back to his room, then heard the sound of a door closing behind him.

Back in his room, Xia Xingcheng sat by the bed, not wanting to do anything. He didn't want to take pictures nor send out a Weibo post, so he touched the necklace adorning his neck, staring blankly for a long time.

It wasn't until he got tired and his train of thoughts had become irregular that he stood up and placed his doll on the bed, arranging it almost exactly the same way Yang Youming had, then took a picture with his cellphone.

Then, he lay down on the bed and began to craft a Weibo post on his phone, editing and re-editing it for a long time. In the end, he wrote: "At 24, I'm fortunate to have you and each and every one of you guys by my side*. This is probably the happiest thing. I hope that in another 24 years, all of you will still be with me. P.S. Ming ge asked me to thank you all for your gifts. Below are the pictures of the two dolls."

The Weibo message was posted. Xia Xingcheng didn't have time to read the replies, and soon after he wearily closed his eyes and went to sleep.

He wasn't aware that because of this one post, Weibo had blown up.