Zhuang Fanxin stared at the reply, 'Dream about him, but what for?'

The car drove into the garage. They arrived at the building for the ACC Competition. He pocketed his phone and got out of the car with Pei Zhi. While waiting for the elevator, they ran into many staff members and media personnel. It was quite a scene.

The jewelry design group was on the fifteenth floor, and the fashion design group was on the eleventh. The competition setup for the two groups wasn't exactly the same. The elevator arrived at the eleventh floor first, and Pei Zhi left. Zhuang Fanxin went up to the fifteenth floor alone. As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he collected his contestant card and the funds for the first round of the competition. After everyone had gathered, they had to record an opening introduction.

Zhuang Fanxin didn't have a flashy personality. Squeezed into the crowd, he lowered his head to secretly look at his contestant card. The word 'designer' was printed on it. The more he looked, the more excited he became.

On Friday, the competition results came out. Gu Zhuoyan was first, and Su Wang was third. Last semester, a classmate who won an award in a computer competition was directly admitted to a prestigious university and stopped coming to school. The two of them, however, didn't plan to end their high school lives so soon.

There was also something even happier. Gu Shibo was away on a business trip, and Xue Manzi, busy with company matters, also left early and came back late. Gu Zhuoyan checked out of his hotel room and went home. After the exams, he was bored with nothing to do, but he didn't play games or sleep in. He started to organize the key knowledge points for several subjects.

He had it all planned out. When Zhuang Fanxin came back, he could just use them directly. What was this called? This was called a double harvest in love and academics.

After staying home for two days, on the morning of National Day, Lu Wen sent a message: Six in the evening, be sure to dress up for his concert. Gu Zhuoyan got changed, picked out a bottle of champagne from home, and asked, "Should I bring you flowers?"

Lu Wen replied, "No need, brothers don't need to bother with such formalities."

So Gu Zhuoyan didn't. When he arrived at the Zhazha Clubhouse, he was stunned by the vast number of flower baskets as soon as he entered. Could it be that he was the only one who didn't send any? A hostess asked him to sign his name, and after signing, she gave him a glow stick. He walked inside and casually picked up a ribbon. On it was written—'May your dreams set sail, you are the best. Lian Yiming congratulates Lu Wen on a successful concert.'

He looked around. There was one from Lian Yiming and one from Su Wang; in fact, there were baskets from almost all of his classmates. His eyes suddenly focused and he saw his own—'Your voice is my aspiration. Gu Zhuoyan congratulates Lu Wen on a successful concert!'

The main stage was testing the dry ice machine, and a cloud of fog lingered. It took Gu Zhuoyan a while to push through it and find Lian Yiming and Su Wang's booth. The three of them sat there cracking melon seeds. Lu Wen came over after getting his hair and makeup done and asked them how he looked.

Did he even need to ask? Someone who could write dozens of congratulatory messages for flower baskets was bound for greatness. Lu Wen still remembered Gu Zhuoyan's situation: "Hey, so you and your little neighbor are mutually in love. What's next?"

Su Wang grinned lewdly, "Fly off together like lovebirds, dry wood meeting a blazing fire."

Gu Zhuoyan brushed off the melon seed shells. "When Zhuang Fanxin comes back to the country, I'll confess."

The three of them got excited upon hearing this, even wanting to fly over and watch, to be witnesses to the first love. Gu Zhuoyan was a bit intimidated; no matter how sacred and solemn the matter, with these guys involved, he felt the success rate would plummet off a cliff.

Su Wang always got to the point, reminding him, "Everything has to be a sure thing for it to be done beautifully."

Gu Zhuoyan said, "Don't worry. Judging by the current state of mutual affection, the chance of a successful confession is pretty much one hundred percent. I'm basically certain Zhuang Fanxin will nod and agree."

He put his arms around them and said seriously, "I've already told you everything. Keep it under wraps for me. Don't let a single word get out."

The three of them understood tacitly. It was about time. Lu Wen called the band onto the stage, and the audience also began to arrive one after another.

The music started, and the concert began. Gu Zhuoyan took out his phone to take a picture, but first scrolled to a Moments post. It was a photo posted by Zhuang Fanxin half an hour ago. The photo showed the Los Angeles nightscape. Outside the glass window, the lights were a colorful blur, and the window reflected a blurry image of the room's interior, where there were workbenches, computers, machines, and a few sleeping bags thrown on the floor.

Zhuang Fanxin's reflection was also on the glass. His hair was messy, and he was holding a cup of Americano.

Gu Zhuoyan thought, 'It's almost two in the morning in Los Angeles. If he's busy, he wouldn't have time to post on Moments. If he's not busy, he should be sleeping.' He sent Zhuang Fanxin a message: "What are you doing?"

Zhuang Fanxin replied quickly: "The second round of design. I've handed the blueprints to the workers for production. They're going to sleep for two hours, and I'm waiting for them to wake up."

Gu Zhuoyan: "You should sleep for a bit too."

Zhuang Fanxin: "I can't sleep."

Just those few words, but it was enough for Gu Zhuoyan to imagine what Zhuang Fanxin looked like at that moment—exhausted, tense, perhaps curled up on the sofa with a frown. He could feel Zhuang Fanxin's anxiety.

Gu Zhuoyan sent a video call request. It took a long time to connect. Zhuang Fanxin appeared on the screen, with dark circles under his eyes. His already thin little face had gotten even thinner. Gu Zhuoyan looked at him but didn't mention anything, directly asking, "Want to watch a concert?"

Only then did Zhuang Fanxin realize it was very noisy. The camera shook slightly, lights flashing on the screen. He could see clearly now—it was Lu Wen singing on stage. Gu Zhuoyan held the phone up for a while, then glanced at the screen. Zhuang Fanxin seemed to have said something.

He brought the phone closer to his ear, and Zhuang Fanxin said it again, "I want to see you play the guitar."

Gu Zhuoyan paused for a few seconds, shoved the phone at Lian Yiming, and when the next song started, he slung a guitar over his shoulder and went up. Lian Yiming yelled at the phone, "Neighbor! He doesn't even go on stage for the school festival! You must be really special to him!"

Zhuang Fanxin had only been joking; he never expected Gu Zhuoyan to agree. The screen was dazzling. He held the phone, his eyes glued to it. Gu Zhuoyan was just wearing a simple black T-shirt and jeans, a guitar slung in front of him, his long fingers strumming.

The intense music exploded in his ears. Suddenly, Gu Zhuoyan looked up, his gaze sweeping past the camera before stopping as he looked straight and clear through the magnificent, dazzling beams of light.

Zhuang Fanxin met Gu Zhuoyan's eyes. Though they were thousands of miles apart, Gu Zhuoyan's lips curved into a smile for him.

After the song ended, Gu Zhuoyan took off the guitar and left the stage. He took back his phone, ran to the emergency exit, sat down on the stairs, and with a face full of sweat, he raised an eyebrow at the screen.

Zhuang Fanxin's lips moved, completely at a loss for words, as if he'd been dazed by how handsome he was. Gu Zhuoyan laughed again and asked, "Feeling better now?"

Zhuang Fanxin hadn't expected to be seen through so easily and nodded.

Gu Zhuoyan said, "Do you remember that time you accompanied me to the exam? You told me it was okay even if I didn't do well. I carried those words with me for this competition, and it was very comforting. Now I'm telling you the same thing: relax, it doesn't matter what the result of the competition is."

Zhuang Fanxin sniffled as the pressure he'd accumulated recently gave way to a poignant feeling, and his tone softened. "If I don't win an award, you won't laugh at me when I get back, right?"

Gu Zhuoyan chuckled. "I'll beat up anyone who laughs at you." Always remembering to be serious, he added, "Besides, how would I have time to laugh at you? I'll be busy confessing then."

Zhuang Fanxin's smile stiffened slightly. He had forgotten that Gu Zhuoyan was preparing to confess, but he didn't want to talk about it.

"Oh, right, there was a media shoot tonight." He abruptly changed the subject. "I was so tired I was stupefied, I was rambling incoherently in front of the camera, so it'll probably be cut. And the coffee, I bought it downstairs, it's not as good as Yinan's milk tea. Pei Zhi is on the eleventh floor, I heard their group even had a fight."

This string of mutterings was like an unsolicited confession. In Gu Zhuoyan's eyes, it was a cover-up for a wildly beating heart, a gloss-over for extreme jealousy. He really wanted to stroke Zhuang Fanxin's soft hair and hold his thin shoulders, but right now, all he could do was look at the low-resolution video screen.

"Zhuang'er," Gu Zhuoyan called out.

That bit of intimacy softened the late Los Angeles night. Zhuang Fanxin answered, curled up on the sofa like a cat that had been happily coaxed. He couldn't help but push his luck: "Can I call you when I'm tired?"

Gu Zhuoyan said, "My phone will be on, and you don't need to worry about the time difference."

Looking at his watch, Gu Zhuoyan's reason won over his emotions. He told Zhuang Fanxin to go sleep for a while and ended the video call. He went back. The concert was nearing its end, and he squeezed into the front row just in time for Lu Wen's last song.

All the lights went out, leaving only a single spotlight on Lu Wen. His hair was a mess, his makeup was smudged, and his voice was deeply hoarse. The guitarist and drummer left the stage first. He stood alone holding the microphone and sang one last song, "Thousands of Songs", as a farewell to the night.

After he finished singing, the audience erupted in thunderous applause. All the classmates were very supportive. Su Wang yelled at the top of his lungs, "Lu Wen! I'll fucking support you forever!"

Gu Zhuoyan couldn't bring himself to shout, so he just waved his glow stick vigorously. Lu Wen tilted his head back and said with a choke in his voice, "Thank you to all the fans for coming to my concert."

Lian Yiming was startled, "Fuck, is he crying?"

It wasn't over yet. In the blink of an eye, Lu Wen started to smile. "I've taken many detours in my music career. My family didn't support me, the seniors in the industry didn't approve of me—I've been through it all. During the hardest time, I used all my savings to buy equipment and form a band. Besides music, I had nothing."

"But as long as I have music, I can overcome anything!"

Gu Zhuoyan: "..."

'What's with the singing, why don't you go act?'

Lu Wen took a step back and bowed deeply. "Today's concert is just the beginning of my musical dream. Thank you for witnessing it with me. In the future, at The Workers' Stadium, at the National Stadium, you will definitely see me singing there again!"

The lights came on inch by inch. After showing their support, the classmates dispersed to have fun. Gu Zhuoyan and the others returned to their booth, starving, and ate in silence for a while.

Too lazy to get into his sleeping bag, Zhuang Fanxin slept sprawled on his back on the sofa. He was a little cold and didn't know where he'd left his jacket, so he got up and went to the eleventh floor to borrow a small blanket from Pei Zhi.

The situation in the fashion design group was much the same. The lights were brightly lit, finished samples were piled on the floor, and some contestants were working overtime on sewing machines. Zhuang Fanxin looked around but didn't see Pei Zhi. He dialed his number and faintly heard a ringtone coming from the break room.

He walked over and pushed open the door, "Pei Zhi—"

Pei Zhi was leaning against the counter, his long neck tilted back, kissing a man.