After Appearing On A Marriage Reality Show, The Top Star Cried and Says She Doesn't Want a Divorce - Chapter 25

“We don’t have a day like that,” Yan Mengyi said, her face flushing crimson.

“Your story is getting more and more intriguing,” Jiang Banxia pressed, unfiltered. “Surely you remember the first time you… you know?”

It was an all-girls gathering, with the atmosphere of a dormitory night chat. Discussing such a topic openly didn’t seem surprising at all.

The others clapped and teased, demanding they spill the details.

Pei Nalian and Jin Youshu flushed even redder.

But no one was as shy as Yan Mengyi, who covered her ears with both hands and buried her face in Li Tang’s shoulder.

Neither of them spoke, as if they simply couldn’t find the words.

“Why do you want to know everything?” Zhou Qiutong asked, shoving another piece of fruit into Jiang Banxia’s mouth. “Xiao Yi is clearly a bookworm. Asking her about this in front of everyone will just make her blush.”

“Why are you always feeding me? I’m not hungry!” Jiang Banxia protested, but her body betrayed her as she obediently ate the strawberry.

Li Tang replied, “I’m usually too busy with work, barely home a few days a year. We don’t have any specific anniversaries. But every year on her birthday, I buy her an asteroid. I guess you could call it a gift.”

“Heavens, that’s so romantic!” Pei Nalian exclaimed, her envy slipping out despite her dislike for Li Tang.

“What a wonderful gift,” Jin Youshu agreed.

“Where are the stars you bought?” Pei Nalian asked earnestly, resting her chin in her hand. “When we were playing by the beach earlier, wasn’t that star shining down on us?”

“Not just one. One each year, for a total of seven.”

Pei Nalian couldn’t resist texting Jin Youshu:

[I thought Li Tang was so arrogant. I never imagined she’d put so much thought into a gift.]

[True. We saw a hidden side of her.]

[Damn it! She fooled me! This is truly romantic!]

[If you want one, I’ll get you one too.]

[Deal!]

Jiang Banxia suddenly hesitated, as if holding back a question. Li Tang shot her a glance, silently warning her to keep silent.

“Is there any way we can see your stars?” Pei Nalian asked, genuinely curious.

Zhou Qiutong pointed toward the ceiling. “If I remember correctly, there’s a telescope on the rooftop.”

None of them had ever used an astronomical telescope before, so they were all very curious and left right away to see how it worked.

The group was in high spirits, and Yan Mengyi didn’t refuse.

The group of people excitedly climbed the metal stairs in their slippers, enjoying the warm, humid night breeze.

Their pajamas flapped in the wind, but they didn’t mind, acting like a group of high school girls.

But after seeing the telescope the production team had prepared, Yan Mengyi shook her head.

“This is a relatively basic astronomical telescope. It can’t see very far, and when you first observe the stars, you might not see anything at all. The moon is a good target because it’s close and easy to see.”

Yan Mengyi quickly adjusted the telescope.

Everyone took turns looking through it, and they couldn’t help but gasp in admiration.

“I’ve never seen the terminator on the moon’s surface so clearly before.”

The divine beauty brought a deep tremor to their souls.

Like specks of dust racing through the earthly world, they suddenly looked up and realized that the stars they were seeing also contained the atoms that made up their bodies.

It was like a gust of fresh wind violently blowing into the palace of their hearts, sweeping everything away and leaving only the cleansing of their souls.

Everyone watched intently, without tiring, and before they knew it, it was past 11:30.

“Xiao Yi is amazing! I didn’t realize you knew so much.”

“Sleep! Sleep! We have to get up early tomorrow!”

“Goodnight, everyone!”

The three couples waved goodbye to each other.

Pei Nalian turned off the light and went straight to bed.

Jin Youshu removed the microphones from both their collars, switched them off, and then turned off the room’s camera before returning to bed.

Before she could embrace Pei Nalian, Pei Nalian had already pulled both of them under the covers.

“Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

“What time did you set the alarm for?”

“5:30,” Jin Youshu replied. “Same as usual. It’ll give us enough time to practice our dance.”

“After we finish practicing, let’s help Yan Mengyi. Preparing breakfast for six people alone must be incredibly tough for her.”

“Okay.”

“Once the show airs, we’ll hire some internet trolls. I’ve already thought of the angle: we’ll claim Li Tang is a radical feminist, a hands-off boss who treats her wife like an emperor from the feudal era, ordering her around at home. It’ll definitely damage her public image, and her fans might even turn against her and start trashing her.”

“Is this really okay?”

“We’re not making things up. We’re just telling the truth. If she wasn’t like this, we wouldn’t be able to say anything bad about her.” Pei Nalian leaned close to Jin Youshu’s ear. “Even though they seem to get along well on the surface, I always feel like there’s an underlying tension between them.”

*****

Jiang Banxia and Zhou Qiutong lay on the bed, a little drowsy but still chatting and laughing after their meal, unable to fall asleep quickly.

Zhou Qiutong poked Jiang Banxia’s arm. “You know, I always feel a little nervous when I go out with you.”

“Really?” Jiang Banxia lay on her side, propping her head up with one hand while twirling Zhou Qiutong’s hair with the other. “What are you worried about?”

“That you’ll keep pressing people about things they don’t want to talk about.”

“Nonsense! Everyone’s been so friendly and easy to get along with,” Jiang Banxia said. “You’re just being too sensitive.”

“You…” Zhou Qiutong struggled to count on her fingers all the times Jiang Banxia had caused trouble that day. “But I have to praise you too. You understood that look today and kept quiet about something you shouldn’t have mentioned.”

“Tangtang’s my close friend! How could I embarrass her in front of her wife?” Jiang Banxia said proudly. “Even if buying naming rights for asteroids is a bit like paying for a scam, the idea of buying a star to prove your love with its light… there’s something classically romantic about that.”

“Praise to you,” Zhou Qiutong said. Suddenly realizing the room’s microphone and camera were still on, she quickly got up, waved goodnight at the camera, and turned off the device.

“Oh no, what if the production team uses that part we just filmed as footage?”

“Don’t worry,” Jiang Banxia said. “Tangtang is straightforward. She knows I didn’t mean anything malicious. Besides, what I said was true.”

“I just feel like Tangtang and Xiao Yi are being too cautious, too careful. Mutual respect is one aspect of marriage, but it shouldn’t define their relationship,” Zhou Qiutong said. “Anyway, just think before you speak to them.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you calling me brainless?” Jiang Banxia kicked out.

Zhou Qiutong caught her ankle, flipped her over, and began massaging her calf with practiced hands.

“I’m saying your bluntness can get you into trouble. If you said those things today, Tangtang, I, even Xiao Yi might understand you. But what about the netizens?” Zhou Qiutong said. “Be careful. I don’t want to see you hurt by public opinion.”

“You’re just overthinking everything again,” Jiang Banxia said, enjoying the massage. “Honestly, you’re impossible.” Suddenly, she remembered something Zhou Qiutong had said earlier. “By the way, what did you mean by ‘Jin Youshu has a background in biological sciences’?”

“You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Open your phone. I’ll give you a name to search.”

Zhou Qiutong gave a name that sounded familiar to Jiang Banxia, but she couldn’t immediately recall where she’d heard it. When the person’s photo popped up in the search results, Jiang Banxia recognized her.

“Isn’t that the scientist who was trending on Weibo recently?”

“That’s Jin Youshu’s aunt. She’s widely recognized as the person closest to winning a Nobel Prize in the field of brain-computer interfaces.”

“Wow!” Jiang Banxia couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration. “Does their family have a genius gene or something?”

“Maybe. Jin Youshu’s father is a brain science doctor, and her mother is a tenured professor at an internationally renowned university.”

The Jin family’s résumés were glittering with achievements, their contributions to society enough to circle the globe.

“I originally thought Nalian was the dominant one in her marriage with Youshu, but now it seems the quiet Youshu might be the real driving force behind their relationship,” Jiang Banxia said. “No wonder Nalian is always so eager to show off. Deep down, she must be insecure and fragile.”

******

Li Tang carefully turned off all the machines.

Yan Mengyi had been exhausted since earlier, but she had forced herself to stay awake to avoid spoiling the mood for everyone.

As soon as she returned to the room, Yan Mengyi collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep instantly.

Li Tang switched off the light, walked to the bedside, removed Yan Mengyi’s shoes, lifted her legs onto the bed, and gently tucked her in.

However, after Li Tang lay down herself, she soon realized something felt off.

Yan Mengyi’s hands were restless.

“Xiao Yi?”

Li Tang’s tentative question went unanswered. Instead, she felt Yan Mengyi squirm deeper under the covers.

Puzzled, Li Tang opened her eyes. In the dim light, the shape of Yan Mengyi’s body was clearly visible beneath the quilt.

“Xiao Yi…” Li Tang’s voice turned husky as she yanked her lover out of the covers, stopping her from kissing her lower abdomen.

Yan Mengyi’s eyes shone brightly, and even in the darkness, Li Tang could feel the burning heat of her flushed cheeks.

It didn’t seem driven by desire, but rather like a desperate, all-or-nothing gamble fueled by courage.

“What are you doing?”

“I wanted to leave us a little memory.”

“Why are you angry?”

“I’m not angry.”

“I can tell.”

Yan Mengyi finally stopped resisting. “Earlier, they said they wanted to see our star. I was so scared.”

“Why?”

“I was afraid they’d find out that the first star you gave me has fallen and can’t be observed anymore,” Yan Mengyi said. “And I was afraid you didn’t know our star had fallen.”

“That’s just a star. What does it have to do with us?”

Yan Mengyi sighed softly. Sometimes she felt her thoughts were absurd, but reality sometimes confirmed her suspicions.

“I’m an atheist, but sometimes I wonder… why was it the first star you gave me that fell? The one from our wedding? Does that mean our relationship was wrong from the beginning?”

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