Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Ultimately, the coffee shop did not have a Christmas event.

Not only was there no event, but they even had to close two hours early because a lot of people were sure to be at Happy Valley on Christmas Day, so Shen Qingyi and Shan Ling needed to leave earlier than planned.

Nuonuo was extremely envious, leaning on the counter and crying: “I want to go too! I want to see the fireworks too, woo woo woo.”

Shen Qingyi changed into her work clothes and tied on her apron, saying, “Didn’t you want to go shopping with your friends? I’m giving you two hours off early. Why are you crying?”

“I go shopping, you watch fireworks,” Nuonuo complained while leaning on the table: “No matter how I think about it, I feel so miserable.”

Shan Ling comforted her, smiling: “How about I record it for you to watch later?”

Nuonuo cried even harder.

With the Christmas plan settled, the three of them went back to work.

On Saturday, Shan Ling and Shen Qingyi slept in. Aunt Jiang hadn’t needed to come recently because the industrious little bird, Shan Ling, had taken over all the housework and was exceptionally efficient at it.

Shen Qingyi occasionally helped out, but she wasn’t good at chores and could only handle very simple tasks, like washing dishes and pressing the washing machine button.

The weather was particularly sunny today. The room was warm. Shan Ling set the robot vacuum to work, washed the rag, and planned to wipe down all the cabinets in the house.

By the time Shen Qingyi hung the washed clothes on the balcony, it was around ten in the morning.

The robot vacuum was methodically cleaning the living room and bedroom. The soft buzzing sound of its work made everything feel peaceful.

Shan Ling had just mentioned going to wipe down the cabinets in the study, but why was it quiet now?

Thinking this, Shen Qingyi walked toward the study, intending to tell her that the clothes were hung up.

As soon as she entered the study, she saw Shan Ling, wearing light-colored plastic gloves, tilting her head and looking at a book placed on the desk—a used book Shen Qingyi had taken out to read last night.

“Yiyi,” Shan Ling noticed Shen Qingyi enter. She curiously pointed at the book and asked, “Why is this book all in Japanese? Can you read it?”

Shen Qingyi walked over, picked up the book, and smiled: “I can’t read it, but I know what the story is about. Do you want to hear it?”

“Yes, please.” Shan Ling really enjoyed listening to Shen Qingyi tell stories. She felt that Shen Qingyi knew so many stories, which was probably related to her love for reading and her habit of collecting used books.

Shen Qingyi looked at Shan Ling’s curious expression and gently smiled, telling her: “This book is a romance novel written by the Japanese author Tamana Tomomi. The translated title is The Longest Confession.”

“The story is about the female protagonist returning to her house in the countryside, which is about to be sold, to tidy up her things. In the study, she finds a book given to her by the senior she had a high school crush on. In the book’s secret inner layer, the senior wrote down his affection for the protagonist in tender words and gifted her the book.”

“However, the protagonist didn’t discover the secret inside the book at the time. Only after returning to the old house more than ten years later did she realize that the senior she had a crush on also harbored a crush on her. The story interweaves their high school tales. The protagonist finally realizes the senior’s feelings, and even after more than a decade, she decides to meet him. After tracing through many people, she finds the male protagonist working in the same city.”

Shan Ling was very curious and asked, “So, what’s the ending?”

Shen Qingyi smiled: “The ending is that the male protagonist is still single and generously admits that he still likes the female protagonist, so the two end up together.”

Shan Ling blinked, exclaiming: “Thank goodness! At least it’s a happy ending. I was so afraid that when she found the male lead, he would already be married. That would be too regrettable.”

Shen Qingyi didn’t speak. She just looked at the book and said, “But often, reality isn’t as perfect as in fiction. Maybe the female protagonist would never have discovered the confession, or perhaps the male lead would have already married and had children. Sometimes, a miss is a lifetime of regret.”

Shan Ling nodded and commented: “We must cherish the people in front of us.”

“You certainly know a lot,” Shen Qingyi smiled, looking at Shan Ling and saying: “I bought this used book a long time ago. Because it’s the Japanese original and a first edition, and most importantly, it has the author’s personal signature, I thought it was quite worth collecting.”

Shan Ling didn’t understand much about collectibles, but she thought the white cover looked very clean and tidy, as if it hadn’t been read much.

“It’s still very new,” Shan Ling looked at the book and said: “The owner must have cherished it very much.”

“It’s also possible they never read it,” Shen Qingyi said, as if suddenly remembering something, to Shan Ling: “Not everyone likes to read. Moreover, this is the original Japanese version. Many people don’t know Japanese. They buy it just for collection.”

Shan Ling blinked, took off her gloves, and flipped through the book. She truly couldn’t read a single word.

“You’re right, I can’t understand a single word,” Shan Ling said with emotion. She flipped to the last page and looked at the paper, which was noticeably thicker than the cover. She asked curiously, “There seems to be something here?”

Shen Qingyi also leaned in curiously, looking at the place Shan Ling pointed to, and frowned slightly.

This… couldn’t be a hidden compartment, could it?

Just like the book in the story.

The moment this thought popped up, Shen Qingyi felt it wasn’t impossible. A first edition would certainly have some effort put into the design, and the most important clue in The Longest Confession was the confession in the inner layer. It was possible this book was designed the same way, leaving the male protagonist’s confession in a hidden compartment.

“Should we open it?” Shan Ling asked.

“Let’s open it,” Shen Qingyi didn’t mind. She asked Shan Ling: “Should I go find a paper cutter?”

Shan Ling lightly pried at the edge of the hidden layer, feeling that it was probably stuck with double-sided tape. As time passed, the stickiness wasn’t very strong, and a corner lifted easily with a little prying.

“I don’t think we need one,” Shan Ling said, applying slight force with her hand. With a rip, she lifted the hidden layer.

What came into view was neat handwriting in the hidden layer, clearly in the form of a letter, but it wasn’t the male protagonist’s confession that Shen Qingyi had expected. It was written in Chinese, a language familiar to both of them.

A Chinese confession letter.

“Dear Song Qinglan. I look forward to you knowing the secret in this inner layer, and yet I fear you knowing. When I first saw you in my third year of high school, I felt you were like the walking sun—so beautiful and dazzling. I admire you, and I love you. I often felt ashamed next to you, yet I was drawn to you again and again.

I don’t know if this abrupt confession will scare you, or if a small girl like me liking you will bother you? Yet, during this year of being classmates, I’ve been both scared and happy. You treat me as your best confidante, while I have quietly fallen in love with you…

The college entrance exam is approaching. I hope you can achieve your dreams and enter the university you wish for. You said you want to be a star. I truly admire you because you know what you want, while I am like a larva chasing the sun, trembling even to look directly at you.

After all this, I’m not sure if you will ever open this inner layer and see my confession. If you know my feelings but cannot accept them, please tell me directly. I am not the type to pester. I will leave quietly, not disturbing your life or causing you trouble.

I don’t ask you to love me as I love you. I only wish you happiness in this life. — Fang Ran”

Shan Ling looked at the name left at the bottom right, then looked at the name at the top left, blinked, and fell into thought.

Song Qinglan?

Song Qinglan???

Song Qinglan… isn’t she that actress?

Shan Ling immediately turned to look at Shen Qingyi, finding her expression very complicated and, uncharacteristically, a little awkward when their eyes met.

“Alright, I admit I lied,” Shen Qingyi told Shan Ling helplessly: “But I didn’t lie too much. Song Qinglan and I do know each other, but it was just a brief encounter many years ago.”

“At that time, Song Qinglan wasn’t a celebrity. She probably hadn’t graduated from university yet and was running around doing bit parts. Because she needed money, she contacted me on a used goods forum and sold this book to me for 3,000 yuan,” Shen Qingyi said: “We exchanged cash for the book, and we never contacted each other again. I only recently learned that she had become so famous.”

Shan Ling believed Shen Qingyi’s words, and she felt there was no need for the other party to lie to her. However, she felt it was necessary to let the big star know about the confession in the inner layer.

“Should we contact Song Qinglan?” Shan Ling recalled the two books, Old Tales of Longcheng and The Little Mermaid. Each time she completed a commission, Shan Ling received a reward of 100,000 Virtue Points. She felt that since she coincidentally discovered the secret of this book, she definitely needed to tell Song Qinglan.

Maybe it means another 100,000 Virtue Points are on the way!

Shen Qingyi, however, said helplessly, “But I bought this book a long time ago. I was still in school then, and I’m not sure if she’s changed her contact information now, or if I can even reach her.”

The main thing was that Song Qinglan was now a popular actress, and changing phone numbers was common. She couldn’t guarantee success.

Shan Ling felt the same way, but still unwilling to give up, she said, “How about we try?”

If it succeeded, it would be 100,000 Virtue Points.

For Shan Ling, who needed Virtue Points, this was a huge sum!

Shen Qingyi looked at the confession letter again and felt it truly needed to be brought to Song Qinglan’s attention. This seemed to be Song Qinglan’s high school secret admirer. What if Song Qinglan liked the person too?

Thinking this, Shen Qingyi told Shan Ling, “I’ll try to find the contact information from back then, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to reach her.”

Shan Ling nodded seriously: “If you can’t find her, then forget it. No pressure.”

Shen Qingyi opened her computer and logged into her forum account. She wasn’t sure if the forum would retain records for so long, but she remembered the other party left a comment in the thread. At that time, the forum hadn’t enabled private messages. Everything had to be discussed in the thread. If she found the original thread, she should be able to find the contact information.

Fortunately, although the forum was old, the thread had been preserved. Shen Qingyi had posted a thread looking for the book The Longest Confession. Song Qinglan was the one who followed up on the post. Shen Qingyi quickly found the phone number the person had left.

Shen Qingyi entered the digits into her phone and directly dialed the number.

Shan Ling also started getting nervous with her.

Would Song Qinglan still be using this number? It was common for celebrities to frequently change numbers.

Shen Qingyi was also slightly uneasy, but soon after dialing, the other party picked up the phone. It was the voice both of them had heard in the TV drama.

“Hello?” The woman on the phone asked curiously, “Who is this?”

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