Chapter 103: Taking Down the Stars

(1)

The rain felt as if it had poured straight from the last century into the present, as if it were the very dampness lingering in the air that completely crushed the last feudal dynasty on this land.

In this city, far from being truly bustling, colorful lanterns were scattered everywhere.

Though there were plenty of lanterns in the square, they were no match for the ones hanging outside each household, which were even more beautiful.

Perhaps it was because the latter carried the simple wishes of ordinary people.

They might not be novel or particularly pretty, but the faint, gentle glow they emitted would involuntarily draw people deeper inside.

Without realizing it, two beautiful girls, each with their own unique charm, had already left the square and walked toward the quieter, dimmer-lit ordinary streets.

The city center of this small town was really, really small; the truly lively spots were only along two streets.

After passing a few more traffic lights from here, one would reach New Street, where Carrefour supermarket and various newly built high-rises brought a modern prosperity completely different from the old covered market streets.

Compared to many cities lagging behind the small town, there were still quite a few less developed places in Z Province.

The street connecting these two bustling areas seemed almost forgotten, sinking into the darkness of the rainy night.

Many street lamps were broken, alternating between one lit and one dark, sometimes even having several dark lamps in a row before one would light up.

On an ordinary night, without the lanterns hanging outside homes, this street would feel rather unsettling, but tonight, it only brought a faint warmth.

Even in unnoticed places, people were still living their lives with effort, never giving up hope for something better.

The small town was by the sea and also crisscrossed by many rivers.

All over the city, you could find various small rivers, though most were filthy.

Although there had been efforts to clean them in recent years, it was only enough to keep the stench from becoming unbearable.

–If you got closer, you could still smell an unpleasant fishy odor.

Ahead was an arch bridge.

During the day, it was an ordinary arch bridge—not open to cars, only allowing bicycles and motorcycles to pass, at most slow-moving tricycles.

But tonight, it was decorated especially beautifully.

The lanterns hanging from it emitted a faint light, reflected in the water like stars shining in the rainy night.

Standing by the arch bridge, looking back or ahead, however lively the two streets were, this place was just as quiet.

Red paper signs with black characters reading “Celebrate the Lantern Festival” were pasted everywhere.

It was unclear how much effort the sanitation workers would need to remove them all after tonight.

Even beneath the bridge’s arch, it was not dark because many lanterns hung there as well.

They all seemed to have similar shapes and came only in red, blue, and yellow.

When the wind blew, the plastic shells of the lanterns bumped softly together, making faint noises.

Battery-powered lanterns weren’t as warm as real flames, but they were safe enough.

Anjing and Zhuying walked silently all along the way.

***

(2)

Anjing held her hand and took a few steps inward, instinctively turning back, only to find she was also looking at him.

Under the bridge arch, someone had written all kinds of words with a paint marker.

Some had been painted over, while others had not yet been erased:

“Miss Mom.”

“Mom, I have failed your upbringing…”

“I want money, I want a lot of money!”

“Get rich tomorrow!”

“Women are all cheap trash!”

“I want women, I want women!”

Most of these words seemed to be left by men.

Or rather, those who lingered and wandered in places like this were basically men.

The most frequent word on the wall was “money,” which had replaced the gray cement as the current background color.

Those who wrote these words were obsessed with them.

But what they pursued was likely not money itself.

Anjing reached out her hand toward Zhuying, who tacitly handed over a bundle of newspapers she had bought earlier at the newsstand.

They weren’t for reading, but to wipe away damp spots where there were seats.

Though there was no dampness here, the air was still humid.

Anjing spread out the newspapers smoothly, and Zhuying naturally sat down, passing over the half-bottle of cola she held before Anjing spoke.

Anjing unscrewed the cap, handed the bottle to Zhuying for a sip, then took a big gulp himself.

This silent understanding gave Anjing an inexplicable sense of peace.

Then, suddenly snapping back to reality, Anjing said, “Huh… did you just hear what I was thinking?”

“Nope.”

“…Surprisingly, we’re quite in sync.”

“Isn’t that because you do things without me saying a word?”

“Hmm… it feels so familiar, almost like an instinct.”

“That must be because of the dream.”

“That dream, huh.”

“No matter what, it was you who actually did those things in the dream. Even if you forget, your body—might not forget?”

“Don’t we mostly stay quiet during our journey?”

“The more familiar we get, the less we talk, but the more tacit understanding we have.”

“Ohhh.”

“But I still have some things I don’t understand—like why we’re sitting here?”

“This place feels great, don’t you think? Far from the clamor of the mundane world, like a hermit—”

“Little Jing hasn’t even been through the mortal world, but somehow feels she should stay away from it~”

“Ahem, anyway, novels always describe it that way—those who don’t touch the mundane world are particularly formidable.”

“Or maybe especially foolish.”

“…Whoever it was, they even wished to pick a star from the sky!”

“Girls can be childish sometimes.” Zhuying said righteously.

“Tch! Boys can be childish too!”

“No one’s stopping you.”

“Childish!”

“The childish one is Little Jing.”

“Pfft, enough of this. Look at the view. From here, you can see half the street; the lively lights on the other side reflect on the river. Isn’t it beautiful?”

“There are so many garbage bags in the river.”

“Just pretend they don’t exist! You need to have eyes that find beauty!”

“So you ignore what’s ugly?”

“Ignore it, ignore it.”

“But without ugly things, there’d be nothing to make the beautiful things stand out.”

“Hmm… that’s true.”

The two fell silent again.

But it was not silence.

Because in the humid, slightly cold air, two souls were having a wordless conversation.

The lights across the river became blurry…

Anjing woke up.

But only in the dream.

More precisely, she awoke in the upper world of that dream.

Here, she could see the glowing spheres of others’ dreams.

Next to her was Zhuying’s glow.

–Zhuying seemed to have fallen asleep in the bridge arch as well.

Unintentionally, Anjing had used her supernatural power, but there was no need to worry about her soon needing the bathroom.

After all, time flowed slowly in dreams.

Perhaps a whole day passed in the dream, but in reality, only a minute had gone by.

Anjing transformed into a ball of light and slipped into Zhuying’s dream.

Zhuying seemed unaware she was asleep; the dream world was identical to reality, still gazing at the lights across the river.

Anjing gently poked the dazed dream version of herself and then took her place beside Zhuying.

“…Yes?”

“Do you want a star from the sky?”

“Mm, why? You can’t take it down anyway.”

“Who says?”

Anjing grabbed Zhuying’s hand and ran toward the outside of the bridge arch.

Zhuying hurriedly grabbed her paper umbrella and quickly opened it as they rushed into the rain.

“What’s the rush for?”

“To pick stars!”

“How do you pick them?”

“Uh… right, fold a little boat out of newspaper.”

“Mm, then what?”

Zhuying looked lazily at the newspapers Anjing had pulled out from somewhere.

“Then—”

Anjing tossed the folded boat into the heavy rain.

The paper boat grew larger with the wind, flying steadily, and even in the rain it didn’t get soggy or soft.

“Get on!” She grabbed Zhuying and lightly leapt onto the paper boat.

The paper boat flew and flew, soaring high above, piercing through the rain clouds that blocked the starry sky, and came above the clouds.

The brilliant Milky Way spread out before them, seemingly within reach.

Anjing stopped the paper boat on a particularly wide, white cloud.

With a gentle tap of her finger, the vast white cloud transformed into a floating lake in the sky.

The Milky Way reflected perfectly in the water.

The paper boat landed on the cloud lake, and Anjing leaned over its edge.

She stretched out her hand, grabbing a red sphere: “Hey—hiyah! Look, a planet! Ah, this looks like Mars!”

“It doesn’t glow.”

“Of course not, it’s not a star.”

“I want one that glows.”

“Glowing, huh.”

Anjing licked her lips and reached out again, finally catching a dark red star.

“Oh—this one’s warm. Here, this is a star.”

“Where are these stars from?”

Anjing tilted her head, looking up at the sky.

“Hmm, don’t know. Doesn’t seem like any famous star.”

“Then I want the North Star~!”

“Okay, the North Star!”

Zhuying looked up just as Anjing gave a warm call, and above them in the starry sky, the North Star—one of the brightest stars visible from Earth that even children recognize—disappeared.

“Look, the North Star!”

“So bright!”

“White, too!”

“If there were lots and lots of stars on the boat, it’d be so beautiful, right?”

“Okay, then let lots and lots of stars fly up here themselves!”

Anjing lightly waved her finger.

The stars in the cloud lake bounced up like fish, one after another falling onto the boat.

They sparkled with multicolored lights, voluntarily decorating the paper boat, making it extraordinarily magnificent.

“So pretty.”

“Wish fulfilled, right?”

“Mm!”

Zhuying looked up and suddenly smiled.

“Little Jing, the Milky Way is missing a piece, isn’t it?”

“Huh? Ahem… we caught all the stars from this part… wow… a big chunk’s missing. Maybe we should put some back…!”

“Let’s put them back later? Just let me look a little longer, even if only for a moment.”

“…Okay!”