Campus Alliance-Never Fall North Star

The kitchen range hood was humming, spreading the aroma of pork ribs to the backyard.

Ren Qifeng leaned against the door frame, watching Lu Yun's back as he butchered the fish - the blade cut through the fish scales neatly, unlike the time when they were camping, when he could even pierce the fish gallbladder. He laughed at him for a long time.

"Tell me," Ren Qifeng suddenly spoke, tapping the stove with his fingertips, "If those things hadn't happened back then, what would our situation be like now?"

Lu Yan's hand, which was scraping the fish scales, paused, and water splashed on the back of his hand.

"Maybe." He threw the fish into the pot, and the hot water "gurgled" and white bubbles came out. "But it's good like this now."

"Yes! Lost and found again!" After saying that, Ren Qifeng patted him on the shoulder and said, "Let's just be good cooks!"

Ren Qifeng smiled and turned to serve the pork rib soup. The radish in the casserole was stewed until it was translucent, which was what Shen Jiaqi loved to eat - she always said that the stewed radish was like cotton candy.

Laughter floated in from the backyard. It was Xiang Haichen shouting, "Shin Jiaqi! You are cheating! It was obviously you who mentioned wetting the bed first!"

Shen Jiaqi's voice was filled with laughter: "I was looking for a toilet in my dream! How can it be the same?"

When Ren Qifeng went out with the bowl of soup, he saw Xiang Haichen moving Shen Jiaqi's slippers into the shade of the tree, for fear that her feet would get wet with dew.

The sunlight filtered through the magnolia leaves, casting golden specks on the backs of their folded hands, just like the time when they were huddled together on the training ground to share canned food.

Shen Jiaqi was lying under the shade of a tree, with her long straight black hair let down. She looked mature and charming, and the white dress made her look noble and elegant.

"The soup is ready." Ren Qifeng put the bowl on the stone table.

Shen Jiaqi scooped a spoonful of soup and suddenly winked at him: "Qi Feng, look how virtuous Hai Chen is now. Lu Yan is really lucky."

Xiang Haichen's ears turned red and he reached out to grab her soup bowl: "You are the only one who talks too much!" When his fingers touched the edge of the bowl, he deliberately slowed down his movements for fear of scalding her.

When Lu Yun came out with the fish soup, he saw this scene and deliberately put on a stern face: "Tai Yang, please give in to Jia Qi~" While saying this, he put the freshly peeled shrimps into Xiang Haichen's bowl - that was Xiang Haichen's favorite. He always said in the past that "the shrimps peeled by Lu Yun have no shells, it's like feeding a cat."

Xiang Haichen bit the shrimp and smiled: "How dare I? She is the leader of the children now. Song Hui, Xing Mian and the others are all helping her!"

Shen Jiaqi snorted, but put a piece of pork ribs into his bowl: "Eat yours, you're so thin that a gust of wind can blow you away." Her fingertips brushed across the back of Xiang Haichen's hand, and she suddenly paused. He was still too thin!

A hyacinth leaf suddenly dropped, swirling and floating onto Shen Jiaqi's recliner.

She reached out to pick it up, but Ren Qifeng grabbed it in his hand first.

He smoothed the leaf and put it into the book she had placed aside - it was an old photo album with a photo of all of them. In the photo, Cheng Huan was pulling Song Chen's ear and laughing, with the rising sun in the background.

"What are you thinking about?" Ren Qifeng sat down beside her and gently touched her temple with his fingertips - she had been complaining of headaches recently, and the doctor said it was a sequelae of an old injury.

Shen Jiaqi shook his head and stuffed the photo album into his arms: "Look how stupid you were before. You even buttoned your training uniforms wrong." He smiled, but his voice was a little floating. "Do you think Cheng Huan would like Xing Mian if he saw her? That child is just like her, with curved eyes when she smiles."

Ren Qifeng paused while flipping through the photo album, his Adam's apple rolling: "Yes, she likes beautiful children the most."

The fish soup in the kitchen gurgled even louder.

Lu Yun leaned against the door frame, watching Xiang Haichen telling Shen Jiaqi about Lu Ang's embarrassing moments at school. The latter laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back, and he covered his stomach with his hands and shouted, "I can't take it anymore."

The sunlight fell on them like a thin layer of golden gauze, coating those invisible scars with warm light.

After a long while, Ren Qifeng didn't say anything, but just pulled Shen Jiaqi's blanket onto her shoulders.

She fell asleep, but her brows were slightly furrowed, as if she was having an uneasy dream. He reached out and gently smoothed her brows, his fingertips touching the broken hair at her temples - there was a white hair, hidden in the black hair, like a secretly falling star.

When Xiang Haichen walked towards him, he was holding a lotus leaf in his hand, which he had just picked from the water vat in the corner of the yard.

"Block the sun for our Qiqi." He held the lotus leaf above Shen Jiaqi's head, and suddenly lowered his head to Ren Qifeng and said, "Qifeng, I'll make her some Tianma soup tonight. The doctor said it's good for headaches."

Ren Qifeng nodded and suddenly smiled: "You two have loved worrying about each other since you were little."

Xiang Haichen also smiled, the teardrop mole at the corner of his eye was very conspicuous in the sun: "Yes! We are the best friends in the world!"

The fish soup in the kitchen was finally ready, with chopped green onions floating on the milky white soup.

Lu Yan filled a bowl and put it aside for Shen Jiaqi first, then brought another bowl to Xiang Haichen - there were two poached eggs in it, a preference he had always found troublesome in the past but now remembered clearly.

Xiang Haichen was drinking soup when he suddenly looked up and saw Lu Yan staring at him and smiling. His ears turned red again: "What are you looking at?"

"Look at the way you drink the soup, you're like a cat stealing milk." Lu Yan kissed him on the forehead, his voice so low that only the two of them could hear, "It's great to be able to watch you drink the soup I made."

……

By the windowsill, Di Leo stood quietly, his body slightly leaning forward, his right hand casually resting on the windowsill, his left hand holding a cigarette. The scarlet flame of the cigarette butt flickered in the darkness, just like his inner emotions, unpredictable.

His gaze passed through the window and fell on the yard downstairs.

In the yard, a group of people were sitting together, talking and laughing, it was very lively.

Shen Jiaqi's laughter was particularly clear and crisp, like a silver bell, echoing in the night sky.

A complex light flashed in Emperor Leo's eyes, a kind of desire, envy, but also mixed with a little helplessness and bitterness. He looked at the ends of Shen Jiaqi's hair fluttering gently in the breeze, and the corners of his mouth rose unconsciously, but soon returned to calm.

"They seem to never run out of things to say." Situ Lin's voice sounded beside him, very softly, as if afraid to break the tranquility of the moment.

Di Leo didn't turn his head, but responded calmly: "Yes."

Situ Lin's eyes also fell on the downstairs, on Shen Jiaqi. He looked at Shen Jiaqi's smile, which was an unguarded, heartfelt smile that made people feel happy.

"Aren't you going to join?" Situ Lin asked softly.

Emperor Leo was silent for a moment, then said slowly: "You see, people like us who are always in the dark can't stand such bright light." There was a hint of self-mockery in his voice, as if he was deeply helpless about his identity and situation.

His Adam's apple rolled, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just chuckled and showed a bitter smile, "This time, I will be a good bystander and remember her appearance in my mind."

Just then, Lu Xingmian's laughter was heard from downstairs.

Emperor Leo's attention was drawn over, and he saw Lu Yan holding Lu Xingmian high above his head. Lu Xingmian's silver-white hair fluttered like a cloud in the wind, and her laughter floated in the air, as if the whole world was infected by her happiness.

"Okay!" Situ Lin suddenly smiled, with a sense of relief in his voice, "I'll accompany you and remember it together!"

……

The hyacinth in the backyard has dropped another leaf.

The sunlight shines through the gaps between the leaves, casting a flickering spot of light on the cover of the album.

There are photos of the Polaris team members, photos of Cheng Huan and Song Chen, children's drawings, a hyacinth petal, and unspoken words - as long as the people around you are still there, all the losses and pains will become the most precious footnotes in the rest of your life.