The two girls hurriedly started clapping.
"That was so nice, I didn't know you had it in you." Lin Linyu's eyes sparkled.
Mu Yunxi simply looked at Wang Mingyu in silence, saying nothing.
She remembered her mother teaching her that song when she was a little girl.
Hearing it sung out of nowhere brought back a wave of nostalgia.
"Ah, sorry, I just got carried away..." Wang Mingyu scratched his head, feeling rather awkward.
It felt a bit like showing off, which hadn't been his intention at all.
He was just homesick.
After graduating from college, going off to live alone in an unfamiliar city...
It was genuinely difficult, and every single day was a struggle.
He spent every day worrying about money.
Jiang Feng wore an expression of sheer annoyance; he felt that Wang Mingyu was just putting on an act.
"Ahem, actually, I'm pretty good at singing too," Jiang Feng said with a light cough.
The two girls began to clap and egg him on, but Wang Mingyu just gave a faint smile and let it go.
He went back to staring blankly at the campfire.
Jiang Feng's loud voice rang out, and the two girls listened intently.
Though his technique was good, his singing clearly lacked the emotional depth Wang Mingyu's had.
Jiang Feng sang a melancholy love song, but none of them had ever been in love, so it failed to strike a chord.
Night fell, and the stars shone brilliantly.
Lin Linyu needed her rest and had already gone back to her tent.
Yawning, Jiang Feng went off to sleep as well.
"Aren't you going back to sleep?" Mu Yunxi asked, looking at Wang Mingyu, who hadn't moved.
"Ah, you go ahead and sleep first. I want to sit for a little longer." Wang Mingyu shook his head, his gaze fixed on the starry sky.
The night sky here really was different from the one in the city.
It was so beautiful it made his heart ache with longing.
He wondered if this starry sky was the same one as in the real world.
Seeing this, Mu Yunxi sat down beside him. "Then I'll keep you company."
"Haha, there's no need. Go to sleep if you're tired."
"I'm not in a hurry. We've got nothing to do tomorrow anyway, so we don't need to get up early."
"Well... do you want a drink?"
"There's alcohol?" Mu Yunxi asked, scratching her head in puzzlement.
"Yep, of course there is." Wang Mingyu smiled faintly, walked over to the edge of the lake, and felt around underwater.
He pulled a net out from the water, and inside were two bottles of beer.
"Well, well! You secretly hid alcohol!"
"Haha, because I only brought two bottles." Wang Mingyu laughed and sat back down in his seat.
Mu Yunxi shot him a resentful look. "If I hadn't stayed, were you planning to drink them in secret?"
"Hehe, you caught me."
"Hmph, I'm glad I stayed."
Wang Mingyu hooked the caps of the two bottles together and popped them open.
"Here." Wang Mingyu handed a bottle of beer to Mu Yunxi.
"Thanks." Mu Yunxi took it, and the two of them clinked their bottles together.
They gazed at the same starry sky as a shooting star faintly streaked across it.
"A shooting star!" Mu Yunxi pointed straight up at the sky. "Let's make a wish!"
"Alright."
Wang Mingyu gazed at the starry sky and chanted silently in his heart: Let me go home, let me go home, let me go home!
Mu Yunxi closed her eyes and clasped her hands tightly in front of her chest.
I hope I can meet someone worth entrusting my whole life to.
Preferably handsome, with a lively and cheerful personality, and able to provide emotional value!
With a swig of alcohol, Wang Mingyu looked over at Mu Yunxi. Under the firelight, the girl looked exceptionally charming.
The stars were reflected in the person, and the person was a star of the world; among tens of thousands of people, Mu Yunxi was that brightest star.
At least in this moment, at least in his eyes, she was shining brightly.
Mu Yunxi was a character from a book; he had never imagined he would truly end up inside a sea of literature.
Meeting her here was truly a matter of fate.
"Mu Yunxi."
Mu Yunxi turned her head to look back at him.
"It's really lucky to have met you."
Mu Yunxi's pupils trembled slightly, as if she couldn't quite believe what Wang Mingyu had just said.
Was this... a confession?
Leaning back in his chair, Wang Mingyu took a sip of his drink, looked up at the starry sky, and shouted, "It's truly wonderful to have come here!"
Recovering her wits, Mu Yunxi gave a gentle smile. "Keep it down, don't wake them up."
"Haha, sorry, sorry. I just got carried away..."
"Hey, Wang Mingyu, what do you usually like to do?"
"Me? Eat, sleep, and play video games."
"That sounds pretty homebody-ish?"
"Or I could say... family-oriented?"
"Pfft, your dream isn't to be a stay-at-home husband, is it?" Mu Yunxi covered her mouth and chuckled.
"A dream? That would definitely be to get kept by a wealthy, beautiful sugar mommy!"
"Then you can keep dreaming."
Wang Mingyu smiled without a word.
He knew that Mu Yunxi was a genuine little rich girl herself.
Had it not been for Mu Yunxi's help, the future male protagonist would never have risen to power so quickly.
Add in that little rich girl back home, Wang Qingying, and achieving success would be an absolute breeze.
Sigh, too bad he wasn't that lucky.
Even the Wang Mingyu of this world was still having a miserable time.
If not for his own appearance, how would this Wang Mingyu ever have had the chance to defy the heavens and change his fate?
He'd probably still be a nameless, sidelined character right now.
After they finished the alcohol:
"I'm heading back first then." Mu Yunxi waved and went into her tent.
Wang Mingyu cleaned up the campfire and the trash, making sure the fire was completely extinguished before returning to his tent.
The night rushed by, and the sky gradually grew bright.
Mu Yunxi woke up very early, and so did Jiang Feng.
The two of them sat by the lake, enjoying the fresh air of the morning.
"The air here really is wonderful," Mu Yunxi said, stretching her arms. "Is Wang Mingyu still not awake?"
"Yeah, he's still sleeping," Jiang Feng said, looking at the two empty beer bottles on the ground. "He must have been drinking last night, seriously. What a loser."
"Ha... haha." Hearing Jiang Feng's complaints, Mu Yunxi felt rather awkward.
After all, she had been the one drinking with Wang Mingyu.
"Ah~" Yawning, Wang Mingyu crawled out of his tent with disheveled hair. "I think I heard someone talking bad about me."
"Not at all," Mu Yunxi hurriedly said to bail Jiang Feng out.
"Really? What about Lin Linyu?"
"She's not awake yet."
"I'm awake! But my foot hurts and I can't move!" Lin Linyu's voice called out from inside the tent.
"Sigh, look at the two of you," Wang Mingyu shook his head with a sigh. He walked up to the tent and said to Lin Linyu inside, "Come on, I'll carry you out."
"Ah... okay, sure." Lin Linyu crawled over and was scooped up in Wang Mingyu's arms. "Sorry to trouble you, am I heavy?"
"Light as a feather, don't worry." Wang Mingyu gently placed Lin Linyu onto a chair and sat down himself. The atmosphere suddenly became awkwardly quiet, so he said, "Shouldn't we be heading off?"
"Yeah, as soon as you finish cleaning up your beer bottles," Jiang Feng said.
"Then let's sit for a little longer."
After a while, everyone started packing up. Lin Linyu wanted to help as well.
"Just sit there and rest," Jiang Feng said.
"Yeah, yeah, don't get hurt again," Mu Yunxi chimed in.
Lin Linyu lowered her head, feeling somewhat disappointed that she couldn't help out.
"Sigh, I give up, come here." Wang Mingyu handed the trash bag in his hand to her, then scooped her up into his arms. "Let's go throw away the trash!"
"Hehe, thanks!"