Chapter 5: The moment when fireflies flicker and heartstrings tremble 1
At night, I lay in bed, put my hands under my head, and stared blankly at the light above my head. I don't know why, but the scene of the director talking to Xia Senshi always replayed in my mind, like a movie clip, but every time it played, I would see more subtle expressions.
For example, the director was very angry at first, and then he seemed a little worried. Although Xia Senshi was very indifferent throughout and didn't say a word, when the director turned around and left, I seemed to see that he was a little discouraged.
Xia Moritoki's comics are really good. If he gets his father's support, he will become the world's number one genius cartoonist, right? But the director seems to disagree. If I were Xia Moritoki, I would definitely feel uncomfortable, right?
But... although Xia Senshi has no expression on his face, could it be that he is feeling very uncomfortable inside and is just pretending not to care?
"Humph, he didn't say anything when I asked him, can't you let me share the burden?"
My mind began to replay the conversation between Xia Senshi and I after the director left.
"Hey, Xia Senshi, are you okay?"
"What will happen to me?"
Really, he acted as if he wasn't the one being scolded just now, and even thought I was in the way and sent me back to my room...
Huh? Why did he send me back to my room? Was he sad alone in the lab?
Oh, Yan Dingding, you are such an idiot! You should be with him at this time! After all, you have been together for such a long time, you have already become friends, right?
Thinking of this, when I came to my senses again, I found... Eh? I actually walked to the door of Lab 1 in my pajamas. The lab door, which was always tightly closed, was ajar today, revealing a small gap. This would never have happened before!
What is Xia Senshi doing in there?
I quietly looked through the crack in the door and saw Xia Senshi's back.
He was wearing a clean and tidy white coat, and was playing with a pair of transparent protective glasses. I had never seen him leaning on a chair like this before. He was either standing straight or sitting straight. This was the first time I saw him leaning lazily on the back of a chair.
All the windows of the laboratory were opened, and the wind blew his honey-blond short hair into a mess. The sky was completely dark, without a single star, like a pure black curtain, sucking in all the emotions of a person.
I suddenly felt that Xia Senshi was not so invulnerable, and he also had ordinary emotions. In fact, he was only one year older than me!
Lyrical piano music was playing in the laboratory, and the beautiful melody cleansed my soul.
Rouwan ate too much at night and burped, rubbing Xia Senshi's instep from time to time. It seemed to know that its owner was in a bad mood, so it stayed well and didn't act naughty.
I couldn't help but walk to Xia Senshi's side and caught a glimpse of his confused eyes for the first time.
But after he reacted, that look disappeared in an instant, so fast that it seemed like an illusion. He was still the arrogant man who was extremely indifferent to everything.
"Hey, Xia Senshi, I can't sleep, can we talk?"
Xia Senshi turned his head and said calmly: "I'll lend you Meatball for ten minutes, you two can play together!"
"you……"
Really, not honest at all! I'm so mad!
Instead of walking away, I sat down next to him.
The two of us stood side by side, facing the night in silence.
After a few minutes, I asked seriously, "Xia Senshi, do you like drawing comics?"
After several seconds, he didn't answer, just looked at the night sky silently.
"I like drawing comics very much, but my parents think that being a cartoonist has no future." Regardless of whether he paid attention to me or not, I continued, "Doesn't the director also not allow you to draw comics? And it sounds like he is stricter than my parents..."
Xia Senshi finally responded this time, but he did not answer my question. Instead, he asked, "What do your family members say? They all disagree?"
"Yeah, they said that if my grades drop again because of drawing comics, they will cut my living expenses, and they might even fly back from the United States to teach me a lesson... Oh, and they both work in the United States, so it's okay for me to draw secretly!"
Xia Senshi glanced at me and fiddled with the protective goggles in his hand with his slender fingers.
"You are quite confident. You even know how to carry out underground work."
I puffed my chest out proudly: "Of course, although I'm not as smart as you, my IQ is not inferior to any normal person, okay?"
Xia Senshi lowered his head and smiled softly.
His profile is so beautiful, like a perfect work of art created by a top sculptor. I finally know where the stars in the night sky have gone. It turns out that they are all hidden in Xia Senshi's eyes.
I stared at him for a long time, and finally felt a little embarrassed.
"Well... you are recognized as a genius by everyone, so the director is more opposed to you drawing comics! But, is drawing comics really that bad?"
"Of course not. If no one draws, what will happen to those who like to read comics?"
I thought about it carefully, and it seems to make sense!
"That's right! If I can draw well, I will be able to support myself ! For the sake of my fans, I have to keep drawing!"
I jumped up from my chair, suddenly full of energy. I squatted in front of Xia Senshi and looked up at him: "What about you? Xia Senshi, will you also insist on painting?"
Xia Senshi's dark eyes were bottomless. He did not answer my question, but said calmly: "Yan Dingding, you are making rapid progress now, sometimes even exceeding my expectations, so I will reward you with a gift."
"Huh? What gift?" I jumped up excitedly.
Wow! Did Xia Senshi have a change of heart? The gift given by this obsessive-compulsive guy must be perfect!
"From now on, the name 'Firefly Forest' is given to you. Everything it represents, the past and the future, belongs to you."
In an instant, I felt like a bomb exploded in my mind. I didn't know how to react, and could only stare at Xia Sen blankly, while the words replayed in my ears word by word.
"From now on, the name 'Firefly Forest' will be given to you..."
"Why?" I objected fiercely, "'Firefly Forest' is obviously you. It's you who drew such an amazing work as 'The Prince Who Picks the Stars'. How can you just give it away? 'Firefly Forest' is more than just a name!"
I felt like tears were about to flow. What on earth was Xia Senshi talking about? Was he planning to give up comics?
He looked at me strangely, and his expression changed slightly: "Hey, why are you so excited? It's just a name, is it that important?"
I waved my arms in anger and said, "Of course! Do you know how many fans are waiting for you? If I become 'Firefly Forest', won't it ruin the name?"
Xia Senshi said innocently, "But I started drawing comics only because I needed to relieve stress and find inspiration for a biomimetic invention. I didn't want to be famous at all. And as you can see, my family is much stricter than yours. I've encountered so much trouble just to receive an award and show up..."
"No wonder you don't want to reveal your identity... But you can't just give it away to anyone! What a shame!"
Xia Senshi said nonchalantly: "What's so regrettable about this? If I want to continue painting in the future, I can just give it another name. 'Firefly Forest' is just a code name, isn't it?"
I rolled my eyes in my heart.
This guy is really a genius. The works he casually drew to relieve stress are so amazing. Is it necessary to discourage people like this...
His fair and handsome face was full of calmness: "I thought you would be happy to accept it if I gave it to you. After all, the name 'Firefly Forest' is already quite famous, and it can save you a lot of time and effort..."
What? I, Yan Dingding, am also very ambitious!
"I don't want to! Although I, Yan Dingding, sometimes like to take advantage of small opportunities, I will never take shortcuts and become someone else! 'Firefly Forest' will always be you! One day, I will rely on my own strength to become more powerful than 'Firefly Forest'!"
After saying this, I felt full of strength.
Yan Dingding, you must do what you say!
When I came back to my senses from my inflated self-confidence, I found that the way Xia Sen looked at me was... well, a little weird.
How should I put it? Anyway, I have never seen him with such an expression before. He seemed very surprised, but also seemed to have something else. The reefs that kept people away from him disappeared from his eyes as deep as the night, as if they were submerged by black water. He actually looked a little gentle.
Gentle? Is this word related to Xia Senshi?
I rubbed my eyes involuntarily.
Xia Senshi looked away and coughed unnaturally.
Hmm... I feel like the atmosphere seems a little different.
How is this going?
Could it be that he was moved by my passionate speech just now?
I looked into Xia Senshi's eyes seriously and said, "Xia Senshi, I can tell from your works that you are full of love for comics, so no matter what you say, I won't believe it! Even if the whole world is against it, so what? You are so amazing, you have to believe in yourself, and you can continue to be a comic god while doing scientific research!"
Xia Senshi burst out laughing, as if a huge stone had been lifted from his heart, and his high spirits returned to him.
"In short!" I stretched out a finger and pointed at the tip of Xia Senshi's tall nose, "You must paint your "Dream of a Star-Picking Prince"!"
