Rebirth from the Ashes

Li Yuan was afraid he would doze off while the call was still connected as he did not want her to hear him writhing in pain like the last time, so he could not sleep the whole night.

“It’s dawn,” Li Yuan let out a low sigh. His eyes were gentle as he looked at Shen Xi’s sweet smile on his phone. He said in a deep voice, “Go and prepare the ingredients. I want to make breakfast.”

Kun Lun respectfully answered, “Yes, sir.”

Li Yuan’s body was already weak in the first place, so it was bad for him to stay up all night. Kun Lun wondered if he should tell Shen Xi about it.

When Shen Xi got up, she heard someone knocking on the door, so she put on her jacket and hurriedly opened the door. Kun Lun came over to invite her for breakfast next door.

Toffeecito looked at Shen Xi like she was crazy because she was humming while skipping around. The kitten was afraid that Shen Xi would step on him for being too excited, so it jumped onto the table.

Shen Xi was elated and was thinking about what she should wear and what makeup she should put on. She spent a long time looking through her closet and put on some light makeup before she carried Toffeecito next door for breakfast.

This was the first time Shen Xi had a meal with Li Yuan, so she had to dress up nicely.

Li Yuan waited for her at the living room door and watched as she flew over like a happy lark, right into his heart.

Shen Xi wore a white woolen sweater with a red tweed jacket over it, which made her already cute face lovelier, like a ripe apple that made him want to take a bite.

Her hat was a little slanted and that made her look playful and endearing.

Kun Lun’s eyes also lit up. Shen Xi was beautiful, but she never usually dressed up. In winter, she would even wrap herself up into a ball.

Now that it was spring, Shen Xi finally took off her heavy down jacket and changed into slightly lighter clothes. She looked so much livelier, more youthful, beautiful, and charming.

Breakfast was already on the table waiting for her. It was not elaborated, just some eggs, sandwiches, and milk.

Shen Xi did not mind what they were going to eat as long as she could eat with Li Yuan. She was up on cloud nine that she wanted to spin in circles. Even cold water tasted sweet to her. “Brother, did you make this?”

Li Yuan took a bite of the sandwich. It did not taste very good, so he looked at her and said, “Just make do with this first. I’ll try my best next time.”

Shen Xi stuck out her thumb and smiled with arched eyes. “It’s delicious! The best and tastiest sandwich I’ve ever eaten!”

She was especially sincere in praising him. Her eyes shone like bright stars, which melted his heart and that was the most pleasant sight.

Li Yuan laughed delightedly and said in a warm voice, “Then you can eat here for the next few days.”

The girl could not cook, so when her parents were not home, she would only order take-out or eat instant noodles, which was not very healthy.

Shen Xi was waiting for him to say this. Her heart was bursting with joy, but she still had some self-restraint and only said, “Okay then!”

After breakfast, Shen Xi went to school with her backpack.

Li Yuan walked her to the door and looked at the girl. “Wait a minute.”

Shen Xi paused in her footsteps, then took two steps back and squatted to look at him.

Li Yuan took away the blanket covering his legs to reveal the red scarf underneath. He picked up the scarf and put it around her. “It’s chilly in the morning, so don’t catch a cold.”

Shen Xi took out her hands which had been hidden in her pockets and smiled as she said, “I’m not cold!”

She was wearing warm gloves.

Li Yuan looked at her gloves and smiled wider. He wrapped the scarf neatly around her neck and said warmly, “Just in case.”

“Okay.” Shen Xi complied. She reached out and covered the blanket on his lap before standing up, “Brother, I’ll get going then.”

“Take care!” Li Yuan watched as the girl reluctantly waved to him. He felt a little lost when her figure gradually disappeared. The light in his eyes also dimmed.

**

No. 4 High was calm and quiet.

The recent talk of the school was about Qi Xiu who had apparently become No. 4 High’s new idol. He was handsome, talented, and produced good songs. The rookie who had just debuted his album also served as the Music Director of Cosmos Entertainment. Apart from the three main songs, the rest of the titles in his debut album were single-handedly done by him.

Lyrics: Qi Xiu.

Song: Qi Xiu.

Arrangement: Qi Xiu.

Producer: Qi Xiu.

Guitar: Qi Xiu.

Piano: Qi Xiu.

Bass: Qi Xiu.

Harmony: Qi Xiu.

Strings: Qi Xiu.

Studio: Qi Xiu.

Mixer: Qi Xiu.

Post-production planning: Qi Xiu.

Music video shooting: Qi Xiu.

Album cover design: Qi Xiu.

The music industry’s evaluation of him was that he was a one-man team. He was a rising star and a new hope of the Chinese music industry as he possessed true talent without any need for shameless promotions and buying ingenuine fans.

The public affirmed real strength and described Qi Xiu with one word: genius.

Qi Xiu not only had talent in music, but his music video shooting skills and album cover design were also second to none.

His name resounded through the entertainment industry and he became popular throughout China. Nine out of ten stores on any street were playing his music. Those not playing were only because their store did not allow any music.

As for the pride of No. 4 High, celebrity alumnus Su Muyan, his new album had been crushed to death by Qi Xiu whether it came to popularity or album sales. He was completely defeated.

The Top Class, led by Chen Bingbing, made a bet with Shen Xi’s class earlier and refused to admit that they lost.

“Damn it! I want to see how long they’ll hold out for.” Chu Ying went to the Top Class to ask for money and returned angrily.

Shen Xi advised her. “It hasn’t even been a month yet. We’re still half a month short of the agreed date.”

Lin Ge came over and smiled mysteriously. “I’ll tell you a secret. I just heard yesterday that Chen Bingbing’s bedroom is plastered with Qi Xiu’s posters. She even secretly bought hundreds of albums to collect the freebie pictures.”

Chu Ying laughed out loud exaggeratedly. “Seriously?! F*ck, that girl defected so quickly? I thought she could hold out for a while. That’s just too disappointing…”

There were little photos that were given out as freebies for Qi Xiu’s album. Each album had two random pictures of him. All of the shots were artistic and beautiful. They were limited editions and would not be reprinted once they ran out of stock.

A lot of fans who were fond of Qi Xiu had long since started to collect these pictures. It was likened to collecting stamps and was rather addictive. Many of those who were true fanatics would be frustrated if they could not manage to collect them all.