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Chapter 12: A Lone Star’s Tear (2)

“Let’s play a game,” Shen Si suggested with a smiling face.

Sitting diagonally across from him, Xu Zhiyi was entirely unaware of the trap. She was still meticulously cutting her steak into evenly sized pieces with a dinner knife, lining them up in a straight row.

“I’ll test how well you know me. If you get it right, I’ll drink a glass as punishment. But if you’re wrong, you’ll have to drink three glasses.”

“What’s my height?” He casually pointed at a girl sitting beside him.

“186,” she replied cheerfully and accurately.

Keeping his word, Shen Si drank the wine. The female fan, seated close by, stared at him gulping down the red wine, mesmerized by the movement of his sexy Adam’s apple. Her lips went dry, and she swallowed subconsciously.

“When’s my birthday?” Shen Si’s lips curved faintly, a slight scar twitching at the corner. His smile was inscrutable.

The fans almost answered in unison, but Shen Si raised a finger to his lips. “Shhh—let her answer.” He pointed to Xu Zhiyi.

Clearly, this was favoritism. What fan wouldn’t know his birthday? Because of his April 19th birthday, Shen Si had even been voted the celebrity fans most wanted a one-night stand with.

Xu Zhiyi, however, was stunned—how could she possibly know the birthday of a man she barely knew?

Her lips parted, but with so many eyes on her, she couldn’t even secretly Google it. So, she replied honestly, “I’ll take the penalty.”

Shen Si personally poured three glasses of red wine, stood up, and walked over to her, placing them in front of her with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I didn’t think you really wouldn’t know.”

Even the reporters laughed, taking Shen Si’s side.

Professor Xu calmly picked up the glasses and downed all three in one go, as if drinking cough syrup.

Shen Si had expected her to refuse and had prepared a whole speech, but now he was the one stunned. Everyone was shocked.

Xu Zhiyi sat back down steadily, eyes clear as she looked at Shen Si. “Sorry for any offense earlier. I hope you won’t hold it against me. Later, take a few more photos with me so I can give them to my colleagues.”

Hearing this, even Shen Si had to admire her loyalty. Everyone could tell—she truly wasn’t a fan of his.

With elegance, Shen Si extended his hand and grasped hers on the table, giving it a firm shake. “Deal.”

But—

Xu Zhiyi abruptly pulled her hand back, frowning. “I’ve got a cold. I don’t want to pass it to you.” Then she even pulled a bottle of disinfectant from her pocket and sprayed their hands with it.

Shen Si’s heart sank, but his face betrayed nothing. He even smiled more gently. “It’s fine. If I do catch a cold, I can use it as an excuse to take time off.”

After that, under Shen Si’s silent instruction, Xiao Gu kept leading staff over to toast Xu Zhiyi.

She was already feeling frustrated and accepted every toast, drinking cup after cup. The more she drank, the paler her face became—and the brighter her eyes grew.

Eventually, Xiao Gu was practically slumped over, while she remained perfectly upright and clear-headed.

Shen Si began to wonder: Did she earn her professor title through drinking contests? Could the all-knowing seer have made a mistake?

So, under Shen Si’s subtle cues, everyone present mysteriously came forward to toast her.

---

Though it was called a banquet, it was more about appearances than food. The event ended after an hour.

Zhou Wen and Xiao Gu bustled around, seeing the guests off. Zhou Wen eagerly escorted the reporters outside, discreetly handing them hush money and politely asking for their understanding. Her thoughtfulness and sincerity made the reporters feel awkward. A crowd stood outside the restaurant, turning the farewell into a warm and lively scene.

Shen Si stayed behind in the restaurant.

Sure enough, Xu Zhiyi hadn’t left either. She must’ve guessed he’d approached her intentionally.

Should he reveal the truth?

He hesitated, sitting down across from her with a cold expression.

Since the restaurant had been reserved for the event, it now felt vast and empty. The bright crystal chandelier lit Xu Zhiyi’s face in stark detail.

Unaware, she sat straight in her chair, head slightly bowed, completely still—she had fallen asleep.

After a while, Shen Si noticed something was off.

He reached out and touched her forehead—hot enough to cook a steak. No wonder her cheeks were red like boiled shrimp.

For some reason, seeing her slumped in the chair, sitting so properly, with her hands neatly on her lap still clutching the disinfectant bottle, made something stir in him. His gaze lingered on her face—flushed from fever, making her typically serene face appear livelier.

He could almost smell the faint scent of summer camellias through the heat.

Her misty black eyes were tightly shut, making her seem like a harmless, delicate young woman.

Awake or asleep, she exuded the unique quietness of an intellectual.

Then he recalled her impressive academic credentials—

The more he looked, the more he found this plain-looking woman shrouded in mystery.

The seer’s words echoed again in his mind.

He couldn’t resist reaching out and pushing Xu Zhiyi gently.

“Hmm?” she swatted his hand off her shoulder like brushing away a pesky fly.

“It’s over. You should go home.”

“Home? I don’t have a home.” She frowned and muttered, eyes still closed. A wry smile tugged at her lips, her soft chin quivering as it drew a delicate arc.

“How can someone not have a home?” Shen Si began but suddenly stopped—he didn’t have one either.

“No home,” she replied firmly, still with her eyes shut.

“Well, you must have somewhere to go—” He pushed her harder.

“Where I came from, I’ll return to…” she murmured with a hazy smile. “Senior brother, I’ve come back.”

A single tear suddenly slipped from the corner of her eye, cold and glistening under the dazzling light like a lost speck of stardust drifting slowly from the heavens into the dark.

Shen Si stared in surprise—so, even the calmest waters can ripple, just not for him.

He felt a strange pang in his chest.

Countless women admired him like stars in the sky, but had any of them ever shed a tear for him after drinking?

Suddenly, he didn’t find her so annoying anymore.

He fished through her coat pocket and found a key marked “504,” a phone, and a half-smoked pack of cigarettes.

He tried unlocking the phone but was met with a password prompt.

“What’s your phone password?”

“My birthday,” she mumbled, still with her eyes shut, a pained expression on her face.

“When’s your birthday?”

“Hmm… can’t remember…” she whispered, holding her head.

Whatever goodwill Shen Si had felt quickly vanished.

Was she messing with him?

He slapped her cheek lightly.

Slap slap—slap slap—

---

Xiao Gu walked in just in time to see Shen Si “slapping a drunk female fan.”

“Si-ge, you can’t do that—if someone sees, it’ll be a disaster.” Terrified, Xiao Gu rushed over to stop him.

“Then you wake her up,” Shen Si said, eyeing him.

“You didn’t have to slap her…” Xiao Gu let go of Shen Si’s arm and gently shook her instead.

“When did I slap her?” Shen Si flared up again.

Xiao Gu pouted. He wanted to say both his eyes saw it, but past experience taught him not to argue with Shen Si head-on.

Despite all the shaking, Xu Zhiyi remained asleep, only twitching her brow impatiently in her dream.

Her eyebrows were neat and elegant, untouched by makeup, yet so clean and distinct they seemed drawn on.

Unfortunately, her usual expression was so blank, no one noticed how refined her brows were.

“Si-ge, why isn’t she waking up?” Xiao Gu was frustrated.

“Use force—” Shen Si growled at the woman wasting his time.

“You do it—?” Xiao Gu looked timidly at him.

“You stall Zhou Wen!” Shen Si glared at his soft-hearted assistant. “If she asks, tell her I already went home.”

Xiao Gu fled, relieved to escape the crime scene.

“Xu Zhiyi—” Shen Si called, gripping her shoulder tightly.

He used about sixty percent of his strength. Xu Zhiyi’s eyes snapped open, hazy and unfocused, staring right at him—

Then she reached out and gently touched his cheek. With a radiant smile and a soft, dreamlike voice, she said, “I know you!”

Before the words even faded, her hand dropped, and with a faint smile still on her lips, she fell back asleep.

Shen Si froze.

Was she… flirting with him?

Looking at her defenseless face, something clicked in his mind.

What was that saying?

—“Women don’t get drunk unless they want to…” No, not that. It was In vino veritas—drunken words are sober thoughts.

“Xu Zhiyi, wake up,” he said, stepping in front of her and gripping her shoulder. Though slender enough to break, he squeezed like cracking a walnut.

Sure enough, she opened her eyes again.

“Do you know the prophet?” he asked, watching her expression closely.

“Prophet?” Xu Zhiyi blinked, struggling to focus. “I am the prophet—”

Every hair on Shen Si’s body stood on end.

“I predict… you’re about to have terrible luck!” she slurred with a silly grin, nodded hard, and suddenly slumped forward, head burying into his chest as she fell asleep again.

Shen Si instinctively frowned at the unexpected embrace—but then he realized…

This expression, this frown… looked just like hers.

“Your prophecy’s wrong. I’m not about to have bad luck—I’m already having it. And you… you’re not far behind.”