Jiang Ye played the song three times.

Finally, she let go of the strings and sighed, "It's too hard."

She blinked twice, looking at He Zhou, looking pitiful, "I'm too clumsy, do you think I can be saved, Teacher He?"

"Where are you clumsy? You're playing very well."

He Zhou said with a smile in his voice, "At least, the original composer said he was satisfied."

Jiang Ye curved her eyes, showing her bunny teeth, "Then thank you for the original composer's affirmation."

"But I really haven't touched the strings in a long time, my hands are stiff. My fingers hurt after playing for a while."

She said as she was about to take off the guitar and return it to He Zhou, but he pulled her hand up in one step.

Jiang Ye's heart skipped a beat.

He Zhou held her hand and looked at it, then pinched her fingertips, and said naturally, "They're a bit stiff. Do you want to rest for a while?"

Jiang Ye opened her mouth, her heart beating so fast that she could almost hear it.

Over the years, as a friend of the opposite sex, He Zhou had made her feel very comfortable.

But on this trip where they had escaped the hustle and bustle of the world and come to the edge of the world, a voice in her heart was shouting at her, what if it was something else?

Have you ever considered the possibility of something else developing between you two?

"..."

"No, I'm not playing anymore."

Jiang Ye suddenly retracted her hand as if she had been electrocuted, then secretly touched the place where He Zhou had pinched her.

She looked at the setting sun, quickly finding an excuse, "The sun is setting, let's go back."

•••

On the way back, Jiang Ye couldn't help but steal glances at He Zhou.

She would steal a glance, then turn her head.

Five seconds later, she couldn't help but steal another glance at him.

He Zhou: "What's wrong?"

Jiang Ye felt like she had been caught red-handed, and she subconsciously denied it, "Nothing, I just wanted to count how many hairs you have."

He Zhou: "?"

Jiang Ye resisted looking at He Zhou again.

She was still a little unsure what this feeling was.

So, even though she could feel her own faint heart flutter, she didn't dare to say it out loud.

Fortunately, there was still a long time, they had more than a month of vacation left.

Jiang Ye thought she could observe a little longer and see what this feeling really was.

They stayed in this remote town for three days, then wandered around the west for half a month, and finally returned to the city.

Jiang Ye still couldn't get enough of the amusement park.

They had actually been to an amusement park during their group variety show, but that time, they had basically booked the whole park, so it felt different.

And she also had to be careful to perform well in front of the camera, including managing her image when riding roller coasters, so overall, it wasn't very fun.

But He Zhou said, "It's too dangerous."

Although no one recognized them here, there were still a lot of Chinese people in places with high traffic, so it was impossible to guarantee that they wouldn't run into a few overseas fans who knew Jiang Ye.

Jiang Ye was depressed and hid herself in her scarf.

After a while, she reached out and tugged at He Zhou's collar, blinking at him.

She didn't say a word, but she used just one look to complete her act of pouting.

He Zhou: "..."

He Zhou felt a part of his heart instantly collapse.

He swallowed the word "no", and asked Jiang Ye, "Do you really want to go?"

Jiang Ye nodded vigorously, her eyes shining.

"Then let's go."

He Zhou pulled her scarf up and smiled, "I'll help you get all decked out."

Fortunately, it was December, and winter had arrived, so even if Jiang Ye wore a hat, mask, and scarf on the street, it wouldn't be conspicuous.

She could finally buy tickets like a normal person, stand in line for the amusement park rides, and choose which one she wanted to ride, without having to consider the effect of the show.

Jiang Ye asked He Zhou, "Are you afraid of heights?"

He Zhou: "..."

He Zhou gritted his teeth, he was already prepared for her to invite him to ride the roller coaster, but he heard her say, "Then let's go ride the Ferris wheel?"

•••

"Why do you want to ride the Ferris wheel?"

Jiang Ye and He Zhou sat facing each other, she took off her mask, and said with a smile, "Because only here can I breathe some fresh air."

"... Ah, but it doesn't seem very fresh."

"Never mind, it doesn't matter."

The important thing was.

The night view of the amusement park looked very beautiful from above.

Jiang Ye felt a little regretful, "It would have been nice if it was Christmas."

The night view of the amusement park at Christmas would definitely be even prettier.

He Zhou nodded, then said, "If you like, I can accompany you again at Christmas."

Jiang Ye said okay, then she swallowed the rest of her words.

Her vacation was almost over by then.

And there were a lot of events at the end of the year, so she would have to go back by Christmas.

This time had been like a short dream.

Thinking about how she would have to return to reality, Jiang Ye felt a moment of frustration.

The Ferris wheel rose to its highest point.

The lights in the distance were dazzling.

Jiang Ye stared at the outside for a while, and when she turned to talk to He Zhou, she realized that he was looking at her.

The moment their eyes met, their first reaction was to look away.

They didn't speak.

But the ambiguous atmosphere spread throughout the small Ferris wheel.

Jiang Ye subconsciously pulled up her scarf, covering her slightly hot ears.

It seemed like the heart flutter happened in an instant.

In the moment they were caught in the rain together, in the moment they were holding hands and pressing the strings, and now, in the moment they were looking at each other on the Ferris wheel.

Jiang Ye suddenly realized at that moment.

She really liked this person.

A sudden heart flutter, or a long-standing liking.

At least the feeling right now was real.

After getting off the Ferris wheel, Jiang Ye took a breath of fresh air, then put her mask back on properly.

She pretended to be nonchalant, "Don't you think we look like a couple?"

He Zhou: "What?"

"... Never mind."

He Zhou pulled her, and he said seriously, "Say it again."

"... I'm just saying, what if we were photographed by the media now, would it cause a stir in China?"

Jiang Ye coughed and said, "Would people think that I disappeared for a while to secretly go to a foreign country to date?"

He Zhou: "... We won't be photographed."

He paused, and he actually seriously thought about the crisis PR strategy, "And even if we were photographed, the company would definitely clarify it immediately. For example, we were just out for work, the amusement park is part of the filming for a new MV-"

Jiang Ye: "..."

Jiang Ye rolled her eyes in her heart and said, "Forget it."

What a clueless blockhead.

Jiang Ye walked for a while, then she thought, actually, the emotions He Zhou expressed to her were always so lukewarm.

It was a bit abrupt of her to bring this up.

What if he didn't like her?

What if he was still in love with the girl he liked eight years ago?

He Zhou was a person who buried all his feelings in his heart, and he could still talk about their childhood, things she didn't even remember, as if they happened yesterday, he was really sentimental.

If he still had someone in his heart all these years, it could explain why he had never been in a relationship.

He Zhou: "What's wrong?"

Jiang Ye blew air into her mask, blowing it into a curve, "Nothing."

"... Stop lying."

He Zhou said, "You're clearly in a mood."

He took a step forward, stood in front of Jiang Ye, leaned on his knee, and looked into her eyes seriously.

Jiang Ye was startled and quickly found an excuse, "... I just got off the Ferris wheel, you know, fear of heights aftereffects?"

He Zhou: "No."

Jiang Ye: "Then it's too cold, my consciousness is numb, let's go-"

"Still no."

He Zhou pursed his lips, then gently asked her, "Are you, a little unhappy?"

Jiang Ye was stunned.

Her throat felt a little tight, then she shook her head, "... No."

He Zhou looked at her for a while, then suddenly left.

After a while, he came back with a pink cotton candy.

Jiang Ye: "..."

Jiang Ye was amused, "Are you trying to coax a child? "

He Zhou said matter-of-factly, "Aren't you a child?"

Jiang Ye: "... Come on, I'm twenty-eight."

But He Zhou patted her head through the fluffy hat, "Even if you're twenty-eight, you're still younger than me, I still see you as a child."

Jiang Ye: "..."

She suddenly felt comforted.

"Tell me."

He Zhou still asked, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Ye was silent for a moment.

She didn't know if she could say it.

This wasn't the right time, the right place.

Maybe even this sudden feeling of hers wasn't right.

"..."

"The girl you said you liked before, what about her now?"

Jiang Ye asked, "Is she married?"

He Zhou was stunned and said, "No."

Jiang Ye asked again, "Are you still in touch with her?"

She didn't know what kind of answer she wanted.

She was asking him questions in a roundabout way, she just wanted to hear him say, "That's all in the past".

"Why are you suddenly asking this?"

He Zhou asked, "... Is this related to why you're unhappy?"

"... No."

"I just wanted to find a topic to talk about, can't I cheer myself up?"

Jiang Ye twirled the cotton candy in her hand, looked at He Zhou, and asked again, "What kind of person is she?"

Jiang Ye saw that He Zhou's lips twitched when he heard this question.

He seemed like he wanted to laugh, but he held it back.

Oh.

Jiang Ye thought sourly, he couldn't help but laugh when he thinks about her, does he like her that much?

"She's a really good person."

He Zhou said, "She always seems to be shining brightly."

"She must be very beautiful, right?"

He Zhou nodded affirmatively, "Beautiful."

"Then..."

Jiang Ye paused, then still asked, "Do you still like her?"

This time, He Zhou was silent for a long time.

Finally, he said, "I do."

Jiang Ye took a bite of the cotton candy.

She suddenly felt a sour, soft feeling in her heart, and her eyes felt a little sore.

"Then all these years."

Jiang Ye tried to sound as generous as a friend, "You haven't told her? Or you confessed and she rejected you."

He Zhou: "I didn't say anything."

He Zhou: "Mainly because I was afraid that if I did, we wouldn't be able to be friends anymore."

Jiang Ye chuckled, "She wouldn't be that petty, would she?"

He Zhou just smiled and didn't say anything.

"Has she never noticed your feelings?"

He Zhou seemed to recall for a moment, then said, "Probably not."

Jiang Ye: "Then she doesn't seem very smart."

She wanted to say, listening to your description, how could the person you like be so stupid, so blind, and have such a bad personality.

You shouldn't like her, you should like me.

After thinking this, Jiang Ye felt petty.

She lowered her head and touched the tip of her shoe, and said, "You really like her, right?"

He Zhou: "Yeah."

Jiang Ye said, "Okay."

She didn't know what she was agreeing to.

It seemed like after she said those words, she had made a decision.

She didn't ask any more questions, she just quietly ate the cotton candy.

So, this is what it feels like to like someone.

You become sour, petty, jealous, you don't even recognize yourself, how can you expect the person you like to like you back.

But she didn't seem to be able to change it for a while.

Because she really liked He Zhou.

She even liked him liking someone else for so many years.

She was so unlucky.

Jiang Ye wiped her nose, feeling very depressed.

Even in liking someone, why was she so unlucky?

•••

After that day, Jiang Ye decided to continue being friends with He Zhou.

At that moment, she felt like she could empathize with He Zhou.

It turned out that there really was this strange mentality of not confessing because you considered the other person to be a friend you couldn't lose.

Is this bad luck contagious?

Jiang Ye couldn't sleep that night, so she listened to all the songs He Zhou had written about unrequited love.

Some of them were even sung by her.

The more Jiang Ye listened, the more she felt that every line was about her feelings now.

On a whim, in the middle of the night, she shared a bunch of her old works in the group chat.

It was daytime in China, and the group chat quickly lit up.

Tan Meng: 【... Are you crazy?】

Lin Zui: 【Read. But why share songs that you released ages ago? Are you going to go with a nostalgic theme for your new album and use old works?】

Shen Zhi Yi: 【It's okay, I understand you, Jiang Ye, this is probably just internet depression. Is it late at night where you are?】

Cheng Zhen: 【Internet depression or whatever, just eat some late-night snacks! Jiang Ye, don't be sad, do you need me to order takeout for you across the country?】

Jiang Ye: "..."

These replies were really useless.

But what could she do?

When she woke up the next day, she still had to continue being friends with He Zhou.

But He Zhou didn't seem to have slept well the night before.

When Jiang Ye knocked on the door, she saw a guitar on his desk, a laptop, and a pile of messy drafts.

Jiang Ye knew what he was doing as soon as she saw this, "You didn't stay up all night writing a new song, did you?"

"Yeah."

He Zhou said, "I suddenly got some inspiration."

He casually picked up a sheet of organized sheet music and handed it to Jiang Ye, "Take a look?"

Jiang Ye hummed the melody a little and commented, "It feels good."

"Do you like it?"

He Zhou didn't even think before saying, "If you like it, I'll give it to you, it can be one of the songs on your next album."

Jiang Ye: "..."

Normally, she would have agreed immediately.

But after her late-night internet depression last night, her head was full of thoughts like, "If you don't like me, why are you giving me hope?".

She lowered her eyes, and after a while, she said, "We'll talk about it later."

He Zhou: "?"

He Zhou rubbed his head, not quite understanding her reaction, but he still said, "Then I'll go wash my face, you can put this away for me."

Jiang Ye: "Okay."

She remembered that He Zhou had an opaque plastic folder where he kept his sheet music when he had inspiration.

Jiang Ye looked around the room and quickly found it.

But the folder wasn't easy to open, Jiang Ye tried to open it a couple of times, but she couldn't, then she used a little force, and the folder's clasp suddenly came loose, and the draft sheet music spilled out.

He Zhou suddenly seemed to remember something and stuck his head out, "Wait, I'll put it away-"

But Jiang Ye had already crouched down.

As she was about to pick it up, her breath stopped for a moment.

The scattered drafts were spread all over the floor.

And she clearly saw.

On the back of every sheet of draft, her name was written.