The streetlights suddenly went dark. Mai Ding raised his head. Had the power gone out? The surroundings were so dark that he couldn’t see his own hand in front of his face. Only then did fear finally creep over him. He pulled out his phone and used it as a light, but the glow illuminated only a tiny patch directly ahead. His scalp prickled. There had been two roads leading away from the bar. One went back toward the wedding hall, while the other—the road he had impulsively chosen—was completely unfamiliar. He hadn’t wanted to return to the hall, so in a fit of emotion he had taken this one instead. Now he had no idea where he was. But after a moment, he gave a bitter little laugh. Without An Zi Yan, everything seemed meaningless anyway. Remembering what he had seen not long ago made his heart feel as though invisible hands were squeezing it until it hurt.
Mai Ding asked himself whether he could truly forgive An Zi Yan. Maybe he hadn’t done it deliberately, but even if Mai Ding forgave him, the wound inside his heart might never fully heal. Mai Ding couldn’t do it. He really couldn’t.
While he was trapped in that painful struggle, he suddenly heard heavy breathing somewhere behind him. A chill ran down Mai Ding’s spine, and every hair on his body stood up. He turned around and raised his phone cautiously. “Who’s there?”
No one answered in the empty darkness, but the breathing continued. Mai Ding didn’t dare move forward anymore. He stood perfectly still, listening to his surroundings. The hand holding his phone trembled. It was already the middle of the night. Forget people—there wasn’t even a car in sight. And this was a resort area, nothing like the city.
Footsteps broke the silence. Mai Ding’s fear surged. He spun around and ran. The footsteps behind him immediately began running too. Mai Ding wanted to scream, but sprinting at full speed left him no strength for anything else. Gradually, even his pace began to slow. Someone tackled him from behind. Mai Ding finally screamed, but a large hand clamped over his mouth. His phone fell beside him. By the glow of the screen, Mai Ding saw the man’s face, and his pupils widened. It was the wanted man from the news. Bald. Brutal-looking. A dragon tattoo across his neck. There was absolutely no mistake. In person, the man looked even stronger and more frightening than he had on television. Mai Ding trembled uncontrollably, his entire body rigid. The man leaned down beside his ear and whispered, “Relax. What I’ve got will make you happy.”
Mai Ding heard the filthy implication and shook his head desperately. He thought of An Zi Yan and all the beautiful things they had shared. Now, despair began swallowing him. Reality was never as conveniently scripted as an idol drama, where An Zi Yan would suddenly appear and rescue him. In a pitch-black place like this, who could possibly see him? Reality was brutally cruel. Mai Ding would rather die than be violated by this man. Everything was over. Suddenly, he almost wanted to laugh. He had always wanted a dramatic, passionate life, but when life became too dramatic, he discovered he couldn’t bear it.
An Zi Yan, where are you? Why, after what you did to me, am I still thinking of you when I’m about to die? This is so unfair.
“What are you thinking about?” the man asked when he noticed Mai Ding staring blankly.
Mai Ding squeezed his eyes shut and ignored him.
“Don’t you want to see what I’ve got?” the man chuckled quietly.
Nausea churned in Mai Ding’s stomach. The man still had a hand over his mouth, and the silence around them was terrifying. His breath sprayed across Mai Ding’s face. Mai Ding could only kick his legs, but the man restrained him with overwhelming strength.
“I told you to open your eyes.”
Mai Ding squeezed them shut even tighter. He would rather die than open them. He didn’t dare make so much as a whimper. He had seen movies before—perverts like this sometimes became even more excited when they heard those sounds. They enjoyed the feeling of conquering someone.
Mai Ding was terrified. There was only one thing he truly feared: never seeing An Zi Yan again. He had completely given up hope. So all beautiful things really were lies. The world had become so dark that there was no longer any room for beauty. His body trembled. Just as tears were about to slip from the corners of his closed eyes, Mai Ding sensed light. What was that pervert doing? At last, he cautiously opened one eye. The criminal was holding a bouquet of stars. Beautiful little stars had been bound together like flowers, except they were brighter than flowers, glowing with dazzling light. They looked like something that could exist only in a fairy tale, yet somehow they had crossed over into reality. Mai Ding stared blankly. The contrast between the man’s vicious face and the beautiful thing in his hands was almost absurd. Then the man released Mai Ding’s mouth and grinned as he handed over the glowing bouquet. “Happy wedding! I told you what I had would make you happy.”
“Huh?!” Mai Ding was stunned. Completely dumbfounded. What was happening? Was he dreaming? Or had the criminal somehow killed him painlessly and he just hadn’t realized he was dead?
A spotlight suddenly appeared ahead. Mai Ding squinted, momentarily unable to adjust to the abrupt brightness. The light fell onto an enormous white screen, like a movie projection. Words appeared:
Please quietly watch everything that follows.
The words faded. Another sentence appeared.
Here’s what actually happened:
The image changed to Su Xiao Mi’s suspicious-looking face. The setting was the place where Mai Ding had stayed the previous night. How had he never noticed there was a camera there? Onscreen, Su Xiao Mi inserted a USB drive into the television and switched it to USB playback. Right on cue, Mai Ding emerged from the bathroom and watched the prerecorded news report. As soon as it ended, Su Xiao Mi hurriedly shut off the television so Mai Ding wouldn’t discover anything. Mai Ding had noticed absolutely nothing. When the footage ended, Su Xiao Mi appeared onscreen, cleared his throat, and announced, “Hi, Mai Mai! Surprised? Of course, I first have to thank An Zi Yan for assigning me the role with the most screen time. I’m pretty satisfied with my acting. Fortunately, I practice every day, so my skills haven’t rusted. I did not disappoint the organization’s faith in me.” Yan Yan appeared beside him and pinched his cheek. “Your acting was ridiculously exaggerated.”
“Was it? I thought it was natural and moving. The male lead in Under the Hawthorn Tree was practically written for me.”
“I think you’re just human garbage.” Yan Yan started dragging Su Xiao Mi away. Su Xiao Mi resisted. “Let me say one more thing! Just one! Please! I finally got to appear on television. Can’t you let me say one more thing?”
Yan Yan rolled his eyes. Su Xiao Mi cleared his throat again. “Actually, the role I wanted most was Xiao Si’s. Her screen time wasn’t long, but it was extremely challenging.”
Yan Yan kicked him straight out of the camera frame and strolled away.
Mai Ding sat frozen on the ground, completely unable to process anything. The terrifying man had disappeared without him even noticing, but Mai Ding no longer cared about that. His questions were being answered one after another. The screen switched to the next scene: the wedding hall. Before Mai Ding arrived, Mai Ding’s mom was repeatedly taking deep breaths and practicing her expressions while asking Mai Ding’s dad, “Do I look angry enough? There’s a fight scene later. This is my first time acting in my life. I can’t drag everyone down.” Then came the next shot. Mai Ding ran out into the rain. The moment he disappeared, all the parents visibly relaxed, cut into the wedding cake sitting nearby, and started chatting cheerfully as though they were having the time of their lives.
The third scene was the bar. Su Xiao Mi had warned the others beforehand, so as soon as Mai Ding was almost there, everyone flopped drunkenly across the sofas. Just before Li Ming collapsed, he even took a sip of alcohol. Everything afterward was Mai Ding interrogating him. Once Mai Ding went upstairs, Yang Hui and Liu Ying Xing gave Li Ming enthusiastic thumbs-ups. “Not bad! Your acting was good. Way more realistic than that Su Xiao Mi brat.”
The fourth scene was the bedroom. Bai Xiao Si deliberately scattered clothing all over the floor, mussed up her hair, then asked An Zi Yan, “What if I can’t cry later?”
“I’ll help you.” An Zi Yan’s voice was cold, so when the crying scene arrived, An Zi Yan secretly slipped a hand beneath the blanket and pinched Bai Xiao Si’s thigh. Hard. Very hard. The pain instantly brought tears flying from Bai Xiao Si’s eyes. She shot upright and completed her crying scene perfectly. Once Mai Ding had run off again, Bai Xiao Si threw away the sheet. Underneath it, she was wearing a tight strapless minidress. She glared at An Zi Yan. “Ex-husband, did you have to pinch that hard?”
An Zi Yan merely shrugged as though it had nothing to do with him.
At last, everything became clear to Mai Ding. The feeling inside him was impossible to describe. He should have realized it sooner. An Zi Yan had already pranked him on his birthday. How could he possibly behave himself during their wedding? Mai Ding could only blame himself for being stupid—and blame An Zi Yan for making his schemes bigger and more convincing every single time. This time, there were even an outrageous number of extras involved. Mai Ding climbed to his feet, dusted off his backside, then screamed at the screen, “You all fucking teamed up to screw me over!”
The movie wasn’t finished. More words appeared.
You like fairy tales. You like fantasy movies. You like unicorns, fairies, and countless other things. Everything you like is childish. But what can I do? There’s only one thing I like. You.
So if you want something you’ll remember for the rest of your life, I’ll give it to you.
To hell with that dull, conventional wedding hall of yours.
The wedding isn’t over. It has only just begun.
Are you ready? Let’s get married.
The final line faded. Everyone except An Zi Yan appeared onscreen, each of them smiling brightly as they called out together, “Mai Ding, happy wedding!”
Mai Ding hadn’t even finished processing his anger before overwhelming emotion came crashing down on him. That was An Zi Yan’s special talent. He could completely destroy Mai Ding’s emotional balance. The spotlight dimmed. The screen dropped. Darkness surrounded Mai Ding again, leaving only the bouquet of glowing stars in his arms. Then, in the distance, a streetlight came on. Another lit beside it. Then another. Rows of lights began illuminating one after another from both sides. Mai Ding narrowed his eyes, unable to see clearly at first. Then he heard a crisp sound. The lights continued turning on, slowly moving toward him from the distance. At last, Mai Ding saw what was making the sound. His heart seemed to stop for one beat. He sucked in a breath. A snow-white horse emerged from the darkness. Its coat was dazzlingly pale. A single horn had been fitted to its forehead, making it look exactly like a unicorn from a fairy tale. And seated on that horse was His Highness the Prince. An Zi Yan wore a perfectly tailored European royal costume. Soft streetlight fell across his incomparable face. He looked so handsome that Mai Ding nearly became dizzy. Yet Mai Ding quickly gathered up the chaotic mess of emotion threatening to swallow him. “Are you even human? You prank me even when we’re getting married?!”
An Zi Yan smiled. It was that clean, warm smile. He reached out a hand toward Mai Ding. “Will you?”
Mai Ding reached for him without even thinking. “Only an idiot would say no.”
An Zi Yan pulled upward, and Mai Ding climbed onto the horse in front of him. An Zi Yan reached around Mai Ding’s waist and took the reins, then lightly nudged the horse’s sides with his feet. The horse began walking. Mai Ding cried out in surprise, completely forgetting the enormous prank from moments earlier as he gently stroked the horse’s smooth coat.
“An Zi Yan, you always give me exactly what I want most.”
An Zi Yan said nothing. Mai Ding checked the time. There were only twenty minutes left until midnight. He said regretfully, “But Valentine’s Day is almost over.”
“Who said today is Valentine’s Day?”
Mai Ding froze. But the calendar and his phone clearly said—then understanding struck him. Unable to restrain himself, Mai Ding leaned farther back into An Zi Yan’s arms. So this was another tiny part of the deception. Mai Ding tilted his head and kissed An Zi Yan’s chin.
He looked forward to the wedding that had only just begun.
Your love is so soft, so sweet, that it sticks to me until I can’t move.
An Zi Yan, eat me!
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