Please Dote on Me - Novelbike

“Chinei Youmi’s Latest Photobook Signing Event”

There was a sign like this on the first floor of the bookstore hall. However, it looked quite deserted. Two people passed by me, and they were also glancing towards Chinei’s signing event.

“An outdated female star releasing a photobook, and nobody wants to buy it. Holding this signing event is just self-humiliation,” one said.

“Exactly. She’s lost her popularity a long time ago. So don’t expect a photobook to make her famous again,” the other added.

Even though my Japanese wasn’t very good, I could still understand what they were saying.

It’s really humiliating for a star to face such a situation. There’s no trace of self-respect left. Being a star has its downsides. When you’re shining brightly, the management company treats you like a cash cow, but when you fade away, you’re tossed aside like an old toy. Those discarded toys, no longer of any use, are ignored and gather dust. It’s hard to predict when you will fall from grace; many things can’t be achieved just through hard work. It’s like the unpredictable weather-one moment the clouds can look like sheep, and the next, they turn into sheep dung.

If falling from grace is the ultimate fate of a shooting star, if disappearing is the price for fireworks dazzling the night sky, and if breaking up is the destined outcome of a love that once blossomed, then I’d rather I had never loved at all.

Every gathering must eventually disperse, so don’t invite me to the banquet.

“There’s Chinei Youmi,” Yang Jiexi also noticed her.

“Yeah. Let’s go buy a photobook for her. We can give it to Liang Baorong.”

I wanted to buy a photobook from Chinei because she, like me, had been thrown into the trash can of fate. Sympathizing with her? Such phrases sound tragic. However, the truth is, Chinei, who was unceremoniously discarded by Shichui, was also abandoned and hidden away by her agency.

What is so great about that guy, Shichui Mingyan? Is he proud because he’s a playboy? Making his official girlfriend endure his reckless rumors, while he still smiles graciously to the media because they’re stars as well? It must have been hard for Chinei to respond to those rumors.

This is the kind of character that Shichui embodies!

I walked straight over, smiling earnestly at her.

“Miss Chinei, I really like you and will always support you. Keep it up!” I said sincerely.

“Thank you.” After signing, Chinei looked up and seemed a little stunned upon seeing me.

Perhaps her mood had improved slightly at that moment, at least there was a fan who supported her.

I thanked her with the photobook and walked out of the hall. It was so cold outside that I pulled my coat tighter around me, placing the photobook into my bag as I headed back to the hotel. I wasn’t sure what to buy for the others, and in the end, I only decided to give Liang Baorong this one photobook.

“Let’s go, Yang Jiexi. We should head back, get a good night’s sleep, and leave in the morning,” I said.

“Qi Yang, you’re such a strange person.”

“Yang Jiexi, do you think I don’t find you strange?”

“You’re definitely a bit stranger than me, right?”

“It’s you! You’re the real weirdo here!”

…Even though Yang Jiexi had a strikingly handsome face and stood at 1.79 meters tall, he could be unbelievably childish.

His deep brown hair sparkled with a youthful shine in the falling snow.

In the distance, a crowd was gathered in front of a massive TV screen. I couldn’t tell what was so captivating about it.

“Yang Jiexi, should we join in?” I suggested as I walked toward the screen.

But when I looked up, I saw Shichui’s face appearing on the screen.

“A long time ago, I liked a Chinese girl. Although I don’t know what caused us to lose contact, this girl is now in Japan. Because until now, I still deeply love this girl, so I hope she can stay.” After a brief pause, Shichui continued in Chinese: “Qi Yang, if you see this, consider it a confession. So please stay, stay by my side.”

This guy… saying it, saying it in Chinese! This counts as a confession! Asking me to stay!

Ah… what kind of game is he playing?

How could he do something like this?

How did he even come up with such an outrageous idea?

This guy! How could he pull off something like this? How frustrating! Tears filled my eyes as happiness overwhelmed me. I suddenly felt too fragile to bear such immense joy.

Did he just say he still loves me? “Still”? Since when has it been appropriate to use the word “still”?

I found myself struggling to breathe again.

What a headache… it turns out that overwhelming joy can be just as hard to handle. I stood in shock outside the crowd.

Yang Jiexi shouted excitedly, “Shichui Mingyan! He! Qi Yang! Qi Yang!” This guy covered his mouth in surprise as he looked at me, then pulled his hands away, pointing at the TV screen and chattering like a parrot, “Shichui Mingyan! That guy! He said he likes you! He said the Chinese girl, the Chinese girl who’s now in Japan-he said your name, Qi Yang! He hopes you’ll stay! Is it you? It’s you, right? Wow… it’s you!”

Hearing Yang Jiexi’s loud and strange voice, everyone around us turned their heads to look at us.

It wasn’t until this moment that my slow reaction kicked in. Yang Jiexi’s rambling would surely make everyone aware that I was the person Shichui was talking about. I immediately reached out to cover Yang Jiexi’s mouth. But standing in front of me, the tall Yang Jiexi made it nearly impossible for my small hands to silence his voice. I had to get away from there. Thankfully, we were speaking Chinese; otherwise, I would have been surrounded by everyone, treated like a spectacle.

And there I was, jumping onto Yang Jiexi like a monkey, wrapping my arms and legs around him as I butted my forehead against his mouth in frustration.

Sweat…

I felt like a mother monkey.