"Back in Those Fleeting Years"
Inside the business van, Xu Mo was on his way to the set. The filming of "Dancing in the Wind" was finally drawing to a close, and as the second male lead, his own scenes were nearly wrapped up as well.
The schedule had been packed tight to speed up production. After several days of nonstop shooting, exhaustion weighed on him, and to keep himself in good form, he had been snatching rest whenever opportunity allowed.
A young assistant gently woke him. “Miss Ji is about to perform.”
Xu Mo opened his eyes, the hazel depths still clouded with drowsiness, unfocused for a moment before sharpening. “Thank you.” He took the tablet from the assistant.
Xu Mo had entered the industry as a child star, growing up in an environment unlike any other child’s. While others were in school, he was on set; while others played, he was still acting...
He drifted from crew to crew from a young age, surrounded by seniors much older than himself, their conversation circling either around acting or profound philosophies on life.
Everyone said Xu Mo was born gifted, a rare talent in the performing arts, but they overlooked the fact that he was just an ordinary boy, not the precocious, steadfast prodigies he so often portrayed.
It was at the point when he was about to break that he met Ji Shengxue and Ji Fanxing.
He was twelve that year, playing the younger brother of the lead in director Ji Changming’s film. Director Ji’s standards were famously unforgiving. After several takes, the atmosphere on set grew tense and oppressive, and even a backup actor was waiting in the wings, ready to replace him at any moment.
Director Ji made it clear he had only one last chance.
The scene needed to be reset, and the adults around him wore grim expressions as they busied themselves, leaving him sitting alone on the sidelines.
...
In the end, he nailed the take, and the subsequent shoots went smoothly. Gradually, Director Ji began to praise him.
Everything was looking up. It was then that he met Ji Shengxue and Ji Fanxing, who had come to visit the set with their mother during the holidays. They became fast friends, a bond that had endured ever since.
Perhaps it was a matter of like attracting like, but Xu Mo found he had even more to talk about with Ji Shengxue.
Just two days ago, Ji Shengxue had told him that the song she had prepared for this performance was not only a classic by Master Fang Zhijing, but that Master Fang had personally rearranged the entire piece especially for her. She knew Xu Mo was a fan of Fang’s music.
Last time, when she performed another of Fang’s songs, Xu Mo had been filming a pivotal scene and couldn’t afford to let his emotions be distracted, much to his regret. This time, he was determined not to miss it.
The young assistant was meticulous. When Xu Mo took the tablet, Ji Shengxue’s performance was just beginning.
The stage lights dimmed, and a giant moon hung on the backdrop. With the first note, Ji Shengxue seemed to transform into the brightest star in the night sky. Her golden gown billowed around her as she moved gracefully across the stage, every gesture radiating elegance.
It was Master Fang’s “This Life, Bright Moon.” Xu Mo raised an eyebrow. The song was not only regarded as Fang Zhijing’s masterpiece but was also a classic renowned worldwide.
Just how beloved was this song? There’s a joke online: Fang Zhijing could retire comfortably on the strength of this one song alone.
In fact, after writing it, Fang semi-retired, and only the Ji family had managed to invite him out of seclusion twice.
Simply having Master Fang personally rearrange “This Life, Bright Moon” was already enough to give Ji Shengxue a decisive advantage.
Onstage, Ji Shengxue’s ethereal voice echoed.
“I would not, let yearning turn to tears, love too deep to endure—”
“Only hope, though far apart in this life, the bright moon will shine on us—”
...
The new arrangement not only suited Ji Shengxue’s voice better but also shifted the song’s style. Gone was some of the mature, world-weary charm, replaced by an airy, fairy-like quality and a sense of hopeful longing for love.
“Even if storms buffet us, I would still hold your hand—”
The stage design was exquisite, Ji Shengxue’s presence flawless, her voice without fault.
By Ji Fanxing’s standards, this performance had already surpassed the level of W Star’s best; even on Earth, it would have been a revelation.
However… to defeat her, “a revelation” was still far from enough…
“So beautiful!! Axue, you’re incredible!!”
“This is the ultimate feast for the eyes and ears!”
“Absolutely stunning.”
Suddenly, amid the flood of ordinary live comments, one appeared with a gold V badge. Eagle-eyed fans didn’t miss it.
“Ahhh!!! It’s Xu Mo!! Xu Mo is watching too!!!”
“True love, ahhh!!”
“Ugh, family, who can understand—this is a real-name comment, practically a public confession…”
Ji Shengxue’s performance was indeed dazzling. As a friend, Xu Mo’s open support was perfectly normal; hiding it would have been stranger.
After leaving his comment, Xu Mo handed the tablet back to the assistant.
The assistant hesitated, tablet in hand.
“What is it?”
“…Mr. Xu, the next performer is Ji Fanxing. Don’t you want to watch?”
Having worked with Xu Mo for some time, the assistant knew he was friends with Ji Fanxing as well.
“Ji Fanxing?”
Xu Mo’s gaze dropped, recalling the girl who had followed him around since childhood—so innocent, yet making mistake after mistake…
His voice cooled perceptibly. “No.”
The assistant was a bit regretful. Xu Mo wasn’t the sort of star to be harsh.
“If you’d like to watch, go ahead. Just put on the headphones.”
“Yes, thank you, Mr. Xu!” The assistant, already a fan of Ji Fanxing’s music, hugged the tablet as if it were treasure.
Suddenly, Xu Mo remembered a few comments he’d seen earlier and added, “Help me post something on Weibo…”
Online, the netizens had, through careful sleuthing, finally pieced together the clues: the person Ji Fanxing secretly loved was none other than Xu Mo, who had just openly supported her sister’s performance.
And this performance by Ji Shengxue was actually a direct showdown with Ji Fanxing!
Link that with the recent video of Ji Fanxing causing her sister to be injured…
The gossip community exploded.
When they’d seen Xu Mo carrying Ji Shengxue to the hospital in that video, everyone had just treated it as a cute moment for the pair. No one realized there was this much drama underneath!
To them, this wasn’t a battle for the King’s position at all—it was a battle for Xu Mo.
At that moment, Xu Mo posted a statement.
V Actor Xu Mo: Pure fabrication. Please don’t speculate.
Though Xu Mo didn’t specify what rumors he was refuting, every gossip-hungry netizen understood instantly.
“So it’s Ji Fanxing forcing herself in.”
“Case closed! Ji Fanxing covets her sister’s boyfriend!”
A flood of gossip-hunters poured into the live broadcast chat of “King of All Music.”
“Checking in! Here for the tea!”
“Did I miss Ji Shengxue’s performance? So mad! When is Ji Fanxing on?”
“Why do we have to watch that vicious woman Ji Fanxing?!”
“Stupid Ji Fanxing, morally bankrupt, shamelessly stealing her sister’s boyfriend!”
“Hey, mind your language!”
“Muted! Only watching the gossip, refusing to listen to Ji Fanxing’s music!”
“Wait—why does this muting maneuver look so familiar? Hope you don’t regret it later… Paying top dollar for Ji Fanxing’s debut stage recording…”
Amidst the increasingly chaotic comments, a vintage grand piano appeared on stage, and Ji Fanxing sat before it, clearly preparing to sing and play.
A deep cello thrummed as Ji Fanxing’s fingers danced over the keys, her voice airy and distant.
“In those fleeting years, how many times did we say goodbye, only to delay parting—”
“Pity no one has truly loved, not in the way a passionate argument would prove—”
...
There was always something magical in Ji Fanxing’s singing, a power that drew the listener into the world of her song, making them experience the joys and sorrows of the characters within.
The emotional intensity was irresistible.
At that moment, a faint sadness and nostalgia filled every heart in the audience, as if each of them had returned to those fleeting years.
“If we can’t part with teary eyes, can we still blush—”
...
“If we can’t part with teary eyes, can we still blush—”
“Like the beautiful lie we carved into forever that year, so fleeting—”
...
“We must owe each other; we must remain entangled—”
Ensnared in the world Ji Fanxing conjured, no one could bear to leave.
What love is more desperate than the secret longing of “Absolutely Devoted”?
It is endless regret and all the words left unsaid.
It is knowing you might have had it all, yet being left with nothing but bitter yearning.
Blame it on those years being too brief—meeting too soon, understanding too late…
The venue was still, silent. Who was it that wiped away tears in the dim light? Who gripped the hand of the one beside them?
Why had W Star’s entertainment industry become so stagnant?
Because their circle had grown insular, their creations increasingly imbued with an “artistic” air divorced from ordinary people’s experiences.
And that “artistic” air had become so warped that only insiders could understand.
But the true purpose of entertainment was to let the masses feel, to move them—whether to laughter or to tears. Only when a work lets the audience release those long-buried emotions can it be considered worthy.
Locking oneself away leads only to stagnation.
Ji Fanxing rose, bowing in silent gratitude to the audience, standing quietly at the center of the stage as everyone composed themselves.
It was nearly a full minute before the atmosphere began to thaw.
Brother Du, eyes faintly red, took the stage. “Truly… I don’t even know what to say… Fanxing, this song is extraordinary.”
“With a song this good, why wasn’t there applause?”
At his words, the entire audience rose in a standing ovation.
The applause lasted a long, long time before it faded.
“Oh my! What was that!!”
“It made me cry—I regret never truly loving anyone…”
“I’m grateful I chose to be brave back then—hearing this song, I realize how right that choice was! Thank you, Ji Fanxing!”
No one dared to critique Ji Fanxing’s third love song.
Even the heavyweight “This Life, Bright Moon” of this world could not rival Earth’s “Those Bygone Years” as sung by this queen.
The three PK battles ended in perfection.
By the time the gossip crowd remembered why they’d come, both Ji Fanxing and Ji Shengxue had already left the stage.
“Ahhh!! Is it already over?!”