Chapter 43

Back home, Xu Yueliang hurriedly tidied up and went live right before her deadline.

The live streaming room was business as usual: a loyal handful of fans camped out at the exact start time, while most viewers drifted in whenever they had a spare moment and dipped out when life called.

In high spirits, Xu Yueliang chatted animatedly with her audience, her laughter spilling over in bright, infectious bursts. She thought back to Lin Qimian’s finger gliding along that map, tracing northward, and her own heart took flight alongside it—off to some tantalizing, uncharted world.

A comment mentioned National Day plans, and Xu Yueliang’s keen eyes latched on. She seized the thread: “So, where’s everyone headed for National Day?”

The chat lit up with replies from every corner of the country. Those planning trips bubbled with excitement, while the stay-at-homes painted cozy pictures of lounging indoors that sounded just as appealing.

Someone brought up H Province, and Xu Yueliang’s eyes sparkled. “H Province? I’ve heard their crab-powder xiaolongbao are out of this world. Any locals in the chat? Point me to the most authentic spots~~”

Food talk had everyone chiming in eagerly.

Recommendations flooded the comments, and Xu Yueliang cried, “Hold on, hold on!” before bolting off-screen. She returned moments later clutching a little notebook.

“I’ll write them down, I’ll write them down…”

Head bowed, she scribbled furiously from the barrage.

New viewers trickled in, staring at the top of her head in bewilderment, and one posted: 【What’s going on here?】

The chat erupted in playful jabs:

【Class is in session.】

【Food hunting.】

【Never pegged a Dance District streamer for such a foodie.】

【Fellow girl here—how does she eat like that and stay so slim?】

【Little Moon’s bound to jump ship to the Food District soon.】

…

After jotting down a bunch, she sensed her fans growing restless and tossed the pen aside to dance.

Mid-performance lull, another comment popped up; her memory failing her, she snatched up the notebook again.

She ping-ponged between note-taking and dancing all afternoon in gloriously chaotic fashion.

Come break time, the chat was howling with laughter, prodding her to grab a bite and lamenting how tragic it was that she craved food so fiercely yet got nothing.

Xu Yueliang’s lips curved upward as she waved farewell. Off-camera, she leafed through her notebook of culinary treasures. Her instant meal suddenly tasted like cardboard.

With such a short break, cup noodles were all she could manage.

Leveraging her streaming platform, she could cross off more than half of Doctor Lin’s gourmet challenge. The rest demanded careful online scouting—prioritizing spots that were both authentic and conveniently en route.

She searched nonstop through lunch, her hunger sharpening with every appetizing hit.

At last, she cracked open the snack box Doctor Lin had sent and fished out a strip of beef jerky, chewing it slowly and savoring every bit until contentment washed over her.

She returned to the camera considerably late.

Fans queried her lengthy absence—what had she eaten? Xu Yueliang smiled, oddly reluctant to share for the first time.

“Insanely good, super special,” she cooed softly. “Not telling~~”

The looming trip infused her days with buoyant purpose.

She gathered intel furtively during streams and pored over guides obsessively once off-air. Late into the night, with the world hushed around her, she sprawled on her sofa bed, head tilted toward the window, daydreaming of Xibai Mountain’s night skies.

What would the stars look like? The moon? The sun cresting the horizon?

The thrill of the climb, the coziness of a tent, sharing it all with Doctor Lin—what would that feel like?

Excitement swirled in her mind, chasing sleep away. She rolled over, snatched her phone, and pulled up Doctor Lin’s Moments to pore over her starry and lunar shots.

Doctor Lin’s feed was heartbreakingly sparse, celestial photos the sole content.

Undeterred, Xu Yueliang dove into their chat history.

It brimmed with life: queries about Doctor Lin’s dinner elicited photo replies; shared itineraries sparked earnest back-and-forths, ideas bouncing freely.

Overlaying Doctor Lin’s face and voice onto those exchanges felt like stealing glimpses into her life, her thoughts, her world.

Doctor Lin’s world… Xu Yueliang pressed the phone to her chest—like Xibai Mountain’s stars, a realm she’d yet to touch, yet one that bloomed vividly in her imagination alone.

She drifted into sweet dreams.

The weekend slipped away, leaving a week until National Day’s grand anticipation—but smaller weekday thrills stood ready at a moment’s notice.

She still owed Doctor Lin that meal, and Doctor Lin had insisted she could drop by anytime during the week.

Xu Yueliang carefully exchanged greetings and gently probed, learning that the hospital saw fewer patients on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. She quickly rearranged her schedule accordingly and, right at noon on Tuesday, fired off an invitation message.

—【Doctor Lin, are you at the hospital this afternoon? I have some errands outside and will be passing by on Route 26~~】

—【Let me treat you to dinner~~】

—【Cat chow-down.gif】

No reply came right away. Xu Yueliang flopped onto her bed, phone clutched in hand, her legs kicking idly back and forth in the air.

Roughly two minutes later, Doctor Lin found a spare moment and responded.

—【Yes.】

—【Come by anytime.】

Calm, gentle, steady, reserved—these were qualities Xu Yueliang lacked but deeply admired, the epitome of poise.

Xu Yueliang let out a stream of giddy “hehehe”s, hammered out a vigorous “Got it!”, then sprang from the bed to get ready.

Picking an outfit for her streams was second nature by now.

But figuring out what to wear for Doctor Lin, what makeup to do—she was still experimenting.

A date with Doctor Lin called for looking just right~

After fussing for several hours, she stepped out right on time. Once at the hospital, she could settle quietly into the clinic room to wait for Doctor Lin, then head out to dinner together.

Xu Yueliang loved sitting in the clinic room waiting for her. Doctor Lin at work exuded a special charisma, the sort that sent stars sparkling through your heart with a single glance.

She wasn’t a patient or a staff member, yet she could linger there. This peculiar privilege always stirred an ineffable vanity in her, as if she truly shared some connection with Doctor Lin’s world.

Harboring these little schemes in her heart, Xu Yueliang pulled out her phone in the car and checked her reflection several times.

The car pulled to a stop. She straightened her clothes, paid the fare, hopped out, and skipped lightly toward the hospital entrance.

Most people arriving at a hospital weren’t in the best of moods.

Even at a dental clinic, Xu Yueliang’s bubbling cheer stood out awkwardly against the somber atmosphere.

Reaching Lin Qimian’s floor, she gripped her bag strap and reined in her excessive glee.

She ambled unhurriedly to Doctor Lin’s clinic room, only to find the door shut tight.

Clinic doors weren’t often closed so securely; something important must be going on inside.

Xu Yueliang didn’t dare interrupt. She perched obediently on the hallway bench and waited quietly.

Moments later, the door swung open. Xu Yueliang rose to her feet as Zhenzhen emerged.

“Doctor Zhen~” she greeted. “Good afternoon.”

“Moon?” Zhenzhen blinked in surprise, tray in hand. “Here for Teacher Lin?”

“Mm-hmm.” Xu Yueliang beamed. “We have a dinner date~~”

“Oh, then you’ll need to wait a bit.” Zhenzhen explained, “Teacher Lin’s in surgery—a tricky one.”

“Ah, no problem.” Xu Yueliang stepped back at once, clearing the hallway. “Go take care of it. I’ll wait right here.”

“Alright.” Zhenzhen pointed down the hall. “Tea room’s that way—water and coffee available.”

Xu Yueliang nodded her thanks.

With Lin Qimian occupied, Zhenzhen had no time to idle either. Soon she returned with a fresh tray and slipped back into the clinic room.

Half an hour ticked by with no sign of her.

Thirst creeping in, Xu Yueliang glanced around and headed to the tea room.

Youhai’s setup was top-notch, the tea room spacious enough for both patients and staff.

Xu Yueliang filled a cup with water, leaned against the counter to sip, while two nurses at the round table chatted and shot her occasional glances.

She patted her hair, checked her face in her phone—nothing amiss.

Their stares made her uneasy; she gulped the water down faster.

With the cup nearly empty, she turned to leave when the taller nurse suddenly stood and approached with clear intent.

“Little Moon?” the nurse ventured tentatively.

Xu Yueliang startled but managed an “Ah?”

“It really is you!” The tall nurse waved excitedly backward. “It’s Little Moon for real.”

Xu Yueliang took a step back as a chill slithered slowly up her spine, triggering an involuntary shiver.

Plenty of people called her Moon—her name lent itself to that naturally.

But someone repeating “Little Moon” over and over? That wasn’t anyone from her real life.

Her previous visit for the tooth extraction had been bare-faced, then masked up. She hadn’t expected recognition at such a high-end place.

Afterward, she’d grown bold, dressing flashy and pretty. Once she’d reconnected with Lin Qimian, she’d paraded openly through the hospital.

Show-offs always crash hard; mad dogs get bricked.

Xu Yueliang’s mind was filled with that one sentence. When she was little, her mother had often whispered it in her ear.

How could she have forgotten?

Xu Yueliang lifted her foot, still wanting to leave.

But the two nurses stepped forward, surrounding her completely.

“It’s really you! I thought I was seeing things.”

“You’re so pretty! You look even better in person than in your live streams!!!”

“I’ve watched so many of your videos—all the ones on Weibo, I’ve seen them all.”

“Are you here for a follow-up? Last time you came to get your wisdom tooth pulled, right?”

“Last time?” Xu Yueliang froze.

“Yeah,” one nurse said. “You came to our hospital to have your wisdom tooth extracted. You started with Doctor Fang, and then our big beauty Doctor Lin did the procedure.”

Xu Yueliang was speechless.

“Ah, back then Xiaoshuai was still around,” the other nurse chimed in. “Xiaoshuai’s your die-hard fan. We only discovered you because of the messages he posted in the group chat.”

“I didn’t see you last time—they all said you were so pretty. Now I finally get to meet you.”

“You’re really beautiful. Could you sign something for me?”

A chill enveloped Xu Yueliang completely. Her scalp prickled, her limbs went rigid. Countless waves of embarrassment pressed against a thin barrier inside her, ready to burst free at any moment.

“You all… know me?” Her voice trembled as she spoke. “You all know? The group… your hospital group?”

“Yeah, the hospital group,” the nurse replied.

“Xiaoshuai was hyping you up like crazy back then, and you’d come to Doctor Fang’s office several times, so everyone knew about you~~”

“But it’s no big deal. Getting a tooth pulled is terrifying. Plenty of people don’t just cry during extractions—even fillings set them off.”

“Doctor Lin’s seen it all! I remember her telling Xiaoshuai once that he couldn’t just freeload—he had to spend money on his favorite streamer.”

Boom. All her defenses crumbled in an instant.

Xu Yueliang realized she must be a fool for thinking she could hide her job from everyone so smugly.

All that talk of working in new media, national holidays, being free at night.

She’d thought she was lucky—that was why Lin Qimian and Huang Xiaoyi had never pried into the details of her work. She’d thought Doctor Lin treated her like any ordinary patient, like one of countless old classmates.

But it was all an illusion, one she’d conjured up herself.

Lin Qimian had known all along she was Xu Yueliang, the streamer who flirted with fans for cash.

When Xu Yueliang hid it, Lin Qimian never brought it up. When she lied, Lin Qimian played along. Out of consideration for her pride, Lin Qimian had glossed over all her past and present blunders—yet still been kind to her, bringing her food, chatting with her, even inviting her on trips.

The kinder Lin Qimian was, the worse Xu Yueliang felt about herself.

She didn’t deserve to think of “Lin Qimian shining sleeplessly” as a description of the moon. After all, the moon was nothing like her.

“Sorry…” Xu Yueliang murmured. Tears welled up from deep within her, flooding her eyes and spilling uselessly down her cheeks.

The nurses jumped, startled. They had no idea why she’d suddenly apologized—or why she was crying.

They reached out to steady her, asking if she felt unwell, but Xu Yueliang shoved them away and bolted from the tea room.

She still clutched the disposable paper cup from her water, gripping it so tightly that the remaining drops at the bottom sloshed out.

Drip by drip, they fell to the floor along her path—who could tell if they were tears or water?

Lin Qimian opened the door to the Clinic Room and removed her mask. Glancing up, she caught only a blurry silhouette hurrying past at the far end of the corridor.

“Where’s Moon?” she asked Zhenzhen, who was trailing behind her.

“Huh?” Zhenzhen whipped her head around, peering front, back, left, and right in confusion. “Where’s Moon? She was just here.”