536: Chapter 536 Starlight Shines into 303

The third-floor corridor was pitch black.

The voice-activated lights in the hallway turned on when his footsteps landed on the first of the steps, and then extinguished after he walked a few paces.

The voice-activated lights flickered on and off in the stairwell, and a strange, abnormal silence permeated the depths of the corridor.

Lin Que did not stop walking.

He arrived outside the door of Dormitory 303.

He reached out to scan his fingerprint, gripped the cold metal doorknob, and pressed down.

The door opened.

There was no light in the dormitory; even the curtains were drawn tightly shut.

Desks, beds, bookshelves—all outlines were swallowed by the darkness.

There was a faint, sweet, cloying scent in the air that did not belong to their daily life.

Lin Que's fingers fumbled along the wall until they touched the switch.

"Click."

The overhead light flared to life.

Blinding white light flooded the entire dormitory. Lin Que squinted, and after his vision adjusted to the brightness, he saw the scene before him.

His movements froze.

In the very center of the dormitory, hanging from the ceiling, were four giant latex balloons.

Deep blue, silver-gray, dark red, and jet black. They were printed with gold-stamped English letters that spelled out "Happy Birthday."

The balloons were inflated to capacity, their surfaces reflecting a soft luster under the light.

The desks all around were draped with tiny, colorful string lights.

The strings of lights were wrapped around the edges of bookshelves, the bases of desk lamps, and even the handles of the window frames.

Countless tiny points of light connected into shimmering lines, casting mottled halos of light onto the walls.

Several chairs and suitcases had been stowed under the beds, clearing an open space in the center of the dormitory.

A dark gray moisture-proof mat was laid out on the floor, with several cushions arranged on top.

The entire Dormitory 303 had been decorated into a temporary, makeshift, yet solemn celebration site.

Lin Que stood at the doorway, unmoving.

From the corridor behind him came extremely light, deliberately lowered footsteps.

There was more than one person.

Footsteps crossed, fabric rubbed together, and there were suppressed, breathy giggles.

Lin Que was about to turn his head.

"Ready! Go!"

"Happy birthday to you—happy birthday to you—"

Chen Jiahao's highly penetrating voice was lowered a few degrees, yet it could not hide his excitement.

He strode in from outside the door, his face wearing an unconcealable smugness, his hands steadily carrying an eight-inch chocolate cake.

Eighteen thin, colorful candles were stuck into the cake, their flames swaying gently as he moved.

He sang at the top of his lungs, and his rendition of "Happy Birthday" was severely off-key, yet full of vigor.

Every note smashed outside the rhythm, forcibly sung with the posture of a military march.

As the singing started, figures surged out from the corridor outside.

One, two, five, ten.

More than ten male students from the Qinglan Program crowded into the corridor, blocking the not-so-wide passageway completely.

Some held up mobile phones, filming only the cake and the lights.

On the edges of their screens were stuck the four words that Xu Changge had reminded them of in advance: "Do not film faces."

Xu Changge was still wearing that proper dark gray knit sweater, standing straight with his hands hanging naturally at his sides.

There was no exaggerated expression on his face, but the hint of a smile in his eyes could not be hidden at this moment.

He nodded slightly toward Lin Que, as if in some silent greeting.

Chen Jiahao placed the cake steadily in the center of the desk, turned his head, and waved to the people in the corridor.

"Come on! Light it all up!"

The students in the corridor raised their phones in unison and turned on the flashlights they had prepared in advance.

Xu Changge reached out and turned off the overhead light.

The next second, a dozen beams of light shone in diagonally from the doorway.

The beams of light shot in diagonally from the doorway, intertwining and swaying in mid-air, waving rhythmically left and right to the beat of Chen Jiahao's off-key singing.

The tiny points of light connected into a single mass, rippling through the dark corridor like a sea of stars that had suddenly emerged.

That sea of light surrounded Lin Que in the center of the dormitory.

The originally cold and sterile Dormitory 303, filled with the scent of paper and ink, was thoroughly filled with this fervent, somewhat clumsy, yet unreserved emotion.

The song ended.

Chen Jiahao wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead and urged loudly:

"Master Que! Don't just stand there! Make a wish! Blow out the candles!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a hand reached out from the crowd.

Dan Yi had walked to Chen Jiahao's side at some unknown moment.

He saw the brightness in Lin Que's eyes reflected by the candlelight and said nothing.

He only silently pulled a pack of unopened facial tissues from his pocket and handed it to Lin Que's side.

Lin Que took the pack of tissues, his fingertips brushing against the cool plastic packaging.

He looked up at the eight-inch chocolate cake in front of him.

The flames of the eighteen candles swayed gently in the air current, the orange light reflecting in his eyes.

Lin Que closed his eyes.

The dormitory fell silent.

The arms waving mobile phones in the corridor stopped, and Chen Jiahao stopped shouting as well.

Everyone held their breath, watching the young man standing in the center of the halo of light.

Three seconds.

Five seconds.

Lin Que opened his eyes, leaned over, and blew out all the candles in one breath.

Eighteen thin wisps of smoke rose simultaneously, slowly dissipating under the light.

"Good!"

Chen Jiahao was the first to roar, leading the applause.

Just as the cheers were about to erupt, Xu Changge raised his hand and pressed it downward.

Everyone immediately muffled their applause, but the smiles on their faces did not diminish at all.

The students surged in, packing the not-so-large dormitory until it was impenetrable.

Some patted Lin Que on the shoulder, some punched his back, and more crowded up, offering their blessings in a babble of voices.

"Happy birthday, Lin Que!"

"Happy eighteenth birthday!"

"Happy coming-of-age!"

Lin Que was wrapped in this wave of heat, and the slight curve at the corner of his mouth could finally no longer be suppressed.

He raised his hand, took a plastic knife handed over by someone, and inserted it into the cake.

"Let's share it together."

He said.

Chen Jiahao immediately squeezed to the very front, staring eagerly at the area with the most chocolate.

"Master Que! I want this piece! This one has the most chocolate shavings! Save it for me!"

Dan Yi, standing to the side, silently took the first slice of cake Lin Que cut, held it with a tissue, and handed it back to him.

Xu Changge did not squeeze forward.

He stood on the periphery of the crowd, waiting until the dormitory was slightly quieter before walking over to Lin Que's side.

From the cloth bag he had brought with him, he took out a square object wrapped in kraft paper.

"A birthday gift."

Xu Changge handed over the kraft paper package, his tone still light:

"I saw this once at a second-hand book market last year, and later I had someone look for it twice before confirming it was this edition. It's more suitable for you to keep it."

Lin Que took it and weighed it in his hand.

The kraft paper was wrapped very carefully, with the corners secured by tape.

"Thanks."

Lin Que looked up at him. Xu Changge spoke so lightly on the surface, but he knew that this item was now priceless and unavailable.

Xu Changge shook his head slightly.

"It's just taking up space in my hands. If you keep it, maybe you can make use of it."

He paused, his gaze falling on Lin Que's face, his voice lowering slightly.

"I've studied those things on the forum over the past few days, as well as those long posts by Chu Pengshu."

Lin Que did not respond, waiting for him to continue.

Xu Changge pushed his phone in front of Lin Que and said in a low voice:

"Those posts by Chu Pengshu aren't just nitpicking; they're setting a standard for everyone. Shen Jiangping's side isn't clean either; I followed the forwarding chain and checked it out. The activity patterns of several accounts look very much like a pre-arranged matrix."

Xu Changge looked at Lin Que, his tone sincere.

"If it were me, under the circumstances of being both 'praised to death' and dismantled at the same time, I might not have been able to remain as steady as you have to this day."

He glanced at the students who were still making a ruckus in the dormitory, and the smile in his eyes deepened a little.

"So, you keep this. I look forward to you making certain people shut up at the Kunpeng Award."

Lin Que put the kraft paper package into his backpack.

"I will."

"There's one more thing."

Xu Changge's voice lowered even further.

"Just now in the corridor, I heard a few people discussing something. Among the forwarding nodes of Shen Jiangping's long post, there are a few unusually active accounts that have one thing in common."

Lin Que's eyes flickered.

Xu Changge zoomed in on the screenshot and pointed to the accounts at the very front, saying:

"What's even more coincidental is that when Shen Jiangping's long post first started trending, it was this same batch of accounts that boosted its popularity. For the past three months, they have only been forwarding content from authors under the Huanyu Publishing Group."

...