Starlight Has No Past

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Part 1

The crowd of people on the street had died down by 4 o'clock in the morning.

The partying students had already returned to their dorms. The BBQ stand closed

at 2 am and they were the only customers left at the hot pot place.

The lights in the shop had turned off one by one and the waiter was now sweeping

the floor. He waved to Zhou Tingsheng: "Come back next time," as Zhou Tingsheng

left carrying Ye Qiao.

Zhou Tingsheng put Ye Qiao at the back seat of his car, but she rolled off the seat

as soon as he started the car.

He had to park the car again and carry her to the front passenger seat. He fastened

the seat belt for her. Her head leaned against his forearm.

Her face was burning hot from too much alcohol; it was soft and warm. She lightly

rubbed her face against his arm.

Her eyelashes gently brushed against his skin, it was somewhat ticklish.

Zhou Tingsheng stepped on the accelerator. He wanted to go back to the hotel but

decided against it after giving it some thought. He drove towards the residential area

where they both lived, passing by billboards for her movie one after another.

The doorman had fallen asleep already; only waking up after a honk from the car:

"Oh, Mr. Zhou, coming back this late?"

When the doorman saw Ye Qiao was slumped over in the passenger seat, he

stopped talking.

Zhou Tingsheng, with a sullen face, carried her from the car to the elevator, swiped

his card and pushed the floor number.

The woman in his arms was as light as a skeleton.

Ye Qiao was like an inflatable doll leaning on his shoulder and suddenly murmured

something in her dream.

Zhou Tingsheng watched the floor numbers go up and lightly answered: "En?"

Ye Qiao caught the front of his shirt and rubbed a red lip mark on his collar. Her

face was sad as if she was saying farewell to someone: "You help her."

"What?"

"You still help her."

Zhou Tingsheng realized that she was in a dream and decided to play along:

"Help who?"

"You help everyone else......just not me. You never help me, saying I'm family."

She muttered on, he could only make out some of it. He used a finger to fiddle

under her chin like playing with a cat: "Who am I?"

"En......Gu Jin......" Ye Qiao frowned and tried to get away from his finger.

Oh, Gu Jin, sounded familiar, he thought.

Her face suddenly turned quite serious and her voice turned solemn: "I'm not

family from now on."