There was a dean of an orphanage that was surnamed Meng, who picked up a child who was placed at the orphanage entrance on a starry night. He was about two years old, and had stars in his eyes, so she decided to call him Meng Xing.
She realized that this child was not the same as the others; he started speaking later, had a dull personality, loved to be alone, was not interested in toys, and did not play with other children. She took him to the hospital for a checkup, finding out that he was a child with infantile autism.
Probably because of this, he was abandoned by his original parents, as they wanted to have a healthy child.
Ms. Meng didn't look down on him and treated him equally. Besides those whose parents got into accidents, there were children with all kinds of defects that were sent to the orphanage. They were brought into the world by irresponsible parents, then thrown away like a pair of worn-out shoes.
t/n: the term for ms. meng is dean (-yuanzhang)
Children with autism needed more guidance and company. Ms. Meng exhausted her patience, but Meng Xing did not give her more than half a response.
Dean Meng sometimes played the piano and taught children how to sing. The piano was donated by a well-wisher. She had learned a few nursery rhymes in her spare time, wanting to let the children have fun from singing. The song she was most proficient at was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star": "Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky..."
Meng Xing never participated in group activities. When other children gathered together to sing, he would always hide upstairs by himself.
His eyes were dim, always avoiding people's sights, no longer having stars in his eyes.
Ms. Meng once brought him down, encouraging him to sing with the other children. Meng Xing just watched quietly, his mouth tightly shut, never opening it the entire time.
Ms. Meng was a little disappointed, but she also knew that she could not rush him.
She never would've thought that when she finished and dismissed everyone, the four-year-old Meng Xing would walk over to the piano, and play that song, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," from beginning to end, without making any mistakes.
Ms. Meng was shocked.
Meng Xing had never learned the piano, couldn't read music, didn't recognize the keys, but was able to memorize it just by watching her play it one time.
Ms. Meng tentatively played several other nursery songs, such as "The Dull-Ice Flower." Meng Xing replicated them all perfectly.
So, Ms. Meng surprisingly found out that this child was a genius, both in memory and music.
From then on, she found a way to communicate with Meng Xing. Meng Xing couldn't express himself with words, but could express his emotions with music. She taught Meng Xing how to read music, then discovered that this child was very quickly able to play original pieces.
He would play a cheerful little tune when he was happy, sad notes when he was sad, and countless accents when he was angry. Every piece flowed smoothly and was pleasant to listen to.
She soon had nothing more to teach. Ms. Meng discovered his talent, and couldn't bear to neglect it, so she hired a professional piano teacher.
The piano teacher also marveled at Meng Xing's intelligence, and willingly waived half of the tuition fee. After teaching him piano for several years, he gave Meng Xing the opportunity to participate in piano competitions.
Meng Xing won first place in one fell swoop.
After that, he won prizes in competitions and was admitted to a professional music conservatory. At the age of sixteen, he was admitted to the best music university in the country.
He could whole-heartedly relax in music, and Ms. Meng's ten plus years of patient company gradually helped him grow out of autism. Besides still being a little introverted and not talkative, Meng Xing became able to communicate like normal children, the stars in his eyes sparkling when he played the piano.
He was very grateful to Ms. Meng for her guidance and cultivation. Ms. Meng was like a mother to him, so he called her mama.
He had to study music well, and become outstanding, so he could repay his dean-mama.
t/n: i will be treating dean-mama like a name, instead of a noun like "mother"
When dean-mama heard him mention repayment, her eyes revealed gratitude, and she said affectionately: "Mama doesn't need your repayment. Mama has a wish, and that is to see you shining like a star on a music stage. Child, you will become my pride."
On the day he got his admission notice from S City's Conservatory of Music, the teenager, who had always been quiet, restrained, and too lazy to move, excitedly ran back to the orphanage, eyes full of joy, unable to wait to tell her the good news.
What he saw when he went back was the scene of a nurse lifting dean-mama into an ambulance.
Ms. Meng had suddenly suffered from cerebral hemorrhage, they attempted to rescue her, yet she was unable to escape death.
An admission notice and a death notice were placed together, and a teenager stood blankly outside a morgue.
He didn't know if this counted as great joy and great sorrow or not.
His joy had nowhere to go; where would his sorrow come from?
———
Meng Xing went to college, turning back into that uncommunicative teenager again.
He didn't like smiling, nor did he talk.
Dean-mama's departure made him suffer. He closed his heart off even more, relying on music as his only relief.
In his heart, he still loved living, loved the world. Dean-mama had told him before, this world had many beautiful things, and life actually wasn't as bad as he had imagined. After dying, people would ascend to the skies and become stars.
He chose to believe everything.
translated by sno + posted on https://sites.google.com/view/xuehuatls/ameg, please do not aggregate!
Meng Xing would play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" for his mother in the skies to listen, sometimes replacing it with "The Dull-Ice Flower," accompanying the teenager's low singing in the piano room.
"Stars above shine silently, child on Earth misses mommy..."
Most of the children who were able to study had family situations which weren't bad, and they'd spend a lot of effort training at home.
Meng Xing was really poor, too poor to fit in with the delicate and elegant students around him. He could only be described as clean.
S City is a better-than-first-tier city, and the consumption level there was much greater than that of the town where he originally lived, so he had to tighten his belt to live. He had to rely on school grants and various scholarships, as well as remuneration for contributing and writing music for various music studios, to barely manage to survive.
t/n: read about the chinese city tier system here
He wrote well, but he was a newcomer as well as a student, so the prices would always maliciously be lowered. The copyright would belong to the studio, and his name wouldn't even be included.
Meng Xing didn't care. He could casually write more than a hundred songs like that. His casual writing would always be regarded as a treasure by others, but he only cared about food and clothing.
Outstanding, uniquely favored by the instructor. Living alone, living in dire straits. It was easy to be labelled as "arrogant," "weird," and "poor" by his classmates who were secretly jealous.
Geniuses never fit into the group.
Meng Xing didn't care about these.
He just wanted to work hard to complete his studies and make achievements in music, so as to live up to the cultivation and expectations of his dean-mama.
Dean-mama was in the sky; she'd definitely see it.
———
For his senior year final, Meng Xing locked himself in his room for three days, putting his blood, sweat, and tears into writing a piece of music.
The melody was gentle and moving, full of reborn hope.
He named this song "Wish of the Stars." It was to be given to dean-mama who was in the sky.
To thank dean-mama for giving him a new life.
He would properly fulfill dean-mama's wish.
And fulfill his own dream at the same time.
The song "Wish of the Stars" was not only the wish of the star that represented his mother in the skies, but also the wish of the little star that was him on Earth.
He wanted to continue to shine.
He just didn't expect that when he handed in the song, what he earned was not the instructor's approval and appreciation, but was a deep frown.
The instructor didn't say anything. He just took out his phone, playing him a song.
That song was called "Lingering Affection," and it was a new collaboration song by singer Liu Kaisheng and new female singer Qin Yirou.
A love song about lingering sentiments.
The entire melody was exactly the same as his "Wish of the Stars."
The name written in the composer column was indeed Qin Yirou.
How was this possible...
Every note in "Wish of the Stars" was written by him, how could it have been written by Qin Yirou?
But he hadn't even gone outside in the past three days, as the manuscript was written during those three days. How could the exact same song appear elsewhere?
He couldn't figure it out.
Those classmates who could not stand him began to speculate maliciously: "Meng Xing must've stolen the song. Didn't he go to Liu Kaisheng's studio and submit manuscripts before? It was definitely at that time that he saw the manuscript that Qin Yirou submitted for publication, and thought that Liu Kaisheng wouldn't use it, so he stole it. He must've not expected that he'd get exposed."
It, it wasn't. Liu Kaisheng's studio did collect manuscripts, but what he went to submit at that time was another song. "Wish of the Stars" was a gift he gave to dean-mama through his painstaking efforts. It only belonged to him and dean-mama. He wouldn't give the copyright to anyone!
However, he couldn't dispute it, and his submitting of manuscripts everywhere for the sake of living now became evidence that he couldn't refute. "Lingering Affection" was written by Qin Yirou. Both Qin Yirou and he had gone to submit manuscripts to Liu Kaisheng. Qin Yirou's was selected, and he handed over the same song at the end of the term.
So he copied Qin Yirou, it was that simple.
For the first time, the instructor who had always favored him showed a disappointed look. His classmates laughed at him contemptuously: "Genius do this kind of thing too. Is it because Jiang Lang's talent has been exhausted?"
t/n: jiang lang was a man known for his literary talents when he was young
"It's difficult the first time, but easy the second. Look at him being so cheeky, this definitely isn't the first time. Who knows if he had also stolen that time that he won the competition..."
"Thief," "copier," "plagiarist." Those shameful words, replacing his name of genius, were nailed to Meng Xing's head, making him constantly be looked at by others with a peculiar gaze.
No no!
He wasn't a thief.
Obviously, obviously it was he who wrote it...
Meng Xing did not understand.
The principal and the instructor lamented his talents, thinking that it was just a momentary obsession of his, and decided to give him a chance to correct his mistakes. As long as he wrote a review and re-submitted his assignment, they'd let the past go.
Meng Xing refused.
He was not in the wrong; he would not write a review.
Qin Yirou became popular because of this song, "Lingering Affection," and suddenly transformed from a barely-known 18th line rookie to a popular singer. Many media interviewed her on her mental journey in creating "Lingering Affection," and she had answered them all generously.
Meng Xing went to take a look, and watched halfway through before being unable to stand it anymore and closing it.
What Qin Yirou told was a sweet love story. When she was in school, she had dated someone while she was still ignorant about life. She was young and frivolous, and had broken up with them a long time ago. When she thought about the young girl's heartbeat at that time, it still had a different vibe, so she created this song.
This mental journey immediately aroused the youthful memories of many people, resonating with them.
Meng Xing just found it ridiculous.
What love, what youth.
She was boring and hypocritical.
translated by sno + posted on https://sites.google.com/view/xuehuatls/ameg, please do not aggregate!
He wanted to go find Qin Yirou and inquire about it. He didn't believe that human brain waves could coincide like this, but he had no way to prove it. He could only use intuition to ask people to inquire about it.
He could write many songs for her, all for free; he didn't want a single penny, but "Wish of the Stars" could not be touched by others, could not be defiled. He was pleading her, not to touch this song; this was what he gave to dean-mama...
But he couldn't see her. The Qin Yirou who had become famous signed with a brokerage company. With bodyguards and assistants, an ordinary student like him couldn't even see her.
There had never been anything that had made him so desperate.
It was his new life, but it had been ruined by others.
He struggled for several months, watching Qin Yirou rely on various original songs to become more and more popular, while he, subject to cold glares and mockery, fell into the abyss.
The star's light died out.
He climbed onto the tallest building in the city and looked down at the neon lights shining below, coldly watching the bustling world filled with all kinds of living things.
Meng Xing had no nostalgia.
He wanted to find his dean-mama.
No one believed him; everyone said it was his fault.
"I made no mistake, and I will not change." This was the last line he left for the world.
He'd fall off from the skyscraper like a falling meteor. He wouldn't hear the loud shouts before he died; the only sound he'd leave behind after the sound of a heavy object striking the ground was the last sounds of him screaming himself hoarse.
What would the onlookers say?
— What a pity, he died at such a young age.
— He finally jumped, hurry and post it on Moments.
— Such fragile mentality, young people nowadays can't even bear a bit of hardship.
He'd become a conversational topic at the dinner table for a short while, to be forgotten after a few days. No one would know the story of a star.
The plagiarist received both fame and fortune, but he'd die with disgrace, and this secret would be buried with him in his grave.
If a god had not come, this would've been his end.
"It turns out that that song is called 'Wish of the Stars.' Then, what's the name of the song you just played?" Qi Baicha asked gently.
Meng Xing's eyes trembled.
He didn't know why he'd suddenly pour out so much to this strange young man. Perhaps it was because the other party was the first one these days to say that he believed him, perhaps it was because the other's aura was too gentle and harmless, making people completely lower their guard without realizing it.
He didn't even know the name of the young man, yet he had unknowingly explained it all.
Meng Xing whispered: "Despair."
This improvisation was called "Despair".
Qi Baicha said: "There's still hope."
Meng Xing whispered: "There's no more hope."
"I was told to drop out, and I have to move out of the dorms in three days." The boy's eyes were full of confusion, "I don't know where to go, and I also don't have any money."
"You won't need to move." Qi Baicha got up, patting the dust on his clothes, "I'll take care of it for you within three days."
Meng Xing didn't understand why.
Qi Baicha didn't say much, slowly walking out of the piano room.
Meng Xing couldn't help asking: "Who are you? Why do you want to help me?"
Qi Baicha stopped at the door, thought about it, and turned around.
"I am the world's guardian."
Meng Xing: "... Pfft."
What passionate chuuni answer was this.
And he had actually thought that this seemingly reliable young man had a way to help him!
"Sure enough, you don't believe it." Qi Baicha thought it really was troublesome.
If he directly said "I am a god," he might've had a higher chance of being regarded as mentally ill.
However, if such a chuuni answer could make this dim little star smile slightly for even just a second, Master Snow God actually didn't mind ruining his image a bit.