Spring Night Kiss.

The next day, before dawn, Xu Zhouye got up and pulled Song Qingjia out of bed as well.

She let him do as he pleased, her muddled mind filled with only one thought—

She wanted to set some proper rules for him.

If he disturbs her sleep again, she will kick him and tell him to get as far away as possible.

"Where to?" she asked vaguely.

"You'll see when we get there." He pushed her into the bathroom and handed her a toothbrush with toothpaste already squeezed into it.

She glanced down at the toothbrush, then looked up at him, and resignedly began brushing her teeth.

An hour later, she sat in the passenger seat, her hair blowing in the wind. The street scene outside the window gradually changed from the city center to the suburbs, the trees along the road became denser, and the houses became fewer and fewer.

The car drove up a winding mountain road, and after a few turns, the view suddenly opened up, and the distant city silhouette became a light gray silhouette in the morning light.

She glanced at him sideways: "It's my birthday, and you brought me up the mountain?"

He smiled and said, "I'll take you to see your birthday present."

Song Qingjia pouted, "What kind of birthday present is out in the middle of nowhere?" She glanced at the time, "And we have to go see it at four o'clock?"

"Guess," he said, refusing to answer.

The car stopped in front of an observatory.

She paused for a moment, recalling that he had once taken her to the observatory in Suzhou.

They weren't together yet at that time.

Xu Zhouye reached out his hand to her: "Let's go."

She placed her fingers in his palm, and he led her down a stone step, through a half-open iron gate, and along a narrow corridor.

At the end of the corridor is a round metal door. Pushing it open reveals a domed space with a telescope in the center, its tube facing the skylight.

"Your birthday present is taking me to see the stars?"

Xu Zhouye remained silent, only adjusting the position of his eyepiece.

The mystery surrounding it piqued Song Qingjia's curiosity.

She leaned closer and pressed her face against his.

Xu Zhouye chuckled and stepped aside: "Alright, look here."

She looked through the eyepiece and saw a small patch of stars in the sky. It had a faint blue-white halo around its edge, making it stand out against the dark background.

"Did you see that?"

"That star?"

"Mmm," Xu Zhouye whispered in her ear, "this is your star."

"My star?" Song Qingjia repeated softly.

"I bought it and am giving it to you."

Song Qingjia's breath hitched, and she turned around abruptly. The man's eyes seemed even more dazzling than the starry sky reflected in his glasses. Those eyes were gazing tenderly at her.

"You gave me a star," she murmured.

In "The Three-Body Problem", Yun Tianming also gave Cheng Xin a star.

Happy birthday, Song Qingjia.

Despite it being a completely different scene, Song Qingjia suddenly felt as if she had returned to that night in Suzhou.

Perhaps she had already fallen for him then.

She curled her lips into a smile, hummed in agreement, and said in a slightly haughty tone, "I really like the birthday present you gave me. To express my gratitude, you can now make a wish upon my star."

Xu Zhouye's eyes darkened: "Any wish is allowed?"

"You can have any wish." She smiled, "So, you really need to think it through carefully."

Her heart pounded in her chest, and her palms clenched involuntarily; she seemed even more nervous than the person making the wish.

Xu Zhouye stared at her intently.

"Tell me quickly, what is your wish?" she urged impatiently.

He chuckled softly, pulled the person into his arms, and lowered his head: "My wish is..."

Song Qingjia held her breath.

"I want Song Qingjia to marry me."

The girl in his arms smiled radiantly, and the entire starry sky seemed to lose its color.

She said, "Okay."

—End of text—

The following is a genuine author's closing statement:

"A Night of Drowning" has now officially come to an end.

When I typed "End of text," I sat in front of the computer, stunned, for a long time. The night outside the window was the same as the night I first typed that word.

Summer seems to have just begun, but looking back at the word count in the comments section, I suddenly realized that the story of Song Qingjia and Xu Zhouye has accompanied me for a long time.

The story actually began with a line of dialogue. A woman said a provocative remark to the man who came to her door afterward.

At that time, I didn't even know that Xu Zhouye was a race car driver, nor did I know that Song Qingjia would sit in the wind tunnel laboratory looking at data until midnight.

They grow little by little.

I often feel that those two are smarter than me. Song Qingjia knows what she wants, but it took her a long time to allow herself to ask for it. Xu Zhouye seems to want nothing, but he was actually determined from the very beginning.

Their relationship was less a pursuit and more like two shipping routes that should never have intersected, which briefly stopped side by side at a port, discovered that their directions were exactly the same, and decided to sail together.

Thank you to every reader who has read this far. I have seen every single comment you left in the comments section.

Sometimes when I look through your messages, I feel like I'm not just typing away alone in front of a blank document, but rather I'm with a group of people accompanying them through this period.

Finally, if you like Song Qingjia, like Xu Zhouye, and like the moments when they choose not to let go, both on the track and in life—

Please give this book a five-star review; it's the ticket stub I most want to receive at the end of the book's run.

Thank you for accompanying them on this journey.

See you in the extra chapter.

—Listening to Jiang