Zhuang Zi'ang returned to the rental apartment and found Li Huangxuan standing at the door. He smiled and asked, "Son, what are you doing here?"

Li Huangxuan grumbled, "You didn't come to class again this afternoon. I was worried! Why is your phone unreachable?"

Zhuang Zi'ang realized he'd accidentally put his phone on silent. He quickly apologized, saying, "My bad."

"Dude, you've been ditching class and taking leave all the time lately. What's up? Something you're not telling me?"

Even usually carefree Li Huangxuan had noticed Zhuang Zi'ang acting strangely. It was totally unheard of for the top student to be skipping so much class.

Facing his best friend, Zhuang Zi'ang decided to keep his illness a secret for now. Better to tell him later, delay the sadness a bit longer. Li Huangxuan was such a free spirit, him crying? Definitely not cool.

"Dad came to school and threw a fit, I was in a bad mood, so I asked Mr. Zhang for leave," Zhuang Zi'ang explained. It was the truth, just not the whole truth.

"Your dad, who usually doesn't give a damn about you, suddenly has the nerve to throw a fit? If you're worried about being called unfilial, I'll help you beat him up," Li Huangxuan said indignantly.

"Forget it. You're no match for him," Zhuang Zi'ang replied, a warm feeling welling up inside. Having a true friend in life is enough. As the famous Chinese writer Lu Xun said.

Zhuang Zi'ang had just planned to grab a quick bite for dinner, but Li Huangxuan insisted it was the weekend and dragged him to his place. On the way, he called his mom, Fan Ling, asking her to make a couple of extra dishes Zhuang Zi'ang liked.

Zhuang Zi'ang genuinely liked Li Huangxuan's parents. They were sincere, kind, refined, and so friendly. He'd never felt that kind of happy family vibe in his own home.

"Zi'ang's here! Sit down, dinner will be ready soon!" As soon as they walked in, Fan Ling greeted them warmly.

"Uncle, Auntie, sorry to trouble you again," Zhuang Zi'ang said politely.

Li Tianyun, watching TV on the sofa, smiled. "Zi'ang, we're the ones grateful. Huangxuan's grades have really improved since he started hanging out with you!"

The evening news was on. A medical expert was explaining how, due to environmental pollution and modern stress, cancer was affecting younger and younger people. So many young people, in their prime, getting diagnosed with incurable diseases.

Li Tianyun sighed, concerned. "Huangxuan, Zi'ang, you guys need to eat properly at school, take care of yourselves."

"Dad, don't worry," Li Huangxuan patted his chest confidently. "I'm healthy enough to be a pilot!"

Zhuang Zi'ang bit his lip, silent.

Meanwhile, Zhuang Wenzhao had been in a foul mood all afternoon because of Zhuang Zi'ang. He kept thinking, Have I been too biased all these years? Just putting himself in Zhuang Zi'ang's shoes made his heart ache. Divorce was something parents should consider carefully, the childhood trauma could last a lifetime.

"Yuhang, you are not to make your brother angry again," Zhuang Wenzhao said, unusually stern.

"Yuhang's still young, he just wants more of your love, that's why he said those things," Qin Shulan immediately defended her son.

Zhuang Yuhang, in peak rebellion, retorted, "I didn't even say anything bad! I offered him cake! He's just too sensitive."

"He probably won't be back anytime soon. You need to seriously think about your behavior. Look how terrible your grades are!" Zhuang Wenzhao felt completely drained.

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He pushed open Zhuang Zi'ang's bedroom door. Empty. The closet had only a few clothes hanging, clearly no new purchases in ages. But the desk drawer was overflowing with certificates and awards.

Just then, Zhuang Wenzhao's phone rang again. His father, calling from the countryside. He quickly answered, trying to soothe him. "He's just throwing a tantrum, Dad. He'll be back in a few days."

"I'm his father, it's my right to discipline him."

"Sick and hospitalized? He's so young, what could be wrong?"

...

After finally calming his father down, Zhuang Wenzhao collapsed onto the sofa. The scene in the office that afternoon kept replaying in his mind. Was Zhuang Zi'ang really that amazing? How did I, his own father, never realize?

Qin Shulan grumbled from beside him, "Zhuang Zi'ang is so good at school, but he never lifts a finger to help Yuhang with his homework. Makes him last in class!"

"No sense of responsibility as an older brother at all. Bottom line is, he sees us as outsiders."

"What good is being a good student if you don't care about family?"

A wave of anger surged in Zhuang Wenzhao, and he slammed his hand on the coffee table. "He's my son! Since when is it your place to criticize him? You worry about your own son, and make sure he stops causing me trouble!"

Without Zhuang Zi'ang, the house didn't feel like a happy family of three at all. In fact, the conflicts just seemed to be getting worse.

After dinner, Zhuang Zi'ang and Li Huangxuan slipped into the bedroom.

"Dude, seriously, where did you run off to this afternoon?" Li Huangxuan looked at Zhuang Zi'ang like a detective grilling a suspect.

"Sat by the river with Little Butterfly all afternoon," Zhuang Zi'ang confessed.

"Little Butterfly again?" Li Huangxuan stared at Zhuang Zi'ang for a long moment, then sighed dramatically. "Dude, you're done for. You've fallen for her."

Zhuang Zi'ang quickly denied it. "Don't be ridiculous. We're just friends."

"Ask yourself honestly," Li Huangxuan smirked, "Is 'just friends' really all you want?"

"Well…" Zhuang Zi'ang was a little flustered. A girl as cute as Little Butterfly? Any normal guy would be smitten. But he wasn't normal. He was sick. He didn't have the right to have a crush.

"Dude, she's a great girl. Go for it. I'll be your best man one day," Li Huangxuan said, eyes shining with imagined futures.

"Best man?" Zhuang Zi'ang felt a pang of bitterness. That future was too good to even dream of. He realized how much he didn't want to leave this world. Didn't want to leave Li Huangxuan, didn't want to leave Little Butterfly. But his illness wasn’t going to let him have any long-term plans. God, it felt like the ultimate joke.

Zhuang Zi'ang remembered his date for tomorrow morning and didn't stay over at Li Huangxuan's. He went back to his rental apartment. He looked up at the night sky, full of stars. He’d heard people turned into stars when they died. Which star would he be?

He picked up his phone, and almost without thinking, dialed Little Butterfly's number again.

I'm sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service. Please try again later.

Sorry! The subscriber you dialed can not be connected for the moment, please redial later.

Same as before. Once night fell, Little Butterfly vanished, unreachable. But tomorrow, she'd suddenly reappear. Like a fleeting, unpredictable meteor, briefly illuminating Zhuang Zi'ang's otherwise dark life.