The divorce comeback system arrived right after I was born.

Lin Wanwan froze in her chair.

It’s over.

This is going to trend on social media.

"Aren't you Ms. Li, our regular VIP customer? Oh my, you're all covered up so much, I almost didn't recognize you!"

Lin Wanwan got stuck.

All the prepared words were stuck in my throat, and my mind went completely blank.

Chen Zhi reacted quickly, grabbing Lin Wanwan's hand on the table and squeezing it twice.

"Yes, yes, Ms. Li." Chen Zhi turned to the waiter and made up a lie with a straight face, "She's recently been allergic to spring UV rays and has severe social anxiety; she can't stand strangers. Please bring the food quickly, and also, please don't put on any noodle-pulling performance; she's scared."

The waiter suddenly realized and nodded repeatedly.

"I understand, I understand. Springtime allergies are common! I'll get Ms. Li a hot towel. Please wait a moment, the food will be served shortly!"

The door to the private room was closed again.

Lin Wanwan let out a long breath and slumped back in her chair.

She ripped off her black face mask and fisherman's hat, throwing them along with her sunglasses onto the empty space next to her.

"You scared me to death!" Lin Wanwan patted her chest. "I thought she wanted my autograph!"

Chen Zhi pushed the menu in front of her.

"Alright, Ms. Li, hurry up and order. If you faint from hunger, I'll have to carry you out."

When the bottom of the pot is served, the red oil is bubbling in the pot, releasing an enticing aroma.

Lin Wanwan completely let loose and embraced her true self.

In the past few days, due to preparing for the finals and the intense psychological pressure, she had barely eaten a proper meal. Now that the competition is over and her tense nerves have relaxed, she is so hungry she could eat a whole cow.

Beef tripe, duck intestines, beef aorta, and beef rolls.

Plate after plate was poured into the pot.

Chen Zhi very consciously picked up the strainer and acted as a merciless meat-cooking machine.

He used a stopwatch to scoop out the tripe, quickly blanched it, and piled it all in the oil dish in front of Lin Wanwan.

"Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you." Chen Zhi looked at her wolfing down her food and casually handed her a tissue.

While chewing on the crisp tripe, Lin Wanwan began to mumble her complaints.

"You have no idea how awful the food from the show's meals is! I ate boiled cabbage for a whole week!"

"And then there's Zhou Chengyu, who acted all high and mighty backstage. His makeup team even tried to take our spots, and Sister Su Man almost got into a fight with them."

Chen Zhi then cooked a slice of fatty beef for her and put it in her bowl.

"And then?"

"Then you brought Taylor over!" Lin Wanwan's eyes sparkled, not even bothering to wipe the red grease from the corner of her mouth. "You didn't see Zhou Chengyu's manager's expression then, it was so satisfying!"

Chen Zhi smiled but didn't reply, continuing to add shrimp paste to the clear broth pot.

Lin Wanwan ate until she was half full, then finally slowed down.

She took a tissue to wipe her mouth clean and then pulled out her phone.

After tapping the screen a few times, she shoved the phone right in front of Chen Zhi's face.

"look!"

Chen Zhi leaned back slightly, dodging the screen that almost poked his nose.

"What are you looking at?"

"Followers!" Lin Wanwan raised her chin, her face full of pride. "Five million! Two million more the night we won! Come on, praise me!"

Chen Zhi glanced at the numbers on the screen.

Then he clapped his hands very perfunctorily.

"Clap clap. Impressive, impressive! No wonder you're the newly crowned King of Singers."

Lin Wanwan was unhappy.

She grabbed a chopstick smeared with chili oil and poked Chen Zhi's face across the table.

"Chen Zhi, you're just giving me the runaround! What's the difference between that tone and praising a kindergarten child?!"

Chen Zhi turned his head away.

"Stop messing around, you've got oil stains on your clothes. This coat is very expensive."

"I'm going to draw you! I'll draw you a turtle!"

The two were playfully fighting around the hot pot table.

Suddenly, a powerful singing voice came from the next private room, penetrating the not-so-thick wall.

Say goodbye to all your troubles—and hello to all your happiness!

Lin Wanwan stopped moving.

She blinked, listening to the lively commotion next door, her eyes darting around.

An idea took shape in her mind.

Lin Wanwan put down her chopsticks, picked up her phone, and quietly scanned the QR code on the corner of the table.

Chen Zhi was scooping wide rice noodles from the pot and didn't notice her actions at all.

A few minutes later

The door to the private room was suddenly pushed open.

Four waiters dressed in Haidilao uniforms rushed in, holding flashing LED signs and pushing a small cart.

The speaker was playing a birthday song.

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!

The strainer in Chen Zhi's hand stopped in mid-air.

Four waiters surrounded him, clapping and twisting their bodies.

Say goodbye to all your troubles! Say hi to all your happiness!

The lead waiter moved with practiced ease, taking a pink paper birthday hat and placing it directly on Chen Zhi's head.

The atmosphere in the private room reached its peak.

At this moment, Chen Zhi was wearing a pink paper hat and was surrounded by four waiters singing a corny birthday song. His toes were digging so hard they were almost tearing through the floor of Haidilao.

"Lin, Wan, Wan."

Chen Zhi turned his head, gritting his teeth.

Lin Wanwan had already hidden on the other side of the table.

She held up her phone, the camera fixed on Chen Zhi, laughing so hard she was practically slumped on the table, her shoulders shaking violently, unable to catch her breath.

"Hahaha... Chen Zhi... your expression... hahahaha, I can't take it anymore!"

The waiter sang even more enthusiastically and even took out a rattle drum and shook it near Chen Zhi's ear.

"Dear handsome guy, wishing you many happy returns of the day! Come on, let's make a heart shape with our hands!"

Chen Zhisheng closed his eyes in despair.

After finally managing to get rid of the overly enthusiastic waiter, the private room finally returned to peace and quiet.

Chen Zhi ripped off the pink paper hat from his head and reached out to Lin Wanwan with a dark expression.

"Give me your phone."

"No way!" Lin Wanwan hid her phone behind her back, her cheeks flushed with laughter. "This is my exclusive embarrassing history; I'm going to keep it for the rest of my life!"

"Deleted."

"I won't delete it!"

Not only did Lin Wanwan refuse to give it to him, she also brazenly came over and snatched the phone that Chen Zhi had placed on the table.

"I'm going to send the video to your phone and set it as your screensaver! So you can see yourself wearing a pink hat every day!"

It was already 10 o'clock when I got out of Haidilao.

Lin Wanwan put her "anti-paparazzi three-piece suit" back on: a black mask, oversized sunglasses, and a bucket hat pulled low. Wrapped in a long trench coat, she looked exactly like an underground worker preparing for a rendezvous.

Chen Zhi walked beside her, carrying the half-finished cup of plum juice that Lin Wanwan hadn't finished.

Su Man's black Mercedes van was parked across the street. Seeing the two of them come out, the van's headlights flashed twice.

"Sister Su Man is keeping a close eye on things." Chen Zhi looked at the car.

Lin Wanwan put her hands in her trench coat pockets and spoke in a muffled voice through her mask: "She's afraid I'll be photographed by paparazzi, and even more afraid that I'll get excited and drag you back to the hotel to book a room."

Chen Zhi almost choked on those wild and inappropriate words.

"Lin, you're a public figure now, so be mindful of your image."

"It's just the two of us, why worry about the impact?" Lin Wanwan snorted and took out her phone to send a WeChat message to Su Man.

The van opposite them started slowly, but instead of coming over to pick them up, it hovered about fifty meters behind them at a snail's pace, maintaining a safe distance that wouldn't disturb them.

"I told Sister Su Man that I ate too much and we'll walk back to digest." Lin Wanwan put her phone back in her pocket.

Lin Wanwan walked on the inside of the sidewalk, kicking a small pebble by the roadside.

"Chen Zhi".

"Um."

"Actually, when I was announced as the champion, I didn't want to look at the camera at all." Lin Wanwan stopped and looked up at him.

Even through the sunglasses, Chen Zhi could feel her gaze fixed on him.

"When Teacher He handed me the trophy, the audience was full of fans shouting my name, and even senior singers who usually don't give me a second glance were smiling at me."

Lin Wanwan spoke very softly, with a slight nasal tone still lingering.

"But all I could think about at the time was, where are you?"

"I just want to rush off the stage and hug you in front of everyone."

She lowered her head, the tips of her shoes rubbing against the asphalt twice.

Chen Zhi didn't say anything, but switched the plum juice in his hand to his left hand, freeing his right hand to hold Lin Wanwan's hand, which was in his pocket.

She pulled her hand out of Chen Zhi's palm, unzipped her trench coat, and rummaged through the inner pockets for a while.

"Close your eyes," Lin Wanwan said.

Chen Zhi obediently closed his eyes.

He felt Lin Wanwan take a step forward, and after a rustling sound of packaging bags, a small, cold object was placed in his palm.

"Open your eyes."

Chen Zhi opened his eyes and spread his palms.

Lying in his palm was a guitar pick.

The edges of the paddle are polished to be extremely smooth, and two English letters are engraved in the center.

CZ.

The initials of Chen Zhi's name.

"What is this?" Chen Zhi pinched the pick, his fingertips tracing the two recessed letters.

"It's a pick, can't you tell?" Lin Wanwan took off her mask, revealing a clean face. "I used the deposit from my first endorsement fee after winning the championship to do it."

She raised her chin, her tone filled with undisguised pride.

"Sister Su Man helped me get a big brand's Asian regional endorsement. Once the order was deposited into my account, I had someone expedite the process."

Lin Wanwan looked at Chen Zhi, her eyes sparkling.

"I know you're the big boss of Deep Space Technology now, with billions of dollars in funding in your hands, and you look down on the little bit I've earned."

"But this is money I earned myself."

"Chen Zhi, I've engraved your name on the starting point of my career."

Chen Zhi's fingers tightened slightly as he gripped the pick.

This girl usually seems carefree and easygoing; when she's upset, she just cries, but when she's happy, she goes crazy on stage.

But when it comes to matters of the heart, she has her own unwavering principles.

She doesn't care about the title of newly crowned king of singers, nor about endorsements and appearances.

The person she cares about most has always been the one who has been by her side since she was a child.

Chen Zhi carefully put the pick into his pocket, then took a small step forward, closing the distance between them.

"Just a guitar pick?" Chen Zhi lowered his head, looking into Lin Wanwan's eyes. "Back at the Changsha hotel, someone personally promised a special reward for winning the championship. What, you think you can just brush me off like this?"

Lin Wanwan's face flushed red instantly.

She looked around nervously, as if she were doing something wrong.

The van behind them wisely stopped at an intersection and didn't follow.

Lin Wanwan bit her lower lip.

She suddenly reached out and grabbed Chen Zhi's coat collar, pulling it down forcefully.

At the same time, stand on your tiptoes.

Chen Zhi felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, and then a soft touch pressed against his lips.

Chen Zhi paused for half a second, then took the initiative.

He threw away the half-full glass of plum juice in his hand, wrapped his arms around Lin Wanwan's waist, and pulled her into his embrace.

Their lips and teeth intertwined.

The two kissed for a long time under the streetlights.

Until a burst of electronic music came from the end of the road.

"May you be safe—oh—may you be safe—"

A water truck with its yellow warning lights on, spraying high-pressure water jets while playing old songs from the 1990s, drove toward them.

Lin Wanwan pushed Chen Zhi away abruptly, panting heavily.

"Water truck!" she pointed ahead.

The water jets had already sprayed onto the sidewalk, making the holly leaves along the roadside rustle loudly.

"run!"

Chen Zhi grabbed Lin Wanwan's wrist and dragged her forward.

Lin Wanwan was wearing a pair of leather shoes with a slight heel, and she staggered a little as she ran, but she showed no intention of stopping.

"Chen Zhi, slow down! My shoe is going to fall off!"

"If we slow down any further, we'll all be soaked to the bone!"

The water truck followed at a leisurely pace, the water mist from the high-pressure water gun refracting into rainbows under the streetlights.

The two ran wildly down the sidewalk at midnight.

Lin Wanwan's fisherman's hat had long since flown away, and her sunglasses were askew on her nose. She simply ripped off her sunglasses and let her hair be blown all over the place by the night wind.

She ran while laughing loudly.

Laughter pierced through the music from the sprinkler truck and through the cold air of Beijing's late night.

There is a pedestrian overpass ahead.

"Let's go up!" Chen Zhi pulled her up the steps.

The two rushed onto the overpass in one breath, dodging the water jets from the sprinkler truck.

The water truck, playing "Wishing you peace," slowly drove past under the overpass, leaving a wet asphalt pavement behind.

Lin Wanwan leaned over, panting, her hands gripping the railing of the overpass.

Chen Zhi leaned against the railing next to her, trying to calm his breathing.

It was very windy on the overpass.

The taillights of cars occasionally passing under the bridge cast red streaks of light.

Lin Wanwan caught her breath and straightened up.

She turned her head and looked at Chen Zhi, who was leaning against the railing.

The streetlight shone on Chen Zhi's profile, and a few strands of hair on his forehead were damp with sweat and stuck to his brow bone.

Lin Wanwan suddenly straightened up and took a step forward.

She stood in front of Chen Zhi and cleared her throat.

"Chen Zhi".

"Um?"

Lin Wanwan did not speak.

She looked into Chen Zhi's eyes and suddenly began to sing.

"We were both young when I first saw you..."

"I close my eyes and the flashback starts…"

Lin Wanwan's voice drifted on the night breeze.

This is the song "Love Story" that she sang with Taylor Swift during the finals.

But on that stage where everyone was watching, she was singing for the entire nation.

And now.

On this deserted overpass.

She only sang for Chen Zhi.

"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone."

"I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run."

When Lin Wanwan sang the chorus, she didn't use the technique Taylor taught her to raise the key by half a key. Instead, she used the most original and gentle breathy voice.

It was like a whisper in my ear.

Chen Zhi looked at her quietly.

Looking at this girl next door, whom he had bullied since childhood and who was his childhood sweetheart, and at this rising star who is now standing in the spotlight of the Chinese music scene.

Finished a song.

"Chen Zhi." She stepped forward, put her arms around Chen Zhi's waist, and pressed her face against his chest.

"From now on, I will only hold concerts for you."

Chen Zhi reached out and hugged Lin Wanwan tightly, resting his chin on the top of her head, inhaling the faint scent of shampoo in her hair.

"Okay," Chen Zhi said softly.

The two embraced for a long time on the overpass.