Huo Jiayuan lazily turned over, fine beads of sweat appearing on the tip of her nose.

There is no winter in Southeast Asia; it's sweltering summer all year round. Even in an air-conditioned room, she would still feel irritated and stuffy from time to time.

She got out of bed barefoot and stood on the balcony.

What's the temperature today? It's so hot this early in the morning, how am I going to get through the day...?

However, there is still one day of classes today.

Huo Jiayuan sighed, picked up her phone, and looked at it for a long time.

Meng Yan neither called nor emailed her, because it wasn't time for the appointment yet.

But……

Does this man really have to be so punctual?

Can't we make an exception just this once?

She pouted; she hadn't slept well last night, and the hot weather had also affected her appetite. Lately, her design assignments had been plagued by various small problems, making her feel like a balloon ready to burst at any moment—all she needed was a needle…

Huo Jiayuan tugged at her hair, making a mess of her beautiful hair.

Suddenly the phone rang. She was startled and saw that it was a video call. The name on the screen was that of the person she had been thinking about day and night.

She stared wide-eyed for a long while, until the other end of the call was about to end, before she suddenly picked up the phone.

Meng Yan's gentle smile appeared on the screen.

Huo Jiayuan stared blankly, momentarily forgetting what to say.

"Yuan Yuan, what's wrong?"

Meng Yan frowned, "Your hair..."

Huo Jiayuan suddenly came to her senses and hurriedly ran to the mirror, looking at her messy hair with a mixture of laughter and tears.

"Why did you finally decide to send me a video today?"

“I…” Meng Yan paused, then said truthfully, “I miss you.”

These words caught Huo Jiayuan completely off guard.

She froze again, and her eyes slowly reddened.

Meng Yan was startled by her appearance and bombarded her with questions: "Yuan Yuan? What's wrong? Have you been unhappy about something lately?"

"Yuan Yuan?"

"Say something!"

Huo Jiayuan chuckled, and as she laughed, a tear slowly rolled down her cheek.

"Silly girl." Meng Yan understood something, his voice low and gentle, "So saying 'I miss you' has such power?"

"Is it only today that you started thinking about me?"

I think about it every day.

"Then why didn't you call me on video before?"

Meng Yan licked her lips, responding with silence and a smile.

In the past, he was too self-centered.

He could only think about his own pain and his own nightmares.

But they didn't think about her at all.

He was trapped in his own world and never took another step to get closer to her.

It wasn't until Zhu Rong appeared that he was reminded of something.

He then realized that he might only have said he liked Huo Jiayuan, and if he truly loved her, he should have overcome everything for her.

"Meng Yan, do you still remember when we first met in Biandu?" Huo Jiayuan sat on the bed, her long hair casually draped over her shoulders, smiling sweetly as she looked at the screen. "You said your name was Meng Yan, and I thought it was Nightmare... Hahaha!"

"Yes, I remember." Meng Yan chuckled.

"But now, you're really becoming my nightmare."

“Yuan Yuan…”

"Do you know how much I miss you?" Huo Jiayuan lowered her head, her voice gradually softening. "I want to see you so much."

"I'm sorry," he said, filled with remorse.

“You don’t need to apologize to me,” she smiled. “I’m already very happy that you video-called me today. By the way, I’ve been doing so many design assignments lately, and I’ve got dark circles under my eyes. Don’t I look pretty?”

Meng Yan smiled and shook her head.

"And you have no idea how demanding my teacher is!" the little princess complained. "I only made one small design flaw, and he rejected my entire design! I spent a month drawing... and now I have to start all over again!"

"There's this jerk in my group who never does any group work, but when it's time to hand in the assignment, she tries to copy from others... Humph, I won't show her, I don't care if she's some prince's daughter!"

"Do I look ugly with glasses?" Huo Jiayuan pouted. "If I had known you were going to video call, I should have put on some makeup before answering! Ugh, why did you call so suddenly, without giving me any time to prepare! I was hesitating for a while. If I answered, you would see how ugly I looked, and if I didn't answer... I don't know when you'll call next time. I didn't want to miss this opportunity..."

Meng Yan's heart clenched painfully.

"Fool," he said hoarsely, "you're beautiful no matter what!"

Huo Jiayuan was secretly pleased, but said aloud, "You think this way now, but you won't think this way later."

"You will always be beautiful in my eyes."

"When a man says he loves you, he really means it," Huo Jiayuan chuckled. "And when he changes his mind, he really means it too!"

"Yuan Yuan!"

Meng Yan looked serious, and Huo Jiayuan was taken aback, knowing that he couldn't take such a joke.

He's a serious person, and even when he's flirting, he doesn't like to say things like that.

"Okay, okay, I misspoke." Huo Jiayuan looked playful, putting her hand to her head in a salute. "Is this an apology?"

"Idiot," Meng Yan laughed, "that's not how you salute! Your movements are way off!"

"Oh, so you even know how to give a military salute?"

Meng Yan's expression changed.

Huo Jiayuan didn't notice the subtle change in his expression; she was still immersed in the joy of the video call. She jumped out of bed and held up her phone to show him her room.

She said she lived in a royal palace in Southeast Asia, a small building where her grandparents used to live.

“You haven’t met my grandpa and grandma yet, have you?” She laughed heartily. “My grandfather’s name is Huo Zhixing, and I’ve heard he was quite a prominent figure in his youth. My grandmother’s name is Jiang Can, and her family is the Yin family from Southeast Asia…”

"My grandma's house has a tropical rainforest. The fireflies I wanted to show you last time were unique to that rainforest!"

Meng Yan clenched her fists tightly as she looked at the screen.

Cold sweat broke out on his back again, and his whole body trembled slightly uncontrollably—a physical reaction to his psychological problems.

He kept taking deep breaths.

Fortunately, Huo Jiayuan kept talking and didn't have time to notice his unusual expression.

That rainforest… he had been there when he was a child. He had seen the fireflies and knew their legends.

“Meng Yan, do you know?” Huo Jiayuan continued, “There’s a legend in the rainforest that if two people who have loved each other their whole lives are buried together, soon after, their graves will…”

"Then fireflies will fly out."

Meng Yan and she spoke in unison.

Huo Jiayuan froze, looking up at the screen.

Meng Yan smiled slightly, "The light emitted by fireflies shining in the rainforest will reflect the past love between the two of us in our previous lives."

“Meng Yan…”

“When I was little, someone told me this story,” Meng Yan said in a deep voice. “Do you want to know who that person was?”