Chapter 29

When we were little, Wu Qi and I often argued because we thought the jokes were too much, like when he ate an extra carrot from me or hid my homework that I had worked so hard to finish...

We're still ignoring each other, just like now, as if we have an unspoken agreement—whoever speaks to the other first will lose face.

But in the end, there will always be someone who can't help but lean over and say, feeling wronged and unwilling, "Hey, shouldn't we make up now?"

We were naive and innocent back then, just like children.

Now that I'm older, I can't pretend to be stupid anymore.

Wu Qi looked at me quietly. Snow had fallen all over the ground, covering both of us.

He asked me, "Do you want to make up with me, or do you not want to deal with what happened that day?"

I stared at him for a while.

Wu Qi didn't expect an answer either; it seemed he understood my stalemate through my silence. He ruffled my hair, the snow melting in his palm and falling onto the back of his hand.

He looked down at me through the increasingly large snowflakes, and finally chuckled softly, "Let's go."

"Where to?" I asked.

"go home."

I held onto his sleeve and didn't move.

He could only tug at it, his tone softening as if whispering, "Let's go, be good."

"..."

That's it?

They're leaving already?

I haven't said anything yet.

But my silence stemmed from the fact that I didn't want to say anything. Because he hadn't asked anything.

I don't know how much he knows, what he thinks of me, or why he's willing to talk to me.

besides……

"I'm not good."

Hello.

Don't try to appease a child.

Are you really not considering getting back together?

-

Snow has the power to whiten the entire city.

No matter how dazzling a city is, it is eventually draped in a thin white velvet coat. It seems that from this moment on, I realized that life in the mortal world is actually more and more monotonous.

Me and Wu Qi...

The situation seems to have eased somewhat.

This is evident in the fact that we can naturally blend into a group chat, and sometimes even exchange a few playful banter. In comparison, our time alone together seems far more boring and unbearable.

I seriously suspect that this is how our relationship will end. Hundreds of years from now, when we meet again at a banquet in Heaven, I will give him my most insincere smile and ask him what he's been up to lately.

Recently, these ordinary people have started reviewing indiscriminately again. The whole class has settled down to prepare for the final exams in early January. Inside and outside the window, there is complete silence, with only muddy footprints on the ground as proof that these people had just made a ruckus.

During break, Meng Xiaoqiong snatched my pen and exclaimed "Oh!"

Me: "The pen tube is with Qingqing. Don't come looking for me if the pen runs out of ink."

"No," Meng Xiaoqiong shoved the pen back at me, "Sister Sangyue, how do you plan to spend the New Year?"

I paused for a moment, and just as I looked up, I saw Wu Qi in the aisle roll up a test paper into a tube, hold it in his palm, tap the boy in front of him on the head, and say, "Excuse me."

I subconsciously twirled the pen in my hand.

“How else could we get through this!” Li Guang said, leaning back. “Little Glasses, who was first in his grade, put on a New Year’s Eve exam. It started at ten o’clock and ended right before the new year. He said it was very meaningful.”

This idea sounds strange, but it's perfectly normal when it happens to Yu Yuan.

Meng Xiaoqiong hesitated, "Then good luck. What about Qingqing?"

Tian Qingqing rested her chin on her hand and turned around. "My family is democratic, so I probably won't let me study at a time like this. We should go see the fireworks show at the Cultural Square. I wonder how the preparations are going this year."

“Huh—I’m not going to look.” Li Guangheng said, “It gets worse every year. I suggest you come and accompany me to the exam.”

Tian Qingqing: "Get lost!"

Meng Xiaoqiong was not satisfied and asked again, "Bald Qiang, Xu Feng won't be taking the exam with you, will he?"

"How did you know?" Li Guangheng asked.

"Damn. Who got into my five-man squad?"

I shrugged. "Solo queue is fine too."

Meng Xiaoqiong: "..."

"What are you up to now?" Meng Xiaoqiong asked everyone, finally turning to me, annoyed that I was making sarcastic remarks. "Download King of Glory! Hurry up! You have so much memory on your phone, why aren't you using it? Are you saving it for making babies?"

"..."

I pushed her head away and said helplessly, "I have something to do on the 31st, I don't have time."

"ah--"

Meng Xiaoqiong slammed her hand on the table with a thud, "If you can't do it, then Qi-ge definitely can't either, help—"

Then I plugged in my headphones and continued doing practice problems. I recently discovered that if I can complete all the problems in a workbook without missing a single one, it's a very satisfying achievement for someone with OCD.

Meng Xiaoqiong was still wailing and asking people questions beside me, but I chose not to hear her.

However, it wasn't that I deliberately rejected her; it's just that I took on a job on New Year's Eve.

I didn't think too much about it at first. I just accepted the job when I saw it at the Temple of the Matchmaker. It was only when Meng Xiaoqiong mentioned it that I realized that it was New Year's Eve.

Ordinary people have a strong attachment to "New Year's Eve," as it is a time to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new in the Gregorian calendar, a new beginning.

This has nothing to do with us gods.

I must have been at the Temple of the Matchmaker that day. I couldn't say goodbye to the old and welcome the new. I'll be stuck in this mediocre world of red threads for the rest of my life.

As for what Wu Qi was going to do that day, to be honest, I really don't know, and I don't want to know. Anyway, that day will be on my mind all night.

It will definitely be very lively then.

On New Year's Eve, I appeared at the Temple of the Matchmaker as always.

There's an inescapable law in love affairs: if one person stops liking the other, the other can't accept the reality—well, most people call this "entanglement."

So the red thread is indeed related to the Temple of the Old Man Under the Moon. Untangling the thread is a thankless task.

I was chatting with that person at the Yue Lao Temple, standing behind the Yue Lao statue, my gaze lingering on the lights in the temple courtyard, feeling utterly bored.

After a deep, soul-to-soul exchange, he seemed to have come to terms with it, walking out as if lost in thought, muttering, "Our fate is over... our fate is over..." He looked rather pitiful.

I'm quite pitiful too. I only dare to peek out slightly after everyone has left. Seriously, where can you find a matchmaker as dedicated as me?

I glanced at my watch; it wasn't even eleven yet. I remembered hearing someone say a few days ago that there was a variety show on TV, and that buying a couple of bags of sunflower seeds would kill the whole evening.

I walked to a secluded spot and was just about to recite an incantation when I heard someone call out to me from behind.

"Your Highness, please wait."

A red thread instantly appeared in my hand. There were actually people in the mortal world who dared to call me that—well, usually high-ranking officials who called me that, people I couldn't afford to offend.

I turned my head slightly, and after seeing the person who came, I nodded and smiled, "Brother Shi."

He was followed by several children; they must have come to the mortal realm on business and just happened to pass by my place.

"Is there some kind of medicinal herb we're lacking? It's made you suffer like this," I joked.

"No need to be so polite, we just had tea together yesterday." Brother Shi waved his hand.

I lowered my head slightly.

Indeed, according to the celestial realm, it was yesterday, but in the mortal realm, a month and a half has passed.

I asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I wouldn't dare."

Brother Shi smiled, called over the person behind him, whispered something, and finally said with a somewhat apologetic expression, "To be honest, the child who just arrived is ignorant and gave the wrong medicine that day."

I stood there for a while before I suddenly realized something.

"……What?"

"That's not the 'love potion,' the child took the wrong one, please forgive him. Here's a new one, please accept it."

ah?

...What went wrong?

What's wrong?!

I'll at least get a glimpse of your face! What's with the laughter?!

My heart suddenly started pounding very fast, each beat feeling like it was about to slam into my stomach.

I didn't take the packet of medicine. I couldn't control my mouth, and I kept muttering, "What...what kind of medicine is that?"

Shi Ge stroked his chin and thought for a moment.

"Ah—that's a packet of truth serum."

I stared at him, not daring to curse or move. After a shiver, my face started to burn.

It felt like that day when Wu Qi suddenly appeared on my campus, sat behind me, poked my back with his pen, and made me forgive and forget.

ah.

Hold.

"—The sky had been overcast for a long time, and finally it snowed."

It turns out that all those ramblings that day were spoken from the heart.

Every word came from the bottom of my heart.

I thought what he wanted to say that day was that after such a long cold war, he was finally going to speak.

But what he actually wanted to say was...

I've liked you for so long, and now you're finally... going to reject me.

-

I ran through the wind towards Wu Qi's house; I was going crazy.

I think I should go home and change into a nice outfit, wear a little skirt, and put on some silver jewelry that reflects the moonlight, to match my solemnity tonight.

But I can't wait.

I flew away in a hurry.

I dialed his number, but I'd already forgotten when it was last time.

beep--

The call was answered on the third ring, and the person on the other end seemed a little stunned.

Before he could speak, I asked him, "Is it convenient for you to come out for a bit?"

"Hmm." Wu Qi paused for a moment, then subconsciously asked me, "Where are you?"

"I'll be at your doorstep in about five minutes."

I realized then that I had been too abrupt, but I really wasn't in the mood to make up any lies anymore. Let me emphasize again, I was in a hurry.

It should have been less than five minutes, or maybe they just hit the spot.

In short, when I arrived at his door, Wu Qi opened it. I leaned against the door frame, panting, and looked at him with tears in my eyes.

That moment felt like stepping back into a certain evening when we walked through an alley together, listening to that music playing in our headphones.

This was the bravest moment of my life.

I startled all the lights in the hallway, forcing them to get up and ring in the New Year, welcoming this uninvited guest.

Wu Qigang had just taken a shower and was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt. His eyes were covered with a thin layer of mist, and a few strands of his hair were sticking up in a messy manner.

I arrive on the wind, and I must bring a few stars with me to share my true feelings.

Wu Qi pulled me into the house, startled by the heat emanating from my body.

"Did you roll around in an ice cellar?"

I pursed my lips and shook my head.

The teacher who taught us back then said the most often that Wu Qi would become a great person.

Okay, he does have some potential.

So I grabbed his collar and asked in a hoarse voice, "Having had a crush on me for 107 years, was it great?"