Xu Jianing's quilt

At night, the dormitory lights were turned off, and the light bulbs went out with a "pop," plunging the entire room into darkness, with only the faint moonlight from outside shining through the glass onto the floor.

Soon, the creaking of the bed stopped, and the roommates gradually quieted down, their breathing becoming even and long, as if they had sunk into a peaceful dream and were having sweet dreams.

Wen Sheng, however, was wide awake. She tossed and turned, turning from side to side, afraid to make any sudden movements that might wake others. Each turn was made with utmost care. But the more careful she was, the more noticeable the creaking of the bed beneath her became.

Frustrated, she simply pulled the blanket over her head and buried herself in it. Her nose was immediately enveloped by a cool yet warm scent, unlike the smell of cotton that had been sun-dried at home, but it was surprisingly pleasant. She subconsciously took another deep breath, and her chest was filled with that scent. She felt as if the refreshing young man was right next to her, wrapping her up without reservation.

Wen Sheng held her breath, not daring to take a second breath. She held it for a few seconds, but couldn't help taking another deep breath. As a result, that familiar taste penetrated even deeper into her lungs, making her feel unbearably hot.

She pulled the blanket over her head, and as the cool air rushed in, she realized she was suffocating.

Wen Sheng lay there blankly, staring at the upper bunk, her mind a complete blank. After a moment, she slowly came to her senses and belatedly realized what she had just been doing.

Good heavens... wasn't I just secretly inhaling Xu Jianing's scent over and over again?!

Upon realizing this terrifying conclusion, Wen Sheng covered her face with both hands, her heart pounding, her mind in turmoil, with words like "impure thoughts" and "problematic conduct" popping into her head.

But that cool yet warm scent still lingered around her nose, uninvited and impossible to get rid of.

Sleepiness crept in little by little, and her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Finally, she drifted off to sleep amidst that familiar scent.

In her dream, Wen Sheng felt herself being gently embraced. The warm and strong hand landed on her shoulder, then pulled her into a hug. The person's breath brushed against her ear, and they called her name affectionately.

She wanted to speak, but could only move her lips silently. The other person's breath drew closer, and a low voice whispered in her ear, "Wen Sheng."

The distance between them grew closer and closer, and she could even feel the warmth of the other's breath. So she subconsciously closed her eyes, waiting for that moment of touch.

Just as they were about to kiss, a clear bird song suddenly rang in their ears.

Daylight broke.

It turns out... it was just a dream.

Wen Sheng slowly opened her eyes. The dormitory was already illuminated by the morning light. The wooden planks of the upper bunk were still in front of her, cold and unfamiliar.

She was just a little closer, just a little closer, and she would have known what his lips felt like.

My roommates had already woken up one after another, yawning as they rolled downstairs, rubbing their eyes to fetch water to wash their faces, and the dormitory immediately became lively.

Jiang Xiufang was tying her hair in front of a small mirror when she caught a glimpse of Wen Sheng on the opposite bed. She was so startled that she almost dropped her comb on the bed.

She turned around, stared at Wen Sheng's face for several seconds, and couldn't help but ask with concern, "Wen Sheng, what happened to you? You have dark circles under your eyes. Don't you never stay up late to study?"

Reminded by her words, Wen Sheng also realized something was wrong and asked in a low voice, "Could I borrow a mirror to look at myself?"

Jiang Xiufang handed over the small mirror.

Wen Sheng took it and looked down into the mirror. Sure enough, she looked completely pale and had dark circles under her eyes, as if she had stayed up all night.

A whole host of excuses flashed through her mind in an instant:

She said she was memorizing English words until midnight last night? No way, she didn't memorize any at all.

Saying she was homesick and hid under the covers crying? Forget it, that's too embarrassing, and she didn't want to at all.

Saying you can't sleep because you're hungry? That won't work either, since you shared a bunch of local specialties with your roommate last night.

Wen Sheng: "......"

That's it, no excuse can cover it up now. She can't exactly say that she couldn't sleep all night because she was hugging someone else's blanket and smelling it, can she?

Just as she was feeling awkward, Li Qingmiao came over yawning and came to her rescue: "What else could it be? You miss your own blanket, right?"

Jiang Xiufang nodded in sudden realization: "Now that you mention it, I kind of miss my pillow at home."

"Haha, I wouldn't be used to it either. The blankets back home are the warmest," Lin Yiwan said.

After a lively round of applause, everyone went about their business and no one asked any more questions. Wen Sheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, quickly returned the mirror, pretended to be nonchalant, got out of bed, grabbed her toothbrush and towel, and headed to the bathroom.

——

In the boys' dormitory washroom on the other side, Li Changshui was wiping his face and yawning. He glanced at Xu Jianing next to him and couldn't help but tease, "Ah Ning, although I've never been to the zoo, I'm sure your dark circles are about the same as a panda's now."

Xu Jianing was wringing out a towel with her head down, her expression indifferent: "Yeah, I didn't sleep well."

Li Changshui said incredulously, "No way, someone like you who falls asleep the moment your head hits the pillow can have insomnia? Did you dream about something last night?"

Xu Jianing paused in wiping her face, remained silent for a moment, and then gave a soft "hmm" as a response.

"Wait a minute, can you do me a favor?"

Li Changshui immediately perked up his ears, his face full of anticipation, "What kind of favor? You're not asking me to deliver a love letter for you, are you? Is it for Wen, your junior?"

Xu Jianing glanced at him and said calmly, "Move the blankets."

When they reached the open space, they saw Wen Sheng and Li Qingmiao walking towards them from not far away.

The four people bumped into each other in the open space and were all stunned for a moment.

Wen Sheng broke the silence first, nodding to them: "Good morning, seniors."

Li Changshui rubbed his hands together with a smile: "What a coincidence, Junior Sister Wen. Perfect, many hands make light work, let's move it together."

Xu Jianing ignored his banter and walked towards the heavy quilt. "Li Changshui, come and help."

Seeing this, Wen Sheng couldn't help but take two steps forward: "Let me join too."

Xu Jianing glanced at her, did not refuse, but simply moved aside a little, silently making room for her.

There was a bamboo pole frame on each side, so the four of them were divided up, and there were enough people to carry both the frame and the quilt. Working together, they moved the quilt to a sunny spot.

After finishing, Li Changshui clapped his hands and said, "Alright, now we'll definitely get some sun!" He then went to get some water, and Li Qingmiao also turned around and went to pack up the bamboo poles, leaving only Wen Sheng and Xu Jianing standing in the open space.

Xu Jianing glanced at her and asked in a low voice, "How did you sleep yesterday?"

Wen Sheng pretended to be calm on the surface, but was actually panicking inside.

Last night, I tossed and turned all night, and in the end, I had a terrible dream amidst familiar scents. Now, being asked so bluntly by the person in my dream, all the images from the dream instantly flooded back: the embrace on my shoulder, the whispered words in my ear, and that almost-kiss.

"It's alright, the blanket is quite warm."

"That's good. You can continue using it tonight."

"Huh? No, no need!" Wen Sheng almost choked on her own saliva, waving her hands frantically. "I just checked and my quilt is almost dry. It'll be completely dry today!"

To persuade him to stop insisting, she pointed to the dark circles under her eyes and added, "I still really want to be under my blanket; I'm used to it."

Xu Jianing's lips curled up slightly, and she asked in a drawn-out voice, "Oh? Is that so?"

Wen Sheng then realized that she had just said "I slept okay" and then used dark circles under her eyes as an excuse, which was obviously contradictory.

He chuckled at her flustered movements. "Okay, if the blanket is dry today, you can use yours."

"Okay, okay." Wen Sheng finally found a way to back down and nodded hurriedly.

Just then, Li Qingmiao's voice came from afar: "Wen Sheng, let's go eat! If we don't go soon, there won't be any more xiaolongbao!"

"They're here!" Wen Sheng felt like she had grasped a lifeline. She hurriedly said goodbye to Xu Jianing and almost ran towards Li Qingmiao's direction.

Li Changshui had just returned from fetching water when he saw that only Xu Jianing was left in the open space, carefully unfolding and smoothing the edges of the quilt so that the sunlight could shine on it evenly.

"Hey, what are you still doing here? Where are my sister and the others?"

"They went to have breakfast." Xu Jianing asked after smoothing out the last corner, "Do you know which side of the teaching building has the best view of the moon?"

"The rooftop, perhaps?" Li Changshui thought for a moment, then raised an eyebrow and smiled. "What? You're finally willing to come with me to admire the moon?"

"No."

"I'm just going to learn how to observe the night sky."

Li Changshui: "......"

At this moment, the canteen in the warehouse was packed with students.

A large iron pot was bubbling with porridge, and steamers of steamed buns, mantou, and huajuan were brought out, along with fried rice noodles and fried noodles.

As soon as Wen Sheng and Li Qingmiao entered, they heard the auntie shouting, "Steamed buns! Those who want steamed buns, hurry up and line up!"

Wen Sheng looked at the long queue that almost stretched to the cafeteria entrance and asked curiously, "Why is the xiaolongbao queue so long?"

Li Qingmiao replied while squeezing through the crowd, "Because it's a new item in the cafeteria; we didn't have it before. I heard it was only sold for the first time this morning, who wouldn't want to try it?"

Someone in the queue was standing on tiptoe, looking around to see how long it would be before it was his turn. He craned his neck and shouted, "Auntie, how many baskets are left?"

Another person complained, "Don't cut in line!"

Someone immediately retorted, "What are you cutting in line for? We've been waiting in line for ages!"

Just as Wen Sheng and Li Qingmiao reached the front of the line, the new steamer was opened, and white steam billowed out.

"Come on, come on, xiaolongbao, one basket per person!" The auntie deftly grabbed the dumplings, packed them into an oil paper bag, and immediately stuffed them into their hands, afraid that someone would cut in line and grab them.

Wen Sheng got burned and quickly tossed the food from one hand to the other, laughing as she said, "This portion is quite generous."

Li Qingmiao: "It smells so good! Let's eat as we walk. I wonder who our homeroom teacher will be this semester."

"I think the first period is a class meeting? We'll find out soon." Wen Sheng took a bite of the xiaolongbao, gasped from the heat, and quickly fanned herself to cool it down. She exclaimed, "How wonderful! No morning reading on the first day of school, no need to rush to eat breakfast."

“Yes, yes, and we don’t even have to recite ancient poems and classical Chinese texts. How wonderful!” Li Qingmiao chimed in. “I hope it can always be like today.”

The two exchanged a glance and laughed simultaneously. But the thought of soon returning to their tense routine made this brief moment of relaxation all the more precious.

"Is our classroom Class 3?" Wen Sheng asked.

"Who told you that? We're in Class 1!" Li Qingmiao laughed.

Wen Sheng froze, then awkwardly let out an "Ah".

"Luckily you asked me, otherwise you would have really gone to Class 3 and made a fool of yourself on your first day."

Wen Sheng quickly waved her hand: "Don't jinx it!"