Observing the night sky
With thirty minutes left before the end of evening self-study, everyone was either doing their homework or yawning, except for one person.
Wen Sheng looked up at the clock on the wall, then turned her head to look out the window, staring at the teachers patrolling the corridor. She only breathed a sigh of relief after the figure slowly turned down the stairs and disappeared from sight.
Zhang Qin noticed her movement and asked softly, "What are you doing?"
Wen Sheng: "I'm going to the restroom. My stomach isn't feeling well. I'll go back to the dorm after I'm done."
After saying that, he even took out a few packs of tissues from his schoolbag, held them in his hand, and tiptoed out of the classroom while clutching his stomach.
The students in the front row, engrossed in their work, didn't notice anything amiss. However, Li Qingmiao in the back row looked up and her eyes immediately locked onto someone trying to sneak away.
She suddenly remembered what Li Changshui had said to her that day with a wicked grin:
"Let me tell you, these two are definitely up to something. Just wait and see if they catch you red-handed."
Li Qingmiao narrowed her eyes, staring at Wen Sheng's furtive figure, and a bold thought immediately popped into her mind: Could it be that Li Changshui was right?
She suddenly stood up, the chair creaking loudly on the floor, especially noticeable in the quiet evening study room. The students in the front row turned around and looked at her with puzzlement.
Li Qingmiao smiled awkwardly and made up a lie on the spot: "Uh, I... I drank too much water, I need to go to the restroom!"
Everyone gave her an "Oh—" look, ignored her, and went back to writing their problems.
Li Qingmiao made up her mind to follow Wen Sheng, and ran out of the classroom, forgetting even to grab a tissue.
Just as she turned the corner of the corridor, she almost bumped into someone head-on. She quickly stopped and looked up to see that it was Li Changshui.
"Li Qingmiao?!"
"Li Changshui?!"
The two exclaimed in unison, "What are you doing here?!"
The scene became quite awkward.
Li Changshui reacted quickly, his eyes darting around as he lowered his voice and asked, "You also came here to chase after Wen Sheng?"
Li Qingmiao's thoughts were exposed, but she quickly retorted, "And what about you? Why did you go downstairs to follow Wen Sheng? Shouldn't you have gone to find Xu Jianing?"
"Do you think I wanted to? Xu Jianing is a cunning guy. He knew I would follow him, so he simply didn't come to the third evening self-study session!" Li Changshui said.
Li Qingmiao was stunned, and after a long while, she asked, "What? Xu Jianing, the top student, actually skipped evening self-study?"
Li Changshui gave him a "you're too naive" look: "Heh, there's a lot you don't know. He's often not in the dorm during the day on weekends. When I ask him where he goes, he says he goes to the bookstall or the library to study."
Li Qingmiao instinctively chimed in, "Wen Sheng too! She's always at the bookstalls or the library on weekends, but she really loves studying..."
As soon as the words left his mouth, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have discovered some incredible secret.
"Wait, wait! Brother, when did Xu Jianing start going to the bookstall on weekends?"
"Last semester."
The two exchanged a glance, their brainwaves clicked, and their eyes lit up simultaneously—a shocking revelation!
Li Qingmiao almost blurted it out, but Li Changshui reacted quickly and covered her mouth: "Shh! We're still in evening self-study!"
Li Qingmiao frantically tried to cover Li Changshui's mouth, afraid he might also cry out. The two of them, with their four hands haphazardly covering each other's mouths, glared at each other, looking utterly embarrassed.
Having finally managed to let go, Li Qingmiao anxiously lowered her voice and asked, "Where are they now? Do you know?"
Li Changshui was also troubled: "If I had known, would I have needed to go downstairs to follow Wen Sheng?"
Li Qingmiao was exasperated: "Didn't he reveal anything?"
"I did reveal it," Li Changshui scratched the back of his head, "He said the third floor was good, and that I even went with him to scout the location, but when I just got there, there was nobody there!"
Li Qingmiao slapped her thigh and said decisively, "Then it's definitely not in the teaching building!"
Why?
"Use your brain, will you! What if a boy and a girl were sneaking around in the school building and got spotted by the seniors after class? Wen Sheng isn't that brave; she definitely wouldn't dare!"
After listening, Li Changshui felt that it made some sense, but he still scratched his head and asked, "But if it's not in the teaching building, where else could it be? The playground? The library? Or the dilapidated little garden behind the cafeteria?"
Li Qingmiao walked to the end of the corridor, put her hands behind her back, and reasoned like a detective: "The library is closed long ago, and the dilapidated garden behind the cafeteria has no lights and lots of bugs. How could Xu Jianing bear to let Wen Sheng go there?"
"As for the playground, that's even more impossible. That place is too open; any teacher on patrol could run into them, and the risk is too great."
Li Changshui was taken aback: "Oh my, your analysis is very logical, so where exactly are they?"
Li Qingmiao suddenly raised her hand, pointing her index finger in one direction: "That's it!"
Li Changshui looked in the direction she was pointing and exclaimed, "That? Isn't that the playground?"
"Wrong, wrong, wrong!" she shook her finger seriously, her eyes saying, "You're so stupid."
"Think about it, the center of the playground is definitely out of the question, the teacher would see it immediately, but the edge of the playground is fine! The old locust tree is so big, its branches and leaves will provide cover, it's practically a natural shelter when it gets dark!"
Li Changshui still frowned, remaining skeptical: "That place is close to the teaching office. Didn't you say Wen Sheng wouldn't dare to be discovered by the teachers?"
Li Qingmiao sneered, pointing her finger at the air: "What do you know! There's an old locust tree over there, so nobody can see anyone. Besides, they just installed two stone benches under the old locust tree, perfect for sitting and chatting. It's a hundred times more comfortable than this shabby garden you described!"
She paused, then added mysteriously, "And the head of the teaching department left work a long time ago. I saw him leave with a lunchbox at 5:50 today."
"Really? How do you know so much?" Li Changshui asked.
Li Qingmiao raised an eyebrow, beaming with pride: "Because my daily digestion route after meals is to watch whether he's taken that route or not!"
"Come on, let's go take a look." She eagerly pulled the other person away.
Under the old locust tree.
Wen Sheng jogged along, slightly bent over, her hands on her knees, slowly adjusting her breathing. Her chest rose and fell, and all that could be heard in the quiet was the rapid beating of her own heart.
I finally arrived before the agreed time. There were no lights near the playground, and I could only see the way by the faint light coming from the distant teaching building.
She looked up at the pitch-black surroundings and suddenly felt a little uneasy.
Could it be... that he didn't come?!
Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly heard faint footsteps coming from the other side of the locust tree. By the dim light of the teaching building in the distance, she could tell that it was a tall and slender figure walking towards her with long strides.
I stopped in my tracks when I stood in front of her.
They were very close, so close that Wen Sheng could even smell the faint scent of soap on Xu Jianing, a scent that only a young boy would have.
Xu Jianing said in a low voice, "I've found the best spot to admire the moon."
A sliver of moonlight peeked through the clouds and fell upon them, its soft silver glow carpeting his shoulders and landing on her eyelashes.
The moonlight stretched their shadows long, and they slowly drew closer on the ground, eventually overlapping under the old locust tree.
Where is the best spot for moon viewing?
Wen Sheng only needs to look up to meet Xu Jianing's gentle gaze.
He didn't answer immediately, but bent down slightly to be at eye level with her, his eyes filled with an indescribable youthful joy.
"The place where you are standing is it."
The wind rustled through the branches, stirring a few stray hairs at her temples. He instinctively reached out to brush them away, but stopped just before he touched them.
At such close proximity, where they could almost hear each other's breathing, a series of footsteps suddenly approached from afar, accompanied by intermittent voices.
Upon hearing the sound, Wen Sheng instinctively pulled Xu Jianing's hand and hid behind a tree.
The two hid behind the tree in such a cramped space that if she raised her head even slightly, her forehead would touch his chin, and their breaths would be filled with his warm exhalations.
She leaned against the tree trunk, not daring to move, clinging tightly to it. He half-supported himself in front of her, using his body to shield her.
Wen Sheng held her breath, not daring to look up, afraid that the other person would see through her inner thoughts.
Xu Jianing didn't move either. He looked down at her, his gaze falling on the slight rise and fall of her breath on the side of her neck. That inch of her snow-white neck was slightly red because of nervousness, and an indescribable emotion slowly surged up.
I want to... bury my face in her neck, even for just a second.
Her hand was still clasped around his.
He couldn't break free.
The footsteps grew closer to the old locust tree. Wen Sheng covered her mouth with one hand and Xu Jianing's mouth with the other, signaling the other to be quiet.
When her palm touched her lips, Xu Jianing raised an eyebrow.
Wen Sheng's heart raced even faster. She glared at him, but he showed no remorse whatsoever and deliberately gave a soft "hmm".
She pressed her hand down even tighter and whispered a warning: "Don't laugh."
A familiar voice came from behind them.
"Are you sure it's this tree?" It was Li Changshui's voice.
"It's late at night, and there are no lights around. These trees all look pretty much the same to me. Brother, are these locust trees?"
Li Qingmiao pointed to the tree: "I have a feeling it's over here. I really saw a figure just now."
A soft cough suddenly came from behind the tree.
Immediately afterwards, Xu Jianing came out, arms crossed, a smile playing on his lips: "Li Changshui, I didn't expect my smoke bomb to fail."
"What?" Li Changshui's eyes widened. "Didn't you say the third floor was the best spot? I stupidly stood there in the cold wind for half an hour waiting for you!"
“Yes,” Xu Jianing said, “but I didn’t say I wanted to admire the moon there.”
Li Changshui: "......"
Li Qingmiao didn't care about the fact that her brother had been tricked. She glanced around and asked Xu Jianing, "Where's Wen Sheng?"
A head popped out from behind the old locust tree.
"Wen Sheng, what are you doing here...?"
Wen Sheng cleared her throat: "Senior Xu said he would teach me how to observe celestial phenomena at night."
"Observing the celestial phenomena at night?" Li Changshui looked at Xu Jianing. "You can do that too? Then tell me, what are the celestial phenomena like today?"
Xu Jianing leaned against the tree trunk calmly, but her gaze never left Wen Sheng: "The moon is bright and the stars are few; it's a good time to make a wish."
"You're good at talking nonsense," Li Changshui retorted.
Wen Sheng looked up at the night sky, then at the people beside her, and suddenly smiled and said, "Since we're already here, why don't we enjoy the moon together?"
She pointed to the stone benches by the playground, "The view from there is good, and it's convenient to sit there."
Li Qingmiao immediately nodded: "I agree!"
"I don't mind either." Xu Jianing shrugged. Although she was annoyed by the interruption, she glanced at Li Changshui and thought: You'd better be sensible.
Li Changshui understood and gave him a hand gesture to indicate that he knew.
Li Qingmiao didn't care what cryptic messages they were exchanging, and pulled Wen Sheng to sit on the stone bench.
The group sat on the stone bench, with the silhouette of the old locust tree behind them and the full moon hanging high in the night sky above them.
Li Changshui broke the silence first, crossing his legs and swinging them, "How about we take turns telling stories about who believed in the moon legend when they were little?"
"Does Chang'e flying to the moon count?" Li Qingmiao interjected, "I actually wrote her a letter when I was a child."
"What did you write?" Li Changshui asked, intrigued. "Is it asking her to fly away with you, or to give you the Jade Rabbit?"
"Take me away right now... that way I won't have to take the final exam."
"Has anyone replied?" Wen Sheng asked.
Li Qingmiao sighed: "Yes, my mom replied. She said to study hard and not to think about running away. The letter was signed by the Guanghan Palace Education Department."
"What about you, brother?"
Li Changshui: "When I was a child, I believed that Chang'e would make me feel lonely, so I secretly came down to earth to eat the food my mother cooked."
"Then I would save food for her every Mid-Autumn Festival."
Everyone burst into laughter. Li Qingmiao smiled and said, "I can vouch for this. Every year on the second day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, there are always leftovers at home."
"What about you, Wen Xuemei?" Li Changshui asked.
“Me?” Wen Sheng thought for a moment, “I also wrote letters when I was a child.”
“I wrote to the moon, saying that if it could really hear me, I asked it to pluck a star from the sky and hide it in my pocket. After all, there are so many stars in the sky, one less won’t be noticed.”
"And what happened? Was the letter sent?" Li Qingmiao pressed.
“No, I burned it. My mother said that way it could see.” Wen Sheng shook her head.
Li Qingmiao: "......"
Li Changshui: "......"
Xu Jianing nodded. "No wonder I saw one less star in the sky that night."
Li Qingmiao: "......"
Li Changshui: "......"
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