Prologue—— The Fog Rolls In
The thick fog rolls in, and I hide secretly, loving you where no one can see; when the fog lifts, everyone knows I love you.
It was midsummer, right after the college entrance examination. Some were overjoyed, while others were drowned in sorrow—some got admitted to their dream universities, some fell short of expectations, and still more, hitting rock bottom, prepared to retake the exam the next year. Mu Lian was one of them. Once the top student in Xihe No. 2 High School, he had lost all his former glory, fallen from his pedestal, and was forced to repeat his senior year, becoming a topic of gossip among people.
How did Mu Lian feel on the day the college entrance exam results came out? Disappointed? Sad? Confused? Regretful? Maybe all of these, or perhaps... even he himself didn’t know. All he knew was that he had performed terribly. This score would only get him into an ordinary first-tier university, a blow he had never imagined.
That day, he locked himself in his room, sat on the bed with his heavy head bowed, brows furrowed and eyes closed, saying not a word. Thoughts raced through his mind:
“I shouldn’t have been so foolish to start that relationship.”
Mu Lian’s brows knitted tighter. He let out a quiet sigh and muttered to himself:
“Maybe I was wrong from the very beginning... Girls... they really are terrifying creatures...”
Back when Mu Lian was a freshman in senior high, he had always been the top student in his grade in every exam. Besides, he was handsome and good at playing basketball, making him very popular among girls. So, when he was a sophomore, the school beauty confessed her love to him. However, Mu Lian didn’t agree immediately because of her beauty. Instead, he said:
“If you can get into the top 40 of the grade, I’ll be with you.”
It’s important to note that the school beauty only had unparalleled looks among all the girls in the school. Academically, she was not good at studying, nor was she willing to put in the effort. She thought that as long as she was beautiful enough, she would be popular and have a crowd of boys pursuing her—after all, boys were all the same in her eyes.
Surprisingly, the school beauty agreed just for Mu Lian. From that day on, she studied desperately. Finally, in the final exam, she made great progress and ranked 38th in the school. Mu Lian kept his promise, and naturally, they got together.
They dated from the second half of his sophomore year to the first half of his junior year—their relationship was short-lived. The reason? The school beauty grew tired of Mu Lian’s dull personality. He was too conservative, which was extremely boring for the school beauty who had always loved having fun. She didn’t point it out directly, and coincidentally, Mu Lian didn’t realize it either. Until one day...
“Let’s break up,” the school beauty said coldly.
"Why?!" Mu Lian asked in shock. Indeed, he hadn’t realized at all how boring he was in the school beauty’s eyes—after all, he had taken this relationship with complete earnestness.
But the school beauty only said, "Actually... I’m a lesbian."
This single sentence hit Mu Lian hard. A lesbian? Then why had she gotten together with him in the first place? Was she just toying with him?
Mu Lian didn’t say anything more. After all, when one person grows tired of the other and no longer harbors affection, no amount of effort from the other side to save the relationship will help. Mu Lian was inherently shy and quiet, and he rarely interacted with girls. From that moment on, he began to develop a fear of women.
Chapter 1 — The Repeat Class
It was late summer when Mu Lian arrived at a local repeat class. On his first day of registration, he casually took a low-key seat. As people came and went, he watched others settle in pairs, leaving only the spot beside him empty. He thought to himself: Good, that’s exactly what I want. Just a few minutes before class started, a gentle girl’s voice rang out:
“Excuse me, is this seat taken?”
The girl was wearing a white dress, exuding tranquility. She held a British-style bag and looked at him with a polite smile.
Mu Lian froze for a moment before replying: “N-no, it’s not.” With that, he hung his head. After the girl sat down next to him, he bowed even lower.
At that moment, Qi Yan took the initiative to greet him: “Hi there! I’m Qi Yan. Nice to meet you?”
Too shy to look up, Mu Lian replied: “I-I’m Mu Lian.” It was obvious in his voice that he was a little flustered, but Qi Yan said nothing about it.
Soon, the class bell rang, and the teacher walked in. She first asked everyone to introduce themselves. Since Qi Yan and Mu Lian sat at the back, they were among the last to go.
When it was Qi Yan’s turn to stand up, whispers broke out across the class. Mu Lian couldn’t make out what they were saying, but he found their reaction strange. He glanced up at Qi Yan and saw that she was just smiling softly, as if she couldn’t hear the noise.
“Hello everyone, I’m Qi Yan,” she said, then turned to write her name on the blackboard. Meanwhile, the whispers grew louder, and Mu Lian gradually caught snippets:
“Oh my god, that’s Qi Yan?”
“Why is she in the repeat class too? Isn’t she really good?”
“You didn’t hear? She…”
By then, Qi Yan had finished writing her name on the blackboard. When she turned around, the class immediately fell silent. Qi Yan said nothing, showing no reaction at all.
“I hope we can get along well in the future,” she said, then stepped down from the podium and returned to her seat, her face calm and expressionless, as if the whispers had never existed. At that moment, Mu Lian was filled with confusion and curiosity about this girl.
When it was Mu Lian’s turn to introduce himself on stage, he clearly heard someone say: “See that? That’s the former top student from Hexi No.2 High School.” Another voice replied: “Huh? How did he end up having to repeat a year too?” Then, snickering, the first person added: “In my opinion, these so-called top students are just mirages floating on the sea. They can study a bit when the content is easy and get good grades, but once the knowledge gets harder, they’re just average. In the end, it’s all illusory! Hahahaha… Tsk, what are you doing?!”
Qi Yan hit his shoulder lightly with her book, cutting off his arrogant yet somewhat restrained laughter (since they were still in class). She smiled and said: “Could you please keep your voice down? I can barely hear what the person on stage is saying.”
The boy rolled his eyes and retorted: “Why do you care if you can’t hear? I’ll say whatever I want.” Pausing for a moment, he added: “Wait, you’re that Qi Yan, right? Oh~ no wonder…” He had a sneering look on his face, but before he could finish his insulting words, Mu Lian finished his introduction and stepped down. The teacher urged: “Next student, hurry up!” So the boy was forced to go on stage before he could say anything more offensive.
After the self-introductions, they started a day of intense problem-solving—such is Chinese-style education. When the evening self-study bell rang, the hellish day of review finally came to an end.
After school, Mu Lian went to the bus stop and found Qi Yan waiting there too. He hesitated whether to greet her, but Qi Yan spoke first: “Hi! Which bus do you take?”
“Ah, hi,” Mu Lian said, clearly shy and stammering. “I-I take Bus No.2… What about you?” He didn’t even dare to look Qi Yan in the eye as he spoke.
“What a coincidence! I take Bus No.2 too, but I get off two stops later. Let’s wait together,” Qi Yan said. “By the way, Mu Lian, which high school did you go to before?” She turned around, looking at him with a gentle smile, waiting for his answer. But when Qi Yan turned to look at him, she clearly saw Mu Lian lower his head quickly in that split second.
“Huh? I-I went to Hexi No.2 High School.”
“No.2 High School… I was from No.1 High School before.”
As soon as he heard “No.1 High School,” Mu Lian’s first thought was: Wow, that’s amazing! No.1 High School is the best in our area!
“Wow, that’s… really impressive,” Mu Lian mumbled awkwardly.
Qi Yan smiled and replied: “A lot of people think No.1 High School is amazing, but honestly, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal…” As she said this, she stared ahead with a faint, bitter smile, lost in thought.
Just then, the bus arrived.
“Come on, let’s get on,” Qi Yan said, picking up her handbag and boarding the bus. She found a seat near the front and sat down, while Mu Lian took a seat towards the back of the carriage. After two stops, Mu Lian watched Qi Yan get off the bus. She smiled and waved at him, signaling “goodbye.” This time, Mu Lian looked up, smiled back, and waved at Qi Yan, mouthing “see you tomorrow.”
When Mu Lian got home, he lay lazily on his bed, recalling everything that had happened that day. He thought: Does Qi Yan have some unknown past? But sitting next to her, she seemed really nice.
“Ring ring ring—”
Just then, Mu Lian’s phone rang. He picked it up and saw a message from an unknown sender: “Fog shrouds all around; I cannot see you. Yet I love you in the hidden place.” Mu Lian was confused, thinking it was a message from some marketing account, so he ignored it. He was about to put his phone aside when a friend request popped up: “Hello, this is Qi Yan.” Mu Lian’s fingers froze for a moment before he clicked “accept.”
In the next second, a “Hello” greeting sticker appeared on the screen—it was from Qi Yan. Out of politeness, Mu Lian replied with a “Hello” sticker too.
“We’ll be deskmates from now on. Please take care of me. I hope we both get into our dream universities this time.”
“Okay, please take care of me too, Qi Yan.” After sending this message, Mu Lian put his phone aside. Exhausted from the intense day of studying, he slowly closed his eyes.
Chapter 2: The Displaced Morning Fog
When the alarm’s buzz pierced his ears, Mu Lian woke to sunlight— not the warm yellow lamp in his bedroom from last night, but summer-morning heat spilling through the curtain gap onto his desk.
“Xiao Lian, wake up! You can’t be late for No.1 High’s morning study session!” His mom’s voice, laced with the scent of fried eggs, burst through the door. “You just transferred to No.1 High yesterday; make a good impression on the teachers on your first day!”
Mu Lian shot up, his pajama top damp with cold sweat. He stared at the nightstand— no folder stuffed with mock exam papers, just a well-worn High School Math Compulsory 1 and Compulsory 2, with “Mu Lian” scrawled on the covers in his high school pencil handwriting.
“Transferred to No.1 High?” He threw off the quilt and stepped barefoot onto the cool floor. “Mom, wasn’t I in the repeat class?”
His mom carried in a glass of milk, set it on the desk, and tapped his forehead. “What nonsense? We just pulled strings to transfer you from No.2 High to No.1 last semester. You even said you’d study hard.”
Mu Lian didn’t argue— he saw the calendar taped to the wardrobe: August 31st, two years ago. Meaning he was about to start his second year of high school.
On the sink rack, his old chipped toothbrush stood neatly; the electric one might as well have never existed. Mu Lian squeezed the handle, his fingertips brushing the familiar frayed bristles. Suddenly, he thought of Qi Yan’s “nice to meet you” message from last night, and his heart sank.
By the time he grabbed his new backpack emblazoned with the No.1 High logo, his mom was still fussing at the door: “No.1 High moves fast. Stick close to Qi Yan— she’s your class monitor. I talked to her mom yesterday; she’s steady and thoughtful.”
“Qi Yan?” Mu Lian froze on the steps.
“Right, you’re deskmates,” his mom waved. “Hurry! The No.2 bus only takes two stops to No.1 High!”
Mu Lian clutched the backpack strap at the bus stop, summer wind carrying the scent of breakfast stalls. He stared at “No.1 High” on the sign, his fingers curling into a fist in his pocket— this was the “No.1 High” he’d only heard about two years prior, and Qi Yan… in this timeline, they’d never crossed paths.
When the bus pulled up, Mu Lian squeezed on with the crowd. Looking up, he spotted a girl in a white dress by the back window— her hair tied loosely with a ribbon, an open English book in her hand. Her profile was identical to yesterday’s Qi Yan, but her eyes held no trace of the repeat class’s forced smiles, only the clean brightness of a young girl. To Mu Lian, this Qi Yan was even prettier than the one in the repeat class.
This was Qi Yan from this timeline.
Mu Lian’s steps faltered in the aisle, his eyes lighting up. “Is this the high school version of Qi Yan?”
He was about to walk over and sit beside her when two boys rushed on, flustered. One grumbled: “Damn, we almost missed it.” At the sound, Qi Yan buried her head lower. The boy looked around the bus, spotted Qi Yan immediately, and darted past Mu Lian to sit beside her.
“Wow, such a good student— still reading English?” he drawled, slouching.
Qi Yan ignored him, not even lifting her head, just wanting him to leave, pretending not to know him.
The boy huffed in boredom. “So cold.” He reached for her book, but Mu Lian stepped forward and caught his hand. “This is a bus. Let’s watch our behavior, yeah?”
The boy glared at Mu Lian, confused and disdainful. “Who do you think you are, meddling?” He stood to start a fight, but the commotion caught the driver’s attention. “Students! No roughhousing on the bus— it’s dangerous!”
The boy was about to retort when the bus jolted to a sudden stop, nearly throwing him. His friend rushed to steady him: “Ze Ge, careful!” But “Ze Ge” steadied himself, waved his friend off, and realized tangling with Mu Lian wasn’t worth it. He wrenched his hand free, leaned in menacingly: “Fine, I’ll remember your face— brave, I’ll give you that.” He rolled his eyes, walked to the front of the bus, and sat down. His friend fussed over him like a servant, patting his clothes obsequiously.
After the boys left, the chaos faded. Mu Lian turned from “Ze Ge’s” back to Qi Yan— her fingers were dug into the book’s corner, knuckles white, the page crumpled. Her face was hidden by her hair.
“Are you okay?” Mu Lian softened his voice, as if afraid to startle a cornered butterfly.
Qi Yan seemed to snap out of a trance, her lashes fluttering as she looked up. Her eyes were still faintly red, but she forced a soft smile, her voice barely a whisper: “I-I’m fine… thank you.”
Mu Lian sat in the empty seat beside her, keeping half a fist’s distance from her uniform pants. He rested his fingertips on his knee, casual as if chatting: “That guy seemed pretty rough. Are you classmates? If he bothers you often, I can help.”
Qi Yan’s grip on the book tightened, her thumb scraping the paper. She stared at the word “grammar” in her textbook, her lashes hiding her expression. “Just a classmate— he’s always messing around… really, no trouble needed.” She glanced up quickly— her eyes still pink, like wind-kissed crabapple petals.
Mu Lian noticed the pink spreading up her ears. He knew it was more than “messing around,” but he didn’t push it. Tapping the seat back, he changed the subject: “Are you previewing? Your notes are so detailed— you’ve got all the words down.”
Qi Yan blinked, surprised by the shift. “Yeah,” she mumbled, pulling the book closer. The pink spread from her ears to her jaw, even her neck flushing.
The bus curved, sunlight slipping through the window onto her clasped hands. Mu Lian suddenly felt the stifling summer heat lighten, softened by that quiet “yeah.”
Then Qi Yan spoke: “Oh, I’m Qi Yan. What’s your name?”
In that moment, Mu Lian remembered their first meeting, her wave at the bus stop last night, her words: “Hope we both get into our dream universities.” His throat tightened before he found his voice: “I’m Mu Lian.”
He didn’t say “nice to meet you,” didn’t mention the repeat class— this timeline’s Qi Yan didn’t know the quiet, heads-down version of him.
When the bus stopped, Qi Yan grabbed her backpack and stood, smiling. “Come on, Mu Lian— don’t be late for the first day.”
Mu Lian followed her off the bus. Morning light settled on her white dress like soft fog. He thought of last night’s strange text: “Fog rises; I can’t see you.” It wasn’t spam— it was a preview, wrapped in the folds of time.
This Qi Yan didn’t know him yet, but he knew another Qi Yan waited for him in the repeat class, on the other side of the fog.
For now, though, he just followed the white dress through No.1 High’s gate.
Chapter 3: The Misplaced Desk
The morning light, wrapped in the lingering warmth of late summer, spilled over the gate of No. 1 High School. Qi Yan walked ahead with an English book in her arms, her school uniform skirt brushing the shadows on the steps. She suddenly turned her head, the ribbon at the end of her hair fluttering: "By the way, which grade and class are you in?"
Mu Lian tightened his grip on the backpack strap and quickened his pace to keep up: "Senior Two, Class 1."
Qi Yan paused, a trace of confusion flashing in her eyes—she looked up at Mu Lian, her eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings: "I’m in Senior Two, Class 1 too, but I don’t think I’ve seen you before?"
"I’m a new transfer student, just arrived today," Mu Lian hastily explained, his fingertips brushing the school emblem on his backpack. "The paperwork was only finished yesterday."
"Oh," Qi Yan replied softly, nodding gently, and a soft smile tugged at the corner of her mouth again: "Then we’re classmates. That’s nice."
As they walked into the teaching building, Mu Lian suddenly stopped: "I need to go to the bathroom first. See you in class?" Qi Yan nodded and said "Okay," then turned into the classroom at the end of the corridor with her books in her arms.
Mu Lian had just stepped into a bathroom stall when the floor tiles beneath his feet suddenly glowed with a faint white light—a tiny, starlight-wrapped figure "swished" and floated in front of him, flapping transparent wings: "Don’t panic, don’t panic! I’m the Time Spirit!"
Mu Lian was startled, pressing his back against the stall door: "What… are you?"
"I’m a spirit!" The little creature spun around, and specks of light landed on the back of his hand. "This time dislocation happened because of your obsession—don’t you always regret it, thinking ‘I shouldn’t have fallen in love back then; if I could do it over, I’d just focus on studying’?"
Mu Lian’s Adam’s apple rolled sharply—those words hit the thought he’d hidden under piles of review papers in the repeat class: his puppy love in senior year had disrupted his rhythm, and in the end, his score had only barely crossed the undergraduate line. During the forced repeat year, he’d thought countless times, "If only I could start over."
"So time sent you here," the spirit flapped its wings, its tone light and cheerful. "This journey will end when you completely let go of this obsession."
Mu Lian stared at the starlight on his fingertips, and suddenly thought of Qi Yan in the repeat class—back then, she’d always stared out the window and said, "I really wish I could go back to high school and start over…"
"I see," he rubbed his brows and said with a faint smile. "I’ll try."
The spirit let out a cheerful chirp, and the specks of light scattered in an instant. The bathroom returned to its ordinary white-tiled appearance.
At that moment, Mu Lian checked his watch and realized class was about to start. He hurriedly finished in the bathroom and rushed to the classroom. The morning study bell had just rung, and the noisy chatter in the classroom suddenly died down, as if someone had flipped a switch. When Mu Lian reached the door, he saw the head teacher standing on the podium—she also caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at him.
The head teacher pushed up her glasses: "Everyone, be quiet. This is our new transfer student, Mu Lian, from No. 2 High School. You can sit next to Qi Yan."
As Mu Lian walked to his seat, he heard two girls in the front row whispering—their voices were low, but just loud enough to reach his ears:
"Why is someone sitting next to her again? Don’t they find her unlucky?"
"Who knows? They’ll definitely move seats in a few days."
He glanced at Qi Yan. She was bowing her head, flipping through her English book, her fingertips tracing the letters of the words. Her profile was calm, as if she hadn’t heard the whispers. Not even her eyelashes trembled—only the knuckles of her hand holding the pen turned a little whiter than before.
Mu Lian slid his backpack into the desk compartment and deliberately placed his books on the desk with a soft "thud"—not too loud, but just enough to interrupt the whispers. The girls in the front row froze, glared at him, and then reluctantly turned back around.
Qi Yan seemed to snap out of her daze, looked up at Mu Lian, and a faint trace of surprise flickered in her eyes. Then she smiled softly: "Thank you."
"It’s nothing," Mu Lian placed his pencil case on the corner of the desk. "We’re deskmates now—we should look out for each other."
He noticed a small line of words written in fountain pen on the title page of Qi Yan’s textbook: "Quiet people must catch their own shadows." The handwriting was neat and elegant, but there were faint marks where it had been erased.
The chirping of cicadas outside the window drifted in with the hot wind. Mu Lian suddenly understood—Qi Yan in this timeline was using her silent profile to bear the malice she didn’t deserve. And his "second chance" might not just be for his own exam papers, but also to shield this girl in the white dress from those small, sharp winds of cruelty. Deep down, he was even willing to protect this Qi Yan in this timeline.
The afternoon PE class was shrouded in hot wind. As soon as the whistle blew to dismiss the class, the students scattered in all directions—some rushed to the playground with basketballs in their arms, others sat by the side sharing snacks. The noise flooded the plastic track like a tide. Only Qi Yan, sitting under the old pagoda tree, was like a forgotten spot of light.
She sat under the shade with her knees hugged to her chest, twisting the folds of her school uniform skirt with her fingertips. Her eyes were fixed on the frolicking crowd not far away, and her lips were pressed into a faint smile, but even the movement of standing up seemed awkward. The wind lifted the ends of her hair, the ribbon fluttered, and then fell again.
When Mu Lian walked over holding a badminton racket, he just happened to see her secretly plucking a pagoda tree petal from her shoulder and holding it in her palm.
"Do you want to play badminton with me?" He held out the other racket, his shadow covering the spot of light above her head. "I just learned—need an opponent."
Qi Yan looked up suddenly, and when she saw it was Mu Lian, the corners of her eyes turned a little red—she seemed unexpected that someone would talk to her. She curled her fingers, took the racket, and smiled: "Sure, but I’m not very good at it."
"It’s okay, I’m not good either," Mu Lian squatted down to pick up a badminton that had rolled to his feet. "We’ll just play for fun."
He had just tossed the shuttlecock into the air when he heard several deliberately loud laughs from not far away:
"Oh, so she finally found someone to play with?"
"Pretending to be so aloof, and now she’s clinging to someone else?"
Those voices were like tiny needles, making the air feel stagnant. Qi Yan’s movement of swinging the racket paused, and the racket almost slipped from her hand.
Pretending not to hear, Mu Lian hit the shuttlecock over, his tone as casual as chatting about the weather: "Serve gently, I can’t catch hard ones."
Qi Yan watched the shuttlecock brush past his racket and fall to the ground, and suddenly smiled—a real, bright smile that crinkled the corners of her eyes, not the soft, ingratiating one from before. She picked up the shuttlecock, raised her wrist slightly, and the shuttlecock flew over in a shallow arc: "Then you’d better catch it!"
The wind, carrying the fragrance of pagoda tree flowers, blew over, softening the sound of the pointing and whispering. Mu Lian stared at Qi Yan’s skirt fluttering as she swung the racket, and suddenly thought of her in the repeat class—back then, she’d even hidden in the classroom doing exercises during PE class, saying "I don’t like sports," but in fact, she was afraid of being alone like an isolated island.
But now, this girl was holding a badminton racket, hitting all that malice into the wind as the shuttlecock soared.
He caught the shuttlecock and shouted with a smile: "I lose this round! One more?"
Qi Yan nodded faster than before, and the ribbon at the end of her hair fluttered in a lively arc. The pointing and whispering in the distance hadn’t stopped, but her eyes were now shining brightly.
Chapter 4: Rumors and True Hearts
Halfway through the recess bell, the classroom hadn’t fully erupted into chaos. Mu Lian had just stood up to get some water when two boys blocked his way, one on each side.
"Mu Lian, wait a second, we need to talk to you," said Zhu Ming, the underling of "Brother Ze" he’d met on the bus earlier. Tall and imposing, his tone carried an unspoken insistence. "Can we step aside for a minute?"
Mu Lian frowned, his gaze instinctively drifting to Qi Yan at her desk—she was bowing her head, organizing her math notes, the ribbon at the end of her hair dangling over the edge, so quiet she seemed unaware of the commotion. He hesitated for two seconds, then followed the two boys out of the classroom and into the stairwell at the end of the corridor.
The stairwell was unlit, with only a few streaks of sunlight squeezing through the window cracks, falling on the dusty steps. Besides Zhu Ming, three other boys were there, and standing in the middle was none other than "Brother Ze." They blocked the entrance, as if deliberately preventing anyone from entering or leaving.
"What do you want?" Mu Lian leaned against the cold wall, his voice calm.
"Brother Ze" crossed his arms, looking at him disdainfully. "You’re Mu Lian, right? We’ve met before, though it wasn’t a pleasant encounter. But never mind that—better to tell you than let you be kept in the dark." He paused, then introduced himself formally. "I’m Liu Fengze. I’m here to warn you: don’t get too close to Qi Yan. That girl isn’t as nice as she seems."
A boy with glasses beside him chipped in immediately: "Exactly! She looks gentle, but she’s actually very scheming—a total playgirl. Several boys in the school are chasing her, but she neither accepts nor rejects them, stringing them along like this. She really enjoys being the center of attention."
"And she’s weird," another boy sneered, curling his lip. "She’s polite to everyone, but she always keeps to herself, never getting close to anyone. Who knows what she’s thinking? We all can’t be bothered with her. You’re new here, so don’t be fooled by her act."
The boys took turns talking, spinning their made-up rumors so convincingly that they sounded like firsthand accounts, their tones brimming with contempt and certainty.
Mu Lian listened silently, not interrupting. Instead, his mind flashed with images: Qi Yan clutching her English book on the bus, the corners of her eyes red; the words "Quiet people must catch their own shadows" written on the title page of her textbook; the bright, sparkling light in her eyes as she swung the badminton racket during PE class. These little moments felt a million times more real than the malicious speculations in front of him.
After they finished speaking, the stairwell fell silent for a few seconds, broken only by the intermittent chirping of cicadas outside the window.
"Done?" Mu Lian looked up, his gaze falling on the PE monitor, his voice steady and unwavering. "I won’t easily believe such words."
Zhu Ming was stunned, not expecting this reaction. "What do you mean? We’re just trying to look out for you! Don’t come crying to us when she plays you for a fool."
"I appreciate the concern, but I only believe what I’ve experienced firsthand," Mu Lian stood up straight, taking a step forward, his eyes sweeping over each boy present. "The Qi Yan I know is kind, gentle, and extremely diligent. She’s never actively provoked anyone; instead, she’s been silently enduring a lot of undeserved malice."
He paused, his voice deepening with unshakable conviction. "Don’t judge someone without knowing the whole story. You’ve never truly gotten to know her, yet you’re quick to condemn her based on rumors—that’s the most unacceptable thing of all."
With that, Mu Lian ignored their shocked expressions, pushed his way through the crowd, opened the stairwell door, and walked back into the corridor. The sunlight fell on his shoulders, dispelling much of the gloom from the stairwell.
Inside the stairwell, the boys stared at each other in disbelief.
"Is he stupid? We’re trying to help him, and he’s ungrateful."
"I don’t get it—what spell did Qi Yan cast on him?"
"Forget it, let him be. He’ll regret it sooner or later."
They muttered a few more complaints, then finally left dejectedly.
When Mu Lian returned to the classroom, Qi Yan happened to look up. Seeing him, she smiled softly, as if by habit. "Where were you? The teacher asked for you earlier."
"I went to get some water; there was a long line," Mu Lian smiled, placing a glass of warm water on her desk. "I brought you one too."
Qi Yan was surprised, quickly taking the glass. The coolness of the cup against her fingertips made her heart feel warm. She took a small sip, her ears quietly blushing, and whispered, "Thank you."
Mu Lian didn’t mention the rumors; he just sat back down, opened his math textbook, and couldn’t help but glance at Qi Yan’s profile. He suddenly realized that instead of getting caught up in baseless rumors, protecting the light in this girl’s eyes was the most important thing he could do with his "second chance."
On his way home from school, the late summer evening breeze carried a hint of coolness, but it couldn’t dispel the heaviness in Mu Lian’s heart. When he got home, he put down his backpack and, almost instinctively, opened the school’s "All-Purpose Wall" on his phone—a platform where students could anonymously complain and share trivial matters. He rarely paid attention to it, but today, he felt an inexplicable urge to check it.
As soon as he refreshed the page, a series of malicious posts jumped out at him, their titles blunt and harsh: "Qi Yan from Class 1, Senior Two, is so disgusting," "Who else thinks she’s a fake gentle white lotus?" "Does no one else think Qi Yan is cheap?"
Opening them, the content was even more abhorrent—filled with insults like "She’s so fake," "Looking at her makes me sick," and "Is it fun stringing people along?" There were no specific examples, only pure venting and abuse, the oppressive tone almost oozing through the screen.
Mu Lian clenched his phone tightly, his knuckles turning white. His chest felt tight, a mix of anger and frustration. He thought of Qi Yan’s always quiet profile, her soft "It’s okay" when being bullied, and the rare bright light in her eyes when playing badminton—so this was the life she’d been living, surrounded by such pervasive malice when he wasn’t looking. "So this is what Qi Yan went through before?" he whispered to himself, a wave of heartache washing over him.
Without hesitation, he clicked on each post attacking Qi Yan and typed a serious reply: "Malicious speculation without evidence is the most tasteless act. She’s a very gentle person—stop hurting others with your prejudice." "Don’t judge someone without knowing the whole story. Put away your malice."
But within minutes, his replies were flooded with harsh retorts: "Oh, look, Qi Yan’s little lackey—still counting money for her after being played." "Pretending to be a hero, are you? Must’ve fallen for her fake gentleness." "Mind your own business—you just want to be strung along too, don’t you?"
Looking at the unsavory comments, Mu Lian felt a surge of anger, followed by a sense of absurdity. Arguing with people who hid behind screens, attacking others with malice, was completely meaningless. He took a deep breath, closed the All-Purpose Wall, and threw his phone aside, but the heaviness in his heart didn’t lift at all.
Leaning back in his chair, he replayed the insults against Qi Yan in his mind, then continued scrolling aimlessly. Suddenly, a name caught his eye—Yi Xin. Most of the posts were confessions and praises: "Yi Xin from Class 1, Senior Two is so beautiful—does anyone have her contact info?" "Got rejected by Yi Xin, but she’s really gentle," "Am I the only one who thinks Yi Xin is both pretty and lovely?"
Mu Lian stared at the screen, his confusion growing deeper. He knew Yi Xin—she was a girl in his class, beautiful and gentle, somewhat similar to Qi Yan. She was surrounded by even more suitors than Qi Yan, yet she also never accepted any of their confessions.
Why, then, did Yi Xin receive praise and respect for being popular and turning down confessions, while Qi Yan had to endure so much unwarranted abuse and slander?
The sky outside gradually darkened, and the light from the street lamps filtered through the window, falling on Mu Lian’s face, reflecting the deep confusion and faint heartache in his eyes. His desire to save Qi Yan grew stronger than ever.
Chapter 5: The Light on the Wish Wall
On Wednesday's class meeting, sunlight filtered through the window panes, casting tiny, fragmented spots of light on the classroom's white wall. The homeroom teacher walked in holding a stack of colorful sticky notes, waving them with a smile: "We won't have a lecture this class. Instead, let's write down our wishes—they don't have to be grand, and don't be shy. Jot down the thing you most want to achieve, then stick it on the wish wall at the back. When we graduate, we'll come back and check; maybe all our wishes will have come true."
The sticky notes were passed out one by one, their vibrant colors glowing softly in the sunlight. The classroom was filled with the rustle of pen tips gliding across paper—some students bit their pen caps, deep in thought, while others wrote quickly, their faces brimming with undisguised longing.
Mu Lian held a blue sticky note, his pen hovering above the paper. The first thoughts that popped into his mind were the mountain of review papers from his repeat year, and the goal he'd whispered to himself countless nights. Without hesitation, he wrote: "Get into Anxi Jiaotong University, keep playing basketball, and become a forward on Anxi Jiaotong's team." It was the exact same wish he'd written during his repeat year, word for word.
After finishing that line, he instinctively glanced sideways at Qi Yan beside him—she was bowing her head, her long hair falling on either side of her face, hiding most of it, leaving only a slender, fair neck exposed. Her pen moved slowly across the pink sticky note, her movements gentle as if afraid of disturbing something.
Mu Lian's heart skipped a beat. He looked away, staring at the blank space on his own note. Suddenly, he remembered the way her eyes had been red-rimmed on the bus, the loneliness of her sitting alone under the pagoda tree, and all the baseless, malicious rumors. His pen paused, then he added another line, his handwriting lighter than before but infinitely earnest: "Take good care of my family, and live an ordinary life."
He smoothed out the sticky note, feeling a sudden sense of peace in his heart—this time dislocation might not just be for him to make up for his academic regrets, but also to learn to cherish the simple warmth around him and protect those who deserved to be treated with kindness.
Just then, the teacher urged everyone to stick their wishes on the wall at the back. Mu Lian stood up and saw Qi Yan already holding her note, hesitating to step forward. He walked over and gently tapped her arm: "Shall we go together?"
Qi Yan froze, looked up at him, a flash of panic in her eyes, then nodded. She followed him to the wish wall at the back of the classroom.
The wall was already covered with numerous sticky notes, a riot of colors like a small flower bed. Mu Lian stood on his tiptoes and stuck his blue note near the middle, right next to Qi Yan's pink one.
He glanced at her wish inadvertently—it only had one sentence, her neat handwriting looking a little thin: "Get into my dream university."
No extra words, no other visions for the future, just this simple yet heavy wish. Mu Lian felt a twinge of sadness in his heart. He suddenly understood that for Qi Yan, getting into her dream university was probably not just an academic pursuit, but a hope to escape all this malice and run toward a brand-new life.
After sticking up their wishes, everyone returned to their seats, and the class meeting drew to a close. As soon as the school bell rang, the classroom emptied in an instant, the noise fading quickly down the corridor.
Qi Yan packed her schoolbag but didn't leave immediately—she was on duty that day. Looking at the empty classroom, she slowly walked to the wish wall, her gaze stopping on the two adjacent sticky notes.
Her eyes fell on Mu Lian's blue note, reading each word carefully, her expression softening gradually. Especially when she saw the last line, "Take good care of my family, and live an ordinary life," her eyelashes fluttered slightly, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"Take good care of my family... That's my wish too..." she whispered softly, gently touching the blue sticky note, a warm smile spreading across her face.
The sky outside gradually darkened, and the afterglow of the setting sun streamed through the window, gilding the wish wall with a warm golden light. Qi Yan stood there, staring at the two notes for a long time.
Something seemed to be flickering in her eyes, like starlight, or maybe tears, blurring the words on the paper. No one knew what she was thinking then—whether she envied Mu Lian for having clear goals and warm expectations, or if she was silently making a wish in her heart, hoping that she too could live an ordinary yet stable life like he'd written.
Perhaps, she was also looking forward to someone accompanying her until the day their wishes came true.
The classroom was eerily quiet, only the setting sun's light dancing on the tips of her hair, stretching her lonely shadow long and thin—just long enough to fall right next to Mu Lian's wish.
Later, she took out one of her own sticky notes and wrote: "Go home, to see my family."
When the school bell rang the next day, Mu Lian packed his bag as usual. He hesitated for a moment, about to ask Qi Yan to walk home together, but to his surprise, she turned to him first. The ribbon at the end of her hair fluttered gently, and there was a faint smile in her eyes: "Mu Lian, do you want to go home together today?"
Mu Lian froze, then a wave of warmth surged in his heart. He nodded with a smile: "Sure."
This time, Qi Yan didn't walk quietly ahead as she used to, but walked side by side with him, her steps much lighter. As they walked out of the teaching building, the late summer evening breeze carried the fragrance of sycamore leaves from the roadside, brushing her long hair and dispersing the slight shyness between her brows.
"Do you really want to get into Anxi Jiaotong University?" Qi Yan suddenly asked, her tone as casual as chatting about the weather. "I heard their basketball team is really good—it must be hard to become a forward, right?"
Mu Lian looked sideways at her, noticing the natural smile on her lips and the brightness in her eyes, no longer the timid look she used to have. "Yeah, I didn't work hard enough in my third year of high school. Now I want to give it my all." He paused, suddenly realizing—he was only in his second year now! He'd traveled back in time; he hadn't even reached his third year yet. Oops. He glanced at Qi Yan, but she didn't seem to notice anything odd about his words. She just looked at him with her usual smile. Soon, he smiled again and asked, "What about your dream university?"
Qi Yan's steps paused, a flash of longing in her eyes, then she smiled softly: "I'm not sure yet, but I want to go to the north. It snows there in winter, and I've never seen real heavy snow."
"The snow in the north is really beautiful," Mu Lian echoed. "When we get into university, I'll take you to see it."
As soon as the words left his mouth, both of them froze. Qi Yan's ears instantly turned pink, but instead of lowering her head as she usually would, she just nodded slightly, her voice soft but firm: "Okay."
They talked a lot on the way—about the math problems they hadn't understood in class, their favorite teachers, the most delicious dishes in the cafeteria, and even funny stories about being scolded by their parents for being naughty as kids. Qi Yan spoke more and more, occasionally letting out a soft laugh at Mu Lian's jokes. Her laughter was as clear as wind chimes, drifting in the evening breeze, extremely pleasant to hear.
Passing the stationery store at the school gate, Qi Yan suddenly stopped and pointed at the badminton rackets in the window: "Shall we play badminton together again in PE class next time?"
"Sure," Mu Lian looked at the bright light in her eyes and nodded earnestly. "I'll practice hard this time, so I won't lose to you by so much."
Qi Yan couldn't help laughing, the fine lines at the corners of her eyes crinkling like a lake surface ruffled by the spring breeze. She no longer deliberately avoided other people's gazes. Even when passing several classmates who gave them strange looks, she just kept a soft smile on her face and continued chatting with Mu Lian.
When they reached the bus stop, while waiting for the bus, Mu Lian suddenly remembered his doubts from the All-Purpose Wall the day before. He hesitated for a moment, then asked: "Yi Xin... are you close to her usually?"
Qi Yan froze, then shook her head gently: "Not really. She's very popular and always has a lot of friends around her." Her tone was neither envious nor jealous, just a faint calm.
Looking at her calm expression, Mu Lian suddenly felt relieved. Perhaps Qi Yan had long known the difference between herself and Yi Xin, but she had never complained—she just silently endured all the unfair malice.
The bus slowly pulled up to the stop. They got on together and sat in their usual seats by the window at the back. The setting sun's light streamed through the window, casting a particularly gentle glow on Qi Yan's profile and her smile.
Mu Lian suddenly felt that this time journey seemed to be slowly drifting away from his original "obsession." He no longer only thought about getting into Anxi Jiaotong University to make up for his past regrets. Instead, he began to look forward to accompanying the girl beside him through this dark period of time, and moving toward a future with snow, sunshine, and each other.
Their relationship grew closer and closer through these relaxed chats and side-by-side walks—like two once-lonely stars finally finding each other's light in the vast night sky.
