“Lie down and tell me slowly. Which boy in your class is it?”
How was she supposed to tell Miao Bai that there wasn’t any boy at all? This really was a dilemma for the ages.
The one I’m thinking of is you.
She couldn’t say it out loud.
Even though you’re right here beside me, I still can’t help but miss you.
That line was even harder to voice.
Meng Bai had never been tangled up in such conflicted emotions before. The words bottled up inside her nearly burst out of her throat several times, but she swallowed them back down each time. In the end, she forced out a stiff reply:
“I don’t like anyone. I don’t even want to look at any of the boys in my class.”
Miao Bai looked at her, the smile on her face now quite evident. “You don’t have to hide anything from me.”
Why couldn’t she read minds?
The words in her heart were practically spilling out through her eyes, but Meng Bai said nothing.
After locking eyes with Miao Bai for two seconds, Meng Bai looked away and burrowed a little deeper into the covers.
Miao Bai asked her, “You don’t like anyone, so who are you thinking about?”
Meng Bai didn’t dare meet her eyes and stubbornly replied, “I’m not telling you.”
“You really won’t say?” Miao Bai raised a brow, her eyes gleaming with playful probing.
“No, no, I won’t!” Meng Bai had already squeezed her eyes shut. “That’s it, no more talking! Time to sleep!”
A soft chuckle escaped Miao Bai. “Heh—fine then.”
Meng Bai heard Miao Bai’s clear, bright laugh, like a pebble tossed into her heart, stirring up faint ripples. Her cheeks couldn’t help but grow a little warm.
She didn’t know why Miao Bai was laughing, but she didn’t dare find out.
She didn’t even dare open her eyes—not one bit.
Even she herself couldn’t quite explain it, but she was certain her secret was hidden in her eyes. If she opened them, everything would come spilling out.
Sleep was the best way to escape.
The night stretched on endlessly, and the surroundings soon fell silent. Meng Bai coaxed herself toward slumber.
She tried to stretch her breaths out long and even, but she soon realized she was wide awake tonight—completely sleepless.
Miao Bai. It was all because of Miao Bai.
Lying so close, Miao Bai’s breath brushed lightly against her cheek, cool and crisp, like a gentle tickle.
Was she asleep? Did she even sleep at all?
Meng Bai cracked her eyes open just a sliver, but the room was too dark, her vision too blurry to make anything out.
After tossing and turning in her mind to no avail—moving felt wrong, staying still felt wrong, and opening her eyes was out of the question—after countless mental struggles, Meng Bai finally gave up.
She didn’t know how much time passed before drowsiness finally crept in. Meng Bai slowly closed her eyes and at last drifted off to true sleep…
In the early hours of the morning, cold air seeped through the cracks in the window, dropping the room’s temperature. The blanket felt too thin, and Meng Bai, chilled, instinctively burrowed into Miao Bai’s arms.
She was deep in a hazy sleep, her mind foggy from dreams, so she grew restless in Miao Bai’s embrace.
Utterly unrestrained, in fact.
Her slender body pressed tightly against Miao Bai’s—still not close enough. One hand wrapped around Miao Bai’s waist, her head shifting to nuzzle against Miao Bai’s neck in the most natural way.
Awake, she was so well-behaved. Asleep, this must have been her true self.
Miao Bai: “…”
Meng Bai’s hand reached out, groping toward Miao Bai’s waist.
Miao Bai caught it firmly.
“Meng Bai.”
Of course, Meng Bai didn’t respond.
Miao Bai found it odd. What was she up to? Trying to slip her hand under the clothes for warmth? This little one was so bold when she was asleep!
After a bit of back-and-forth, it ended with Meng Bai held securely in her arms.
All night long, Meng Bai was far from peaceful. Just when Miao Bai thought she’d settled, her hands would start wandering again. Miao Bai’s sole job was to grip them tight to keep them from roaming.
This went on through the night until darkness finally lifted, and Miao Bai let out a breath of relief.
What a handful.
Gradually, dawn broke. A thin layer of warm light filtered through the window, falling softly on Meng Bai’s face. Paired with the serene peacefulness of her sleeping expression, it gave Miao Bai a moment of trance.
In her aimless years, Miao Bai had sometimes forgotten how to appreciate beauty.
Beauty had become something utterly ordinary.
It was Meng Bai who reawakened that ability in her. She studied Meng Bai’s cheeks closely, marveling at the allure of youth.
Meng Bai didn’t need to do a thing. Simply closing her eyes and sleeping like this was enough to inspire admiration in anyone’s heart.
She was beautiful—truly beautiful.
Miao Bai’s lips curved up. Her index finger tapped lightly twice on Meng Bai’s forehead.
She hoped all the sweet dreams in the world belonged to Meng Bai. Whether the moon rose or the morning light dawned, no matter the time, beautiful dreams were hers—definitely hers.
~~~
This sleep had been wonderfully refreshing, and with the rare weekend ahead, Meng Bai naturally slept in.
When Meng Bai woke, she instinctively reached out beside her. No Miao Bai, but she found the pocket watch.
Miao Bai had already left, as usual—gone once the sky lightened.
Meng Bai clutched the watch in her hand and squinted at it. Ten o’clock.
Outside the room, she heard Meng Xingzhong’s persistent coughing—he was probably smoking.
Meng Bai dragged herself out of bed slowly, then suddenly heard Lin Li’s voice at the door:
“You’re here! Yeah, she’s in her room.”
“Then I’m heading in!”
It was Zhou An’s voice, followed by hurried footsteps. Zhou An knocked twice on the door with a thud-thud, then pushed it open.
She shut the door quickly behind her and hurried to the bedside in a few steps, lowering her voice:
“Lazy pig, how are you still asleep?” Zhou An plopped down on the edge of the bed and sniffed the air. “Hm? Your room smells so nice.”
Meng Bai brushed it off casually. “Probably just my scent.”
Zhou An shook her head. “No! It’s richer, sweeter—what’s that smell? It’s amazing!” With a teasing look, she grinned at Meng Bai. “Did someone come by your room or what?”
Meng Bai ignored the question and dove under the covers to change clothes.
Sharp as Zhou An was, how could she miss Meng Bai’s odd reaction?
“It’s not Miao Bai, is it?”
Meng Bai: “!”
Zhou An leaned in closer and sniffed again. “Not you, definitely not you. It really is her?”
“No.” Meng Bai averted her gaze. She’d never been good at lying anyway, and with how well Zhou An knew her, there was no hiding it.
“No way, you two are that close now?”
Meng Bai jerked her head up and whispered, “Don’t let anyone know!”
“Tch—” Zhou An scrunched her brows. “So what’s the deal between you two?”
Meng Bai found it strange. “What else could our relationship be? Just friends.”
“Doesn’t Miss Miao like women?”
Meng Bai had no desire to hear that answer. It was the very question she had been deliberately avoiding, unwilling to contemplate it, much less make any assumptions.
“I couldn’t possibly be her type! She likes mature women! As for me? I’m just a little girl. Our relationship is purely innocent.”
Yes, that had to be it. Miao Bai must prefer the mature type—like that opera singer from the story. She was undoubtedly older than Miao Bai. Though Meng Bai had never met her, she could already picture the woman in her mind.
When it came to looks and mindset, she and that woman were poles apart, heading in completely opposite directions. They had nothing in common.
“Not necessarily.” Zhou An studied Meng Bai closely, clearly sensing something amiss. “Little Meng, are you planning to keep it all from me? If you like her, just admit it. Why beat around the bush?”
Like her?
The word felt utterly foreign to Meng Bai. Even linking it to Miao Bai seemed bizarre.
“What is there to like about her?” Meng Bai met Zhou An’s gaze with a serious expression. “I don’t like her.”
“Really?”
“What even counts as liking someone? Do you know, Zhou An? You don’t. I don’t. None of us do. So how are we supposed to talk about it?”
Zhou An’s clear, innocent eyes fixed on Meng Bai, her pupils shimmering with a pure, limpid light.
She mulled it over carefully. Yeah, that was true enough.
But then something occurred to her, and she said bluntly, “I really don’t know what liking someone means, but I heard my brother say that if you like a person, you want to kiss them. Do you want to kiss Miao Bai? Nah, probably not. Okay then, maybe it’s not like that after all.”
Zhou An questioned and answered herself, her logic holding up perfectly.
But Meng Bai suddenly fell silent.
Kissing?
She might have forgotten all about it if Zhou An hadn’t brought it up.
It was a secret—one tied to last night’s dream. A secretive, murky dream that was impossible to speak aloud.
If wanting to kiss someone meant you liked them, then Meng Bai had no way to convince herself otherwise.
She scrambled out of bed in a hurry, changing the subject. “Where should we go play today?”
“Xu Zhou said we could take the bus into the city and try that ride.”
“Which one?”
“The Pirate Ship. Ten bucks a person for ten minutes.”
“No way, too expensive.” Meng Bai glanced back at Zhou An, her resolve softening. “Aw, fine. Let’s do it. We can’t stay total country bumpkins forever—we’ve got to try something new.”
Zhou An grinned, pumping her arms in excitement. “Now that’s more like it! Birthdays call for exceptions!”
Meng Bai laughed too. “My dad got me a new bicycle. Want to ride there?”
“Sure!” Zhou An paused. “But there are three of us!”
“So what? We’re all skinny, and the bike’s plenty big! I’ll carry you both!”
Zhou An was the type who couldn’t resist an offer like that. Three on one bike? The thrill far outstripped just two.
They settled it right then. After lunch, the three of them would set off!
“Where’s Xu Zhou?” Meng Bai realized suddenly. She hadn’t seen a sign of her.
Lately, Zhou An had been thick as thieves with Xu Zhou, the two of them inseparable. They were on the verge of becoming a proper trio.
“She’s gone home to change clothes.”
“Change for what?” Meng Bai looked utterly baffled.
Zhou An arched her brows. “She slept over with me last night.”
“You two slept together????”
“What’s the big deal? It’s okay for officials to start fires but not for us peasants to light lamps?” Zhou An seemed genuinely pleased about it, swinging her feet lightly. “Xu Zhou’s just the best. You don’t appreciate it until you spend time with her, but she goes along with everything. I’ve never met anyone with such a sweet temper!”
Meng Bai hesitated. “Isn’t it possible…”
Zhou An tilted her head. “Possible how?”
Meng Bai shook her head. “Never mind, you goof. I’m not explaining it to you!”
