Wen Wan Ning watched Shen Jia Yan’s suddenly fleeing back, a gentle, lingering smile curving her lips.
Lü Yue frowned with a laugh. “She’s shy? Why?”
Wen Wan Ning gripped the bag tightly and pulled her toward the school gate. “You hit the nail on the head with her thoughts, so she got a bit embarrassed.”
Lü Yue nodded in understanding, then immediately added, “But Jia Yan really put her heart into your birthday. She even gave you another gift.”
With that, she craned her neck to peek into the gift bag. “What is it this time?”
Wen Wan Ning tucked the bag behind her.
“Hey, come on, Wan Ning, just let me see.” Lü Yue shook her arm vigorously.
Under her relentless “harassment,” Wen Wan Ning couldn’t hold out any longer and stopped in her tracks.
She opened the bag and took out a transparent glass bottle filled with a thousand little stars.
“Wow! So many stars.” Lü Yue exclaimed. “Did she fold them herself?”
Though folding stars was one of the simpler origami shapes, making this many certainly wasn’t easy.
“Yes.” Wen Wan Ning hadn’t gotten confirmation from Shen Jia Yan yet, but she was certain every single one had been folded by her own hands.
She knew that every gift Shen Jia Yan gave her was made with incredible care.
Just like the shoes on her feet—the size and color were both perfect for her tastes.
She took the gift home, went straight to her bedroom, set the bottle down, picked up her phone, and thought about sending a WeChat thank-you to Shen Jia Yan.
The moment she unlocked her phone, a message from Shen Jia Yan popped up.
Jia Yan: [I heard that a thousand stars can make a wish come true, so I folded 1,100. In case one of them isn’t folded quite right, the extra hundred can serve as backups.]
[Wan Ning, happy birthday. I’m giving you a chance to make a wish. I hope it comes true. (Happy birthday.jpg)]
Wen Wan Ning finished reading the message and turned to look at the bottle of little stars she’d already placed on her desk.
In the midday sunlight, the glass bottle refracted tiny specks of light, as if all the sun’s rays had been crushed and bottled inside. The colorful paper stars crowded together at the bottom, like a small, gathered piece of starry sky.
Suddenly, the scene before her blurred for a moment.
She seemed to see the classroom, where Shen Jia Yan hunched over her desk, fingertips pinching colored paper, carefully folding, flipping, and pressing. Sunlight slanted in from the window, falling on her hair tips and fingers, gilding her silhouette with a fuzzy golden edge.
A warm, sour swell suddenly surged in her chest, as if something were gently thudding against her heart.
To think someone would go to such lengths for her possible wish—folding thousands of stars tirelessly, even preparing a safety net for the wishing itself, worrying that a one-in-a-thousand flaw might ruin it, so she added ten percent extra perfection just for her.
The glass bottle softly reflected the faint red around Wen Wan Ning’s eyes.
She suddenly felt that seventeen was truly wonderful—wonderful enough to meet a girl who double-checked even the chance to make a wish.
Wonderful enough to let her meet someone as good, as wonderful as Shen Jia Yan.
[Jia Yan, thank you for preparing so much for my birthday, thank you for putting so much heart into giving me this chance to make a wish. It’s great being friends with you.]
After sending the message, she edited another: [I know preparing all this must have cost a lot of money and effort. We’re still students, so don’t do this anymore. Don’t let me affect your studies. This one special birthday gift is enough for my high school years. (Happy.jpg)]
Shen Jia Yan received the messages.
Friends, huh…
Her lips tugged into a slight arc as she replied: [No need to thank me. You’re my best desk mate, after all. (Puppy happy.jpg)]
Wan Ning: [You’re right. So, do you promise?]
Shen Jia Yan knew she meant the longer message from before. She thought for a moment and replied: [Okay, I promise.]
※
Birdsong drifted faintly from outside the dorm window, mingling with the bustle of people coming and going. Shen Jia Yan slowly opened her eyes, adjusting to the afternoon light in the room.
After a moment, she got up, folded her quilt neatly, and climbed out of bed.
She went to Xia Yuxin’s bed and tapped the bedframe lightly. “Classmate, wake up. Time for class.”
Rustling sounds came from the bed as a hand suddenly emerged from the covers and flopped limply over the edge. A messy tuft of hair slowly poked out from the quilt. “Five minutes…” Xia Yuxin’s groggy mumble echoed from deep within the bedding. “I’ll get up in five minutes.”
Shen Jia Yan sighed helplessly. “Fine, five minutes it is. I’ll come call you again then.”
She turned to Jiang Yufei and Chu Ye, who were packing up. “You two don’t keep an eye on her? Is she always this hard to wake up when boarding?”
Jiang Yufei buttoned her school uniform and smiled. “She and Chu Ye are both terrible at getting up.”
Chu Ye quickly protested, “Who says? Look at me.” She tugged at her shirt hem. “School uniform’s almost on.”
“Alright, alright, you’re the fastest.” Jiang Yufei didn’t poke further.
“Okay, we’ll wait for Yuxin. I’m going to visit the neighbors.” Shen Jia Yan said as she headed out.
By this time, most people were up, and to keep rooms cooler, many dorms had their doors open for ventilation.
Shen Jia Yan went to the dorm diagonally across from theirs, home to more of her classmates.
“Jia Yan, you’re here.” The girl at the door greeted her.
She glanced around the similar room. “Yeah, just dropping by.” Then she frowned and added, “Your dorm doesn’t seem as cool as ours.”
“It’s not ‘seems’—it’s true. Yours faces north; ours faces south. Too much sun.”
Shen Jia Yan walked to the window and looked out. “True. Come winter, yours will be warmer than ours.”
Just then, through the window, she spotted Wen Wan Ning and Lü Yue crossing the pedestrian crosswalk outside the school gate.
This vantage point was perfect—it let her see all the way from inside the school to the road Wan Ning took home.
In an instant, she dashed back to her own dorm. “I’m heading back first.”
The other girls exchanged puzzled looks. “So sudden.”
Back in her room, she saw Xia Yuxin already up and dressing. She urged, “Ready? Let’s go.”
Jiang Yufei stood from her chair. “I suddenly need the bathroom. Be right back.” She bolted for the restroom.
“Then I’ll wait for her. You and Yuxin go ahead, Jia Yan,” Chu Ye said.
Shen Jia Yan paused. “Alright, we’ll head out first. Don’t be late.”
“Okay.”
Xia Yuxin rubbed her eyes. “Almost, don’t rush me.”
Shen Jia Yan grabbed the hem of her uniform and pulled her toward the door. “Come on, the bell’s about to ring.”
“Hey, hey, hey.” Xia Yuxin was forced to hurry. “Why are you in such a rush today?”
Under Shen Jia Yan’s pushing and pulling, they quickly descended from the fourth floor to the first.
As soon as they stepped out of the dorm building, she looked toward the school gate.
No Wen Wan Ning.
She turned toward the teaching building.
There—Wen Wan Ning and Lü Yue’s backs.
She’d come out too late.
No “chance encounter.”
“Ah…” Shen Jia Yan sighed softly.
Xia Yuxin noticed her odd behavior and leaned in front. “What’s up? Staring around and sighing?”
Shen Jia Yan trudged forward with the crowd. “Nothing.”
Xia Yuxin grinned slyly. “Fine, don’t tell me. Then maybe I’ll have trouble getting up at noon again sometime.”
She figured Shen Jia Yan’s weirdness had to do with their timing leaving.
Shen Jia Yan shot her a look, opened her mouth, then closed it before whispering, “Didn’t see the person I wanted to see.”
“Huh?” Xia Yuxin paused, then grinned in realization. “No way, Shen Jia Yan. You rushed downstairs just to catch a glimpse of Wan—”
“Shh…” Shen Jia Yan cut her off, signaling for quiet.
“To see that person,” Xia Yuxin rephrased tactfully. “You see her every evening anyway. Why stage a ‘chance encounter’?”
Shen Jia Yan frowned. “Sigh, you wouldn’t get it.”
She just wanted to see Wen Wan Ning—even just a glance, even just one word…
“You’re done for. You’ve fallen in love.” Xia Yuxin teased.
“Shh.”
“Okay, okay, I won’t say it.”
Ever since finding that perfect vantage point, Shen Jia Yan made a habit of visiting the opposite dorm every noon to track Wen Wan Ning’s position, timing her descent based on distance and time.
She had to admit, staging “chance encounters” was becoming her expertise.
From “accidental” meetings during the same-time PE or activities classes, to “coincidental” run-ins mornings and noons…
※
The wind outside carried hints of dampness, weaving between steel and concrete. Star City’s rainy season always arrived abruptly—one day clear and dry, the next with clouds rumbling in the distant sky overnight.
That morning before school, parents had reminded by teachers equipped their kids with rain gear.
The forecast warned of heavy rain today.
Though it hadn’t started yet, the sky had been overcast since morning.
Second period in the afternoon.
The classroom ceiling fan hummed, stirring air thick with damp dust. Xia Yuxin by the window instinctively looked up and out.
The sky darkened visibly by the second.
“Big rain’s coming.” She turned and tapped Shen Jia Yan’s desk lightly.
Before the words settled, fat raindrops pelted the window with sharp cracks. In moments, the downpour cascaded like torn beaded curtains, blurring the world outside. The flag on the playground whipped wildly in the gale, the pole swaying slightly.
The classroom erupted in commotion.
Panicked footsteps echoed in the hall as duty students rushed to close the corridor-facing windows.
Whispers buzzed until the teacher slammed the podium, restoring quiet.
Xia Yuxin scooted closer to Shen Jia Yan and whispered, “This rain’s insane. Umbrellas won’t cut it.”
Shen Jia Yan stared out the window.
If it kept pouring like this, how would Wan Ning get home after school?
