She is in the fog

He Xi was stunned for a moment. She had already discussed with Wen Wan and Li Xingyu and asked them not to mention this matter so that she could celebrate Ming Mei's birthday alone tonight. She didn't expect Ming Mei to suddenly ask this question. How should she answer?

Remember? No, this would directly expose the surprise she prepared. Mingmei was looking forward to it. If it was not what she expected, would she be disappointed?

Or... don't remember? But would Ming Mei be sad?
Coincidentally, at this time, the head teacher Zhong Nuo walked into the classroom, and He Xi fooled the person away by laughing it off.

After evening self-study, He Xi and Ming Mei returned to the dormitory together. While Ming Mei was washing up, He Xi made an excuse that he had to go back to the classroom to get something and hurried out of the dormitory again.

As she rushed to the school gate, she called Wen Wan: "The school gate is about to close. Haven't you got the cake yet? Why hasn't it been delivered in such a long time?"

"He Xi, it's bad..." Wen Wan on the other end of the phone stammered, "I ran too fast and broke the cake."

"Broken?" He Xi widened her eyes in shock. She had calculated everything except the birthday cake she had ordered in advance that would be broken.

"Yeah." Wen Wan's voice was filled with guilt, "I didn't notice there was a stone on the road, and I stepped on it... and the cake fell into pieces. I can't even recognize its original appearance anymore."

He Xi took a deep breath and continued to ask: "Is the cake shop still open?"

“When I went to pick up the cake, they were about to close.”

That meant they were most likely still open, so He Xi said, "It's OK, go home, I'll find a solution."

After hanging up the phone, He Xi hurried back to the dormitory and took out his wallet from his schoolbag. When he was about to go out, Ming Mei just came out of the bathroom and asked curiously, "He Xi, where are you going now? The dormitory door is about to close."

"Uh - I'm going to the laundry room downstairs to do some laundry." He Xi was afraid that the dormitory door would be closed if he was too late, so he ran away quickly.

Watching He Xi's fleeing figure, Ming Mei murmured in confusion: "Don't you need to take dirty clothes with you when you do laundry?"

He Xi ran very fast, but was still a step too late. The dormitory manager had already locked the door.

She put her wallet into her school uniform pocket in disappointment, and suddenly remembered that her classmate Xu Yan was a member of the school drama club who was in charge of props. Without saying a word, she ran to dormitory 514 and knocked on the door.

The person who opened the door was He Jiahe.

He Xi looked inside and asked, "He Jiahe, is Xu Yan here?"

Xu Yan had just finished washing her hair. When she heard someone looking for her, she walked over while wiping her hair. "Who's looking for me? I'm here."

"It's me, He Xi." He Xi saw Xu Yan approaching the door, so she pulled her to the balcony and asked, "Xu Yan, aren't you in charge of props for the drama club? I want to ask, do you have any blood capsules? Can you give me one?"

"Yes, I do." Xu Yan rolled his eyes and thought, "But blood capsules are expensive and there is a fixed number. I dare not use them easily during rehearsals. If I give them to you, I will have a hard time explaining it."

"I need it urgently today. I'll buy it at the market this weekend and return it to you, okay?"

Xu Yan thought about it and agreed: "Okay, then wait for me."

She took out a blood capsule from her cabinet and handed it to He Xi. He Xi thanked her, then remembered that he would need a helper later, so he asked Xu Yan for help.

"Remember not to show your true colors later. Just hold me tightly and look worried." He Xi reminded him again and again.

Xu Yan was a member of the drama club after all, how could she not understand? She nodded: "I know, just find a way to get the dormitory aunt to open the door for you, right?"

"This child is teachable." He Xi gave her a thumbs up.

When the two were almost reaching the first floor, He Xi stretched out her arm, motioning Xu Yan to support her. Then she hunched over, covered her chest with her other hand, forced an expression of extreme pain on her face, and slowly walked to the window of the dormitory manager.

Xu Yan quickly got into the role and shouted anxiously, "Auntie, Auntie!"

When the aunt heard the sound, she hurried out from the inner room and asked, "What's wrong?"

Xu Yan said: "Auntie, my classmate is sick and wants to go to the infirmary."

"Cough cough——" He Xi coughed twice in response.

Auntie looked at the two of them suspiciously and held out her hand to them, "Where's the note? Let me see it."

"Auntie, this illness came suddenly, we didn't expect it, how could we prepare a sick note in advance?"

"Then ask your class teacher to call me."

"Our head teacher has asked for leave, Auntie, please be flexible."

Xu Yan's acting skills were superb, and he even cried when he said this. He Xi was unwilling to be left behind. While her aunt wasn't paying attention, she quickly stuffed the blood capsule into her mouth, bit it open, and blood flowed out from the corner of her mouth. She said weakly, "It's okay... I can bear it... Let's go back and wait for the head teacher to come back... cough cough - wait for her to come back... huh..."

The aunt had never seen such a scene before. When she saw He Xi coughing up blood, she immediately lost her composure and hurriedly opened the door. "My dear, why are you so sick? Do you want to call an ambulance? Or notify the parents!"

He Xi shook his head slightly: "It's okay, it's just an old... old illness, just go to the infirmary... pick up some medicine, thank you auntie for opening the door for us."

The aunt's eyebrows showed worry. "Then you should go as soon as possible and come back as soon as possible. If you really can't hold on, go to a big hospital immediately."

"Okay, thank you, auntie."

After successfully deceiving his aunt, He Xi and Xu Yan parted ways.

"Xu Yan, walk around the campus for a while and then come back. If Auntie asks, just say I'm in the infirmary getting an IV drip."

"Okay, I understand." Xu Yan patted his chest confidently, and then asked curiously: "He Xi, are you planning to climb over the wall and leave the campus?"

"Yes, go out and buy something."

Xu Yan simply helped to the end, and kindly said: "The wall next to Zhixing Building is relatively short. Although there are many glass tips on it, they have been blunted over time and can't hurt anyone at all. The boys in the class climb out from there to surf the Internet."

"Thanks!"

He Xi came to the wall next to Zhixing Building. What Xu Yan said was true. This wall was indeed shorter than the others. She climbed up the wall easily with just a little effort, and then jumped out of the wall, successfully climbed out of the campus, and rushed to the cake shop.

She was lucky. When she arrived at the cake shop, the owner was about to roll down the shutter. "Boss, boss, please wait a moment!" He Xi rushed into the shop and refused to leave.

The boss had no choice but to push the shutter up again, and helplessly asked, "What are you doing?"

He Xi explained his purpose, and the boss shook his head: "It's already late, come back tomorrow."

"Boss, please be kind. This is my second time shopping in your store. I'm a repeat customer after all. Please help me..."

"It's not that I won't help you, but everything has been cleaned up. Baking a cake takes a long time."

"You don't have to bake a big one, just a small cake, it will be quick. Oh..."

After much persuasion from He Xi, of course, it was the word "more money" that finally swayed the boss. The boss turned on the lights, entered the baking room and started to get busy.

More than thirty minutes later, He Xi left the cake shop with the cake decorated with flowers.

Maybe I didn't check the almanac before going out, because it started raining on the way back to school. Although it wasn't heavy, it was enough to get people wet.

He Xi was afraid that the cake box would get wet, so he took off his coat and covered it with his head. When he returned to the dormitory building, he was already soaked, with wet hair sticking to his forehead, and he looked a little lost.

Auntie had been waiting for her. When she saw her come back, she quickly opened the door and asked, "Why are you so wet?"

"It's okay, Auntie. I just didn't bring an umbrella."

"How are you? Are you seriously ill? Auntie has some cold medicine and hot water. Do you want some?"

"I feel much better after the IV drip. Thank you for your concern, Auntie. I will go back and take a hot bath and I will be fine."

He Xi quickly climbed up the stairs and waited at the corner of the stairs on the third floor. She took out her cell phone and found three missed calls from Mingmei. She checked the time and it was already 23:31, so she quickly sent a text message to Xia Xunzhen:

[Are you ready? It will start on time at 23:35. ]

Soon after, the other party replied: [Received. 】

He Xi breathed a sigh of relief and called Ming Mei back: "Ming Ming."

"He Xi, where have you been so late?" Ming Mei's tone was clearly filled with worry. "I went to the laundry room downstairs to look for you, but you weren't there at all. You didn't even answer the phone."

"I just went to travel in space."

"Ah?" Mingmei was puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

He Xi did not answer, and continued: "I also brought you a meteor shower."

"Ah?" Mingmei was still confused.

He Xi lowered his voice and said carefully: "Now, open the dormitory door and go to the balcony in the corridor. At 23:35, a bright meteor shower will fall to the earth."

Then hung up the phone.

There was a sound of a door opening not far away, and Mingmei slowly walked out of dormitory 312. It was already past lights-out time, and the campus was dark except for the street lights. In addition, it had just rained, so there was no moon or stars, and the sky was pitch black.

"Will there really be a meteor shower?" Mingmei muttered, "It didn't even mention it in the news."

Suddenly, a row of lights lit up on the roof of the boys' dormitory building opposite. Then, the lights changed rapidly and orderly, as if controlled by someone, bright and dim, dim and bright... From a bright position, it really looked like a meteor shower, flashing in the dark night sky, both realistic and dreamy.

The meteor shower lasted for seventeen seconds. Then, the lights continued to change, forming two "Ms". Three seconds later, they formed the word "life", followed by the word "day", the word "fast", and the word "happy", which together meant "Happy Birthday Mingmei".

Mingmei looked at the ever-changing lights opposite her, and suddenly realized that all this was prepared by He Xi for her, and tears welled up in her eyes.

At the same time, someone in the girls' dormitory noticed the strangeness of the lights across the street and couldn't help but exclaimed, "Oh my god! Who is having such a grand birthday celebration?"

As soon as these words were spoken, many people opened their dormitory doors and ran to the balcony to watch the show. The scene suddenly became very lively.

The boys in the male dormitory "sat up in shock from their dying illness" and shouted, "What the hell? Why is the light flickering? Is this a ghost?"

"Mingming, happy birthday."

He Xi's gentle voice rang in her ears. Mingmei was so absorbed in watching the light show in the boys' dormitory building opposite that she didn't even notice when He Xi came to her side.

She turned her head and saw He Xi holding a cake full of candles in her hands. The candlelight illuminated her wet hair and slightly disheveled appearance, as well as the smile on her lips and the light in her eyes.

"Make a wish." He Xi said.

Mingmei was moved by the scene before her, so she closed her eyes. After making a wish, she blew out the candle in one breath.

He Xi smiled: "What wish did you make?"

Mingmei replied: "We will see each other every year."

"See each other every year" comes from "The Long-lived Woman: Spring Banquet" by Feng Yansi of the Five Dynasties. It means to be together every year, which is a metaphor for couples and endless happiness.

Perhaps because he didn't expect Mingmei to actually answer, He Xi was a little overwhelmed, and his expression became nervous, "Mingming, you... why did you say it out loud? The wish won't work if you say it out loud..."

Ming Mei stared into He Xi's eyes, her eyes firm and gentle, "You know what? As long as I don't believe in gods and Buddhas, gods and Buddhas can't do anything to me. I said we'll see each other every year, then it must be - we'll see each other every year."

She spoke the last five words almost word by word, as if to emphasize or to affirm.

He Xi met her gaze, and her anxious heart suddenly calmed down. She exhaled and said word by word: "We will meet again every year."

(End of this chapter)