Xi Haifei

Autumn is a season of harvest, but also a season of turmoil.

At the large dining table, only her mother, Shen Yali, her younger brother Mu Qingyang, and she herself were present. She kept her head down, eating earnestly, listening to her brother say, “Mom, for this year’s National Day holiday, I have to play every day!”

“Finish your homework first, then you can play,” her mother replied while eating, then turned to her, “Xiaoxi, make good use of the National Day break to read. The monthly exam is coming up.”

“Okay,” she answered promptly.

Tomorrow was the start of the National Day holiday, but they only had three days off.

During break, Mu Qingxi lay on her desk, once again immersed in her doodling. The faint sound of her pencil scratching against the paper echoed clearly in the empty classroom.

A figure suddenly blocked her light. Mu Qingxi assumed it was a classmate passing by and didn’t pay attention. But three seconds passed, and the person didn’t move. Puzzled, she looked up at the figure casting a shadow over her desk.

“Mu Qingxi, why haven’t you replied to my letters?” The voice could be called pleasant—clear and not at all dull. She looked up. Dressed in a blue tracksuit, he stood at least one meter seventy-eight, with a cool expression and features that, while not handsome, were pleasing to the eye.

She asked curiously, “Classmate, I never received your letters.”

He responded quickly, “You did. They were written on plain notebook paper.”

Mu Qingxi frowned, thinking for a moment. Could he be that oddball who wrote those love letters? She turned to him, asking, “Do you mean those two letters? You wrote them?”

She noticed his face flush red, and he seemed ill at ease. She didn’t say anything, because she truly didn’t know what to say. Right now, she just wanted to laugh.

She had never expected that such a cool-looking boy could be so peculiar—writing love letters on plain white paper, not bothering with a salutation, not even mentioning his own name, and leaving her to guess! What could be stranger than this?

“Um, Mu Qingxi, my name is Xi Haifei,” he said awkwardly. “Sorry, it was my mistake. I should have told you my name earlier.”

“It’s fine.” Tell her his name earlier? She had never even asked what his name was.

Mu Qingxi put down her pencil, tidied her desk, then pulled out the piece of paper he’d written on. She wrote on it, “Xi Haifei, what a nice name. Pleased to meet you!” Then she handed it to him. Xi Haifei, blushing, said, “Mu Qingxi, your drawings are beautiful. Could you give me one? I hope we can be friends.”

“Of course,” she nodded. “You should get back to your work.” With that, she ignored him and pulled out her physics homework, burying herself in it.

Looking at the problem, Mu Qingxi honestly wanted to bang her head against the wall. Magnetic fields, electric fields, circuits—all jumbled together. Why not throw in some chemistry while you’re at it! The next moment, she wanted to die even more—it actually did mix in chemistry—electrolytes. She felt like crying but had no tears, silently and stubbornly persisting. Who could tell her why physics had to be so hard!

Just then, the bell rang, and her classmates slowly filed in, settling down for the last self-study session before the National Day holiday. Qin Yu passed her a note, asking what she planned to do during the break. She replied that she would stay home, as the “Empress Dowager presides over the court” at home. Qin Yu wrote back: “Perfect, this fairy spirit, Little Feather, has been sent by the Demon King to rescue you. As long as Auntie knows I was the one who invited you out, it’ll be fine.”

Mu Qingxi glanced at Qin Yu and made an “ok” gesture.

After school, she and Qin Yu packed up and left the campus together.

“Mu Mu, just wait for this fairy to summon you tomorrow,” Qin Yu called out with a grin, then ran off.

Just as she was about to leave, she heard someone call her name.

“Mu Qingxi.”

She turned to her left. It was Xi Haifei. He approached and said, “Mu Qingxi, happy National Day! Have a great holiday.”

“Thank you, you too. I’m heading home now.” With that, Mu Qingxi walked away, leaving Xi Haifei standing there.