National Day
Today is National Day.
Mu Qingxi is at home, fully absorbed in her studies, working through all sorts of exercises. She hopes to make a breakthrough in her English grades, so she’s diligently tackling English questions, highlighting vocabulary, and memorizing grammar rules.
The doorbell suddenly rings.
Mu Qingyang, who’s been lounging on the sofa watching TV, gets up to answer it.
“Aren’t you going out to play, Qingyang? Is your sister home?” Hearing Qin Yu’s voice from the other room, Mu Qingxi can’t help but marvel at how quickly she changes the subject.
“My sister’s in her bedroom,” Mu Qingyang calls out toward the room, “Sis, your classmate is here for you.”
A moment later, Mu Qingxi emerges, putting on a show of nonchalance, and greets her with a smile, “Weiyu, come in! Take a look at these problems I’ve done—what do you think? Are they right?”
Once Qin Yu is inside, Mu Qingxi winks meaningfully and says, “Weiyu, I can’t find the explanation for this question. Can you help me out?”
Qin Yu catches on and genuinely helps her with an English question’s explanation. Then she suggests, “Mumu, it’s already three o’clock. You’ve been studying so long—let’s go out for a bit!”
Mu Qingxi gives her a silent thumbs-up in gratitude.
“Qingyang, I’m heading out with Qin Yu. If Mom comes home, let her know,” she says, pulling Qin Yu to change their shoes before they hurry out.
The two of them wander the streets, peering here and there, until they step into a boutique. Mu Qingxi spots a McDull keychain, picks it up, and asks the clerk for the price—ten yuan. It’s within her budget, so she pays for it, then holds out her hand to Qin Yu for her keys.
Qin Yu hands over her keys.
Mu Qingxi carefully removes the keys from the old keychain, one by one, and transfers them onto the new McDull keychain. She examines her handiwork and smiles in satisfaction.
She shakes the keys and hands them to Qin Yu. “Here you go.”
Qin Yu accepts them cheerfully, looks at the keychain, and says, “Mm, it’s a really cute pig.”
Hearing this, Mu Qingxi is a little exasperated and corrects her with extra emphasis, “That’s not a pig—it’s McDull. McDull!”
“Oh.” Qin Yu gives the keychain a thorough look from every angle before weakly insisting, “But it’s still a pig!”
Mu Qingxi is at a loss—never mind, she won’t argue. “Come on, let’s go to the square.”
At the square, a giant screen is playing on a TV, and many people are enjoying themselves. They haven’t been there long when a gentle voice calls out to her and Qin Yu, “Qin Yu! Long time no see!”
They turn around to find a beautiful girl with long hair and fair skin—a face like a melon seed, even slimmer than Qin Yu, with a ladylike air that stirs a protective instinct in Mu Qingxi.
“Oh, Wang Feiyan! Long time no see. How’s university?” Qin Yu responds coolly. “Wang Feiyan, let me introduce you. This is my good friend Mu Qingxi. Mumu, this is Wang Feiyan.”
“Hello, Mu Qingxi. I’m Wang Feiyan, a close friend of Xi Haifei and Bai Fanhao,” Wang Feiyan says softly. Yet, from her eyes, Mu Qingxi senses a flicker of appraisal, and in her tone, a hint of pride. What is she showing off about?
“Hello,” Mu Qingxi replies, saying nothing more.
Wang Feiyan, on the other hand, is eager and friendly. “Qin Yu, I heard both Xi Haifei and Bai Fanhao like Mu Qingxi. So, Mu Qingxi, which one do you like?”
Smiling gently, Wang Feiyan nonetheless radiates hostility, and Mu Qingxi feels it keenly. She instantly loses all fondness for the girl and retracts her earlier urge to protect her.
She replies coldly, “You’ll have to ask them that.” She doesn’t want to spend another moment with Wang Feiyan, so she turns to Qin Yu. “Weiyu, let’s go get some spicy hotpot.”
Qin Yu was once a student at No. 1 High and a classmate of Wang Feiyan, so she knows the situation well. Over hotpot, Qin Yu explains to Mu Qingxi the stories involving Xi Haifei, Bai Fanhao, and Wang Feiyan.
Mu Qingxi is astonished—it’s all just like the youth romance novels she’s read, full of surprises, but unfortunately, theirs is a story without an ending.