After an unknown amount of time, the bus came to a stop.
The woman by the window waited for the other passengers to exit before she stood up and walked out, passing right through Lin Ran.
Lin Ran realized that originally, no one had been sitting in that seat.
Instinctively, he followed the woman off the bus, trailing behind her.
Once off the bus, they were on a country road. Despite the blurry dreamscape, Lin Ran could make out the sign by the roadside—
Qingshui Town.
Qingshui Town was a small, remote town under Chucheng. It was nestled between mountains and rivers, lacking tourist attractions but rich in aquatic resources. In recent years, its economy had started to improve.
The woman walked at a faster pace than most people.
But Lin Ran didn’t need to exert much effort to keep up with her. In this dream, it seemed as though his role was more that of a wandering spirit, or perhaps an observer.
Lin Ran was puzzled.
This was clearly his dream, yet he wasn’t the one in control.
Qingshui Town wasn’t densely populated, and the roads at the town entrance were in good condition.
As they walked further in, the road became rougher. It seemed that construction was ongoing. Cars passed by, kicking up dust, and stones in the middle of the road were crushed by tires and scattered to the side.
The woman was clearly unfamiliar with the area.
At one point, she stopped to ask someone for directions before continuing on. The further they walked, the more remote the path became, until eventually, she ventured into the mountains.
That was where the dream abruptly ended.
Lin Ran woke up, startled. He frowned for a long time, unable to understand why he would dream of such a scene. The imagery felt like a mix of illusion and reality.
—
After school started, time flew by. The National Day break came and went in a blink, as if they hadn’t had a holiday at all.
Everyone returned from the break looking sluggish and low-spirited, clearly having enjoyed their time off a little too much. Fortunately, they were soon greeted with some good news.
At the end of October, the school was going to hold a sports festival.
When the class sports representative shared the news, the entire Class 1 erupted with excitement.
In his sleep, Lin Ran frowned unhappily.
Lin Ran had fallen asleep facing Sheng Qingxi. Seeing him frown, she reached out and gently covered his ears. It was the end of their lunch break, a typically quiet time, but today, everyone was more energetic than usual.
Sheng Qingxi quietly watched Lin Ran, a hint of barely noticeable worry in her eyes.
Lately, Lin Ran seemed to be having trouble with his sleep. Normally, he would only look tired in the mornings, but recently, the dark circles under his eyes had deepened, and he would often wake suddenly from his midday naps.
She had asked him about it once, but Lin Ran brushed it off, saying it was nothing.
In truth, Lin Ran had woken up when the classroom started getting noisy. He had intended to open his eyes, but when Sheng Qingxi’s hand moved to cover his ear, he decided not to.
Her slightly cool hand rested softly against his ear, and he didn’t want the moment to end.
Lin Ran suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand, opening his eyes to look at Sheng Qingxi.
The little girl was staring at him with her wide, round eyes, and when she saw him wake up, she struggled a bit, trying to pull her hand back.
Lin Ran chuckled and let her go, his voice a little raspy, “Why are you hiding?”
Sheng Qingxi lightly tapped his eye with her finger and softly asked, “Lin Ran, have you been having a lot of dreams lately? Is it the fire?”
She was very worried about him.
Lin Ran gently grasped her hand again, holding it in his palm. He whispered, “No, not about the fire. It’s… it’s some strange dreams.”
Indeed, ever since Lin Ran dreamed of Qingshui Town, he had been having the same dream for a month. The same beginning, the same ending, with no new scenes emerging.
Lin Ran even felt like he had to find the rest of the dream on his own.
Sitting up, Lin Ran stretched his neck and lightly squeezed her fingertips. “It’s nothing. I’m going somewhere in a couple of days. Maybe that’ll help.”
Sheng Qingxi blinked, “Where are you going?”
Usually, Lin Ran would tell her everything if she asked, but this time, for some reason, he instinctively didn’t want to tell her about it. He didn’t even know where this feeling came from.
He raised his hand and lightly tapped her forehead, his voice hoarse, “It’s a secret.”
Seeing him say that, Sheng Qingxi didn’t press any further.
Later that afternoon, during the break, the sports representative went around asking everyone which events they wanted to sign up for in the upcoming sports festival. By the time he got to Lin Ran and Sheng Qingxi, it was already the evening self-study break, and they were the last group.
The sports rep, who often played basketball with Lin Ran and had a good relationship with him, smiled and asked, “Same as last year, Brother Ran?”
Lin Ran twirled his pen and replied, “Not signing up this year.”
The sports rep was taken aback. Not signing up?
Lin Ran simply said he had some things to take care of and would be taking time off.
The sports rep glanced at the registration form with some concern. Without Lin Ran signing up for multiple events, their class might not win the gold medals. But if Lin Ran had other things to deal with, there wasn’t much he could do.
After Lin Ran, it was Sheng Qingxi’s turn.
The sports rep had never spoken to Sheng Qingxi before and felt a bit shy about calling her by name.
He glanced at Lin Ran for help.
Lin Ran turned his head to look at Sheng Qingxi, who had finished her homework and was now drawing. Before sitting next to her, he used to think she spent all her time with her nose buried in books. But over time, he had come to realize that wasn’t the case.
This girl never left her homework until the evening.
Every evening was her personal time. Aside from adjusting their tutoring plans, she spent it doing anything unrelated to studying.
Writing, drawing, reading extracurricular books, or sometimes just daydreaming.
One evening, Lin Ran had watched her stick tape for an entire night. He didn’t really understand the hobbies of girls, but knowing Sheng Qingxi liked it, he had someone buy a bunch of decorative tapes and dumped them on her desk.
Lately, she had been even more absorbed in it, spending about four days a week playing with the tapes. Today, though, she was rare, drawing instead.
Lin Ran didn’t bother to look at what she was drawing. Instead, he reached out, gently pinching her cheek, and called her name, “Sheng Qingxi.”
Sheng Qingxi mumbled something like “wait a second,” finished the stroke she was drawing, and then looked up at Lin Ran.
She noticed the sports rep standing there and gave Lin Ran a questioning look with her eyes.
Lin Ran lazily grabbed the registration form from the sports rep’s arms and said, “Pick whichever event you like. If you don’t like any, just hand it back to him.”
Sports rep: “…”
Sheng Qingxi glanced at the form. No one had signed up for the women’s 3000 meters, and there were only a few names for the high jump and shot put. She took the pen and wrote her name under all three events.
Lin Ran raised his eyebrows, feeling a bit jealous. She was always so considerate, no matter where she went.
The sports rep was almost moved to tears. What a little angel.
From that day, he decided to become a devoted fan of the little angel.
Once the sports rep left, Sheng Qingxi went right back to her drawing, not even sparing Lin Ran a word.
Lin Ran huffed softly and resumed his homework.
He would definitely get back at her for this later.
—
Two weeks later, the annual sports festival at No. 1 High School began.
As November approached, the weather had turned chilly.
Although the day was sunny, the wind was strong, and everyone sitting in the stands was shivering under their school uniforms.
The opening ceremony was lively.
The girls leading the parade in front of the formations were all wearing short skirts or class uniforms prepared by their respective classes. As they stepped into the sunlight with the music, it suddenly seemed as if the cold had disappeared.
Sheng Qingxi sat in the corner of Class 1’s section, holding a hand warmer. The area around her was packed with snacks and energy drinks—courtesy of He Mo and Xie Zhen.
Normally, this task wouldn’t fall to them.
But with Lin Ran absent these past two days, they took it upon themselves to make sure Sheng Qingxi was well taken care of.
Sheng Qingxi had two events scheduled for today. He Mo and Xie Zhen figured that if they were Ding Minghui, they would definitely use this opportunity to approach Sheng Qingxi. After all, it was rare for her to be without Lin Ran by her side.
So, the two of them were practically growing extra pairs of eyes today.
Xie Zhen had even brought binoculars, which caused a few girls to glance at him multiple times.
Xie Zhen thought to himself, I’m not a creep. Why are they all looking at me?
He Mo subtly scooted a bit further away from Xie Zhen.
Sheng Qingxi’s first event in the morning was the high jump.
During her preparation, He Mo and Xie Zhen followed her everywhere like two little tails. Sheng Qingxi found it a bit exasperating but didn’t say much, knowing that Lin Ran had probably instructed them to do so.
When Sheng Qingxi competed, He Mo was in charge of cheering her on, while Xie Zhen was responsible for taking photos for Lin Ran.
—
Share the Joy, Drop the Pain (3)
[PandaDaDaDa: Brother Ran, the little angel is starting her event.]
[PandaDaDaDa: Pictures, pictures, pictures.]
[Firegun]: She’s wearing short sleeves? Tell her to put on the long-sleeve uniform jacket.
[PandaDaDaDa]: The little angel said she’ll put it on after the high jump.
[PandaDaDaDa]: Brother Ran, she’s currently ranked first and going for the school record.
[PandaDaDaDa]: A lot of people are taking pictures of the little angel, but Mo made them delete them. The reason? Lin Ran might not be in a good mood and could come beat them up if they don’t.
[PandaDaDaDa]: Aaaaah, she broke the record, Brother Ran! The little angel is so cool!
[PandaDaDaDa]: Pictures, pictures, pictures, pictures.
Sitting on the bus, Lin Ran’s gaze darkened as he stared at the pictures of Sheng Qingxi on his phone.
Xie Zhen had captured her entire high jump sequence.
She ran, took off on one foot, cleared the bar, and landed on the soft mat.
As she cleared the bar, the hem of her shirt rode up slightly with the movement, and perhaps due to the wind, it lifted even higher, exposing a small strip of her waist, which gleamed pale in the sunlight.
No one knew better than Lin Ran just how slender that waist was.
[Firegun]: Delete it.
[PandaDaDaDa]: Huh? I was going to show it to the little angel herself.
[Firegun]: ?
[PandaDaDaDa]: Fine, fine. Deleting it.
Lin Ran had already saved all the pictures of Sheng Qingxi before Xie Zhen could delete them. The little girl usually didn’t like having her picture taken, and she barely touched her phone, acting like an old lady.
Lin Ran had a special album on his phone dedicated to photos of Sheng Qingxi.
Most of the photos were ones he had secretly taken—her running during gym class, focusing on her homework, sitting obediently at the bus stop with her backpack, or whispering with Lin Yanyan.
These little snapshots had become the bright spots in Lin Ran’s otherwise ordinary life.
The road started to get bumpier.
To recreate the feeling of his dream, Lin Ran hadn’t taken a private car. Instead, he chose to take the bus to Qingshui Town, sitting in the exact seat the woman had occupied in his dream.
The smell inside the bus wasn’t pleasant.
It was a mix of seafood, fruits, and the stench of cigarette smoke.
The bus was far from quiet. The passengers, mostly speaking in the Qingshui Town dialect, were engaged in constant chatter. To Lin Ran, it sounded like there were ten He Mos and Xie Zhens talking all at once.
Lin Ran furrowed his brows slightly and cracked the window open.
Cold wind rushed in from outside, and within seconds, he closed the window again.
Most of the passengers were elderly or children.
Lin Ran tried to focus on the view outside the window.
What had that woman been thinking or looking at when she sat in this seat in his dream? Why did she appear so frequently in his dreams? Was she just a figment of his imagination, or did she exist in reality?
These were questions Lin Ran had no answers to.
By the time Lin Ran arrived at Qingshui Town, it was nearly noon.
Just like the woman in his dream, he waited for everyone else to get off the bus before stepping down himself.
The images in his dream had been blurry, and he followed the fragmented memories as best as he could. Half an hour later, Lin Ran found the mountain from his dream. The mountain was covered in graves.
Standing at the foot of the mountain, Lin Ran looked out and saw rows upon rows of tombstones.
At that moment, Lin Ran was completely baffled by the meaning of his dream.
Why had he become so fixated on it? It was just a dream, after all.
He turned back toward the main road, pulling out his phone to call He Mo. Of course, he didn’t really want to talk to He Mo—he was thinking about Sheng Qingxi and wondering if she was enjoying herself at the sports festival.
After two sentences, He Mo handed the phone to Sheng Qingxi.
“Lin Ran!”
Her voice on the other end of the line sounded a little happier than usual.
Lin Ran smiled. “I’m here. Have you eaten?”
Sheng Qingxi replied in a soft voice, “I’m eating hot pot with Yanyan, He Mo, and Xie Zhen right now. We’re having handmade beef balls—the kind you like.”
Lin Ran lowered his eyes and said quietly, “Only eat a little bit of the beef balls.”
Although Sheng Qingxi’s eating habits had improved over the past few months, Lin Ran still worried that she might feel unwell if she ate too much.
“I know. Lin Ran, when are you coming back?”
The sound of tires rolling over the road filled the silence, and the crunch of gravel echoed as the weight pressed down on it. The return bus from Qingshui Town to the city was arriving, and Lin Ran waved his hand to signal it. “I’ll be back soon, I’ll arrive in the afternoon. You—”
Lin Ran abruptly stopped mid-sentence, frozen as he stared at the road in front of him.
The country road in his dream was different from what he was seeing now.
At this moment, Qingshui Town had yet to begin any road construction. His dream… was of the future.