Editor and Proofreader: Rinrin

---

The National Day holiday arrived as scheduled, but the school still had not lifted the lockdown.

“Hey? Today is still the Mid-Autumn Festival?” Early in the morning, Li Junchi received a set of elderly emoji packages sent by his mom—[Bright Red Lanterns Celebrating National Day.jpg] + [Red Wine Glass Happy Mid-Autumn Festival.jpg].

“It really is” Ren Feiyu scrolled through his phone, “It says online that National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival coincide on the same day, and it only happens once every ten years or so.”

Xia Yang was drowsily lying on his bed, still not fully awake. It seemed he heard his two brothers chatting, but he wasn’t really paying attention.

But someone made a hardcore reminder—

“Ding!”

“Ding!”

“Ding!”

His mother sent three voice messages in a row.

Xia Yang groggily reached for his phone and instinctively tapped to play them.

“Did you wake up, darling?”

“Did you receive the mooncakes I sent you?”

“Mom went to get a perm yesterday; guess what? This time it looks really nice.”

After the three messages played, Xia Yang was fully awake.

—Don’t be misled by the first two messages; his mother’s main point was the third one.

“I received the mooncakes” Xia Yang struggled to sit up, first responding in the usual manner as a lead-up, then focusing on the main point, “Send me a nice selfie for appraisal.”

Lin Wu lay in his own bed, listening to Xia Yang talking to his mother like he was doing a stand-up routine, nearly bursting out laughing several times.

But when his gaze returned to his own phone, the corner of his mouth fell again.

The phone was very quiet; no one sent him elderly holiday emoji packages.

Only the line he proactively typed in the input box: “Happy Holidays.”

He could send it with just another click, but Lin Wu quietly stared at those four characters for a long time, ultimately deleting them one by one.

The day passed in a flash.

Even though it was a double holiday and all the students stayed on campus, the school, for safety reasons, did not arrange any festive entertainment activities like in previous years.

And so, it quietly turned to night.

At eleven o’clock, after the lights went out, Lin Wu lay back on the top bunk, unable to remember what he had done that day. It felt like apart from going to the cafeteria to eat, the rest of his time was spent in drowsiness and dozing off.

And now that it was actually time to sleep, he was more awake than anyone.

In less than ten minutes, Li Junchi started snoring, Xia Yang mumbled a complaint, and then he fell into a steady breathing pattern. Ren Feiyu, on the other hand, was a man favored by sleep, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, not even waking up during a thunderstorm.

Lin Wu enviously closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind.

The problem of insomnia had tormented him for half a month, and nothing seemed to help. Lin Wu hadn’t felt that he had a poor ability to cope with pressure before, but now he felt a bit inadequate; after all, everyone in the dorm had transformed, yet he was the only one unable to sleep due to stress.

Tonight was worse; not only could he not sleep, but he also couldn’t lie still.

As soon as he closed his eyes, it felt like two large groups were fighting in his mind, sparks flying and making him toss and turn restlessly.

Finally, unable to bear it anymore, Lin Wu suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.

Once he got up, he felt much more comfortable. But it wasn’t enough; Lin Wu had a persistent feeling that a voice was calling him, just outside in the night, distant yet long, stirring every cell in his body.

The darkness in his field of vision seemed to be shattered by the calls, transforming into soft, dim patches of light.

Lin Wu quietly got out of bed, casually grabbed a piece of clothing, and followed the sound.

Everything began to feel hazy and dreamlike.

The night became light and airy.

Passing through the corridor dappled with moonlight, going down the deep and narrow stairs, avoiding the dormitory supervisor’s window, Lin Wu was like a mischievous little beast, finally plunging into the embrace of the night.

The moment he breathed in the outside air, he felt completely at ease.

The moon was silent, the cool breeze danced in the darkness, weaving through the treetops, crossing low walls, sometimes softly sobbing, sometimes joyfully singing.

Lin Wu couldn’t help but wander in the night wind, feeling an unprecedented impulse; he wanted to run freely, to release himself completely, to shout with all his might under the vast sky…

“Hey, you little rascals, stop right there!”

…Someone got the jump on him.

Lin Wu jolted awake, from body to soul, fully alert, realizing he was standing near the long corridor outside the dormitory area.

It would take at least ten minutes to walk from the dormitory to here, yet Lin Wu found that he couldn’t remember how he got here in those ten minutes, as if he had fallen into some kind of sleepwalking state, led by a mysterious force, inexplicably arriving at this spot.

He should be in his dormitory sleeping soundly!

This area was a landscaped recreational zone, with lush trees and winding corridors, blending ancient charm and vibrant natural beauty. Whether for solitary study, romantic couples, groups taking photos in traditional costumes, or cosplay shoots, this was where everyone gathered.

:

—

In the midnight corridor, it was Lin Wu’s first time seeing it like this.

He didn’t expect that a few classmates were lingering around.

Of course, the next scene was that they were caught red-handed by the night-shift maintenance teacher.

…It turned out that it wasn’t him who was caught.

Lin Wu breathed a sigh of relief and quietly hid in the shadows of a tree to avoid getting implicated.

The maintenance teacher’s attention was entirely focused on a few boys: “Why are you guys out running around at this time of night instead of sleeping in the dorms?”

The boys hung their heads, unable to sneak away, and had to adopt a serious attitude: “Teacher, we’re not just running around; we’re out here to study. Even though it’s a holiday, we can’t slack off…”

The maintenance teacher responded, “Studying?”

The boys replied, “Yes, yes, um, we’re memorizing English!”

The maintenance teacher shot back, “I don’t see you looking like you’re memorizing English!”

The boys stammered, “Really, we’re memorizing vocabulary…”

The maintenance teacher retorted, “Do I look like a vocabulary word to you?”

The boys fell silent.

Lin Wu couldn’t help but share their sympathy from a distance. But then, he suddenly heard some very light rustling sounds around him.

They were faint and scattered, seemingly coming from various directions.

At first, Lin Wu thought it was the wind, but when the night breeze paused briefly, those subtle sounds continued.

‘No way!’

Lin Wu quickly turned his head, scanning the surroundings, and was stunned the next moment.

He couldn’t believe his eyes and blinked hard, confirming it again with caution.

Sure enough, there were people hiding in the shadows of the trees all around!

Some were alone, while others were in groups of three or five, using the shadows of the night as cover, just like him.

Lin Wu quickly surveyed the nearby area—there were at least twenty to thirty people. Looking further out, there were even more, with shadows flickering everywhere.

…How many classmates were there like him, unable to sleep and sneaking out for a night adventure?

Wait a minute.

Lin Wu suddenly had a flash of insight. This kind of mass nighttime outing… could it be a sign of animalistic tendencies?!

“Get back to the dorm!” the maintenance teacher was oblivious to the large crowd hiding around him and only supervised the few boys as they walked back.

The boys were reluctant, glancing back every few steps.

The maintenance teacher was grinding his teeth in frustration: “If you keep walking slowly, you’ll get back at dawn!”

“Whoosh—”

A firework exploded unexpectedly in the night sky, tracing a bright arc.

It didn’t come from the campus, but it was very close, as if right in front of them.

Everyone froze, including the maintenance teacher, the boys turning back, and those hiding in the trees.

In an instant, everything was silent.

The firework burst at the highest point in the sky, and with a bang, it scattered colors across the sky.

Then came the second, the third, the fourth…

The dazzling fireworks lit up the corridor like daylight, and the nighttime adventurers could no longer hide.

Lin Wu finally got a clear look at the surrounding crowd and then noticed that just a few steps away, under a tree, stood a tall figure that was hard to miss.

As if sensing the sideways gaze, that person suddenly turned to look over.

Wang Ye.

Their eyes met.

Another firework exploded in a brilliant display.

Lin Wu thought, “…”

There was no need to set the mood any further at this point!

Fortunately.

That was the last firework.

Fireworks are fleeting; in an instant, the night returned, covering everything once more.

But just before the last glimmer of light disappeared, Lin Wu heard Wang Ye say, “Hey.”

The voice was neither too loud nor too soft, neither cold nor warm, like a perfunctory greeting exchanged with someone familiar yet not quite a friend.

‘…No.’

Lin Wu quickly shook his head, telling himself it was an illusion, and he hadn’t heard anything.

He quietly backed away into the deeper shadows, turned around decisively, and retreated into the distance.

Don’t ask why he was retreating; just know it was for love and peace.

He slipped along the outer edge of the corridor for about a hundred meters before finally feeling a bit more at ease, stopping in front of a small patch of bushes to gently adjust his breathing.

But just a second later, he heard an even closer “Hey.”

That voice was practically right behind him!

Lin Wu was startled, his breath caught in his throat, and he instinctively turned around.

Wang Ye was standing there leisurely, apparently unaware of when he had come over, just a step away.

Lin Wu, still shaken, blurted out, “Why are you walking so quietly like a ghost?”

Wang Ye frowned: “Why are you running?”

Lin Wu was taken aback, his heated brain starting to cool down, pure innocence rushing to the forefront: “Huh? I’m not running.”

“Not running?” Wang Ye glanced a hundred meters away, “I was just greeting you over there.”

“…” What should he do if he couldn’t respond? Of course, he would just skip over it. “Oh, so you were greeting me?”

Wang Ye replied, “What else would it be?”

Lin Wu: “…”

What if they couldn’t connect on every sentence?

Wang Ye just wanted to greet Lin Wu because the last time at the school hospital, he had stayed with that friend who had drowned. Wang Ye thought Lin Wu was quite a good friend, and it left him with a neutral impression.

When the fireworks went off in the sky, he turned around and saw Lin Wu, and his first thought was that it was a nice coincidence.

So it was only natural for him to say hello.

If Lin Wu hadn’t run away, they would have just nodded at each other, and that would have been the end of it, without all this follow-up.

But to be fair.

Although Wang Ye didn’t even know Lin Wu’s name, he managed to remember his appearance after a brief encounter.

Especially those eyes.

Lin Wu had beautiful eyes, bright when he was mischievous, like a little beast; but at that moment, in his quietness, they resembled a forest shrouded in mist.

More importantly, Wang Ye always felt like he had seen those eyes somewhere before.