Gao Lan sighed heavily. “I had a nightmare too!”
In her dream, she was taking advanced math, which was way too scary.
When Wei Caining heard that both of them had had nightmares, she turned to Yexue and asked, “Did you have a nightmare, Ah Xue?”
Yexue gave her a quiet glance. “…No.”
Wei Caining didn’t connect it to the previous semester, instead saying, “Looks like our sleep quality is pretty good.”
After morning classes, Wei Caining and Gao Lan bought instant noodles and planned to eat them back in the dorm.
Yexue and He Siqi went straight to a cafeteria near the teaching building.
On the way, He Siqi overheard someone talking about nightmares: “Help, I was forced to solve problems in my dream too. When will it end?”
He Siqi became gradually confused.
Along the way, she heard four or five people talk about dreams related to studying.
Still suffering from a bad dream about studying, He Siqi thought to herself: “…”
In her daze, she seemed to realize something. She looked at Yexue, her voice trembling slightly. “Ah Xue…”
Having experienced supernatural events before, she was more sensitive than most people.
Yexue understood the look in her eyes and silently nodded.
He Siqi’s expression was one of agony. “I’ll never fail a class again!”
Yexue sympathetically patted her shoulder and encouraged, “Keep going.”
These kinds of dreams went on for quite a while, and each time He Siqi woke up, she was still dazed.
Gao Lan was even more puzzled. “So I love studying so much, even in my dreams?”
When the make-up exam results came out, and both of them passed, the related nightmares stopped.
Gao Lan suddenly realized: “So it’s the God of Literature helping me, a free tutor!”
Upon hearing this, He Siqi silently gave Gao Lan a look.
Despite the high pass rate of the make-up exams, the red-clad female ghost seemed unhappy about it.
Later, Yexue passed by Building 404 and overheard her complaining, “This is truly the worst class I’ve ever taught!”
…
At the end of February, Yexue’s college organized a spring outing, set for the upcoming weekend.
Wei Caining got the specific schedule from the teacher, finding out that they would stay at a hot spring resort, and quickly ran back to share the good news, getting Yexue and the others to sign up.
When Yexue saw the resort’s name, she realized it was the same place Yu Qi was going for business.
After thinking for a moment, she wrote her name on the registration form.
Time passed quickly, and soon it was Saturday.
Since it was a school-organized group activity and a rare resort trip, the students were very excited, and many signed up enthusiastically.
The rented bus quickly filled up.
The teacher called the roll, and after confirming that everyone had arrived, instructed the driver to start the bus.
The ride was lively, with students who knew each other sitting together, discussing the upcoming itinerary.
As soon as Ye Xue smelled the gasoline, she began to feel unwell. After sending a text to Yu Qi to let him know she was on her way, she put her phone away and tried to rest.
It wasn’t long before the bus finally stopped.
The air was fresh, surrounded by green mountains, and the sound of a stream and waterfall could be heard in the distance.
Ye Xue stepped off the bus and looked around at the beautiful scenery. The place was indeed picturesque, with clear water, lush mountains, and the sounds of birds and flowers filling the air.
After receiving the notice to gather at the hot spring hotel at 5 PM, the others couldn’t wait to get off the bus and explore.
The four roommates from Ye Xue’s dorm gathered together. Wei Caining glanced at the sightseeing brochure. “It says there’s a reservoir here where you can fish!” She turned to the others. “Want to go?”
Ye Xue, still feeling a bit carsick, took a while to recover. Seeing Wei Caining’s excitement, she didn’t want to spoil their fun, so she said, “You guys go ahead. I’ll rest over there for a bit and come find you later.”
She pointed toward a nearby pavilion.
He Siqi frowned slightly, noticing Ye Xue’s pale face. “Why don’t I stay and keep you company?” she said with concern.
Wei Caining put down the brochure and said, “Ye Xue, you look so pale, how can we just leave you? We’ll stay here with you until you feel better. Even if we can’t go today, we still have tomorrow.”
Gao Lan nodded in agreement.
Ye Xue shook her head gently. “I’m just a little carsick. I’ll be fine after resting for a while. Besides, didn’t you want to go fishing? When you catch some, we’ll have something good to eat tonight.”
At the resort, you could take any fish you caught to the restaurant to have it cooked.
Wei Caining’s spirits lifted immediately upon hearing Ye Xue’s encouragement, and she smiled widely. “Great! I’ll catch a few extra fish so we can have grilled fish, fried fish, and boiled fish tonight!”
She rattled off a list of dishes like she was placing an order.
Ye Xue laughed while listening.
After Ye Xue insisted, Wei Caining and the others reluctantly left to explore the area. Before they left, they reminded her, “Call us if you want to come find us once you feel better.”
Ye Xue agreed with a smile.
She sat down at a nearby pavilion. When she heard footsteps approaching, she thought her roommates were coming back.
Turning around, she asked, “Done fishing already?”
But it wasn’t her roommates approaching.
When she saw who it was, a smile appeared in her eyes. “Yu Qi.”
Yu Qi nodded and sat down next to her. Noticing how pale her face was, he pursed his lips, opened a packet of dried tangerine peel, and handed it to her. “Why didn’t you take motion sickness medicine?”
Ye Xue replied, “I forgot.”
Yu Qi sighed softly, letting her lean on his shoulder as he adjusted his posture to make her more comfortable.
The tangy-sweet taste of the tangerine peel spread, and Ye Xue slowly started to feel better.
She asked, “Did you finish your work?”
Ye Xue was briefly blown by the wind, which made her cough uncontrollably.
Yu Qi shook his head. “Not yet.”
He touched her forehead to check if she had a fever. Once he confirmed she didn’t, he relaxed. “I’ll go over after a while.” Then he added, “Tomorrow, I’ll take you to have some fun.”
When Ye Xue heard the word “fun,” she laughed. “It sounds like you’re trying to comfort a child.”
Yu Qi’s eyes softened with a smile.
After a while, his phone rang.
He glanced at the caller ID, his expression tightening. He quickly adjusted Ye Xue’s scarf and explained, “I need to go over there first.”
Ye Xue nodded. “Go ahead.”
Meanwhile, Wei Caining was struggling to catch any fish at the reservoir and was feeling a little discouraged.
A small white figure darted past, catching her attention.
She looked up and saw a white cat running through the forest. Turning to He Siqi and the others, she said, “I think I saw a cute little cat! I’m going to check it out!”
She started running toward the forest but was stopped suddenly as if she had stepped on something.
Confused, she looked down but saw nothing.
He Siqi and the others caught up to her. Gao Lan, concerned, asked, “What’s wrong?”
Wei Caining shook her head, still in a daze. She looked back at the forest, but the cat was no longer in sight.
Sighing, she said, “Never mind, let’s just go back to fishing.”
After they left, a light breeze blew through the grass, brushing aside the weeds.
On the patch of grass Wei Caining had stepped on, a white bone lay quietly.
But no one noticed.
After dinner that night, Ye Xue still wasn’t feeling well, so she skipped the evening hot spring activities and went straight back to the hotel room.
The room had twin beds. He Siqi and Wei Caining shared one, while Ye Xue shared with Gao Lan.
Her roommates were still worried about her, so after a short while in the hot springs, they returned to check on Ye Xue.
Gao Lan touched Ye Xue’s forehead and took her temperature. When she found it normal, she sighed with relief. “Good, no fever.”
They stayed with Ye Xue for a while. When it got late, they each returned to their rooms to rest.
As moonlight poured through the window, Wei Caining was still playing with her phone.
She controlled the character, making it jump, when suddenly, she heard crying in the distance. She was slow to react, and the character jumped into a trap.
The game ended, and she frowned. “I finally made it to level 99.”
Looking at the “game over” screen, she lost interest in the game and put her phone down.
But the crying only got louder.
Wei Caining looked out the window, puzzled.
Outside, a bamboo forest stretched, dense and green. When the wind blew through the bamboo, it made a rustling sound, and when the wind was stronger, it sounded almost like someone crying.
It was likely just the wind moving the bamboo.
As she thought this, preparing to turn her gaze away, the bamboo slowly parted in the wind.
She watched, transfixed.
A figure in red suddenly appeared in front of her, its pale face emotionless as it stared at her.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152