Chapter 43: Whispers of the Old Tree

The small town in the south wasn’t getting any rain, but the cold bit deep into the bones.

Han Wenwen bundled up in a down jacket and scarf, heading alone to the heart of the Heart-Linking Festival, right up to that ancient tree.

Though today wasn’t the actual holiday, people still lived in the area.

The tree was decked with colorful lights, and the nearby guardhouse had an old man on duty.

“Grandpa, can I draw a plaque?” she asked, standing at the guardhouse door.

The old man on duty smiled at her words. “Drawing a plaque during the New Year? Have you tied the red string yet?”

Han Wenwen lifted the red string with its colorful cloth, writing the same wish as when she was in elementary school. This time, she came to find out if the tree’s destined partner was real.

Under the old man’s watchful eye, she hung the red string on the tree and drew a new wooden plaque.

The old man said, “This old tree is pretty accurate. The surname I wished for matched my wife’s exactly back then.”

“Really? But I wished once before and forgot the surname on that plaque, so I’m back to see if it’s still accurate.”

“As long as it’s meant to be, people won’t miss each other.”

Han Wenwen stared at the newly drawn wooden plaque in her hand, her mouth open as she breathed out warm air, her eyes trembling slightly—because it still had the same character as before: 【Lin】.

A smile crept across her lips.

It looks like Lin Zheng Ran really is my destined one.

But what about Qingqing…

Han Wenwen waved goodbye to the old man and headed back to her uncle’s house.

The whole street glowed with lights, every household buzzing with festive lanterns.

Her uncle’s place was no different, except it lacked the usual crowd.

This year, her uncle went to his girlfriend’s family for the holiday and, naturally, didn’t take Han Wenwen along.

Han Wenwen sat alone on the steps, cupping her face, the wooden plaque in her hand.

She murmured to herself, “Lin Zheng Ran sure has a lot of romantic fates lined up.”

Her stomach grumbled, so she went back to her room for food and reminded herself, “Next year during the break, I need to find my own place. Staying here longer will just make my aunt angry.”

Vibrant fireworks lit up the sky right at midnight, bursting with pops and crackles.

At the same time, Lin Zheng Ran’s phone buzzed with three messages.

One from Lily, one from Heqing, and one from Han Wenwen.

“Happy New Year, big dummy!”

“Happy New Year, Lin Zheng Ran.”

“Happy New Year, Lin Zheng Ran.”

Lin Zheng Ran replied to them all at once.

Half a month later, the new semester began.

Han Wenwen and Heqing returned from the south.

The four of them reunited, and after the winter break, those two seemed less chaotic than before the holidays.

Though still a bit off…

Han Wenwen kept up her role as the watchful best friend and childhood neighbor, sticking close to Lin Zheng Ran whenever the class formed groups or during PE class.

She stayed by his side to keep other girls from getting too friendly.

The two grew more familiar, and Han Wenwen seemed to relax even more around him.

A telling moment came when the teacher asked desk mates to recite lessons.

Since Han Wenwen hadn’t studied, Lin Zheng Ran bluntly told the teacher, “She didn’t memorize it.”

After class, Han Wenwen glared at him, cheeks puffed up. “Lin Zheng Ran, you’re so heartless. You don’t look out for girls at all. Any other guy wouldn’t have ratted me out.”

“Too bad I’m not just any guy,” Lin Zheng Ran explained. “Besides, you’re not really a girl—you’re more like a dog from the canine family.”

She lifted her chin defiantly. “Hmph!”

She never would have acted like that before.

In these fairly ordinary days, two months slipped by unnoticed.

Then, during a mock exam, Han Wenwen scored near the bottom, and the homeroom teacher called her in for a private talk.

The gist was that if she kept up these grades, high school was out of the question, and she needed to get serious.

Lin Zheng Ran happened to pass by the office door and saw Han Wenwen’s seemingly carefree expression.

With his deeper life experience beyond his years, he could tell she wasn’t as cheerful as she looked—she had hidden worries, buried deep.

That same day during PE class.

Han Wenwen sat by the edge of the fence next to Lin Zheng Ran, draping her school jacket over her bent legs and sneaking peeks at her phone hidden underneath.

Lin Zheng Ran gazed ahead. “That silly girl has finally stopped pulling weird stunts on me. I guess you’ve run out of ideas to give her?”

Han Wenwen paused, looked up, and gave him an awkward smile. “Lin Zheng Ran, you figured that out?”

“What do you think? The stuff she does is obviously not her own idea. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so out there every day, with her thoughts and actions completely mismatched.”

The little fox stopped playing on her phone, a bit helpless.

“I thought all the ideas I gave Xiao Qingqing would at least move things forward a bit with you two—like holding hands. But it seems like nothing worked. In fact, she said you’re getting stricter with her, and things are going backward.”

Lin Zheng Ran didn’t bother to comment, and they both stared at the green grass and the students playing on the playground.

Suddenly, he said,

“School life’s pretty great. As a kid, I hated it because it felt so stifling. But then I met Xiao Qingqing, and that’s when I started enjoying it. She’s my first real friend.”

Lin Zheng Ran glanced at the fox beside him. “Why the sudden heart-to-heart?”

Han Wenwen’s lips curved into a smile. “Well, I’m sort of your rumored girlfriend, so I can vaguely guess what’s on your mind—like that look you’re giving me now.”

With a playful glint, Han Wenwen added, “That expression says, ‘What are you up to, you sly fox?’ So, I’ll just tell you.”

Lin Zheng Ran snorted.

Han Wenwen looked at him meaningfully, then hugged her knees and joked,

“With my grades, I probably won’t make it to high school. That’s why I want to push you and her together this last year—that’s the truth.”

She gazed at the school and said slowly, “After junior high, I probably won’t see Xiao Qingqing again—or you, Lin Zheng Ran.”

“Wenwen? What did you just say?!”

Behind the fence, Heqing, who was in the same PE class and coming over to say hi, froze at the words.

Han Wenwen whipped around at Heqing’s voice, panicking as if afraid she’d caught the deeper meaning.

“Xiao Qingqing?”