She is in the fog

The weather was getting colder and colder, and the window glass was covered with a thin layer of mist.
A classmate drew a small heart on the window in the middle of the classroom.

During evening self-study, He Xi didn't quite understand a math problem, so he turned around and wanted Mingmei to explain it to him. When he turned around, he saw Mingmei putting her right hand to her mouth and blowing hot air.

The careful girl kept this scene firmly in her mind.

After sending them home in the evening, she saw a two-dollar store on the way back that was still open, so she walked in without thinking. She wanted to buy Mingmei a pair of half gloves that would keep her warm and would not interfere with her writing.

As soon as she walked into the store, the proprietress came up to her and greeted her warmly: "Classmate, what do you want to buy? You came at the right time. If you are any later, the store will close."

"Have you got half a glove?"
"Yes, yes, yes, follow me."

After the proprietress led He Xi to the corresponding position, she stood beside her and watched over her. Seeing that He Xi was very conflicted in picking and choosing, the proprietress could not stand it any longer.

"How about this?" The lady boss took a pair of red gloves from the shelf. "This is brightly colored, suitable for young girls, and there are a few white snowflakes on it. Christmas is coming soon, and the red and white colors are very festive. These are new products, this year's new style, you can't go wrong with them."

He Xi took the gloves handed over by the boss lady and looked at them. They were indeed exquisite and cute. The snowflake pattern on them was indeed the finishing touch, which was very festive. Mingmei liked red, and He Xi estimated that she would like this pair of gloves, so he said to the boss lady, "Let's take this one."

When she reached the cashier counter, He Xi suddenly hesitated again. She remembered that Ming Mei rarely took the initiative to accept her gifts before, and she was afraid that she would refuse. After thinking for a moment, she made a plan.

She asked the boss lady: "Do you have matching gloves like this?"
"Do you want a couple's set?"
"No, I want to buy two pairs of this style of gloves, but I don't want them to be exactly the same."

The lady boss thought for a moment, then said, "I see. It's a sister model, right? We also have a Santa Claus model in the store, also red with white trim. Do you want to take a look?"

"No need, just take it and pay together."

Before the morning self-study class the next day, He Xi put the Santa Claus gloves on Wen Wan's desk and the snowflake gloves on Ming Mei's desk, and said with a smile: "It's cold, be careful of freezing your hands. I bought a pair of gloves for each of you, don't refuse!"

He Xi had greeted Wen Wan last night, so Wen Wan was not surprised. She picked up the gloves on the table and said with pretended delight: "Wow, they look so good! Thank you, He Xi."

Wen Wan opened the package, put on the gloves, and then raised her hands and kept turning the palms and backs of her hands in front of her eyes, praising: "It looks so good." Then she hurriedly urged Ming Mei, "Amei, you should put them on too, so I can see the overall effect!"

Under Wenwan's urging, Mingmei was pushed forward like a wave without having time to think.
So she simply unwrapped the gloves on the table and put them on carefully.
very suitable.

Wen Wan was indeed a qualified wingman, and she kept exclaiming "it looks good" from the side.

Mingmei lowered her head and looked at the gloves on her hands. A hint of joy flashed in her eyes. Then she raised her head and smiled at He Xi and said, "Thank you. I like it very much."

During the afternoon physical education class, He Jiahe, Xu Yan and Ou Yanuo had their periods, so they did not go to the playground.

Ever since He Xi collected the menstrual schedule of all the girls in the class and suggested to the physical education teacher that girls in their "special period" should be allowed to rest in the classroom instead of attending physical education classes, there has been an unwritten rule in the class: all girls on their menstrual period can rest in the classroom instead of attending physical education classes.

There were only He Jiahe, Ou Yanuo and Xu Yan in the classroom, and the three of them began to gossip unscrupulously.

Ou Yanuo said: "Jia Jia, I heard that Ming Mei seems to be with Li Bufan."

"No way?" He Jiahe opened his mouth wide.

"I also heard it from others. They said that Li Bufan invited Mingmei to her house for dinner. It sounded very detailed and didn't seem like nonsense."

He Jiahe frowned and said, "I originally thought Mingmei liked He Xi."

Ou Yanuo was shocked and said, "Oh my God! He Jiahe, what are you thinking about? Li Bufan and He Xi, isn't it obvious? If you don't choose Li Bufan, you have a problem with your brain."

He Jiahe curled his lips in dissatisfaction: "He Xi, He Xi is not that bad..."

The other two people did not catch the deeper meaning of He Jiahe's words. Xu Yan glanced at her and chuckled, "Jia Jia, do you think He Xi likes Wen Wan?"

"Hmm?" He Jiahe frowned, "Why do you feel that way?"

"Listen to my analysis. You see, with He Xi's past temper, she was not afraid of anyone. But, I discovered this semester that He Xi didn't dare to go against Wen Wan. No matter what Wen Wan said to her, she never said a word in return. Also, she often bought breakfast for Wen Wan, and also bought breakfast for her bestie. What is this? Love the whole house and love the whole dog! Just this morning, did you see that He Xi was afraid that Wen Wan's hands would be cold, so she bought her gloves, and even bought Ming Mei's. And didn't you notice that He Xi especially likes to stick with Wen Wan? She sends her home every night! Isn't this obvious?"

"Huh?" He Jiahe was a little bit unbelievable. She originally thought that He Xi liked Ming Mei, but after Xu Yan's analysis, she was a little shaken and actually felt that what she said made sense.

Ou Yanuo seemed to be uninterested in this topic. She covered her stomach and said painfully, "I have diarrhea every time my period comes. It's so annoying! Do you two want to go to the toilet?"

He Jiahe shook his head: "I'm not going."

"I'll accompany you. I also want to go to the bathroom!" Xu Yan stood up. "Bring some more paper and give me some later."

"You can do it yourself. Just tear as much as you want." Ou Yanuo handed a pack of paper to Xu Yan.

Watching Ou Yanuo and Xu Yan disappear by the window, He Jiahe sighed helplessly.

At this moment, He Jiahe was the only one in the classroom. She sat in her seat, spinning her pen boredly.
The weather was cold and her fingers became less flexible. She put down the pen in her hand, raised her right hand and blew a breath of hot air around her mouth, then stared at He Xi's position in a daze.

He Jiahe was sitting behind Wen Wan. The scene of He Xi delivering the gloves in the morning naturally fell into He Jiahe's eyes completely. She remembered Xu Yan's analysis before, and the scenes of the past. She also heard that He Xi escorted Wen Wan and Mingmei home every day, and she couldn't help feeling depressed.

He Jiahe and He Xi had known each other since childhood. At that time, she was her best friend. They went to school together, played together, and went home together. Even when they went to Qinglin City for a competition, they would hold hands and ride together.

But later, He Xi's mother died in a car accident, and He Xi began to be bullied by Sun Tingyu. He Jiahe was afraid, so he did not dare to tell the teacher or parents.
When she reached junior high school, there was another person who was even more difficult to deal with. Ning Xiaoduo not only bullied He Xi in every way, but also did not allow any classmates in the class to play with her. She asked everyone to break up with He Xi, otherwise they would be against them.

At that time, He Jiahe was still He Xi's friend, and Ning Xiaoduo regarded her as a thorn in her side. Later, she couldn't stand it anymore, and followed the others to write a letter to He Xi to break up. Since then, He Xi has never taken the initiative to talk to her again. It was not until this semester, because of the change of seats, that she took the initiative to speak, impatiently urging her to hurry up.

As far as I can remember, He Xi had always had an attitude of "seeing through the world" since she received one letter of breaking off friendship after another. When someone bullied her, she didn't say a word or fight back, as if it had nothing to do with her. The expression on her face was always indifferent, and she looked aloof, quiet, and independent.

In the second semester of senior high school, He Xi skipped class for the first time and even beat Ning Xiaoduo. It was also the first time that He Jiahe saw her so angry. Her face turned red and veins on her neck bulged. She looked like a mad beast, which was scary.

From then on, He Xi's personality changed 180 degrees. She often fought and made trouble. Because of her, the class's conduct points were completely deducted. He Jiahe was the discipline committee member and was very troubled by this.

Thinking of their past friendship, He Jiahe would occasionally advise her, but she never listened, rolled her eyes and ignored him.

So the little guilt and compassion that He Jiahe had left was completely consumed.

She also began to feel that she was unreasonable, violent, barbaric, and evil, and she no longer treated her kindly. Whenever she caught her doing something wrong, she would report it to the teacher and complain to He Sicheng...

She felt that she had gone too far. In fact, she didn't know why she was targeting her in every way. Was it out of reluctance? Or revenge?

But during the sports meet, she was troubled by Han Ya, and He Xi suddenly appeared, like a knight descending from the sky in the legend, and saved the princess.

He Jiahe was extremely grateful. While she escorted her back to the playground, a distance that was neither long nor short, she thought a lot and finally decided to apologize to her and asked if they could still be friends with her. However, when she said that she had not opened the letter of breaking off the friendship and therefore the breaking off did not count, He Jiahe's heart was deeply touched.

If I hadn't sent that breaking-up letter, if I had told her teachers and parents about her being bullied, if I had chosen to stand on the same front with her...

Unfortunately, no if.

He Jiahe remembered that after the closing ceremony of the sports meet, the head teacher went outside the classroom to talk to the biology teacher. Qian Ziyue complained that he did not get a ranking in the girls' long-distance race. As soon as she finished arguing with Qian Ziyue, He Xi stood up and scolded Qian Ziyue, and even fought with him.
She thought that since He Xi spoke for her and stood on her side, they would let bygones be bygones.

But during this period of time, she always kept her eyes on He Xi, and discovered that He Xi treated Wen Wan and Ming Mei so differently.

Does He Xi like Wenwan or Mingmei?
He Jiahe was feeling upset, so she picked up the pen and started spinning it on her finger. However, because she was worried, she didn't spin it well and the pen fell to the ground. She squatted down to pick it up, but accidentally noticed a ring-shaped object dropped from under He Xi's chair.

She walked to He Xi's position curiously, bent down and picked it up.

It is a silver ring.

He Jiahe recalled that since last semester, He Xi often wore a ring on her left index finger. She must have accidentally dropped it. She was about to put it in her drawer when she suddenly found two letters engraved on the inside of the ring -

WW
WW, gentle?
Does she really like Wen Wan?
He Jiahe's fingers were trembling so much that she could hardly hold the ring. Thinking of the day when she saw He Xi and Wen Wan playing chess happily at Yiran Pavilion, tears welled up in her eyes.

At this time, the classroom door was pushed open, and the person who came in was He Xi.

He Jiahe quickly raised her head and put the tears back into her eyes. She pretended to be indifferent and asked, "He Xi, why did you go back to the classroom?"

"I dropped something, I came back to look for it."

"Is that the ring? I just saw it under your chair."

"Yes, yes, that's it." He Xi took the ring from He Jiahe and put it on his index finger skillfully. "Thank you. I'll go back to the playground first. We have to gather again later."

Watching He Xi leave the classroom and close the door, He Jiahe felt very lonely. She thought of the letters "WW" and glanced at Wen Wan's position. She couldn't help but sigh slightly: He Xi is a brave knight, but she is not the princess she wants to protect.

But, are you willing?

I will not give up until I reach the wall.

It was her previous cowardice that caused her to break up with He Xi. He Jiahe felt more courageous. She took a deep breath and hurried out of the classroom to follow He Xi's footsteps.

Next to the jasmine tree, she called He Xi.

He Xi turned around: "What's the matter?"

He Jiahe looked around and after confirming that there was no one else around, he walked forward and said, "He Xi, do you have someone you like?"

"Why do you ask this?"
"curious."
"Yes, I have."

He Jiahe's heart sank, so he asked tentatively, "Is it the name on your ring?"

Hearing this, He Xi stretched out his left hand, rotated the ring on it with the thumb and index finger of his other hand, and then looked up at He Jiahe: "Did you see it?"

Thunderbolts struck the head——

He Jiahe's heart skipped a beat. Although she didn't say it explicitly, the meaning was self-evident.

He Jiahe opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. At this time, He Xi added: "Yes, it's her. But I hope you don't tell her. When the time is right, I will express my feelings to her."

He Jiahe was stunned. Although she had been prepared, she still couldn't accept the fact when she heard it from her mouth. After He Xi's back disappeared from her sight, she ran into Yiran Pavilion and sobbed softly.

(End of this chapter)