Chapter 289
The handwriting on the white sheet of paper was neat:
[Ten years from now, I want to become a great hero like Sixth Sister!]
Looking at this line, Xie Mi suddenly understood where that time capsule buried under the big tree at Xinghua Elementary School’s playground had come from.
The time capsule, unearthed twelve years later, contained wish papers that had long since yellowed and aged.
But the child who wrote this line twelve years ago had penned every stroke with the utmost seriousness.
Noticing Xie Mi’s gaze, little Shen Moqing instinctively covered it with his hand, embarrassed to death.
“Uh… this… no, I was just…”
“Wanting to be brave like me is a good thing. You don’t need to feel embarrassed.”
Xie Mi cut off his stammering. Casually, she pulled the paper and pen from his hand and scribbled a line in bold, careless handwriting:
[Screw it, just go for it.]
No, not good. She had to set a proper example for elementary school kids.
She scratched it out and rewrote:
[Just charge forward!!]
Satisfied, she nodded and stuffed the note back into Shen Moqing’s hands.
“Since you’ve written down this goal, you’d better see it through. At the very least, next time you run into those bullies, you have to fight back bravely like me.”
Shen Moqing held the paper as if it were a treasure, then looked up seriously.
“With the one-finger strike?”
“That works too. Or I could teach you some secret moves: Granny Destroys the Parking Lot, Crow Takes Flight, Pretend-to-Wave-but-Actually-Slap-Your-Enemy-80-Times-in-One-Second…”
Halfway through her list, someone tugged at the hem of her clothes.
She turned her head to see little Liu Woxing, her small face solemn, looking at her earnestly.
“Police officer comrade, the meteor shower is about to end. Aren’t you making a wish?”
“Police officer? Where?” Xie Mi reflexively glanced around.
Liu Woxing: “?”
Realizing her slip, Xie Mi coughed and pointed at herself with exaggerated seriousness. “Right here.”
Liu Woxing: “…”
What a not-very-smart police officer.
“Alright, alright, hurry up and make your wish. Didn’t you always want to?” Xie Mi turned to Shen Moqing.
He quickly clasped his hands toward the meteor shower.
But just before making a wish, he hesitated.
Until today, his wish had always been for his dad to come home more often.
But now…
He snuck a glance at Xie Mi—that dashing, whirlwind-like sister who came and went like the wind.
Closing his eyes, he whispered his new wish with all his heart:
[I hope I can see Sixth Sister again next time.]
The three of them—one adult, two kids—huddled together, gazing up at the dazzling meteor shower, brilliant as the Milky Way.
They were lucky.
This meteor shower was supposed to be viewed only from the mountaintop. Yet even from halfway up, they still saw it.
Perhaps what they saw wasn’t as magnificent as from the summit, perhaps it was just a glimpse.
But for them, it was enough.
Liu Woxing hugged her knees, leaning against Xie Mi, her bright eyes reflecting the starry night.
Xiao Ling was right.
The stars on the mountain truly were the most beautiful.
The police were quick—sirens soon wailed from the foot of the mountain.
Shen Moqing tensed instinctively, looked up at Xie Mi, and unconsciously gripped her sleeve.
Xie Mi also heard Xu Shuangrong’s voice.
[Xu Shuangrong: Why do I hear police sirens?]
[System: Did you call the police?]
[Xu Shuangrong: Do you think that’s possible?]
[System: Then what happened?]
[Xu Shuangrong: You’re asking me?]
[System: No, this is wrong—completely wrong. In the original text, this part never had police at all!]
[Xu Shuangrong: Don’t you think this feels familiar?]
[System: I remember now! The last time we crossed over to the factory where Xiao Jingxi was kidnapped, the police also appeared out of nowhere!]
[Xu Shuangrong: Maybe we’ve been missing something crucial all along.]
[Xu Shuangrong: But now’s not the time. Hurry, send me back!]
The memory of being chased half the night by police as a suspect was still vivid. Xu Shuangrong did not want a repeat.
[System: Get ready, I’m sending you back!]
The moment she heard that, Xie Mi shot up like a spring, startling little Liu Woxing beside her.
But Shen Moqing didn’t look surprised. Instead, he looked at the sleeve slipping from his grasp, lowered his eyes, and seemed to understand something.
“I need to keep chasing the human traffickers. You two little ones, remember to obediently get in the police car and go home!”
She shouted while running, her steps messy from slipping on the leaves scattered over the mountain path.
Liu Woxing stared in awe at her fading silhouette.
“Is she really a police officer?”
Shen Moqing didn’t reply. He watched her back with full concentration—just like four years ago, under the apricot tree, when a little him stood at the roadside and saw that same departing figure.
Sixth Sister was like the wind. She always appeared at the most unexpected moments and left just as quietly.
But she was a wind that carried hope.
Every time she came, she left traces behind.
Thinking this, he suddenly stood up and shouted at her fading back:
“Sixth Sister! What did you wish for?”
“Huh? A wish?”
Xie Mi, scanning for cover to prepare for her vanishing act, froze at the question. Her mind raced, and she blurted:
“Snow! I wished to see snow—”
Before she finished, a gust of wind blew, rattling the leaves.
Shen Moqing grabbed Liu Woxing’s hand suddenly.
“Ah!”
She stumbled from the pull, glaring in confusion. “Why are you pulling me?”
“No reason.”
“If there’s no reason, why pull me?” Liu Woxing rubbed her arm suspiciously and turned back toward the direction Xie Mi had gone.
But the place was already empty.
Only leaves, stirred by the wind, fell slowly to the ground—
as if nothing had ever happened.
At the peak of Xiqing Mountain.
Xie Mi grimaced, still remembering the sharp pain from when she stubbed her toe on a rock while running.
So painful—wait. Not painful?
Opening her eyes, she realized she was back.
After two crossings, she had figured out the pattern.
Crossing was like switching slices of existence. Her self in this world would fall unconscious, while another her appeared in that world.
Pain from that world didn’t carry back—just like the jacket she had poked holes in three times, now it was back to being perfectly intact on her body.
As she thought this, she suddenly realized something felt off.
Her head was tilted—resting on someone’s shoulder.
She lifted her gaze. A man’s side profile, bathed in moonlight like soft mist, came into view. His beautiful peach blossom eyes reflected the silvery glow.
Before she could ask, a flurry of white fluff drifted past her cheek.
Only then did Xie Mi notice that the night sky was filled with dandelion seeds, fluttering like snow.
Blowing off the last seed head, Shen Moqing turned to her, his eyes lit with a faint smile.
“Look.”
“It’s snowing.”
