Rejected by the Campus Belle, I Find My True Love-Chapter 21 Chen Ying’s Wish

Gazing up at the meteor shower that filled the sky, Chen Ying suddenly understood something: Xue Yang really wasn’t going to ask her out tonight.

She felt a heaviness in her chest, as if a piece of her heart was missing. It hurt, and she had no idea how to fill the void. They say meteor showers symbolize beautiful wishes and romantic love, but where was her love?

"Ying Ying, what wish did you make?" Wu Xiaoya asked, opening her eyes and looking at Chen Ying with enthusiasm.

Chen Ying’s gaze drifted toward the streaking meteors. "I didn’t make a wish."

"You came all the way up Phoenix Mountain to see the meteor shower, and you didn’t even make a wish!?"

Whether she actually made a wish or not, only she would ever know.

The meteor shower lasted for about an hour before gradually coming to an end. Everyone present was somewhat reluctant to see it go.

Xue Yang put away his phone and held out his hand to Lin Xi. "Let’s go. We’ll head back to the mountaintop."

Although this spot had fewer people, it was safer to move to a more populated area if they were going to stay the night.

Lin Xi naturally placed her small hand in Xue Yang’s palm. "Time flies."

Having walked the path once before made their return journey much smoother. Soon, they were back on the summit.

It was now 1:00 AM. Many people had already left, with some heading home and others checking into a hotel. Those remaining were setting up camp. There were quite a few of them, actually. Xue Yang did a rough count and saw more than twenty tents. That meant over twenty couples would be spending the night here.

Finding a spot relatively far from the others and with some natural shelter, Xue Yang set his backpack down, pulled out a pile of gear, and started fiddling with it. At first, Lin Xi didn’t understand, but she quickly caught on.

"You actually brought a tent! You planned this all along, didn’t you? I knew it! You’re just after my body."

Although Lin Xi now knew what Xue Yang had brought, the wariness in her eyes had given way to nervousness.

"I brought the tent for watching the meteor shower. Wasn’t it beautiful?"

"It was beautiful!"

"There you go."

"..."

Soon, Xue Yang had set up a simple tent. It was a bit smaller than the bed in his rental apartment, but it was big enough for two people to lie down, albeit a little snugly.

"Xue Yang, aren’t we going to shower tonight?"

"Is now really the time to be thinking about that?"

"But won’t it be uncomfortable sleeping like this?"

"The sky is our blanket and the earth is our bed. What’s so bad about that?"

"..."

"Xue Yang, can you move over a bit? I don’t have any space on my side."

"I’m as far over as I can go. Any further and I’ll be outside. Now, get some sleep."

Lin Xi still felt uncomfortable. Xue Yang was like a hot potato beside her, his presence making her so flustered she couldn’t settle down. How could she possibly sleep? She tossed and turned endlessly. By contrast, Xue Yang’s sleeping posture was much better. He faced the dark fabric wall, seemingly already asleep.

Lin Xi tossed for a while longer before she gradually started to feel drowsy. The mountaintop was chilly at night. Although Xue Yang had come well-prepared, the cold was still palpable. As she slept, Lin Xi unconsciously shifted closer to the furnace-like warmth beside her.

She didn’t know how much time had passed when a sound startled her awake. Lin Xi’s eyes flew open, and she found herself lying right on top of Xue Yang. Panic-stricken, she rolled to the side. In her nervousness, she tried to stand up, forgetting she wasn’t at home.

BANG—

The tent was gloriously sacrificed.

Xue Yang lifted the tent fabric and sat up. This time, it was for real: the sky was their blanket and the earth was their bed.

"Err... uh... Xue Yang, I didn’t do it on purpose."

The damage was done. What could Xue Yang say?

Even though the tents were spaced far apart, the mountaintop was so quiet that the commotion from their spot made nearly everyone poke their heads out to see what was happening. The super blue moon of the Mid-Autumn Festival illuminated their predicament with perfect clarity.

"Wow, they’re really going at it. They even... toppled their tent."

"Your man is even more impressive. Want to give it a try?"

"Oh, you~"

"..."

The awkwardness between Xue Yang and Lin Xi was so thick you could have built a villa with it.

What do we do now? If we leave, it’ll be a dead giveaway that something happened. But if we stay... Besides, the main crowd has already left. If we go down the mountain now, we’ll be the only two on the entire trail, which is far too dangerous.

But surely they couldn’t just spend the rest of the night out in the open like this?

Lin Xi’s face was beet red. She hung her head, not daring to look at Xue Yang. I really didn’t do it on purpose.

Xue Yang didn’t seem to blame her. He’d bought the tent in his first year of high school, hoping to take Chen Ying on a trip, but it had never been used.

Just then, a voice came from nearby. "Did your tent break?"

It was a young couple. The guy was handsome and the girl was pretty, but they couldn’t hold a candle to Xue Yang and Lin Xi. When the girl saw Lin Xi, her amazement was obvious. The guy, however, was more reserved and proper. They looked to be about the same age, so they were probably students from University Town as well.

"We came up the mountain to camp, too. My name is Cheng Dong, and this is my girlfriend, Su Yu. We’re students from the Film Academy," Cheng Dong introduced himself.

"Hello. I’m Xue Yang, and this is Lin Xi. About this..." Xue Yang looked at the wreckage on the ground and gave a helpless smile.

"Ah, young love. It’s normal to be a bit... impetuous. As it happens, we brought two tents. You can have one of ours."

"...We couldn’t possibly accept. That’s too kind."

It was already mortifying enough. Now someone was offering them a tent? The whole situation felt bizarre, no matter how he looked at it.

"It’s normal to need a hand when you’re away from home. Here, let me show you how to pitch it." Cheng Dong was very enthusiastic. He took his own gear out of his backpack and spread it out on the ground.

Lin Xi wanted to help, but the other girl, Su Yu—presumably Cheng Dong’s girlfriend—pulled her back. "Leave the heavy lifting to the men. Come on, let’s go sit on that rock over there and watch the stars for a bit."

Without waiting for an answer, Su Yu pulled Lin Xi away. Once they reached the large rock, Su Yu sat down first, then pulled Lin Xi down beside her.

"You two are a couple, right?"

"First time spending the night out together?"

"Your boyfriend must have confessed to you tonight, and you accepted."

"..."

Su Yu was clearly an outgoing person, launching into a conversation with Lin Xi the moment they sat down. Although her questions were quite personal, the way she asked them didn’t feel intrusive at all. On the contrary, it felt like she was genuinely concerned for Lin Xi.

"We’re not..."

"I get it," Su Yu laughed. "It’s always a bit awkward when you first get together. I was the same way. When people would ask if he was my boyfriend, I’d be too shy to admit it. It drove him crazy.

"We’re both girls here, so you don’t have to be shy. I saw how... intense things got in there earlier. Listen, just some sisterly advice: in that department, we girls can easily get the short end of the stick. You have to know how to protect yourself."