Thursday afternoon, a clear blue sky drifted with a few lazy white clouds. They slid back and forth, then finally parked over the roof of Teaching Building Two, cutting off the bright sunlight that had been pouring through the classroom windows.

Yue Yang rested her chin on her hand, quietly staring at the chalk-covered blackboard. She held a pen, but the tip never touched her notebook. Today, just like the days before, one person was missing from her side.

Qinmu had taken emergency leave because of the prep work for the upcoming sports meet. Without her in class, the classroom, usually so colorful and lively, felt even dimmer. Maybe when someone’s gone, the emptiness in your heart doesn’t get patched up so easily.

Tu Shen bit her lip in frustration, glaring at Yue Yang’s back, her eyes full of jealousy and irritation. Ever since her long-standing desk partnership with Qinmu had been forcibly broken up yesterday, she hadn’t been able to pull herself together at all. Her mind was packed with scenes of her and Qinmu chatting and laughing in the past.

Right now she just wanted to confront the teacher, argue face-to-face, and get Qinmu switched back. Anything was better than sitting next to this stiff, un-cute boy she was with now. But her grades and her usual behavior were both a mess. To get their strict, no-nonsense homeroom teacher to agree to her request was honestly pretty difficult.

In the back row, Qi Yao sat on a low chair, chatting away with the boy beside him, Xiao Tang, not treating class as class at all. The two of them were completely absorbed, having the time of their lives.

Xiao Tang smirked and said, “Don’t you think Qinmu’s gotten pretty cute lately? You didn’t notice?”

Qi Yao wagged his index finger and gave a mocking grin. “You’re too naive. It’s all an illusion. Wait till he kicks you. Then you’ll understand what ‘truly cute’ feels like.”

Xiao Tang frowned. “So he’s even cuter when he kicks people? Should I try it then?”

Qi Yao was speechless. “Are you a damn masochist or what? I’m being sarcastic. You don’t get it? He’s never cute, ever. Got it?”

Xiao Tang muttered under his breath, confused, “But I think he’s pretty cute. Way more than before. And it’s not just a little. It’s like… his chest is developing too… I clearly saw some serious waves yesterday…”

A book smacked down onto Xiao Tang’s head.

Qi Yao said flatly, “You’re clearly bewitched by Qinmu. He’s a guy. How the hell can you use ‘serious waves’ on him?”

Xiao Tang clutched his head, yelling in outrage, “Damn, you hit way too hard! I just said a couple things about him. What’s it got to do with you? Why’re you so mad?”

Qi Yao’s face flushed red in embarrassment. “Of course it’s got to do with me. If you start liking Qinmu as a girl, I gotta set you straight. Don’t go losing your mind over him.”

Xiao Tang: “…”

Outside the window, sparrows occasionally flitted up to the sill. They hopped around cheerfully, pecking at the bare ledge, then peered curiously into the classroom, as if some brand-new human invention inside was drawing them in.

The students in the front rows were listening attentively as the math teacher went over the problems. Every now and then they took notes, or leaned over to whisper to their deskmates. The two would end up shaking with laughter, covering their mouths so the teacher wouldn’t see.

The back rows were much more laid-back.

Some had their heads bent over their phones, reading the latest chapter of a xuanhuan web novel, wildly roaming through their own fantasies—already imagining themselves as mist-wreathed, transcendent Immortal Lords, wielding ten divine artifacts to save all beings and vanquish demons…

Some, like Qi Yao, didn’t treat class like class at all, chatting and cracking seeds. When their throats got dry and hoarse, they’d take a quick swig of water. It was basically a New Year’s tea party.

Others were off wandering in dreamland, soaring to the Ninth Heaven to meet goddesses, then diving to the underworld to rendezvous with evil spirits and ferocious ghosts. Their expressions would suddenly light up, then twist in horror a moment later. Pretty thrilling, honestly.

Yue Yang used a black gel pen to bracket the important parts in her textbook, then drew a small five-pointed star next to each bracket. It looked like nothing special, but it was a long-standing habit of top-student Yue Yang, and one of the reasons she always crushed her exams. After all, textbook concepts were everything.

But today, unexpectedly, her mind kept drifting. Even as she drew stars, she couldn’t absorb a single word. She just stared blankly at the page, lost in other thoughts. The weight on her mind eventually drew the attention of the math teacher, who had actually been watching her for a while.

“Yue Yang, stand up and answer this question.”

“Eh? Oh.” Yue Yang snapped out of her chaotic thoughts and stood up in a rush. The hem of her red school jacket had gotten caught in her waistband, making her look a bit ridiculous. The girls behind her pretended not to notice and didn’t help; instead they covered their mouths and giggled, as if the class beauty making a fool of herself was great entertainment.

The math teacher pointed at a multiple-choice question she’d written on the board. Yue Yang glanced at it, did a quick mental calculation, and answered, “It should be C.”

Since the teacher hadn’t managed to catch her out, she could only use a warning tone. “Sit down. Pay attention in class. No matter how good your grades are, you can’t zone out during lessons.”

Yue Yang gave a soft “okay,” then slowly sat down. Her focus finally steadied. She stopped letting her thoughts wander, fixed her eyes on the board, and started listening and taking notes seriously.

=== Student Council Meeting Room

“Qinmu, that’s it for my part. It’s your turn now—share your thoughts.” Ouyang Muxia stepped away from the board and sat back down at her desk.

Qinmu wiped the words off the blackboard. Then, in front of all the Student Council members, she carefully wrote out the activity flow chart in her head, point by point, across the board.

“So, I think first we start with the opening ceremony. We obviously can’t skip the principal’s speech. But before that, we can schedule some cheerleading performances and such. Then, keeping order at the venue is really important. The field is limited, so events have to take turns using it. Major and minor events can run at the same time, as long as they don’t clash. I’m sure you’ve all seen the match schedule already…”

After she finished, Qinmu stepped down, picked up the teacup on Ouyang Muxia’s desk, and took a sip. Her throat was a little hoarse from talking so much.

Ouyang Muxia made up her mind quickly. She clapped her hands to gather everyone’s attention. “We’ll go with this schedule. Print the athletes’ handbook according to this and have the class monitors distribute it. Tomorrow, the Sports Department will be responsible for maintaining fairness at the event. I’ll call in some help from the other sports-related clubs.”

Chu Cheng started clapping enthusiastically. “As expected of our Student Council President—decisive, top-tier at making calls. And little Qinmu’s speech was spot-on too—deserves a round of applause. Clearly the Sports Department head position was made for you.”

Chu Cheng’s bootlicking skills were pretty famous in their year, but Ouyang Muxia always treated it like he was telling jokes and never took it seriously.

Qinmu coughed twice. She ignored the flattery at the start, but that one line that made her instantly tense stuck. She frowned and corrected him, displeased. “I’m not a little sister. I’m a guy.”

Chu Cheng’s eyes widened in surprise. He’d thought that lively, animated presenter just now was a flat-chested girl, but it turned out to be a boy. That put him in a bit of a bind. He’d already felt himself getting drawn in.

Chu Cheng gave an awkward laugh. “A guy, huh. A guy. That’s… not really a problem. Gender’s not the main thing. As long as it’s true love, who cares about gender, right? Hahaha.”

Sitting behind him, Yin Wenqi muttered under her breath, “Damn perv. Don’t embarrass the Student Council. Ouyang already has someone she likes, you know. I’m right, aren’t I?”

Catching the meaning behind Yin Wenqi’s exaggerated blink, Qinmu nodded in understanding. “Yeah. I already have a girl I like.”

Chu Cheng sighed in disappointment. “Fine, fine. I won’t force you from the start. But I’ll keep quietly chasing you until you say yes.”

Ouyang Muxia finally couldn’t take it anymore. She stuck out her foot and gave him a light kick, shoving him to the side. “Enough. Stop messing around. Don’t you have things to do in your class? Why’re you still hanging around here? You trying to be the Student Council’s mascot or something?”

Chu Cheng slowly backed toward the door, clasped his fist in a mock salute, and grinned. “Of course not. I’m going, I’m going. Wouldn’t dare trouble you any longer.”

Ouyang Muxia let out a light breath, then forced a smile, as if to reassure Qinmu. “He just likes teasing people. Don’t take it to heart. If there’s nothing else, we won’t keep you. You can head back and finish your work.”

Knowing that staying any longer would only add to the chaos, Qinmu waved and politely left the Student Council room.

But Chu Cheng really had left a bad impression. He was supposedly ranked first in the whole school, yet he’d said something that outrageous. It was honestly jaw-dropping. Qinmu could only grumble in her heart as she followed the same route back.

By the time she reached the Sports Department office, the girls inside were just sitting around chatting. No one was working.

As soon as they saw Qinmu, they rushed over to crowd around her.

“Minister, you’re back?”

“We’ve already got everything done. We were just waiting for you to check it.”

Qinmu carefully went through the spreadsheets and documents, then promised, “Looks good. Print fifty copies. I’ll deliver them to each class.”

Another girl came over, looking worried. “Minister, are you going to deliver them by yourself? That’s so many classes. Why don’t you split them between us? We’re not doing anything anyway.”

Qinmu smiled slightly. “You first-years sure you mean that? Don’t complain later that I dragged you into extra work. I can manage by myself, you know.”

As she spoke, more girls gathered around, straightening the printed documents into neat piles and each grabbing a few sets. Seeing how quickly the work got divided up, Qinmu let out a quiet breath of relief. Now she just had to perform well at the sports meet tomorrow.

When she got back to class, it was already the last period of the day. Yue Yang saw Qinmu walk in from the hallway and felt a secret rush of joy, like a newlywed wife seeing her husband come home.

Qinmu sat down and massaged her stiff shoulders and back, trying to ease the fatigue that a whole day of planning had left in her body.

Yue Yang stole a careful glance at her profile and asked softly, “Did you finish everything?”

Sitting up a little straighter, Qinmu kept her eyes on the blackboard. “Not yet. I still have to supervise the venue tomorrow. The next few days will be really intense. But once this stretch is over, things will calm down.”

Yue Yang nodded as if she half-understood. “Did you sign up for any events?”

Qinmu turned to look at her and shook her head. “Staff don’t really have time to sign up. But I’ll play in the class basketball game.”

Yue Yang smiled, and her smile was especially pretty. “I’ll come watch then. I’ll cheer for you.”

Qinmu was a little startled by that smile. Then something seemed to click for her. “Then I’ll be counting on you to honor us with your presence. But if we lose, don’t laugh at me, okay? I really can’t crash through those tall guys.”

“How could I?” Yue Yang said. “Win or lose, just being in it is enough. It’ll still be a good memory, right?”

It was like someone had placed a calming stone in Qinmu’s heart. She’d been feeling guilty for a while about all the mistakes she’d been making in basketball practice. But now, her mindset slowly shifted. As long as she could shoulder her share of responsibility, that was enough. Winning and losing didn’t matter that much, and it wasn’t something she could just change by force. Not right now, anyway.

When the last class finally ended, the sky had already grown dark. Out of the eight periods that day, Qinmu had missed almost half. She had no choice but to borrow Yue Yang’s notes to copy later. But Yue Yang had been out of it all day too. Her notebook was a mess—scattered phrases with no clear structure. Qinmu stared at it, a little at a loss. She didn’t know if this chaos was normal for a top student or something else. Either way, she still put it away, ready to go home and decipher it.

Night had fully fallen. Streetlights flicked on one after another. Cars started flooding the roads. It was the evening rush, school and work both letting out. Everyone wanted to get home as early as possible, and the streets, never wide to begin with, suddenly clogged up with traffic.

Qinmu and Ling Xu were walking along the nearly empty sidewalk.

“Qinmu, what event did you sign up for this time? I’ll come cheer you on,” Ling Xu said with a bright smile. Every time she smiled, a shallow dimple appeared on her cheek, cute and a little playful.

“Just the basketball game, nothing else. I’m the head of the sports club, remember?” Qinmu grinned smugly and pushed up her black-rimmed glasses. She’d only started wearing them recently; when it was dark, her myopia made it hard to see the road. It’d be bad if she bumped into some stranger.

“Tsk, Qinmu, I actually forgot you had such a big title. So that means the sports festival tomorrow is your territory too, right?” Ling Xu laughed softly and patted Qinmu on the shoulder.

Qinmu suddenly stopped walking, like the soles of her shoes had been glued to the ground. She froze, staring blankly at Ling Xu, her face turning shy and a little red. That jolt just now, like a flash of lightning—what was that? Why did Ling Xu suddenly do that?

In her memory, this was the first time Ling Xu had treated her this intimately. Back in middle school, if she got this close, HuiXiang would’ve shooed her away in disgust, making her stand at a distance while the girls chatted.

“What’s wrong, Qinmu? Something feel off?” Ling Xu looked her up and down curiously, especially the soles of her shoes. There was nothing there—no money stuck on, no super glue.

“N-no, it’s nothing. HuiXiang still hasn’t bought the food, let’s just wait for her here. Otherwise we might lose her later.” Qinmu turned her face away in embarrassment, gazing toward a little fried-food cart parked by the sidewalk. Her hands slipped into her pockets without her realizing—not because she was cold, but because her trembling fingers felt too out of control.

“Alright then, I’ll wait with you,” Ling Xu said, dropping her heavy backpack and leaning against a roadside tree. The ground didn’t look that dirty, and she wasn’t the neat-freak type. Stealing a tiny moment of laziness like this actually felt pretty nice.

“O-okay.” Qinmu answered in a trembling voice. But that tiny, soft reply didn’t really register with Ling Xu. Right now, Ling Xu’s attention was fixed on Qinmu’s unusually graceful back, as if she were trying to confirm something.

After quite a while, HuiXiang hurried over carrying a takeout box, wearing an apologetic smile. “Sorry to keep you waiting so long.”

“It’s fine. As long as you’re not planning to hog it all yourself, then waiting was worth it,” Ling Xu teased.

“Here, this one’s yours, Ling Xu. The veggies and meat you wanted. I told the boss to split it up just for you guys,” HuiXiang said, handing one of the three plastic boxes to Ling Xu.

Ling Xu accepted it with exaggerated humility, her tone a bit sugary. “I feel bad making Lady HuiXiang spend money on me~”

“Exactly. You’d better thank me properly. Tomorrow remember to come early and give me a massage~” HuiXiang looked ridiculously pleased with herself, like she’d just done something huge. She was smug and full of herself, clearly expecting a big payback.

“Here you go, sis, this one’s yours. Go on, eat.” HuiXiang pulled a deliberate look of disgust as she passed the box with the smallest portion to Qinmu.

“‘Sis,’ huh? That sounded pretty intimate. Qinmu, HuiXiang—how long were you planning to keep this from me?” Ling Xu looked at the two of them with great interest, arms folded over her chest, finally laying out the conclusion she’d basically already come to.

“Eh??” Qinmu and HuiXiang let out the same startled yelp.

“‘Eh’ what? Spit it out. Or I’ll start telling everyone at school about Qinmu,” Ling Xu suddenly put on a stern face, hands on her hips, interrogating the two in front of her with clear dissatisfaction.

“Actually, ‘sis’ is just me being one-sided…” HuiXiang covered half her face, explaining with a miserable expression. Qinmu hid behind her, staring at Ling Xu, tense and uneasy. Her panic was written all over her—like someone had dug straight down to her deepest secret, and her mind had gone blank, not knowing how to respond.

“Save it. Qinmu, you’re a girl.” Ling Xu pointed straight at the very real, no-doubt-about-it girl in front of her, her words sharp and full of absolute confidence. It was like she’d sensed something off about Qinmu from the very beginning.

“H-how could I possibly be a girl? Ling Xu, you—” Qinmu panicked, and in her rush, her natural girl’s voice slipped out. She hurriedly slapped a hand over her mouth. But the secret was already out, the arrow already loosed from the bow. There was no way to hide it again. Sooner or later, it was bound to be dragged into the light of day.

“Qinmu, that’s what you call confessing without torture. I’ve thought you were weird for a while now. Suddenly getting so close to HuiXiang, going to school together… And more importantly, your scent is way too strong. Even I can smell it. What guy smells that nice?”

“…” Qinmu couldn’t get a single word out in response. Shock was written all over her face. She had no strength to resist and could only slowly raise a little white flag in her heart and surrender.

“Ling Xu, I really didn’t mean to lie to you. I… I have my reasons…”

“Reasons? Qinmu, I don’t care what you’ve been through—you still have to tell me the truth. Aren’t we all friends?”

Ling Xu’s expression grew serious and sincere. Her excited words caught in her throat, and the hint of tears she’d been holding back finally fell. She took a step toward Qinmu, then another, until the two of them were standing at the same height, looking straight into each other’s eyes.

“I know, but… if I tell anyone about this, no one’s going to believe me.” Qinmu glanced helplessly into her clear eyes. Some bitter emotion seeped out from the depths of her heart.

“How do you know I won’t? I’m a writer. As long as it makes sense, I’ll believe anything in this world.”

“That’s the problem. It doesn’t make sense,” Qinmu muttered, lowering her head, her dark eyes fixed on the concrete under her feet.

Passersby walking past this group of girls took one look and thought it was campus bullying. Someone even reached for their phone to dial the cops, but sharp-eyed, quick-tongued HuiXiang quickly chased them off. She just tossed out four rude words—“Mind your own business”—and shut down that ridiculous misunderstanding right at the start.

“Then now it makes sense,” Ling Xu said, pulling the sad and self-blaming Qinmu into her arms. She gently patted her back. “From now on, if something happens, just tell me. Don’t carry it all by yourself, okay?”

“…Yeah.” Qinmu’s tears slid down onto Ling Xu’s back, soaking into her red school uniform. Blue and red blending together became a little scene in front of the school gate. The students who walked past and missed the details thought they were seeing things. Since when were middle schoolers this bold, daring to openly show off their love at the school gate?

Only the people involved knew that this hug was born from the pure-white friendship between two girls.

And a pure-white season—doesn’t that mean winter?