The next morning, just as the preparatory bell for the morning reading class rang with a ding-ding sound, and the corridor still carried the dampness left by the mop of the duty student brushing across the floor, Su Nuonuo, carrying a stack of textbooks on her back, hurried toward the classroom and almost bumped into the doorframe.
When she lifted her eyes, she was suddenly met with the morning light filling the room…
Lu Zhiye was lazily leaning against the seat by the window.
Sunlight filtered through the clean glass window, gilding his cold, sharp profile with a soft golden edge.
He was lowering his head, flipping through a Chinese textbook. His left hand rested casually on the edge of the desk, and the silver ring on his thumb shimmered faintly in the sunlight, reflecting a warm, gentle glow.
Su Nuonuo’s steps abruptly came to a halt, her gaze seemingly glued in place, firmly fixed on that ring.
She shuffled over to her seat and sat down. The moment her butt touched the chair, she couldn’t resist turning her head to look again.
That ring—last lifetime, when he had desperately pulled her out of the sea of fire, he had still been wearing it on his hand.
As she stared in a daze, Lu Zhiye somehow lifted his head, his gaze landing squarely on her face.
The moment their eyes met, she immediately noticed a flush rapidly spreading across Lu Zhiye’s earlobes. His thumb subtly curled inward, as though he wanted to hide the ring.
He didn’t look away either. Instead, he fixed his gaze on her, his dark, deep eyes swirling with emotions that were difficult to describe.
Su Nuonuo suddenly broke into a bright smile at him, her eyes curving into two crescent moons.
Lu Zhiye’s Adam’s apple visibly rolled. Looking into her smiling eyes, the corners of his thin lips lifted almost imperceptibly.
That faint smile was so light it seemed like it would disperse with a breeze, yet it still caused Su Nuonuo’s heart to tremble.
She quickly leaned forward onto her desk, pretending to look at her textbook, but her peripheral vision kept sneaking glances at Lu Zhiye in the back row, her gaze constantly drawn to the hand resting on the edge of his desk.
In her previous life, when she had secretly paid attention to him, she had noticed this ring.
Back then, she had been timid, not even daring to speak a single sentence to him, let alone inquire about the origin of the ring.
She only remembered that he wore it every day—even once, when he had fallen during basketball and the back of his hand had swollen red, the doctor had forced him to remove it for disinfection, but he had clenched it in his hand, and immediately put it back on after it was done.
At the time, she had naively thought that perhaps the ring was a keepsake given by some close friend.
But now, looking at it again, the silver ring glinting under the sunlight somehow stung her eyes.
Curiosity in her heart grew wildly like weeds, and she couldn’t help herself any longer.
She tugged at her desk mate Su Xiaoyu’s arm, lowering her voice: “Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu, did you see the ring on Lu Zhiye’s hand? Who do you think gave it to him?”
Su Xiaoyu, who had been secretly nibbling on a piece of bread, followed her gaze when she heard this.
She paused mid-chew, then put the bread down, stroked her chin, and wore an expression that clearly enjoyed the drama: “Tsk tsk, this ring looks quite unique. It doesn’t seem like something he bought himself—more like a token of affection given by a little girl.”
She deliberately dragged out her tone, leaning closer to Su Nuonuo’s ear, and whispered with a mischievous smile: “Do you think… it could be his secret white moonlight? After all, our school bully is so good-looking—there’s no telling how many girls have their eyes on him.”
“White moonlight?”
Su Nuonuo’s heart jolted, as if something had lightly pricked it, and an inexplicable discomfort surged up.
She frowned and murmured softly, “How could that be…”
Before she could finish, she saw Lu Zhiye just happen to lift his head and meet her unhappy expression.
Once again, his fingers unconsciously touched the silver ring, and a hint of confusion appeared on his otherwise gentle face.
It seemed he had noticed her unhappiness.
Su Nuonuo’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly lowered her head.
Finally, after enduring until the end of class, when most people had already left the classroom, Su Nuonuo remained seated, lingering deliberately to wait for the right moment.
She watched as Lu Zhiye slung his bag over his shoulder and walked toward the back door. Clutching the hem of her clothes, she took a deep breath. Like a little rabbit gathering courage, she quickly rushed forward and blocked his path.
Lu Zhiye paused mid-motion as he was about to sling his bag onto his shoulder. He lifted his eyes to look at her, a trace of surprise flashing across his gaze. His lips moved as if he were about to speak, but Su Nuonuo beat him to it.
“Lu Zhiye!” she tilted her head up to look at him, her almond-shaped eyes bright and glistening with urgency and curiosity, her voice even trembling slightly. “That ring on your hand… who gave it to you?”
As she spoke, her eyes drifted toward the ring.
Lu Zhiye followed her gaze and lowered his head to look at the silver ring on his thumb.
His fingertip subconsciously brushed the cool surface of the ring, and his ears turned red without a sound.
He remained silent for a few seconds. Looking at her confused expression, his Adam’s apple rolled again, and he spoke in a voice as soft as a whisper: “Someone… very important.”
Those five words—“very important person”—landed on Su Nuonuo’s heart like small stones.
That faint discomfort surged up again, stronger than before.
She bit her lip and pressed on unwillingly: “Is it… the kind Xiaoyu mentioned? Your white moonlight?”
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhiye seemed to have heard something extremely amusing. The corners of his lips lifted ever so slightly.
That smile carried a hint of indescribable tenderness, along with a touch of helplessness.
He did not answer. Instead, he slung his bag over his shoulder, sidestepped her, and walked out of the classroom with long strides.
Su Nuonuo’s heart sank, and her nose stung faintly with soreness. Just as she was about to turn back to her seat, she heard footsteps behind her.
She suddenly turned around and saw that Lu Zhiye had actually come back again. He stood in front of her, slightly leaning down, and dropped an ambiguous sentence: “You’ll know in the future.”
After saying that, he turned and left without hesitation. The hem of his school uniform brushed through the air, leaving behind a faint scent of soap.
Su Nuonuo stood frozen in place, watching his retreating figure as he walked away with long strides.
That sentence—“you’ll know in the future”—fell into her heart like a warm stone, creating ripples upon ripples across her inner lake.
She placed her backpack on the desk and rested her chin on it, her mind filled entirely with Lu Zhiye’s slightly reddened ears, and the gentle curve of his fingertips when he touched the ring.
Very important person… was it a white moonlight?
But why did he smile?
And smile so gently.
And that “very important”… could it be different from what she had imagined?
The classroom was almost completely empty, and the emptiness seemed to echo within her heart as well.
“You’ll know in the future…”
She softly repeated those words, and suddenly a fine, needle-like pain spread through her chest.
How long was “in the future”?
Was it tomorrow, or a very, very long time from now?
After returning home and taking a shower, she wrapped herself in a blanket and lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
The bedside lamp emitted a warm yellow glow, making her eyes feel slightly sore.
Lu Zhiye’s face kept flickering in her mind…
The way he lowered his head to look at the ring, the way his ears turned red, the way he looked back at her with starlight shimmering in his eyes…
And that ambiguous sentence, like a thin thread, tightening around her chest.
She suddenly sat up, grabbed a small notebook from the desk, and scribbled repeatedly with her pen. In the end, she only wrote a single crooked line:
Lu Zhiye’s ring—who exactly gave it?
After writing it, she felt irritated and frustrated. She scratched her hair, tore the paper off, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it to the foot of the bed.
But after only a few seconds, she obediently crawled over to pick it back up, carefully smoothing out the wrinkles and staring blankly at that line of words.
Suddenly, she remembered that in her previous life, the day Lu Zhiye was burned to death in the fire, his body had been charred black, his flesh fused together, his body curled up tightly—but the ring on his finger had still been worn firmly.
At that time, she had cried heartbreakingly, only calling out his name, not even thinking to remove the ring.
So it turned out that some regrets had long been hidden in these inconspicuous details.
She let out a soft sigh and lay back down again, staring at the ceiling.
The discomfort in her heart rose and fell like tides, surging and receding, over and over again.
Forget it. Since he said she would know in the future, then she would wait.
It was just… could that “future” come a little faster?