"Let's go watch the New Year's fireworks during the countdown!"
The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea, so Qiu Xi turned and called her roommates. She was determined to stay up, even if it meant being tired, to catch the New Year's fireworks!
Song Daiyao: "Sounds good~"
With food and drinks, and fireworks that were different from the usual New Year's, she felt she had a great day!
"..." This was something Nan Hua hadn't expected.
She'd been too hasty; she hadn't realized a whole crowd was following them!
"Let's wander around for a bit. It's still a while until midnight."
It was fine if there were many people. She could use this chance to walk around more.
"Mhm."
"Then shall we go see the New Year's Eve party first? Though it's not as interesting as the food..."
"That's fine too..."
This was considered another venue for the school's New Year's celebration. It was located right behind the food street. Originally, it was meant for people to eat and watch simultaneously, but there were only a few seats, and they were all taken long ago.
However, it was still possible to join the excitement from the periphery.
So, the group watched the party for a while, then wandered for a long time. Finally, they were too tired to walk anymore, so they went to the artificial lake early to find a place to sit and rest.
"Phew! It's good that the weather is nice today and not so cold that we're shivering. Otherwise, I might have been snuggled up in bed right now."
As soon as Qiu Xi finished speaking, she felt a cold breeze blow over her.
Instinctively, she tucked her neck in.
"Heh~"
Nan Hua, who had been watching from the side, saw her sudden penguin-like shrinking motion. On her, it was inexplicably cute.
Qiu Xi glared, "Hm?"
"Cough, cough!" Seeing her look, Nan Hua quickly clenched her fist and raised it, feigning a cough.
Seeing her eyes sparkling with amusement while trying to maintain a poker face, Qiu Xi couldn't do anything.
She couldn't exactly say, "Stop pretending," as that would only draw more attention to it.
"Okay, I won't laugh anymore."
"That's more like it."
"Pfft~"
Another burst of laughter was heard, but this time it wasn't from Nan Hua. It was from the other onlookers nearby.
Song Daiyao and the others explained that it wasn't that they *wanted* to laugh, but the way the two of them interacted was just so endearing that they couldn't help themselves.
"..."
The more Qiu Xi looked at her roommates, the more unrestrained they became. After watching for a while, Qiu Xi realized she couldn't do anything about it, so she simply ignored them.
"Get ready for the countdown~"
Someone nearby shouted, and everyone focused, following the announcer for the countdown.
"10"
"9"
"..."
"3"
"2"
"1"
"Whoosh"
"Bang"
"They're so beautiful!"
After exclaiming, Qiu Xi turned and said quickly, "Nan Hua, Happy New Year!"
"Mhm, Happy New Year!"
Song Daiyao, completely oblivious, suddenly shouted, "Xiao Xi~ Yan Yan~ Xiao Fei Fei~ Happy New Year!"
"My friends, Happy New Year!"
...
"Wow! That went by so fast, it's already over."
"Yeah."
The girls felt a bit wistful about the beautiful fireworks.
"Alright, it's time to head back." The excitement had subsided, and at this hour in winter, it was indeed cold.
"Let's go back, let's go back. If we stay still, it's already getting cold."
"We're heading back first. You guys should hurry back to your dorms too. Bye."
"Mhm, bye."
Watching the four of them walk away towards the dormitories, Zhao Huasheng slung an arm around Nan Hua's shoulders, also preparing to return to their dorm.
"Slap"
"Take it off!"
"..."
Men were so fussy. If you didn't want to be touched, you didn't have to be.