We walked past a hospital bed. A staff member with disheveled hair and dressed up as Sadako suddenly shouted sinisterly at me. It scared me so much that I hugged Dongyu’s back tightly and shouted, squeezing him to walk forward.

  Dongyu and Su Qi, on the other hand, were calm. They probably knew that it was all fake and found it difficult to get too immersed. However, I screamed the whole time. By the time I walked out through the exit, I fell to the ground as if I had just survived a disaster. When I realized that I made it through, I was still in shock. Tears fell from my eyes as I cried.

  Dongyu was highly amused as he put an arm around my shoulders, patted my back, and comforted me. “Alright, alright! Don’t be afraid! You’re not in there anymore. You’re still crying? You’re a fat lot of good.”


  As much as he felt sorry, he found it funny. Su Qi was in stitches by now, tickled by how I had broken down in tears.

  A girl in staff uniform walked over and said in a weak tone, “Are you a student from the number two key high school?”


  I looked up and saw that she was looking at my uniform. I nodded, my eyes still damp with tears.

  Seeing my tears, she handed me a tissue and smiled helplessly. “Is the haunted house that scary?”


  “Yes!” I nodded.

  However, she continued, “My name is Han Xiao and I’m also a student from number 2 key high school. I’m from Year 1 Class 9. What about you?”


  When I heard that, I instantly stopped crying and said in surprise, “You’re from number 2 key high school too?”


  Han Xiao became the first and only friend I had ever had throughout my high school years.

  Later, I found out that her uncle was the investor of this haunted house, and she would come here on Saturday weekends to work part-time when school was out.

  At that time, it was not a rare thing for underaged kids to work.

  Furthermore, the business belonged to her family, so she had no qualms about it.

  From then on, Han Xiao and I became very close friends and we would talk about everything under the sun.

  After school, I often dragged her along to the basketball court of number 1 key high school to watch Dongyu and Su Qi play basketball. After that, we would head home together.

  We were the regular occupants of the the backseats of Dongyu’s and Su Qi’s bicycles.

  Most of the time, I would sit in the backseat of Dongyu’s bicycle. He’d be sticky and drenched in sweat. Even though I would be feeling hot and drenched in sweat as well, I would hold him tightly without any qualms.

  Sitting in the back seat, I’d looked at the sunset. The evening light would cast mottled shadows of the trees onto his body, making it look as if it was plated with gold.

  At that time, everything was wonderful.

  During our first long vacation in high school, we agreed to go to Xiang Shan to swim.

  Xiang Shan was a very small mountain. However, what made it famous was the huge lake beside the mountain. Its water was so clear that one could see the bottom.

  At that time, although clear lakes were commonplace, not many were easily accessible.

  The water of the lake overflowed to the water bank and I loved to walk in the shallow water along the shore, watching the clear lake water lapping around my ankles. It was indescribably satisfying.

  At Noon, we spread a tablecloth on the shore and placed the junk food and snacks we brought on the tablecloth.

  Han Xiao seemed to be feeling a little uncomfortable. Seeing how pale she was, I asked out of concern.

  She seemed a little awkward and shy, and would only say that her stomach was unwell.

  But at the time, I still didn’t understand a process that a girl had to go through during puberty.

  Until one particular early morning, I was woken up by a severe abdominal pain. The pain was so sudden, my vision went dark.