Chapter 8: The Crimson Meteor

  Unless Hong Jun is an idiot, but he is not an idiot. Not only does he himself not think he's an idiot, but all the people around him who know him don't think he's an idiot either. Even someone like Chen Pao praises his intelligence excessively, as if he can see through other people's minds.

  So, when Hong Jun heard Rui Xin's "For example, I am single" six words, he already fully understood the meaning behind the literal meaning. It was just that this happiness came a bit too suddenly, making it difficult for him to adapt for a while, and he was also a little skeptical. He secretly measured himself up and down three times, although he thought his 1.8-meter height was still passable. Apart from that, he felt that he was at least 50 kilometers away from Pan An Song Yu, with a thick face to estimate. This opportunity of winning the grand prize of five million suddenly fell on him, which was more unreliable than dreaming of marrying a daughter-in-law.

  However, the thing did happen, and Rui Xin's words were as clear as can be. It was almost like a girl had abandoned her reserve and expressed her emotions. Hong Jun couldn't help but believe it, but in his heart, he still wanted to find an excuse for this great prize, such as "good fortune" or something similar. Not only did he want to convince himself, but also to convince anyone who might ask about this matter in the future. So, after racking his brains, he finally found a suitable reason and used it to explain things, making it sound so reasonable that no one could question it.

  The reason is: fate.

  He found a reason and his mood suddenly became cheerful, his brain gave his hands the command to pour wine, and a large cup of beer was quickly poured into his stomach. His brain wasn't satisfied yet, so he had to follow its orders again, opened another bottle, and started chugging mouth-to-mouth. This time, he felt a slight warmth on his face, and his eyes began to blur. In a short period of time, four bottles of beer had already gone down the hatch. If it were any other day, this would be less than half of his usual capacity, but tonight, Hong Jun was already feeling drunk.

  But after another cup of wine, he suddenly realized that he had overlooked one thing, which was that from the moment he saw Rui Xin, he had a feeling of having seen her before, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember ever seeing this girl.

  Now, he suddenly remembered that he had seen this girl before, not in reality, but in his dreams. In the chess game, the girl was standing on the knight position to his right.

  Could it be that this girl is...? He immediately warned himself not to think wildly, he would rather believe the situation in his dream, because this girl and his friends were all on the red side together, and Rui Xin was still the closest knight to the old general. Absolutely friend, not enemy.

  Thinking of this, he felt at ease. "Then, can we keep in touch from now on?" Hong Jun tried to confirm again, and with a red face, covering his heart that was about to jump out of his chest, he stuttered out these words.

  "Aren't you contacting me right now?" Rui Xin's eyes rolled, "Whether we can keep in touch often in the future depends on whether you are willing or not."

  Hong Jun felt like he was already drunk, not from the effects of alcohol, but from being intoxicated by the sweetness in his heart. For the first time, he understood that sweetness could make a person drunk, and it was even more potent and long-lasting than the effects of alcohol. He never believed in love at first sight or fate, but tonight, in front of Rui Xin, he did. In the face of so many coincidences, he couldn't help but want to shout out loud to the ancestors of the Chinese nation, "Fate is truly a wonderful thing!" It doesn't matter if you're male or female, young or old, or what situation you're in - as long as there's fate, anything is possible.

  "Hey, Ruixin, can you tell me your phone number?" After finishing a string of beef skewers, Hong Jun felt that he had become so familiar with Ruixin that he had an illusion that he had been searching for his other half all these years just to wait for Ruixin. He felt that being with Ruixin was not like meeting for the first time, but rather like lovers who had been in a passionate relationship for a long time. He simply moved the stool to Ruixin's side and sat down next to her.

  As for Hong Jun's behavior, Rui Xin didn't show any disgust. From start to finish, she rarely ate the roasted meat skewers in front of her, and most of the time, she stared at Hong Jun with a smile, as if afraid that the big boy in front of her would suddenly disappear. When asked, she tilted her head to look at Hong Jun beside her, blinked quickly, and shook her head: "No."

  "For what, why?" Hong Jun's meat skewer fell onto the table, and in the midst of a sweet feeling, a hint of bitterness suddenly appeared. At this moment, even if someone told him that aliens had landed on Earth, his feelings wouldn't be more unexpected than hearing Rui Xin's answer.

  "Because... you have to give me your phone number first, she's a girl, which guy asks for a girl's number without giving theirs in return?" Rui Xin's next sentence made Hong Jun fall into the honey trap again. He suddenly had an urge to burst out laughing loudly, but after glancing at the surrounding tables of customers eating barbecue, he lowered his voice by tens of decibels, although to others it still sounded like he was laughing loudly: "Haha..."

  ……

  "By the way, what about you? Where do you work?" "At a medical equipment factory."

  ……

  Having eaten and drunk to their heart's content, Hong Jun and Rui Xin walked along the brightly lit street with a hint of intoxication. His hand had somehow naturally taken hold of Rui Xin's, just like a loving couple.

  The moon in the sky is particularly powerful, desperately trying to illuminate every dark night. "Tonight's moon is round and round" Hong Jun suddenly thought of using "round" to describe the moon, and subconsciously glanced at Rui Xin's chest, nodding slightly.

  Rui Xin didn't notice the boy's inner turmoil beside her, she walked while looking up at the sky with a look of intoxication on her face.

  "The stars are really beautiful tonight." Her soft voice was incredibly gentle.

  "What stars?" Hong Jun raised his head to look at the sky, where a round moon hung in the air, casting silvery moonlight on Rui Xin's body. Her white clothes sparkled with tiny lights, making her look like an immortal fairy, noble and elegant.

  However, there really are no stars in the sky. Hong Jun rubbed his eyes hard and made sure it wasn't because he had six bottles of beer by himself earlier, which caused his vision to be blurry. Then, Hong Jun found that his thinking was not blurred by alcohol either. He clearly remembered that today was the 17th day of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its fullest and brightest. At this time, in addition to this round disc, where did the stars come from?

  Thinking of stars, he remembered an old saying: "A dark moon and strong winds at night are a good time for murder and arson."

  Although he didn't have the plan or courage to commit murder or arson, at this moment he suddenly felt a strong hatred for the bright streetlights and the snow-white moon in the sky. Why were they all so bright tonight? They had illuminated what little courage he originally had, and the thought of kissing Rui Xin only flashed through his mind once.

  "Look at the sky, the stars are really beautiful." Rui Xin's shout finally pulled Hong Jun's eyes from that youthful chest to the vast night sky. Hong Jun reluctantly narrowed his eyes and looked for a long time, until he almost tripped over a stone on the side of the road, and only found a few dim stars at the edge of the sky. As for beauty, he could only admit that he didn't have such good taste. So, he prepared to withdraw his gaze again. This time, he hoped to use his height to discover some scenery from the girl's collar, of course, with the help of bright streetlights and moonlight. He suddenly felt emotional about the streetlights and the moon again.

  But before the plan could be put into action, a coin-sized bright object flashed across the southwestern sky, leaving behind a trail of bright red light, like fresh blood, which lingered for a long time. At the same time, his eyes felt a sharp pain, as if the red light had pierced into his eyes.

  Is it a meteor? Hong Jun rubbed his eyes, the bright moon was in the sky, how could there be a meteor, let alone one as big as a coin? And it even emitted a blood-red glow.

  The blood-red color, Hong Jun suddenly remembered the small coffin, the blood line that almost flowed to his own feet, and the long-haired female ghost with an invisible face. A chill ran down his back, and the female ghost's voice suddenly filled his ears, "I'm here, you can't escape..."

  "Fool, the stars are in your heart, not in the sky." Rui Xin didn't notice Hong Jun's abnormality at all, and sweetly smiled saying, "Everyone has a star in their heart, the star in one's heart is the most beautiful."

  "Ruixin, you are more beautiful than the stars in my heart." Hong Jun took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his tone down, and said with as steady a voice as possible: "Ruixin, I'll send you back home now."

  "Why is tonight's night so beautiful? Can't we stay a little longer?" Rui Xin asked with a puzzled face.

  "This, I still have something to say..." Hong Jun didn't dare tell Rui Xin the truth. He was afraid that this heavenly girl would be frightened by the eerie atmosphere on this romantic night. He liked seeing her beautiful face, but couldn't bear to see her lose her composure. From Rui Xin's expression, Hong Jun could tell that although she was right next to him, she hadn't noticed or heard anything unusual. In her heart, it was just an ordinary night, and she was simply stargazing with a girl by the roadside.

  Female ghost, will it be unfavorable to Rui Xin? Thinking of this, Hong Jun felt his hair stand on end and didn't care whether she agreed or not, he pulled her and ran.

  "What's wrong? You seem really tense."

  Hong Jun suddenly stopped in his tracks, his face deathly pale. The sky once again appeared with a blood-red meteor shower, not just one, but hundreds and thousands of them, densely crossing the horizon like raindrops, dyeing Hong Jun's eyes red.

  "It's really cold." Rui Xin said with a shiver beside him.

  Cold, Hong Jun didn't feel it, because he saw something even more terrifying right in front of him, just one step away. The female ghost wearing the invading Japanese army uniform was still there, with long hair hanging down and her face invisible. At this moment, she was standing quietly there. The streetlight shone on those pale hands, and the long fingernails were gleaming with blood light.

  "What, what do you want to do?" Hong Jun stuttered. Although extremely frightened, he still stood in front of Rui Xin, stretching out his hands to establish a weak defense line in front of her.

  Rui Xin had already sensed something was off about Hong Jun, seeing him staring intently ahead, seemingly talking to himself. She also felt a sense of fear, but as she looked around, she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

  "Have you forgotten everything?" The woman didn't raise her head, but a cold voice came over. "You've forgotten everything, what do you want to do?" Hong Jun tried to calm himself down, but his trembling voice still revealed the fear in his heart. Because he found that in front of the female ghost, he was like being cast with a petrification spell, and even moving a finger was a luxury.