.
âHurry up and talk. Donât dawdle.â Some students grew impatient.
Elaine smiled, âHow about asking them when they had sex.â Boyce was speechless.
Jasmine was also speechless.
âHey, hey, thatâs enough. My husband came all this way to see me and heâs tired. He doesnât have time to play with you guys.â Jasmine pulled Boyce with her and walked away, leaving her companions wide-eyed.
âJasmine, how can you be so mean?â
Jasmine ignored them and walked toward the creek with Boyce on her arm.
The moon was high and bright today. If she were in the City, people would barely notice the moon in the sky, as their eyes would have been drawn to the colorful neon signs.
The rocks by the creek were clean and smooth, and Jasmine pulled Boyce up and leaned on his shoulder.
âLook, there are stars today.â
Boyce looked up and noticed that there werenât many stars in the sky, although some of them were very bright.
He turned his head toward to look at Jasmine, then lifted a lock of hair that had fallen across his chest and said, âAre you afraid to be home alone?â
Jasmine shook her head, âWhatâs there to be afraid of? Iâm alone all the time.â She had gotten used to it.
How Boyce had forgotten that she hadnât had a happy childhood!
âIâll try to come back as soon as I can,â Boyce said.
Then Jasmine asked, âYouâre going back today. Do you have to hurry back tomorrow?â
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Boyce replied, âYes. Iâm using the weekend to get back.â
Jasmine leaned close to his ear and whispered, âYouâve come back to see me?â
Boyce gently lowered his eyes and Jasmine cupped his face so he could look at her, âYou came back to see me because you missed me?â
Jasmine tilted her head and her eyes sparkled as she looked at him.
Boyce sat there silently. Under his long lashes, his eyes twinkled, and then he whispered, âYes, I missed you, thatâs why I came back.â
Jasmine smiled happily. She wrapped her arms around him and said against his cheek, âI missed you too.â
Boyce stroked her hair and said, âYour classmate is still here.â
âTheyâre all very close to me. Although they love to make jokes, they are not ignorant. They wonât come to tease us.â
Boyce was still not feeling well. It wasnât that he was reserved. It was just that it didnât feel right to get too close to Jasmine, who was the same age as them, or in a situation where there was nothing blocking the view.
However, the light was dim.
Jasmine laughed. That was Boyceâs way. He was always more thoughtful.
âShall we go back then?â His companions were still there, and it wasnât good for the two of them to be gone too long.
Boyce said yes.
When they returned, they found that the students had gone and moved their tents much farther away from Jasmineâs tent.
Those students were delightful.
Boyce said, âWhen I come back next time, Iâll invite your classmates over for dinner.â
Jasmine smiled happily, âReally?â
Boyce nodded.
Jasmine hugged him and kissed him, then looked at him very seriously and said, âI like you very much.â He liked her very, very muchâ¦.
She couldnât imagine that, if one day she couldnât be with him, would she go crazy or wouldnât be able to live?
Just the thought of it made her body shudder and she hugged Boyce tightly and asked him, âYouâll always like me, wonât you?â. Boyce answered softly.
Jasmine pressed her lips against his ear and said, âYouâll never stop loving me, will you?â.
Boyce thought it was very strange that she always asked such hypothetical questions, âJasmine, whatâs wrong with you?â
Jasmine pouted and rubbed her head against her chest, âAnswer me.â
Boyce patted her back and said softly, âIâm not leaving you.
Are you letting your imagination run away with you?â. Jasmine nodded awkwardly.
Boyce laughed and stroked her hair, âSilly.â
Jasmineâs eyes sparkled with laughter. It was late and they lay down in the tent.
It wasnât easy to sleep outdoors when you could often hear the chirping of birds and bugs and the occasional swaying of branches and the rattle of something scampering through the grass.
Jasmine leaned on Boyceâs arm and asked him if he was tired of working outside and if he was used to it.
He said there was nothing he wasnât used to.
They chatted and then fell asleep without realizing it. In the morning, Jasmine woke up first.
She was just in time for the sun to rise. Jasmine nudged Boyce and told him to watch the sunrise.
Boyce was a little sleepy. He had slept too late the night before.
Jasmine looked at him and nudged him again with her hand, âWake up.â
Boyce opened his eyes groggily and saw that she was looking at him with smiling eyes. His drowsiness dissipated instantly.
Jasmine curved her lips, âLetâs go watch the sunrise.â
Boyce got up and walked out of the tent with Jasmine to find that all the tents around them had disappeared and Jasmineâs companions had risen at some point.
They had packed up all the tents and moved away.
Jasmine had heard the commotion and had not gotten up.
In fact, they hadnât been gone long.
They were sitting on a rock by the stream. The sky was red, and the morning sunâs rays were slowly appearing, then the red glow became more and more extensive and red.
The sun had just risen and was so red and large that it looked like a fire, but it was not hot at all. The clouds around it also gave the impression of being on fire, which was spectacular and unusually beautiful.
Jasmine said, âEveryone says that Nanshan Temple has the most beautiful sunrise. It doesnât look like nonsense, and itâs really beautiful.â
Boyce looked at her. The sunrise had always been beautiful, and it was just that the pace of life was so fast that no one stopped to appreciate its beauty.
After watching the sunrise, they packed up their tents and headed down the hill.
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