Rebirth of the Mysterious Potato Girl Chapter 1: Meteor Shower (Part 1)?????“The astronomical observatory reports that tonight will have a rare meteor shower visible only once in a hundred years, the best viewing location is...” Ning Qing listened to the news anchor's report on TV, and one of the locations mentioned was not far from the seaside area near their city, she couldn't help but focus her attention.

  "The phone is ringing, the phone is ringing..." The phone rang quickly, Ning Qingming picked up the receiver, and Guo Shangliang's voice came through, "Tomorrow night, let's go see the meteor shower together!"

  Putting down the phone, Ning Qing felt secretly delighted in her heart. Since Guo Shangliang was willing to watch the meteor shower with her, it meant that he still had her in his heart.

  Kuo Shang-liang is a good friend of my elder brother. The year I was admitted to Z University in Guangzhou, my elder brother exclaimed: "Kuo Shang-liang is also at this school, now a junior, and I heard he's the president of the student union, I'll call him to take care of you!"

  More than a month after the start of school, Guo Shangliang suddenly remembered his good friend's cousin and ran to Ning Qingmin's dormitory to find her. From then on, Ning Qingmin spent her entire university days in secret admiration for Guo Shangliang.

  Until graduation, Guo Shangliang, who didn't know Ning Qing's thoughts, introduced her to work in his own company.

  There were also men in the company who had shown interest in Ning Qingmian, but when they saw her indifference, they gave up and didn't bother to pursue her. Zhou Ling analyzed the situation with her, saying that she was average-looking, didn't know how to dress herself up, and had a passive personality that wasn't likable. Men wouldn't react enthusiastically when they saw her, and didn't want to spend their thoughts on her either. He advised her to be more outgoing, but Ning Qingmian just couldn't bring herself to do so.

  At the company's anniversary celebration, Guo Shangliang, who had just broken up with his girlfriend Li Mingna, got drunk and was taken back to the company's bachelor dormitory by Ning Qingmian, who took care of him for a night. Because his outer garment was completely wet from Guo Shangliang's vomit, he took it off, washed it, wrapped himself in a bed sheet and sat on a chair for the rest of the night.

  Guo Shangliang woke up from his drunkenness and saw Ning Qing wrapped in the bed sheet, thinking that something had happened between them. He couldn't help but feel extremely regretful and muttered: "Qingmian, I'm sorry!"

  Ning Qingmin didn't know that Guo Shangliang had misunderstood, and she smiled shyly, then went to find her outer garment and put it on.

  Guo Shangliang was depressed for a while, and Ning Qingmian just silently stayed by his side. At the class reunion, Ning Qingmian plucked up the courage to say to Guo Shangliang: "Can you accompany me?"

  Kuo Shang-liang thought of the drunken night and felt a bit guilty, so he nodded. Ning Qing-ming was both surprised and delighted, thinking that it was like waiting for the clouds to open up and see the clear moon. At the time, those who accompanied him to the alumni reunion were all assumed to be his boyfriend.

  After the gathering of old classmates, Ning Qingming found that Guo Shangliang was still lukewarm towards her, as if he was both near and far at the same time. She couldn't help but feel a little anxious. This time, seeing him take the initiative to ask her out, she felt elated.

  The next day happened to be Saturday, and Ning Qingmin rushed to the department store on Beijing Road early in the morning to buy a silver-gray thin woolen dress that she had set her eyes on early but hadn't dared to buy.

  Ning Qingmin worked for several years, sending part of her salary back to her hometown to support her mother and saving the rest. She was very frugal in her daily life, especially when it came to dressing up. Due to her love of wearing gray clothes and her old-fashioned style, her colleagues jokingly called her "Miss" (shūnǚ), but behind her back, they called her "tudou nü" (potato girl), implying that she was unsophisticated and rustic.

  In the afternoon, Ning Qingming put on her new dress, made herself up, and decided to go to the beach first to occupy a good position. She brought some food with her and took a bus there. When she arrived at the beach, it was already dusk, and the sunset had turned half of the sky red, making it look like a beautiful painting. Since Guo Shangliang hadn't arrived yet, several better rocks on the beach had been occupied by people who had spread out their food. Ning Qingming looked around and found another smaller rock on the other side, so she went over to occupy it.

  The sky gradually darkened. More and more stargazers arrived, in groups or pairs, carrying various telescopes, cameras, precise astronomical mirrors, lighting tools... Some brought nothing but their loved ones, embracing or holding hands, sitting or lying down, gazing up at the pitch-black horizon.

  "Do you know? The meteor shower is actually the cosmic dust of the tail of a comet. ...The tail burns, forming countless raindrop-like meteors..."

  In front of them, a big boy was showing off his knowledge to his girlfriend. His girlfriend admired him and said: "You know so much!" Naturally, the boy took his girlfriend's hand, and they hugged each other.

  Ning Qingmin looked ahead, a smile playing on her lips, as the romantic scene of Guo Shangliang holding her to watch the meteor shower flashed through her mind.

  The seaside was getting more and more lively, but Guo Shangliang was still nowhere to be found. Ning Qingmin's heart gradually sank, she took out her phone, pressed on Guo Shangliang's name, but hesitated and didn't dial out. The phone screen dimmed, Guo Shangliang's name disappeared into the darkness, suddenly, it lit up again, accompanied by a ringing sound. Ning Qingmin's heart rose with joy, she hastily pressed the answer key, "Hello, Shangliang, are you here? I'm at the east side of the rock pile..."

  "Qing Min, I won't be able to go!" Guo Shangliang's voice faded into the distance.

  "Didn't we agree on that?" Ning Qing's mind was a blank, and the joy in her heart gradually dissipated.

  "Qing Min, I wanted to talk to you face-to-face about this matter, but...," Guo Shangliang fell silent on the other end of the phone for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully, before continuing: "Sorry, we're not suitable!"

  "Has Ming Na come back looking for you?" Ning Qingming pretended to be calm and took a deep breath before asking Guo Shangliang.

  "Hmm!" Guo Shangliang replied briefly, hesitating for a moment before adding: "I had planned to watch the meteor shower with you first, but Ming Na arrived early."

  "I understand!" Ning Qing swallowed the lump in his throat and lowered his voice. It turned out that he wanted to give himself a beautiful memory, which was why he had asked her to come to the seaside. He wanted an ending, not a beginning!

  "Go home alone early!" Guo Shangliang paused for a moment, "Or should I ask your colleagues from the company to pick you up?"

  "No need, I'll just call Zhou Ling to accompany me, anyway she's coming over with someone!"

  Ning Qingmin closed the lid of her mobile phone, and the lump in her throat finally overflowed. She buried her head between her knees for a long, long time.

  "Friend, friend...", the phone rang, Ning Qingmin pressed the answer key, and Zhou Ling's voice came from the other end saying: "I'm going to climb Baiyun Mountain with Jiang Mingzhi to watch the meteor shower, come with Guo Shangliang!"

  "We've already arrived at the seaside, you and Jiang Mingzhi can go on your own!" Zhou Ling had an on-again, off-again relationship with Jiang Mingzhi, they had just gotten back together after a recent breakup, so she didn't want to ruin the atmosphere now.

  The crowd on both sides was noisy, Zhou Ling couldn't hear Ning Qingming's hoarse voice after crying, and he hung up the phone after saying a few words.

  She hung up Zhou Ling's phone, Ning Qingmin hugged her knees and looked towards the horizon. Even if she was alone, she had to watch the meteor shower before going back. After all, it was a rare occurrence that happened only once in a hundred years, wasn't it?

  Tears, once again uncontrollably gushing out, dripped onto the newly bought woolen skirt. Ning Qingmin bit her lip tightly, and a thread of blood seeped out from the corner of her mouth, with a faint metallic taste unfolding on her tongue.