CH 73.3

New Year Eve’s Party (3)

Gong Sinian sighed softly as he looked at the blank, helpless big guy.

“Go back. It’ll be enough to treat him like a normal friend.” He patted Fu Songhua’s shoulder. “Sometimes both excessive intimacy and cold ignorance can be intolerable.”

After a while, Gong Sinian watched as Fu Songhua left dejectedly before asking the back curtain, “He’s gone already. How long are you going to keep hiding behind there?”

Fang Li dawdled out from behind, his whole body curling up. “…”

Gong Sinian looked down to arrange the medical record, deliberately not looking at him, and spoke in a relaxed tone as if he was having a casual chat. “Little fool, you don’t need to worry about personal gains and losses. At your age, it’s not a big deal, whether you like people or are liked by people, being good friends, or suddenly separating. Understand?”

“Doctor…” Fang Li twisted his fingers, his nervous fingers spasming. “I also understood that I shouldn’t take things seriously, but I feel so bad inside.”

He started to get choked up. “It’s getting so bad that I can’t read books or eat anything. So bad that I dreamt about confessing to him, and then he scolded me with one word: ‘disgusting’…”

Gong Sinian put down his pen.

He turned his head and handed him a tissue paper from the table. “I understand.”

He gently said, “When I was your age, I also felt bad about this matter, feeling that the sky had suddenly collapsed and the whole world was gray.”

“A-And then?”

Gong Sinian slightly smiled. “And then, ah. Everything slowly became good. I finally met someone I really liked and became happy.”

***

The night self-study period had almost ended. The little class monitor, Tang Tiantian, stood on the podium and used all her strength to shout, “I’m sorry. Everyone, please calm down a bit!”

Her voice had initially been soft and she needed to exert strength to shout every time so the people in the back rows could hear her. Luckily, everyone showed deference and gradually stopped chatting.

“There’s only one month left till New Year’s Day. Everyone knows every class must put on a show during the New Year’s Eve party.” Tang Tiantian stood on the podium and earnestly conveyed the task. “The senior year came up with a choir. But sophomore and junior years have to do something different. I need everyone to work as a group to decide what our class will be performing.”

There was silence below and everyone kept their heads lowered and pretended to look at their books.

Their Class was the art black hole and none of them were artistic – Oh, wrong. Their sports representative filled was artistically skilled, even getting the top three ranks for these three periods of blackboard bulletin evaluation. But talking about singing and dancing, they couldn’t find anyone with enough talent in their class.

Tang Tiantian stood on the podium for a while before frustratedly saying with a bitter face, “Why don’t the boys come out with something? You guys didn’t come up with anything last year and it was us girls who did a small chorus. Or else, one of you can go onstage to recite some poems.”

Bai Jing raised his hand. “Class monitor, I want to propose something! Let Ruan-ge perform.”

Just as he finished saying this, something hit the back of his head. Looking back, he saw Ruan Qingmu coldly glaring at him from behind. “Bai Xiaosheng, do you want to die?”

Bai Xiaosheng smiled mischievously with glee. “Ruan-ge, you’re good-looking and have a good composition. If you go onstage and recite a short limerick or something you wrote with your beautiful face, the junior sisters will definitely shriek into fainting.”

Ruan Qingmu stood up and reached out for a ruler, hitting him across the seat in front. “I will beat you until you’re unconscious first!”

Just as he stretched his hand, Ruan Qingmu’s hand froze.

Fang Li’s seat was still vacant.

He silently sat back in his seat with a slightly sad expression.

On the podium, Tang Tiantian was still continuing to speak patiently. “Oh right, there’s a new rule this time! This is the first year of the shift class trial. The school permits students from the same class to come up with a show together.”

Huang Ya shouted from below, “What does this mean?”

Tang Tiantian explained, “For example, didn’t I attend the advanced class for biology? Then, I can come up for a show with the students from that class. At that time, the two classes will be considered to have finished a show.”

“Oh!”

Nods gradually appeared below, indicating that they all understood. But still, nobody took the initiative to volunteer. Tang Tiantian also couldn’t do anything about that. “Everyone can think it over first. If anyone has an idea, you can talk to me about it in private.”

When the bell rang for the evening study, Ruan Qingmu carried his school bag and avoided the group of boys. He walked alone toward the cultural and sports building and sent a message to Qin Yuan as he walked.

“I will go to the dance room to look for Fang Li first. I’ll return later to the dorm.”

Soon, Qin Yuan’s reply arrived. “Okay, I’ll wait for you.”

Ruan Qingmu looked at that string of words, the corners of his mouth twitching into a smile.

The sports and cultural building was as empty as usual. Except for the small street light near the corridor, which was dimly lit, all the windows were dark.

He quietly walked along the first-floor corridor to the end and stood in front of the window of the dance room.

Sure enough, a figure was dancing gently in the pitch-black room.

Fang Li wore his daily school uniform, no longer wearing a pretty dress, but his every movement still had a completely different charm. He was like a completely different person compared to his usual cowering and shriveled self.

Ruan Qingmu silently looked at him from outside the window, not wanting to disturb him.

The song finally ended and Fang Li stopped his movements, slightly gasping for breath.

He slowly raised his head and looked out the window. “Ruan-ge?”