As the drama performance drew near, and with two classes of Chinese lessons to teach, Yan Ningxi spent this week’s lunch breaks and after-dinner times helping guide the young actors’ rehearsals.
Ming You kept in touch with Yan Ningxi every evening as usual, while also busy preparing for the Host Competition.
On Thursday evening, Huai’an No.3 High School’s grand auditorium was packed.
After last week’s first round of preliminaries, six plays from the whole grade took the stage tonight. One class from Yan Ningxi’s group and one from He Huan’s each made the cut.
Jiang Lai walked out of the auditorium and spoke into her phone: “Senior Sister, wait a moment. I’ll be there in two minutes.”
The school performance wasn’t open to the public; it only invited the parents of the participating students to watch. As the “director,” Jiang Lai had parent invitation tickets and could openly bring Ming You into the auditorium to take a seat.
High school campus security was extremely strict.
Ming You could have had Yan Ningxi come pick her up, which would have been perfectly fine. But she hadn’t told Yan Ningxi she was coming back precisely to give her a surprise a little later.
She hoped it would be a surprise, at least.
Once through the school gate, Ming You saw Jiang Lai holding a roll of A4 paper: “What’s that? The script?”
“Yeah.” Jiang Lai unrolled the paper, which was densely marked up in several colors. “During the performance, I’ll be at the control booth handling the lighting, sound playback—every segment and sequence has to be perfect, no mistakes.”
“Feeling like both screenwriter and director—what’s that like?”
Jiang Lai paused. This was the first time since starting to prepare the script that anyone had asked her about her experiences beyond “Are you tired?”
“It’s… really satisfying.”
Ming You smiled: “If you find it satisfying, you could major in directing or something similar.”
It was her senior year, and her family had started looking into university majors comprehensively, but Jiang Lai still hadn’t decided: “Directing? Screenwriting and directing are art exam majors, right? Do comprehensive universities have programs like that?”
“Yeah, plenty. If you’re confident in your command of writing and have ideas for creating stories or scripts yourself, look into related majors.”
“Mm-hmm, I’ll check them out properly this weekend.” Advice from Senior Sister Ming You was definitely solid! Senior Sister Ming You was so gentle!
…
Jiang Lai led Ming You to the parent seating area: “Senior Sister, this is the designated parent seating zone. Teacher Yan and Teacher He are right in front of you to the right, second row near the stage, fifth and sixth seats from the center aisle on the right.”
Ming You gave a thumbs-up: “I’ll send you a classic book on film screenwriting sometime.”
“Ah? Then I won’t hold back! Thanks, Senior Sister.” Jiang Lai was dazed by Ming You’s beauty. “I’m heading backstage.”
After waiting another ten-plus minutes, Ming You finally saw Yan Ningxi enter from the stage-side door with He Huan. The two leaned in close, whispering about something.
Yan Ningxi’s expression was as calm and composed as ever, while Teacher He beside her smiled.
A caramel-colored professional suit with a white V-neck inner layer, small blazer, wide-leg pants. Her long hair tied in a low ponytail behind her. Yan Ningxi’s work attire captivated Ming You even more than her casual clothes.
【Ming You: Sister Yan, is the performance about to start?】
【Ming You: Riding my beloved little motorcycle.gif】
【Ming You: Wishing the cuties in Teacher Yan’s class a smooth performance and first place!】
The two kept in touch almost every evening and had even chatted about tonight’s drama performance. One of Yan Ningxi’s recent busy tasks was helping the Chinese department head organize this event.
With her phone in hand, she quickly replied: 【Thanks.】
Seeing the smile tugging at Yan Ningxi’s lips, He Huan caught it too: “Teacher Yan, then it’s settled. If both our classes make the top three, we’ll take them out later to celebrate together.”
“Sure. They all get along well usually anyway. The more people, the happier they’ll be.”
Senior year didn’t leave many days for relaxation.
…
The two-hour performance featured hushed whispers from the audience, bursts of laughter, tearful sobs that moved people, and mostly, continuous applause.
He Huan’s class won the grand prize; Yan Ningxi’s class took first prize. Naturally, the two also received “Outstanding Guidance Teacher” awards.
【Ming You: Congrats, Director Jiang.】
【Jiang Lai: Thanks, Senior Sister.】
【Jiang Lai: Has Senior Sister left already?】
【Ming You: See you next time.】
【Jiang Lai: Mm-hmm, see you next time. Senior Sister, come back to school anytime to hang out. You can find me to play on weekends too.】
After the awards, Yan Ningxi and He Huan each notified their drama team members to head out together for late-night snacks as a group celebration.
The male homeroom teacher for Yan Ningxi’s class joined them too.
With nearly twenty students from the two drama teams combined, heading out late at night required a male teacher present to keep the rowdy kids in check.
Yan Ningxi got surrounded by a few parents asking questions, so she had He Huan take the students ahead first.
After patiently answering the parents’ queries, Yan Ningxi headed out, while Ming You had bought a bouquet and was waiting at the drink shop outside the school.
The time she spent buying flowers happened to miss He Huan’s group leaving the school gate. When Yan Ningxi came into view, Ming You stepped out and caught up to her.
“Sister Yan!”
Yan Ningxi turned at the voice and was enveloped in a full embrace by the girl who came running up to her.
Yan Ningxi’s heart pounded. She took several deep breaths, surrounded by Ming You’s warmth and scent—it was utter comfort.
They hugged for a good minute before Yan Ningxi pushed Ming You away: “Skipping class again?”
“No! You can’t accuse me like that. I came back after class—I have my class schedule as proof.” Ming You handed over the fresh flowers. “Congrats to Teacher Yan’s class cuties on their drama performance taking first place, and to Teacher Yan for the well-deserved Outstanding Guidance Teacher award.”
“News travels fast. Who told you?”
“No one. I came back early and watched it myself from inside.”
Yan Ningxi didn’t dwell on how she’d gotten in. She took the flowers—this bouquet was even more formal than vase arrangements, with yellow, white, and pink roses among them.
She sniffed the rose scent, then handed the flowers back to Ming You and pulled her house key from her bag: “The students won awards, so the homeroom teacher and I are taking them out for dinner. Head back on your own first.”
…
At the same time, outside a convenience store at an intersection ahead, He Huan and Jiang Lai—who had gone to buy ice cream for everyone—both happened to catch the super sweet sight of Ming You and Yan Ningxi in a “sisters'” embrace and flower-giving moment.
Jiang Lai held a bag of ice cream, afraid her eyes were playing tricks: “Teacher He, that’s Teacher Yan and Senior Sister Ming You, right? I didn’t see wrong? I’m so jealous of them.”
He Huan: “You know Ming You?”
“Yeah, we met at your wedding. Actually, it was because of Teacher Yan that I got to talk to Senior Sister Ming You. She’s such a nice and gentle person.”
“…”
“Oh right, Teacher He, could you invite Senior Sister Ming You back to share study tips with us? Actually, at the wedding banquet, our class cadres discussed it but never dared bring it up with you.” Innocent-faced Jiang Lai unwittingly touched a sore spot.
Having “caught” Yan Ningxi and Ming You in this major “intimate” moment, He Huan felt awful inside.
Shamelessly, she thought: If she stepped forward to those two right now, who among the three would feel the most ashamed?
Humans were jealous creatures, after all.
That girl—she had personally pushed her into Yan Ningxi’s arms. What right did she have to be jealous?
Before witnessing that scene just now, He Huan had never imagined she’d one day feel such intense possessiveness and jealousy—jealous enough to lose her head, jealous enough to want to interfere in a girl’s relationship and future.
Ming You could like other women.
She had even thought that years later, upon reuniting with Ming You or just hearing about her from other students, no matter if her partner then was man or woman, a relieved her could smile and offer blessings of “May your love bear fruit, united forever.”
But with seven or eight billion people worldwide, three or four billion women—why did the one she “moved on” to have to be Yan Ningxi?
“Teacher He?” Unaware if she’d said something wrong and stepped on a landmine, Jiang Lai got no reply and quickly changed the subject: “Will last month’s monthly exam results come out tomorrow?”
An angel and devil were battling in He Huan’s mind. Out of nowhere, she asked: “Did she tell you too that Teacher Yan is her sister?”
Too?
Jiang Lai grew uneasy, carefully parsing Teacher He’s words.
If Teacher Yan wasn’t Senior Sister Ming You’s sister…
Girls hugging and embracing—if not sisters, then… the best cover, the best excuse, the best… camouflage.
Jiang Lai was shocked by her own deduction.
Amid the shock, the thrill of shipping “goddess + big sis CP” rushed to her head. She let out an “Ah!” on the spot—mind-blowing real-life fairy tale CP!
He Huan eyed her: “What is it?”
“Nothing, nothing.”
Jiang Lai felt embarrassed by her “crazy” behavior and covered her mouth, wide-eyed as she lied: “A bug flew into my face—scared me.”
She’d die before mentioning Senior Sister Ming You, but it was truly so pleasing to the eye!
Just imagining Senior Sister Ming You and Teacher Yan, the two goddesses together—hugging, kissing, doing… together…
Ah!
She was going crazy. Too many novels and comics had corrupted her mind.
He Huan patted Jiang Lai’s back and stepped toward the pair not far away: “Let’s go. We can call them over too.”
…
The short distance of a few dozen meters felt scorching under Jiang Lai’s feet with every step.
“Teacher Yan, Ming You.” He Huan greeted first.
Ming You had just gotten the key from Yan Ningxi. Seeing He Huan, she smiled back: “Teacher He.”
“Teacher Yan, Senior Sister Ming You.”
“Jiang.” Ming You didn’t pretend not to know Jiang Lai and turned to explain to Yan Ningxi: “At Teacher He’s wedding, you told her to keep an eye on me. We chatted a bit.”
He Huan looked at Ming You: “Join the celebration banquet for Teacher Yan’s and my classes.”
The plot followed Ming You’s initial setup perfectly.
In her script, she should agree without hesitation, then at the table, flaunt her sugary-sweet “relationship” with Yan Ningxi right in front of He Huan.
But after seeing the joy fade from Yan Ningxi’s face, she lost all interest in the scripted plot: “It wouldn’t be convenient for me. Thanks for the invite, Teacher He.”
She stepped back and continued: “Teacher Yan, Teacher He, you should go ahead. I…”
Yan Ningxi cut her off: “Nothing inconvenient about it. You haven’t eaten either. Come along.”
