070 The Night of the Party
“The welcome party is finally here…”
Looking at the poster on the notice board in the first-floor lobby of the dormitory, Fu Hanwen lamented.
Behind him was Wang Ke, who had just taken off his headphones.
Wang Ke turned off the music player on his phone, patted Fu Hanwen’s shoulder, and teased, “Thinking of picking up girls at the welcome party?”
Tang Hexing, who was beside them, chimed in, “It’s almost dark. You won’t even be able to see what the girls around you look like. You still dare to try and pick them up?”
At this moment, Wang Heng put down his phone and reminded them, “Take a closer look at the text messages from the counselor and the class president. We have to sit together in groups by class and dorm. So there’s a high probability that there won’t be any opportunity to pick up girls at all. We’ll probably be surrounded by boys.”
Wang Ke said with feigned depth, “Watching you guys rack your brains to pick up old women is truly sad…”
Tang Hexing, Fu Hanwen, and Wang Heng all looked at him and retorted in unison:
“Aren’t you the sad one?”
“Exactly…”
“Isn’t a lolicon even sadder?”
At this moment, the class president, Sun Xingsi, also came over. He counted the heads and said loudly, “Alright, all the boys in our class are here. Let’s go!”
Just like that, under the leadership of the class president, this group of boys formed a scattered formation and walked towards the soccer field.
Because there were too many freshmen, the auditorium couldn’t fit them all, so the welcome party was held on the spacious soccer field. The main stage of the soccer field was a perfect performance stage. The rooms behind the main stage and under the stands became the temporary dressing rooms for the performers.
Sun Xingsi led the students to the pre-planned seating area designated by the student union. There were no chairs or stools, so everyone sat on the ground. It was the same for the freshmen from other departments and majors; they each had their own designated areas and were also sitting directly on the artificial turf of the playground.
The five girls from their class also came here under the leadership of the vice president, Fengjia Miaomiao. However, the girls were a bit more particular and had all put paper under their bottoms.
By the time the freshmen arrived and were busy finding their seats, the sun was already below the horizon. When everyone was basically seated, the sky had darkened.
But there was no lack of lighting here.
The large lights outside the running track, although they couldn’t illuminate the soccer field as if it were daytime, at least made it no problem to see the faces of the people around. However, just as Wang Heng had said, they were surrounded by boys. The closest girl was their classmate, Fengjia Miaomiao, and there were still four or five people between them.
Fu Hanwen couldn’t help but lament, “Pick up girls, my ass…”
Wang Heng: “Then don’t. Just watch the girls on stage.”
The place where they were sitting was not far from the main stage. After the performance began, it shouldn’t be difficult to see the performers’ faces.
Fu Hanwen: “Teacher Wang, how do you know there will definitely be pretty girls on stage later?”
Wang Heng smiled. “Don’t worry, there definitely will be.”
He was very sure, because Pei Ningle had told him in the afternoon that her solo performance was the third act of the welcome party. Estimating the time, it should be about a quarter of an hour after the party started.
Wang Heng looked at the still-empty main stage and couldn’t help but wonder—what is Pei Ningle doing at this moment?
**
Pei Ningle stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself with exquisite makeup and a sky-blue long dress. Many, many thoughts flashed through her mind.
About the past.
In elementary school, she was the little princess of the family, the cutest little girl in the class. At that time, her mind was full of strange fantasies, imagining herself as the heroine of various stories, foolishly not knowing what she was doing all day…
In middle school, because of the affection of a few boys, she attracted the dislike of some of the girls in the class. And because these girls spread a lot of gossip about her, all the girls in the class began to hate her, and many boys along with them…
So she understood that life was not a fairy tale, not those beautiful romance stories. Depression and repression seemed to be the norm of life.
In high school, she deliberately kept a low profile, trying not to attract others’ attention, and her interpersonal relationships finally became easier. But at the same time, the academic burden became heavier and heavier. She found that she could never meet her parents’ expectations. The little princess seemed to have become Cinderella.
Fortunately, she finally got her own MP3 player.
That MP3 was red, about the size of a correction fluid bottle, and could hold many, many songs—but it was still easily filled. Those pleasant songs that her classmates put on single-song loop had a shelf life of at most a few days in her ears, and then, no matter how classic, they would make her feel tired. When she got tired, she would look for new songs, and the songs on her MP3 became more and more niche, and she had heard more and more songs…
Then there was the class gathering in her second year of high school.
It was a female classmate’s birthday. She went, still silently shrinking in a corner. After dinner, everyone went to a KTV.
She couldn’t help but choose a song she was good at and sang it.
That was the first time she had used a microphone, but it was not the first time she had sung. In her own home, on the way home from school, in the stairwell of her apartment building, as long as there was no one around, she would sing out the melodies that appeared in her mind. So, she was very familiar with singing, but she had never sung in front of others.
But in that cheap, discounted KTV room, holding the microphone, she couldn’t stop. After singing one song, her classmates cheered and applauded, urging her to sing another, and another, and another… The girl who had originally just wanted to be a wallflower was unexpectedly forced to become the mic hog of the night.
Becoming the focus of many classmates’ attention again made her very scared. But soon, she found that things were different from the bullying in middle school. Both boys and girls were pleasant to her, and their attitudes became better and better.
It turned out that music was the magic in fairy tales.
So, even if her parents objected, she had to protect her magic.
“Pei Ningle, is Pei Ningle here? How are your preparations?”
Facing this administrative teacher, who was already somewhat familiar, the girl smiled and nodded. “I’m ready. Oh right, teacher, can you give me the microphone?”
The administrative teacher was a little strange. “It’s still a long time before you go on stage. What do you need a microphone for now?”
“I want to hold it in my hand and get used to it.”
Although this reason was a bit strange, it was not a big deal after all. The administrative teacher brought a microphone over and then left to check on the other performers.
Pei Ningle held the microphone, waved it, and struck a pose as if casting a spell—as if the thing in her hand was not a microphone, but a magic wand.
The girl’s confidence became even more solid.
She put down the microphone, picked up her phone, and sent a text message to Wang Heng. As she typed, the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curve up.
【Thank you so much for today. I want to thank you on stage later.】
However, in less than ten seconds, Wang Heng replied: 【Do not mention my name!!】
Pei Ningle’s smile froze: 【Why?】
