Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Only after spending a great deal of energy and time explaining was the matter about MrsAwesome finally cleared up. Then, Jiang Fei brought everyone in the newly-formed guild to train for a short while. Soon after, it was time to go offline.
It was a Saturday, so there was no need to go to class. So, Jiang Fei went back to sleep all the way until lunchtime when his mother eventually woke him up.
“Xiao Fei, is your school having some event later?” While they were eating, Jiang Fei’s mother suddenly asked.
“Yeah! How did you know about it?” Jiang Fei asked, confused. He had not told his mother about this.
“Oh! A while ago, a young lady called and said that she was the class representative of your class. She requested that I remind you about it so you won’t forget…” Jiang Fei’s mother smiled and said.
“Goddamnit…”
Sun Mengmeng. What a dutiful girl. She has trust issues, going as far as to even call his mother.
…
After lunch, Jiang Fei set off for school. The gathering was to be held in the afternoon. Although he was not interested, Sun Mengmeng could always reach his mother with a single phone call, and that would spell trouble.
“Hehe… you’re pretty punctual!”
As soon as Jiang Fei arrived at the school field, Sun Mengmeng walked over with a smile on her face. Many students were already gathered at school. The performances scheduled for the gathering had been arranged by the Student Council. The job of the students from Jiang Fei’s class was to be part of the audience.
“Are you kidding me, you even called my mother, how dare I not come?”
Jiang Fei rolled his eyes.
“Brother Fei, over here!” Zhao Feng had already chosen a nice spot and was waving at Jiang Fei.
“You guys just sit here quietly, and don’t mess around. When people clap, you guys clap along. Do you hear me?” As Sun Mengmeng was a member of the Student Council, she would be busy as soon as the event begins.
She had no time to keep watch on Jiang Fei and the others, so she dropped some warnings in advance.
“Yeah, whatever! You’re so annoying!” Jiang Fei rolled his eyes at Sun Mengmeng.
“Don’t cause any trouble!” Sun Mengmeng nagged at them once again before she turned around and left.
“Not bad, Brother Fei!”Zhao Feng turned to Jiang Fei and flashed him a faint smile.
“What?” Jiang Fei was confused. He did not get it.
“Don’t you feel like the mighty Class Queen is interested in you?” Zhao Feng laughed and said.
“Bah, shut up, she’s just afraid that I’ll mess around or leave halfway!”
Jiang Fei rolled his eyes.
“Whatever you say, boss!” Zhao Feng shrugged and did not continue dwelling on this topic.
…
About half an hour later, the people who had all been forced to become part of the audience had all arrived. Jiang Fei’s class was not alone in the misfortune. Four other unlucky first-year classes had been chosen to join them. As the performances had not yet started, all the students from the same classes were sitting together and talking, so it was naturally noisy.
Another 30 minutes later, while the students were busy chatting away, cheerful fanfare played. Then, two boys and two girls appeared on the stage. All four of them were finely dressed. The boys were in sharp suits and ties, whereas the girls were wearing gorgeous gowns. One boy and one girl were second-year students from Jiang Fei’s school, and they were quite talented in art and literature. The Student Council had assigned them to be hosts for the event. The remaining two were relatively short — apparently they were students from Nagawa High School!
“Students, settle down now. Today is a special day!”
“Today is a day where we give our foreign guests a special welcome!”
“Blah blah blah…” (Author’s Note: Japanese is too complicated, I’m not going to write it out. Everyone, just treat it as if there’s a duck quacking…)
“Blah blah blah…”
…
The four hosts gave their welcome speeches, marking the official start of the event. Jiang Fei had no interest in these kinds of events, so he did not pay them any heed. He just lowered his voice and continued talking to Zhao Feng.
“How fortunate everyone is today. The students from Nagawa High School can be described as crouching tigers and hidden dragons. According to insider information, there are talented students whose skills are on par with actual professional singers! Students, with your applause, please welcome the talented and beautiful Japanese lady from Nagawa High School, Tanaka Miho! She will be singing the song “In the Silent Night”!”
Along with the sound of pleasant music, a Japanese girl went up on the stage. As the girl began to sing, people in the audience who were still busy chatting started to quiet down. This Japanese girl was really good. Not only was her voice sweet, her singing skills were also fairly refined. Although Jiang Fei and the others did not understand the lyrics, this did not prevent them from appreciating the song.
By the end of the song, the audience gave her a big round of applause. Even Jiang Fei had to admit that this girl could easily end up as a professional singer. He may be a racist, but he could not deny that she sang really well.
“Very well, I believe that everyone loved Tanaka’s performance. There is an old saying in China—courtesy demands reciprocity. Next, let us welcome Murong Wei, our goddess from second year’s fourth class. She will be singing “The Heavenly Road”!
Since the school officials wanted to hold this gathering, this was something that the members of the Student Council could not change. However, Sun Mengmeng and the other members of the Student Council had worked hard to schedule their performances. They had deliberately arranged for the Japanese to perform first, only to overshadow it with a superior performance by one of their own. If they wanted to be arrogant on China’s territory, they would have to go back to their own country and improve themselves first!
The music started to play. Murong Wei, dressed in a snow-white gown stepped onto the stage. As soon as the goddess opened her mouth, she blew the audience away. Her voice flowed with grace. While Tanaka Miho’s voice was filled with youthful energy, Murong Wei’s was purely melodious! Her voice forced its way into the souls of all who were present. At the climax of the song, Goddess Murong’s voice rose, in more ways than one. Even the Japanese students could not deny that her singing capabilities were a notch above Tanaka Miho!
This was followed by folk dance performances. This time, the Japanese students had miscalculated everything. Their dancing skills did not go unnoticed.
If not for their proficiency, it was the foreign, exotic nature that attracted them. After all, no one had ever seen white-faced people dancing while wearing wooden slippers and wrapped in a bedsheet with a pillow on their backs.
The slow and melodious Japanese music was accompanied by a slow and monotonous dance. This would probably be nice to older people. Older as in 70 or 80-years-old. Before a group of teenagers, it would be a miracle if you actually held their attention for ten minutes.
Sure enough, in less than five minutes, it was not just the Chinese students, even the Japanese students had begun chatting away. Boriiing!
As soon as the Japanese performance ended, the Chinese Peacock Dance performance began. Regarding both skill and entertainment, the Chinese students defeated their opponents once again. After being defeated twice in a row, some of the Japanese students were starting to fume in rage.
“Baka! These Chinese are bullying us on purpose! We absolutely won’t take this lying down!”
Tokugawa Shingi frowned.
“But we gave them our programme list long ago. They would have been prepared for this, long ago!”
By then, Tanaka Yasukata, the teacher from Nagawa High School who was responsible for organizing this gathering had almost merged his brows together into one. The purpose of this gathering was to create a good relationship between people from the two countries, but no one could stand having to admit defeat so many times!
“Since they’ve prepared themselves according to the programme list, we’ll simply have to make some last minute changes!”
Tokugawa Shingi spoke up.
[1] Reference to a Chinese idiom “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragons” (藏龙卧虎), which describes a place or situation that is full of unnoticed masters.
[2] For Chinese people, courtesy demands reciprocity, which means people who are well-mannered to others will receive kindness and favors. If they receive a gift, invitation or hospitality treatment from someone, they will offer back to the one when it is suitable.