Second year of high school, a certain class.
The class bell rang, and Song Yuqi returned to her seat, taking out her textbook.
That boy this morning was quite handsome.
It's a pity he's a bit young; if he had auditioned with her, maybe CUBE would have chosen him too.
Thinking of this, Song Yuqi felt a bit conflicted.
Should she pursue her dream, or play it safe, go to university, and then find a job... Zhou Ping sat in the classroom, equally restless.
The experience this morning was too unique; that senior, Song Yuqi, and her distinctive voice, seemed to still echo in his mind.
He subconsciously looked out the window; in such a large campus with thousands of people, trying to encounter a senior from a different grade again would probably be harder than solving an Olympiad math problem.
Perhaps, this chance encounter was all there would be to their story.
This thought made him inexplicably annoyed... Finally, the last class of the morning ended.
Lunch break was only half an hour, as precious as gold.
To finish eating and then return to the classroom for a moment of peace in such a short time, it was like a battle.
First-year students had long since figured out an effective set of tactics.
Either they'd make an excuse to take out the trash just before class ended, already rushing to the stairwell; or they'd sprint to the restroom at a hundred-meter dash speed, actually taking a shortcut to the cafeteria.
The teachers were well aware of these little tricks, but most turned a blind eye.
After all, they were only in their first year of high school; there was no need to be so strict... The cafeteria was bustling with noise, and Zhou Ping and Zhang Sheng finally managed to snatch a table.
As soon as they put down their trays, they entered 'storm ingestion' mode.
Zhang Sheng spoke indistinctly, his mouth full of rice.
"Lao Zhou, are you going to the party tonight?"
"Party?" Zhou Ping didn't even lift his head. "What party?"
"What party isn't important. What's important is, there's someone you definitely want to see." Zhang Sheng winked, a mysterious look on his face.
"Who?" Zhou Ping shoveled another mouthful of rice.
Zhou Ping looked up, his chopsticks still holding a shred of potato.
"That senior you bumped into this morning, Song Yuqi, she's performing on stage."
Zhang Sheng blinked, a 'you know what I mean' expression on his face.
Zhou Ping's heart inexplicably skipped a beat, but his face remained calm.
He calmly put the dish into his mouth, chewed slowly, then picked up the Oriental Leaves tea by his hand and took a sip.
"Song Yuqi?"
"That's right! I heard she's performing a song, and a lot of people want to go see her."
Zhang Sheng said excitedly.
"Lao Zhou, this is a great opportunity! They say to create chance encounters when pursuing a girl, and now the opportunity is right in front of you!"
Zhou Ping lowered his head and continued to eat, his voice devoid of emotion.
"No interest, I'm not going."
"Holy crap!"
Zhang Sheng almost choked on his bun.
"Lao Zhou, have you lost your mind? You don't want such a good opportunity?"
"Why should I go? She's going to Peninsula to be a trainee soon; she's not from our world."
Zhou Ping chewed on his potato shreds, speaking nonchalantly.
"Besides, with so many people at the party, even if I go, I'll only see her back."
Zhang Sheng got anxious, gesturing with his chopsticks in the air.
"You just don't get it! Girls fall for this kind of thing. If you go, maybe you'll run into her again and chat a bit. What if she has an impression of you?"
"Forget it."
Zhou Ping waved his hand, getting up to leave.
"I have something to do tonight."
"Wait!"
Zhang Sheng grabbed his arm.
"Lao Zhou, tell me honestly, are you chicken?"
Zhou Ping paused.
"What's there to be chicken about? I just don't see the need."
"Hmph!"
Zhang Sheng pouted.
"You're just chicken! This morning you acted all cool, and now you're chicken just hearing she's performing."
Zhou Ping turned back and glared at him.
"You don't know anything."
"So are you going or not?"
Zhang Sheng stared at him intently.
"No."
"Really not going?"
"Really not going."
Zhou Ping finished speaking and walked away without looking back.
Zhang Sheng watched Zhou Ping's retreating back, his pout turning into a mischievous grin.
"Trying to act cool with us?"
He muttered, knowing full well.
With Zhou Ping's character, he might say he doesn't want to, but his body is more honest than anyone else's.
"No, I have to set up a bet! Bet on whether he goes tonight or not!"
Zhang Sheng's eyes darted around, and he immediately had an idea.
He immediately changed direction and ambled towards the hallway of the next class, ready to find a bookmaker to finalize this matter.
— —
In the afternoon, in the street dance club's practice room.
As soon as the music stopped, several girls collapsed onto the floor, panting heavily.
Song Yuqi in front of the mirror was the same; she sat cross-legged, grabbing a towel to wipe the sweat from her forehead.
The wisps of hair on her forehead were already soaked with sweat, a few strands clinging tightly to her cheeks.
A girl with a high ponytail next to her twisted open a bottle of water and handed it over, asking: "Yuqi, the party program is out. Is our time set?"
"It's set." Song Yuqi took the water, took a big gulp, "We're first, the opening act."
"Opening act? That's great!" The high-ponytail girl's eyes lit up. "First to go, we can slip away after performing, no need to wait backstage! Perfect!"
As she spoke, her stomach grumbled uncooperatively.
"Let's go, eat? I'm starving."
Song Yuqi shook her head, screwing the bottle cap back on.
"You guys go, I'm not hungry."
"Not eating again? Are you made of iron?"
"I have bread in the classroom, that'll do." Song Yuqi pushed herself up from the floor. "I want to take advantage of no one being here to run through that last section of moves again; it still feels a bit stiff."
The high-ponytail girl watched her walk back to the mirror, shaking her head helplessly, but she also knew there was no convincing her.
This girl, who was about to go to a foreign land to chase her dreams, was incredibly hard on herself... — —
In the evening, the bell for the last class seemed to be stuck, refusing to ring.
Zhang Sheng sat in the back row, his butt feeling like it had nails in it, unable to sit still.
He constantly stretched his neck, craning over the heads of those in front to peek at Zhou Ping's back of the head.
That guy, on the other hand, was leaning by the window, looking utterly spaced out.
Zhang Sheng's phone was under his desk.
On the screen was their small group chat — 【Capital F3 (Fake)】.
Jack: "@Zhang Sheng, is the betting open? I'm betting a hundred, Lao Zhou will definitely go!"
Wu Rui: "I'm in! With his repressed flirtatiousness, he'll say no, but his legs will move faster than anyone's."
Zhang Sheng chuckled, quickly typing a reply: "It's on! The bet is established, I'm the bookie! Whoever loses tonight pays for all the spicy strips at the school gate's convenience store!"
Just kidding.
Jack was a childhood friend who grew up with Zhou Ping, and Zhang Sheng had been Zhou Ping's close buddy in the same class since middle school.
How could they not know what kind of person this guy was?
He'd say he wasn't interested in girls, acting all 'women only slow down my sword-drawing speed,' in an annoying way.
But in reality, whenever there was any gossip at school, about which senior was pretty or which junior was pure, he knew more than anyone.
A classic case of 'mouth says no, body says yes'!
Today he met someone of Song Yuqi's caliber; could he really resist not going?
Only a ghost would believe that!
"Ding-a-ling-a-ling —"
Just then, the horn of liberation finally sounded.
Zhang Sheng sprang to his feet, ready to watch the show.