Lin Zhexia fell silent for a moment, then retorted: “I was just saying that casually, don’t take it too seriously.”
“Exaggerated flattery isn’t trustworthy. Don’t lose yourself in praise.”
Finally, Lin Zhexia asked: “Are you done playing?”
Chi Yao: “No, there’s one more part.”
Lin Zhexia: “Then why did you stop?”
Chi Yao put the guitar down: “I lost myself, don’t want to play anymore.”
“…”
Although Chi Yao stopped playing, Lin Zhexia’s interest in the guitar remained strong.
She had never handled musical instruments before.
When she was young, it was already good enough that those hands weren’t hitting people, and she had no connection with anything associated with the words “refined” or “artistic.”
So after Chi Yao put down the guitar, she eagerly asked: “Can I try?”
Chi Yao didn’t speak, but handed her the guitar.
“Do I hold it like this?” Lin Zhexia took the guitar, imitating Chi Yao’s earlier posture, “Is my position correct?”
Chi Yao instructed: “It’s tilted.”
Lin Zhexia adjusted the guitar: “Is this about right? What next?”
She hadn’t noticed that while speaking, Chi Yao had already moved behind her.
“Forget it, you probably wouldn’t understand even if I explained,” Chi Yao bent over behind the sofa, drawing close, his voice suddenly much nearer, “…give me your hand.”
Lin Zhexia froze for a moment.
She held the guitar and saw Chi Yao’s hand place over hers, adjusting the position of each finger one by one.
Noticing her distraction, the voice by her ear made a “tsk” sound, then gently reminded her: “Don’t let go.”
Lin Zhexia pressed her fingertips firmly on the strings, her mind in chaos.
When all the positions were finally adjusted, she imitated his strumming.
But the sound came out choppy and uneven, not smooth at all, and her speech became equally stuttered: “…I, um, probably, I guess I just don’t have any affinity with music in this lifetime.”
Chi Yao said he needed to go downstairs to throw away some trash, so they went out together.
Lin Zhexia followed behind him, and after going out, she said “bye” and hastily returned home as if escaping.
Chi Yao stood at the end of the long path in the complex, holding the trash bag, only turning away after confirming she had safely entered the building.
Their apartment building was near the entrance of the residential complex.
Looking into the distance, one could see the crowds at the entrance.
After disposing of the trash, he glanced toward the outside of the complex. The group of people who had been loitering for more than half a month still hadn’t left, though they didn’t seem to be around these past few days—
Amidst countless discussions, the day of the school celebration finally arrived.
On the day of the celebration, the whole school only had morning classes.
After the lunch break, all teachers and students were arranged to go to the auditorium.
A red banner reading “City An No. 2 Middle School Celebration Activities” hung at the entrance of the auditorium, with flower baskets and red carpets all in place, looking very grand.
Everyone didn’t have much concept of the school celebration itself; they had been looking forward to it for so many days, only because they didn’t have to attend classes and could watch performances.
Even among the performers, there was a central figure of discussion.
Unlike the pure audience below the stage, those participating in performances had to gather backstage before the lunch break.
Lin Zhexia’s poetry recitation group had only five people: herself, Chen Lin, Tang Shuxuan, and two familiar male students who usually sat behind them.
When they arrived backstage, it was already crowded with many people.
Some performances required costume changes, equipment adjustments, and a lot of preliminary preparation work.
“Lin,” Xu Ting had just changed clothes and come out of the dressing room, “Don’t you need to change clothes?”
Lin Zhexia was holding the printed poem: “We’re wearing our school uniforms, keeping it simple.”
Xu Ting glanced at the paper in her hand and said admiringly: “You’re not even reciting from memory? Your class is something.”
Lin Zhexia also admired him: “Your outfit is quite calculated, so many sequins, are you trying to blind the audience?”
Xu Ting took this performance very seriously, evident from how desperately he had tried to get Chi Yao to join him on stage from the beginning.
He had specially bought a performance outfit; it looked like an ordinary shirt, but under the lights, it sparkled excessively.
“I picked it carefully, okay?” Xu Ting patted the shirt he was wearing, “One for me and one for Chi Yao—mine is white, his is black.”
Lin Zhexia was somewhat surprised: “He agreed to wear it?”
Xu Ting: “…Judging by his expression, he’s not very willing.”
Lin Zhexia couldn’t imagine how Chi Yao would look in such clothes and scanned the backstage, but didn’t see him: “Where is he?”
Xu Ting said, “Teacher Liu needed him for something, he hasn’t arrived yet, probably coming later.”