Lu Xingyan was blank for a few seconds, glancing at the tickets on the desk, and then at Shen Xingruo.
“I have to say, as a girl, I admire you. You always have self-praise ready on your lips…”
Lu Xingyan was stunned by Shen Xingruo’s words. He stumbled for a moment, paused for a few seconds, then asked, “Do you know how to write the word ‘shame’?”
“With your Chinese scores not even reaching a hundred, and you, the one who rummages through other people’s bags when they’re not around, do you qualify to lecture someone on writing ‘shame’?” Shen Xingruo retorted, raising her eyes to him for a moment, enjoying the process of seeing his expression change from pure innocence to embarrassment.
This process lasted for about thirty seconds, and Lu Xingyan finally reacted, “Who told you I rummaged through your bag?”
After a pause, he admitted, “Well, I did, but I was just looking for some study materials that I couldn’t find. I wanted to see if they were in your bag.”
Shen Xingruo gave him a look that seemed to say, “What study materials could you possibly have?” before quickly averting her gaze and returning to her exercises. She couldn’t be bothered to listen to his flawed explanations anymore.
Shen Xingruo certainly hadn’t become so conceited as to believe that Lu Xingyan had gone through all this trouble just for her.
– Backstage at the auditorium rehearsal, she ran into Chen Zhu.
At first, she didn’t recognize her, she just thought the girl was pretty, dazzling even, and vaguely familiar.
It wasn’t until she got closer that she remembered.
“Hey, you’re Shen Xingruo, right? I’m Chen Zhu from Class Three. I heard you play the piano during the talent show, you’re talented!”
Shen Xingruo didn’t react, so Chen Zhu added, “I know Lu Xingyan, your desk mate, and Li Chengfan and Zhao Langming from your class, we often hang out together.”
“Oh, hi,” Shen Xingruo replied.
When she heard Lu Xingyan’s name, she finally connected the girl in front of her with the one she had seen crying by the Falling Star Lake as if her world was about to end.
Shen Xingruo had seen her many times at school, after all, they were on the same floor, and they could bump into each other on the way to the restroom between classes.
Plus, Chen Zhu was somewhat of a celebrity in their grade, with Li Ting often mentioning her in the dormitory. Even if Shen Xingruo had a bad memory, she should have some impression of her.
But these impressions from school were far less memorable than the one from that time by the Falling Star Lake.
Before the two of them went on stage, Chen Zhu particularly came over and struck up a conversation with Shen Xingruo.
Shen Xingruo didn’t respond much, just listened to her while resigning her bow.
When girls chat, they always find something they have in common to break the ice. Chen Zhu couldn’t help mentioning Lu Xingyan several times.
Listening to her tone and attitude when talking about Lu Xingyan, Shen Xingruo felt that she might have had some misconceptions about their relationship before.
It seemed like they weren’t just former boyfriend and girlfriend.
After the rehearsal, Shen Xingruo went to the restroom.
When she came out, she heard Xu Chengzhou and another boy talking in the hallway, supporting Chen Zhu.
Xu Chengzhou was teasing, “Looks like someone’s moved on. Lu Xingyan was the one who said he liked Chen Zhu before, remember during Truth or Dare, you were there too…”
Unfortunately, Shen Xingruo only heard the latter half of the sentence. After that, she didn’t hear anything else as Xu Chengzhou and his friends, being tall and having long strides, quickly turned the corner and left. That was all she heard.
Back in the classroom, when Ruan Wen mentioned Lu Xingyan rummaging through her bag, and then the incident in Wang Youfu’s office… piecing everything together, Shen Xingruo suddenly had a different view of Lu Xingyan.
Wasn’t he just chasing after girls?
He seemed quite innocent, taking such a roundabout approach.
Perhaps it was because the rehearsal during the day was too exhausting, but during the self-study session in the evening, Shen Xingruo seemed a bit absent-minded.
Lu Xingyan took three tickets, the ones given by Wang Youfu on behalf of the school. There were still seven or eight left. Shi Qin and the others had already found their tickets, so the remaining ones were of no use to Shen Xingruo. She kept one for Ruan Wen and returned the rest to He Siyue, asking him to help distribute them.
On the way back to the dormitory at night, as usual, Shen Xingruo walked with Zhai Jiajing and Shi Qin.
Shi Qin asked about her rehearsal, genuinely concerned. However, Zhai Jiajing, sensitive as she was, sensed something amiss in Shen Xingruo’s response and suddenly asked, “Xingruo, don’t you play the piano?”
“I can’t use the piano for this performance,” Shen Xingruo replied.
Shi Qin also noticed something strange in her words and followed up, “So you switched to playing the violin?”
She looked surprised, her tone incredulous.
Shen Xingruo simply replied with an “Mm.”
Everyone assumed that since she had participated in the talent show, she would also perform on the piano at the school anniversary. These days, when she went to the piano room to practice, everyone assumed she was practicing the piano. No one asked, and Shen Xingruo naturally didn’t mention it, so apart from He Siyue, no one in the class knew that she had changed her performance.
“Oh my god, you can also play the violin! Can you tell me if there’s anything you can’t do?”
“I can’t believe I’m just finding out now, Xingruo, you’re amazing!”
Shi Qin, being a dedicated fan, showered her with rainbow-colored compliments, each more extravagant than the last.
Zhai Jiajing, on the other hand, remained silent, but something seemed to have occurred to her.
The next day was Thursday, and the weather was perfect, with the sun shining brightly. Decorative banners celebrating the school anniversary were hung at the Mingli Gate, and the entrance was adorned with celebration flower baskets sent by alumni. On the right side of the entrance, the electronic screen usually used for announcements was displaying welcoming messages. It seemed that some important figures were visiting, as the names of distinguished alumni were specially mentioned.
The morning classes proceeded as usual, but everyone’s attention was elsewhere. School leaders occasionally led groups of people through the corridors, and both students inside classrooms and passersby outside couldn’t resist peeking at each other.
Shen Xingruo felt it was like tourists observing monkeys in a zoo, with everyone looking at each other, creating a lively atmosphere.
As another wave of visitors passed by, Shen Xingruo was lost in her thoughts when Lu Xingyan remarked beside her, “What are they looking at? What’s so interesting? I feel so uncomfortable. It’s like that show ‘Road to Wealth’ on CCTV7, where a bunch of people pass by a pigsty and start judging and commenting, ‘Hey, these pigs are raised pretty well. Authentic pork from purebred pigs.'”
Shen Xingruo: “…”
Was this guy a fool?
Someone likened himself to a pig in a pigsty.