Chapter 660
The Gift
At 6:53, the gymnasium was already packed, and the aisles were also crowded with students who hadn't managed to get seats. The dark mass stretched from the first row to the back wall.
At the entrance checkpoint, only one student council member was left to do the final cleanup. The detector occasionally emitted a sparse "beep" sound, and scattered students jogged over to hand over their tickets, which were quickly scanned and then allowed to enter.
Someone at the backstage lighting control station picked up a walkie-talkie to test the sound, occasionally responding with "Received, received." The first row of faculty seats was already quiet and occupied, with only one empty seat remaining.
"Excuse me, could you please let me pass?"
The corridor was so crowded that Han Zhou had to turn sideways to avoid the knees and backpack straps sticking out, and he struggled to move forward before finally squeezing into the first row and sitting down in an empty seat.
Beside him, Ouyang Lianyu, now wearing gold-rimmed glasses, turned her head, her gaze shifting from the stage lights that hadn't yet come on to him. She lowered her voice and asked with concern, "Why are you only arriving now?"
"Something came up and I was held up."
Han Zhou rubbed his icy hands, his gaze lingering on the frames of her glasses for a moment, before he couldn't help but laugh, "I told you these glasses suit you well."
Ouyang Lianyu blushed slightly and said in a low voice, "Be careful, the first row is full of school leaders."
“I am stating the facts. Even school leaders do not have the right to stifle students’ right to speak the truth.”
Han Zhou rested his elbows on the armrests of his seat, tilted his head slightly, covered his lips with his palm, and said in a very low voice, "Don't worry, they can't hear you."
Ouyang Lianyu hesitated for a moment, then followed his example and moved a little closer as if nothing had happened: "I heard that Mo Yixia is here too. I don't care what you think, you absolutely cannot let her meet Guzheng tonight."
Gu Zheng was still angry, and even if Han Zhou really wanted the two of them to get along peacefully, he absolutely couldn't choose today.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
"If you had any sense of propriety, things wouldn't have escalated to this point."
I don't deny that.
"The teacher didn't scold you... Wait, you seem to do this often in class, could it be that you're whispering to Xiaoxiao like this?"
"Is there?"
Han Zhou sat up straight, his expression unchanged, and said, "Teacher, you're overthinking it."
"..."
Ouyang Lianyu never expected that she would have a day like this, whispering with her students. She felt a strange sense of unease, especially in front of so many leaders. This secret intimacy made her feel as if she had returned to her student days.
After a moment's hesitation, she suddenly asked, "By the way... do you know why Guzheng said those things to you on Christmas Day?"
She lowered her head slightly, her tone a little nervous, as if she had done something wrong.
"I know." Han Zhou's answer surprised her.
"You really know?" She thought he was just saying it casually.
Han Zhou chuckled: "Someone saw me walking with a girl wearing a mask and a baseball cap on Christmas Eve. No wonder Gu Zheng was angry."
Ouyang Lianyu was taken aback, her tone becoming increasingly cautious: "Then... then you don't have anything to say?"
If it weren't for her, Han Zhou might not have ended up like this with Gu Zheng.
"Um……"
Han Zhou thought about it seriously, "If a teacher wears youthful and cute clothes, she will indeed be mistaken for a young girl, right?"
Ouyang Lianyu was surprised that he still had the mind to joke at a time like this, and she was immediately somewhat helpless: "That's not what I meant..."
"I know what the teacher wants to say."
Han Zhou interrupted her, "But this has nothing to do with you. No matter what happened on Christmas Eve, I was going to tell Gu Zheng everything anyway, and I would have to face this result sooner or later."
Ouyang Lianyu carefully observed his expression and, seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, breathed a sigh of relief, but still felt uneasy.
"You...aren't you angry with the teacher?"
"I already said it has nothing to do with you, teacher."
Han Zhou laughed and said, "Besides, it was my suggestion to 'go on a date with the teacher' in the first place."
Upon hearing this, Ouyang Lianyu was both embarrassed and annoyed: "Keep your voice down..."
"You should be speaking more quietly, everyone's looking over here."
Meanwhile, in the fourth row, Zhong Ling looked curiously at the two people in front of her and typed on her phone, "What do you think my junior and Teacher Ouyang are talking about right now?"
"What else can we talk about..."
Xiao Xiaoxiao yawned and was about to say something when her gaze suddenly fell on Zhong Yin, who had a cold expression, and she quickly changed her words, "It must be a problem with his studies. The final exams are coming up soon, and with Han Zhou's half-hearted attitude towards studying, it's no wonder he's failing."
Is it that serious?
Zhong Ling was an innocent girl who believed everything Xiao Xiao told her. Upon hearing this, she looked worried and said, "How about I take some time to tutor my junior?"
She had just finished typing when she suddenly realized what was happening. Turning her head, she saw Wang Lengqiu tilting her head and looking at her. Feeling a little embarrassed, she quickly deleted the message.
Senior Wang Lengqiu is the junior's official girlfriend. Even if their relationship cannot be made public, it's not her place to interfere in things like tutoring.
In fact, Wang Lengqiu wasn't looking at her, but at Xiao Xiaoxiao.
"Don't you guys feel like the atmosphere up ahead is a bit eerie...?"
There were whispers behind me.
It's not just weird, it's downright terrifying... Wang Runxue, who was further back, stuffed a bear-shaped biscuit into her mouth and thought expressionlessly.
"So those are the 'mute bride' and the 'smiling princess'... They're both quite unique. So they're friends?"
The two people in front continued their conversation.
"I don't really feel like we're friends..."
"What does that look like? An enemy?"
"Bullshit! Can enemies sit together? I think they're more like..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhong Yin suddenly turned around and swept his cold gaze over him.
The two men gave an awkward smile and dared not say another word.
Just then, all the lights in the stadium suddenly went out.
The next second, the spotlight in the center of the stage suddenly turned on, the beam of light piercing the darkness like a sharp sword, illuminating the crimson velvet curtain. The sound system played an exciting prelude, with drums and bass layered on top of each other, making the floor tremble slightly.
A host in a suit walked slowly out from the side of the stage, the sound of his leather shoes tapping on the stage particularly clear in the silence. He stood in front of the microphone, took a deep breath, and his voice carried throughout the venue through the loudspeakers:
"Respected leaders and teachers, dear students—good evening!"
A burst of unified applause and cheers erupted from the audience.
"As another winter draws to a close and spring approaches, we gather together to celebrate the 23rd New Year's Eve Gala of Lincheng University!"
He smiled and looked around the entire arena. "Tonight, we bid farewell to the sweat and glory of the past year, and welcome new faces and hopes. Whether you are an old friend waving a glow stick in the audience or a freshman entering this stadium for the first time, tonight, the stage belongs to each and every one of you."
He paused, then raised his right hand high:
"Let's give a warm round of applause to kick off the first program of the evening!"
"I thought Senior Xia Qing would host it herself," Han Zhou said casually.
Being a host has its advantages. For example, you can randomly select an unlucky audience member to ask a question. In front of so many people, the audience member can't refuse and can only bite the bullet and answer, which perfectly satisfies Xia Qing's gossipy personality.
If you get tired of being a host, you can try to switch careers to become a singer in the future. After a period of reflection, you might even have the opportunity to hold a national tour.
Ouyang Lianyu explained, "She's the chief planner. What if something goes wrong with the show if she were to become the host?"
"That's true..."
Han Zhou nodded, then suddenly let out a long sigh of relief. "After hearing what you said, I'm suddenly a little glad that I happened to be sitting next to you."
"What do you mean?" Ouyang Lianyu was taken aback.
Han Zhou's expression darkened slightly: "If anything goes wrong with tonight's performance, you'll be the first one to get hurt."
"He's making jokes about the teacher again."
Ouyang Lianyu rolled her eyes at him, annoyed. "Just watch the show."
"Oh, right."
Just then, as if suddenly remembering something, she asked curiously, "What number is the guzheng performance?"
Han Zhou was texting Mo Yixia with his head down. Although they couldn't watch the show together, they still had to interact. When he saw Mo Yixia send a "bored" message, he immediately replied with an "agree" emoji and then answered, "The seventh one."
"So far forward?" Ouyang Lianyu was slightly taken aback. "I thought it would be further back."
"If she had the right to choose the order of her performances, she would have preferred to be the first to go on stage," Han Zhou said with a smile.
"But I remember there's an audience voting segment in tonight's show. Wouldn't it be a huge disadvantage if we put it first?"
Tonight's voting rules are not instant voting. Instead, the audience will choose their three favorite performances after all the shows have finished. This voting method means that the later the performances are, the more advantageous they are, as they are more likely to leave a lasting impression on the audience.
"Guzheng wouldn't care about that."
Han Zhou shook his head. "Compared to having the advantage of being the last to appear, she'd rather be the one who suffers the loss."
In Guzheng's view, if she is the first to appear and is forgotten by the audience, thus leading to defeat, it can only prove that she is not as skilled as others.
Of course, Guzheng didn't say much to him today, and naturally didn't mention these things. These conclusions were drawn from his understanding of Guzheng.
Ouyang Lianyu nodded thoughtfully, her gaze returning to the stage. The lights shimmered, and the singing rose and fell on the stage, but she felt somewhat uneasy.
"What's wrong?" Han Zhou noticed her distraction.
"It's nothing." She shook her head and forced a smile. "I just think... Guzheng must be very nervous today."
She knew that Gu Zheng wanted to practice dancing in order to show Han Zhou a more feminine side of herself. But now that such a thing had happened, she didn't know how she would feel when she went on stage to face Han Zhou, or whether it would affect her performance.
Han Zhou didn't speak, but just smiled. After a few seconds, he spoke softly, his tone firm: "Don't worry, the guzheng is stronger than any of us can imagine."
……
Backstage, dressing room.
Gu Zheng sat in front of the vanity mirror. The girl in the mirror had short, neat hair, but now it had been carefully styled. A row of neat and fine bangs was left in front of her forehead, and the hair on both sides was combed back to reveal a smooth and full forehead, which was fixed with a few elegant pearl hair clips. She looked both heroic and gentle.
For this performance, she wore this makeup for the first time, with eyebrows like distant mountains, eyes like autumn water, a light blush on her cheeks, and bright red lipstick, which complemented her scarlet dance dress.
"Guzheng, are you nervous?"
A gentle voice came from behind me.
Gu Zheng tilted her head slightly, looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar self in the mirror. She thought to herself that no matter what, she could never be a completely gentle girl. Even dressed up like this, she couldn't compare to the simple smile of the senior student behind her.
But she remembered someone telling her that she was fine as she was.
The girl in the mirror seemed slightly dazed for a moment, then her eyes curved into a smile:
"I'm not nervous."
"You're amazing. I remember when I first performed on stage last year, my legs were shaking the whole time. Luckily, I was wearing loose clothing, so no one noticed." The senior smiled nostalgically.
"Who said nobody noticed?"
Another senior student joked, "I could tell."
"You're making fun of me? You weren't much better back then."
"It seems like we all danced terribly that time, right?"
"It's not just bad, it's a complete failure."
Several more female students joined the conversation, and the once quiet dressing room backstage suddenly became chaotic.
Looking at these senior students she had spent nearly half a year with, Gu Zheng smiled and said, "Even though everyone was nervous the first time they went on stage, didn't you all still muster up the courage to stand on the stage a second time? That's already amazing."
She's much braver than me... she thought to herself.
Just then, someone knocked on the door, reminding everyone to get ready to go on stage.
The group, who had been laughing and joking, immediately fell silent and began to leave the dressing room, with Gu Zheng being the last to leave.
She stood up, her crimson dance dress cascading down like the sunset. The sheer fabric accentuated her slender figure, the wide sleeves drooping gently, and a thin belt cinching her waist. The layers of skirt flowed to the ground, simple and elegant, highlighting her gentle and graceful demeanor.
Her skirt trailed on the ground, and with each slight step, the hem of her dress swirled gently, like a crimson lotus slowly blooming.
As she reached the door, she suddenly remembered something, stopped in her tracks, hesitated for a long time, and then went to the coat hanging on the wall and took out an exquisite gift box from the pocket.
When she opened the gift box, she saw a small and exquisite trophy.
It was a championship trophy, a bit heavy, and I didn't know if it was pure gold.
Whether it's pure gold or not doesn't matter; what matters is that, despite winning first place so many times, this is the first time she's received a trophy.
"This is such a childish gift..." she thought.
There seemed to be words engraved on the base of the trophy, but she didn't look at them. She just stared at the trophy quietly, then closed the gift box and gently tucked it back into her coat pocket.
It's just a trophy; it doesn't represent anything, nor does it change anything... If you're going to give her a trophy, why put her with other people? Does being a champion mean you can share the title?
No, it's impossible.
There can only be one number one, and there can only be one.
Guzheng started getting angry again, but the unease in my heart suddenly subsided for some reason.
When she looked up again, the girl in the mirror had calmed down.
The next second, she pushed open the dressing room door and walked into the light without looking back. (End of Chapter)