TVDC 70: Gathering

On Tuesday, the school suddenly announced that a cultural performance would be held and each class was required to submit a program list. The performance will take place next Tuesday.

Hu Xinyi, the class’s cultural committee member, was in charge of the event. She urged everyone to actively participate in the cultural performance. As soon as the class ended, Hu Xinyi began rallying the students, “Everyone, take this performance seriously. People say our class is full of bookworms who only study and can’t do anything else. Do you want to be called bookworms by them? This time, let’s show them—not only will we get first place in grades, but our performance will also win first place! So, those of you with talents, hurry up and come sign up with me. Participate actively. We’re going for first place, and I’ll pay for a big meal to celebrate!”

The classmates in the class screamed and eagerly signed up. When they finally received the list, there were only a few standout performances.

“Street dance? This one’s good. What’s this, a performance of a food-eating contest? Reciting poetry? That’s not creative…” Hu Xinyi carefully selected and rejected the bad ones, keeping only three performances. The first was street dance, the second was a two-stringed violin performance, and the third was a Latin dance performance.

They moved up to high school, and it was their first time participating in such a large event. In middle school, there were some small skirmishes, but now, it felt different. A cultural performance! She wonders how many handsome guys will be there! Hu Xinyi’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

Apart from high grades and impressive college admission rates, No. 1 High School had the most handsome guys around. Even the athletes are tall, muscular, and have six-pack abs. It’s simply heaven. No wonder she had studied hard for over ten years!

Hu Xinyi wiped the corner of her mouth and slammed the table hard. “Is there anyone else who wants to sign up! Each class needs to select at least five performances, and we’re still missing two.”

Yang Siyue asked Qiu Xuning, “Do you want to participate?”

Qiu Xuning quickly shook his head. “I don’t have any talent.”

He looked at Yang Siyue again and asked, “Do you want to participate?”

Yang Siyue smiled and said, “I’m a little interested. I’ll see, and if no one signs up, I’ll go ahead and register.”

“What are you going to perform?” Qiu Xuning asked her.

Yang Siyue said, “A few dance performances have already been signed up. I was thinking about whether I should perform the cello.”

Qiu Xuning had never heard that she could play the cello, so he asked her casually.

Yang Siyue lowered her voice and said, “I haven’t practiced in a long time. If I want to sign up, I need to practice seriously.”

Qiu Xuning encouraged her, “Go ahead and sign up, don’t be afraid—I support you.”

Yang Siyue smiled and said, “Then I’ll go sign up.”

Yang Siyue stood up and went to Hu Xinyi to sign up.

Hu Xinyi thought this performance was very stylish and high-class. She immediately decided to keep it.

Yang Siyue came back, still smiling, and said, “I’ll practice seriously this week.”

She paused for a moment, then looked at Qiu Xuning. With her voice lowered, she asked, “This weekend, Qin Shouze said he’s going to the ice rink. Do you want to go?”

Qiu Xuning froze for a moment when he heard the name Qin Shouze. He hesitated.

Yang Siyue said, “You probably haven’t been there, right? Let’s go and have some fun. The ice rink is newly built, the environment is great, and the atmosphere is nice, not chaotic. If you don’t know how to skate, I’ll teach you!”

Qiu Xuning was still undecided. Yang Siyue looked at him in confusion and asked, “Be honest, do you have a conflict with Qin Shouze?”

“No!” Qiu Xuning replied quickly, then realized he had reacted too quickly. He slowly calmed down and said, “I don’t have any conflict with him.”

He was actually quite slow in this area and somewhat naive. He thought that there probably weren’t many people who liked the same sex as he did. At this moment, he didn’t think Qin Shouze had any ulterior motive towards him, he only felt… He subconsciously thought that if he liked the same sex, he shouldn’t get too close to someone of the same sex. If He Zhiyuan found out, he might get angry.

He didn’t know He Zhiyuan’s thoughts before, so he had gotten a little closer to Qin Shouze. Now that he knew, he felt he should be more careful in this regard. So, when Qin Shouze reached out to him again, he tried to avoid him. He was mostly in an ignoring state on social media.

“Actually, Qin Shouze is a good person—he’s just a bit foolish. He has a lot of friends around him, but there aren’t many who are truly sincere with him. They always make him pay and spend his money,” Yang Siyue sighed and said.

“He’s a bit silly,” Yang Siyue commented.

She looked at Qiu Xuning seriously and said, “I’ve known him since we were little, I understand him. From childhood to now, not many people have treated him well. So the people around him come and go, and they’re all just acquaintances. I can see that he likes you a lot. He always asks me about you, and he even asked me if he could move up to the experimental class if his grades surpassed the last person in the experimental class.”

Qiu Xuning listened and vaguely felt something was off, but that fleeting thought quickly passed and he didn’t pay much attention to it. However, when Yang Siyue said this, he felt a bit softer inside and asked, “How is he doing now?”

Yang Siyue said, “He should have told you. He ranked in the top 400 in the school during the last monthly exam. He’s made great progress. Unfortunately, he’s still in the regular class, but he told me he will keep working hard and try to get into the top 100. That way, the chances of being placed in the same class will be much higher.”

Qiu Xuning rubbed his arm and whispered, “Does he want to study the arts or science?”

Yang Siyue thought for a moment and said, “He’s probably going for science, right? His grades in the arts aren’t that good.”

“I’m also studying science.” Qiu Xuning didn’t have much of a tendency to favor one subject over another. His Chinese was a bit weaker, but he was great at all other subjects. Getting perfect scores was a regular thing for him.

Yang Siyue asked again, “You haven’t said yet whether you want to go ice skating with me this weekend.”

Qiu Xuning thought for a moment and said, “Is it okay if I bring someone along?”

Yang Siyue asked, “Your cousin?”

Qiu Xuning’s cheeks turned slightly red, and his eyes started to shimmer. “It’s my paternal cousin… No, actually, he’s not my cousin.”

Yang Siyue looked at his face and found it a bit strange. “Isn’t he your ge?”

Qiu Xuning gently cleared his throat and said, “Yes, yes, he’s my gege.”

When Yang Siyue thought of He Zhiyuan’s face, she was at a loss for words. Although he was very popular in school, she still didn’t like him. When chatting with Qin Shouze, they also talked about He Zhiyuan. That’s when she realized it wasn’t just towards her. Even towards Qin Shouze, another male, He Zhiyuan had that same attitude. It seems her guess was correct—he just rejects and looks down on others, regardless of who they are.

A person like this, to have such a good relationship with Qiu Xuning, that’s rare.

Yang Siyue’s enthusiasm was greatly reduced, but she was content to have convinced Qiu Xuning. She felt satisfied.

The weekend arrived, and Qiu Xuning managed to convince He Zhiyuan. They went to the ice skating rink together. Yang Siyue brought Xiao Qinqin, and there was Hu Xinyi, who seemed to appear out of nowhere. The group ended up being perfectly balanced—three boys and three girls.

Qiu Xuning saw Hu Xinyi and immediately felt that something wasn’t right. Sure enough, as soon as they arrived, the naturally talkative Hu Xinyi’s eyes lit up. Her voice was high-pitched as she called out, “Xiao Gege.”

He Zhiyuan heard this, glanced at Qiu Xuning, and smiled.

“…” Qiu Xuning could almost read the emotions in his eyes: It’s your own fault for wanting to come.

Qiu Xuning gently cleared his throat and quickly noticed Qin Shouze, whose eyes were glowing with a faint light. Qin Shouze looked at him with a hint of joy. “Qiu Xuning, it’s been a while since we last met. How have you been? Studying hard, right?”

Qiu Xuning, feeling guilty, quickly averted his gaze and said in a low voice, “I’m fine.”

Qiu Xuning wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but he glanced at Qin Shouze again. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Qin Shouze’s expression strangely resembled Hu Xinyi’s.

He Zhiyuan suddenly grabbed his hand and said in a low voice, “Let’s go inside.”

Qiu Xuning knew He Zhiyuan was jealous, and he didn’t have time to say anything more to Qin Shouze. He followed He Zhiyuan inside.

Hu Xinyi’s demeanor was obviously very bold. She wasn’t reserved or dignified like other girls in front of boys. When she saw He Zhiyuan, she was attentive and eager to please. She didn’t act submissively like a “simp,” and even when delivering drinks to him, she was very generous and graceful. For some reason, she made people feel a sense of fondness for her.

Her bold and spicy attitude still made He Zhiyuan look at her a few more times. Qiu Xuning noticed this and his cheeks puffed up. His face turned slightly red.

“G–go get the ice skates,” he stammered, interrupting Hu Xinyi’s chatter.

Hu Xinyi flicked her hair and smiled confidently. “I’m really good at ice skating. Xiao Gege, how about you? If you don’t know how, I can teach you.”

Qiu Xuning looked at He Zhiyuan, and He Zhiyuan met his gaze. He slightly lifted his chin and said, “Go change your shoes, I’ll teach you.”

He Zhiyuan knew how to ice skate, and he was really good at it, leaving no room for Hu Xinyi to show off. Hu Xinyi watched the tall man glide effortlessly around the ice twice and regretfully made a noise like a chicken.

Yang Siyue glanced at Qin Shouze and asked, “You finally invited Qiu Xuning out to have fun, why aren’t you talking to him?”

Qin Shouze changed his shoes and heard Yang Siyue’s question. He forced a smile. “I actually want to.”

He still hasn’t figured out what his feelings for Qiu Xuning really are. He wants to get close to him, even dreaming about him. To shake off this obsession, he probably really needs to get closer to Qiu Xuning. Yet whenever he tried to reach out to Qiu Xuning, he didn’t respond much. He probably doesn’t even log into social media much. During breaks, he would look for him but they were in different buildings separated by quite a distance. A rush of ten minutes back and forth. He did manage to talk to him during the break though, but with so many people around, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Before he knew it, the distance between him and Qiu Xuning had grown larger.

If only his grades had been better in middle school. Qin Shouze had regretted this more than once.

After the frustration passed, he still had to work hard. When the subjects are divided, there will be an experimental class added. That will be his chance. Even if they are in different subjects, the experimental class will still be together, and the distance between them will be closer. He still has a chance. It’s not too late to work hard now.

Qin Shouze had never worked this hard before. He wasn’t very motivated in middle school, he just studied and tested casually. He wasn’t actually stupid, but now that he had a goal, his grades had improved dramatically. Maybe when the classes are divided in the second year, he could actually end up in the same class as Qiu Xuning—it wasn’t impossible.