Chapter 0012 Cinderella

The performance of Class 11, "A New Version of Cinderella," slowly began.

As the dark stage gradually lit up, a plump woman walked onto the stage, carrying a vegetable basket, swaying her hips, and wearing bright red lipstick. Upon closer inspection, everyone realized something was amiss—it was actually a chubby young man! The man seemed oblivious to the laughter from the audience, passionately recounting the hardships of raising his three daughters.

Immediately after the "mother" stepped down, the two "sisters" took the stage one after the other. Their carefully choreographed actions and lines, though simple, powerfully showcased their distinct personalities. Everyone suddenly realized that these were not the wicked stepmothers and stepsisters from the original Cinderella story, and their interest was instantly piqued.

The entire audience, including students, teachers, parents, and leaders, were completely focused on the stage.

The first three female characters were all played by men in drag, which had a comedic effect. So the audience naturally thought that Cinderella must also be played by a man in drag.

Therefore, when Ruyi gracefully and lightly appeared on stage, everyone couldn't help but hold their breath.

If Cinderella truly existed, she wouldn't be more fitting than the one before us.

The girl wore a blue and white checkered dress, cradling a small rabbit in her arms. Her curly black hair cascaded down to her waist, and a few playful strands of hair peeked out from under her blue floral headscarf, falling against her fair cheeks. Holding the rabbit, she looked at the audience below the stage, tilted her head playfully, lowered her eyelids, and then pouted and sighed, "Sigh, my older sisters always bully me~" Her glittery eye makeup shimmered under the spotlight, making her bright eyes sparkle like stars.

Just as the audience was getting emotional and couldn't help but feel sorry for her, she seemed to remember something, smiled shyly, lowered her head to nuzzle the little white rabbit in her arms, and said softly, "But I know they love me too."

At this point, she put one hand on her hip, widened her beautiful eyes, and scolded the audience: "You bad people, always talking badly about Mother and my sisters, you're not allowed to spread rumors anymore!"

Her delicate face, expressive of joy and anger, is endearing even when feigning arrogance.

As her first scene ended, she skipped and hopped off the stage, leaving the audience wanting more and eager to see this exceptionally talented and lively young girl again.

A good performance makes time fly by. In the seven acts of "The New Cinderella", Ruyi changed into four different costumes. She brought to life the pure and kind-hearted Cinderella who was brave and resilient inside. The other characters were equally impressive.

When the three round little dwarfs shoved each other onto the stage, passionately making funny and quirky remarks, the last one lost his balance and bumped into the front, causing the little dwarfs to fall one after another. The comical scene instantly made everyone burst into laughter, and even the most serious leaders in the front row couldn't help but laugh. It was hard to tell whether this was a mistake or a deliberate arrangement.

As the performance drew to a close, the dwarves used magic to rescue Cinderella from her confinement. She embraced her mother and sisters, and as the curtain closed, thunderous applause erupted from the audience, lasting for a long time.

Among those applauding was Chen Yaqian. Although she had many negative opinions about Ruyi, she had to admit that Ruyi was exceptionally beautiful, both inside and out, captivating everyone's attention. If she were a man, she would also be completely mesmerized.

She lost, and she accepted her defeat wholeheartedly.

The curtain was drawn back open, and several male actors dressed as women removed their headgear, eliciting another burst of laughter. All the actors then joined hands and bowed to the audience.

Just then, an unexpected scene unfolded. Under everyone's watchful eyes, four handsome young men walked down the aisle to the front of the stage, each holding a bouquet of flowers, and presented them one by one to the actresses performing: lilies, roses, sunflowers, lisianthus, and many more.

Actually, presenting flowers to the actors after a wonderful performance is nothing unusual. What truly stunned the audience and brought the atmosphere to another climax was—

The girl who played Cinderella received a bouquet of fiery red roses, not one of those exaggerated bouquets with dozens of flowers, but a small bunch of about ten, each about the size of a fist, with petals layered on top of each other, neatly shaped, and so perfect that it looked like it could only be picked out from an entire rose garden, which shows the buyer's good taste and care.

The person who sent her this bouquet of flowers was none other than Chen Yan, a popular figure in the first year of high school who has been the subject of much discussion.

Even kindergarten children know that roses are flowers that symbolize love. Chen Yan giving her the Ruyi rose is tantamount to announcing to the world that he likes her.

Cinderella deservedly won the grand prize, but what people talked about even more than the award was the scandalous gossip surrounding Chen Yan, the campus heartthrob.

The night after the cultural performance ended, a huge thread titled "Chen Yan Likes Xu Ruyi" was created overnight on the No. 1 Middle School's online forum.

This time, the post wasn't deleted, and in a short period of time, it kept getting posted.

The post is divided into two main camps. One camp believes that Chen Yan likes Xu Ruyi, otherwise why would he send her red roses alone, especially in front of all the teachers, students, leaders, and parents?

Another group believes that Chen Yan doesn't like Xu Ruyi, and that red roses symbolize not only love but also courage and passion. You think giving red roses means you like someone? I also think giving flowers means you like someone. Following that logic, does that mean the other three guys who gave flowers that day also liked the girls who gave them to them?

Both sides held their own views and presented their arguments to support their positions.

The affirmative side traced back from the sports meet to Chen Yan's transfer to the new student registration, digging up the few interactions the two had in public, filling in a lot of details out of thin air, full of inspiration and brilliant writing, which would move even the Chinese teacher to tears. Then the negative side analyzed and refuted them one by one with rigorous logic.

Just as the two factions were locked in a heated argument, escalating to the point of nearing the 1,000-post mark, a beginner account with the ID C_1 posted at post number 988—

[Those who say they don't like it, if he didn't like it, do you think he would let you spread rumors? A bunch of brainless rabble.]

As if in response to this news, the denialists were quickly refuted by the very person in question.

That evening, after finishing dinner, Ruyi went back to the classroom to study. Hao Jing asked her to go with her to the basketball court to watch the boys play basketball. She had recently developed a crush on a boy on the school basketball team, and she thought he looked a lot like Sakuragi Hanamichi from Slam Dunk, and was her type.

Ruyi accompanied her, but when they arrived at the court, a large group of girls surrounded them. She had a bad feeling, and sure enough, she saw Chen Yan jump high and grab a rebound, which triggered cheers from the girls like a fangirl.

Ruyi turned to leave, but Hao Jing's eyes met those of "Sakuragi Hanamichi." The latter scratched the back of his head, waved at her, and grinned.

Hao Jing responded happily and quickly grabbed Ruyi.

"Hey Ruyi, beautiful lady, don't leave me all alone, aren't we still good friends?"

"I don't want to..."

"I know you don't want to, but think about it, if you keep avoiding Chen Yan, wouldn't that be like trying to hide something? Since it's okay, why not just openly admire him?"

Ruyi remained silent, reluctantly being pulled and squeezed into the inner circle by Hao Jing.