42 Chapter 42
◎He's no longer needed◎
The decision to take promotional photos was made rather haphazardly. Apparently, four people were selected from each of the three grades in the high school, totaling about ten people, which wasn't a small number.
Zhan Xinyue made up her mind that she would just blend in with the crowd, which shouldn't be too difficult.
Then she thought about it again and realized that her parents would be so happy to see her picture at school at the next parent-teacher conference. She suddenly felt that the job didn't sound so bad, so she accepted it without hesitation.
The candidates for the liberal arts class have also been decided. Before morning exercises, Zhan Xinyue followed the group downstairs and overheard a few classmates in the front row talking about it: "The liberal arts class is really straightforward and crude. They just decided the candidates based on the grade ranking. It just so happens that the first and second place in the grade are a boy and a girl, so they just let them go."
Xie Wanzhi walked beside her and sighed, "Tsk, this liberal arts class is so undemocratic."
Zhan Xinyue: "Is there a difference? Does that mean our class is more democratic?"
It's still not a one-man show by Lao Zhou.
“That’s true,” Xie Wanzhi said. “But at least Lao Zhou didn’t say anything about only judging by grades, so you were really lucky this time.”
Zhan Xinyue said, "That's only because our top student in the grade didn't want to go."
A day later, before class, Dai Yun came back from outside and stood at the front door, shouting to Zhan Xinyue from afar: "Xinyue, I just ran into Lao Fang in the corridor. He asked me to tell you that we'll meet at the playground for photos the day after tomorrow morning."
Zhan Xinyue responded with a "good".
During the break, everyone was idle, but upon hearing this, Xin Wenhua immediately turned around and said half-jokingly, "Xinyue, let's dress up nicely the day after tomorrow. You're representing our Class 10 this time, and you need to know that competition is everywhere. Let's not talk about the other classes, we have to outshine Class 1."
Perhaps because she heard his nonsensical remark, Dai Yun added, "Old Fang said there's no need for makeup, just be natural."
"What does Lao Fang know?" Xin Wenhua shouted. "Can you look good in a photo without makeup?"
Dai Yun said, "The school should take photos to capture the youthful and natural feeling of high school students. Wearing makeup might actually make it less appealing."
"Alright, that makes some sense." Xin Wenhua was convinced and then asked, "By the way, class monitor, who was ultimately chosen from Class One?"
"Our class registered before theirs. Since we registered a girl, Lao Fang let them choose a boy. Oh, I think they chose the one who used to come to our class often, the one who injured the crescent-shaped hand. What was his name again?"
"Xu Shen!" Xie Wanzhi clicked her tongue in amazement as she walked over. When she arrived, she met Zhan Xinyue's indescribable expression and asked in confusion, "What's with that expression?"
When she asked that question, everyone around her, including Shi Ziqian, looked at her face.
Zhan Xinyue composed herself: "You don't have much of an expression."
I just feel that sometimes the second year of high school is a bit too young.
Xie Wanzhi exclaimed, "Look at this, it's such a coincidence. I think your connection with Xu Shen is really deep, you always seem to bump into each other."
Although Zhan Xinyue's feelings were complicated, she didn't want Xie Wanzhi to see it, so she said lightly, "What's so coincidental about this? Maybe they were chosen based on looks. Don't you think Xu Shen is good-looking? It seems that the homeroom teacher of Class One has similar taste to you. You two actually have a lot in common."
Xie Wanzhi immediately pictured the unshaven face of the class teacher, and shuddered. She quickly shouted, "STOP, stop talking!"
Then Dai Yun remembered something else and called out from afar, "Also, remember to wear formal attire."
Zhan Xinyue was silent for a moment.
The school has several sets of uniforms, presumably to highlight its private school image. In addition to the regular winter and summer uniforms, each student is also issued a custom-made British-style tuxedo. The tuxedo consists of a dark suit jacket over a white shirt, with trousers for boys and a short skirt for girls. The tuxedo is actually very well-designed, with excellent workmanship and tailored tailoring. It features an embroidered school emblem on the chest and a matching striped tie, giving it a feel reminiscent of a century-old European school.
However, the school leaders had a good idea, but unfortunately, the school uniform was described by everyone as "too pretentious." In addition, the girls wore short skirts, which made it inconvenient for everything. So, apart from being forced to wear it for a morning during the opening ceremony each semester, no one was ever seen wearing it at other times.
Upon hearing this, Xin Wenhua immediately perked up and teased Zhan Xinyue, "Great! It seems the school is going to go for an international vibe with this set of promotional photos. Remember to bring two English textbooks when you go to take the photos, to show off your sophistication."
Lu Meng scoffed, "What's so special about English textbooks? Believe it or not, the school will definitely call those foreign teachers over for a photo shoot to make us look more international."
"Of course I believe that. They'll probably call everyone to the art building to take some close-up photos of them playing the piano. That's what you call all-round development in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, and aesthetics."
“Maybe it’ll be a violin. We’ll have Brother Shen stand in the middle and play the violin, and Xinyue and the others can sit around him in a circle, looking up at him with admiration, pretending to be in awe…” Lu Meng said, while gesturing the movements of playing the violin, clearly already immersed in his own imagined art.
Zhan Xinyue: "...It's a waste of your talent not to choose you for the photoshoot."
After they started talking all at once, she suddenly felt that taking photos was a bit silly, especially since she had to do it with Xu Shen.
Unfortunately, I'm already on this pirate ship, and now I can't find a chance to escape.
On Thursday morning, Zhan Xinyue went directly to the playground to assemble after arriving at school, as instructed by Lao Fang.
When she arrived, it was still early, but there were already several students in formal school uniforms standing in the middle of the playground, clearly there to take promotional photos.
When everyone was wearing this outfit at the opening ceremony, it wasn't very noticeable. But now that everyone else on campus is wearing baggy sportswear uniforms, this small group of people in suits and skirts does stand out quite a bit.
However, the sun was about to rise over the playground at that moment. In the distance, several girls with high ponytails, wearing smart suits, short skirts and leather shoes, smiled brightly against the green lawn. Their youthful energy was vibrant, and even before they started taking pictures, they already looked like a beautiful promotional image.
Several staff members were standing not far away, preparing equipment and props, with a large pile of desks, chairs and various teaching aids next to them.
Zhan Xinyue walked over, looked around but didn't see anyone familiar, so she went to the restroom to change her clothes by herself.
When she was changing clothes before leaving home in the morning, she inexplicably remembered the phrase "too pretentious." After a slight hesitation, she finally left home in her regular school uniform, putting the dress in her schoolbag. She only prepared to change into the dress when she arrived at her destination.
After leaving the restroom, the middle of the playground was much more crowded, with a huge circle of people standing there. In addition to the students taking photos, Lao Fang and Gao Qiang were there, and as Lu Meng had said, there were indeed several foreign teachers of different skin colors.
The students from the three grades had already formed their own groups, naturally standing together. Zhan Xinyue didn't see Xu Shen, but she did recognize the girl who was ranked first in the second-year humanities class, so she quietly moved closer to her.
The two students from the humanities class, who are indeed the top students, were chatting animatedly with the first-year and third-year students. The two of them stood side by side with perfect understanding, taking advantage of the break before the class started to memorize their lessons.
Zhan Xinyue stopped behind them. She originally wanted to greet them, but hearing them earnestly reciting "metaphysical dialectical materialism," she wisely refrained from disturbing them.
Although the senior students on the right were in a lively atmosphere, if you listened carefully, they were talking about the first and second rounds of review, and also about mock exam rankings and cut-off scores. It was better to listen to the students in front reciting politics.
In comparison, only the first-year students were somewhat interesting. Those students were very excited and chattered incessantly, as if they were talking about some gossip. However, she didn't recognize any of the names they were talking about, and after listening for a while, she found it rather uninteresting.
The set was almost finished, and the reflectors were up, but Xu Shen was nowhere to be seen. She was lost in thought when she suddenly heard a familiar name mentioned in the gossip from the first-year high school students, so she listened for a few more minutes.
"Have you heard? Shi Ziqian was originally supposed to be the one filming the second year of high school, but unfortunately he didn't agree."
"Really? That's such a pity. If he came, we could see up close whether he's really as handsome as the legends say."
"Haven't you seen him in person? I've run into him a few times at school, he's really handsome. But I've only ever caught a glimpse of him from afar, I never really got a good look at him."
"There's nothing we can do. He seems so low-key. I've never seen him participate in any of these school activities, and he rarely appears outside the classroom, so we usually don't run into him."
...
Zhan Xinyue was listening with great interest when she suddenly felt them nudging each other, and their conversation came to an abrupt end.
A brief silence fell over the other side.
After a few seconds of pause, one of them whispered, "Wow."
Zhan Xinyue looked at them in confusion, only to see that they were all staring intently in one direction to the side. One of them murmured, "No way... is that him?"
Zhan Xinyue was slightly taken aback. She looked over and saw Shi Ziqian, the protagonist of their conversation, walking across the playground towards them from a distance.
He was dressed in the same dark suit as everyone else, a white shirt and black trousers, his handsome features visible beneath his tousled black hair. He arrived in the morning light, the shadows of his suit jacket highlighting his straight shoulders and elegant waistline, making him appear even taller and with longer legs.
He must have come directly from the apartment; he walked up to her in just a few steps and stopped beside Zhan Xinyue.
An eerie silence fell over the area for a moment. The first-year students stopped gossiping, the third-year students stopped studying, and even the voices of the two liberal arts students reciting politics seemed to have disappeared.
In the silence, Zhan Xinyue heard Shi Ziqian's voice above her head, his voice as clear and refreshing as the morning air.
"Good morning, the new moon is rising."
Why is he here?
Zhan Xinyue, not quite understanding the situation, replied blankly, "Good morning."
Gao Qiang, who had been chatting with Lao Fang and occasionally giving pointers to the photographer, suddenly turned around as if he had eyes in the back of his head. His gaze fell on Shi Ziqian behind him, and a smile immediately appeared on his face as he nodded in their direction.
Seeing Gao Qiang's beaming face, Zhan Xinyue immediately understood. She turned her head and asked him in a low voice, "What's going on? Gao Qiang came to see you again?"
Shi Ziqian lowered his head to listen to her speak, paused for a second, and said, "More or less."
Zhan Xinyue nodded, and immediately sensed a hint of smugness in Gao Qiang's smiling face. However, since there were people from other classes around, she couldn't criticize him, so she didn't say anything more.
Gao Qiang nodded to the group, then looked at the photographer: "We're all here, let's begin."
"Isn't Xu Shen from Class 1 supposed to be here? Isn't he coming?" Zhan Xinyue muttered subconsciously.
Seeing that the photographers had dispersed, leaving a large open space in the middle, Zhan Xinyue suddenly understood the meaning of Gao Qiang's words. She had originally thought that Gao Qiang had simply not given up and had insisted on bringing Shi Ziqian over, making it just one more person. But it seemed that he no longer needed Xu Shen, this mere tool, and had simply replaced him.
“Yes, we have enough people, so we don’t need him anymore,” Shi Ziqian said.
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