Chapter 14
Ang Lee really didn't hold his fart well.
"He said he was too busy as class monitor and couldn't rehearse the show for them, so he threw the whole thing to me." Lu Bai flipped through the list of performers in his hand and scratched his head. "This is going to be difficult."
Zhang Xiaotian leaned over and whispered the words: "Poetry recitation. Have you found the manuscript yet?"
"Just go find one online," Lu Bai said. "Actually, I don't have any high expectations. I just hope I can do better than last year without embarrassing the class."
Last year's chorus was pretty awful. Zhang Xiaotian saw him studying the list seriously and couldn't help but move closer to take another look.
"What are you looking at?" Lu Bai asked him, "You don't know him."
"Can you do it?"
"That's about right." Lu Bai said, "Even if I haven't eaten pork, have I seen pigs run? Just wait and see, I will definitely make it bright!" Lu Bai quickly made an appointment with the other five classmates and decided to practice in the classroom every day during dinner time.
After school in the afternoon, Lu Bai waited for Zhang Xiaotian to leave together.
"I see they all went to buy food. Can you still buy it so late?" Seeing that he was waiting for him, Zhang Xiaotian had to speed up.
"Just buy anything. I don't have much of an appetite." Lu Bai watched Zhang Xiaotian arrange everything one by one and said, "Do you have obsessive-compulsive disorder, deskmate? Why are you stacking your books so neatly?"
"What do you care about me?" Zhang Xiaotian stood up and motioned Lu Bai to follow him. "But you, you're not even in the mood for this scene. Is it difficult to rehearse?"
"Not really." Lu Bai said expressionlessly, "It's just that this is a bit disgusting. If the rehearsal isn't done well, it will seem like I did it on purpose."
"Didn't you say you could definitely make it shine?" Zhang Xiaotian said, "Once you're done, I'll slap him in the face."
"Okay, then you give me a slap and I'll give him a slap. Li An's face won't be swollen for a few days." Lu Bai laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back. "You're so mean, deskmate."
"Mutually." Zhang Xiaotian saw his mother standing at the school gate and took a few quick steps to avoid Lu Bai.
Lu Bai followed Zhang Xiaotian out, said hello to his mother and left. Xiaotian's mother stared at Lu Bai's figure as he walked away, and suddenly said: "Is this the student I met last time? I saw him always with you."
"Yeah." Zhang Xiaotian nodded.
Xiaotian's mother placed the lunch box in Zhang Xiaotian's hand and asked, "It seems like you two have a good relationship."
"Normally, just like everyone else." Zhang Xiaotian stroked the lunch box and said, "Nothing else, I'm going home, Mom."
"What was his name?"
"Lu Bai." Zhang Xiaotian said again, "I really have to go back, Mom. I haven't finished a paper yet."
Xiaotian's mother nodded and straightened Zhang Xiaotian's collar. "Yes, just focus on your studies. It's okay as long as you have decent relationships with your classmates."
Zhang Xiaotian said nothing, turned around and walked into the school gate.
He went over the same question several times, but still had no idea what to do. As his ballpoint pen spun in circles, Zhang Xiaotian pondered over what his mother had said.
Normally, apart from his grades, he doesn't care about his life at school. Why did he specifically ask Lu Bai's name this time?
He looked up at the front of the class and saw Lu Bai leading a few people in rehearsal.
"The rapids rush forward, washing away the filth of a century, the raging waves crash against the canyon, surging...surging so many ups and downs of fate.
"
"I always feel that we are still a little short of something." Lu Bai frowned while holding the manuscript and said this.
Some people were unhappy: "You always say it's not good enough, but you really take such a small performance seriously!"
"Hey, hey, hey, stop arguing!" A boy who was familiar with Lu Bai came out to smooth things over. "Old Lu, don't be so demanding. We're just some random guys who came here to make up the numbers. It's great that we can do this."
"That's right, the class teacher doesn't have any requirements!"
The five of them were arguing back and forth, their argument resembling the food court at the school gate. Zhang Xiaotian, unable to follow the topic, rested his chin on his hand and watched them gesture. The argument intensified, while Lu Bai sat among them, speechless, his silence seemingly golden. Perhaps he was simply tired of hearing them bicker.
It's not easy for him either.
At this time, students began to return to the classroom. Those who had no intention of rehearsing returned to their seats. Zhang Xiaotian also put away his lunch box and went out to get some water with his water bottle.
Lu Bai had been standing there motionless when he suddenly put his arm around someone's shoulder and walked out of the classroom. Zhang Xiaotian followed to get some water and heard Lu Bai say to the boy, "Others won't mention it, but Zhang Yang, you must not have taken it seriously just now."
The boy named Zhang Yang seemed to be the first one to be unhappy. Hearing this, he raised his voice and asked, "What do you mean, Lu Bai?"
"I don't mean anything." Lu Bai said, "Last year when our class performed a chorus, you weren't so uncooperative."
"It's already great that I can come to rehearsal every day. What else do you want?" Zhang Yang's eyes were about to pop out.
"Don't be angry, I might not have explained it clearly." Lu Bai tightly grasped his shoulders, and Zhang Yang struggled to get away. "What I meant was, you shouldn't be able to do this much."
"You..." Zhang Yang seemed to have not expected Lu Bai to say this, and the words were stuck on his lips. "Of course, you don't need to say it."
"So what happened at rehearsal today? Are you in a bad mood?"
"If it were my mood, I wouldn't even be on this show." Zhang Yang looked a little impatient, but he still said, "If it were you, I'd just arrange it casually. Ang Lee has agreed to read from the script, and the class teacher hasn't said anything, yet you insist on going without a script? The exam is coming up soon, and if you're not anxious, I am!"
"Oh," Lu Bai thought thoughtfully, "Is that so."
"I'm not saying anything, Old Lu." Seeing that Lu Bai didn't react, Zhang Yang continued, "You know this show is just for us to impress the school. Otherwise, why don't they let those top students from the class participate? Isn't it because they think participating in activities will interfere with their studies, and they don't want those people to waste their time?"
"I know, you have a point." Lu Bai sighed, "But now this matter has fallen on us, and we can't avoid it. Even if it's just to save face, we have to put on a good show, right?"
Lu Bai patted Zhang Yang's arm like he was coaxing a child, "Why do you think I agreed to Li An so readily?"
Zhang Yang said nothing.
"I agreed to this because you're coming too! I know you're much better than me in the arts, otherwise I wouldn't be able to handle it all by myself." Lu Bai lowered his voice, like a cult leader trying to recruit people. "With you here, you'll set an example for them, and everyone will cooperate with me. Then we'll be more efficient, and that's really saving time."
After saying that, he looked around and saw Zhang Xiaotian coming out to get water, and motioned him to come over.
Zhang Xiaotian walked over, and Lu Bai quickly grabbed him and asked: "Classmate, tell me, was our classmate Zhang Yang's recitation the most touching during the rehearsal just now!" After saying that, he winked at him.
Zhang Xiaotian was speechless, but he nodded in agreement with Lu Bai: "Yes, his is good."
"Stop it, you two." Zhang Yang looked at them with disgust, but his tone was not as harsh as before.
"Just bear with it. We're only rehearsing for a few days. Now that we've started, we should do our best." Lu Bai continued, "When the time comes, we can stand upright on the stage and not lose face. Don't you agree, Xiaotian?" After saying that, he cast a coquettish glance at Zhang Xiaotian beside him.
"Okay." Zhang Yang didn't know if he had heard it or not, but his tone was much better. "That's only you, otherwise I wouldn't practice."
The two reached a consensus, and Zhang Yang turned around and went back to the classroom.
"You are really good at fooling people." Zhang Xiaotian clicked his tongue.
"I just want to finish work early." Lu Bai smiled, "I'm tired of listening to them quarreling every day."
Seeing him smile, Zhang Xiaotian couldn't help but ask him, "It's okay to just fool around, right? I already said this show isn't important."
"So, we're going to embarrass ourselves in front of the whole school? I won't do that." Lu Bai stretched his arms, put his hands on his hips, and said to Zhang Xiaotian. "Besides, if we can do it well, why not do it well? Right, our Xiaotian?"
"Then keep up the good work." Zhang Xiaotian squinted at him and said, "Don't call me Xiaotian."
"Why?" Lu Bai asked, "I heard your mother call you that too?"
"Don't call me that." Zhang Xiaotian couldn't explain it to him. "Just change it to something else."
"Then what should I call you?" Lu Bai thought for a moment, "Zhang Xiaotian... Tian'er? Does anyone call you Tian'er?"
Not as good as Xiaotian. Zhang Xiaotian resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and walked towards the water room with the water cup in hand. Lu Bai quickly caught up with him.
"If no one calls you, then I'll call you that, Tian'er." Lu Bai put his arm on Zhang Xiaotian's shoulder. "Tian'er and I have a tacit understanding. You'll understand what I mean when I blink."
Zhang Xiaotian found it funny to see him showing off so much that he was about to wag his tail, and he put down his hand that was about to push his arm away.
I don't know if it's because he doesn't want to study, but Lu Bai seems to be devoted to poetry recitation. Occasionally, when Zhang Xiaotian is distracted in class, he will see that although Lu Bai is listening to the class and flipping through the book, he always has the list and recitation manuscript under his arm, and occasionally writes and draws on them, and asks Zhang Xiaotian for his opinion from time to time.
"Tian'er, I put Zhang Yang and Li Yuxin together yesterday," Lu Bai said, pushing a piece of calculation paper towards Zhang Xiaotian with his fingertips. "But when I got home and thought about it, I felt that the effect was not good. What did you think of our rehearsal yesterday?"
"I didn't look at it." Zhang Xiaotian supported his face and stared at the blackboard without looking at the paper.
"Impossible," Lu Bai pushed the paper towards him again, "Every time I turned around, I could see you in the eye. You must have been looking at us."
"Illusion." Zhang Xiaotian didn't look at him and pushed the paper back.
"Hey, just look..."
"Lu Bai, you know it all and don't need anyone to teach you, right?" The chemistry teacher narrowed her eyes. "If you're willing to explain, then tell me how you solved the next problem."
"Damn it." Lu Bai squeezed out two words between his teeth, slowly stood up, tapped the test paper on the table with his fingers, and said to Zhang Xiaotian in a low voice: "Which question, Tian'er?"
"12." Zhang Xiaotian answered softly with his hand covering his mouth. Seeing his gritted face, he was about to give him another hint, but Lu Bai had already answered it smoothly.
"You have such a smart brain, but you don't use it properly. I'll wait for you to fail in chemistry, and then I'll punish you severely!" The chemistry teacher scolded him and asked him to sit down. As soon as Lu Bai sat down, he picked up the list and looked at it again.
"Attend some classes." Zhang Xiaotian looked at him for a while and tapped his notebook with his pen.
"I listened." Lu Bai raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm multitasking!"
"You're awesome." Zhang Xiaotian raised his eyebrows, imitating him.
"Then show me quickly," Lu Bai pushed the paper towards him again, "Do you think the formation will look good if they line up together?"
"Who is Li Yuxin?" Zhang Xiaotian asked.
"Oh my god, I forgot. You don't know her." Lu Bai tapped the name "Li Yuxin" with the tip of his pen, then pointed to the side. "That girl with short, fair hair by the window is Li Yuxin." He muttered to himself, "No, she's too different in height from Zhang Yang. It wouldn't look good together."
"There are only six of us. What else do you want to do?" Zhang Xiaotian looked at the list again. "Who are the others?"
"The boy sitting next to the podium is my former deskmate, Jiang Lei." Lu Bai pointed at Jiang Lei with his chin, and continued, "The fourth person wearing glasses after Jiang Lei is Li Wenbo." Then he pointed to the seats of the other two girls to Zhang Xiaotian.
As they were talking, Jiang Yan, who was sitting in the front of the room, turned around for some reason and happened to meet Lu Bai's eyes. They both gave each other the middle finger in tacit understanding. Lu Bai laughed for a while, then came over to talk to Zhang Xiaotian.
"Do you know why Jiang Lei sat in the front?"
"I don't know." Zhang Xiaotian shook his head.
"He and the girl behind him," Lu Bai winked at Zhang Xiaotian. "They started dating last semester. He thought they sat too far away, so he told the teacher he couldn't see the blackboard from the last row and moved his desk there. Look at them, they're still being affectionate."
Zhang Xiaotian also looked over at Jiang Lei. Jiang Lei looked up at the blackboard, but with his hands behind his back, he was secretly passing a note to the girl behind him. The two of them were doing something under the teacher's nose, but perhaps because it was dark under the lamp, the teacher didn't notice.
"I'm telling you, they've been hanging out together since they had nowhere else to go..." Lu Bai was about to start talking when the bell rang. Jiang Lei, who was sitting in front of him, stood up and called out to Lu Bai, "Lu Bai, let's go to the bathroom!"
"I'm going to the bathroom first," Lu Bai also stood up, "Wait until I come back and I'll tell you, Tian'er!"
After saying that, he ran out through the back door like a gust of wind.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
