Chapter 15 Dancing I remember she danced very well.
After a day filled with praise, Qin Man finished school. She took a taxi home and saw Qu Lan busy in the living room on the first floor.
"What are you doing?" Qin Man stepped over one cardboard box after another, looking at the packed boxes. "Mom, what are you doing?!"
She couldn't help but worry, as Qu Lan's unusual behavior was always a sign of her illness.
Qu Lan wiped the sweat from her forehead. "I want to find our old photos together, but I can't find them."
Aunt Mei used to put everything away, but she didn't know where everything was, so she searched through all the storage boxes to find the old photo album.
Qin Man: "Mom, you've already thrown away the photo album!"
The family photo of the four of them had actually been lost by Qu Lan long before her father's accident.
At that time, Qin Man didn't care about it; she just let it go.
“No, that’s the only one…” Qu Lan unpacked the box, taking things out and putting them back in, “The only thing I want to see.”
Qin Man watched her mechanical movements, couldn't help but grab her wrist, stare into her eyes and say, "Mom, what's past is past."
Before she could finish speaking, Qu Lan suddenly shoved her away, shouting at the top of her lungs, "What do you know! You little brat, what do you know!"
Qu Lan's eyes were bloodshot, her jaw was trembling, and her thin body was also trembling slightly.
Qin Man's heart clenched as she suddenly realized this was the first time she had seen Qu Lan gradually fall ill, and she immediately panicked.
"Mom, Mom, calm down. I misspoke. I misspoke."
She tried to comfort Qu Lan, but a person who is ill cannot listen to reason.
Qu Lan screamed hysterically, took the contents of the box out again, and kept smashing them on the floor.
Qin Man retreated step by step, watching Qu Lan go crazy, unable to do anything.
She sat helplessly on the ground, neither crying nor making a sound, as if she didn't belong in this house.
Qu Lan, having finished her outburst, sat on the sofa, panting.
Qin Man then stood up, leaning against the wall, and with her aching legs, went to find her the medicine, tricking her into drinking it again.
"Do whatever you want," Qin Man said softly. "I won't say anything more."
Late at night, moonlight shone into the bedroom.
After Qu Lan went back to her room and fell asleep, Qin Man opened the small balcony door in her bedroom and leaned against the balcony railing to enjoy the breeze. From her angle, she could see the hotel high-rise building not far away, its beautiful facade and floor-to-ceiling windows reflecting the moonlight.
As she stood in the wind, her phone vibrated in her hand; it was a call from Qin Chen.
She answered the phone and said "Hello".
"You haven't spent all the money I transferred to you a few days ago, have you?"
"The flowers are all gone," Qin Man said. "I burned them all for you."
"..." Qin Chen chuckled, "Oh, how come I didn't receive it?"
"Maybe it's because you're not quite dead yet," Qin Man said expressionlessly.
"Show some respect, I'm your brother."
“You still know you’re my brother? How can a brother die in New Zealand? He should come back, at least to die in the family cemetery.”
"..."
After a few seconds of silence, Qin Chen's tone became unusually serious, "Little darling, who has upset you again?"
"Nobody's bothered me, why are you calling?"
"Of course I want to get some money back; I'm short on cash."
Qin Man resisted the urge to smash her phone. "I have no money. I gave my classmate a birthday present, and the rest to my mom. How much is left? I didn't even keep any pocket money for myself!"
This last sentence is very important: Qin Man doesn't have any pocket money left, so it seems she really doesn't have much money.
Qin Chen knew, of course, that he wouldn't get the money, but he asked on purpose because he was afraid that his sister would lose her mind and spend the money on things she shouldn't.
"Okay, then I'll go pick up some trash to sell for money."
"roll."
Qin Man hung up the phone.
*
A few days later.
The temperature gradually dropped, and the late summer breeze became cooler. In the third-grade corridor of the teaching building, many student council members stood, each holding a stack of flyers, going in and out of each classroom.
"Qin Man! Qin Man!"
Qin Man looked up from her seat and saw Zhao Ying, the publicity minister of the student union, walking through the crowd.
She pulled out a flyer and handed it to Qin Man, saying, "Miss Qin, you must come to the charity gala for the senior students."
Every year, Xilai High School holds a charity gala for its graduating class, organized by the student council, which invites school leaders, students and their parents, and also includes a small auction.
Qin Man, a high school sophomore, participated in organizing it. There were no other requirements, just spending money.
It costs a lot of money.
Whether it's the parents, school leaders, or student union organizers who attend, they all have to spend a lot of money, which will be donated or invested in public welfare.
It is not required that every senior high school student participate, but those who do not participate are always specially recruited students from impoverished families.
Zhao Ying was very excited and grabbed Qin Man's hand, "There's a dance party at this party, and I've talked to the teacher. She wants you and Jiang Xuchi to dance on stage! She thinks it would be better if the two of you represented us!"
Cilles is certainly not a low-key philanthropist. The annual charity gala is a way to make a name for himself, and there are also many entertainment activities, such as balls.
Qin Man quickly pulled her hand back, staring wide-eyed at Zhao Ying, "You want me to go dancing with him?!"
Zhao Ying's tone couldn't hide her envy: "They're all tennis champions, how prestigious! And that's Jiang Xuchi, aren't you satisfied?"
The students around them had already perked up their ears, and even the noisy sounds quieted down considerably.
Qin Man didn't say anything.
She felt that if she told the truth, the girls who were eavesdropping would secretly accuse her of faking it.
Zhao Ying: "Let's settle on this for now. Come to the student council after class and we'll discuss the details then."
After Zhao Ying left, Qin Man subconsciously turned around to look at Jiang Xuchi in the last row.
Jiang Xuchi was sleeping with his head down. He had been catching up on sleep during breaks between classes for the past few days, as if he had never had enough sleep at night.
Who can disturb his sleep at night? Who does he want to look like he can't sleep at all?
The school bell rang.
Qin Man turned her head, twirling her pen, and spent the entire class thinking about the charity gala.
The student council's activity room was on the second floor of another building. When Qin Man went there, she ran into Jiang Xuchi.
Since the tennis match, Jiang Xuchi has barely spoken to Qin Man. He seems to be half asleep every day, whether from exhaustion or impatience, but that doesn't stop some oblivious girls from crowding around him.
The girl's student ID card was the color of a first-year student, and she looked very shy.
She had long, straight, and beautiful jet-black hair, a delicate oval face, and a very pleasing appearance.
Jiang Xuchi had his back to Qin Man and said something to her. The girl blinked, lowered her head, shoved the gift in her hand into his arms, turned and ran away, her black hair swaying in the air, before disappearing into the stairwell.
Jiang Xuchi stood still, glanced at the gift's outer packaging, tore off the card with his name on it, and crumpled it into a ball in his hand as he walked forward.
He stopped in front of the trash can and threw in everything, including the crumpled cards and the beautifully packaged box.
Jiang Xuchi didn't even bother to look at what kind of ingenious idea might be inside the gift box.
Qin Man looked up, searching for the sign on the door of the student council activity room.
Hearing the noise, Jiang Xuchi turned around, saw her, and laughed: "Don't tell anyone."
His smile was incredibly roguish, completely unlike the lazy, sleepy demeanor one might expect from someone who's not fully awake during the day.
Qin Man wanted to say something but couldn't, so she just gave him a cold glare and went into the activity room.
The activity room was filled with various cadres, new and old members, a noisy gathering of about a hundred people. There were several round tables in the room, and each department huddled around their own table, chattering and discussing a common matter.
That was the charity gala a month later.
Zhao Ying was waiting in the activity room early. When she saw Qin Man walk in, she immediately reached out and warmly pulled her to her group members, introducing her to everyone: "Let me introduce the new member, Qin Man, the former head of the sports department."
The members of the publicity department greeted her with smiles, and one of the girls shouted, "Introduce the handsome guy behind her too!"
Another burst of laughter erupted.
Zhao Ying reluctantly stepped aside, revealing Jiang Xuchi's face. "Save your breath, don't you know him yet?"
"Was he the one who danced at the party?" someone asked.
Getting down to business, Zhao Ying said seriously, "He and Qin Man are in the center, and we need some backup dancers to liven up the atmosphere. We'll need you two to work together during the rehearsal. Qin Man, you know ballroom dancing, right? It's very simple."
It seemed there was no room for Qin Man to refuse. She glanced at Jiang Xuchi, and Jiang Xuchi looked at her in return.
You could tell from his eyes that he didn't care much about dancing; he was pretty indifferent.
Qin Man said, "You'll have to ask Jiang Xuchi if he knows how."
Zhao Ying was a little surprised, seemingly never having imagined that Jiang Xuchi couldn't dance.
Jiang Xuchi: "It's because I'm not very good at dancing."
Zhao Ying exclaimed "Ah!" and then asked, "Then you should have learned it in a month. It's very easy to dance. I'll let you..."
Zhao Ying looked at the members of the department around her, trying to find one of them who could dance to teach him.
Jiang Xuchi said, "No need, just let Qin Man teach me. I remember she dances very well."
Qin Man looked at Jiang Xuchi again.
A sentence echoed in her mind, along with a fleeting memory.
...
"Qin Man, you dance so beautifully. Would you do me the honor of joining me for a couple of drinks in a private room?"
The boy in front of her was a senior in the third year of junior high school who had been pursuing her for almost a month.
Tonight is Christmas Eve, and she had the leisure to jump around on the platform of Fusheng a couple of times. As soon as she came down, this person started watching her. What bad luck!
Qin Man narrowed her eyes, scanned the boy from head to toe, and said, "With your looks, I think you need to get plastic surgery before you try to seduce me."
That one sentence made the other person's face turn green.
His gaze instantly turned cold. "Don't push your luck. I've booked the whole place for Fusheng today."
The boy reached out and pulled her towards him.
Qin Man smelled the alcohol on the other man and felt disgusted. She just wanted to kick him in the groin. "Don't touch me, or I'll call Qin Chen to beat you up!"
The boy smiled and asked who Qin Chen was. He didn't know him and tried to continue touching him inappropriately.
Qin Man seized the opportunity and kicked him in the groin. The man's expression instantly twisted, and he let go, clutching his groin and crouching down. Qin Man immediately pulled away and ran away. She hadn't run far when she bumped into someone's arms.
The man smelled remarkably clean, as if he had been sun-dried, making him stand out in the bar.
Qin Man looked up and heard the boy's angry shouts and curses behind her, drunkenly trying to cause trouble for her.
Jiang Xuchi reached out and put his arm around her waist to steady her, then asked in her ear, "What's wrong?"
Qin Man called out, "Where's my brother? I need to find my brother."
She patted Jiang Xuchi's chest and kept looking up behind him. That was the VIP box area, and Qin Chen must be there.
Jiang Xuchi was too tall, so she couldn't see him clearly. She jumped up anxiously, but her high heels twisted suddenly, and she screamed as she fell to the side.
Jiang Xuchi tried to grab her, but her fingers hooked around his collar, and he stumbled to the side with her.
A group of people sat in the booth behind them, watching them with surprise and jeers.
Qin Man bumped her waist on the sofa armrest and cried out in pain. Then she saw the boy who was late and Qin Chen who had just come out of the private room.
When the boy saw Qin Chen, his expression changed instantly, and he staggered away after taking a few steps back.
Before Qin Man could say anything, she heard Qin Chen coldly say to Jiang Xuchi, "Get off my sister."
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