I wish to find someone who loves me wholeheartedly, and stay with me until our hair turns white.
The monthly exam results from the Experimental Middle School have been released, and all the homeroom teachers have noticed significant changes.
The average scores for all subjects have improved. Although the increase is not large, these small improvements will give people hope for regaining the glory of the past.
A day later, even more important news arrived: the list of winners of the national art competition was announced.
The results were quickly learned within the Experimental Middle School: Fan Yu was the only student in the entire school to win a second prize.
This is almost equivalent to the complete annihilation of the army.
The atmosphere in the principal's office was so tense it was almost suffocating. The students who had been summoned to participate in the competition dared not utter a sound.
"What happened?" The principal rubbed his aching temples, his voice low and deep.
No one answered; they knew that silence was the only option at that moment.
"I'm asking you a question!" The principal finally snapped, slamming his hand heavily on the table. "When did Experimental Middle School lose so badly in competitions?! How much effort and resources has the school invested, and this is the result?"
He pointed to a sealed file folder on the table, his tone icy: "Fan Yu, take your things away."
Fan Yu stepped forward and picked up the bag. The tense expressions of everyone relaxed, and they quickly left the suffocating enclosed space.
Meanwhile, when Principal Han of Mingde Middle School saw the newly released list of winners, he was so excited that he almost jumped out of his chair, his mouth stretching to his ears.
Just as class was in session, the campus loudspeaker suddenly blared, announcing a moment that would be recorded in the school's history.
"Ahem," Principal Han cleared his throat, trying to suppress the excitement in his voice, "Attention all teachers and students, we have just received good news: the results of the National Art Competition have been announced, and all of our school's participants have won awards!"
"Whoosh." The news was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly creating ripples.
The teachers and students in the classroom were initially stunned, but then burst into cheers and discussions.
Sitting in the back row, Hao Nan's face showed a complex bitterness, and his gaze involuntarily fell on the slender and focused figure of Qi Xu in the front row.
The distance between us has become vast again.
"I knew you could do it!" Xiao Yi, who sat next to Qi Xu, turned around excitedly and patted Qi Xu's shoulder hard.
The radio continued to broadcast inspiring names:
"Xu Qi from Class 8 of Grade 11 and Xu Sheng from Class 9 of Grade 11 have won the first prize and have been granted admission to top art colleges!"
"Qi Huan, Gao Xinpeng, and Ye Tao have won the second prize!"
All eyes in the classroom instantly focused on Qi Xu, and applause erupted like a tidal wave.
Han Xue and Wan Xiaoyi were so excited that they danced around and almost slapped Qi Xu in the face.
Qi Xu smiled somewhat embarrassedly and pushed their hands away.
Hao Nan slowly raised his hand to clap, a forced smile appearing on his lips.
Although I had a premonition, hearing the glaring result with my own ears still felt like a damp cotton ball was stuck in my chest, making me feel suffocated.
Principal Han's impassioned voice rang out again over the loudspeaker: "To celebrate this historic breakthrough our school has achieved, I have decided that all classes will be suspended this afternoon! Each class may arrange its own activities under the guidance of its teachers, such as watching movies or television, or engaging in discussions, but good discipline must be maintained."
"Yay!" The huge cheers almost lifted the roof off.
Since the morale-damaging incident more than a decade ago, Ming Tak Middle School has not achieved such success for a long time.
This good news is something the whole school should celebrate.
The teacher on the podium smiled as she packed up the books: "Alright, everyone, tell the class monitor what movie you want to watch."
"A horror movie! Let's watch a horror movie!" someone immediately shouted.
"No, watch a comedy."
"The Vanished She".
"Pegasus would be fine too."
...The classroom was filled with chatter.
Squad leader Wan Xiaoyi was also undecided, but then a thought struck her. She looked at the person at the center of the matter and said, "Hey! We've got this great opportunity today thanks to Qi Xu. Letting her choose what she wants to look at isn't too much to ask, is it?"
"Agreed!" everyone shouted in unison.
Qi Xu, who was engrossed in her sketchbook, was suddenly called upon. She looked up blankly and said, "Huh? I'm fine with anything, I'll listen to everyone." After saying that, she quickly lowered her head again and returned to the world she had created with lines.
Wan Xiaoyi immediately made the decision: "Okay, raise your hand if you want to watch a horror movie."
A large number of arms shot up in the classroom, clearly making up the majority of the classroom.
“Okay, majority rule, ‘Dead Silence’!” Wan Xiaoyi quickly searched on the whiteboard, clicked play, and didn’t forget to get up and slam the classroom curtains shut and close the doors and windows tightly.
The dim lighting, the enclosed space, and the eerie sound effects emanating from the speakers instantly transformed the classroom into a miniature horror movie theater.
The screen lit up, and the familiar opening sequence and eerie background music instantly filled Qi Xu's ears. She looked up abruptly, her heart clenching as if gripped by an icy hand.
Childhood trauma instantly resurfaced; that stormy night, she was curled up in bed, shivering and unable to sleep... She quickly closed her sketchbook, grabbed her pencil case, and practically fled to the back of the classroom, sitting down in the empty seat next to Hao Nan.
Hao Nan was caught off guard by Qi Xu's sudden arrival. His heart skipped a beat, but was then filled with joy.
"What, you're sitting in the back now?" He turned his head, his voice low, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips.
Qi Xu would never admit to being afraid. She composed herself, met Hao Nan's gaze, and her eyes were unusually "sincere."
"Yes, I'll come keep you company."
Hao Nan's heart skipped a beat.
He stared straight at Qi Xu, his eyes filled with shattered stars, clearly reflecting his disbelief, panic, and confusion. In the end, all his emotions turned into pure, almost overflowing joy.
Qi Xu felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, and then she realized that Hao Nan's eyes were exceptionally beautiful, clear and deep, as if they could speak, silently conveying complex emotions, making her inexplicably want to explore them.
The two stared at each other silently.
Qi Xu's cheeks flushed slightly. She looked away first, pretending to be calm as she opened her sketchbook and started doodling with a pencil, trying to distract herself from the annoying problem.
Hao Nan's eyes dimmed for a moment, then he raised his head and looked at the flickering screen, as if he were watching a movie intently.
The entire Mingde Middle School was immersed in silence. Outside, the sun was blazing, and all the classroom doors and windows were tightly closed, with the curtains drawn. Amidst the interplay of light and shadow, only the sound of a movie could be heard.
Qi Xu's heart, however, could not find peace.
The pale, ghostly figures on the screen and the abrupt screams in the sound effects felt like invisible claws constantly scratching at her nerves. Frustrated, she looked down at the messy outline of the figure she had drawn, and sighed helplessly. Today was definitely not a good day for drawing.
She put away her sketchbook, rested her chin on her hand, and her gaze involuntarily drifted to Hao Nan beside her.
Hao Nan immediately noticed her gaze and turned around.
Meeting her gaze, the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up, but his eyes were somewhat unfocused: "Wh-what's wrong?"
Qi Xu shook her head, still looking at him. Strangely, looking at Hao Nan's quiet and focused profile, or his slightly uneasy appearance at the moment, the inexplicable irritation in her heart subsided a lot, replaced by a warm and comforting sense of peace that she herself had not even noticed.
Hao Nan pursed his lips, trying to refocus his attention on the movie.
However, Qi Xu's gaze was so intense that he couldn't ignore it at all.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and his eyes kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
Finally, he couldn't help but turn his head again, his voice carrying a hint of helplessness and barely perceptible tension: "Can't you watch a movie? You keep staring at me, I..." He didn't finish his sentence: "I'll get distracted, I'll start overthinking, and I'll lose control of my emotions."
Qi Xu then realized that he had been watching too intently, and said "Oh" somewhat awkwardly before turning his gaze back to the screen.
However, after just one glance at the gruesome scene, she immediately looked away as if she had been burned, and simply lay down on the table to sleep.
She would never look at it again, no matter what, otherwise she would definitely relive her childhood nightmare tonight.
Hao Nan keenly caught the fleeting fear in her eyes.
He paused for a moment, then quietly took out a pair of headphones from his desk drawer, gently touched Qi Xu's arm under the desk, and handed them over.
Qi Xu looked up in surprise: "You didn't hand in your phone?"
"It's an MP3 player," Hao Nan explained in a low voice, shaking the small silver player in his hand.
"Oh." Qi Xu took the earphones and put them in his ears.
Hao Nan pressed the power button, and a melodious intro flowed out. He also put on the other earphone and leaned on the table as well.
In the dimly lit classroom, only two figures in the last row of the third group were quietly slumped over their desks, completely out of place with the flickering lights and the atmosphere of watching a movie in front of them.
Qi Xu closed her eyes, letting the soothing music envelop her and shut out the creepy sound effects.
Hao Nan slowly turned his head, his gaze falling on Qi Xu's sleeping face so close to his own, her long eyelashes casting a small shadow under her eyes.
He watched for a long time before closing his eyes contentedly, immersing himself in this stolen moment of tranquility that belonged only to the two of them.
Through the headphones, Ding Dang's melodious and clear voice was singing Zhuo Wenjun's timeless poem, "The Ballad of White Hair":
"...I wish to find one heart to love, and stay together until our hair turns white..."
Qi Xu listened to the lingering yet resolute ancient melody and found it quite pleasing. She unconsciously moved a little closer to Hao Nan and asked, "What's the name of this song? It has a bit of an ancient Chinese feel to it. It's a little sad but also a little reassuring."
“The Ballad of the White-Haired Woman.” Hao Nan’s voice was very soft, as if he was afraid of disturbing something. “I’ve been watching ‘Pocahontas’ with my mom recently, and it’s probably one of her favorite songs. I downloaded the wrong one and put it on my MP3 player.”
"Hmm..." Qi Xu responded softly, his consciousness gradually fading.
Hao Nan looked at Qi Xu's serene profile, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
There was cherishing, trepidation, and a hint of bitterness.
Unfortunately, she seemed completely unaware, or perhaps unwilling to know.
After an unknown amount of time, Qi Xu fell into a deep sleep to the melodious singing.
Hao Nan listened for a while longer, then gently removed his earphone.
He just wanted her to get a good night's sleep and get away from all the noise that disturbed her.
Suddenly, Qi Xu's brows furrowed in his sleep, as if he had fallen into a bad dream.
Hao Nan barely hesitated before carefully placing the earphone he had taken off into Qi Xu's ear, which was closest to him.
Both ears were enveloped in pure music, isolating them from all the terrifying noises from the outside world.
Qi Xu's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed, and the corners of his lips even curved upwards into a gentle arc.
The beautiful melody seemed to reshape her dream, dispel the gloom, and lead her to a peaceful place.
Looking at her sleeping peacefully, Hao Nan couldn't help but smile gently.
He leaned slightly closer to her ear and whispered in a voice only he could hear, "I like you. I downloaded that song on purpose. I wanted you to understand my feelings, but I was also afraid that if you knew, you would avoid me."
He paused for a moment, his gaze firm yet gentle: "So, I will try my best to become good enough to stand by your side, help you, and journey together into the future."
Whether she was dreaming of something beautiful or subconsciously catching this barely perceptible confession, Qi Xu's smile deepened.
Outside the window, on the branch of a large tree, a bright green butterfly rests quietly beside a cocoon.
After an unknown amount of time, the cocoon quietly cracked open, and a beautiful purple butterfly broke free of its confinement, gracefully unfolding its wet wings.
The green butterfly immediately went to meet them. The two butterflies hovered and chased each other lightly in the air, gradually attracting more colorful butterflies to join them, forming a small patch of colorful light and shadow, and fluttering towards the higher and farther sky.
At the front of the classroom, the end credits for the horror film "Dead Silence" had just finished rolling.
At the same time, the school bell rang crisply.
With a whoosh, the heavy curtains were suddenly pulled open.
The bright sunlight, like a golden waterfall, poured in instantly, illuminating every corner of the classroom.
Qi Xu was awakened by the blinding light and subconsciously covered his eyes with the back of his hand. After a while, he slowly opened them.
Her earphones slipped off her ears. She picked them up groggily, stuffed them back into Hao Nan's drawer, stretched, and prepared to get up and return to her seat.
Just then, Hao Nan, who had gone to stretch his legs in front, came back. Seeing her get up, he said softly, "Sit a little longer? You're the main character today. As long as you don't go too far, the teacher won't mind."
Qi Xu glanced at him, nodded, and sat down again.
The corner in the back row seemed to give her a sense of inexplicable comfort and peace of mind than the front row.
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