Chapter 102, Competition 102
Luo Yan was preoccupied and absent-minded when she entered the house. She almost tripped over her own threshold, leaned forward, and barely managed to steady herself. Once she was standing, she even praised herself, "I'm really agile."
"What's with all the agility?" Liu Yinfeng, who was watching TV, turned around and said, "Be careful, why are you in such a hurry?"
Luo Yan touched her face and smiled, then noticed, "Mom, you got a haircut today?"
Look, look, it has to be a girl.
Liu Yinfeng: "I stood here all night, and your father still didn't notice."
Sitting next to her, Luo Xinmin whispered a defense: "No wonder I felt something was different today."
"Come on," Liu Yinfeng rolled her eyes at her husband, and said, "I went to get a haircut today, and they said I don't need a letter of introduction to get my hair permed anymore."
For a long time, dressing up was considered a sign of moral decay, so like buying lipstick, getting a perm required an employee of an entertainment organization with a letter of introduction.
Although Luo Yan doesn't usually fuss over her appearance, she was quite interested when she heard this. She touched the end of her hair and said regretfully, "School rules don't allow outlandish clothes."
A few days ago, a student was wearing bell-bottoms, and a teacher from the academic affairs office said a few words to him as he passed by.
School rules are so annoying, they even regulate perms. Liu Yinfeng: "I saw that female celebrity on the poster, what was her name again? Oh my, she looks so pretty with her curly hair. But she's definitely not as pretty as our girl."
The last sentence was said to her husband.
Luo Xinmin nodded in agreement: "If you want to get hot, summer vacation is just around the corner."
Universities in Beijing typically have long winter breaks and short summer breaks. Luo Yan said, "They only get a few days off in total."
Liu Yinfeng quipped, "Even if you have a 100-day holiday, how many days can you actually rest?"
Luo Yan said to her mother in a spoiled tone, "I have so much homework!"
Even without homework, she could find a hundred things to do. Liu Yinfeng shook her head helplessly: "You're not allowed to stay up so late tonight."
Luo Yan rubbed her hands together and said, "I was reading a novel last night."
Strangely enough, Liu Yinfeng felt that the same book her son held was not a serious book, and she often nagged him about his habit of staying up late to read idle books.
But when it came to her daughter, she felt that the child had it so hard, having to make the most of every minute to pass the time, and she felt so sorry for her: "She's so tired that her eyes are practically black."
Eyeballs? Luo Yan stared wide-eyed at her mother.
Liu Yinfeng then realized, "Wrong, wrong, I meant below the eyes."
Luo Yan reached out and touched it, smiling, "It's okay, it's still very pretty."
Indeed, Liu Yinfeng poked her daughter's forehead and remembered something: "Your mother-in-law made you insoles."
The package just arrived from her parents' home today.
The insoles her mother-in-law made were all colorful and vibrant. Luo Yan held them in her hand and said, "It takes a lot of effort, but you can't even see them when they're inside the shoes. What a waste."
Liu Yinfeng: "She doesn't go to work now; she can't stay idle."
Luo Yan smiled and said, "Then I'll be as diligent as my mother-in-law."
Liu Yinfeng: "It looks just like it."
He nagged her again: "You didn't even dry your hair properly."
Luo Yan rubbed a towel in her hair, went out into the yard to enjoy the breeze and play with the dog, and swung her feet as she saw her brother come in, saying, "So early."
Luo Hong: "The power went out on the whole street, and it was pitch black."
In the summer, the power supply is unstable, and if many people in the alley use fans, the circuit will not be able to handle it.
Luo Yan let out an "oh" and tossed her hair like a puppy.
Luo Hong passed by and tapped his sister on the head, earning a fierce glare in return.
Luo Yan: "I can smell the engine oil on your hands!"
Luo Hong opened his palm to show her: "Nonsense, I scrubbed it very clean."
Luo Yan: "Because you've been marinated."
Luo Hong patted her again, went inside to greet his parents, and then took his clothes to take a shower.
He washed his hair that evening and came back to sit in the yard with his sister to dry it, the two siblings talking quietly.
I don't know what he was saying, but Luo Xinmin glanced through the wide-open door and said, "We still need to have two, so they can keep each other company."
Liu Yinfeng: "I think the two of them are too close, and you can tell at a glance that they are plotting some bad idea."
She spoke frankly, without holding anything back. Luo Hong turned around and "reprimanded" her: "Mom, when you're talking badly about someone, keep your voice down."
Liu Yinfeng scoffed: "Can't I even speak the truth?"
After saying that, he stood up, dusted himself off, and turned off the TV.
Luo Xinmin slowly followed behind his wife, reminding her, "You two should go to bed early too."
The couple closed the bedroom door and didn't even leave the living room light on.
Only the moonlight shone down, and Luo Yan tilted her head slightly upwards to look at it, her mouth moving silently.
Hearing her rustling, Luo Hongguang asked, "What did you say?"
Luo Yan: "I'm practicing."
She was also full of mischief, saying, "I'll sing it for you. I've been practicing really well these past two days."
Luo Hong had heard her sing it at least eight hundred times, if not a thousand, until his ears were practically calloused. He covered his mouth and said, "Get out of here."
Luo Yan tugged at his hand, not caring what her brother thought, and wished she could sing in his ear.
Good heavens, it's even more annoying than the buzzing of mosquitoes.
Luo Hong clenched his fists and held back, but still let his sister finish singing once before saying, "Hmm, you've improved. Shut up."
Luo Yan praised herself, saying, "My voice is heavenly."
Luo Hong chuckled twice, then yawned and said, "I'm going to sleep."
He sleeps in the yard; all he has to do is move the deck chair out.
Luo Yan sat for a while longer before touching her hair and returning to her room.
But her hair wasn't actually very dry, and when she woke up the next day, she felt her nose was a bit stuffy, so she rummaged through the cupboard looking for canned oranges.
Seeing that her daughter was almost inside, Liu Yinfeng asked, "What are you looking for?"
Luo Yan sniffed: "I want to eat canned oranges."
Liu Yinfeng touched her daughter's forehead: "It's not hot, does your throat hurt?"
Luo Yan shook her head: "I just feel like I'm getting a little sick."
See, see, Liu Yinfeng couldn't help but nag: "You should have dried your hair yesterday. From now on, you should wash your hair at noon and let it air dry."
Luo Yan nodded obediently and said she understood. After washing up, she picked up the can of oranges that her mother had just opened and started eating it spoonful by spoonful.
Liu Yinfeng poached two eggs for her daughter and put them on the table, saying, "How about you take the day off today?"
Luo Yan showed her mother her fingernails: "It's just a tiny bit uncomfortable, but we have a big rehearsal today."
She was the lead singer, such a significant responsibility, how could she not be there?
What else could Liu Yinfeng say but tell her to call home immediately if things got serious?
Luo Yan thought there was probably nothing wrong, but whenever her brother tried to order her around, she would yell, "I'm a patient!"
Luo Hong simply asked her to fetch something, and seeing her energetic demeanor, he said, "I think you're not sick, you're just malicious."
Who are you talking about? Luo Yan grabbed something and threw it at him, then sheepishly ran back to retrieve it.
Luo Hong laughed, took the things and put them in his bag, saying, "Let's go."
The brother and sister went out together. When they were almost at the entrance of Jiaotong University, Luo Hong asked, "Are you coming for lunch?"
Luo Yan said she was going to eat, and then stomped her feet twice to make the bicycle slide into the school, finally stopping at the bike shed.
She met Chen Jinhong while parking her car, and the two walked towards the teaching building together, talking as they went.
As she spoke, Chen Jinhong showed a hint of hesitation, but it vanished in an instant.
Luo Yan did notice, but felt that the things the person hesitated to say were mostly things they didn't really want to say, so she pretended not to see it and continued talking.
At the top of the stairs, the two bumped into Zhou Xiuhe, and they passed each other by.
Chen Jinhong stopped speaking abruptly and subconsciously glanced at Luo Yan.
That one glance told Luo Yan that she probably knew, and she suddenly realized, "Are you hesitating whether or not to ask him about it?"
Although no names were mentioned, everyone knew who "he" was. Chen Jinhong explained, "I saw you guys on the way to visit XX once."
She also attended the No. 8 State-owned Cotton Mill Primary School when she was a child, and lived in the vicinity of Fengshou Hutong, so she had several childhood friends with whom she had good relationships.
Indeed, there are no secrets that stay hidden forever.
Luo Yan smiled faintly and said succinctly, "We won't talk now."
Ah, Chen Jinhong was too embarrassed to ask why, and scratched her head awkwardly.
In fact, Luo Yan now speaks of it with a nonchalant air, saying, "He's a very nice person, it's just that we don't get along very well."
Chen Jinhong took her hand and said, "I'm definitely on your side."
The two chatted for a while in the corridor before the bell rang, and, still feeling like they hadn't had enough, agreed to have lunch together.
The two ate at a small restaurant near the school gate. When they passed a car dealership, Luo Yan told her brother.
Luo Hong was busy, so he nodded to show that he understood, thinking to himself that it was really rare to see her spending the whole day playing with her classmates.
That evening, Luo Yan was going to the department store with Ji Ning. She felt that her schedule for the day was very full, or rather, for every day to come.
It continued until July 1st.
Luo Yan attended class as usual in the morning. In the afternoon, the whole class found an empty classroom and crammed for the choir competition.
Luo Yan's throat was dry from singing. During her break, she drank water voraciously. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure, slowed her movements, and lifted her foot to walk outside.
Zhou Weifang wasn't planning to call her, but when she came out, she said, "The results are out, and I thought I'd drop by to let you know."
Luo Yan asked expectantly, "How did it go? What was the score?"
Zhou Weifang showed her the course completion certificate.
This was the first time Luo Yan had seen it, and she was surprised to learn that the scores and rankings were written on it. She exclaimed with delight, "You're number one! That's fantastic!"
Zhou Weifang was a little embarrassed, as if praising a child. He glanced at the classroom behind her and saw that some people were already looking out. He said, "You practice first, and we'll talk after the competition."
Luo Yan's top priority today was indeed the competition. She waved goodbye to him and turned around to find several pairs of gossipy eyes blinking at her.
No one asked her directly, but they would definitely gossip about it behind her back.
Luo Yan knew it was unavoidable, and inexplicably picked up her neatly combed hair and stood back in line.
The class monitor tapped the podium and reminded everyone: "Stand up straight, stand up straight. We'll do it two more times."
Two times and two times, the performance of the Transportation Management Class 2 on stage was still just average.
Luo Yan herself knew that she didn't sing very well, but after going offstage, she still happily ran to her family.
The couple had come to see their daughter and had been standing on the playground for a while.
Luo Xinmin couldn't hold on any longer and went home with his wife before the final scores were released.
Only the brother and sister were left watching the show, along with Zhou Weifang, who suddenly appeared from some corner.
Luo Yan caught a glimpse of someone slowly approaching. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was him, but then remembered something and her breath caught in her throat again.
Zhou Weifang was unaware that a knife was hanging over his neck; he only felt that the moonlight was exceptionally beautiful, and Luo Yan, who was meticulously dressed under the moonlight, was even more beautiful. He was so captivated by her beauty that he was almost lost in thought.
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Author's note: Let me think about how to write this some more. See you tomorrow!
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