Sixty-five sisters are one family
Today, with the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day close together, all the primary and secondary schools in the town are holding a cultural performance, and they have also invited schools from two nearby towns. The venue is the town's auditorium.
Li Wei frequented that place when she was in elementary school, mainly for movies and school events or performances. The auditorium was spacious, but the seats were hard and not very attractive. The high stage, in particular, looked quite spacious and bright from the audience, and the huge, floor-length, purplish-red curtain was quite magnificent. However, what most students didn't know was that the hollow, creaking wooden stage made those on stage constantly worried—would it suddenly collapse and cause them to fall?
In fact, although the appearance of things from that era is questionable, the quality is impeccable. At least for twenty years, the stage has never broken down.
Even so, Li Wei was still reluctant to go up, because she felt unsafe.
So when the teacher asked the students to report on their programs, she didn't raise her hand.
Teacher Liu looked at the whole class and found that not a single person had raised their hand. It was so hurtful to her self-esteem!
I was just being polite by asking for your opinions. Actually, I knew pretty much everything about elementary school when you entered school, especially about one person. Wasn't he quite a troublemaker in elementary school, skipping grades and playing the piano and singing? Why is he so quiet now? It's infuriating!
Teacher Liu cleared her throat, her face serious: "I hope that students will think about the honor of our class and school, participate actively, and truly consider themselves members of the class, instead of standing by and doing nothing..."
As Teacher Liu spoke, his gaze kept drifting over Li Wei's face, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally. Li Wei felt as if the fine hairs on her face stood up in unison, paying homage to Teacher Liu.
Li Wei wondered, "Is this... meant for me?" She glanced discreetly at the classroom. So many students, yet not a single one responded enthusiastically to the teacher's call. She then looked at Zhou Xiaoyan not far away; she too sat there meekly and silently. She didn't know her before; she came from the central primary school closest to the town government. "She's pretty good-looking, doesn't she have any special talents?"
Zhou Xiaoyan does have some special skills; she runs quite fast and has participated in the town's sports meet. Otherwise, she's just an average person.
As for Yang Liqiu, the class's entertainment committee member, all she had was a pleasant voice. She didn't consider it a particularly outstanding talent and was too embarrassed to raise her hand.
She couldn't take it anymore. If she didn't raise her hand, the homeroom teacher would gouge her out with her eyes. Li Wei steeled herself and stretched out her little hand. It was raised much lower than usual when she spoke, hoping another student would immediately realize her mistake and take the lead.
Li Wei had just stretched out her hand when Teacher Liu, who had already locked onto her, immediately said, "Okay. Li Wei, come with me."
Li Wei reluctantly followed the teacher out. She tried to find some humor in her situation. At least she wasn't called away with Luo Da this time. Otherwise, she'd be finished. Her mother's blackboard recorder would have been a complete waste.
Upon arriving at the office, Ms. Liu was quite gentle this time. She offered Li Wei a seat and said, "Li Wei, what kind of performance are you planning to give? I know you excelled in arts activities in elementary school. You should give it your all this time and bring honor to our class!"
Li Wei had already made up her mind on the way. She was thoroughly tired of playing the piano and singing, or just playing the piano without singing. In this huge auditorium, she was all alone on stage. The microphone's amplification was poor, the sound fluctuating wildly, sometimes accompanied by piercing squeaking noises, like a ghost's wailing. The audience couldn't appreciate any beauty at all. Add to that the unreliable stage, and she was extremely dissatisfied. She refused to go up there this time.
Hearing the teacher's question, he pulled out his prepared speech, his face very sincere: "Teacher, I've thought it through. Since this event is so big, singing is too ordinary and lacks any uniqueness. It's not easy to win any awards. How about we choreograph a dance? We have so many pretty girls in our class, what a great resource! With everyone's collective wisdom and effort, we can definitely do it. It's much better than me performing alone. It will bring honor to the class, promote class unity, strengthen cohesion, enliven the class atmosphere, improve students' activity abilities, and cultivate a sense of collective honor, rather than individual heroism. It's about perfecting the individual for the greater good, carrying forward the fine traditions of the older generation of revolutionary martyrs, and putting the interests of the collective above all else! Teacher... what do you think?"
Teacher Liu opened her mouth. This long passage sounded perfectly reasonable and flawless, but she felt like there was too much MSG in the dish. Why did it taste a bit overdone?
Although Teacher Liu teaches math, she still has the ability to understand and summarize. After a quick glance, she understood that the central idea of Li Wei's long speech was just one thing: she didn't want to perform!
Teacher Liu patiently said, "Since you suggested choreographing a dance, who's going to do it? You? Otherwise, you can recommend someone, or I'll go to your parents' house tonight. Is there any child who's going against their teacher like this? This is outrageous!"
Li Wei hurriedly said, "Teacher, if you trust me, I will do my best to help." She couldn't refuse any longer, otherwise it would be too outrageous. Teacher Liu's temper could be quite destructive, and she couldn't let her mother spend any more money.
Teacher Liu looked Li Wei up and down several times. She had never heard that this girl could dance before. She was quite talented. Was she just faking it? "What kind of dance can you dance? Don't tell me you went back and made it up on the spot. You can't just make up some calisthenics moves to fool people!" Others might not dare to, but this student might. Look how comfortable she was sitting there, and how fluent she was talking, just like she was at home.
Teacher Liu still harbors a grudge about the scene where Li Wei winked at Luo Da in the office last time.
Li Wei quickly assured her, "Don't worry, teacher, am I such a bad person? How about I perform a piece for you now?" She still had to do what she was supposed to do and take care of the teacher's feelings.
Teacher Liu nodded without hesitation: "I'll give you a performance so I can see."
Li Wei stood up, pulled out a chair, stretched her arms and legs, stood properly, assumed a posture, slightly raised her chin, straightened her chest, swayed her hips, and performed a lively cha-cha.
Although Teacher Liu is a bit old-fashioned, she's not an ignorant commoner. It's obvious at a glance that it's a popular ballroom dance in big cities. While adults might not pay much attention to the ground when dancing, when a little girl like Li Wei dances, her elegant thin wool plaid suspender skirt paired with a loose-fitting long-sleeved shirt with a ruffled collar, swaying in the wind, exudes a pure, charming, lively, and vibrant beauty.
Even the other teachers in the office were drawn over. After the dance ended, everyone applauded. Teacher Liu blinked, naturally having nothing to say, and finally entrusted Li Wei with the entire task of choreographing the program.
Li Wei asked the teacher to inform the students in advance, so that they wouldn't be disobedient later. She also asked if they could use the school's large indoor sports room for practice.
Before Teacher Liu could answer, the PE teacher, who had been casually strolling over, had already agreed. He casually asked, "For this kind of dance, are boys and girls supposed to do it together?"
Everyone glanced at Teacher Liu, who waved her hand dismissively: "What do you mean, boys and girls together? Girls can dance by themselves, some can do the boys' steps and some can do the girls' steps." Couldn't she create an opportunity for these students? If the boys and girls held hands, who knows what kind of trouble might arise.
Ms. Wang, the teacher from Class 3 of Grade 7, also chimed in: "Ms. Liu, how about... we do this dance together as a class? We're just wondering what to put on a performance for our class."
Li Wei was puzzled. Did Li Lin also feel the same way as her and not want to perform on stage? Otherwise, she could at least perform the erhu.
When I asked her when she got home that evening, Li Lin was still her usual smug self: "Who plays the erhu? That's all old men playing. I don't want to play the erhu anymore!"
What kind of ridiculous reason is that?!
Li Wei patiently educated Li Lin: "It's just that Grandpa Wu next door used to play the erhu. How can you say that only old men play the erhu? Don't make excuses."
Li Lin held up one finger: "Wu Feng's grandfather is one."
He held up another finger: "That old man who used to be the night watchman at the elementary school is another one."
Then she held up another finger: "That old man who teaches history in junior high is another one, and there are even more on TV. Didn't you see that the musicians accompanying the opera singers are all old men? And..."
Li Wei quickly interrupted her: "Do you know why? It's because older people know what's good, while younger people don't. They only realize it when they get old. The erhu is a good thing. Look at Grandma's cooking, isn't it better than Mom's? Just you wait. When Mom gets to Grandma's age, she'll cook well too, understand?"
Li Lin is not the same Li Lin from elementary school. She immediately retorted, "Then how come your cooking is better than Mom's and even better than Grandma's? Don't try to fool me!"
Uh… Li Wei both appreciated and felt awkward about what he said. It seemed all her previous explanations had been for nothing; the child had grown up and wasn't so easily fooled anymore.
To be frank, Xiaolin, I'm really doing this for your own good. If you practice your piano well, you can take a grade exam in a while, and it will give you extra points when you take the high school entrance exam. It's easy to get ten or eight points extra, really.
Li Lin was determined to say goodbye to the erhu and remained unmoved: "I don't care, I can pass the exam even without extra points. Don't think I don't know, you made me play the erhu with Grandpa Wu on Sunday while you went to the city to play, I'm going to visit my aunt this week too!" Her sister's character was highly questionable, but her mother let her sister, whose character wasn't much, go out to play without taking her along!
Not only Li Lin thought this way, but Li Zhaoxing and his wife also believed that Li Wei had gone to the city to visit her aunt. After all, Cheng Fei had taken over Li Wei's flower business for more than two years before moving away, and they were too busy to know much about what had happened since. However, their eldest daughter was a woman of her own mind, and they couldn't stop her. They figured it was better to keep track of her whereabouts and let her go, since they had a phone at home and could monitor her at any time.
Upon hearing this, Li Wei realized, "Oh, so that's what happened. That's easy to handle. I was just afraid you'd get lazy and refuse to work. Xiao Lin, how about I find you a better teacher in the city? I'll take you out to play every week when I go to the city. Oh, right, I also promised Wu Feng that I'd take her boating and having a big meal at the park this Sunday. Do you want to come along?" It would be strange if the brat didn't want to come.
Li Lin's eyes lit up: "Can I bring two of my classmates with me?"
Li Wei laughed: "Okay, okay, but we have to go meet your new erhu teacher first. If you do well, we'll take you out every week."
Li Lin was very happy, thinking that her sister wasn't actually that selfish, and went to do her homework.
Li Wei immediately called Ding Anping's mother and asked her to help introduce a good erhu teacher.
She's on good terms with Ding Anni's mother now, and that woman is quite pleased with her aunt. Why not use her? At worst, she can just advise Anni to be more obedient and repay her kindness. She can't really help with her aunt's matter.
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