Chapter 18
Xia Weining followed him into the venue. The venue was very large, with tables arranged in a U shape. One side was for entry and exit, and three sides were for seating. There were several rows of chairs on each side, with a space for games and performances in the middle.
There were already quite a few people sitting in the seats, and Xia Weining didn't know any of them, so she lowered her head and found a corner to sit down, thinking that no one would notice her.
She wanted to eat the fruit snacks in front of her, and wanted to see if anyone else had any. She looked around carefully, and saw that everyone else was either sitting quietly or chatting with others. No one touched the fruit snacks in front of her. Xia Weining's fingers were itching to move, and she carefully watched the actions of the people around her. Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she finally felt at ease and started eating.
After a while, Zhou Renting came over and sat next to her. "Don't you want to meet some people?"
"No thanks." Xia Weining declined with a smile, "I'm actually quite socially anxious."
"Social phobia?" Zhou Renting was a little confused.
Although this word appeared early, it was not widely spread at this time, so Zhou Renting was not familiar with it.
Xia Weining quickly changed the subject, "You go over there, I'll rest here for a while."
"Brother Zhou." A sweet voice suddenly sounded, and a very cute girl stood in front of Zhou Renting. "Are you also coming to this social gathering?"
"I was bored, so I thought I'd come over to meet some friends." Then he introduced Xia Weining, "This is my junior sister from the Normal College, Li Siran. She teaches at the elementary school next door."
"Hello, Xia Weining, Teacher Zhou's colleague."
The little girl was very cute and innocent, and it was obvious that she had no bad intentions. "Hello, Teacher Xia, I'm Li Siran, nice to meet you."
Li Siran held Xia Weining's arm in a familiar manner and happily shared the interesting things she had seen. Her voice was sweet and although noisy, it was not annoying.
But she talked too much and kept on chattering for more than half an hour. It was the first time Xia Weining had met someone so familiar.
Zhou Renting noticed Xia Weining's discomfort and quickly interrupted the beaming Li Siran, "Junior Sister, take a break and drink some water."
"Brother, I'm not thirsty."
This girl is really too naive. Even when others are embarrassed and scratching their heads, she just keeps talking about herself.
Sheng Huaizhou and his party came in from outside and were arranged to sit opposite Xia Weining. He saw the uneasy Xia Weining at a glance, and sat down calmly without saying anything.
Li Siran was still chattering away, and Zheng Rui's eyes were shining as if he had found a soulmate. He had never seen such a special girl, full of energy and vitality, just like the morning sun full of hope.
He couldn't help but stare in amazement.
"Hello, young lady." He made a deliberately handsome gesture, "My name is Zheng Rui, and I'm a police officer from the Central Police Station."
Li Siran looked at him blankly and nodded shyly, "Hello, my name is Li Siran, and I'm an elementary school Chinese teacher."
Hearing Zheng Rui's voice, Xia Weining hurriedly looked up and saw Sheng Huaizhou opposite her. Their eyes met briefly in the air, and then they turned away as if nothing had happened.
Zheng Rui then noticed that Xia Weining was also there, and was overjoyed. "This is a great arrangement, it's all with acquaintances, right, Teacher Xia?"
Xia Weining smiled perfunctorily, "Haha, yes, everyone knows him."
Zheng Rui then noticed the pile of fruit peels next to her and was stunned. "Are you treating this social gathering like a tea party?"
Everyone looked up when they heard this.
Xia Weining immediately became the target of public criticism. She felt extremely embarrassed under everyone's gaze and could even feel the heat coming from her cheeks. She was so angry that she clenched her fists and wished she could cover Zheng Rui's mouth.
There are some things you don't need to say when you see them.
Zheng Rui saw the death stare Xia Weining gave him and finally reacted. He slapped his mouth repeatedly and said, "Sorry, Teacher Xia."
"It's okay." Xia Weining smiled lightly, showing a generous attitude, "I know that Officer Zheng is straightforward and has no ill intentions."
Sheng Huaizhou chuckled. He wondered if he was crazy. He actually thought Xia Weining was quite cute.
Before the smile faded from his lips, he received a warning look, as if he was joking.
Sheng Huaizhou's face instantly returned to its icy state. He felt even more that he was crazy for thinking Xia Weining was cute.
She has nothing to do with this word.
The atmosphere was a bit awkward. Xia Weining continued her food-streaming career. Zhou Renting came over and asked her, "Are you familiar with the officer across the street?"
"Not familiar." Xia Weining was afraid of being misunderstood, so she hurriedly shook her head and explained, "We've just met a few times before."
Sheng Huaizhou snorted coldly when he heard this. He was really heartless.
The tense atmosphere between the two was broken by a group of joyful voices before it could even begin to build. Many girls came to Sheng Huaizhou with flowers in their hands and asked, "Officer, can I add your QQ number?"
"Okay." He agreed happily and told his QQ number generously.
Seeing more and more flowers piling up in front of him, there was no doubt that Sheng Huaizhou was the most popular one at the scene.
Xia Weining didn't hide the expression on her face at all. Her eyebrows were twisted into a ball. She looked at Sheng Huaizhou with confusion. What did these people like about him? It couldn't be just because he was handsome and had a good figure.
Zhou Renting gave her his flowers, but Xia Weining thought he was just trying to ease the embarrassment of having no one chosen her, and didn't think too much about it.
Sheng Huaizhou found this action glaring.
The host enters the venue and the social activity officially begins with a warm-up game - passing the flower while beating the drum.
This game is very simple, and the host will briefly introduce the rules of the game. The item passed is a bouquet of artificial flowers. When the music stops, whoever has the flowers in his hand must stand up and introduce himself and perform a talent.
Xia Weining looked around and saw that she was at the innermost part, so her chances of being selected were slim. She didn't want to perform any talents.
The music started and the game officially began. She was actually a little nervous, waiting anxiously for the fake flower to be in her hands. She had already decided to pass it to the next person as soon as it was in her hands.
The closer she saw the fake flowers getting, the more anxious she became. However, some people in front of her seemed to be playing on purpose, delaying for a while before passing it to the back. She was very angry and stared at the fake flowers with such seriousness that even Zhou Renting was surprised.
"Do you like playing this game?"
Xia Weining: "Huh?"
Is it that the irritability on her face is not obvious enough?
"Everyone is playing it so casually and not taking it seriously, but I think you seem to be taking it very seriously."
Xia Weining took a look and found that it was indeed the case. Everyone was very casual, and there was only a brief panic when it was passed to her. Only she was staring at the fake flowers covetously, and to outsiders it seemed like she was longing.
She didn't say anything, but leaned back in her chair, trying to hide her inner tension with physical relaxation.
"Yeah, that's much better."
As soon as Zhou Renting finished speaking, he handed her the artificial flowers. Before Xia Weining could pass them on, the music stopped abruptly.
She almost doubted her life and couldn't believe what was happening before her eyes. What she feared was coming true.
She was puzzled as to why the music stopped at her place.
Everyone was trying to figure out who would be the first to be punished, and the fake flowers in her hand became a hot potato.
Before she could react, the host put the microphone to her lips and said, "Congratulations on becoming our first lucky audience member."
Congratulations……
Whoever wants it can take it.
"Please introduce yourself to everyone."
"Hello everyone, my name is Xia Weining, and I'm a teacher at No. 1 Middle School."
"What talent show would you like to bring to everyone?"
She was about to say no when the host interrupted her, "You can't say no. You can sing and dance, good or bad. The important thing is to be brave enough to show yourself."
Others followed suit and said, "Come on, come on."
She herself was not a person who would spoil the fun, and she did not dislike showing off, not that she was afraid to do so. She could not refuse anyway, so she simply showed off generously and took the microphone from the host, "Then I will sing a song for everyone."
She sang a few lines of "Blue and White Porcelain" a cappella. Although it was not standard, it was not bad either, and that was it.
As soon as the microphone was handed to the host, his face instantly turned red and hot.
She sat down, touching her face. When she looked up, she met Sheng Huaizhou's inquiring eyes. Her breathing slowed down for no reason.
The game continued but she was still not in the right state.
Sheng Huaizhou on the opposite side seemed to be the same.
Later, Xia Weining won several more times. She went from speechless to numb and finally to collapse. She even suspected that this game was tailor-made for her. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain why it was her who won every time, as if it was pre-arranged.
Sing!
Boxing Show!
A cold joke was told!
…
She really couldn't think of any other talents to show. In the last round of the game, as soon as the artificial flowers were passed to her, everyone held their breath and guessed whether the music would stop. Xia Weining seemed to have a sense of it and threw the artificial flowers into Sheng Huaizhou's arms before the music stopped.
He caught the flower and raised his eyebrows in surprise. The music stopped and everyone started to make a fuss. Sheng Huaizhou accepted the punishment.
Zheng Rui pulled him up and shoved him to the performance area, then assigned him a routine: "20 push-ups with one hand."
"20!" Someone nearby gasped and exclaimed.
Chu Yu's face was full of worry, "Huaizhou, how about changing it?"
Sheng Huaizhou didn't say anything, but stared at Xia Weining with a malicious warning.
Xia Weining felt a little guilty and asked him softly, "Can you?"
He had already started to unbutton his coat, but when he heard this, his hands paused, and a certain complex emotion became even more intense.
After taking off the coat, the fitted shirt revealed a perfect figure, with broad shoulders and a thin and muscular waist. It must feel very good to the touch. Xia Weining swallowed and remembered the boys' uniform dressing videos she had seen on short videos before. She would be inexplicably moved even through the phone screen. This time she was experiencing it in person, and the impact of real people was even greater.
Xia Weining raised her hand and pinched herself. How could a simple uniform arouse such a mortal's feelings?
While she was daydreaming, Sheng Huaizhou had already done 20 one-handed push-ups amid waves of admiration.
His handsome posture and graceful movements won him applause from the audience.
Xia Weining was amazed to see that he was neither red in the face nor out of breath. This man had really good physical strength.
Zheng Rui was a little angry. "Oh my god, you stole my place. I won't let you come next time."
"Your place?" He chuckled lightly, with a hint of ruffianism, "That's because I wasn't here."
"I..." Zheng Rui made a gesture of stabbing himself in the heart. "My heart aches. Am I the one you love the most? Why don't you say anything?"
Sheng Huaizhou rolled his eyes at him and said, "You're crazy."
The game of passing the flower while beating the drum ends here. The following are some "interactive games for couples", such as running hand in hand with legs tied, passing balloons together, etc.
Everyone drew lots to form groups. Xia Weining randomly chose one, which was leg-binding running, and her partner was Sheng Huaizhou.
Both of them were very angry with their partner. While other groups had already started heated discussions, the two of them were glaring at each other in dissatisfaction.
Zheng Rui and Li Siran were in one group, Zhou Renting and Chu Yu were in another. The fight was really chaotic. All three groups were running with their legs tied, competing directly. The other two groups were discussing how to run faster, and they had no intention of moving at all.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
