Chapter 32: Unfulfilled Wishes
Cen Nian composed himself, stood up and did some warm-up exercises to keep his body in motion.
Zhao Xiuzhi came in with a bottle of mineral water. She looked around for a while and said, "Cen Nian, are you the only one here?"
Cen Nian turned around and said, "Yes, teacher. I'm a little nervous and want to find a place where no one is around to warm up."
Zhao Xiuzhi handed the mineral water in her hand to Cen Nian, "Drink some water, don't be nervous, I have arranged a seat for you, you will sit in the second row, seat five, remember?"
Cen Nian didn't understand what Zhao Xiuzhi meant, and there was a hint of confusion in his eyes.
Zhao Xiuzhi smiled and said, "Teacher didn't explain it to you clearly. Actually, you are the substitute player I chose. The student who was originally in the center position will go on stage as planned. If there are no unexpected situations today, you will just watch our school's performance from the audience."
Cen Nian's heart was instantly tightened, and a sour and swollen feeling came over him. He felt as if he was suspended in mid-air and would fall down quickly if he was not careful.
She didn't know if she had heard it correctly, so she asked in confusion, "Teacher, I don't understand. Do you mean I'm a substitute player?"
Zhao Xiuzhi still smiled elegantly. "Yes, you know, large-scale competitions require substitutes. I also made the decision based on the strength of the entire school team. Although it's a pity that you can't play, it doesn't mean that you are not strong enough."
The host entered the Affiliated High School of Jiang City. The echo of the microphone and the applause from the audience filled Cen Nian's ears. She was immersed in shock. After Zhao Xiuzhi finished talking to her, she smiled and said, "It's time to go to our school. I'll go over first. I've already arranged a seat for you."
Cen Nian nodded: "Okay, teacher."
She suppressed the bitterness in her heart, and her eyes almost turned red uncontrollably, but she forced herself to suppress it.
She knew that she came from a poor family and was like a blade of grass compared to many people, but this did not mean that she had no self-esteem or pride.
Although it was embarrassing to suddenly become a substitute, she could not show any sadness in front of Teacher Zhao. This was her last bit of insignificant pride.
Cen Nian composed herself and walked out of the lounge. When the other members of the affiliated high school team saw her, they showed some sympathy in their eyes. Cen Nian couldn't help but look at the girl in the C position. She had never seen this classmate before, and the original C position had never trained with them.
She had so many questions, but couldn't ask them.
The team members who had trained together came on stage one by one, familiar music sounded, and Cen Nian trotted to the empty corridor backstage.
The music was very loud, and every beat seemed to penetrate her bones. She leaned against the wall, her body exhausted and she sat down in the corridor.
A few tears could no longer be controlled and burst out, and the faint crying mixed with the cheerful music.
*
Class 7 was very lively. After the host finished his announcement, the class monitor said, "It's about to start!"
The originally noisy class suddenly became quiet. Jin Siyang put down his pen, leaned back in his chair and looked up at the multimedia on the podium.
Zhu Zhiyao clasped her hands together, feeling a little nervous, and murmured, "Come on, Nian Nian!"
Two minutes later, the quiet class suddenly erupted in confusion.
"What's going on?"
"Why can't I see Cen Nian? Isn't she standing in the middle?"
"Yes, I often watch them train, and she always stands in the middle."
"I didn't see Cen Nian, and she wasn't in any other position either. Who is this person in the C position? Why haven't I seen her before?"
Jin Qi frowned as she watched the performance on the screen. She waved her hand and said, "Be quiet. Maybe Cen Nian is suddenly feeling unwell. We'll ask her when she comes back."
"Ah... that's such a shame. I think she's training pretty hard."
"Yes, she spent a lot of time training. She was always the last one to leave the evening study session. One time, I forgot to bring something back to the classroom and saw her studying."
After the competition, Jiangshi Affiliated High School won fourth place in the city, and everyone followed the school bus back to school.
The originally excited and heated atmosphere in Class 7 became quiet. They tacitly stopped discussing. When school was over, many people waited for Cen Nian to come back, intentionally or unintentionally.
Tian Sheng ran in from outside: "Daba is back! I saw Cen Nian, she's fine. Anyway, I didn't see that she was feeling unwell."
Tong Yue said to him, "Investigate again and report back!"
Tian Sheng said loudly: "Okay, wait for me."
Tian Sheng is very well-informed about information. He is a very outgoing person and often mingles with people from other classes. It is not difficult for him to find out information. He is direct and instead of asking others, it is better to ask the people on the school team directly.
Twenty minutes later, Cen Nian did not return to the classroom, but the students in Class 7 came to look at Tian Sheng, who looked a little dejected.
The squad leader asked anxiously, "What happened?"
Tian Sheng pouted and shook his head: "Alas..."
Shen Zhifei couldn't wait any longer: "Tian Sheng, stop keeping me in suspense. What's going on? I'm so anxious."
Tian Sheng glanced around and said in a somewhat aggrieved tone, "They said Cen Nian became a substitute player."
Zhu Zhiyao couldn't help but yell, "What the hell? She's always been the center, how could she be a substitute?"
"The people on the school team said that it was Teacher Zhao who gave a last-minute notice, saying that the originally scheduled C position can play as planned, so..." Tian Sheng didn't say the rest of the words, but everyone already knew what was going on.
Cen Nian did not return to class. Teacher Zhao said that they would go out for dinner together in the evening, and as a member of the school team, she naturally could not be absent.
After dinner, the evening study session at the affiliated high school was over. Cen Nian did not return to school, but took a bus directly home.
She had something stuck in her heart, and she didn't dare to express it until late at night when she was alone.
The neighborhood is very quiet, perhaps because it is late autumn, the wind is getting cooler, and the chirping of insects has decreased a lot.
Cen Nian sat on a chair in the community garden, the street lights flickering, illuminating her lonely figure.
When Jin Siyang returned to the Jin family, Aunt Liu was a little anxious: "Siyang is back? Have you seen Nian Nian?"
Jin Siyang glanced upstairs and asked, "She hasn't come back yet?"
"No!" Aunt Liu couldn't help but worry: "Is it because of today's competition that Nian Nian didn't go on stage? Are you sad?"
Jin Siyang unlocked the screen and scrolled to somewhere unknown: "Her phone has a location, I'll go out and check it out."
"Oh, okay!" Aunt Liu finally felt relieved after hearing Jin Siyang say this.
Jin Siyang put down his bag and walked out the door without taking his eyes off his phone.
He swiped the screen twice. Cen Nian was not far from him. He zoomed in on the surroundings and finally located him in the garden of his own community.
Jin Siyang walked faster than usual. He made a detour and finally entered the community garden.
Hearing intermittent sobbing, he took a few steps back and walked towards the garden path. He saw a girl sitting on a bench. She was wearing the school uniform of the affiliated middle school. She covered her eyes with her hands and was crying wildly, as if she was telling her grievances to the flowers, plants and trees around her.
Cen Nian deliberately suppressed her crying. She was extremely sad, but she still subconsciously controlled herself when crying, which made her look somewhat pitiful.
Jin Siyang stood not far from her, looking silently in her direction.
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