Song Shaojie coughed lightly, and Liu Xiaolan straightened up, subconsciously turning around to look. It was Song Shaojie. In an instant, she felt her cheeks flush red. He must have heard her conversation with her mother!
Liu Xiaolan's gaze darted away from Song Shaojie.
"You—how did you get here?"
Song Shaojie, feigning a relaxed expression, had already walked up to Liu Xiaolan.
"Oh~ I was just passing by when I went to buy a pack of cigarettes outside the school and saw you on the phone?"
Song Shaojie also gestured to Liu Xiaolan with the pack of cigarettes he was holding.
Liu Xiaolan saw that he really went to buy cigarettes, but when she heard him say that he had seen her on the phone, she looked at him tentatively.
"Did you hear what I just said?"
"Hmm~ I heard everything!"
"ah--"
Liu Xiaolan's cheeks instantly flushed red to her neck. She frowned, looking at him with embarrassment.
"I was just on the phone with my mom. I don't want you to know about this. Can you keep it a secret?"
Looking into Liu Xiaolan's pleading eyes, Song Shaojie felt a pang of heartache.
"I know why you don't want us to know about your family, but don't worry, I won't tell anyone, especially not Wu Youyou and Yang Min!"
When Liu Xiaolan heard Song Shaojie say that, her heart skipped a beat.
Liu Xiaolan did this out of her pitiful pride; she didn't want to gain her friends' sympathy. She felt she had struck it lucky to be able to make friends with people like Wu Youyou and Yang Min.
Even with such friends, she didn't want them to know that her mother was still sick and that her father had long since passed away. Wu Youyou never asked about her family, which made her somewhat relieved. Otherwise, if Wu Youyou had asked, she wouldn't have been able to lie to her. But she didn't want to tell her either, for fear that Wu Youyou would misunderstand her and think that she didn't consider her a friend!
Now that Song Shaojie had actually seen them, she must be extremely worried and scared. She was worried that Song Shaojie would pity her or look down on her, and that he would tell Wu Youyou about her affair. But hearing Song Shaojie's words, for some reason, her heart felt incredibly calm.
"Song Shaojie, thank you!"
Song Shaojie raised an eyebrow, a smile appearing on his lips, and looked at Liu Xiaolan quite naturally.
"There's nothing to thank me for. Everyone has things they don't want to talk about. I have them, Shi Zhan has them, Yang Min has them, and Wu Youyou definitely has them too, but that doesn't stop us from being friends!"
The word "friend" echoed in Liu Xiaolan's ears once more. Did he really consider her a friend? Her eyes welled up with tears, and suddenly she felt a tightness in her throat and a stinging sensation in her nose. She looked earnestly at Song Shaojie.
"Song Shaojie, I always thought that the reason you talked to me, seemingly like friends, was only because of Wu Youyou. I really didn't expect that when you heard about my situation, you not only didn't look down on me, but you were also willing to keep it a secret and treat me as a friend. I'm so touched and so happy!"
"What are you saying? We studied together, faced challenges together, and often ate together. Aren't we friends?"
Song Shaojie looked at her with a slightly angry expression, but also with amusement.
Liu Xiaolan quickly began to explain.
"No, I've always considered you all friends, including Teacher Shi Zhan. It's just that I've never dared to hope that you would consider me a friend!"
Song Shaojie looked at Liu Xiaolan with a gentle tone and a smile in his eyes.
"Dancers can save people from inferiority and mediocrity, and so can self-confidence. As long as you open yourself up from the inside out, don't care how others see you. The key is how you see yourself, which is of utmost importance."
Liu Xiaolan was instantly stunned, her eyes wide as she stared at the other person. She truly hadn't expected that the boy wearing the mask and dancing with her was actually Song Shaojie.
"So it was you!"
"It's me!"
"After that, I even asked Yang Min about you, but she didn't know it was you either!"
Seeing Liu Xiaolan's excited expression, Song Shaojie was pleased. So that's why she wanted to know who he was.
"Even though you were wearing a mask, I thought you knew me. I never expected you wouldn't recognize me!"
Liu Xiaolan smiled. She was really happy. Now she felt less restrained in front of Song Shaojie and instead felt an indescribable sense of intimacy.
Her confidence seemed to have crawled out from some corner of her body, gradually merging into her blood and beginning to nourish every cell of her body in a continuous cycle.
The initial awkwardness, unease, and shyness on her face were gone; instead, a wise and confident smile appeared.
"Song Shaojie, thank you for being a friend, but...?"
Song Shaojie's expression froze slightly.
"But what?"
Liu Xiaolan laughed.
"But you need to work on your studies. Otherwise, we'll all be admitted to Peking University, and you'll be all alone going abroad. That would be so sad!"
Upon hearing this, Song Shaojie's expression instantly widened, and he pointed at Liu Xiaolan.
"Oh dear, you little brat, you've grown wings and are actually mocking me now. Don't worry, I definitely won't fall too far behind you!"
"Then you'd better keep it up!"
The two looked at each other, smiled, and burst into laughter!
Wu Youyou and Yang Min were washing their feet together in the dormitory, chatting happily. Suddenly, Wu Youyou said something...
"Yang Min, is your father interested in participating in the Wu Group's new Project 649?"
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