Twelfth Night
On the second-to-last morning of summer camp, the foreign teachers didn't teach. Teachers Mina and Ono asked everyone to open the Starhook English app to check their daily task completion progress.
All forty students in Class B successfully met the requirements. The teachers then distributed keychains engraved with each other's names to the twenty pairs of students.
“This looks a bit like a couple’s outfit.” Xu Ting swayed a couple of times, then met Yan Songqi’s gaze and immediately retorted, “I wasn’t talking about you and me, don’t flatter yourself.”
Yan Songqi snorted: "Who's being presumptuous?"
Lu Er held the keychain, its lettering shimmering with iridescent light. Her name and Ruan Xiyan's name twinkled like stars in the daytime.
They had students distribute self-made test papers to their English partners. The entire morning was spent writing the papers in class, and then exchanging papers for feedback. They called this activity "FRIENDSHIPS," meaning a friendship-themed test.
Lu Er had been planning Ruan Xiyan's exam paper for a long time. During the two days of camping, she compiled and copied down question types suitable for Ruan Xiyan, taking into account his English level.
Lu Er's test questions for Ruan Xiyan were very well-structured, covering multiple-choice questions, reading comprehension, and essay writing. Sun Yuanyuan and her friend bumped into her printing the test at the print shop, and were stunned when they picked up the A4 paper. They said it was practically an English exam paper.
That day, Lu Er handed the test paper to Ruan Xiyan: "You should be able to finish these questions in an hour. When you're done, tell me how long it took." She actually wanted to include a few listening comprehension questions, but then thought that the classroom might not be able to provide a quiet environment, so she gave up on that idea.
Ruan Xiyan also brought a piece of paper and passed it back and forth to her: "You should be able to write it quickly. To be fair, let's hand it to each other in an hour."
Lu Er took his exam paper back to his original spot.
She neatly filled in her name and class in the top box. Looking down, there were two main sections: the first was fill-in-the-blank, and the second was an essay.
Lu Er looked at the questions from left to right, and at the same time, his mind automatically translated the meaning of the sentences.
Please write down ten of your strengths.
Lu Er: "..."
She seemed to have a premonition as she looked at the second question.
The second question read: "Please write an English essay praising yourself and the question setter, no less than 120 words."
Although she had considered that Ruan Xiyan might come up with something unusual in the exam paper, Lu Er hadn't expected it to be this way. She stared at the owo and ouo characters, whose strokes and appearances exuded an innocent charm, and couldn't help but poke them with her pen.
Ruan Xiyan is still incredibly stupid.
Ruan Xiyan is always punctual. He said one hour, and it was supposed to start at 8:30, but he arrived right at 9:30 to hand in his paper.
Lu Er borrowed a red pen from Teacher Mina and began grading papers with focused attention. Ruan Xiyan glanced at her and then lowered her eyelids to grade the test papers he had given her.
A sense of anticipation had been lingering in her heart for a long time. Ruan Xiyan was curious about what Lu Er thought were her strengths, and what... things he would say to praise her.
She filled in all the boxes for the first question. "Politeness," "High Score," "Diligent," "Rational"...
Ruan Xiyan chuckled slightly. The answer was written so much like a "standard answer," which was indeed Teacher Xiaolu's style.
She answered the second question thoroughly as well. Praising her own essay, she expanded on the keywords she used in the first question. Passive voice, advanced vocabulary, and relative clauses were seamlessly interspersed, demonstrating her masterful skill.
When Ruan Xiyan saw the part where she praised the person who set the questions, her heart couldn't help but leap up.
This passage is completely different in style from the previous one, as if the test taker had lost some English essay template and copied it from some fairy tale book.
Lu Er wrote: "In my opinion, the person who sets the questions is like a puppy. A puppy that acts as the team leader, leading the team on an adventure and journey."
It is brave and fearless, stepping forward to guide the team when danger strikes; it is forgetful, not remembering malicious glances and words, but remembering to repay kindness with sincerity. Loyal, trusting, warm, and benevolent, it is like the sun in the sky and a puppy on the ground.
Ruan Xiyan stared at these words for a long time. A breeze rushed in through the window; the weather was clear, like the bright dimple on his lips.
If you praise him like that, he'll take advantage of you.
–
At 2 PM, the drama performance officially began. There were approximately forty performances from five classes (A, B, C, D, and E). Lu Er sat quietly in the auditorium, watching Class A's play.
Ye Xinyu's group performed "A Midsummer Night's Dream." During the climax of her entrance as a fairy, all the spotlights were focused on her alone. Ye Xinyu's platinum blonde curls, like a hanging galaxy, made her seem as if she had truly stepped out of a magic book.
"It's time for Class B's first group to go on stage," Yan Songqi whispered, and the five of them followed him backstage.
Today, almost all two hundred people needed makeup. The makeup artists were too busy backstage, so they allowed students to borrow the makeup kits on the tables to do their own makeup. If there was enough time, they could also help those who didn't know how.
Lu Er didn't know how, so Xu Ting helped her apply some light makeup. While she was applying makeup to Lu Er's face, she chatted with Sun Yuanyuan, who was applying makeup to her younger sister's face: "The teacher said they're going to show an outdoor movie tonight, right?"
"right."
"But the weather forecast on my phone says it's going to rain later, I don't know if I'll still be able to see it."
Xu Ting's words startled Lu Er. She looked out the window, and through the narrow pane, she could see that dark clouds had already taken over the vast sky. The sky grew increasingly dark, and it seemed that if the wind picked up any more, the clouds would be squeezed dry.
Lu Er, of course, hadn't forgotten one important thing. She and Ruan Xiyan would swap souls when it rained.
If she became Ruan Xiyan, and Ruan Xiyan became her, normally this wouldn't be so urgent. But they're about to go on stage for a play, and Lu Er only memorized Viola's lines, while Ruan Xiyan only memorized Osino's lines. If their souls swapped, wouldn't they be doomed?!
Lu Er bit her lower lip, glancing out the window several times with worry. Her slight movement disturbed Xu Ting, who was putting on makeup, and she called out unhappily, "Don't move!"
Lu Er had no choice but to behave herself for now. After she finished her makeup, she hurriedly went to Ruan Xiyan's side and whispered about the matter.
"Don't worry too much," Ruan Xiyan comforted her. "This is the second group, and we still have almost half an hour before we go on stage. We've rehearsed together many times, so we should both remember some of our lines. Now, while we have some time, you can memorize my lines, and I'll memorize yours."
Ruan Xiyan changed to a gentle tone and teased, "Your memorization ability is so good, I should be the one worried. I'm the one who's afraid I won't be able to memorize it."
Lu Er's heart gradually calmed down because of his words. She stopped talking and focused intently on memorizing her lines while holding the script.
Yan Songqi, Xu Ting, and several others in the distance observed Lu Er and Ruan Xiyan reciting their lines with tense expressions and couldn't help but wonder: Are these two going to compete for the Best Actress and Best Actor awards?
–
"The next performance will be presented by Group 6 of Class B, led by Yan Songqi, with members Lu Er, Ruan Xiyan, Xu Ting, Sun Yuanyuan, and Sun Yuanyuan! Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Act V, Scene I, is now officially beginning!"
The first to appear, including Ruan Xiyan and Sun Yuanyuan, unfolded the plot closely according to the script.
To ensure their cross-dressing performances were convincing, the Sun sisters borrowed a prop from their teacher. Now, with full beards, dressed in medieval Western European court attire, and mimicking their lines, expressions, and movements, it's as if the characters on stage are the characters themselves, not the sisters.
"Put your generous hand into your pocket, Your Highness, just this once, do not hesitate."
Ruan Xiyan gracefully extended the cloth bag from her waist: "Alright, I'll add insult to injury this time. Take it."
Lu Er and Xu Ting watched intently from behind the curtain. Lu Er's mind kept wandering—she would frequently strain her ears to listen for any sounds outside the auditorium. She was still very afraid that it would rain.
"It's your turn, leading lady, hurry up and go up!" Xu Ting reminded her as the lights went out.
She held her breath, clearing her mind of all distracting thoughts.
Sun Yuanyuan, who plays a police officer, says: "...We saw him fighting with someone on the street here, so we arrested him."
Viola, played by Lu Er: "Your Highness, he once helped me out, but later he seemed to have gone mad and said some strange things to me."
Ruan Xiyan, who plays Osino, says: "What a pirate! How dare you, with your foolish courage, throw yourself into the hands of people with whom you have a blood feud!"
Antonio, played by Sun Yuanyuan: "Honorable Orsino, please allow me to wash away the title you have given me. Antonio has never been a pirate, although I have every reason to admit that I am Orsino's enemy... He even refuses to return the money bag that I gave him to use at will."
...
Xu Ting, who plays Olivia, says: "Your Highness, if you keep saying the same thing, I'm already tired of it. It's as unbearable as calling out numbers after the music has finished."
Osino, played by Ruan Xiyan: "Is it still so cruel?"
Xu Ting's tone became somewhat listless: "Still so resolute, Your Highness."
Like a duke, Ruan Xiyan's eyes dimmed as if she had lost her focus: "...Then what other options do I have?"
"Your Highness, please consider the solution yourself."
As Ruan Xiyan uttered that familiar line, Lu Er's fingertips trembled slightly in response: "...Come, child, come with me. My evil intentions have matured. I will sacrifice my beloved lamb, the appearance of a white dove but the heart of a crow."
Lu Er imagined Viola and Cesario's mindset at this moment, fixing her resolute gaze on Ruan Xiyan's back as if trying to pierce through him. She said, "I am willing to suffer a thousand deaths, as long as your heart is at peace."
Xu Ting pressed her for more information: "Where is Cesario going?"
Lu Er turned around, her expression and words equally unwavering: "I will follow the one I love, whom I love more than life and my eyes, far more than my love for my wife. May Heaven witness my sincerity, and if there is any falsehood, I will gladly die."
This scene marked the climax of the play. Viola seemed to have come alive from a Shakespearean play, awakened from Twelfth Night, from that ancient Middle Ages. The audience erupted in thunderous applause.
During the final conversation between the Joker and Olivia, Lu Er rushed into the backstage dressing room and changed into that bright rainbow-colored dress.
"Rain and wind come and go, how many years have passed since the beginning of time? Ah, just a shower of rain and a gust of wind. Our play has long since ended, may you all be filled with joy and laughter!"
As the poem was recited, the entire B6 group, hand in hand, lined up on the stage. Amidst thunderous applause, they bowed in homage, as if it were the final curtain call of a century.
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