Chapter 51 Looking Up
There was still some time before evening, and Xu Chen asked Lin Shuliang to go hiking, but she refused to go, saying that it was something for young couples and she didn't want to join in the fun.
"You can also think of us as a couple. Anyway, you know, I don't mind." Xu Chen said nonchalantly.
Lin Shuliang glanced at him and said, "Don't say that to me. I don't like it. If you want to climb, you can find someone here. Look at those girls. They have been watching you here for a long time. Go ask them out."
"Can they be the same as you?" Xu Chen smiled and said, "Since you don't want to go, forget it. I'll accompany you here to feed the fish. You won't believe me if I tell you that I really like watching fish."
Lin Shuliang continued to feed the fish and smiled, "Giving you a small piece of bread is really fun."
The two of them just fed the fish and occasionally chatted with each other, and several hours passed like this.
Xu Chen said: "I haven't had such a peaceful life for a long time."
"You make it sound as if you lived a life of war and chaos before."
"Yes, chaos and disorder, very appropriate."
Lin Shuliang laughed, "You sound like we're in a spy movie."
Xu Chen forced a smile and looked at the garbage around him. "I'm going to throw away the garbage. Don't run around here. It's going to be dark soon and I won't be able to see you for a while."
"Um."
Just as Xu Chen left, Lin Shuliang received a call from Shen Xinghe, "If your dumplings don't come, I'll eat them."
"No! Put it in the refrigerator, I'll eat it later." Lin Shuliang couldn't help but stretch out her hand, made a pause gesture, and stood up excitedly.
"Where is it? It's a rare day when you don't have evening self-study and run around."
"In the park, here we are looking at the fountain."
"Oh." Shen Xinghe checked the time. "You haven't come back yet?"
"Xu Chen said there would be a fountain today, I'll go back after seeing it."
"Okay, hanging up." Shen Xinghe hung up the phone and prepared to go out with his coat.
His father saw it and asked, "You going out?"
"Um."
"Don't want to play chess?" He still held the chessboard in his hand.
Shen Xinghe shook his head, "I'll play chess with you when I get home tonight."
After saying that, he closed the door and left. Shen Fangzhong stood there, looking unhappy, "They say that when you have a wife, you forget your father, but you don't even have a wife."
…
Xu Chen ran to the park management office and asked them to open the fountain, but the people at the management office said: "No, we have regulations here, and this is a violation of the regulations. Besides, it is based on the flow of people, and you can't just come and go."
There were two men in the management office. One was sitting by the window and ignored Xu Chen. He was a little older and a little fat. The other was in his thirties. He looked a little more cheerful, but still very shrewd. He looked at Xu Chen with a gleam in his eyes.
"Actually, it is not impossible. There are two ways. The first is to give money, and the second is to have traffic."
The money was several thousand, and Xu Chen couldn't come up with it all at once. He thought for a while, "Then should I just attract people to come here?"
The people in the management office looked at each other in bewilderment. "Well... you can say that. Because our park charges a five-dollar ticket, this will also help increase revenue."
It's a very realistic question. If you don't pay, let others come and pay in a different way. Xu Chen asked, "Is there any sound?"
"Yes. Feel free to use it." They didn't believe Xu Chen could attract people at all, so they said perfunctorily, pointing at the stereo covered in dust.
Xu Chen was very confident. As soon as he walked out, they started discussing. The man sitting by the window finally spoke up, "Did he say what his name was?"
"I heard his name was Xu Chen or something."
"Xu Chen?" The old man smiled obscenely. "I was wondering why they look so similar."
"Like whom?"
"You wouldn't know even if I told you. You're the son of an old...old friend of mine."
The other person also understood immediately, "Oh, I understand."
Xu Chen went to the square to contact the people who were dancing on both sides and asked them if they were interested in holding a PK competition. Both sides were young people in their teens, full of fighting spirit. Street dance itself needs this kind of opportunity.
They all agreed, "It's good, but it's boring if no one watches it."
Xu Chen raised his eyebrows and looked at the pretty girls in the two dance troupes. "Can these beauties come and help me?"
Few people would refuse a handsome guy's request, "Sure, no problem."
"It's not difficult, actually. Just walk beside me. When there are more people, there will be fountains here. You just wait here for today's event. Prepare well and don't embarrass yourself." Xu Chen had the ability to get along with others. He only said a few words, and everyone recognized him and seemed to follow his lead.
Xu Chen took a group of beauties out to crowded places to announce that there would be performances and fountains in the park tonight, and that there would be handsome men and beautiful women to create momentum. Soon, many people flocked in.
Lin Shuliang looked at the crowds of people coming in and felt puzzled. She randomly asked someone, "Why are so many people coming here?"
"They say there will be a performance and fountain tonight."
"Performance? What performance? Who said that?"
"Look, that good-looking guy in the middle. He said he brought a bunch of people to promote it. The girls around him are obviously dancers, so everyone came."
Lin Shuliang followed his gaze and saw Xu Chen talking to someone else. It looked like he was doing a pyramid scheme. It was a pity that he was so eloquent and didn't study liberal arts.
Gradually, more and more people came. Xu Chen organized them to do a warm-up first, but they all said they were not ready. Xu Chen looked at the people who had gathered around and decided not to let them leave.
He thought of Lin Shuliang and ran to find her. "Shuliang, can you dance a little more passionately?"
"Ah?" Lin Shuliang's eyes sparkled in the dark, with a clear distinction between black and white.
“It’s modern dance, not classical dance.”
She nodded. "A little bit, but not very good."
"Any music will do?"
"A faster tempo is fine."
Xu Chen pulled her to the stage in the middle of the crowd and said, "Where are you going? I'll play some music."
"What? Can you give us some preparation?" Lin Shuliang was extremely flustered and everyone was looking at her.
More and more people came, including men, women, young and old. Seeing some people trying to leave, Xu Chen said, "I finally managed to get them here. You can't let them go. Those two groups are afraid to open the show. You go open one."
"What's the benefit?"
"For your fountain."
"You ran around today just for the hot spring?" Lin Shuliang was a little surprised.
"Stop talking nonsense, I'm going to play some music."
Seeing how serious he was, Lin Shuliang couldn't lose! She took off her coat, ripped off her ponytail, and picked up a microphone from the side. "Hello, good evening, everyone! My name is Lin Shuliang. My friend has done everything to see the fountain on such an ordinary day. So I want to do the same. I'll start by throwing out a brick to attract jade and give you an opening dance."
Everyone likes good-looking people, especially those who are so cheerful and whose smile can warm the whole world.
There was a burst of cheers from the audience.
She made an OK gesture, and after Xu Chen saw it, he immediately clicked the play button.
Lin Shuliang has a solid foundation in dancing. She has even practiced some modern dance. Although she is not proficient in it, she can still perform well.
After she took off her coat, she was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, jeans, and loose long hair. With her pretty facial features, she had a different kind of beauty under the light of the mobile phone and the street lights.
Xu Chen was stunned. He didn't expect Lin Shuliang to be so sexy. She was not wearing any heavy makeup, not even lipstick, but she was so attractive.
Every movement and look she made was perfect. The screams from the audience kept coming one after another, and more people came.
Xu Chen saw the right opportunity and went to find the people from the management office. When they saw that there were a lot of people, they agreed.
Unexpectedly, when Xu Chen was about to leave, the old man who was sitting by the window came over and said, "Are you Xiao Chen?"
What's this name?
The fountain was still nowhere to be found, so Xu Chen had no choice but to climb along their poles. "Who are you?"
"You may not know who I am, but your mother should know."
When Xu Chen heard this, his expression changed. "If nothing else, I'll leave."
"How could you be so ignorant? Did your mother know? At that time, she and I..."
Xu Chen stared at him, the coldness in his eyes could freeze a person to death. The more he looked at him, the more uneasy he became. He was so frightened that he dared not continue talking.
The person next to him couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Stop talking, he's just a student, get out of here."
The old man was eager to leave, and went out cursing.
"I'll turn on the fountain now, you go wait outside."
Xu Chen was still cold, "Tell him that if it wasn't for the girl I like seeing the fountain today, I wouldn't let him go. Tell him to avoid walking on the street at night from today onwards."
After saying that, he turned around and slammed the office door loudly and kicked it.
After walking a few steps, his mother called and said, "I have to go on a business trip today and I won't be back."
"You'll be on business trips every day!" After saying that, he almost threw his phone away.
He was so angry that he punched the tree. Maybe it rained last night and all the rain fell on him.
He heard a lot of noise over there. It turned out that the fountain had started. He didn't know who started it. "Lin Shuliang, please dance again. Now that there is a fountain, it will be more appropriate."
Then everyone shouted together: "Again! Again!"
Lin Shuliang was already very tired, and her bra strap seemed to have fallen off, so she didn't dare to move at all.
At this time, a man walked out from the crowd and said, "Her mother asked me to take her home."
It was Shen Xinghe. He had noticed that something was wrong with Lin Shuliang, so he immediately took off his coat and gave it to her, and even considerately zipped it up.
Then he took her along, amid the bustling crowd, under the starlight, and behind the beautiful fountain.
Xu Chen took a few steps, then stopped. He stood in the shadow of the tree, looking at their bright faces.
"Yes, you are in the light, which is more suitable. I can only stay in the darkness forever, looking up."