The school is holding its sports meet next week, and the principal called all the teachers together for a meeting to finalize various details. The meeting ended at 5:30, and Yang Wei, thinking she could finally go home, was then called together by the grade leader for a short meeting.
"I believe everyone heard what the principal said: at the sports meet gala, in addition to the students performing, the teachers of each grade should also put on a show to have fun with the students."
As soon as the grade leader finished speaking, a teacher voiced a dissenting opinion: "The students have already started rehearsing their performances, and now they're telling us they only have a week left to perform?"
The grade leader nodded and said, "So we can't have a group performance. Only individual or duo performances can keep up with the schedule." As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Yang Wei, "I've decided that Ms. Yang will represent our grade in the performance. Everyone, give her a round of applause."
Yang Wei: "..."
Everyone clapped happily.
Yang Wei looked at the grade leader, refusing to give in: "Why me? I don't have any special talents."
The grade leader said, "Ms. Yang, don't be modest. You are an art teacher and an art student. If you don't go, am I supposed to ask Ms. Luo to go up and explain a math problem to everyone?"
Yang Wei: "..."
She thought the suggestion was... pretty good.
“There’s also a music teacher, she can play the piano,” Yang Wei offered another suggestion.
The grade leader's eyes lit up: "Then Teacher Zhou will be in charge of playing the piano, and you can be in charge of drawing. Don't we often see programs like this on TV these days? A painting can be finished just as the piano performance ends."
Yang Wei: "..."
Those are all masters! If she were that good, would she be teaching elementary school here?
"In short, this matter is decided amicably!" the grade leader declared decisively.
Yang Wei stood dejectedly at the bus stop, carrying her bag. The final arrangement she made with her music teacher was that the teacher would play the piano, and she would sing. Yang Wei was quite the karaoke queen at the karaoke bar, but singing in front of the entire school was still a bit embarrassing.
She took out her phone and checked the time; it was already 6:20. She had class at 7:30, so it looked like she'd have to just grab something quick for dinner again. She sighed, held her phone for a moment, and then sent Qi Xiaoyan a text message: "I saw the comments online. Didn't I tell you not to answer the reporters' questions?"
Qi Xiaoyan's reply came quickly: "Although I know they will write nonsense, I feel it is still necessary for me to express my position. I will no longer answer any of their questions."
Yang Wei pursed her lips and put her phone back in her bag.
Two days later, when Song Jin attended a brand endorsement event, she was unsurprisingly asked about the scandal. When asked about it, Song Jin was very generous: "This is purely a misunderstanding. We were alumni, so we had dinner together after we met again at school. It was also a coincidence that we met at the hotel. As for going back to my house together, it was because we had a dinner party with friends from our university club."
This explanation was obviously not convincing to the reporter, so Song Jin dropped another bombshell: "Actually, I already have someone else I like."
After those words were spoken, the reporters all paused for a second, then launched into a barrage of questions—
Are you telling the truth?
"Can you tell me who that person is? Does he know you like him?"
"Where have you progressed in your development?"
Song Jin smiled formally: "I can't reveal his name, but I've worked with him before. I was attracted to him by his serious work ethic. I'm worried he might misunderstand this news."
"So, does that mean you've already confessed your feelings?"
Are you officially in a relationship?
Song Jin said, "I have never explicitly confessed my feelings, but I believe he knows."
The flashbulbs at the scene were as bright as day. The reporters, who had uncovered a major scoop, were extremely excited and kept asking who the person was, but Song Jin was unwilling to reveal any more information.
However, this was no challenge for the all-knowing entertainment reporters. Song Jin hadn't been in the industry long, and the number of male celebrities she'd worked with could be counted on one hand. With enough investigation, they could always uncover something fishy. But then Song Jin added with a smile, "They don't necessarily have to be celebrities."
This broadened the scope considerably, but it couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of reporters and netizens. Shortly after the news aired, someone listed all the male artists who had worked with Song Jin—from leading actors to extras—analyzing them one by one, and stating at the end that the next episode would delve into directors, assistant directors, screenwriters, and producers.
As for Professor Qi, he has long been forgotten by the people.
Yang Wei was browsing through posts on the Haijiao Forum, watching everyone turn into Sherlock Holmes and discuss the matter enthusiastically. She had to admire Song Jin's skill in diverting attention; everyone's focus was now on who the mysterious person was.
She finished her yogurt and then watched a video of Song Jin attending a brand endorsement event.
"...Actually, I already have someone else I like...I haven't confessed explicitly, but I believe he knows..."
Yang Wei stared intently at the screen. "She's such a good actress," she thought, "she's making it sound so real, I'm almost convinced." She thought Song Jin would definitely win Best Actress next time.
Song Jin sat in her agent's office, where the agent was also watching the video. The agent glanced up at Song Jin, her eyes smiling, yet strangely imposing: "Not bad, your acting has improved."
Song Jin seemed oblivious to the sarcasm in her words, and said indifferently, "Anyway, you just wanted to create hype, isn't the effect better now? Besides 'Youthful Days,' the popularity of my other works online is also continuously rising."
The agent remained noncommittal: "You made the right bet this time. Next time, I hope you can discuss it with me before making a decision."
"I understand." Song Jin said, then put on her sunglasses and walked out.
Author's Note: Special thanks to: Xiaoyutang (thrown a landmine, time: 2015-04-18 21:20:08), lestat (thrown a landmine, time: 2015-04-18 23:39:04), Nanhexun (thrown a landmine, time: 2015-04-19 00:32:00), Jingyesisi (thrown a landmine, time: 2015-04-19 07:09:17), and Jingyesisi (thrown a landmine, time: 2015-04-19 07:09:10). Thank you to all the little angels who threw landmines, mwah! (* ￣3)(ε￣ *) Okay, the female supporting character has officially retired from the stage of history _(:з」∠)_
36
After Yang Wei closed the video, she logged into the teaching software and started lecturing. During a break, music teacher Zhou called her to discuss the music for her performance at the sports meet.
"I found a song with simple yet educational lyrics!" Teacher Zhou's voice sounded incredibly excited, as if she had discovered an oasis in the desert. Yang Wei couldn't help but become curious, squeezing the yogurt container on the table and asking, "What song is it?"
Pi!
Yang Wei's eyebrows twitched: "What song is 'Pi'?"
"It's a song whose lyrics are entirely composed of pi, with more than 10,000 decimal places, and it's over an hour long."
Yang Wei: "..."
Are you serious about more than ten thousand people? She's still at the level of Zu Chongzhi's era.
Teacher Zhou added, "However, an hour is too long. I found a simplified version, down to two thousand decimal places, which takes only four minutes."
Yang Wei was silent for a moment, then asked, "Do you know who the person in the world can recite the most digits of pi?"
"I don't know, who is it?"
"I don't know either, but it wasn't me."
Teacher Zhou: "..."
She thought for a moment and suggested, "How about I get you a teleprompter?"
"Is the funding included in your salary?"
Teacher Zhou: "..."
"Let me think about it some more." Teacher Zhou hung up the phone after saying that. Yang Wei put down her phone, raised her eyebrows, and thought, "More than two thousand people? Maybe Qi Xiaoyan can take on the challenge."
After class, Teacher Zhou called again: "I've got an idea, how about we put on a retro performance?"
Yang Wei lay in bed and asked, "How do we recover?"
"It feels like the 1940s or 50s, wearing a cheongsam, with curly hair, like Zhou Xuan!"
Yang Wei frowned and said, "I can't sing in the style of that era."
“I can rearrange the music and accompany it with a piano. You can just sing it in a modern way.” Teacher Zhou paused for a moment and said, “Let’s sing ‘Eternal Smile’. But do you have a cheongsam?”
Yang Wei thought for a moment and said, "My mother has one, so I should be able to wear it."
"Then it's settled. I'll finish arranging the music tomorrow, and we'll start rehearsing on Monday."
"Okay." Yang Wei readily agreed, but she had to go home to see her mother tomorrow... so she had to be quick and get the cheongsam and leave!
Yang Wei deliberately chose to return home during her mother's busiest lunchtime. Like a thief, she furtively took out her keys, and as soon as she opened the door, she smelled the rich aroma of braised beef with bamboo shoots. She glanced towards the kitchen and saw her mother chopping vegetables, then tiptoed through the living room. Her father was reading the newspaper on the balcony. She quickly slipped into the bedroom and began searching through her mother's wardrobe.
She remembered that her mother had a bright red cheongsam embroidered with large peonies, which she heard was a token of love given to her by her father when they were young. However, she had only ever seen her mother wearing a cheongsam in photographs.
The half-open door behind her was quietly pulled open, but Yang Wei, who was rummaging through the closet, didn't notice. Yang's mother took two steps towards the closet and suddenly asked, "Weiwei, when did you get back?"
Yang Wei screamed in fright and jumped up, looking at her: "Mom, how come you walk without making a sound! You scared me to death!"
Mrs. Yang said, "I haven't even asked you what you're looking for yet. When did you get back? Why were you so quiet?"
Yang Wei patted her chest and asked, "Mom, I remember you have a cheongsam, don't you? Can I borrow it for a bit?"
Mrs. Yang's eyes flickered: "What are you going to do? Wear this to a blind date?"
Yang Wei rolled her eyes: "It's for the school sports meet performance."
Yang's mother looked at her with surprise: "Weiwei, you're going to perform a show? Remember to record it for your dad and me, so we can show it to our blind date later."
Yang Wei: "..."
Her mother must have been one of the top students to graduate from the China Media University.
"The cheongsam is in that cabinet." Mrs. Yang walked over, opened another wardrobe door, and quickly took out a red cheongsam. She placed it in front of Yang Wei and compared it to her own. "Hmm, our Weiwei's figure is just as good as mine was back then."
Yang Wei put the cheongsam into a bag, grabbed the bag, and retreated outside, saying, "Then I'll be going now."
"Leaving so soon? Aren't you going to have lunch?"
"I'm not eating. I have a lunch appointment with Sheng Lei."
Yang Wei kept walking out, with her mother following closely behind: "Weiwei, I heard Ming'er say the other day that Qi Xiaoyan had a rumored affair with a female celebrity. What's going on?"
Yang Wei's brow twitched slightly: "Oh, that has already been clarified. You can check the latest reports."
"What about that handsome Maserati who's been pursuing you? How's it going? When are you going to bring him home so Mom can meet him?"
Yang Wei opened the door with a weak hand: "That's a parent of one of our students."
"Parents?" Mrs. Yang frowned. "It's one thing to be married with a child, but the child is your student... No, no, this relationship is a bit awkward."
Yang Wei nodded and said, "That's right, that's what I think too."
Just as she was about to step out the door, Yang's mother grabbed her: "When I went to your aunt's house last time, she said she wanted to introduce you to a boy from her workplace and asked me to pick a time to bring you over so we could all have a meal together."
Yang Wei was almost in tears: "Mom, look, my brother is about to graduate from college, and he hasn't even had a girlfriend. Isn't that a little abnormal?"
"Don't bring up your brother. I'm worried about him." Mrs. Yang was always particularly shrewd at times like this. "Don't think you're not in a hurry just because you're still young. Time flies. You'll be thirty in a couple of years."
Yang Wei: "..."
Professor Qi will definitely torture this person to death with their computing power.
"And your cousin also said she wants to introduce you to someone. The young man is a welder. Oh, don't look down on him, he's a senior technician. He earns a high income and is handsome, but he also has high standards and hasn't found a girlfriend yet. People in their line of work have to get married early, so they're probably in a hurry now."
Yang Wei was a little curious: "Why do people in this industry have to get married so early?"
Mrs. Yang gave her a look that said, "You don't understand," and lowered her voice to say, "Welding is harmful to the body. I heard that doing this job for a long time can affect sperm quality."
Yang Wei: "..."
"Speaking of which, I think Qi Xiaoyan's quality must be very good."