Chapter 7: Rehearsal
If there was one person in Class 1 of the second-year liberal arts program whose words were law, it was Chu Jingyi. If the little girl said to go east, none of the young masters and misses below would dare to go west. But Silly Goose herself wasn’t aware of this power she held. She still thought everyone was a well-behaved and obedient student. If she said Lu Li should play the prince, who would dare to object?
Looking at Chu Jingyi’s hopeful eyes, Lu Li couldn’t bring himself to refuse. What girl in love didn’t want her crush to be a prince charming? A hero? She simply thought Lu Li was that prince, so she made it happen. Only one type of person would back down at a time like this: a coward.
“Okay, leave it to me.” Even though Lu Li had never acted before, he patted his chest confidently. As long as Silly Goose was happy, anything was fine. He had originally planned to watch fireworks with An Baili on New Year’s Eve.
Chu Jingyi giggled shyly and let go of Lu Li’s hand. “Then I’ll make copies of the script for you later. Rehearsals start tomorrow. Good luck, good luck!”
After Chu Jingyi left, Lu Li and Wen Hupo exchanged glances, both seeing the same helplessness in each other’s eyes. Lu Li forced a smile. “Can you act?” He thought Wen Hupo would be perfect for playing a tree, the kind of prop that stood stiffly in the background, motionless, a perfect fit.
“Can you?” Wen Hupo retorted. “Lu Li, I don’t think you’re suited to play the prince. You’re more suited to play a rock, the kind of prop that lies motionless in the background.”
They were on the same page. Lu Li thought: Tomorrow’s rehearsal is going to be a disaster. An expressionless princess and an awkward prince, what was Yi Bao thinking?
Just then, Chen Jianing sent him a picture of her snacks, saying they were delicious. Lu Li scratched his head, wondering why this little tiger always sent him messages for no reason. Did she have that much free time? He simply replied, “Busy.” After a long while, Chen Jianing replied fiercely, “Drop dead busy!”
After school, Lu Li and An Baili were walking back to the low-rent district. An Baili talked about her plans for New Year’s Eve. She walked half a step ahead of Lu Li, excitedly gesturing the trajectory of fireworks. “Li, I want to set off fireworks at Ping’an Square on New Year’s Eve! Should we ask Jingyi to join us… Oh, never mind, she’s busy with the New Year’s Eve party.”
Lu Li said listlessly, “I can’t go, I was assigned a role in the play. Didn’t you hear in class today?”
An Baili licked her lips sheepishly. “I was sleeping~”
“What was your score on the mid-term exam?”
“Oh, don’t ask me that. Look, is the color of my socks nice today?”
Lu Li couldn’t help but flick her forehead. “You only have a year and a half left of high school, and you’re still sleeping all day. Do you still want to go to university with me?”
An Baili covered her forehead with a pitiful expression. “Why did you flick me so hard? As long as I cram next year, I can still get in…”
Right, Lu Li almost forgot. This girl had an amazingly good memory. Written exams were always her strength, while interviews were her weakness.
As Lu Li was thinking, An Baili suddenly laughed again. “Honey, you can act? What role did Jingyi give you? I bet it’s pulling the curtains backstage… Hehehe…”
“I’d rather be pulling curtains. She made me play the prince. I took a look at the script, and the lines are so cheesy that I got goosebumps.” Lu Li frowned. Hearing this, An Baili became excited. “What? Then I have to see your performance, haha…” She couldn’t hold back her laughter. When they were in college in his past life, Lu Li participated in a class performance, performing a card trick. Let’s just say it had a comedic effect. She didn’t take this play too seriously either. After all, it was just a high school party performance. After chatting with Lu Li for a few sentences, the topic shifted to their plans for the winter break.
Lu Li had actually received a text message from Silly Goose’s mother. His future mother-in-law mentioned that he was all alone and invited him to spend the New Year with the Chu family. Lu Li didn’t want to leave Sister Yameng alone, so he hadn’t replied yet. In March next year, Sister Yameng would be leaving for the capital, and they would have fewer chances to see each other…
Lu Li returned home, his mind preoccupied with thoughts about his sister. He was startled when the door suddenly opened. Zou Yameng was standing there, holding two boxes in her hand. The moment he saw her, a wave of heat surged through him, and he couldn’t help but recall some inappropriate memories. “Sis, you’re back? Let me cook tonight, you should rest…”
Zou Yameng didn’t say anything, but Lu Li noticed a blush on her cheeks. He assumed it was from the cold wind.
“Zhou Wen gave me two DVDs.” Zou Yameng tried her best to maintain her composure as an older sister. “Want to watch a movie together tonight?”
Watch a movie?
Lu Li’s throat felt dry. His gaze couldn’t help but shift to Sister Yameng’s face and then to the two DVD cases in her hand, their covers ripped off.
She wanted to watch a movie again? Was she really just watching a movie? Or… He didn’t dare to think further. Lu Li stammered, “Um, I, my computer is at the school’s activity classroom. I’ll get it tomorrow and we can watch then.”
Zou Yameng hummed in agreement. “Okay, let’s watch tomorrow then.” She walked into Lu Li’s room with her long strides. Lu Li wanted to take a look at the DVDs and see what movies they were. However, his sister’s reaction was unexpectedly strong – she quickly pulled her hand back. “Little Li, wh-what are you doing?”
“I just wanted to see what movies they are.”
“Just ordinary movies… What’s for dinner tonight?”
“…”
Why was she so nervous if it was just an ordinary movie? And didn’t he know what kind of person Zhou Wen was? Would she really give his sister normal DVDs? Although he had his suspicions, Lu Li kept his mouth shut. He actually had a strange sense of anticipation…
To give the students time to rehearse, the homeroom teacher specifically freed up the morning reading session and the last class in the afternoon. As soon as Lu Li put down his backpack, he heard Silly Goose calling for the actors to line up and head to the gymnasium. An Baili was lazy. She nudged Lu Li with her elbow and then went back to sleep on her desk.
Baili, you’re hopeless. Lu Li sighed. An Baili seemed to be getting lazier and lazier. She slept through four out of seven classes a day? Was she this sleepy in his past life?
When they arrived at the gymnasium, the group was still noisy, everyone chattering and discussing the script. Some complained about having too few lines, others about having too many. Everyone had their own issues. Silly Goose ignored them and went straight to Lu Li, lowering her head apologetically. “Lu Li, I’m sorry, but I discussed it with Hupo, and we added more scenes for the prince and the princess…”
There were already enough lines, and now they were adding more? Lu Li rubbed his temples, but he still replied in a gentle tone, “It’s okay, it’s okay, what scenes did you add?”
“We added a scene where the prince and princess knew each other from before.”
Hearing this, Lu Li knew it was definitely Hupo’s idea. She never liked the classic trope of a princess falling in love with a prince at first sight – Wen Hupo was a girl who believed in enduring love. She scoffed at passionate love at first sight, believing that true love was like a gentle stream, calm and steady.
Chu Jingyi suddenly looked guilty. “Lu Li, if you think it’s too much trouble, you, you don’t have to act in this scene.” In the little girl’s heart, there was a scale. One side was her new friend, Wen Hupo, and the other side was the “person she liked,” Lu Li. If she had to choose, she would rather side with Lu Li.
Seeing Silly Goose’s expression, Lu Li’s heart melted. He cupped her small face in his hands. “It’s just one scene, it’s no trouble at all.”
“Don’t, don’t pinch my face… Everyone, everyone is watching…” Silly Goose’s face flushed red, and she buried her head lower and lower.
Who was watching? They were all too busy arguing over their lines! Just then, the noise in the gymnasium suddenly died down. Silly Goose thought everyone was looking at her and Lu Li, and she whimpered in embarrassment. But Lu Li knew that everyone’s eyes were on the entrance of the gymnasium.
An angel with golden hair, holding a script, gracefully entered the gymnasium. She was walking against the light, the golden rays of dawn streaming in from behind her, like the radiant wings of an angel. Her expression was holy and serene, like a saint looking down upon the mortal world. Her features were flawless, like a goddess residing in the clouds.
“My goddess…” someone muttered in awe.
Wen Hupo was indeed worthy of this title. She was used to everyone holding their breath in anticipation of her arrival. She walked gracefully to Lu Li and An Baili and asked, “Have the rehearsals started?”
You sure have a grand entrance. Lu Li thought to himself. The moment Wen Hupo appeared, the gymnasium, which was as noisy as a market just a moment ago, became as quiet as the Busan library. The boys straightened their postures and adjusted their appearances, while the girls secretly took out their mirrors to compare themselves to Wen Hupo. It had to be said that temperament was a huge bonus. An Baili was actually prettier than Wen Hupo, but she was only referred to as a “little village girl” by a certain little tiger. And when Chen Jianing first saw Wen Hupo, she was stunned and stammered, “Is she a princess from another country?”
She wasn’t a princess cursed by a witch, nor a lofty goddess. She was just Wen Hupo.
No one dared to answer Wen Hupo’s question, seemingly afraid of offending the beauty. Only Lu Li replied, “We’ve been waiting for you.”
Wen Hupo smiled faintly. “Good morning, outstanding representative.”
The moment she spoke and smiled, Lu Li felt like he could hear countless hearts breaking.
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