CY – Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Zhang Xiaotian felt that Lu Bai was sulking with him again for some reason, but no matter how he asked, Lu Bai wouldn’t admit it. Zhang Xiaotian didn’t press further, only asking if he was still going to watch his competition.

“I’ll go,” Lu Bai replied quickly, though he was still displeased. “I’ll go to the competition, and I’ll go to your rehearsal too.”

“You can’t come to the rehearsal. For the competition, you can tell the Class Monitor, and the Class Monitor can save a seat for you in the audience,” Zhang Xiaotian told him.

Lu Bai’s mood immediately cleared up upon hearing this. “Did you ask the Class Monitor to save a seat for me?”

“No,” Zhang Xiaotian said, turning his head away. “I don’t have the time for that.”

“Hehe, deskmate, I knew you were good to me.” Lu Bai’s mood improved, and he quickly messaged the Class Monitor.

A moment later, Lu Bai leaned over and whispered to Zhang Xiaotian, “The Class Monitor said I should go to the study room first that day. After the student union checks attendance, I’ll sneak over to find you.”

Seeing Zhang Xiaotian nod, Lu Bai happily opened his book to read. After reading a few words, his phone on the desk vibrated. It was a message from the Class Monitor:

Tell Zhang Xiaotian to look at his phone!

Lu Bai was about to call Zhang Xiaotian, but his outstretched hand stopped before touching him. Instead, he picked up Zhang Xiaotian’s phone from the corner of the desk.

“What are you doing?” Zhang Xiaotian asked.

“You’re muted again.” Lu Bai looked at the password entry screen, typed in a sequence of numbers, but it didn’t work. He tried with his fingerprint, and it unlocked. Before he could look closely, the phone was taken back. He didn’t try to snatch it again, but leaned over to look at it with Zhang Xiaotian.

There were a few unread messages in the skit group chat. The Class Monitor was notifying them of a change in the rehearsal location for tomorrow. Below, a string of “received” messages appeared. Zhang Xiaotian also replied with one. Just as he was about to put his phone down, a friend request popped up on the screen with the note “Zhang Ting.” Zhang Xiaotian clicked to accept, and the other party quickly sent a message:

I’m Zhang Ting. I saw that we were the only ones in the group who weren’t friends, so I sent you a friend request.

A moment later, she added: It’s more convenient to be friends, right?

Zhang Xiaotian replied: Okay.

The reply was quick: Okay, then you study, I won’t bother you. She sent a cheering emoji. Zhang Xiaotian replied “Okay” again. After thinking, he felt it was a bit impolite, so he was about to send an emoji too, but a hand blocked his view.

“Stop chatting, just reply ‘okay’,” Lu Bai said softly, looking at the phone screen. “Zhang Ting, why is she looking for you?”

“Just to add me as a friend,” Zhang Xiaotian said, pushing his hand away. “Stop messing around, Lu Bai.”

Lu Bai watched Zhang Xiaotian reply to messages, then suddenly said, “I’m going tomorrow too.”

Zhang Xiaotian looked down, not at him. “What are you going for?”

“To visit the ‘movie star’ Zhang,” Lu Bai said, propping himself on the desk and only showing his eyes. “And to bring some benefits to the crew members, is that not allowed, ‘movie star’ Zhang?”

Bring what benefits. Zhang Xiaotian put his phone back and picked up his pen. But Lu Bai’s intense gaze made him unable to write a single word, and he was so angry he wanted to throw his pen.

“Go, go, do as you please,” Zhang Xiaotian sighed, bending his arm to cover his face. “Don’t bring anything, and don’t talk to me anymore.”

“Got it!” Lu Bai agreed immediately and then honestly opened his book to read.

When the noise beside him stopped, Zhang Xiaotian quietly moved his arm and looked towards Lu Bai. He felt that Lu Bai was sometimes overly intimate with him, and at other times unreasonably angry. He couldn’t understand the reason.

Could it really be that he had done something to upset him? Zhang Xiaotian carefully recalled what he had done just now, but couldn’t find anything wrong.

He hadn’t had so many strange quirks before, had he?

Lu Bai read for a while, then picked up his phone and typed a few words. Without looking directly at Zhang Xiaotian, he pointed to the phone with his chin. Zhang Xiaotian, not understanding, picked up his phone again. On the lock screen was the message Lu Bai had just sent him:

Read your book, don’t talk to me.

I haven’t said anything yet! Zhang Xiaotian thought it was speechless and wanted to laugh, but he didn’t reply.

The school team had training, so Lu Bai didn’t go with Zhang Xiaotian. He only said he would find him after training. Although he promised not to bring anything, Lu Bai still ordered takeout for everyone. During rehearsal, Zhang Xiaotian almost didn’t react when he received a call. Fortunately, they had already practiced for a long time. Zhou Bin, shouting “Long live Brother Bai,” went to get the food for everyone. The rest of the people drank water or chatted, only the Class Monitor was still looking at the script.

“Class Monitor,” Zhang Ting said, fanning herself with the script and fanning the Class Monitor a few times. “Take a break, you can look at it later.”

“Just a moment,” the Class Monitor said, rustling through the script pages. “Look here…”

“Milk tea is here!” Zhou Bin came back with a takeout bag and took out the milk teas one by one. The other cups were all the same, only one was hot pure tea.

“There’s one different cup,” Zhou Bin said, holding it up. “Xiaotian, could it be that Brother Bai ordered it for you? You’re quite health-conscious.”

Zhang Xiaotian naturally knew it was ordered specifically for him. He had intended to take it quietly, but being pointed out by Zhou Bin made him a bit embarrassed. He reached out and took it. The label on the cup indicated three parts sugar. His fingers couldn’t help but trace the words, and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curve upwards, yet there was still a bittersweet feeling in his heart. Zhang Xiaotian held the cup of tea, reluctant to drink it for a while. Then he remembered he had brought water, so he put it aside for now.

“Now that everyone is here, let’s discuss it together,” the Class Monitor said, taking a sip of milk tea and then picking up the script again. “I timed the rehearsal just now, and we exceeded the allotted time by almost ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes?” Zhou Bin said. “It didn’t feel like we were that long when we were performing.”

“It’s a bit too long. If we go on like this, we’ll probably lose a lot of points.”

“What should we do then?” Zhang Xiaotian flipped through his lines. “Will it be better if we practice more and speed up the pace?”

“But too fast isn’t good either. I think the current pace is quite good.” Hearing someone say this, everyone fell silent and looked down at the script in their hands.

“Um, I have an idea,” Zhang Ting said, flipping to a page in her script. “I think the plot in this section is a bit redundant. Class Monitor, why don’t we delete this small part?”

“Which part?”

Zhang Ting showed everyone the section she had circled. Zhou Bin quickly said, “I think it’s fine. We can memorize fewer lines. Sister Ting’s idea is great!”

“What about the others? Do you have any different opinions?” the Class Monitor asked again. Seeing everyone else nod, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Then it’s settled. Everyone remember to mark it in your scripts,” the Class Monitor said decisively. “Let’s rest for a few more minutes and then practice a few more times at the hour.”

The people sitting together scattered with their things. Zhang Xiaotian also got up to leave with his tea. He looked back and saw that Zhang Ting’s milk tea hadn’t been opened yet. The cold cup was covered in frost, and a few drops of water were trembling down.

“Zhang Ting,” Zhang Xiaotian hesitated and called out to Zhang Ting, who was still standing there. He then looked at the milk tea placed next to her.

“Hm?” Zhang Ting looked up at him, then followed his gaze down and understood.

“Do you… not like it?”

“Oh, no, it’s not that,” Zhang Ting said a little embarrassed. “I just can’t drink it right now, it’s too cold.”

Zhang Ting pointed to herself. “It’s my period, and I’m afraid it will hurt if I drink something cold.”

Zhang Xiaotian suddenly understood and felt he might have been intrusive, feeling a bit awkward. He looked down at the hot tea in his hand, thought for a moment, and then handed it over.

“You don’t need to, Zhang Xiaotian, I don’t need it,” Zhang Ting said, surprised, and tried to refuse.

“It’s okay, I wanted something cold anyway,” Zhang Xiaotian said, then took her cup in his hand. Zhang Ting finally accepted.

When Lu Bai arrived, Zhang Xiaotian and the others were almost done practicing, only needing to run through it one last time with background music to see the effect. Zhang Xiaotian was waiting to deliver his lines when he caught sight of Lu Bai lurking suspiciously at the back door of the classroom out of the corner of his eye. Half of his mind was no longer on the rehearsal. Seeing that Zhang Xiaotian had noticed him, Lu Bai smiled and winked at him, then walked towards the seat where the hot tea was placed. Halfway there, he realized the things on the table were not Zhang Xiaotian’s. He looked up at Zhang Xiaotian again, but it happened to be Zhang Xiaotian’s scene.

“Brother Bai!” Lu Bai looked in the direction of the voice. It was Zhou Bin, who had just finished his lines and was temporarily backstage.

“Xiaotian’s spot is over there,” he said, lowering his voice and pointing to a corner with his finger. Lu Bai walked to the table and sat down, no longer looking at Zhang Xiaotian, but looking down at the things on the table. At the corner of the table were iced milk teas, the same as everyone else’s, unopened. The paper cups felt soft from the condensation.

Zhang Xiaotian tried hard to resist looking at Lu Bai. Several times during his scenes with others, he almost called out Lu Bai’s name. He glanced at Lu Bai several times during the breaks in his performance, but Lu Bai kept his head down, seemingly looking at something. After several attempts to make eye contact, Zhang Xiaotian started to feel like he was being overly sensitive.

“You agree, right, Xiaotian?” Zhang Ting said after her line, waiting for Zhang Xiaotian to respond. Zhang Xiaotian was a little distracted, so she reached out and gently touched his arm.

“Hm? Yes! Yes,” Zhang Xiaotian snapped back to attention and quickly responded, and the scene was completed. After the run-through, everyone walked over and gathered around the Class Monitor. Zhang Xiaotian also went over and apologized before the Class Monitor could speak.

“It’s okay,” Zhou Bin said. “Actually, it wasn’t very noticeable. If you hadn’t said anything, we wouldn’t have known you were distracted.”

“Your distracted state is very fitting for the role you’re playing,” the Class Monitor also said. “A con artist who tricks young students into taking campus loans. Once he’s got the person, it’s logical that he’s no longer focused on them.”

“The Class Monitor comforts people so seriously,” Zhang Ting said with a smile.

“Exactly. The Class Monitor does everything seriously. Last time, my boyfriend and I argued…” Zhou Bin quickly interjected, but before he could continue, the Class Monitor interrupted him.

“Alright, alright, everyone did well this time. Go back and memorize your lines more. For the competition in a couple of days, try not to make any mistakes!” The Class Monitor said, seeing that Zhou Bin was about to continue his story, and quickly ushered everyone out.

“Quickly, quickly, go eat. No one can be late for evening study. The student union is checking attendance today!”

“Class Monitor, you’re in trouble!” Zhou Bin said, carrying his things out. “Sister Ting, I’ll continue telling you later, last time…”

“Zhou Bin, you’ll be waiting for evening study!” The Class Monitor chased after him with his things. In the room, Zhang Xiaotian and Lu Bai were suddenly alone. Zhang Xiaotian walked over with his script, packed his things, and slung his bag over his shoulder, but saw that Lu Bai had no intention of leaving.

“Let’s go, to the cafeteria,” Zhang Xiaotian nudged Lu Bai’s shoulder, but Lu Bai grabbed him and pulled him to sit right next to him.

“Hey!” Zhang Xiaotian was startled. “What are you doing?”

“What’s the rush? If we go to the cafeteria now, it’ll be crowded,” Lu Bai said, holding Zhang Xiaotian’s arm and leaning his head on Zhang Xiaotian’s shoulder. “Stay with me for a bit.”

The two were so close that Zhang Xiaotian didn’t dare to move, so he let Lu Bai lean on him. After a while, Lu Bai seemed to feel uncomfortable. He moved his head, then stopped. Perhaps feeling self-conscious, he endured it, but the hand holding Zhang Xiaotian loosened. Zhang Xiaotian sighed, relaxed his body, and thought about letting him lean more comfortably.

“Drink that milk tea,” Zhang Xiaotian said. “It’s too sweet, I can’t get used to it.”

“If you can’t get used to it, why did you take this cup? Didn’t they get you hot tea?”

“Zhang Ting is on her period, so I gave it to her.”

“Zhang Ting?” Lu Bai seemed to remember, and deliberately drew out his words. “Oh, your girlfriend.”

“Lu Bai,” Zhang Xiaotian shrugged and flicked his head. “Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Tch.” Lu Bai pouted. After a while, he asked again, “Did you practice the whole class just now?”

“Mhm,” Zhang Xiaotian moved, pretending to take something out of his bag. Lu Bai naturally sat up. “There aren’t many days left until the competition.”

“They didn’t act as well as you,” Lu Bai said seriously.

Nonsense, you didn’t even watch me. Zhang Xiaotian thought to himself, but couldn’t help but be happy. “What do you mean?”

“Didn’t Zhou Bin say you could win a golden statue?”

“Anything else?”

“Anything else?” Lu Bai leaned back, his arm reaching over Zhang Xiaotian’s head to rest on the back of the chair. “Also… the Class Monitor, didn’t the Class Monitor praise you just now? Right!”

“Hahahaha!”

“What are you laughing at? He said it to your face, you heard him, right?” Lu Bai was inexplicably confused by Zhang Xiaotian’s laughter. Seeing Zhang Xiaotian laughing heartily, he couldn’t help but want to tickle him. Zhang Xiaotian was trying hard to calm himself down, when suddenly he felt two warm hands on his waist. Startled, he jumped up and looked back to see Lu Bai’s hands still there. His face immediately flushed.

“What are you looking at me for?” Lu Bai retracted his hands. “Look at you, your face is red from laughing.”

“You… you startled me!” Zhang Xiaotian gasped for breath, not daring to look at Lu Bai’s face. He picked up his things and stood up.

“Let’s go, I’m hungry,” he said, walking out the door without looking back, only paying attention to whether Lu Bai was following.

Soon, it was the day of the competition. Lu Bai knew it was just an activity for academic credits, but he had been thinking about it all along. The team captain saw that he was distracted during training and was an eyesore, so he sent him off early to attend to his own business. Lu Bai followed the pre-arranged plan and went to the study room first to wait for attendance to be checked. He sat on the stool, fidgeting, repeatedly scrolling through his recent chat history with Zhang Xiaotian.

Lu Bai: Have you arrived at the venue?

Zhang Xiaotian: I have.

Lu Bai: How is it? Nervous? Confident?

Zhang Xiaotian: It’s okay.

Lu Bai: Are there many people?

Zhang Xiaotian didn’t reply for a long time, probably because he was looking at the script again and didn’t have time to look at his phone.

Lu Bai knew that Zhang Xiaotian’s seriousness wasn’t for the sake of competing for rankings, but he couldn’t help but feel nervous for him. After finally getting through the student union’s roll call, he took advantage of the student union members moving to the next room and quickly ran out of the study room and took the elevator out of the teaching building.

By the time he reached the venue, one class was just finishing their performance. Lu Bai quickly sat in the seat next to the Class Monitor and quietly asked, “Is it our department’s turn yet?”

“You came at the right time. It’s after this one finishes,” the Class Monitor said. “This class that just finished is quite strong. The judges should give them a high score. I wonder if our class can get a high score.”

Lu Bai’s heart sank again. He nudged the Class Monitor with his elbow. “Don’t be too demanding. I’m telling you, no matter how they perform later, you can’t criticize them!”

The Class Monitor glanced at him. “Why would I criticize them? It’s already difficult enough to cooperate with everyone until today. I’d be willing to go on stage and kiss them one by one now.”

“Then no,” Lu Bai imagined it and shivered. “Calm down, Class Monitor. Impulsiveness is the devil.”

“Get lost!” the Class Monitor laughed, then said with a solemn expression. “I’m not worried about their scores right now. I’m only afraid they’ll be nervous. Today’s opponents are all really strong. My palms are sweating just watching from the audience, so how can they not feel pressure?”

Hearing this, Lu Bai couldn’t help but look towards the backstage, his heart filled with unease.

At this moment, the team on stage was still waiting for the judges’ scores. It was so quiet in the audience that you could hear people breathing. Just as Lu Bai was about to send Zhang Xiaotian a comforting message, he heard a commotion beside him.

“100 points! Lu Bai, out of 105, they got 100!” The Class Monitor frowned.

This score was quite high. “Let’s take a short break, and we’ll continue in ten minutes,” the host on stage announced. Lu Bai “whooshed” and stood up, heading directly backstage.

The few people waiting backstage were all nervous to varying degrees. Zhang Xiaotian had no intention of paying attention to what others were doing anymore. He repeatedly recited his lines, not even bothering to drink water.

“Xiaotian, I’m so nervous,” Zhou Bin also lost his playful mood. He lifted the curtain a little and peeked out. “Why are there more and more people in the audience? What if I forget my lines later?”

Zhang Ting comforted him. “It’s okay. If you forget your lines, just try to keep going. We’re all here.”

“I originally just wanted to get some academic credits, I didn’t expect to get this far,” Zhou Bin said, letting go of the curtain and looking back at Zhang Xiaotian who was still reciting. “Fortunately, you guys are here. If it were just me, I wouldn’t even dare to go on stage.”

Zhang Xiaotian nodded, his hands still busy, and flipped through the script again. Seeing him about to flip again, Zhang Ting stopped him. “Zhang Xiaotian, why don’t we run through the lines together? It’ll be more efficient, and everyone will feel more confident.”

Lu Bai followed a group of people and quietly entered the backstage. From afar, he saw Zhang Xiaotian, Zhou Bin, and Zhang Ting standing very close together, holding scripts and seemingly running through their lines. Lu Bai quickened his pace towards them, faintly hearing them talking.

“Ah, it’s just this line for me. I get stuck here every time.”

As he got closer, he could hear Zhou Bin’s voice.

“Just think about it, the previous line already mentioned the prohibited electrical appliances, so the next part is to solve the problem. This will remind you.”

Zhang Ting’s idea is good. Zhou Bin better not mess up.

“It has to be you, Sister Ting. It’s almost our turn, is there time for another run-through?”

“If no one disturbs us, there’s still time.”

Hearing Zhang Xiaotian’s words, Lu Bai’s feet felt rooted to the ground, unable to move. The voices of the people he had just heard were now drowned out by the clamor of the crowd. Lu Bai looked at the back of Zhang Xiaotian’s head through the gaps in the passing crowd and suddenly felt that his arrival was superfluous. A staff member appeared from somewhere and said a few words to them, seemingly indicating it was their turn. Seeing everyone stand up to tidy their things, Lu Bai decided to return to the audience. Before he had taken a few steps, he couldn’t help but look back, and happened to meet Zhang Ting’s gaze as she turned to get something. He saw Zhang Ting look surprised to see him, and she even patted Zhang Xiaotian to get him to look his way. Lu Bai maintained his backward-turned posture, watching Zhang Xiaotian slowly turn his head, unconsciously holding his breath, waiting for him to meet his gaze, feeling like he had waited an eternity.

Zhang Xiaotian was taken aback when he turned around and saw Lu Bai. He quickly smiled and waved at him. Lu Bai’s smile was faint, and he stumbled slightly as he turned, startling Zhang Xiaotian. Zhang Xiaotian wanted to go over and say something to him, but before he could call out to him, the staff hurried them onto the stage. Zhang Xiaotian had no choice but to look at Lu Bai again. Lu Bai waved at him and mouthed something to him.

“Good luck, I’m leaving.” Lu Bai said, then waved forcefully and turned, disappearing into the crowd.

The Medical School ultimately won fourth place. After a simple award ceremony, only the contestants from a few classes and the person in charge remained at the venue. The department head was clearly excited. “This skit competition, our Medical School has never even reached the university level. Class Monitor, bring the certificate over to my office later and put it in the most conspicuous place! All participating students, come over for a group photo. I have to post it on my Moments!”

“Thank you, Sister Ting, for saving my life!” Zhou Bin’s voice was so loud it was as if he was speaking through a megaphone. “If you hadn’t winked at me just now to remind me to take the line, we would have had a stage accident!” He then solemnly bowed to Zhang Ting.

Zhang Ting playfully hit him.

Zhang Xiaotian was still immersed in the excitement of the scoring. He looked at his classmates who were talking animatedly beside him and was about to say something when his wrist was grabbed from behind.

“Tired?” Lu Bai asked him.

“Hm? What did you say?” It was a bit noisy around Zhang Xiaotian, and he didn’t hear him clearly.

“Come here.” Lu Bai applied a little more force, and Zhang Xiaotian was pulled a couple of steps towards him.

“I asked if you’re tired?” Lu Bai asked him. “I’ll take you for a late-night snack later.”

“I…” Zhang Xiaotian had only said one word when he was interrupted by the Class Monitor. “Zhang Xiaotian, come over for a photo first!”

“Then I’ll go over first,” Zhang Xiaotian said to him, signaling him to let go of his wrist.

“Class Monitor,” Lu Bai didn’t let go, but instead moved closer to him. “I’ll take a photo too, just to join in the fun, okay?”

“You weren’t competing, why are you butting in?” The Class Monitor walked towards them.

“Lu Bai, wait for me here for a moment,” Zhang Xiaotian patted his hand.

Lu Bai had no choice but to let go.

Zhang Xiaotian followed the Class Monitor towards the department head, and then looked back at Lu Bai. Lu Bai stood still, holding his own things. He waved at him.

“We’re going out for a meal later, just me and the contestants,” the Class Monitor said as they walked. “If Lu Bai wants to accompany you, let him come too.”

“Okay,” Zhang Xiaotian took out his phone, wanting to message Lu Bai, but the Class Monitor called him again. “Stop looking at your phone, Xiaotian, take the photo first!”

He had no choice but to put his phone back.

Fortunately, everyone was eager to eat, so after a few simple photos, they stopped and gathered together to discuss what to eat. Zhang Xiaotian didn’t care about these things and ran back to find Lu Bai.

“We’re having a gathering later, you should come too.”

“I should come too?” Lu Bai asked. “Isn’t that inappropriate? The Class Monitor already said, I didn’t compete.”

“The Class Monitor said for you to come too.”

“Then okay,” Lu Bai raised his hand, paused in mid-air, but only took Zhang Xiaotian’s bag off his shoulder.

“No need, it’s not heavy,” Zhang Xiaotian said, trying to take it back, but Lu Bai didn’t give it to him.

“I’ll carry it,” Lu Bai slung the bag over his shoulder and walked towards the others. “You guys have done a great service for our class, you can’t let the heroes get tired.”