Chapter 44

On Friday, the day of the Guanglin Middle School Cultural Festival evening performance, the performers were taken by school bus to the district cultural center at noon. Under the guidance of the emcee, they went through a brief rehearsal.

During the rehearsal, Wang Bai and his group learned that their act was scheduled to be the second-to-last, essentially the penultimate performance. The last act was a chorus by the school choir.

The dance club's group dance was scheduled to be the first act, the opening performance. After the rehearsal, Qi Juying came to find Wang Bai, "Senior, have you picked up the flyers for Sunday?"

"Huh? Where do I get those?" Wang Bai naively thought that filling out the registration form was all he needed to do, as if the flyers for Sunday's public welfare event would just fall from the sky.

"Our activity is on the streets of Guanglin, right? Then you should go to the town's Civil Affairs Office. They won't be working on Sunday, so you need to find time to pick them up today," Qi Juying said lightly, "Senior, did I help you again?"

"Yes, yes, thank you for reminding me," Wang Bai said gratefully, pondering the task of picking up the flyers.

Qi Juying smiled and blinked, "Then you should practice the dance seriously to repay me."

"I know, I know, I've already practiced," he waved his hand casually.

She asked in surprise, "How did you practice? Do you remember the moves?"

"More or less," he said vaguely, "The moves aren't complicated, and some are repetitive."

"I only demonstrated them once, too."

Liu Yan and Jin Xiaoli, who were listening in, asked confusedly, "What are you two talking about? What dance?"

Qi Juying said, "Hello, seniors. It's like this, Senior agreed to participate in the district summer evening performance selection with me, and we need to rehearse a duet."

"What?!" The two girls exclaimed, "We didn't hear about this? Wang Bai, why didn't you tell us about this?"

"Um..." Wang Bai was puzzled, "This doesn't conflict with anything you're doing, right? I only agreed to it the day before yesterday because she agreed to help me organize the volunteer activity first."

"That's different," Liu Yan called out, "If you're selected for the summer evening performance, you'll have to participate in the tour, which will take up almost the entire summer. How much time will that take? You, you... you could have asked us to join you in the selection..." She sounded a bit shy and her voice trailed off at the end.

"Right!" Jin Xiaoli, rarely so proactive, supported her friend, "Wang Bai, you've really disappointed us. You're so shallow, you don't treat us as friends!"

Seeing the two seniors getting emotional, Qi Juying forced a smile, "Senior, I've reminded you about the flyers. I'll go now, you can chat with them. See you later." She then ran back to the group of dancers.

"Wait, wait, don't hit me," seeing Jin Xiaoli's fists about to land on his arm, Wang Bai immediately begged for mercy, "I really don't have any intention of valuing her over you. I genuinely consider you as friends. My relationship with her is purely work-related; we're not even close. Compared to you two, she's just a nobody. If the three of you fall into the river at the same time, I'll definitely save you two first. As for her, I'll see if I have time."

Hearing this, the two girls calmed down a bit, but Jin Xiaoli asked, "Then which one of us will you save first?"

Liu Yan, ears perked up, seemed very interested. Wang Bai looked left and right, regretting his words, and finally said, "I'm strong, I'll grab one with my left hand and one with my right, and save both of you at the same time."

Jin Xiaoli looked at her left hand and then her right, frowning, "How will you swim then?"

"Dog paddle..." he said stiffly, "Anyway, rest assured, I'll hold onto both of you tightly and won't let go of either."

When he said this, he didn't think much of it, but the two girls heard a lot of ambiguity. They looked at each other and smiled awkwardly, both thinking: Is he hinting at something?

Regardless, Wang Bai managed to get through this ordeal without making the two female classmates angry. After returning to school with the school bus, he went to the classroom to pick up a copy of the volunteer activity registration form and headed straight to the Guanglin town government. He then found the Civil Affairs Office and picked up a large bag of public welfare flyers.

Normally, the flyers should be distributed first, and then the stamp of confirmation should be obtained from the Civil Affairs Office. However, the staff there said to save him a trip and stamped it in advance. Unfortunately, the system didn't recognize this, and Wang Bai didn't receive a task completion notification. It seemed he would still have to personally complete the activity on Sunday.

In the afternoon, everyone was excited, looking forward to the evening performance of the Cultural Festival. The performance was held at the district cultural center because not only students but also parents could attend with their children. Only there was enough space for such a traditional grand event at Guanglin Middle School.

During the break, Jin Xiaoli asked Wang Bai, "Are your parents coming to watch the performance tonight?"

"I don't know," he shook his head, "My dad is on a business trip, and I don't know if he's back. My mom has been working overtime recently." This morning, when he left for school, his parents hadn't returned, and he hadn't heard from them all day, so he didn't know if anyone was home.

"My mom is on duty at the hospital tonight," Jin Xiaoli said, "But my dad said he'll come to watch the performance to see if your martial arts are as good as I've been boasting."

"I don't have any martial arts skills," Wang Bai laughed, "You're just exaggerating, making me feel pressured."

They both laughed. Liu Yan, who was sitting behind them, didn't understand and asked, "What are you talking about, it's so funny?"

"It's nothing," Wang Bai said, "We just started laughing for no reason."

Jin Xiaoli nodded in agreement, still chuckling, while Liu Yan felt a bit left out and a little hurt.

Seeing her pouting, Jin Xiaoli knew she was upset and played with her hair, "What's wrong, are you mad?"

"No..." Liu Yan pouted her pink lips and poked her friend's chubby arm, "It's just that you two sit so close and chat so happily, ignoring me."

"Still saying you're not," Jin Xiaoli smiled bitterly and leaned in to whisper, "You're even jealous of me?"

"No, no, I said I'm not," Liu Yan frowned and said irritably, though only she knew the truth. In fact, among the three of them, Wang Bai was indeed closer to Jin Xiali, and they talked more. With Liu Yan, their interactions were mostly for rehearsal purposes. Sometimes, she felt like the third wheel.

Jin Xiaoli chuckled, "You said you're not, so I won't bother you. Hey, have you told your family about tomorrow?"

"Yes," Liu Yan nodded, and Jin Xiaili made an OK gesture and turned back. They were going to watch the梁静茹 (Fish Leong) concert with Wang Bai tomorrow night, but they couldn't tell their families the truth. So, they agreed that Liu Yan would tell her family she was going to Jin Xiaoli's house to study, and Jin Xiaoli would say she was going to Liu Yan's house. They often did this, so their families were used to it and wouldn't object.

Jin Xiaoli patted Wang Bai's back and called him over, "How are you going to tell your family about the concert tomorrow?"

"Tell? Do I need to tell? I can just go," Wang Bai said, puzzled. As a boy, his parents wouldn't ask too many questions about going out at night, and Jin Xiaoli envied this.

"Right, how do you plan to go tomorrow? I have a match in the afternoon, so you can go earlier and don't have to wait for me."

"Then how will you get there?" The concert was at the Haizhong City Stadium, which was two districts away, about 40 kilometers. She didn't want to go so far with just Liu Yan, as it felt unsafe without a boy.

"I'll take a taxi after the match and should arrive before the concert starts."

"Then we'll watch your match and cheer for you, and then we'll go together," Jin Xiaoli decided for Liu Yan, who wouldn't object.

"Alright..." Wang Bai thought, it was an honor that his friends were willing to cheer for him even though they weren't sure if he would play, "Okay, but I probably won't play at the beginning, so don't bring banners or anything, it would be embarrassing."

"You're dreaming," Jin Xiaoli rolled her eyes, "We don't have the time to make those. Hey, tell me the truth, can you play soccer?"

"Yes!" Wang Bai nodded decisively and smiled confidently, "I'm very good at it."

After school, Wang Bai, carrying his schoolbag and a bag of flyers, returned home. As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by the aroma of food.

"Dad, Mom! You're both back?"

"Yes," Wang's father laughed, "Today is your performance, we had to come back to support you."

Wang Bai sneaked a bite of the food, "Mom, you're not working overtime tonight?"

He was about to take another bite when his mother hit his hand with a chopstick, "Go wash your hands first! I worked all night until noon today, finally finished the job. I'll have two days off, and then I'll work again on Sunday."

"Wow! Congratulations," Wang Bai said happily, as his mother usually only had one day off every two weeks. He washed his hands and dried them with a towel, "By the way, I have some good news to announce."

Wang's father took a sip of wine and asked, "What news? Did you get a girlfriend?"

"Old man," Wang's mother scolded, clearly opposed to her son's early romance, "Stop joking, listen to your son."

"Hehe," Wang Bai rubbed his nose, "After the Cultural Festival performance, I'll tell you. Let's eat first, it's rare to have a family dinner."

"Haha, you're learning to be mysterious, little rascal," Wang's father lightly tapped his son's head.