I'll Remember You

"Hao Shuai?" the Ponytail Woman nodded. "I've got you."

"Remembering my name is useless," Jiang Cheng said, tilting his head up. "If you want to remember me, remember my number. I'm number 49 in the advanced group."

Next, the woman introduced herself. Her name was Yu Wen, an expert in international relations. She said she was always traveling and didn't expect to be dragged into a nightmare as soon as she returned home. This was her fourth mission.

Soon, the girl in pajamas' timid voice was heard. Her name was Zhang Yinyin, a kindergarten teacher still in her internship, not yet officially employed.

Finally, there was the other man with the camera. He and Zhou Taifu were the only newcomers in this group. His ill-fitting shirt and blunt bangs made him look rather dull.

"Hello everyone," he introduced himself. "My name is Long Tao. I'm currently working as an extra in film crews."

That left only the fatty. Just as Fatty was about to introduce himself with great ambition, Jiang Cheng suddenly spoke up, "His situation is a bit special. He doesn't have a name because..." He pursed his lips, his eyes filled with sorrow. "He's an orphan."

"No parents since he was little?" Zhang Yinyin's face was full of pity. "How pitiful."

"Just call him Fatty," Jiang Cheng gestured. "That's what everyone at the orphanage called him."

Fatty: "."

After a while, the group stood before a teaching building. Pretty and pure-looking girls occasionally entered and exited the doors.

"This is it," Zhen Jianren retracted his gaze and said. "Let's go in."

The space inside was larger than Jiang Cheng had imagined. The corridors on both sides led to classrooms, and the sounds of singing and musical instruments could occasionally be heard. Although there was an elevator, everyone tacitly ignored it and chose to take the stairs on the right to go up.

The large music classroom was at the end of the fourth-floor corridor. As they approached, a woman in high heels trotted up. The woman was in her early thirties, wearing light makeup, and asked as soon as she saw them, "Are you the photography teachers?"

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, the woman breathed a sigh of relief. During the subsequent conversation, the woman explained that she had been arranged by the director and was waiting to coordinate with the photography team. Today was the first rehearsal.

Yu Wen pondered for a moment and asked, "How many rehearsals are there before the celebration begins?"

"Three," the woman replied concisely.

"When do they start?"

"We can start now." With that, the woman invited them into the music classroom.

It was called a music classroom, but it looked more like an auditorium. Under the spotlight was a set-up chorus stage, with students already in costume. People occasionally moved around, adjusting lights and various equipment. It was clear that the school attached great importance to this anniversary celebration.

Upon learning that Jiang Cheng and his group were the photographers for the rehearsal, the student organizers immediately brought several bottles of mineral water. "Photography teachers, please have some water!" Everyone naturally refused, but after three consecutive refusals, the students were still persistent. Seeing more and more students gathering, the group reluctantly accepted a bottle each. To their surprise, the students were also very stubborn and insisted on watching them drink it before dispersing.

"Photography teachers," the woman in charge of coordination said after speaking with the on-site director, then ran back and beckoned. "We're ready on our side."

Jiang Cheng and the others had already set up their cameras. The position was chosen by the man named Long Tao. After all, he worked in film crews and knew more about photography than the others.

"We need to record four segments for this rehearsal," the woman said politely, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "The first three segments are the choruses organized by the three selected classes respectively. The last segment is the chorus of all three classes together."

"Okay," Jiang Cheng replied. "Let's start quickly then."

Returning to his position, Jiang Cheng took the camera bag and retrieved the camera he had stored in the equipment center earlier. Fatty saw it and asked curiously, "What are you doing with that?" The lens of that camera had moisture inside. Although it could still take pictures, the quality of the photos would be affected.

"Might as well do something while I'm free," Jiang Cheng took out the camera, opened it, and began taking pictures of the chorus stage from various angles. He looked very serious. However, to Fatty's surprise, both Zhen Jianren and Yu Wen walked over when they saw Jiang Cheng holding the camera.

Jiang Cheng stretched his shoulders, looked up, and holding the camera towards Zhen Jianren, asked, "Do you want to try?"

Zhen Jianren backed away again. However, his attention remained focused here. The first class's chorus ended quickly, and they retreated in an orderly fashion.

Students from another class began to enter.

With the tripod set up, Jiang Cheng no longer had to hold the camera steady.

He aimed the lens at the choir stand and began to size up the students on stage.

They were all wearing matching outfits: pure white tops and contrasting sapphire blue dresses.

Ribbon bows adorned the necklines and cuffs.

The well-tailored, form-fitting style accentuated the girls' slender waists, and the lotus-like skirt hem exuded a classic British academic vibe.

Jiang Cheng's gaze swept over them one by one, occasionally meeting the eyes of the girls.

The difference was that the girls' gazes would falter instantly, while Jiang Cheng was bold and completely lacking in the expected reserve.

While the second group of students were leaving and no one was paying attention, Fatty sidled up and whispered, "What are you up to?"

Jiang Cheng retorted indignantly, "Don't talk nonsense. If the ghost hears you, how can I possibly 'deal with it'?"

Fatty: ". I'm truly impressed. You're still in the mood for jokes at a time like this."

Jiang Cheng didn't even look at him, stating concisely, "I don't think the NPC would break our equipment for no reason, so I suspect something's amiss."

Fatty was startled. "What could be wrong?"

"I'm not sure yet," he glanced at Fatty, his voice grave. "Don't worry about me. You go keep an eye on the other camera and make sure no one messes with it."

Fatty nodded. "Okay, I got it."

Soon, the third group's performance ended.

The grand finale, the choir performance, was about to begin.

Just then, Long Tao, who was responsible for filming, frowned. He clutched his stomach, his expression suddenly turning grim.

Luo Yi, who was also watching this camera, was the first to notice something was wrong. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"My stomach... it hurts." Long Tao showed signs of pain.

Zhou Taifu looked towards the choir stand not far away. It was filled with people, and some others were walking back and forth nearby, holding wires or equipment of different colors.

It looked like they were making final adjustments.

"Can't you just bear with it?" Zhou Taifu couldn't help but feel annoyed. This place gave him a very bad feeling.

Everyone seemed normal, yet this normality held an inexplicable strangeness.

He couldn't pinpoint exactly what was strange.

"We'll go back after the filming!"

"I'm afraid we can't," Long Tao trembled, cold sweat breaking out on his face. "The pain is unbearable."

Thanks to my brothers for their support. Happy New Year to everyone!!