On the weekend afternoon, the group met up and headed to the empty classroom they had found to rehearse together.
Their final assignment was to introduce a region's folk culture, with the central message of preserving outstanding traditional culture.
Besides putting together a PowerPoint presentation, they also had to rehearse a short play to showcase the region's cultural characteristics in a more vivid, accessible way.
As group leader, Tao Yan took charge of planning the whole presentation and supplying the props. A close friend of hers, who was also in her class, had plenty of ideas and was responsible for polishing the script and fleshing out its content.
With his pleasant voice and good looks, Yu Nian was responsible for presenting the slides. He also worked with Bian Yan and another guy from their major to gather information and put the PowerPoint together.
All five of them had roles in the final play and would perform together.
None of the five shirked their work. They ran through the whole thing twice and adjusted a few details. With several previous rehearsals under their belts, they completed the entire run-through smoothly.
At some point, Tao Yan had gone to the vending machine in the hallway and bought several drinks. "Thanks for all your hard work, everyone. Come have something to drink."
The guys accepted the drinks a little sheepishly, thanking her repeatedly.
Tao Yan was a fair-skinned beauty with a gentle air. Combined with her stylish outfit and her gracious, composed manner, it was obvious she was a daughter from a well-off family.
According to her close friend Zhao Anyue, Tao Yan designed many of her own clothes.
Yu Nian was fine. He wasn't attracted to women, after all, so he simply thought Tao Yan was pretty. The other two guys had never spent time up close with a beauty like her and had been incredibly nervous at first.
After Zhao Anyue mercilessly teased them about it, they all loosened up and started joking around.
Zhao Anyue linked arms with Tao Yan, sipping her favorite Rock Sugar Pear drink. "Taotao, we've rehearsed enough by now, haven't we?"
Tao Yan smiled and looked at everyone. "Do you have any more suggestions for improvements? If not, we'll perform it like this next week."
Yu Nian and the others shook their heads. "It's good as it is."
Bian Yan rubbed his hands together, excited just thinking about it. "With Director Tao and Editor Zhao guiding us, we're sure to get a high score."
Everyone laughed. The other guy nudged his shoulder. "Hey, hey, don't just compliment the pretty girls. We've worked hard too, you know?"
Bian Yan teased him. "You sure have. You spend the whole show bouncing up and down."
That guy's role was a fish lantern, an intangible cultural heritage craft. He would have to wear a fish-lantern-shaped covering and imagine himself as a fish swimming through the water, rising and dipping. Just picturing it made everyone laugh.
With mealtime approaching, they all headed out to get something to eat.
Although they had gotten along well over their several meetings, they weren't quite close enough to casually go out for a meal together yet.
They were about to split up at a fork in the path when they unexpectedly ran into someone coming toward them.
It was Qin Yu, whom they hadn't seen in quite some time.
Qin Yu had clearly spotted him too. He had been talking to the person beside him, but he shifted his course slightly and headed toward them.
Yu Nian's heart tightened a little, and he warily took two steps back. Was Qin Yu still going to pester him?
Bian Yan also glanced at Yu Nian, looking visibly nervous.
They stood still, and Yu Nian said nothing, waiting to see exactly what Qin Yu wanted.
"What a coincidence. Where are you headed?"
Qin Yu passed right over him and spoke to Tao Yan behind him.
Tao Yan nodded politely at him. "I'm going to get something to eat with my friends."
Seeing how handsome Qin Yu was, Zhao Anyue remembered that he was one of the university's most prominent figures and felt a little pleasantly surprised.
Tao Yan actually knew Qin Yu.
Yu Nian hadn't expected things to turn out this way either. It really was a small world, if even this could bring him into contact with Qin Yu.
Still, since Qin Yu wasn't there for him, Yu Nian breathed a sigh of relief and was just about to say goodbye to Tao Yan and the others.
But then Qin Yu said, "I was just about to get something to eat too. Your father mentioned you when I saw him last time. There's a pretty good restaurant off campus. Why don't we go together?"
As he spoke, his gaze flicked toward Yu Nian, seemingly casually.
Tao Yan frowned slightly. She found this rather baffling.
Tao Yan had known from an early age that her family wasn't raising her to be their heir, and that her future marriage would very likely be used to forge an alliance. Such things weren't uncommon in their social circle.
The way Qin Yu was acting now seemed to suggest he had something like that in mind.
Yet he hadn't shown any interest in her at the banquet before. Now he was suddenly inviting her to dinner and even bringing up her father to pressure her.
The Qin Family was powerful enough that even her father couldn't afford to offend them, but she really disliked how presumptuous Qin Yu was being.
Noticing her hesitation, Zhao Anyue said jokingly to Qin Yu, "Sorry, handsome, but Taotao already has plans with me today."
Qin Yu hadn't expected to be turned down. He felt displeased, but his smile didn't change. "You're Tao Yan's friend? Why don't you come along?"
Zhao Anyue: "..."
Could this guy not take a hint?
"Tao Yan, Anyue, aren't you coming? We need to hurry up and eat, then come back to rehearse."
Yu Nian walked over and called to them naturally.
Qin Yu's move had caught Tao Yan off guard, and she hadn't quite known how to respond. Hearing Yu Nian, she immediately caught on. "Coming, coming."
Zhao Anyue also pretended to be in a rush. "I almost forgot. We're pressed for time-we still have rehearsal."
"Sorry, handsome. We really don't have time today."
Qin Yu's expression darkened, but his gaze remained fixed on Yu Nian.
Yu Nian didn't look at him. The three guys surrounded the two girls as they left through the campus gates, as though afraid Qin Yu might find a chance to slip in.
Only once they were far away and Qin Yu was nowhere in sight did they breathe a sigh of relief.
Zhao Anyue patted her chest. "That scared me to death. Taotao, since when were you so close to him? How come I didn't know?"
Tao Yan shook her head. "We've only met once. We barely know each other."
"Then why was he so determined to take you out to eat?"
"Oh, he obviously wants to pursue Tao Yan," said the other guy from Yu Nian's major. "But that was seriously... Tao Yan clearly didn't want to go, and that look on his face just now was honestly a little..."
Given Qin Yu's reputation on campus and the rumors about him, he didn't feel comfortable saying anything too harsh. He could only sigh.
Tao Yan said, "Thank you all for what happened back there."
Yu Nian smiled and shook his head. Zhao Anyue took Tao Yan's arm and said, "Forget about it. Let's go eat."
"Hey, since we've all come out together anyway, why don't we get something to eat together?"
Everyone readily agreed. Qin Yu had broken down the last bit of distance between them. They all shared the same disdain for his behavior, and it had actually brought them considerably closer.
Bian Yan had disliked Qin Yu ever since hearing him pester Yu Nian last time. Now he couldn't resist pulling Yu Nian aside to whisper to him.
"And he said he was gay. Has it even been a month since you broke up? Now he's already hitting on Tao Yan, right in front of you, too. Who's he trying to get under the skin of?"
Yu Nian's heart sank. He wasn't stupid; he had a pretty good idea of what Qin Yu was thinking.
But just as Bian Yan had said, putting on this performance in front of him after their breakup wouldn't stir any feelings in him. It would only lower his opinion of Qin Yu even further.
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