Pu Yingxue’s heartbeat was all over the place because of that one compliment from Lin Huai, to the point that she completely missed the little gesture between him and Wei Qimian. After re-composing herself a little, she said, “What will you two be performing? Oh, right, a song and a dance. Actually, why don’t you two work together to perform?”
Lin Huai and Wei Qimian’s eyes lit up. Pu Yingxue felt a little dejected on the inside, but she quickly regained her composure and thought about it further; both Lin Huai and Wei Qimian had the looks for it, and Lin Huai might be just a poor boy to a lot of people, but clothes had nothing on a person’s appearance and charisma, so Lin Huai was the type that seemed more handsome the more you looked at him. To be fair, he and Wei Qimian made a decent couple, and she thought to herself, Perhaps their collaboration would prove to be both fitting and astonishing.
Lin Huai glanced at Wei Qimian and asked, “What do you think?”
Wei Qimian was overjoyed and shy on the inside, but on the outside she was unbearably prideful as she replied, “Anything’s fine with me.”
“Oh, if it’s fine with you, then I’ll just forget it…”
Wei Qimian was raging internally, thinking that he was turning down the chance to collaborate. Just as she was about to back out and call it quits, Lin Huai continued, “Let’s forget our individual performances and team up for the show instead. What say you?
Wei Qimian’s rage turned back to joy as she pretended to be dignified about it as she said, “Then I’ll give you a chance.”
Pu Yingxue said, “Since you two are changing your performances, the current ones will be discarded. Any backup performances you two can collaborate on?”
Wei Qimian and Lin Huai exchanged glances; what backup performances? They’d decided on this at the last minute.
Pu Yingxue spoke again, “Wang Jiarui, that popular singer has this song called ‘Heavenly Lovers’, the most popular one in her newest album. Have you heard of it?”
Wei Qimian’s eyes lit up. “Yeah I have, I love this song so much. It’s sung in a Chinese style, but performed as a duet with both singing and dancing.”
“Hmm, then it depends on you, Lin Huai. I know he’s a music college transfer so singing won’t be a problem, but I’m not sure about his dancing.”
“I’m okay at dancing,” Lin Huai said nonchalantly but on the inside, he thought that this was a joke. He had to play multiple roles while going undercover on this mission and considering that he was a bodyguard of such a high caliber, how could he not know how to dance? Of course, the mysterious neighbors who had moved in later were really cool and had been a big help to Lin Huai, since they’d taught him various dances since he was a kid.
After some thinking, Lin Huai added, “But I’ve never heard of this song.”
Pu Yingxue seemed displeased when she questioned him, “How could you have never heard of Wang Jiarui’s new song? It’s all the rage!”
Wei Qimian seemed displeased too.
Seeing this, Lin Huai laughed, “Okay, okay. Now I’m curious to see what Wang Jiarui looks like, to have you two so bewitched.”
Just then, those who came for practice started filing in; all of them were newbies from the computer science major. Some of them were from Lin Huai’s class and some weren’t, but they were mostly girls whose eyes practically shone when they saw Lin Huai. If it weren’t for Wei Qimian warily standing in front of him, most of them would have immediately swarmed over toward him.
Seeing that the students were all here, Pu Yingxue was just about to start the rehearsals when a band of muscular boys pushed the door open and rushed in; the cheerful atmosphere in the stadium immediately died down. Wei Qimian said, in a hushed tone, “It’s the sports majors.”
“Oh.” Lin Huai said. The sports majors were everywhere on campus, it seemed.
“Damn it, what are y’all doing here? We’re trying to play basketball!” One of them pointed at the crowd, bouncing a ball as he said so.
As a teacher, it was natural that Pu Yingxue approached them first with a conciliatory tone and explained, “Students, we have already booked the stadium beforehand.”
“Booked?” The leading boy with a facial scar laughed maniacally. “Lady—ah, no, Miss… Miss Pretty of the campus? If we let you ‘book’ the place just because you said so, we’d lose so much face.”
Pu Yingxue frowned. “Then what do you suggest we do? Should I give your teacher a call?”
“Hahaha. You hear that, boys? She wants to give our teacher a call.”
The boys in the back started laughing as well. The scarred boy merely jeered, “Very well, call him. Call our teacher. It would be nice to hear his voice.”
Their attitude made it clear that they weren’t afraid of any teacher. Even if Pu Yingxue did make the call, it would just be a joke to them.
Pu Yingxue’s face was flushed when she said, “Then you all can play basketball on the court, and we’ll rehearse on the sidelines.”
This was considered a compromise on Pu Yingxue’s side because as mentioned, the stadium had already been reserved for the rehearsing students.
Just then, the stadium doors opened again and a group of freshmen from the art major entered. The Annual Gala had always been an opportunity for the freshmen to perform, so almost all of the performers were freshmen from various majors. For those from the art major, they were mostly female with looks that could compete with the music major newbies, and they were accompanied by their teacher. The moment they caught sight of the unruly students from the sports major though, they stopped in their tracks. On campus, those from the sports majors were considered off limits and since they held absolute power, everyone else was wary of them.
The sports major students were getting cocky and looked toward Pu Yingxue with arrogance. To them, Pu Yingxue had good looks and normally, ladies with good looks were either to be bullied, teased or held in their arms against their will. These boys had harassed plenty of ladies before, and they paid no attention to her status as a teacher.
The leading boy smiled menacingly, “Miss Pu Yingxue? Why don’t you let your students rehearse on the sidelines, my boys play their game, and we find a nice spot to chat? I’ve heard that certain students in the computer science major have thought of doing something with you… I’ve always wondered what a female teacher like that would look like, to have her own students lusting after her like this.”
Wei Qimian was a little pissed as she stepped forward and huffed, “These people really have crossed the line.”
Lin Huai caught Wei Qimian by her wrist and watched on with indifference; he wanted to see just how unruly these students could be.
Pu Yingxue was red in the face now. “Do you students even know what school rules are anymore? Or what it means to respect your elders and betters?”
The boy laughed out loud. “I think I’ve heard my teacher mention it, but I don’t remember. Do you remember, boys?”
The students of the sports majors laughed and chimed in, “What elders and betters? Never heard of that!”
“Yeah! The only person we respect is Mr. Hu, the only boss for us is Mr. Hu!”
These students clearly answered to no one.
The stadium doors opened once again to reveal another group of people, led by a bespectacled female teacher who looked plain but graceful. Upon seeing this scene, she asked, “Mr. Zhou, Miss Pu, what is the meaning of this?”
Mr. Zhou was a teacher in his thirties, and he grimaced as he answered, “The students from the sports majors are occupying the stadium.”
Pu Yingxue was quickly losing her composure. “How can you all be so unreasonable? Are you even students? Don’t you know what it means to respect your elders and betters, or even know basic decency, or the ‘first come, first serve’ rule? Think about it, if you keep bossing others around like this without improving yourself, who would hire you once you graduate? What else can you do besides joining a street gang?”
The boy scoffed, “Miss Pu, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Zhou Shengmin, subordinate of Chen Gang, the Furious Tiger of Yulan’s Four Tigers. I actually do plan to join a street gang in the future and miss, I’ll be meeting so many girls like you. Quite pure ones, too…”
Zhou Shengmin was clearly drunk. It wasn’t much, but it seemed enough to make him an excitable loose cannon. Normally, there was no way he’d be this unruly.
Pu Yingxue was so angry, that her eyes were bloodshot and her voice was trembling as she stuttered, “W-What did you say?”
“I said, either I’m booking this stadium or you’re having a nice chat with me in private.” Zhou Shengmin suddenly whirled around with his eyes wide, giving off a rage-filled aura and an equally rage-filled yell, “What are you all standing here for? Scram!”
He was yelling at the students from the art and music majors who’d also come to practice; there were a rough total of twenty of them. The art majors were about to retreat when someone from the music crowd stepped forward—Liu Meiqi, Gao Mengchao’s subordinate.
With a flip of her hair and a laugh, Liu Meiqi walked straight for Zhou Shengmin in her high heels, her eyes narrowed and looking seductive.
Everyone was caught off guard, including Zhou Shengmin because Liu Meiqi had previously stood in the back, unnoticed. She was one of the red canes underneath Gao Mengchao, a position that far surpassed Zhou Shengmin’s own. For sure, Gao Mengchao’s influence was nowhere near that of the sports majors, but she wasn’t one to be trifled with either.
Zhou Shengmin immediately turned wary, and his subordinates assumed similar looks of apprehension.
Just then, before Liu Meiqi could do anything else, a menacing voice called out, “There’s no need for you to intervene. If this person is bullying my teacher, he’ll have to go through me first!”
Zhou Shengmin turned back around, but got slapped hard in the face before he could identify the speaker. He felt like his head was about to come off his own neck, and the blow sent him flying with a ringing in his ears.
Zhou Shengmin’s subordinates were furious. They were just about to start a fight when the speaker smirked arrogantly, “It’s me, Lin Huai!”
The boys stopped immediately and looked at the man before them with a mix of wariness, respect and reluctance. It was clear that they had received orders from their higher-ups, that they were forbidden from messing with him.