Chapter 40: Tang Song Takes the Stage

The moonlight is hazy, the stars are twinkling, and the night at the school appears tranquil and beautiful. Yet, the playground at this moment is a different scene; lamp after lamp, like the afterglow of a setting sun, stubbornly illuminates the center of the football field. Countless shadows are cast upon the lawn, like a silent painting, telling the stories that belong here.

Under Yu Youwei's brilliant performance, applause swept in from all directions like a tsunami.

Among them, Pang Weijie was the most conspicuous. Standing one meter eighty tall, as if venting the passion constantly surging in his heart, his large hands clapped with a loud *slap-slap* sound, his fair face flushed bright red.

Seeing this, Lin Yang muttered, "One look and you can tell he's the type to favor women over friends; who knows when he'll stab a brother in the back for a woman."

Wu Yue'er in front suddenly turned her head and asked, "So in your view, brothers are more important than girlfriends?"

"Uh... how could that be." Lin Yang was caught off guard by the question, but fortunately, his emotional intelligence was online, and his attitude did a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn instantly.

"Brothers are like limbs, women are like clothing; whoever wears my clothing, I'll chop off their limbs."

Perhaps feeling his words weren't persuasive enough, Lin Yang added that if one really had to weigh them on a scale, then the girlfriend would definitely be as heavy as Mount Tai, and the brother as light as a goose feather.

"Ugh!" Tang Song and Zhu Baoping looked at him with disdain, as if distancing themselves from a virus, shifting their bottoms three seats away.

Wu Yue'er was equally disgusted, saying, "We can't be friends with you anymore, otherwise we wouldn't even know when we'd been sold out by you."

???

Lin Yang's head was buzzing non-stop.

No! Who the hell wants to be friends with you? I'm trying to hit on you.

Shen Yan covered his mouth and coughed twice, helping him out of the predicament: "Lao Lin, your analogy just now wasn't very appropriate. If one side of the lever is as heavy as Mount Tai and the other as light as a goose feather, from a physics perspective, the brother should slide toward the girlfriend very quickly."

It can be analyzed like this too?

It seems there's nothing wrong with that; full marks for the interpretation!

"Pfft!" Wu Yue'er burst out laughing, pounding Shen Yan's shoulder, exclaiming that he was truly a talent.

Lin Yang gave Shen Yan a grateful look, laughed, and said he was just joking, just joking.

The few people nearby were stunned by Shen Yan's miraculous train of thought. This move was off the charts, and they all joined the topic, discussing together which was more important: brothers or girlfriends.

After a week of getting to know each other, the boys and girls had already broken through that barrier; it wasn't like the start of school, where they were clearly divided into blocks by dormitory.

Some said brothers were more important, as the relationship is more stable and lasting, and they can stand up for you at critical moments; others said girlfriends were more important, as they can provide care and warmth, and are very likely to become the person who accompanies you for a lifetime.

Everyone had their own reasons.

They vied with one another.

As the talent show proceeded in an orderly fashion, the atmosphere on the playground grew increasingly intense, with gasps of surprise one after another. Finally, Tang Song could no longer hold back, and carrying his guitar, he arrived at the center of the field.

"Hello everyone, my name is Tang Song. Next, I will sing 'Love Is Simple' while playing, and I hope the girl off the stage likes it."

After speaking, Tang Song took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping past Yuan Mingqing, and then he focused his full attention on the guitar.

"Whoa!"

"Wow! So brave!"

"Is he confessing? How romantic!"

Once these words were out, the heckling from the audience rose and fell; they were all adolescent boys and girls with restless hormones, harboring an indescribable curiosity and longing for the opposite sex. A longing to understand the other, a longing to be understood, a longing for that inexplicable heartbeat and shy sweetness.

It was just that they were new here, and this curiosity and longing had been suppressed for the time being. Now that someone had taken the first step, it was as if a breach had been opened in everyone's hearts, and in an instant, the atmosphere of the entire venue was pushed to its climax.

Yuan Mingqing had been watching the field and naturally noticed that subtle gaze, her small face flushing red.

Luo Qiqi nudged Yuan Mingqing's shoulder and said with a suggestive look, "Mingqing, could the person Tang Song is talking about be you?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Yuan Mingqing whispered in rebuttal, yet her gaze was locked firmly on the center of the field, the corners of her mouth quietly curling into an unknown arc.

An accidental meeting of their eyes told her that this song was indeed sung for her.

"Forgot how it started, perhaps it was just toward you, having a feeling, suddenly discovering that I, have already fallen deeply in love with you..."

Actually, Tang Song's singing voice wasn't all that pleasant or melodious, even a bit hoarse, but in Yuan Mingqing's heart, it was the most moving "sound of nature" she had ever heard—very sincere and full of charm.

Somehow, in this atmosphere, Shen Yan suddenly thought of Hao Anqi; this girl should be doing her evening training.

Send a greeting.

"What are you doing?"

Before long, the phone vibrated, and upon opening it, he found Hao Anqi had sent a picture.

On her slender arm were several large welts, bright red.

"Woooo! Shuai Yan, I've been bitten so badly by mosquitoes (pitiful)"

"Stupid mosquitoes don't bite anyone else, they only bite me."

Shen Yan smiled faintly, and after pondering for a moment, he sent a sentence he had never been able to say before.

"Blame yourself for being too pretty, it's got the mosquitoes infatuated."

On the basketball court of the Communication University of China, Hao Anqi looked at this line of text, and in an instant, it felt like a little deer was trapped in her heart; her little heart was thumping at 120 miles per hour. She reached out to gently stroke her cheek, which was burning hot.

This was the first time this guy had complimented her on being pretty.

So... has the iron tree finally blossomed?

It wasn't that no one had complimented her like this before; some had flowery language, some were sincere and earnest, and some were ingenious, but none could compare to the effectiveness of this plain and simple line from Shen Yan.

Several male students nearby noticed Hao Anqi's shy, peach-blossom-like expression and were all dumbfounded.

There are few true words in the world; a woman's blush is worth more than a long speech.

"I'm dead, I'm dead! How can someone be so pretty!"

"I really want to take her home to raise."

"Three years is a bloody profit, death penalty is worth it!"

Hao Anqi was completely unaware of this and continued to send messages: "Then tell me, where am I the prettiest? (smiley face)"

Shen Yan: "It should be your eyes, clear and bright, the corners of your eyes thin and slightly curved, shaped like peach blossom petals, enchanting and elusive yet lively."

"Did someone hack your account? You've got a whole set of compliments (happy)"

"Just speaking the truth!"

Hao Anqi was overjoyed, scratching her slightly itchy ears, rubbing her little fists against her chest for a while, and then asked Shen Yan if he wanted to have a late-night snack later. Shen Yan said, you're such a glutton, aren't you afraid of getting fat?

"Hehe! I have the kind of constitution that doesn't gain weight." Speaking of this, Hao Anqi couldn't help but feel a burst of pride, her upturned mouth corners seemingly stretching to her ears.

One must know that those good sisters of hers often worried about their figures; controlling their diet was standard procedure, and some even resorted to extreme methods.

Yet Hao Anqi could taste all kinds of delicacies to her heart's content, posting about it on social media from time to time, which made a bunch of her good sisters grit their teeth in frustration, yet they could do nothing about it.

Ptooey! Is what you're doing even human behavior?

Hearing this, Shen Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, and the image of Hao Anqi's graceful and slender figure surfaced in his mind; eating so much, he wondered if all the nutrition had gone there.