Chapter 99: All Grown Up

The gala was primarily composed of song and dance performances, with some spoken-word sketches and crosstalk acts interspersed between them to prevent audience fatigue.

However, these school-level Welcome Gala spoken-word programs were nothing special; for one, the performers lacked skill, and for another, the students had little creative ability, so the crosstalk and sketches they performed were just copies of classics that the audience had basically already seen, making the overall experience lacking in interest and surprise.

Less than an hour into the gala, many students couldn't sit still and wanted to slip away, but the Student Union members maintaining order told them they were not allowed to leave before the gala ended.

How could there be such a hooligan demand?

Many upperclassmen who had come to join the fun complained; they had little reason to watch a freshman group activity that had nothing to do with them in the first place, and upon learning they couldn't leave early, they became even more anxious.

However, the Student Union's stance was very clear: in short, they could not leave.

With the direct path blocked, some clever people started coming up with ideas—either they weren't feeling well or had a stomachache; in any case, there was always a reason to leave.

The Student Union could restrict their movements, but when it came to personal health, they had no right to interfere, so the number of people at the scene grew smaller and smaller, nearly a quarter less than when the gala first began.

Fortunately, because so many people had come, the remaining students could barely fill the seats, and on the surface, it still looked bustling and lively.

The seats for Ying Ziyun's dormitory were arranged in advance by the Student Union, in the corner on the left side of the front row.

Student Union members had perks when watching the gala; they could sit in the front row and bring their roommates along to sit in the front row as well.

Of course, this perk gradually turned into a shackle once the crowd thinned out.

Others could find reasons to leave, but you, a Student Union member, couldn't!

It was normal for a gala to be boring, but as a Student Union member, once you arrived, you had to take on the responsibility of setting the atmosphere; you had to lead by example and stay.

As for Dong Xinxin and the other two, they were also very helpless; Ying Ziyun was staying here, so how could they, as roommates, just leave her here alone?

They thought to themselves that the gala would be over soon anyway, so it didn't matter if they kept her company for a while.

It was just that the programs performed by those freshmen were too boring.

That boy who just went on stage performed some... some rap thing; they couldn't understand the lyrics at all, and he stood on stage acting like he was having a seizure, making the atmosphere extremely awkward.

Yet even with a performance like that, there were actually people cheering.

Cheng Huaiyu clapped while saying to Ying Ziyun and the others, "Don't you think his performance has a lot of emotion and power?"

"Uh..." Wang Yi, sitting next to him, gave an awkward smile, "Maybe."

Cheng Huaiyu had run over when the gala started, and even though Dan Yuyue had a cold face and didn't speak to him, this guy shamelessly sat down next to her... on the floor tiles.

As it turned out, before his butt could even warm the floor tiles, Dan Yuyue demanded to swap seats with Wang Yi, who was on the inside. After there were empty seats later, Cheng Huaiyu still sat next to Wang Yi, with Dong Xinxin and Ying Ziyun further inside, and then Dan Yuyue.

Dan Yuyue's intention was clearly not to give him any chance to blabber more.

But Cheng Huaiyu didn't think so; he thought she was testing his perseverance, so he kept finding topics to chat with them. Because Wang Yi was sitting next to Cheng Huaiyu, she had no choice but to be forced to respond a couple of times.

When the rap guy on stage finished his wailing, and the host announced the name of the next program, Dan Yuyue suddenly asked, "Is the rumor online true? The song and dance programs are almost finished and we still haven't seen Xu Heng!"

Ying Ziyun shook her head faintly, indicating she didn't know; although she was a Student Union member, she hadn't participated in the organization of this Welcome Gala.

Hearing Dan Yuyue's question from far away, Cheng Huaiyu couldn't wait to say, "I heard from Old Xu that his program is the very last one. He even told me yesterday that if I was annoyed waiting, I didn't have to wait. His program is singing an old song; it's nothing interesting."

Having said that, he leaned his head out to look at Dan Yuyue: "Yueyue, why don't we go back first? I still have some things I want to tell you."

To this, Dan Yuyue paid no attention.

Cheng Huaiyu could only awkwardly shrink back into his seat.

Wang Yi chimed in from the side, "Cheng Huaiyu, you'd better save it. Yueyue has already found a new boyfriend; it's inappropriate for you to call her so intimately if others hear it."

Cheng Huaiyu froze.

Dan Yuyue found a new boyfriend?

It had only been a few days since they broke up; how did he not know?

Wait, he knew; he understood everything!

A flash of inspiration struck Cheng Huaiyu's mind, and he suddenly saw the light. He smiled and said, "Yueyue, you don't have to say you found a new boyfriend just to make me angry. I've already cut ties with that Ji Meimei; we have absolutely no relationship now, really. Won't you give me another chance?"

"What does it have to do with me what you say?" Dan Yuyue glanced at him coldly, "And when did I ever want to make you angry? What Wang Yi said about me finding a new boyfriend is true. He treats me very well, so what?"

"No, your boyfriend..."

"Can you stay away from me? I'm afraid my boyfriend will misunderstand."

Cheng Huaiyu was left speechless by Dan Yuyue's retort. Seeing her attitude, it really didn't look like she was joking, but Cheng Huaiyu still didn't believe it; at the very least, the timeline didn't match up.

That whole mess happened the day before yesterday. Even if Dan Yuyue wasn't heartbroken, she should have been sad for a while; how could she possibly have had the time to find a new boyfriend in these two days?

Cheng Huaiyu was convinced she was lying to him, so he bared his teeth and smiled: "Yueyue, I am sincere about you. No matter what you say, I won't let go easily."

Over these two days, he had finally figured it out.

All those so-called good girls, gentle underclasswomen, and thoughtful upperclasswomen were just putting on an act. The women in the outside world were too terrifying. Although Dan Yuyue was criticized by a few people in his class, now that he thought about it, it must have been the jealousy of those people at work.

He had found such a beautiful girl as Dan Yuyue to be his girlfriend, so it was understandable that some people felt sour and gossiped behind his back.

This just went to show that Dan Yuyue was the truly excellent girl.

Cheng Huaiyu was single-mindedly thinking about winning Dan Yuyue back. In the past, he had laughed at Xu Heng for having no dignity while fawning over and catering to Ying Ziyun, but only when he became this kind of person himself could he understand how Xu Heng felt at the time.

If they could help it, who would want to be a bootlicker?

But Dan Yuyue's attitude toward him remained very cold, even bordering on disgust, and she made no effort to hide her desire for him to stay away.

This was a completely different reaction from Ying Ziyun. Xu Heng's fawning was at least fawning over a hard rock, but Cheng Huaiyu was directly fawning over a bomb; if things went wrong, he'd just get a "get lost" in return. Yet Cheng Huaiyu was still happy in it, saying that hitting is affection and scolding is love, and that her scolding him meant she still loved him.

This kind of childish, cheesy pickup line almost made Dan Yuyue vomit.

In the end, since he couldn't be driven away, she simply let Cheng Huaiyu stay there.

Half an hour later, the gala neared its end, and the female host in a long dress walked onto the stage from the left with a smile.

"Our school has such a unique person; he is neither an actor nor a singer, yet he became popular all over the internet overnight."

The male host walked onto the stage from the right at the same time and read from the script: "He is an internet celebrity who rose from the grassroots, shocking the world with his covers."

The cheers from the audience became enthusiastic following the hosts' script.

Many people were shouting "Reverse Clock".

They really hoped to see Xu Heng sing "Reverse Clock" in person on stage.

But the male host just smiled: "Tonight, the Cover Brother is not doing a cover. This might disappoint some students who wanted to hear 'Reverse Clock', but Fang Xiaoxia and I can guarantee that the Cover Brother will bring us an even bigger surprise."

The female host named Fang Xiaoxia picked up the program list and slowly read: "Next, we invite Xu Heng, a sophomore student of Chinese Language and Literature from the class of '06, for a piano solo, 'Decency'."