Chapter 122: Now I

The gymnasium in Annex One is located at the southwest corner of the school.

When passing by the road outside the school gate, the most eye-catching structures are the gymnasium and the library on either side of the gate.

Parents enter through the main southern gate of the gymnasium, where they find a standard indoor basketball court.

On both sides are the spectator stands.

Under Xiao Xiuxiu's guidance, the parents from Class Eight climbed the stairs to the right, then freely chose their seats.

The entire gymnasium can accommodate approximately two thousand spectators.

For this rock club performance, the left stand remains closed; only the right stand is needed to seat over six hundred parents.

Li Guohong climbed the steps and looked up at the stands, easily spotting his wife's figure.

At this moment, Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong were treated similarly by the parents, surrounded and clustered by them.

Fortunately, during the earlier campus tour, everyone had already talked enough, so now they all fell quiet.

After all, they were middle-aged, with limited stamina; having wandered around the school, they were tired and glad to sit down and rest.

Li Guohong stood near the lower section and waved urgently at Lin Xiuhong.

Seeing Li Guohong's signal, Lin Xiuhong stood up and walked down to a few rows ahead.

"What's up?" Lin Xiuhong asked curiously. "Why call me over?"

"Let's sit together," Li Guohong said, pulling Lin Xiuhong's hand and sitting down on the chair beside him.

Beside them, Yuan Wanqing blinked in surprise, thinking she'd misseen—she stared again at their clasped hands, still not quite processing it.

How so casual is Li Luo's father?

Just grabbing another family's mother like that?

Probably noticing Yuan Wanqing's odd gaze, Li Guohong quickly pulled Lin Xiuhong forward and introduced her: "This is my wife, Xiuhong. This is Yan Zhusheng's mother, Li Luo's desk partner."

"Hello, hello," Lin Xiuhong smiled and greeted Yuan Wanqing. "I'm Li Luo's mom."

"Hello," Yuan Wanqing said, her expression clearing. She sat in the empty seat beside Li Guohong and asked curiously, "Do you have two children?"

"No, no," Li Guohong waved his hand. "We just have a very close friend whose child also attends Fuyi Middle School. Since he himself was unavailable, and our families are close, we came to attend on his behalf."

"I see," Yuan Wanqing nodded, understanding, and did not press further.

After explaining clearly, Li Guohong turned to Lin Xiuhong and said: "Let me tell you, you really missed out by not coming to Li Luo's parent meeting."

As he spoke, Li Guohong beamed with triumph, his grin so wide it looked like he'd been holding it in for decades, finally bursting free.

"What's that?" Lin Xiuhong glanced at him. Seeing his grin stretched ear to ear, she couldn't help smiling inwardly—she guessed what was coming, but still asked, "Could Li Luo have scored better than Chanxi?"

"What kind of thing is that to say?" Li Guohong clicked his tongue. He thought this woman was such a buzzkill. "We compare ourselves to our past selves. Guess how many ranks Li Luo improved from last semester's entrance exam?"

"How many?"

"Three hundred! Did you hear that? Exactly three hundred!" Li Guohong held up three fingers, excitedly sharing with his wife, watching her face closely, eager for her to show shock.

But Lin Xiuhong couldn't hold back her laughter: "Alright, alright, I'm not teasing you anymore. During the parent meeting, I already knew that kid's score—it's 27th in the whole school."

"What?" Li Guohong froze. "When your Class One had the parent meeting, did they also announce other classes' scores?"

"What do you know?" Lin Xiuhong rolled her eyes. "Of the top forty in the school, Li Luo was the only one from a regular class. Their homeroom teacher used Li Luo as an example to scold all the parents."

Here, Lin Xiuhong couldn't suppress a smirk: "I never expected that elite-class students could get scolded too. Looking at it this way, regular classes are better—less pressure. Since Li Luo scored so well, whether he's in an elite class doesn't matter anymore."

"That's true," Li Guohong nodded. Realizing he couldn't brag about this anymore, he switched tactics, pointing down at the venue. "Do you know what's going to happen here soon?"

"Isn't it just listening to the rock club sing?"

"Looks like you didn't know then," Li Guohong chuckled. "Didn't Chanxi tell you?"

"That girl," Lin Xiuhong blinked, glancing around. "I don't know. After dropping us off, she vanished immediately—no idea where she ran off to."

"I can guess where Chanxi went," Li Guohong said. "You don't know—your son is in this rock club."

"Huh?" Lin Xiuhong paused, confused. "What's he doing in the rock club? Running errands?"

In Lin Xiuhong's mind, Li Luo had never learned any instrument—how could he possibly be connected to the rock club?

Li Guohong himself was a bit puzzled about this too, but he said: "Li Luo's the guitarist. I have no idea when he learned."

"What?" Lin Xiuhong was startled, thinking she'd misheard. "That kid plays guitar?"

"I don't know either," Li Guohong said. "Their vice-class monitor announced it publicly to all of us. Yan Zhusheng's mother probably heard too?" He turned to Yuan Wanqing. "And Yan Zhusheng is the lead singer."

"Yes, I heard it too," Yuan Wanqing nodded lightly, then glanced at the couple, a hint of surprise in her eyes.

After signing the contract, Yuan Wanqing naturally learned the full details from Luo Fei—she knew this song was composed by Li Luo, not Yan Zhusheng.

Logically, someone who could write such a pop song, even if not highly skilled in music theory, must have had some exposure and training.

But judging by Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong's reactions, had Li Luo never seriously studied music since childhood?

Thinking this, Yuan Wanqing added: "Still, guitar isn't too hard to learn. If it's just one or two songs, memorizing the sheet music and practicing enough can lead to quick mastery."

Hearing Yuan Wanqing speak so knowledgeably about music, Lin Xiuhong leaned forward to study her closely.

The next moment, she suddenly looked puzzled and said to Yuan Wanqing: "Hey, Yan Zhusheng's mom, why does your face look so familiar? Like… who was it again?"

She nudged Li Guohong's arm. "You know, that singer you always liked—the one who was super popular in 2001."

"Yuan Wanqing, I know," Li Guohong waved his hand. "I already thought Yan Zhusheng's mom looked like her when we sat together."

Li Guohong clearly hadn't taken it seriously—he never imagined his son's desk partner's mother could be a celebrity.

Even though Yuan Wanqing's comeback hadn't been hugely successful, her current popularity and traffic still made her a second- or third-tier singer.

How could an ordinary person just randomly bump into her?

Especially at her son's parent meeting.

Besides, Li Guohong had never heard any rumors about Yuan Wanqing getting married—how could she have a daughter?

But just as Li Guohong thought this, Yuan Wanqing smiled faintly and softly introduced herself: "I am Yuan Wanqing herself. Please don't tell anyone—I don't want Zhusheng disturbed in daily life."

At these words, Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong froze.

Lin Xiuhong was fine—she merely opened her mouth in surprise, astonished to meet such a big star in real life, feeling almost surreal.

Li Guohong was now utterly stunned, his face filled with disbelief; he turned to look at Yuan Wanqing, scrutinizing her from head to toe, and the more he looked, the more she resembled someone he knew.

"You—you really are?" Li Guohong lowered his voice as much as he could, rubbing his hands together, yet still unable to hide his excitement and awkwardness.

After seeing Yuan Wanqing nod with a helpless smile and confirm it again, Li Guohong became flustered, stammering awkwardly: "Oh my, what a turn of events."

"The moment I saw you, I thought you looked just like her, but I didn't dare to recognize you—I was afraid I'd be wrong and it'd be impolite."

"I love your new song, especially 'Dreamlike Fluttering'—you sang it so beautifully!"

"Ten years of life and death, how can one even ponder~ Dreamlike fluttering, impossible to forget~"

To prove his fandom authenticity, Li Guohong hummed two lines of the chorus's climax.

But his pitch was truly not to be admired.

"Enough already," Lin Xiuhong laughed and slapped her husband lightly. "You sing terribly—you've ruined her song."

"Thank you for your support," Yuan Wanqing revealed a rare genuine smile, her fondness for Li Guohong's family suddenly growing.

She felt this family was truly genuine and lovely.

Who would have thought attending a parent-teacher meeting would let her meet a ten-year-old fan?

…

"How's everything prepared?"

In the activity room on the second floor, Xu Youyu leaned against the wall, arms crossed, smiling at the rock club members: "This is your first time performing onstage, right? Don't get too nervous."

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of them," Shao Youpeng patted his chest, assuring Xu Youyu with a beaming face.

He hadn't expected Xu Youyu to come all the way to their dressing room to cheer them on—it instantly filled him with renewed energy.

Soon after, the door to the activity room opened again.

Ying Chanxi's head peeked in; seeing Li Luo, she walked over with a smile and patted his shoulder: "Don't get so nervous you wet your pants."

"You're underestimating me," Li Luo rolled his eyes at her.

Meanwhile, Xie Shuchen, the moment he saw Ying Chanxi enter, perked up instantly: "You're here too? Will you watch our performance?"

"Of course," Ying Chanxi nodded. "I came with the parents—I'll be up in the stands."

Xie Shuchen hadn't expected Ying Chanxi to be here; his spirits soared, his heart beginning to pound.

"Alright," Xu Youyu clapped his hands. "The instruments have been moved downstairs, tested and all fine. The parents are all here. Let's go."

"Then let's go!" Niu Qingling, as club president, led the way, walking out with the four members.

Ying Chanxi followed behind, calling out with a smile: "You guys do your best—I'll head back to the stands!"

"Go on," Xu Youyu smiled too. "I'll go with Xi Xi."

The encouragement from these two girls from his dreams instantly ignited Shao Youpeng and Xie Shuchen's souls—they longed to be onstage right now, showing their most perfect selves.

Li Luo merely smiled and waved, then walked shoulder to shoulder with Yan Zhusheng toward the stage below.

"Nervous?" Li Luo turned to ask.

Yan Zhusheng thought for a moment, instinctively wanting to shake her head, but immediately nodded: "Yeah, a little."

Then she raised her hand, clenched into a fist, and extended it toward Li Luo.

Li Luo paused, then raised his own fist and lightly tapped hers in midair.

"Mm," Yan Zhusheng nodded in satisfaction, quietly pulling her hand back, then gripping her own fist with her other hand and gently stroking it. "Now I'm not nervous anymore."