Chapter 209: Left Arm, Right Arm

January 31st, Saturday, the last day of this semester at Fu No. 1 High School.

The morning was still a self-study period.

But during the last class, Kong Jun came into the classroom and handed out another flyer listing winter break safety guidelines, gave a brief reminder, and told everyone to enjoy their holiday while paying attention to personal safety.

After wishing everyone a happy Spring Festival in advance, the dismissal bell rang, and Kong Jun clapped his hands, smiling: "Afternoon club activities are still on as usual—enjoy them well."

If you want to leave school early, you can just grab your bag and go now.

But most Fu No. 1 students have joined clubs.

As soon as class ends, the vast majority will still stay on campus, have lunch, and take part in this semester's final club activity.

Of course, this only applies to Gao Er and Gao San.

Gao San students have already left their clubs; they haven't been dismissed yet, and the afternoon is still self-study.

In terms of management, Fu No. 1 High School treats Gao Er and Gao San completely differently from Gao San.

The past two years did emphasize all-around development in morality, intellect, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor, but once students reach Gao San, the pressure increases significantly.

All club activity time is converted into class or remedial lessons; dismissal is only on Saturday evening, and they must return to school by Sunday noon.

But this doesn't concern Li Luo and his group for now.

After the dismissal bell rang, Li Luo gathered the Class 8 students and headed toward the cafeteria, choosing a large spot in the northeast corner on the first floor as their main dining area—rarely used for lunch.

Once most of Class 8 had arrived, Li Luo somehow produced several cases of milk and handed one out to each student.

After distributing them, he grinned and said: "We've known each other for quite a while now—I'm truly grateful for your support this semester."

"But we're still students, with limited means, so we're using the cafeteria's space and toasting with milk instead of alcohol—wishing you all a pleasant holiday."

"I hope Class 8 students will keep pushing forward next semester, grow together, and create glory."

As he spoke, Li Luo raised his bottle of milk.

Class 8 students burst into laughter, raising their milk bottles in mock solemnity; Zhang Guohuang even shouted at the top of his lungs: "Long live Class 8 of Gao Yi!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Not everyone here was from Class 8—other students from different classes were also seated nearby, watching the scene with a mix of awkwardness and excitement.

Many girls who knew Li Luo well couldn't help glancing at the standing boy, their eyes sparkling.

Though adults might find toasting with milk childish, for Gao Zhongsheng, it was just right.

Being together made everyone feel less awkward.

After Li Luo finished eating first, since some classmates were still slow in line and hadn't finished, he somehow carried over a guitar, sat down at his seat, and began playing in the cafeteria.

"Wind, make clouds bloom with flowers, flowers filling the sky~"

"Silently blooming beneath dark clouds~"

"Then~ where do they drift to now~"

Yan Zhusheng sat quietly beside him, nodding slightly; as soon as she heard the lyrics, her eyes sparkled faintly.

Hmm… another new song.

"Beneath flying clouds, the home I thought I'd forgotten~"

"Whispering in my ears~"

"Telling me not to dwell on pain or fear~"

When Li Luo reached the chorus's climax, the rhythm instantly became more captivating.

Class 8 students, along with surrounding students from other classes, were all immersed in the atmosphere.

Even teachers who had finished eating and came downstairs paused to listen.

Ying Chanxi and Qiao Xinyan sat nearby, watching the radiant Li Luo; Qiao Xinyan couldn't help sighing: "Hey, your Li Luo really radiates charm all day long—look at how those girls stare at him? They're practically glued to him."

"What are you talking about? What do you mean 'your Li Luo'…" Ying Chanxi muttered softly.

Qiao Xinyan looked at her in confusion: "Isn't your cousin your Li Luo? Whose else would he be?"

"Umm…" Ying Chanxi, flustered, turned her head away. "I guess so."

Soon, lunchtime ended.

Rumors about Li Luo stirred up another wave across campus.

In just one semester, this Class 8 monitor named Li Luo had appeared repeatedly in people's casual chatter, becoming a favorite Gao Yi heartthrob among many girls.

But Li Luo acted as if he'd merely done something ordinary—after lunch, he and Yan Zhusheng headed to the Rock Club.

Niu Qingling, Xie Shuchen, and Shao Youpeng were all there; Qian Siliang hadn't come because he had another club activity.

As soon as Li Luo entered the Rock Club's activity room, he saw them preparing to move instruments and asked: "What's going on?"

"It's our club's fixed tradition before every semester break," Shao Youpeng grinned, pointing toward Houde Road. "We'll perform on Houde Road from 1 PM to 4 PM—three full hours, play whatever you want."

"There's an event like this?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow, instantly intrigued.

"It's a semesterly tradition," Niu Qingling chuckled. "The school usually forbids us from playing in public places, but on the last day of the semester, we're allowed to go wild."

"Perfect—after the performance, once we pack up, we can head straight for hot pot."

"Besides the five of us, who else is coming?"

Niu Qingling spoke, glancing at Xie Shuchen and Shao Youpeng.

Instantly, the two brothers perked up, beaming with excitement—

Xie Shuchen: "Ying Chanxi!"

Shao Youpeng: "And Xu Youyu!"

Watching their eager, enthusiastic expressions, Li Luo couldn't help twitching his lips, silently mourning for them.

The five of them, carrying their instruments together, arrived at Houde Road and found a suitable spot.

After briefly getting used to their instruments, they immediately fell into rhythm and started rocking.

No audience to please, no school-assigned task—just pure, unrestrained release of energy.

I have to say, playing outdoors like this is definitely much more enjoyable than being cooped up in the activity room.

While playing his guitar, Li Luo couldn't help but interrupt Yan Zhusheng's lines.

Meanwhile, the rock club's brilliant performance quickly drew in many students.

Many students attend club activities in the afternoon but don't necessarily stay with one club the whole time.

Especially clubs like calligraphy or literature, which have inherently limited activities.

So after a brief gathering in the afternoon, everyone dispersed.

But the students who came together didn't want to head straight home after school, so they began wandering around campus.

The boys headed to the basketball court to play basketball or went to play table tennis and badminton.

The girls walked hand in hand around the playground, watched the boys playing basketball, or were drawn by the noise on Houde Road and came over to listen to the music.

"That's Li Luo, right?" A group of girls from Class 16 strolled over from the basketball court; one of them nudged Shen Shuhua and grinned, "I saw him playing guitar at the cafeteria at lunch."

"Their Class 8 even held a farewell party in the cafeteria, and Li Luo gave everyone a box of milk," another girl said. "It's so cute—only he'd think of doing something like that."

"You say that like I'm incompetent," Shen Shuhua chuckled helplessly.

"Haha~ Don't be so modest, Shuhua—it's just that Li Luo is amazing!"

"Let's get closer and admire Li Luo up close."

"Dong Mengjie, aren't you in the literature club? Haven't you ever talked to Li Luo before?"

"I wouldn't dare," Dong Mengjie whispered, walking beside Shen Shuhua. "But during yesterday's literature club meeting, everyone wrote letters to their pen pals—I saw lots of girls writing to him."

"And what about Li Luo? Who did he write to?"

"I think he only wrote to Ying Chanxi and the club president," Dong Mengjie recalled. "He doesn't seem to have written letters to any other girls."

"Ying Chanxi is his cousin, but who's the president?"

"Xu Youyu—a senior from Grade 11 and the student council president."

"So does Li Luo like girls older than him?"

"Maybe he's just being polite," Dong Mengjie speculated. "After all, he's vice president—he seems to get along well with Senior Xu."

"Oh, by the way," another girl suddenly said, "do you remember the New Year's Eve performance? Didn't a female teacher give flowers to a male teacher on stage? Shuhua, why don't you try it?"

"Huh?" Shen Shuhua paused, glancing at the crowd now surrounding the rock club, feeling tempted yet shy. "That doesn't seem right… and where would we even get flowers?"

None of the girls were bold enough to just pluck flowers from the flowerbeds, so they all started offering suggestions.

"There must be some in the teachers' office—after all, it's the last day of term; they'll just wither there if left alone."

"That's true! I remember our homeroom teacher has several bouquets—I bet we could borrow one."

"Isn't Liu Yun the one who waters the flowers for our homeroom teacher? Taking one wouldn't be a big deal, right?"

The girls chattered excitedly, quickly came up with a plan, and sneaked into the teachers' office to grab a bunch of white butterfly orchids.

By the time they returned to Houde Road, the rock club had drawn such a large crowd that it was nearly impossible to squeeze through.

After finishing their own club activities, Ying Chanxi and Qiao Xinyan also drifted over to join the commotion.

Standing on tiptoes to peer inside, Qiao Xinyan couldn't help but exclaim: "Why are there so many girls? There are hardly any boys!"

"The boys are probably all playing basketball," Ying Chanxi muttered, frowning slightly as she noticed over 80% of the crowd were girls.

Then, as a commotion erupted around them, Ying Chanxi turned to see Shen Shuhua from Class 16, blushing furiously, handing a bouquet of flowers directly into Li Luo's hands.

Instantly, Ying Chanxi's brow furrowed, barely holding back the urge to rush forward and snatch the flowers from Li Luo's grasp.

At that moment, Li Luo himself was equally baffled, holding the bouquet unsure of where to put it.

After all, he still had to play guitar with both hands—there was no place to set the flowers down.

So he glanced around, then had a sudden idea: he picked up one of the white butterfly orchids and gently tucked it into Yan Zhusheng's hair, letting it rest diagonally atop her head.

"Don't move, or it'll fall."

"Oh," Yan Zhusheng felt the odd sensation on her head and, hearing Li Luo's words, stopped fidgeting.

Seeing this, Ying Chanxi couldn't help but laugh and shake her head, unsure whether to be angry or amused.

"This guy… how can he stick a girl's gift flower into another girl's hair like that?"