Chapter 114: Chapter 114: New Year's Eve Party
There were only a few days left until New Year's Eve, and time was tight. They were both the type of person who would do their best if they set their mind to it, so on Sunday morning, Huang Jingping sought her father's opinion and came back to find Feng Yiping.
A single guy's room seems to brighten up instantly when a pretty girl walks in. Wang Changning is used to going into the room, but Feng Yiping stops him. On New Year's Day, the two of them will be singing in front of dozens of people, so they need an audience now.
Feng Yiping always felt that Huang Jingping actually felt very comfortable here today. After making a few adjustments, she got used to the presence of a third person (or should I say, an audience member?). She started softly and sang.
She didn't say it, but after yesterday afternoon's practice, she performed much better. In fact, the song wasn't difficult to sing; the difficult part was the cooperation between the two of them. Now that they have let go of each other a bit, it's not that good, but the effect is still OK. If they were to be graded, they would at least pass.
Huang Jingping wanted to find a book to read, and when she flipped through the books, she came across the two books that Feng Yiping had read yesterday. After flipping through a few pages, she saw that they were full of boring and difficult-to-pronounce terms like growth rate, inflation rate, and interest rate. She felt a little overwhelmed, and when she saw the words 'textbook for regular colleges and universities' on the cover, she became a little curious. She asked Feng Yiping, 'Why are you reading this now?'
Feng Yiping, who had become accustomed to eating fried dough sticks, answered off the cuff, 'If you don't look at this now, where will you get the money to marry a wife and have children?'
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he felt that they were wrong, and he hurriedly apologised, 'I'm sorry, I was joking. I'm just more interested in this, it's a personal hobby.'
Huang Jingping was originally just a little embarrassed, but after hearing what he said, she inevitably thought more about it, stopped talking, and went back to putting on her headphones to listen to music.
The winter morning passed quickly. Before long, it was almost lunchtime, and Wang Changning came over to ask for advice, 'What are we having for lunch?' he asked with a smile, while looking meaningfully at Huang Jingping, who was sitting at Feng Yiping's table.
'Let's have a hotpot, it's simple and convenient,' Feng Yiping said.
'That's fine, but there aren't many dishes, so it's best to go and buy some,'
'I'll go,' Feng Yiping said, stopping by to ask Huang Jingping for her opinion. It's not good to send someone away when it's time to eat.
'Well, I'd better go back. My father is waiting for me to eat, too.'
'Let's go together. I'm just going to buy some food. Why don't you just ask your father to come over and eat with us? The atmosphere of hot pot is only there when there are a lot of people,' Feng Yiping said.
'Okay,' Huang Jingping said, 'I'll try,'
Feng Yiping went to the vegetable market, which only had a few stalls, and bought some cabbage, bok choy, vermicelli, tofu skin, etc. There happened to be a stall selling handmade fish balls, so he grabbed two catties of them.
When he returned to 502, he was surprised to find that Huang Jingping and her father had actually come. There was also a bag of apples on the coffee table, so I think Huang Chengzhong felt bad about eating for free with empty hands.
Huang Chengzhong didn't want to come at first. What's the point of having dinner with two kids he didn't know very well? But he could tell that his usually well-behaved daughter seemed to be interested.
This was a tricky situation. To stop it dead in its tracks would probably make his daughter feel embarrassed, and it would be a bit rude too. So he thought, why not take the opportunity to get to know them better? Who knows, maybe his daughter is just being wishful?
Anyone who has spent time in the public sector, whether they have made a name for themselves or not, has a knack for reading people.
During dinner, Huang Chengzhong observed carefully. Although Feng Yiping was actually the youngest of the three, a year younger than Huang Jingping and Wang Changning, he spoke and acted in the most mature way, even overdoing it. When he passed food to the other two, it was clear that he was like an adult looking after two children.
He felt a little strange. Was he pretending? It didn't seem like it, and it didn't look fake. Besides, if a child could fake it like that, then he or she would be really good at it!
So he was more or less relieved, and after the meal, he didn't ask Huang Jingping to go back with him and let them do their homework together.
After they finished their homework, Feng Yiping got in the mood. Since there were so many people there, let's make dumplings. As it turned out, he had dug himself a hole! The two of them had a great time, yes, a great time, except when they were kneading the dough and chopping the filling, they could help out a little, but at other times, they were just fooling around.
Huang Jingping was the same. The dumplings she made were all different shapes and sizes, and she thought they were quite good.
However, scenes like this made Feng Yiping feel as if he was living a little.
Food that you make yourself tastes better. They made a bit too much, so Huang Jingping took some home to show off to her father, and Feng Yiping cooked the rest in a pot, put it in a thermos and took it to school to cook for Xiao Zhijie for dinner.
They had been playing around making dumplings in the afternoon, so they were particularly late getting back to school today. It was almost five o'clock before they set off. Wang Changning rode his bike to take Feng Yiping, and Huang Jingping rode Feng Yiping's Merida.
By the time they arrived at the school gate, it had already grown dark. Huang Jingping returned the bike to Feng Yiping and resumed her expression of seeming gentleness but rejection of others, walking alone towards the classroom. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Wang Changning pushed the bike and asked Feng Yiping, 'Do girls change their faces so quickly?'
...
This year, New Year's Day fell on a Saturday, so the school decided to move the party to Friday night, as it was a holiday for first-year students.
After the fourth period that afternoon, the classrooms were abuzz with activity. The class leaders led the students in forming a U-shape with the desks, with the taller students standing on the desks or carrying the smaller ones on their shoulders. They passed the streamers with balloons attached from the ceiling to the floor, creating two diagonal lines in the classroom.
The blackboard was written in large block letters 'Celebrating New Year's Day', and a small string of lanterns was hung above it. The girls pasted words and some cartoon images on the window glass.
All of this, although simple, was the first time the class had collected a class fee to buy it.
The students, who usually like to hang around, were even more active today, running all over the school, occasionally returning to report on the progress and characteristics of other classes for everyone to adjust.
At 7:30, everyone sat down noisily. The monitor Zhou Liwei and the life committee member carried a few black plastic bags. On the tables facing the blackboard, they placed two oranges, a few candies, and a handful of melon seeds on each table—this was for the teacher and the leaders who might come.
Then the two of them placed a large handful of melon seeds next to each table, and as for the remaining candy, they gave it all to the girls sitting in a group.
Huang Jingping's second uncle, Mr. Huang, the political teacher, was the first to arrive, followed by the math, physics, and English teachers. Finally, Mr. Wang accompanied Vice Principal Zhang as they walked in.
With a burst of applause, Zhang Qiuling and Tang Shaokang made their entrance. Zhang Qiuling was wearing a skirt in the cold, and her face, which was already rosy, had been painted with blush – a characteristic of the makeup worn by TV presenters at the time, even those on the same station.
Tang Shaokang was wearing a suit, and had applied so much hair gel that flies couldn't stand on it.
That's not the worst of it. Listening to the two of them speak so seriously, 'It's the season of snow again, and the rooster welcomes the spring. At this time of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, our big family from Grade 2 Class 1 gathers together...'
Feng Yiping covers his face with his hands, unable to bear to watch. But the voice still stubbornly penetrates his ears, 'Looking back at 1993, we are proud...'
Ugh, it was cold, and I got goosebumps.
Luckily, the school hasn't yet adopted the bad habit of having the leaders and teachers speak first. After they finished their opening remarks, the real show began. The first program was a male chorus singing 'Singing the Motherland'.
I guess they didn't practice much together, and the singing was uneven, not like a chorus, but more like a cappella. Most of the people in it were also in the process of changing their voices, so the result really became the rock version that Feng Yiping was worried about.
However, at their age, in a mountain valley with little entertainment, the classmates still gave it a warm applause.
The next few performances were more or less the same, nothing particularly outstanding or anything particularly bad.
What Feng Yiping couldn't stand the most were the intervals between the performances, when the two hosts, with all seriousness, imitated what the presenters on TV said, learning to be sensational. He really couldn't stand this. When watching on TV, you can change the channel or mute the sound, but now he couldn't do anything, so he just sat there twisting around, feeling uncomfortable, and just hoping that his performance would be over soon so that he could go out and get some fresh air.
Their 'Prayer' was the ninth programme, and when they saw him and Huang Jingping come on stage from either side, an applause broke out immediately.
In fact, the two of them are somewhat similar in that they both seem gentle, but in fact they don't interact much with others. Feng Yiping, for example, gets along a little better with Xiao Zhijie, and then exchanges a little more with Feng Wen and Wen Hong in the row, while the other students in the class are just casual acquaintances.
Therefore, the chances of seeing their other side are quite rare.
Facing the dozens of people below, Huang Jingping seemed a little nervous as she took to the stage for the first time, while Feng Yiping was completely stress-free. Before the music started, he waved to the left and right in a very cool manner and said in Cantonese, 'Thank you everyone!' There was an immediate round of applause.
As the music started, the two performed reasonably well, after all, they had practiced for several hours, and they sang the four-and-a-half-minute song smoothly.
They actually got off lightly, because the song had only been released for a short time and not many students had heard it. The melody itself was beautiful and moving, so, at the moment, their performance was considered to be the best, and of course it was also the one that received the warmest applause and cheers.
Even before long after they started singing, students from other classes came running over to join the fun, and someone was even shouting from the corridor, 'One more!'
Of course, he and Huang Jingping had zero communication throughout the whole thing. Vice Principal Zhang and the teachers were sitting down below. You can't just stare deeply at each other like those male and female stars on the stage, and then take a few steps holding hands!
After bowing to the audience, he returned the microphone to Zhang Qiuling, and Feng Yiping quickly slipped out the back door. A student from an unknown class, when he passed by, casually patted him on the shoulder and said, 'Feng Yiping, you sang well!'
Huang Jingping, who had already gone back to the girls' group after leaving the stage, looked at Feng Yiping's back and let out a soft sigh.
The dormitory and the teachers' building were dark, but the classrooms on either side were lively, with either singing, laughter or applause coming from each one.
There were quite a few people wandering around the corridors like him, all of them watching which class's performance was good and staying there for a while. Many teachers did the same thing, wandering from class to class.
When Feng Yiping returned from his stroll, the teacher sitting there had also changed a few times. Vice-principal Zhang didn't know which class he had rushed to, and now the head of the teaching department was sitting there.
I don't know if it was agreed beforehand, but Zhang Qiuling shouted at him on stage to do a trick, and as it was a rare opportunity, everyone followed suit. The head of the teaching department also rarely complied with everyone's request and went on stage to do a break dance, the classic glass-cleaning routine.
The head teacher, who was usually serious and inflexible, in his forties, suddenly did this, and the contrast won him a standing ovation. The welcome he received seemed to have even surpassed the duet by Feng Yiping and Huang Jingping.
In short, the school was full of laughter that night. Although the standard of the performances was not high and they were purely for entertainment, such evenings could be considered rare bright spots in everyone's otherwise dull and stressful junior high school lives.
It was also on this joyous evening that a third-year girl, excusing herself to her peers to watch a performance by another class, snuck out and soon caused a huge commotion.