A Young Woman's Heart

"I—" Now only Lu Chengyuan was left with her hand raised.

“Okay, then after school, Mr. Xue, Li Wanyan, Mo Xueyao, Gao Yuan, Lu Chengyuan, Wang Jiale…” She felt like she had forgotten someone, and when she looked down at the stage, she immediately saw Hua Yinyin’s eager gaze. She paused for a moment and then said, “Hua Yinyin, you guys come to my office.”

"Okay!"

"Ok."

"Ok!"

The responses rose and fell in cadence, and although no one knew what was going on, they instinctively felt that something important must be happening.

Perhaps the competition should be open to people who can play musical instruments?

Thinking of this, Mo Xueyao felt a little nervous. After all, she had only been learning for such a short time and was still a complete novice...

……

"Miss, what's wrong?" the driver in the front of a spacious black sedan asked in confusion.

"Hmm, it looks like a public service announcement."

"It's from Yukong High School."

"It's posted here... Nianlu, I'll go down and take a look."

"Would you like to join us, Miss?"

"Hmm...it's a charity event." The person sitting in the car was Zuo Ziya, and the person driving in front was her driver and personal secretary.

As she said this, she pushed open the car door and got out.

This is actually just an ordinary bus stop. There is a rain shelter on the platform, and the supporting surface behind it has been turned into an advertising area. People often come to replace the advertisements, which are mostly commercial advertisements, but occasionally public service advertisements.

"Even impoverished students want to learn musical instruments, hoping to make those 'noble' instruments no longer the exclusive domain of the wealthy!"

This is a very long advertising slogan.

Below is some relatively detailed information, as well as contact numbers for donations.

One-on-one financial aid is provided to help impoverished students learn musical instruments...

To be honest, poor students are generally more concerned about money for food, right?

However, we cannot assume that they are not qualified to learn musical instruments just because they don't have money for food.

Zuo Ziya's feelings were somewhat complicated.

She pursed her lips and thought for a moment, but instead of dialing the number, she returned to the car and said to her driver, "Nianlu, go to Yukong High School."

"Ok."

The black sedan slowly drove off and arrived at Yukong High School.

Zuo Ziya's family business is quite large, at least in Hangzhou. After explaining her purpose to the director of teaching, she was immediately taken to the principal's office.

"Principal Mo, this Miss Zuo would like to inquire about one-on-one sponsorship."

"Hello, Miss Zuo, you are the first one." Mo Kong stood up and extended his hand to her very solemnly.

"Hello, Principal." Zuo Ziya got straight to the point, "What are the requirements for a grant?"

"For now, it's a one-to-one sponsorship, with our Yukong High School contributing 80% of the money each month for three years."

"Oh, what's the total amount?"

"It costs 1,000 yuan a month in total. The first payment will be a little more, which will be used to buy musical instruments."

"Hmm..." Zuo Ziya felt that she had nothing more to ask, or that more detailed matters could be handled by others, and that she only needed to sign. "Okay, I will pay the full amount. You draft a donation agreement, and my secretary will handle the specific procedures afterwards."

"Ok, no problem."

Mo Kong smiled and didn't ask her if she was sure she wanted to pay the full amount. Someone who had the confidence to say that must not be short of money.

Moreover, the head of the teaching department had informed him of the other party's identity via internal phone before he arrived, so there was no need to ask any further questions.

After the two left, Dean of Students Yinling slightly brushed her sideburns aside: "I didn't expect someone to come so soon."

"Yeah, so those people don't know how to do anything, they just loaf around and wait to die. But now that we've started, the Education Bureau should think it's worth a try, right?" Mo Kong said with a hint of mockery.

"After this one-on-one sponsorship agreement is signed, which class will receive it first?"

"Hehe, of course it'll be used for Ye Wen's class first."

“Principal…” Yinling shook her head helplessly.

"Of course, it's more reassuring to entrust this matter to someone you know."

"But Ye Wen only has one year of experience as a homeroom teacher. In fact, I was against you making her a homeroom teacher last year."

“But she’s still doing a great job, isn’t she? There’s no need to be a teacher for several years before becoming a homeroom teacher. Don’t be so rigid.” Mo Kong lowered his head and took a sip of tea. “Let’s go and inform Ye Wen to choose the right person first. The process will be faster after that.”

"……OK."

……

Chapter Eight: The Band?

Although it's Friday, we're having Monday's classes.

Therefore, school ends at 4:35, not 2:50.

Li Wanyan first helped Ye Banxia catch the group of boys who wanted to skip their cleaning duties as soon as school started, and then went to the office with Mo Xueyao.

When we arrived, the others were already waiting there.

However, it seems that Ye Wen's last class was another class's Chinese class, so she hasn't returned yet.

"Where's Wen?" Mo Xueyao's gaze fell on the chair.

"Oh, she just went to the principal's office." Qiu Yi lazily crossed his legs. Despite being a very marginal subject teacher, he was sharing an office with a group of main subject teachers.

Perhaps it really is autumn. The evening sun is slowly setting outside the window, and the orange light shines into the office. Looking out from inside, you can hardly see anything but the gentle light.

Everyone waited in the office for another ten minutes or so before Ye Wen finally arrived.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting." Ye Wen sat down. "Today, I have something very important to announce."

"Oh—what is it? It's not a competition, is it?" Mo Xueyao asked doubtfully.

"Oh, did you guess it?" Ye Wen smiled. "It is indeed a competition, but besides the competition, as long as you get first place in the whole school, no matter what other achievements you get in the city, you will participate in some performances."

"Oh no! We have to go on stage?" Lu Chengyuan nervously clutched her clothes.

"Yes, to perform on stage... of course, you have to pass the school's performance competition first."

"I can't, I can't!" Lu Chengyuan shook her head vigorously. "Actually, I haven't practiced much in the past five years, just a little bit once a month. Going on stage is out of the question, I don't want to embarrass myself..."

"This is a very rare opportunity," Ye Wen said earnestly, looking at her.

"But... um..."

"And it's not just you going on stage alone. This isn't a solo performance." Ye Wen unfolded a notice on the table and pointed to the text on it, saying, "This time, we're forming a band of three to five people. So firstly, I hope everyone participates voluntarily, and secondly, I hope everyone who participates is a student with a high skill level. That way, we have a chance to win first place in the whole school and then go out to compete."

"I think...it's impossible..." Lu Chengyuan was already having second thoughts. "It really won't work! Sorry, I was exaggerating just now...!"

"Hmm... what about the other students? How many of them can play medium to large-sized instruments?"

Li Wanyan remained silent, as she had come with Mo Xueyao. Although she could also play the electronic keyboard, her skill level was not as good as Mo Xueyao's, so it was better not to embarrass herself.

"Ahem... a band..." Mo Xueyao seemed both excited and nervous. "I don't mind, but... I've only been learning the keyboard for less than a year, and I'm self-taught. Is it really okay?"

"Oh, Xiaoyao's keyboard skills are definitely up to par!" Qiu Yi gave a thumbs up. "I'll teach you other techniques later, so don't worry about participating!"

"Band—!!" Hua Yinyin finally snapped out of her reverie, jumping up and down and raising her hands. "Teacher, I want to join! Let me be the captain! I've been learning instruments for ten years, I'm the most experienced!"

"...Let's decide that later." Ye Wen patted her helplessly. "Okay, where's the rest of you?"

"Excuse me, teacher! Does the band need to stay behind every day to practice?" Gao Yuan asked, unusually earnestly.

"Of course, but not every day. Most of the time I have to practice. At most, I might not stay one day a week... That's generally how it is." Ye Wen wasn't very experienced, but music is something that truly requires years of practice offstage for even a minute on stage. Proficiency is very important.

"Oh... then I probably won't have much time, because I often have to do other things after school..." Gao Yuan chuckled awkwardly.

"Shall we go to the arcade?" Mo Xueyao glanced at him sideways.

"Ah...haha...cough...that's just occasionally, uh...sorry, it's me, I have a lot of tutoring classes...uh...um..." Gao Yuan, who is usually quick-witted, seemed to be speechless at this moment, as if she was thinking about something else, and her expression was a little down.

Ye Wen smiled and didn't ask any further questions, instead turning her attention to the others.

“Hmm, I’m fine, but…doesn’t Xiaoyao and I overlap? I study piano, and Xiaoyao studies electronic keyboard, it seems like we’re similar…” Wang Jiale tilted her head and looked at Mo Xueyao.

This made the latter's heart skip a beat. After spending a lot of time with the girls, she was able to interpret some of the implied meanings. Actually, it wasn't really interpretation, but she would sometimes overthink things, especially when the atmosphere was a bit dull.

"Oh... well, I'm definitely not as good as Lele, so maybe I shouldn't participate?"

"Eh?! Xiaoyao, I... that's not what I meant!" Now it was Wang Jiale who panicked a little.

In fact, Mo Xueyao just felt that she might be a bit superfluous. She was not very confident in her own abilities to begin with, and she said it frankly without blaming Wang Jiale. But to Wang Jiale, it sounded like she was saying something out of spite.

"It's okay, Xiaoyao can be the keyboardist, and Lele can be the pianist!" Hua Yinyin said with the air of a team leader, pressing down on their heads, "No one is superfluous!"

"Um... well, I can learn other instruments."

"Ah! No need, no need, Lele should play the piano instead," Mo Xueyao quickly said.

Wang Jiale felt that she was still angry, so she pouted and muttered softly, "Xiaoyao, don't be angry."

"Huh? I'm not angry..." Mo Xueyao replied blankly.

"Is it too late to learn another instrument?" Wang Jiale coughed lightly and looked at Ye Wen.

"If you have a foundation, it should be enough time."

"Hmm! I want to learn bass! I've always wanted to try it~" Wang Jiale said with a smile, "So Xiaoyao doesn't need to worry."

"Um...sorry, I took your seat." Mo Xueyao scratched her head awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

"It's okay, it's okay, as long as we can be together, that's fine," Wang Jiale said with a generous smile.

Generally speaking, Wang Jiale should be the one sulking.

She wanted to take care of Mo Xueyao to show her maturity, even though Mo Xueyao was not what she thought at all.

Indeed, even the closest female friends can have their relationship strained by such incidents.