A Young Woman's Heart

Everyone seemed to be infected by her emotions, quickening their pace and rushing into the apartment, running all the way up to the fourth floor.

"Yinyin, why are you running so fast..." Wang Jiale gasped for breath. "You weren't in a huge rush, were you?"

"What? I just want to avoid getting wet in the rain."

"So...we were the idiots who followed her..." Mo Zhuyou mercilessly criticized herself, dragging others into it as well.

"She ran faster because the umbrella flipped over..." Mo Xueyao covered her forehead, but the first sheep effect was really amazing. In that short period of time, she hardly used her brain to think about anything. When she saw Hua Yinyin speed up, she just instinctively sped up as well.

Although the journey wasn't long, everyone's clothes still became a bit damp.

In summer, this level of dryness wouldn't be a problem at all; it would dry quickly even on rainy days. But now it's autumn, and if you want it to dry faster, you'll have to use a hairdryer.

"Phew—hurry up and get your instruments. We can dry them with a towel when we get there," Wang Jiale said, pushing open the door to her dormitory room.

Mo Xueyao nodded and was about to step into the room that Hua Yinyin had already opened when she suddenly caught a glimpse of someone who shouldn't be there.

"...Xiaoxue?"

"Ok?"

"Did you go to the wrong place...?" Mo Xueyao grinned. "Weren't you going to get your instruments?"

"Oh? Right..." Mr. Xue suddenly realized, "I need to go back to my dorm to get it."

"Pfft, even Xiaoxue can be silly sometimes," Mo Zhuyou chuckled.

"What do you mean by 'one is influenced by one's surroundings'? Look, even Xiaoxue has been influenced by Yinyin to become a bit silly!" Mo Xueyao shrugged, not forgetting to tease Hua Yinyin.

"What? What? Don't blame everything on me!" she shouted indignantly, and came out carrying her pipa.

"I'll go get the bamboo flute." Mr. Xue smiled, without a trace of embarrassment on his face. Even after doing something foolish, he remained as composed as ever...

On the way back, everyone should walk slowly, for fear of getting the instruments wet.

Even though there's an instrument case on the outside, who knows if water will seep in?

Especially the electronic keyboard that Mo Xueyao was holding in her arms, which belonged to Teacher Qiu Yi.

The exorbitant price made her hesitate to even think about when she would be able to afford it.

Even though such an expensive electronic keyboard should have a waterproof case, she wouldn't dare use it for experiments.

As soon as the girls entered the Great Hall, Mr. Xue jogged after them.

His bamboo flute was convenient to carry; he could just slip it into his pocket without worrying about getting it wet.

Of the five people, Mo Zhuyou's instrument was the largest. Even though it was packed in a special suitcase, which was more than half a person's height, it was quite a struggle to pull it.

"You're here?" Ye Wen had been waiting by their table for a long time. "The class monitor has already reported you up. You can go on stage in a little while."

"Hmm...so fast...how long?"

"Half an hour? At most," Ye Wen replied uncertainly.

"Are there any bands from other classes participating?" Mo Xueyao asked nervously.

"No, none of the other classes brought all their instruments. Only a few people brought their own, and they might be able to perform on stage later."

"Phew, that's good..." Mo Zhuyou breathed a sigh of relief. What she feared most was being compared to others. If the band only consisted of the two of them, she wouldn't have this worry.

By this time, no one was in the mood to eat anymore—except for Mr. Xue, of course, who calmly ate his dinner while waiting for his turn to go on stage.

Even Hua Yinyin only ate two pastries before picking up her pipa and tuning it. Although she looked full of anticipation, she must have been a little nervous inside.

"Relax, Youyou, just think of it as a rehearsal." Mo Xiaoxiao gently stroked Mo Zhuyou's head. "That way you won't be nervous when you go on stage for the actual time."

"Um……"

Shen Kelin was in charge of recording the order and arranging the students to go on stage. After a student playing the harmonica went on stage to perform, she quickly walked to the area where Class 2 was located and found the homeroom teacher, Ye Wen: "Teacher, the Class 2 band will be on stage soon. After the performance on stage is over, it will be their turn."

"Okay." Ye Wen looked at Hua Yinyin and the others. "Are you all ready?"

"OK!" Hua Yinyin raised her fist. "Absolutely no problem!"

"Uh... I'll do my best." Mo Xueyao coughed twice.

"It should be fine..." Mo Zhuyou felt a little guilty.

Wang Jiale was in no mood to answer at the moment; she was busy memorizing the sheet music, afraid that the content would leak out of her mind later.

"Let's go." Mr. Xue stood up with a smile, looking confident.

"Xiaoxue, aren't you nervous?" Mo Xueyao walked to his side and gently nudged his arm.

"Fortunately."

"You must have been on stage many times before, right?"

"Not many," Mr. Xue said with a smile.

“Xiaoxue definitely won’t be nervous,” Hua Yinyin said matter-of-factly. “Sometimes, I even wonder if she doesn’t have any negative emotions like humans!”

"Hehe..." Mr. Xue touched the bamboo flute in his hand, "I'm still a little nervous."

Although that's what he said, there was no sign of nervousness on his face; he seemed more like he was reassuring others.

After the previous student finished playing, encouraging applause rang out from below, and then they carried their instruments and walked onto the stage.

The stage was very simple, and there was only one microphone, so we couldn't expect too much.

"One microphone... So, Yinyin, you'll be the lead singer, right?"

"Hmm...okay, okay..." Hua Yinyin licked her lips, and at that moment, she looked even more nervous than Mo Xueyao.

Once on stage, it's impossible to start playing immediately; the instruments need to be tuned and positioned properly.

Except for Mo Zhuyou, who had to sit while playing the drum, everyone else was standing.

"Ahem, ahem..." Hua Yinyin cleared her throat into the microphone, "Um... um... um... what... hello everyone... nice to be here for the first time... we are..."

She seemed genuinely nervous, and kept glancing at Mo Xueyao halfway through her sentence, as if trying to get her to continue. Had she suddenly forgotten the band's name?

"Snow Music Band!" Mo Xueyao shouted hurriedly, actually already covered in a cold sweat.

"Xueyin~ Band!" Wang Jiale and Mo Zhuyou shouted along.

The atmosphere finally became lively.

……

Chapter Eighty-Eight: First Performance: "Fallen Leaves Are Like Potato Chips"

Note: Some content in this chapter is a tribute to K-on.

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Mo Xueyao stood in front of the unusually eye-catching elongated black and red electronic keyboard and took a deep breath.

Ye Wen borrowed a microphone and handed it to Mr. Xue, who was standing by the stage.

"Xiaoyao, can you use this?" Mr. Xue pointed to the microphone with a stand.

Mo Xueyao is the sub-lead singer, so logically, the microphone should indeed be given to her.

"Uh... cough um, how about giving it to Lele?"

"Huh? Why would I give it to you? I'm not the lead singer." Wang Jiale shook her head faster than a rattle drum.

The main reason is that there was no prior notice, which caught everyone off guard and made them much more nervous than usual.

Although they are only students of the same grade, there are already quite a few of them crammed into this auditorium.

What's more, there were also some people from outside the school watching.

If the performance is not good, it could be considered a disgrace to the school.

Actually, this is completely unnecessary worry.

Even that guy who sang off-key before didn't embarrass Yukong High School, let alone their relatively stable band.

"Here you go, Xiaoyao." So, Mr. Xue placed the microphone in front of Mo Xueyao.

No microphones were available for the other instruments.

However, Wang Jiale's bass can be connected to speakers, Mr. Xue's bamboo flute has a very penetrating sound, and the drum sound goes without saying. In such a closed space, it will resonate, and even without a microphone, there is no need to worry about its sound being drowned out.

Once everyone was in their positions, Wang Jiale cast an inquiring glance at Mo Xueyao, as if asking her if she wanted to begin.

"Why are you asking me..." Mo Xueyao thought to herself, then looked at Hua Yinyin who was standing a little ahead.

The latter noticed her gaze, hurriedly cleared his throat, and said into the microphone, "Ahem, next up is the first performance by our Snow Music Band! The melody and lyrics are all original."

"Wow--"

"That's amazing!"

"Which class's band is this?"

"Are you stupid? The school beauty with blue eyes is standing there, she must be from Class Two!"

The students below the stage whispered among themselves, their anticipation for the Snow Music Ensemble growing even stronger.

But correspondingly, the pressure has also increased.

"Hmm..." Hua Yinyin turned around and winked at Mo Zhuyou, only to find that she was so nervous that she started to daydream.

"Youyou..." Wang Jiale took two steps back and called out softly.

"Huh?!" Mo Zhuyou suddenly snapped out of her daze, then nodded nervously and raised her drumsticks to strike the strings, "One, two, three, four!"

The music then began.

Mo Xueyao breathed a sigh of relief; everyone was on track and following along very well.

It seems that my daily practice, which made no time wasted, was indeed effective.

This is almost like muscle memory, isn't it?

Only then did she realize that she had been daydreaming and hadn't been paying attention at all!

Luckily, I didn't play any wrong notes, or I would have been incredibly embarrassed.

The prelude was almost over, but it felt like something was missing.