A Young Woman's Heart

Will Xiaoyao go back to her hometown this year?

"I probably won't go back. I might go back to my maternal grandmother's house."

“My sister and I are staying in Hangzhou this year,” Mo Zhuyou said matter-of-factly.

Mo Xueyao blurted out, "If you're too bored, why don't you come with us to the countryside?"

"No need, no need." Mo Zhuyou quickly shook her head. "It's quite nice to spend the New Year in the suburbs with my sister. Besides, it would be too much trouble to go with Xiao Yaoyao."

"Oh, you actually think about causing trouble for others?" Mo Xueyao teased playfully.

Even though she's the younger sister, she's much more mature than most people her age.

It's just that because she's always with her older sister, she seems a bit childish in comparison.

Even though the final exams aren't over yet, everyone is already dreaming about the happy life that will come with the holidays.

"When I go back to my grandma's house, I definitely have to try all the local specialties!"

"Does Youyou want to buy fireworks for the New Year?"

"Tongjue will be going back home at the end of this semester. This is the first time she hasn't spent the Spring Festival with her parents."

"Isn't the Spring Festival not yet?"

"Japan now uses the Gregorian calendar."

"Tongjue is actually leaving? It seems she ultimately failed to confess her feelings to Xiaoxi."

"She said she wanted to take Xiaoxi to Japan to study..."

"If this really works out, it doesn't seem so bad..."

The girls chatted more and more animatedly, which greatly eased their nervousness about going on stage to perform.

"Everyone's here?" Mr. Xue walked to the door of the band room with one hand in his pocket and a lollipop in the other. "It's time to gather and go to the auditorium."

"Ah, Xiaoxue, where did you get this lollipop?" Wang Jiale's eyes immediately fell on his hand. "It's an Alps lollipop!"

"Awen gave it to me." Mr. Xue chuckled as he handed her the lollipop stick, twirling it in one hand. "Would you like one?"

"I want to eat!"

"Lele is so cunning, I want one too!" Hua Yinyin refused to be outdone. As if by magic, Mr. Xue took out another one from his sleeve.

His gaze fell on Mo Xueyao and Mo Zhuyou's faces, as if asking them if they wanted to.

"Let's go—" Mo Xueyao wasn't interested in lollipops, and dragged Hua Yinyin, who already had one, out of the classroom. "It's time to go see the talent show."

"Didn't they say 8:30? Why are we gathering at 8:00?" Wang Jiale happily tore open the candy wrapper and stuffed it into her mouth, twisting the lollipop as she did so, making a slight sound as it clattered against her teeth.

"Let's arrange the seats in advance to avoid wasting time. Anyway, by the time all the students are seated and quiet down, it will definitely be after 8:30." Mo Xueyao thought of the last New Year's Day performance. "Besides, by 8 o'clock, most people should have arrived by now, right?"

"That's not necessarily true. Back in junior high, I never arrived at the New Year's Day talent show until 8:30!"

"How dare you say that..." Mo Xueyao slapped Wang Jiale on the head, and the latter exaggeratedly covered the spot where she was slapped and cried out 'ouch,' as if she wanted Mo Xueyao to take responsibility on the spot.

When Ye Wen returned to the classroom, the students were lining up in a chaotic manner. She tried to organize them, but she couldn't suppress their excitement.

"Everyone line up! One line for boys and one for girls!" Li Hongran shouted at the behest of Ye Wen. "Gao Yuan!! What are you doing standing in the girls' line?"

"Am I supposed to be in the boys' row?"

"Everyone behind you is standing in the wrong place because of you! Liu Xiaowei, don't stand so close to the girls, can't you see they're all disgusted by you?!"

Faced with Li Hongran's mockery, Liu Xiaowei silently raised his middle finger, but still obediently returned to his team.

It took a full five minutes for the line to regain its proper order.

Perhaps because there were no classes today, the students who came to school seemed as free and relaxed as if they were on a picnic.

This year, the seats closest to the school leaders were given to the first-year high school students, while the second-year students sat in the middle row.

Although a class of students may look like a large group when they walk in, they actually only occupy two rows of seats on one side when they sit down.

Some classes with fewer students don't even have enough seats in two rows.

"Girls, sit in the front row; boys, sit in the back row!" Ye Wen shouted with difficulty. In the noisy hall, her voice could hardly carry, and her throat was already hoarse.

Sure enough, it took almost half an hour for the students to sit down properly, and more than half an hour had already been wasted...

……

Chapter 246 The 2001 New Year's Day Cultural Performance (Part 2)

"It's starting, it's starting—" Just as Mo Xueyao was a little distracted, Wang Jiale next to her shook her and whispered, "Look! The class monitor is up there!"

"Huh? Wanyan?" Mo Xueyao was stunned. The first performance wasn't the play by Class Two, so why was Li Wanyan on stage?

She looked closely and saw Li Wanyan standing on the left side of the stage in a sharp black suit, while Shen Kelin stood on the right side of the stage in a beautiful evening gown.

Logically speaking, there should be two hosts, one male and one female, at the New Year's Day cultural performance, but today this rule was broken, and there were clearly two girls on stage!

"Don't you know, Xiaoyao?"

"Huh? You know?"

"I thought you knew. Of course I didn't know either. How could the class monitor be a host on stage? That's so strange..."

Sitting behind Mo Xueyao, the well-informed Gao Yuan said mysteriously, "It's said that the boy who was originally supposed to be chosen had syphilis, and the school replaced him at the last minute to avoid any negative impact."

"So Wanyan was brought in as a last resort?"

"More or less, it seems like it happened just two or three days ago," Gao Yuan replied, not entirely certain.

Although the host was replaced at the last minute, the suit was obviously a new one, otherwise it wouldn't have fit so well—a guy who can be chosen as a host can't be that petite, right?

Moreover, judging from the style, this should be a women's style, or at least a unisex style.

"Classmates," Li Wanyan began her opening remarks in a calm and steady voice.

As the sounds came from the stage, the students quieted down on their own.

"Teachers!" Shen Kelin said with a smile.

"Good morning, everyone." Then Shen Kelin and Li Wanyan said in unison.

Generally, the teacher is mentioned first, followed by the classmates, but today the order was reversed. I don't know if Li Wanyan misread it because she was too nervous, or if it was designed that way.

"The class monitor looks so calm..." Wang Jiale muttered, resting his chin on his hand. "If I were suddenly asked to go up there, I would be so nervous."

"Wanyan has always been like this, with a kind of composure even when things go wrong on stage?" Hua Yinyin praised without reservation.

However, Mo Xueyao did not think so.

She saw Li Wanyan unconsciously pressing her thumb tightly against her index finger; she also saw her slightly pursing her lips after saying a sentence; and she saw her pupils becoming somewhat unfocused when Shen Kelin was speaking, as if she was repeatedly reciting what she was about to say in her mind.

She gets nervous and uneasy too.

However, Mo Xueyao didn't tell anyone. She only planned to tease her a little in bed after she got home today. As for other people's impressions, let them misunderstand.

"Youth should never be wasted. The arrival of the New Year means that students' youth has taken a step forward, and they are also a step further away from their younger selves. The school carries our youth, so naturally we should sing a song here - please listen to the Grade 11 Class 1 chorus 'Yu Kong High School Song'!" After Shen Kelin finished reading the lines, she and Li Wanyan exchanged a glance, and then the two walked to the two sides and entered the backstage.

The dark red curtain was then drawn back, revealing a neatly arranged choir to the audience.

The school song of Yukong High School then began to play.

The school song is sung on very few occasions, so most students don't actually remember the lyrics, at most they only remember the somewhat familiar melody.

The school song seems to have a special magic, making many people unable to help but hum along.

"Rainy Sky, built in front of that hillside where wildflowers bloom..."

"Establishing a school for women was the initial direction..."

"...Looking back on a century of turmoil, the voices of the heart amidst the storms."

"Writing a new chapter for the century, embarking on a new journey..."

"...To fill the void in the nation's borders, I remain steadfast in my commitment, with the purest of hearts—"

"Singing with hearts full of hope for a lasting civilization, with a pure and devoted heart... everything is for the rejuvenation of China..."

"The sound of bells and the murmur of books, like spring flowers in full bloom, pave the way for a tapestry of beauty across the land. We laugh as the tide of wealth surges like a giant wave, and the mighty Zhejiang River flows across the four seas!"

Choir singing always possesses a particularly powerful and moving quality.

When the song ends, what we see is actually a rugged and difficult road, but that road belongs to the past. Our predecessors have paved the way, so that those who come after us only need to move forward into the future without confusion...

Many people applauded, but the applause wasn't all for them; much of it was for themselves.

After the students from Class 1 of Grade 11 left, the two hosts came back up, and this time Li Wanyan 'announced' the next program.

"A school song can stir up passion, and a battle song can stir the soul. Next, please enjoy the ancient-style dance of Class 1, Grade 12 - 'Lanling King Enters the Battle Song'."

When Li Wanyan left, Mo Xueyao clearly saw that her clenched fist loosened slightly.

Actually, we were already quite a distance from the stage, so the subtle movements weren't very clear. However, she could see Li Wanyan's subtle movements very clearly.

As soon as the music started, Hua Yinyin couldn't help but frown: "Wait, something's not right? This isn't the original song, is it...?"

"Yinyin knows?" Wang Jiale asked curiously as she leaned closer.

"Well, I study folk music, so of course I know. It sounds somewhat similar, but not entirely... It might be an adaptation by myself. I didn't expect our school to have such talented students. Well... it's just that the performance level is too poor."

The dancer was not a girl, but a slender but not thin boy.

He wore a mask, so his face couldn't be seen, but that only made him look more like the Prince of Lanling.

"No, no, this dance isn't professional..." Hua Yinyin said, putting a hand on Mo Xueyao's shoulder. "It's just a regular sword dance. It doesn't coordinate well with the music. I guess either the music was choreographed by someone in the family, or their skill level in other areas is too low, or... maybe I just haven't heard this kind of music before? It's been around for a while?"

"Yinyin is exaggerating so much, but I think it's fine, isn't it pretty?" Wang Jiale pouted.

Mo Xueyao said jokingly, "That's what you call being lenient with yourself and strict with others!"

"Tch, believe it or not, I think it's pretty average anyway."

After all, it was just a student performance, and it would be good enough if they could perform something decent on stage. Nobody had high expectations to begin with.

After all, it's impossible to expect every student to be a professional.

The New Year's Day cultural performance is not a professional performance; the most important thing is to let the students show their youthful vigor and confidence.

Moreover, the students' imaginative and whimsical ideas at the New Year's Day cultural performance can also inspire the teachers.