Chapter 9

By the time An Rong and Xu Xiaoye arrived, there were barely anyone left in the dining hall. Everyone else had wrapped up early and eaten long ago.

Xu Xiaoye looked at the food on An Rong’s tray and the especially tiny portion of rice, then asked in surprise, “That little? Will you actually get full?”

She had been exercising heavily all day, was still a teenager and growing, and had barely eaten anything at lunch. The food on her tray now wasn’t even particularly high in calories or sugar.

An Rong gave a quiet “Mm” and said, “It’s enough. Mostly because I need to lose weight.”

She ate slowly, chewing carefully, even eating the grains of rice little by little. After swallowing, she added, “And even though I don’t have any foundation either, it’s not that I don’t care. I want to win.”

What Xu Xiaoye had said back in the dance studio really had been An Rong’s mindset in her previous life at the beginning.

But people changed.

Later on, what she wanted was no longer the short-term pay of two hundred yuan a day.

It had become a career—or perhaps, at that time, a dream.

It was a strange feeling, but she desperately wanted this opportunity.

Her words surprised Xu Xiaoye a little, but after thinking about it carefully, they also made sense.

After all, An Rong was already here.

Xu Xiaoye looked up and seriously asked, “Do you want to win this competition, or do you want to debut in the girl group?”

An Rong looked steadily at Xu Xiaoye.

“I want to debut. This time.”

With you.

If she couldn’t debut together with Xu Xiaoye this time, then the connection between them might end here.

Her serious expression didn’t look fake or joking at all.

But could a seventeen-year-old high school student really decide the direction of her entire life?

Xu Xiaoye found it a little hard to believe.

Although from the first moment she had seen An Rong, she had thought the girl was genuinely very talented, choosing a path that could affect the rest of her life wasn’t something a teenage minor could decide so easily.

But there were probably cameras all around them now.

Xu Xiaoye frowned slightly, then smiled and said, “Then let’s work hard together! I believe in you.”

An Rong knew it was the kind of thing people said for the cameras, but she was still extremely happy.

After dinner, the two returned to the dorm.

Before they even walked inside, they could already hear laughter and cheerful chatter filling the room.

Young people naturally became familiar with one another easily. On top of that, now that the teams had been assigned, nearly everyone on the same team had chosen beds near one another.

After training together during the day, there was naturally plenty to talk about at night—getting to know each other better or discussing how the day’s training had gone.

An Rong took her instrument out and adjusted it.

When Xu Xiaoye saw it, she curiously leaned closer and asked while watching, “Is that an erhu?”

Xu Xiaoye hadn’t had much contact with traditional instruments.

It looked like one.

Besides an erhu, she couldn’t think of any other instrument that looked like this.

An Rong finished adjusting it, rested the instrument against her leg, shook her head, and smiled.

“No. I used to study erhu, but last year I switched to this. It’s a Shaoqin. It’s fairly similar to an erhu, but the sound isn’t as muffled, and its lower register is richer.”

Xu Xiaoye could play guitar and had heard erhu music before, so she basically understood what An Rong meant.

An improved version, then.

How could An Rong possibly let such a perfect opportunity to show off pass her by?

She immediately raised a brow and asked with a smile, “Want me to play something for you?”

Xu Xiaoye stood up and rummaged through her suitcase, pulling out a packet of instant coffee.

“Wait. Let me get ready first. Feels like this is the kind of thing you should drink tea while listening to, but I don’t have any tea, so I’ll make do.”

She took the kettle outside to boil some water.

Before long, she returned carrying it, and the slightly bitter aroma of coffee soon drifted toward An Rong.

Xu Xiaoye sat upright at the table with a white porcelain mug cupped in both hands, looking so formal and proper that An Rong felt a little uncomfortable.

An Rong turned on the tablet on the table and said to Xu Xiaoye, “I haven’t memorized the score yet. I’ll need to look at it.”

Xu Xiaoye set down her mug, took the tablet from An Rong, and rested it on her lap.

Then she leaned forward to look at the screen.

The height seemed a little too low, so she crossed one leg over the other, raising her knee, and propped the tablet upright against it.

“Is this okay?”

An Rong frowned slightly and blinked.

Xu Xiaoye enlarged the page a little and scrolled downward.

An Rong nodded.

“That works.”

The Shaoqin had a bright, clear tone.

As soon as the introduction began, the voices outside gradually quieted.

An Rong played while Xu Xiaoye hummed softly along.

Before they had even reached the end of the verse, several people who had heard the sound had already gathered by the doorway to watch.

An Rong had started learning erhu when she was ten, so she had been studying for seven years by now.

Two years earlier, her teacher had bought a Shaoqin and discovered that it really did have certain advantages over the erhu.

But he had played erhu for decades.

After playing around with the Shaoqin for a while, once the novelty wore off, he decided he still preferred the erhu. Some of its shortcomings were also part of what made the erhu itself—much like a parent looking fondly at his own child.

So he gave the Shaoqin to An Rong.

An Rong had been able to sit still and focus since she was little. She had a good ear for music and natural talent, so she learned extremely quickly.

She genuinely enjoyed it too.

Ever since she was young, whenever she went to her godmother’s house, everyone else would run outside to play.

She wouldn’t.

She would sit there by herself listening to Hu Gensheng play erhu.

Eventually, she formally became his disciple.

Hu Gensheng was her godmother’s husband, but once she became his student, the couple’s roles were treated separately.

An Rong called Mrs. Hu her godmother, and Hu Gensheng her teacher.

The people outside had originally come over just because they heard music and wanted to see what was happening.

But after standing at the doorway and listening for a while, they stopped leaving.

They remained there until An Rong finished, then erupted into applause and cheers.

An Rong jumped in surprise and instinctively leaned backward, momentarily unable to think of anything to say.

Xu Xiaoye turned around.

Smiling, she called to the people crowded at the doorway, “Was it good?”

Xia Chunhua took the lead and shouted, “It was! Play another one!”

An Rong began putting the instrument away, glancing at Xu Xiaoye from the corner of her eye.

Holding the tablet in one hand, Xu Xiaoye raised her voice while still deliberately keeping the volume down, pretending to shout with great effort.

“She’s finished! Everyone disperse! Come earlier tomorrow!”

An Rong had already put the instrument away.

Although she hadn’t said anything, it was obvious she didn’t want to play again.

After teasing them for a while, everyone finally left.

Xu Xiaoye turned back around and gave An Rong a thumbs-up.

With the corners of her mouth raised, she said, “That was amazing!”

An Rong pressed her lips together and smiled a little shyly.

Mostly because in her previous life, by the end, Xu Xiaoye had heard her play so often that she would constantly order An Rong to “scrape one out.”

Play something.

Xu Xiaoye always called playing the strings “scraping the strings.”

The moment she opened her mouth, it was always:

“Rong’er, scrape one out.”

Starting over from the beginning and suddenly returning to this kind of solemn appreciation felt a little strange to An Rong.

Still, this state probably wouldn’t last very long…

Xu Xiaoye asked curiously, “How long have you been learning this?”

An Rong said, “Six or seven years. Seven, I think.”

Xu Xiaoye praised her, “Impressive, impressive. That’s incredible.”

An Rong tapped the corner of her mouth, secretly pleased by the praise.

She even wanted to play another song for her, but it was already a little late.

An Rong looked at the small desk clock.

“It’s after nine. I won’t play anymore. Some people might sleep early.”

There were a lot of people in a shared dorm, and everyone had different schedules.

It wouldn’t be good to disturb them.

Xu Xiaoye picked up the coffee on the table, which had cooled to the perfect temperature, and drained it in one go.

She nodded.

“Mm. Right. Wash up and go to sleep.”

An Rong pointed to the tablet and asked Xu Xiaoye, “Can I take that and use it for a while?”

There were five people on each team, but only one tablet.

Normally, it stayed with the captain.

Anyone who needed it could come and borrow it, but no one had, so it had remained with Xu Xiaoye.

Since An Rong wanted it, Xu Xiaoye nodded and asked, “Are you going to practice dancing again?”

Xu Xiaoye shook her head and said, “No. I want to work out for a while and listen to the song at the same time.”

Xu Xiaoye’s brows rose in surprise.

Too many things had happened in the span of a single day.

She was already starting to see her little roommate in a completely new light.

She looked like a quiet, reserved little thing, but who would have thought she was so talented and hardworking?

Not bad.

Promising.

Xu Xiaoye felt like she had already praised An Rong far too many times today, so many that she didn’t even want to say it again.

She simply looked at her and nodded.

“Fine, go ahead. Don’t overdo it. Remember to stretch, or you’ll be paralyzed tomorrow.”

An Rong remembered.

She even planted her hands on her hips and stretched one arm toward the opposite side right where she stood, looking exactly like an elementary school student doing morning exercises toward the rising sun.

It was almost painful to watch.

Xu Xiaoye suppressed a laugh and waved her off.

“All right, all right.”

An Rong turned around and ran away.

Xu Xiaoye leaned over the back of the chair and thought:

Ugly-cute.

There was no one in the gym across the hall, so An Rong took off the earphones and simply played the audio out loud.

The music echoed through the slightly empty room, sounding especially loud.

An Rong turned the volume down and placed the tablet beside her.

She had been on the elliptical for half an hour when Xu Xiaoye walked in.

The moment she entered, she frowned and stood at the doorway staring at An Rong.

Being stared at made An Rong feel a little guilty.

She slowly stopped, wiped the sweat from her face, and asked in confusion, “Why are you here too?”

Xu Xiaoye helplessly rubbed a hand over her face and walked inside.

“That coffee was way too strong. I can’t sleep.”

She had already washed up and changed clothes.

But after lying in bed and tossing and turning, she still couldn’t fall asleep.

She didn’t have her phone, and An Rong had taken the tablet.

After staring at the instrument case beside An Rong’s desk for ages, she finally decided to come find her.

Even though Xu Xiaoye’s inability to sleep had nothing directly to do with her, An Rong still felt a little guilty.

She stepped down from the elliptical, breathing hard, and tentatively asked in an especially agreeable tone, “How about I give you a massage? I’m really good at massage too.”

Xu Xiaoye did a few stretches where she stood, then lowered herself into a plank on the floor.

Gritting through the effort, she refused.

“No need. I’ll move around for a bit. Once I’m tired, I’ll be able to sleep.”

An Rong turned the tablet volume up slightly.

Afraid the sound might carry outside, she even went over and closed the door.

Xu Xiaoye held the plank for over a minute before dropping flat to the floor.

Then she switched to a one-arm side plank.

She still had enough energy to talk to An Rong, although her voice rose and fell slightly with the effort.

“Have you opened up your shoulders yet?”

An Rong knew that at this point in time, she hadn’t.

So she pretended not to understand and asked, “What does that mean?”

Xu Xiaoye’s time was up.

She collapsed onto the floor and took a breath before getting up.

“Opening the shoulders means loosening up the shoulder joints and stretching the ligaments and muscles around them. You need to open your shoulders for dancing. It just hurts a little.”

An Rong blinked in confusion.

Then she asked, “I don’t understand. How do you do it?”

Xu Xiaoye walked over to the wall to demonstrate.

She stood sideways, with her arm and shoulder against the wall.

“There isn’t one fixed standard position. Just put your arm like this. If it feels too easy, raise your arm higher. Once you reach a point where it hurts, stop there and hold it.”

An Rong went over to the wall.

She lifted her arm and pressed it against the surface, but her body wasn’t turned sideways at all, and she couldn’t straighten her arm properly.

Still looking at Xu Xiaoye, she asked, “I can’t see my hand anymore. Is this right?”

Xu Xiaoye: …

Apparently, demonstrating wasn’t enough.

Xu Xiaoye had no choice but to walk over herself.

She placed a hand on An Rong’s shoulder and adjusted her body into the correct position.

With her other hand, she held the arm An Rong had [bailiantales.com]pressed against the wall and slowly, little by little, raised it upward.

They had both just finished exercising.

Their bodies were hot, carrying a faint trace of damp sweat.

Xu Xiaoye’s fingers were long and slender.

The hand pressing against An Rong’s shoulder was firm, while the hand holding her arm was soft, her movements as gentle as possible.

“How about this? Does it hurt?”

An Rong was momentarily distracted.

Then she suddenly realized in a daze that even after being reborn, she was apparently still a hopeless simp.

Ah.

The humility of love.

The door suddenly opened, directly facing An Rong.

Song Ran pushed it open and stared wide-eyed at An Rong and Xu Xiaoye.

It took her a long moment to find her voice.

“I—I wanted to ask if you two were still using the tablet…”

Xu Xiaoye let go.

An Rong peeled herself away from the wall.

The two of them answered in perfect unison:

“We’re done with it.”

Everything had been completely normal.

And yet, for one brief second, the atmosphere seemed to shift into something strangely subtle.

“I’m going back to sleep.” —Xu Xiaoye.

“I’m going to shower.” —An Rong.

The two voices overlapped perfectly.

And somehow, the subtle atmosphere became another degree more awkward.

Song Ran swallowed and cautiously walked inside.

She picked up the tablet from the floor.

“Then… I’m leaving?”

In order to prevent anything even more awkward from happening, Xu Xiaoye and An Rong, once again in perfect unspoken agreement, said absolutely nothing.

And so the awkward atmosphere became another degree stranger.

It lasted until Song Ran left the room and closed the door behind her.

An Rong glanced sideways at Xu Xiaoye.

Her gaze hurriedly darted away, though her peripheral vision lingered reluctantly.

She broke the silence first.

“It hurts a little. I’ll practice a bit longer.”

Xu Xiaoye smacked her lips and decided that the awkwardness just now had come completely out of nowhere.

Tracing it all the way back to the source…

It was all An Rong’s fault for playing that instrument!

Author’s Note:

An Rong: Simps will prevail!