Chapter 20
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“Dinner gathering?”
Lin Hao found it a bit strange. After all, he and Qin Hailu weren’t particularly close, yet here she was inviting him to a meal after training.
But he wasn’t oblivious. He’d noticed the girls pointing, laughing, and whispering, so he had some idea. Could it be that Qin Hailu lost a bet?
“Yes, we’ve been training separately, boys and girls, for several days now. We’re classmates, but we barely know each other,” Qin Hailu explained, after pondering for a long time. Other than class meetings, the boys and girls hardly had any chances to interact.
“So, I’d like you to let the boys in the class know about our gathering this afternoon. We’ll be discussing the upcoming performance,” she continued.
A few girls had suggested a group dinner to take the pressure off, especially since inviting just Lin Hao alone would make most of them too shy to attend.
“Oh, sure. I’ll let them know.”
“Hey, why didn’t you ask me to pass along the message?” Liu Ye interjected, somewhat cluelessly.
Honestly, Lin Hao was starting to find him a bit slow. Qin Hailu glanced at him and replied, “Well, I hear you’re always getting extra training. By the time you notified them, everyone might’ve already eaten.”
“I…”
“Alright, alright, you can go with him to notify everyone,” Qin Hailu said, calming him down a bit before turning and leaving without waiting for Liu Ye’s response.
…
The boys were thrilled, and the girls were quietly excited too, though they still teased Qin Hailu to mask it. She didn’t mind, though; honestly, she had sort of thrown the bet on purpose.
After all, she was studying Peking opera herself—how could she not notice his poised presence? She just… wanted an excuse to get to know Lin Hao better.
While other girls might not have noticed, she thought she understood him well: on the first day of school, he’d worn Louis Vuitton, during the last exam he had a Burberry scarf, and his watch was a Vacheron Constantin. Oh, and his shirt on the first day had been custom-made, with gold-threaded initials. Her family was also doing well, running a business. They had quite a bit in common, and people often feel drawn to those similar to themselves.
Over the days of military training, things had become clearer. Lin Hao was in a league of his own among the girls’ favorites. Following him were a few like Niu Qingfeng and students from other departments.
Compared to other boys who were noisy, a bit sloppy, and thought themselves trendy, Lin Hao had a calm, reliable presence that felt solid and dependable—and, of course, there was no contest when it came to looks and physique.
…
That afternoon, the gathering didn’t start as planned, because, predictably, Liu Ye had been held back for extra training. As it happened, Lin Hao was supervising him, so Liu Ye’s pleading expressions went ignored until the training finally ended at 6:40 p.m. He was then hurriedly taken to wash up and change before they rushed to the restaurant across from the Central Academy.
The small eatery was well-known for affordable and delicious home-style dishes. Though not quite up to Lin Hao’s gourmet standards, the atmosphere was what mattered for such gatherings.
As soon as they entered, their classmates cheered, “Drink! Drink! Drink!”
Lin Hao had no choice but to accept three glasses of white liquor. He was accustomed to strong spirits, but he reminded everyone, “The alcohol is strong—if anyone hasn’t drunk much before, stick to beer and don’t overdo it!”
The crowd, mostly northerners, responded loudly, “Who hasn’t had a drink before?”
And with that, Liu Ye enthusiastically downed three shots, his face turning red.
Realizing the scene was getting out of hand, Lin Hao made a show of holding back, reminding class monitors Zhang Tong and Niu Qingfeng that, “If we get in trouble for drinking during military training, you two will be responsible.”
The crowd sighed in disappointment, but they knew Lin Hao was right, especially since they had sneaked out in batches for this dinner.
With the alcohol toned down, they ordered food, and the lively conversation soon filled the room. Some talked about the hardships of training, getting tanned, and eating poorly, while others shared dreams and plans for the future.
When the food was almost finished, Lin Hao discreetly signaled to Niu Qingfeng, who then asked, “Oh, I nearly forgot! Does anyone have ideas for our freshmen performance?”
“Yes!” the girls chimed in.
“Nope…” the boys answered almost in unison.
The girls had no shortage of performances ready: Hu Jing from Yunnan prepared a peacock dance, Zhang Ziyi and Mei Ting a Bollywood dance, Yuan Quan and Zeng Li planned a Peking opera duet, and Qin Hailu also had an opera piece ready.
The boys, however, looked baffled. They finally realized why the girls hadn’t worried about this—they were already prepared.
“Lin Hao, what are you planning to perform?”
Everyone instinctively looked to him for ideas.
“Me? I’ll march in place—no sense wasting all that training,” he joked.
“Oh, come on! You’re making my head hurt!” Liu Ye, who was genuinely talentless in these matters, complained.
“Yeah, you’ve got to help us figure something out!”
“Agreed!”
“…”
After all, this was their freshmen performance. Lin Hao had to quickly set expectations straight. “I don’t have much either! I’m busy with training every day and practicing the bamboo flute in the evenings. I was planning to perform ‘Journey to Suzhou’ on the flute. As for the rest of you, think of something together!”