The last day of this month fell on a Saturday, so Qin Tian and the others had no classes.
After having breakfast with Xia Nuannuan in the cafeteria, they had nothing else to do and went to the track and field stadium to watch the military training performance of this year's freshmen.
Looking at the upright instructors leading various freshman formations into the arena for the performance, the two couldn't help but reminisce about the Instructor Qi who had trained them last year.
Over the past year, Qin Tian and Instructor Qi had only been in contact once.
It was during the Spring Festival when Instructor Qi suddenly sent him a New Year's greeting message, followed by some good news.
It turned out that after finishing their military training, Instructor Qi had taken leave to return to his hometown to find his first love from his youth. He had summoned the courage to confess his feelings, and it had been a success.
Moreover, the two, who were already getting on in years, progressed quickly and immediately proceeded with wedding plans.
As Instructor Qi's hometown was too far away, and it was the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Qin Tian couldn't go to offer his congratulations. On the day of their wedding, he merely sent Instructor Qi a congratulatory text message and transferred a thousand yuan via his phone as a wedding gift.
Around twelve noon, the group chat for everyone participating in the welcome party program, led by the group owner Qian Ling, sent out a message tagging everyone, asking them to head to the auditorium where the party would be held at two-thirty in the afternoon for rehearsal.
Thus, Qin Tian and Cao Mingliang arrived at the auditorium mentioned by Qian Ling a few minutes early.
By this time, quite a few people were already in the auditorium. Besides the organizing student union members, most of the attendees were performers from various programs in the welcome party.
Among them, the majority were sophomores.
Although seniors were not prohibited from participating, the fourth-year students were already doing internships, busy with their careers and futures.
As for the third-year students, they had basically participated in all the school activities they were interested in and had little interest in this party.
The arrival of Qin Tian and Cao Mingliang immediately drew a lot of attention.
Both of them were quite famous on campus.
Qin Tian, needless to say, was an absolute campus celebrity.
Cao Mingliang, after his breakup, had become more unrestrained. Due to several significant disturbances he had caused involving girls on campus, he had also accumulated considerable notoriety.
"Qin Tian has a program too? Are you kidding me!"
"That's not like him. He already has Xia Nuannuan, why is he still joining in?"
"Exactly. We've been practicing for so long, finally wanting to shine and attract the attention of junior girls. Don't let us just be his foil again!"
"I see Xia Nuannuan is over there too, and so many people. Is this a group program for their class?"
"That's good. As long as he's not the only one stealing the spotlight."
"That's what we say, but why do I have a bad feeling?"
"Don't jinx it."
...
Catching sight of his wife, who was smiling sweetly and waving at him from across the way, Qin Tian walked over with a smile.
Most of the classmates from the two participating classes had arrived, and the senior student Wang Zijun, who was the bassist, had also arrived.
"Hey, you two are too unenthusiastic. You're almost late."
Wang Zijun said with a smile, lightly criticizing them.
"It hasn't started yet, has it? We're just being masters of time management."
Cao Mingliang said with a chuckle.
Hearing this, Qin Tian looked at him with a strange expression.
"Tian Ge, why are you looking at me like that?"
Cao Mingliang asked in surprise.
"It's nothing, I just think you're very similar to someone."
Qin Tian shook his head.
"Who?"
Cao Mingliang was even more bewildered.
"A talent also known as a master of time management. You'll know later, if you remember."
"What the heck is this? I don't understand at all."
"It's fine if you don't understand."
"Everyone, quiet down."
Just as Cao Mingliang was about to say more, he was interrupted by the voice of a member of the student union.
The surrounding clamor subsided, and everyone turned their attention.
"It's two-thirty, and I think most people have arrived, so let's not delay and start rehearsing!"
The male student from the student union proposed loudly.
"Senior, how exactly should we rehearse?"
Someone asked.
"We'll follow the overall flow of the party. Starting from the hosts coming on stage, we'll go up one by one according to the scheduled program order, to identify and fix any issues."
The male student replied.
The people present had no objections.
Thus, the rehearsal for the party officially began.
Coincidentally, the two hosts were the same pair from last year.
Both of them were now seniors, but since they majored in broadcasting and hosting, hosting such a party was a good internship opportunity for them.
The hosts on stage were enthusiastically delivering their opening remarks, and the participants of the first program were already preparing backstage to go on stage.
Meanwhile, Qian Ling and a few students responsible for logistics began distributing the prepared costumes to everyone.
Everyone had already tried on these costumes. Qian Ling had taken them back, cleaned and stored them, and was now reissuing them to everyone.
"There are changing rooms backstage. We'll go to the backstage to change and prepare two programs in advance."
Qian Ling announced loudly to everyone.
...
...
The rehearsal situation in the auditorium was known only to those present.
The student union members responsible for organizing had also instructed everyone present not to record videos and upload them, to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Around four in the afternoon, the military training performance of the freshmen concluded.
After being dismissed, the freshmen bid farewell to their instructors with reluctance.
Since the military training period was longer than last year, the bonds between many freshmen and their instructors were deeper.
After seeing off their instructors, the exhausted and hungry freshmen went to the cafeteria for a meal, then returned to their dorms to wash up and rest.
The male and female students could finally wear their own clothes. The girls also dressed up a bit, put on light makeup, and prepared to watch the welcome party that evening.
Inside the auditorium, several members of the student union ordered fairly rich boxed meals from the school cafeteria. After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they began the final round of rehearsals.
The welcome party was scheduled to officially start at seven o'clock.
Around six-thirty, freshmen began to enter.
The final rehearsal on stage concluded, and everyone sat down in the front area to rest.
The auditorium's sound system started playing music. Hearing the music on campus, freshmen hurried towards the auditorium.
"Siqi, why does it feel like so many people are looking this way!"
Xia Nuannuan whispered to Shen Siqi sitting beside her.
Shen Siqi gave her a helpless look and said, "It's no wonder, with someone's great figure, their presence is too strong in this dance costume!"