“……”

The atmosphere suddenly became a little tense.

The girl was smiling before, because she was happy.

Now she was still smiling, but there was a hint of nervousness in her smile.

She was afraid that if her expression suddenly changed, the other person would think she was discriminating against him.

But she definitely didn't have any prejudice.

After all, she was someone who read this kind of novel.

However, just because she read it didn't mean that she was really obsessed with it and would force a CP (couple pairing) on people in real life...

All she could say was, respect.

My answer should be okay, right?

Tang Jian really didn't sign a barrage contract just to get some more comments.

He really felt that it was a bit perverted for normal guys to read danmei (BL/yaoi), but if Ji Lao (referring to himself) read danmei, wouldn't it be the same as guys reading male-oriented novels and girls reading female-oriented novels?

I'm very normal.

But why is she still a little at a loss, even though I'm so normal?

"Ah, I see... that's really good, haha."

The girl smiled stiffly and forcibly changed the subject: "It's such a coincidence, I originally thought I wouldn't meet anyone who liked this book as much as I do. I didn't expect you to have even heard the song... and even play it."

Yeah.

This feeling was also very subtle for Tang Jian.

After all, it was a special feeling to actually meet a fellow reader of a novel he had read in junior high school.

"Are you practicing singing?" Tang Jian asked.

"Yeah, isn't there a show tomorrow night? And I want to try out for the audition tomorrow morning," the girl said shyly.

Using this song definitely won't work.

Tang Jian was very sure.

It was like using "Oreimo (My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute)" to compete for the Mao Dun Literature Prize.

This kind of chuunibyou (delusions of grandeur) novel theme song with a bit of anime vibe would seem too unorthodox, even in a gala full of pop music and Douyin (TikTok) songs.

But since she wanted to try it, he could only wish her luck.

"Then good luck," Tang Jian said.

"Okay, thank you." The girl nodded with a smile, then looked at the boy and the piano app on his phone. "How about we collaborate?"

"..." Tang Jian was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "How would we collaborate?"

"You play the accompaniment, and I'll be the lead singer," the girl said enthusiastically. "We'll make a perfect match; I'll be the pearl, and you'll be the bi (jade)."

Pfft.

What kind of pig B (insult).

Tang Jian wanted to laugh, but he held it back.

Then, the girl continued, "If you agree, I can give you my physical copy that I use for evangelizing."

"You still have one for evangelizing?" Tang Jian asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I keep one for collection and one for evangelizing. They're both signed editions."

"And you'd just give it to me?"

Tang Jian didn't understand. Wasn't this kind of thing very important?

And he was a stranger.

"Yeah, it's rare to meet someone who likes it as much as I do. I'm willing to give it up," the girl said with a cheerful smile.

"..." Tang Jian felt ashamed when he heard this.

This girl obviously didn't realize that the first part of her sentence was pure love, while the second part sounded a bit suggestive.

But what she meant was that since he liked that novel, she was willing to give him her treasured physical copy.

Two people with completely different personalities from Qiu Meng...

"In that case, let's add each other on QQ first." The girl took out her phone, ready to scan the QR code.

If the other person was a guy, she would be a little hesitant, as it might be misinterpreted as having a crush.

But if he was gay, then it wouldn't matter.

That's the good thing about being gay.

It's so comfortable to be around gay guys.

Tang Jian took out his phone, pulled up the QR code...

"Run!"

Just then, two boys, one carrying a large cabbage and the other holding a head of lettuce in each hand, rushed towards the dorm in the night, also calling Tang Jian to join them.

After a "beep" sound, Tang Jian had no choice but to nod slightly to the girl and run with them...

Leaving the girl staring in astonishment at the backs of these boys.

Cabbage and lettuce thieves?!

……

"I saw Tang Jian hitting on someone again, scanning QQ codes with a girl," Zhou Yu said.

"What do you know? That's Director Tang going deep into the grassroots to comfort single little-dimpled female comrades," Chen Yuan said.

"Hey, just gathering material," Tang Jian explained.

"What's the difference between you and a writer who sees every prostitute as gathering material?" Zhou Yu retorted sharply.

"That's not a prostitute; that's washing away the mud of the world."

"Wow, today's your story is the most exciting."

Tang Jian could only say that he was used to the two of them doing a comic dialogue here.

And so, everyone used illegal appliances in the dorm to cook illegally stolen vegetables, drink illegal alcohol, and eat hot pot illegally...

Anyway, with Zhang Chao, the class monitor, and Chen Yuan, who was a school T0 (top tier), there was nothing to be afraid of.

After a few rounds of drinks and finishing the food, everyone cleaned up the hot pot and went to bed.

Tang Jian took out his phone and saw the girl's message.

SugarFreeNasaki: Hello, my name is Yin Yu. What's your name?

SugarFreeNasaki: You'll come, right? You'll come, right?

If I wasn't a "nan tong" (homophone for "male prostitute" but used as a self-deprecating term for gay men), Teacher SugarFree probably wouldn't be so enthusiastic towards me.

After all, she was quite pretty. According to Chen Yuan, she was a cute girl with dimples as her most prominent feature.

Moreover, she was a particularly innocent girl who didn't even realize that she had said something misleading.

But collaborating with her meant a very high chance of being eliminated, almost 100%...

Wasn't that even better?

Anyway, I didn't want to participate in the first place.

Moreover, I could get a signed edition of a danmei novel for free.

It was indeed quite a good deal.

And so, he opened the music app, found the song, and used a conversion app to turn it into a piano score...

………

The next morning, while the drunkards were still sleeping in, Tang Jian went to participate in the audition.

The auditorium was full of people.

And the vast majority of them were singing.

After all, there was no rehearsal time, so singing was the easiest.

The auditioning students came from various schools, and the process was very fast. After singing, they went offstage to wait for the judges' results.

So, it was soon their turn.

The two of them took the stage in front of everyone.

When Yin Yu announced the song title while holding the microphone, everyone was okay, at most just surprised that they hadn't heard the song before. But when Tang Jian walked onto the stage, sat down in front of the basically decorative piano, and sat up straight, everyone's eyes lit up...

"There's even a young master playing the piano?"

"And he doesn't look that handsome, but how does he suddenly become so handsome after playing the piano?"

"His hands are so beautiful..."

Everyone's focus was on Tang Jian.

This made Yin Yu a little nervous.

But as his piano music began to play, she entered the rhythm and sang with great confidence...

"Hiss, what song is this? I've never heard it before."

"It feels weird, is it some anime theme song?"

"It's a bit..."

"Yeah... hard to judge."

Not only did the students think so.

The older judges also felt the same way.

However, they were very interested in the boy playing the piano.

They could tell that he wasn't just a piano enthusiast; he was at a relatively advanced level in piano grading.

He was quite good for an amateur.

Having a program with a piano at the gala would make it seem more high-end.

But he couldn't be paired with this girl.

And so, the performance ended.

The judges nodded, and the two of them went offstage.

"You're amazing! You played so well even though you've never practiced it before," Yin Yu said admiringly.

"There's a score, and it's not very difficult. It's a simple melody," Tang Jian said.

"You're really humble. I feel like the whole quality was elevated with your accompaniment," Yin Yu really thought Tang Jian was great.

"Teacher SugarFree's level is also very high," Tang Jian said.

"Ah, why are you calling me by my online name, and adding 'Teacher'..."

"When three people are walking together, one of them is sure to be my teacher. Everyone is a teacher."

"Haha."

While the two of them were chatting, a tall, slender girl with very white skin and a great figure, who wore her wavy long hair down, revealed a goddess-like alluring smile and quickly said to Tang Jian, "Handsome, can you come here for a moment?"

Tang Jian ignored her and continued walking forward.

"I think someone's calling you."

At this moment, Yin Yu whispered to remind him.

"Ah?" Tang Jian was stunned for a moment, and then he saw the very attractive beauty who gave off a fragrant scent from afar.

Handsome?

Calling me?

Tang Jian really was gay, pretending not to hear such a pretty girl calling him.

This made it easier to be friends with her.

After all, there was no need to worry about an awkward friendship turning sour when making friends with a gay guy.

However, why was she calling him?

Yin Yu didn't understand.

Then, she secretly sat down in the row two rows above the two of them, pricking up her ears to eavesdrop.

Just now, she also heard many people questioning the song she sang.

At the same time, many people were paying attention to Tang Jian, thinking that he was great at playing the piano, and that he looked handsome while playing the piano.

So, was she calling him to...

"Come on, have a seat." The girl patted the seat next to her and said sweetly to Tang Jian.

"Oh." Tang Jian sat down.

Then, the girl said with an admiring expression, "You're so amazing! You play the piano so well! I really admire you."

This woman is a bit...

Of course, she was definitely a great beauty.

But she would definitely never be interested in me.

She's probably trying to take advantage of me.

"Thank you. So, is there something you need?" he asked.

"How do you know a girl from our Changjun (school name) and even participate in a program with her?" the girl asked curiously.

Tang Jian replied, "We met at the base, she mentioned it, and then we collaborated."

"She mentioned it?"

"…Yeah."

"Oh, so she asked you to help?"

"Collaborate, I guess."

"Ha..." The girl smiled, and then shrugged her shoulders and said, "I feel like your abilities don't really match this kind of non-mainstream song. If it weren't for you, she would sing even worse. So, you're just helping her."

"..."

These words were very harsh.

So harsh that Yin Yu clenched the school pants on her thighs.

The girl's voice was very soft, probably not knowing that she was right behind her.

But the knife in her words played a wounding role.

And it was still stabbing.

"She's quite cute, and pretty. Are you helping her because you like her?"

After the girl finished joking, she asked very proactively, "Since she's definitely going to be eliminated, do you want to choose to help me?"

"Then what's the benefit of helping you?" Tang Jian looked at her and asked.

Hearing this, Yin Yu clenched her pants even harder.

Her cheeks were also slightly red.

Nervous, her earlobes felt as if countless small needles were pricking them, making them particularly itchy...

"The benefit, well... how about a strong alliance?"

After thinking for a while, the girl looked at him and said quite expertly, "Also, let's be friends. Since you're making friends with people from Changjun anyway, why not choose a prettier one?"

This girl was definitely a master at keeping dogs (derogatory term for simps).

She could be said to be a master in this regard.

Most people could be said to be completely unable to resist.

But I'm different.

Because I'm Ji Lao (referring to himself).

"Okay, then let's choose a prettier one."

In the end, Tang Jian made a decision.

The girl smiled with a particular sense of accomplishment, looked at Tang Jian, and said, "Then let's practice hard later and try to win the most popular program award..."

Before she could finish speaking, Tang Jian stood up.

"?" The girl was stunned, not understanding what he was doing.

Then, she watched Tang Jian nod politely to her, turned around, and prepared to leave...

Wait, are you blind?

Can't you tell who's prettier?!

You are indeed prettier, but you're a bad woman.

Moreover, for people like you who are pretty but don't give any 【beep】, we all give a score of zero.

Tang Jian walked to the back row like this...

Then, he saw Yin Yu in the row behind.

So, she heard what I said earlier…

Yin Yu's face turned red for other reasons.

She sat stiffly in her seat, lowered her head, and a strand of hair fell to the side.

And next to her, a boy also sat down, with his hands on his thighs, a little stiff...

"Haha, we're like on a blind date. It's so awkward, huh."

Yin Yu raised her head, looked at Tang Jian, and joked to liven up the atmosphere.

It was clearly a slightly ambiguous joke...

But coming from her mouth, it felt so innocent.

Or was it because she knew I was gay that she didn't pay so much attention to it?

But if she knew that I was pretending to be gay, would she think that I was doing it to get close to her…

No, I wasn't pretending to be gay.

"It's okay," Tang Jian said as calmly as possible.

And so, the two of them fell silent again.

Then, after a long while, she said gratefully, "Thank you."

"Thank you for what?"

Yin Yu thought of that kind of thing and said awkwardly, "If you were really poached by someone else, I would be very embarrassed. Later, I wouldn't know what kind of expression to have. Going back alone would also feel very embarrassing..."

That's true.

It wouldn't feel good to have your partner snatched away and your program not selected, while having to watch him go on stage with someone else.

"You're welcome," Tang Jian smiled lightly and said, "We're friends, after all."

"..."

Hearing the word "friend," a feeling of emotion filled Yin Yu's eyes.

He considered me a friend even though we just met?

Or was he just comforting my low mood?

After all, if you were choosing a girl from Changjun to be friends with, that girl was indeed prettier...

Oh right, he's that.

So, he was just maintaining my image as a friend.

Looking at Tang Jian, a boy who she had just met but felt like she had known for a long time, and who she could almost tell anything to, she slowly reached out her hand and gently hugged him.

A spring breeze came, gentle and lingering.

A soft sensation enveloped him.

Tang Jian's face turned red from being hugged by the girl.

And this feeling was undoubtedly the throbbing of youth.

But this throbbing stopped abruptly.

"Thank you, sister."

"..."

Damn it, I'm Ji Lao, not a sissy!

No, I'm not Ji Lao!

——

Today I met four high school students in a restaurant, and then I heard them talking about "My Superpower Refreshes Weekly". Two of the four were reading it, and they were even genuine Qidian (webnovel platform) readers.

: Have you read this superpower novel on the charts?

: The male protagonist is pretty stupid, but he's very interesting. You can tell it was written by an 8u (internet slang for forum users).

Young men, I advise you to be careful. Our Source Friends (a community of readers) won't speak up for you if something happens!

(End of Chapter)