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Secondly, it was still about her cleaning duties in the restroom. As she entered with a mop and bucket, she heard the laughter of several girls outside. They seemed to be discussing something with great enthusiasm.
Zhu Hui listened intently while mopping the floor. They were talking about a new student who had just joined the school. Seeing their excitement and intoxicated expressions, she realized the charm of this newcomer must be quite remarkable. Zhu Hui couldn't help but scoff, thinking how immature they were to be so captivated by a lower-grade student, losing all sense of reason.
Just as she was sneering to herself, a commotion erupted outside the restroom, followed by screams, clapping sounds, and laughter from the girls as if competing for attention. The girls inside the restroom quickly reacted to the noise and dashed out like the wind. Curious, Zhu Hui followed them to see what was happening. To her surprise, she found that the handsome boy they were raving about—who was said to be as charming as a blooming pear flower overshadowing a crabapple—was none other than Liao Chengwei's Song Yu. He was being cornered by a group of girls in the restroom, struggling to break free. Just when he was at his wit's end, he suddenly spotted Zhu Hui and exclaimed joyfully, “Sister Hui! What are you doing here?”
“That’s a question I should be asking you! What are you doing here?” Zhu Hui asked in confusion.
At that moment, the girls surrounding Song Yu felt a pang of jealousy as they saw him chatting with Zhu Hui. Their hearts sank, and it felt as if jars of vinegar had been overturned in the restroom, filling the air with an overwhelming sourness that made Zhu Hui's hair stand on end.
“Because starting this semester, we are officially schoolmates!” Song Yu said happily.
“What—did you actually apply to our school after graduating from middle school?” Zhu Hui stared at him with wide eyes, disbelief written all over her face.
“Yeah! Surprised?”
“You're really silly; our school is so far from your home. Why would you choose to come here?”
“Because of you!”
“Because of me?” Zhu Hui pointed at herself in shock, shivering slightly.
Song Yu smiled and nodded at her. “You won’t ignore me from now on, will you?”
“How could I... possibly ignore you?” Zhu Hui replied with a wry smile, feeling goosebumps rise on her skin as she glanced nervously at the girls nearby who were glaring at her like hungry wolves. She felt as if she were a sheep caught in a den of tigers.
“Then can we have lunch together today?” Song Yu asked sincerely.
“Ah, lunch?” Zhu Hui looked at him with difficulty, feeling anxious about what to do. If she agreed to eat with him, she feared being targeted by those girls who liked him and making her school life unbearable. But if she refused him, she worried about hurting his feelings. After a painful internal struggle, she ultimately decided to accept his invitation and go to lunch with him.
Another month passed in the blink of an eye. October, which should have been a season of fading colors and the quiet retreat of nature, was suddenly vibrant again due to a group of high school students from Beijing who had come to Nanhua High School for an exchange program.
Ever since these students arrived, the campus had been anything but peaceful. After school, they would gather together to throw parties and enjoy themselves. While their joy was infectious, it spread like a virus to others, especially to the students at Nanhua High School, who were accustomed to traditional exam-oriented education. They lacked immunity to such "viruses," and once infected, their hard-earned willpower would crumble in an instant, joining the ranks of those spreading this newfound exuberance. This situation left Principal Niu, who focused solely on academic performance, with a headache and deep concern that prolonged exposure to these students would negatively impact his own students' studies. It was no surprise; after all, the Beijing students had received a true quality education and possessed various talents. They could either play musical instruments or dance beautifully. Just recently, during the “National Day Celebration Performance,” they had outshone the local students completely, leaving them feeling utterly defeated. Naturally, Zhu Hui, the president of the student council at Nanhua High School, watched this unfold with resentment.
That evening, Zhu Hui had just finished her duties at the student council and was hurrying back to her classroom for evening study when she noticed a crowd of students heading toward the cultural hall. Confused by their sudden rush without any special event scheduled, she shrugged it off and quickened her pace toward the teaching building, anxious not to be late for her study session.
She burst into the classroom, expecting a scolding from her teacher for being late, only to find it empty except for Director Liu, who taught math.
“Hey—where is everyone?” Zhu Hui exclaimed, her eyes wide as she scanned the room in confusion.
“That’s what I want to ask you! Where did your classmates go?” Director Liu shouted angrily at her.
“I—They were just here waiting for evening study…”
“What do you mean ‘waiting’? In my thirty years of teaching, I’ve never encountered such a collective truancy!” Director Liu was fuming. Seeing Zhu Hui made him even angrier; he unleashed all his frustration on her, blaming her as class president for failing to keep her classmates in line and allowing them to skip class together.
Faced with this situation, Zhu Hui had no choice but to repeatedly apologize to Director Liu, promising that such things would never happen again. Seeing her so meek and pitiful, Director Liu felt somewhat guilty about continuing his tirade; after all, it wasn’t her fault that others had skipped class. So he picked up his books and stormed out in a huff without further reprimanding her.
Once Zhu Hui saw that Director Liu had walked away, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and straightened up indignantly as she muttered to herself, “Where did those damn fools run off to? I ended up being their scapegoat and got yelled at for nothing.” Suddenly remembering the scene she had witnessed on the playground earlier, she thought, “Could those idiots have gone to the cultural hall?” With that thought in mind, she dashed toward the cultural hall.
As soon as she entered, she was taken aback by what she saw: the hall was packed with people, a sea of black heads. The audience cheered and whistled at the performers on stage. Sometimes they couldn’t contain their excitement and applauded enthusiastically; other times they expressed their discontent with complex and varied expressions on their faces. Seeing them so animated puzzled Zhu Hui. Today was neither National Day nor New Year’s Day; if there were any artistic events happening at school, wouldn’t she know about it? Just then, she spotted her classmates sitting in the front row near the stage—they had indeed come here to join in on the fun. Anger surged within her as she rushed over to scold them.
“What are you all doing here making noise? Do you even know whose class you skipped today?”
“We do know! But we really didn’t want to miss ‘Nine-Headed Bird vs. Beijing Kid’—it’s such a great show!” one boy replied sheepishly.
“Hey! How can you say something that undermines our own pride like that? Aren’t you from Hubei?”
“Sorry! Although I grew up in Wuhan, my ancestral home is in Beijing. I’m actually from Zheng Huangqi, a descendant of the Aisin Gioro clan—I'm a Manchu!”
“Cut it out—another Beijing bumpkin,” Zhu Hui scoffed, rolling her eyes at him, completely disregarding this royal relative.
Just then, Song Yu joined in, eager to stir the pot and struck up a conversation with her.
“Our school has already lost six rounds in this street dance competition; it seems the outcome is inevitable,” Song Yu remarked thoughtfully as he watched the performers on stage.
“Hey, first we have a wet blanket, and now another one shows up,” Zhu Hui snapped, turning to shout at Song Yu in frustration.
“The truth hurts; shouting here won’t change anything,” Song Yu replied, looking at her with interest and flashing a knowing smile. “If I were you, I would definitely find a way to salvage some face, at least not let my dignity hit the ground.”
“Do I even have a way out now? All the students who can dance have already gone on stage.”
“Are you so sure about that?”
Zhu Hui seemed to catch an underlying tone in his words and asked, “What exactly are you getting at?”
“If you beg me, I might help you regain some of that Hubei Person dignity.”
“You can dance?” Zhu Hui stared at him in surprise.
“I’ve learned a bit.”
“Then why aren’t you getting on stage?”
“If I win this round, what’s in it for me?”
“You still want something after winning? Don’t forget you’re also a Hubei Person; if we lose dignity, you’ll share in it too.”
“I don’t care about losing dignity,” Song Yu said with a carefree smile.
“That's right, if you want to do something, you need to get something in return. This is the true nature of Hubei People,” Yang Qianfan couldn't help but fan the flames from the side, interjecting in a strange tone.
Hearing Yang Qianfan mock Hubei Person again, Zhu Hui felt an even stronger surge of anger rising within her.
“Fine, as long as you’re willing to get on stage, I’ll promise you anything you want,” Zhu Hui said angrily to Song Yu, her tone heavy enough to crush someone.
“If I win this round of the competition, will you agree to be my girlfriend?” Song Yu asked straightforwardly, showing no hesitation whatsoever.
“What are you talking about? I…” Zhu Hui looked at him with a troubled expression.
On the side, Yang Qianfan was thrilled to hear Song Yu make such an outrageous request to Zhu Hui, wishing he could rush over and give this clueless brat a good beating. But as an outsider, he had no right to intervene and could only stifle his anger in silence.
“What’s this Nine-Headed Bird vs. Beijing Kid?” Zhu Hui looked at the stage in confusion.
“Go ask the student council's Vice President. She organized this event; we’re just here for some fun,” someone replied.
“The student council's Vice President? This event was arranged by Jiang Xi?”
The male student nodded in confirmation.
Seeing that the event was organized by the student council and that she, as president, was completely unaware of it, Zhu Hui felt her anger boil over. She stormed backstage to confront Jiang Xi, demanding to know what was going on.
“President, there’s no need to be so angry. We were just put together last minute; it’s not our fault these guys from Beijing are so arrogant,” Jiang Xi explained.
“How did they provoke you?”
“They didn’t just provoke us; they belittled all of us Hubei People,” Jiang Xi said, shaking her fist with fiery eyes. “This afternoon after school, they came here singing after stuffing themselves, and they were singing that song Nunchaku.”
“So what if they did?”
“It's one thing to sing ‘Nunchaku,’ but what's infuriating is that they actually changed the lyrics.”
“Changed the lyrics? What did they change it to?”
“They altered the line ‘The sign of the East Asian patient was kicked over by me’ to ‘The sign of the talented Chu was stepped on by me.’ Can you tolerate their arrogance after hearing that?”
“What—these arrogant fools from Beijing dare to look down on us, Hubei people?” Zhu Hui was so furious he could barely breathe, wishing he could rush onto the stage and teach those Beijing folks a lesson.
Seeing Zhu Hui getting worked up, Jiang Xi fanned the flames, adding fuel to the fire with a dramatic flair: “You wouldn’t believe it; they also want us Hubei people to stop calling ourselves Nine-Headed Birds in the future, so as not to insult birds.”
Of course, this insulting remark about birds was something Jiang Xi made up to provoke Zhu Hui. The Beijingers hadn’t said anything so uncouth, but Zhu Hui believed Jiang Xi’s fabricated lies wholeheartedly, completely taken in by his manipulation.
“These damned Jing Piao Zi think they can be so arrogant just because they come from the capital. We must show them what we're made of and let them know that we Hubei people are not to be trifled with.”
“Exactly! Now you should understand my good intentions!”
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