Top one, the Mysterious Man (martial arts expert), index: 41879
Second, Jiang Miaoyu, index: 36890
Third, Fang Qiu, index: 36574
Fourth, the Upright Man (Rebuking Tycoon), index: 9548
Jiang Miaoyu’s popular index also soared a bit on account of the song Start-of-Term Gift. After all, the new campus belle presenting the opening song at the Start-of-Term Ceremony was eye-catching enough.
Adding that her previous index was rather high, this time she successfully kept the second place.
Meanwhile, Fang Qiu, whose ranking had been way behind that of Jiang Miaoyu, unexpectedly rose. He not only narrowed the gap in no time but also caught up to the constantly popular Jiang Miaoyu.
Comparing the changes in the rankings of the two, it was easy to see how influential Fang Qiu’s song was.
However, the popular index of Li Qingshi, a junior who also did a show with Jiang Miaoyu, seemed to have chilled.
Li Qingshi, index 5010…
Gazing at all the posts about Fang Qiu’s song at the Start-of-Term Ceremony on his smartphone, Li Qingshi let out a snort, and then shut down his phone.
“Tomorrow, the annual recruiting activities of all societies will take place.”
“Fang Qiu, aren’t you very talented and impressive?”
“Fine. No matter which kind of association you applies, I’ll outshine you in that association!”
“You’re good at singing, big deal?”
“I can do it as well!”
“You’re an ace in playing musical instruments, big deal?”
“I can do it as well!”
“I’ll see how many more talents you have!”
Although Li Qingshi acknowledged Fang Qiu’s brilliant performance at the Start-of-Term Ceremony, he was still unconvinced that he was less talented than Fang Qiu. He only admitted that Fang Qiu had picked a great song. But if it were him who performed the song, the effect might be better!
Now, he was already sort of regretting snatching Fang Qiu’s opportunity. If not, Fang Qiu would not have had such a chance to cut a smart image. He realized he had just made a very unwise move.
But on the other hand, he and Jiang Miaoyu now were on friendly terms, which meant his effort was not utterly fruitless.
He lost one thing but gained another. It was hard to conclude whether this was worth it.
Finally, after two hours and a half, the Start-of-Term Ceremony came to an end. As all the audience filed out of the stadium in order, they were all discussing Fang Qiu’s song.
But Fang Qiu was the last one to take off.
He sat in his seat, staring at the text message on his phone.
It was from Jiang Miaoyu.
“Very perfect performance. Congratulations.”
Fang Qiu kept silent for quite a while. At last, he only replied with a simple “Thanks”, and then, put away his phone, picked up his book and left.
As he made his way to the canteen, Fang Qiu noticed that a lot of passers-by talked and pointed at him.
“That’s Fang Qiu! Look! Look!”
“What a handsome!”
……
After a moment of brooding, Fang Qiu got the idea of why they were acting like this.
He had never thought the impact of one song could be so huge. Thus, he resolutely reached for his pocket and took out the mask Sun Hao just bought, the same style as the mysterious man’s.
Many people were wearing this kind of mask anyway.
With this mask, he would not need to worry about being the subject of others’ suspicions.
“But since it’s a hot summer day, those wearing the mask must be suffering from the heat.”
“And I am suffering, too…”
In the afternoon, he read books.
In the evening, he examined the copper coins.
Fang Qiu’s life was quite simple.
Next day morning, when Fang Qiu went back to his dormitory after practicing martial arts, he was taken by surprise to see that out of the blue, his three roommates already got up.
“It’s only five o’clock in the morning!”
“Have they all changed into the type to learn?”
“Why are you up so earlier today?”
Asked Fang Qiu curiously.
“Can’t sleep. Today, all the societies on campus recruit new members. At the thought of the girls in those societies, I just can’t wait to join them. So, I am up early.”
Explained Zhou Xiaotian, who was still half sitting and half lying in his bed.
“What about you guys?”
Fang Qiu shifted his eyes to Sun Hao and Zhu Benzheng.
“So are we.”
Answered the two, distressed. Obviously, they were distressed because there were still four hours to go before the recruiting activities took place at nine o’clock in the morning.
But soon, the three found some topics that thrilled all of them. They began to share their opinions, guessing which society had more girls and which had more pretty girls.
Helplessly, Fang Qiu went to brush his teeth alone. Then, he dragged the three out of the dormitory to have breakfast.
At half past eight in the morning.
Fang Qiu could not bear more nagging of his three roommates, who had been tirelessly urging him on to join some societies. He directly pushed the three away and continued to focus on his book.
Later, Zhu Benzheng, Sun Hao, and Zhou Xiaotian hopped cheerfully to the sports ground, where the recruit of new societies members would be held.
After all, if Fang Qiu decided not to go, he would steal their thunder.
Now, Fang Qiu, the youngest of their dormitory, had become rather enchanting. According to the tips from the girls, he had won the hearts of all the girls in their class. If it was not for the fact that Fang Qiu had not disclosed his phone number yet, his phone would certainly be bombarded with messages expressing their love and admiration.
What was more, the targeted new members were all freshmen. Since freshmen had all heard Fang Qiu’s singing, if Fang Qiu applied, he would directly eclipse them and get recruited. Those societies were definitely willing to have Fang Qiu instead of them.
With Fang Qiu being recruited, the society would absolutely attract more girls.
However, whichever society that Fang Qiu joined would probably not want them.
Therefore, it was better to keep it like this.
When they reached the sports ground, the three was taken aback to see sports ground already packed.
It was still a bit earlier than nine o’clock, but the entire sports ground was already filled with a hubbub of voices.
All sorts of stalls and posters were everywhere. If you did not know the event, you might think you’ve arrived at a snack street.
“Seems that this year’s freshmen are quite passionate about joining associations!”
At this, the three streaked across the sports ground, speedily catching various leaflets that all the societies were handing out.
Soon, the three came to the Acupuncture Association and caught the sight of Jiang Miaoyu, who was working as a staff of the society.
As Jiang Miaoyu noticed their arrival, she hailed them on her own accord, and then asked, “Where is Fang Qiu? Why didn’t I see him?”
At those words, Zhou Xiaotian immediately beat it to explain, “Fang Qiu is learning desperately. He is still reading, even though it’s on weekend.”
“Reading?”
Jiang Miaoyu let out a shocked cry. It was apparent that she did not expect Fang Qiu to focus on reading on the first real weekend since they entered college.
“Surprising, right? What’s more surprising is that yesterday at the Start-of-Term Ceremony, he had been reading all along except for the time of the first song and his own song. Impressive, huh?”
Said Zhou Xiaotian, actively trying to put in good words for his idol as if he felt it personally honored.
Zhu Benzheng and Sun Hao nodded in confirmation.
Jiang Miaoyu smiled and fell into silence.
“He paid attention to the first song?”
“Was it because he wanted to see how the singing of Li Qingshi and I was?”
“Or there are some other reasons?”
“What did he feel as he was watching?”
She distinctly sensed that ever since the raining day, she and he became detached. Although they would still say hi to each other as they met, it was just out of courtesy.
This change made her inexplicably sad.
After parting from Jiang Miaoyu, Zhu Benzheng, Sun Hao, and Zhou Xiaotian kept on searching their ideal society across the sports ground. As for those societies that were evidently less appealing to girls, they did not even cast a glance.
Although they were already allowed to send their applications since nine o’clock ticked by, the three still wanted to do more observations.
“Because only at the end of the recruiting event can we know which society got more girls. Mmm!”
The three thought so.
Just as they were observing, on a corner of the sports ground, someone quietly hung up a banner saying, “Show Your Sympathy for Our Schoolmate Mo Yiqi Who Got Cancer”.
At the banner, many students opened their wallets and made a donation.
They also felt sorry for this student.
They exclaimed that the affairs of the world were inconstant, and it was so cruel for someone whose life was about to blossom to sustain such a devastating blow.
Meanwhile, people started to set up the amplification system at the center of the sports ground.
A lot of societies such as the Martial Arts Association and the Chinese Folk Arts Association were making preparations for a talent show so as to attract potential new members.
But all the associations gave the first chance of making a speech to the person organizing the donation. She introduced the specifics about Mo Yiqi’s condition of stomach cancer and his family economic status, and then called on all the students to give a helping hand to their schoolmate.
More and more students made donations.
Zhu Benzheng, Sun Hao, and Zhou Xiaotian also each pitched in a hundred yuan.
In the dormitory.
Fang Qiu was still reading.
At 10 o’clock in the morning, Zhu Benzheng, Sun Hao, and Zhou Xiaotian returned to their dormitory with excitement, each holding a stack of leaflets.
“You signed up?”
Fang Qiu put down his book and asked.
“Not yet. We decided to come back and work on those leaflets first. We will sign up later. Anyway, the deadline for signing up is half-past eleven. We still have much time to kill.”
Without looking up, Zhou Xiaotian replied as he flipped through his leaflets.
But Sun Hao pressed near Fang Qiu and said with a mysterious tone, “The youngest, guess who we met there?”
“Who?” Fang Qiu demanded.
“Campus belle Jiang!” Sun Hao winked at Fang Qiu flirtingly and added, “She also asked about you. The youngest, though we did not see it coming, our campus belle does care about you! Good for you!”
“Jiang Miaoyu?”
Fang Qiu just smiled but did not comment.
“Guess who else we saw there!”
Sun Hao went on.
“Who?” This time, Fang Qiu was truly getting curious.
They only had limited knowledge of those living on the campus, and those who were possible to be the answer of Sun Hao’s riddle were even more limited.
“Li Qingshi!”
Sun Hao grunted indignantly, “You didn’t see how haughty that doofus was at the recruiting event. He even did a little talent show in front of everyone, as if we were all anxious to see his talent. But much to our exasperation, many girls were mesmerized by him!”
“Li Qingshi?”
Fang Qiu completely ditched his book, and his eyes brightened.
“The Start-of-Term Ceremony is over. Their grievance should be settled as well!”
“What talent show did he do on the sports ground?”
“Singing, and playing Chinese flute. He sang as he played Chinese flute. I don’t have more, because we couldn’t stand it and came back before he finished.”
Sun Hao answered with a gloomy face.
“Seems that you didn’t return on your own accord. Instead, you went back because other’s repulsive show forced you to leave!” Fang Qiu snickered.
“Rubbish! If you see our enemy has such a chance to show off, won’t you want to kick him? It’s just a pity that we are not his match now. Thus, we can only go back here. Well, as you know, what eyes do not see is regarded as clean!”
Fang Qiu got to his feet, clapped on the shoulder of the sullen-faced Sun Hao and said, “Go. Let’s go to the sports ground.”
“To the sports ground?”
Sun Hao was astonished to hear that. He asked, “What for?”
Zhu Benzheng and Zhou Xiaotian also gazed in Fang Qiu’s direction, perplexed. They seemed to have speculated something, for a trace of excitement and expectation was flickering in their eyes.
“Go get him!”
Fang Qiu blurted out.
“Get him? Who? Oh, yeah, Li Qingshi! Hahaha, the youngest is truly impressive. Let’s go!”
Sun Hao immediately recovered from the shock and became overjoyed. He simply whirled out of the door to clear the way for Fang Qiu.
“If someone can outshine Li Qingshi with his personal talents, he has to be Fang Qiu.”
“Well, so far, Fang Qiu has only displayed his talents in playing the hand flute and singing.”
“But who knows whether this kid has kept other kinds of talents from the public.”
“Even if he has no other talents, his hand flute and singing are enough to overshadow Li Qingshi!”
Zhu Benzheng and Zhou Xiaotian also rejoiced to hear that. “After staying low key for so many days, the youngest is finally going to launch his strike!”
“Today, our Dormitory 501 will go out to battle. We have to avenge all the bullying we suffered!”
Therefore, the two hurriedly followed them and went out.
The four of them swaggered to the sports ground in “formidable” array.
Li Qingshi spotted Fang Qiu in no time. He had been observing the surroundings for a while. But to his disappointment, Fang Qiu did not show up. Now, he noticed Fang Qiu’s arrival, and Jiang Miaoyu also happened to be near him, he decided to duel with Fang Qiu in her presence and beat him fairly and righteously, regardless of singing or other talents!
“Let’s see who is more outstanding!”
He was not afraid of Fang Qiu. Actually, he was quite confident about his singing skills, because he had learned it from a professional vocal music teacher.
He had no fear of competing with other talents, either. Since childhood, he had attended various art classes and obtained all sorts of certificates.
He was determined to force Fang Qiu to accept his challenge!
At this thought, he stomped to the middle of the sports ground right off, picked up the microphone and said, “Hi, everyone. I am Li Qingshi, the president of the student union of the School of Chinese Medicine, who is also the vice-president of the Chinese Folk Arts Association.”
“I know there are loads of brilliant talents hiding among you freshmen. As far as I know, Fang Qiu’s singing is extraordinary. The song Bringing in the Wine performed by him yesterday is truly great.”
“Just now, I saw Fang Qiu is here. In case our Fang Qiu is too shy to step onto the stage, I will now present a little talent of mine as a modest spur. I hope when I finish this song, Fang Qiu can also sing a song for all of you, what do you say?”
As those words were out, people in the surroundings stirred with excitement.
“Fang Qiu? Fang Qiu is here?”
“Where? Where? Who is Fang Qiu? Which one?”
“Yesterday’s Bringing in the Wine is just incredibly beautiful. I played the video several times without stop!”
“I’ve already set it as my ringtone!”
…
