Ban Sheng chuckled softly, and it was not known whether he was trying to intimidate Lin Weixia or was serious. He held her head and pressed it down. Lin Weixia immediately stood up in panic.
Ban Sheng slowly stood up with his elbows on the sofa, and took out a black mobile phone from his palm and returned it to her. Lin Weixia reached out to take it, but it didn't move at all.
"Let go." Lin Weixia looked at him with a calm tone.
Ban Sheng really let go and stopped teasing her. Lin Weixia rested for a while and then continued to practice the piano. She liked it very much and enjoyed this rare time to practice the piano.
Ever since Ban Sheng fought for Lin Weixia, the people in the school have been paying attention to the two of them. At school, Lin Weixia was still the same as before, and she didn't have much interaction with Ban Sheng. But someone saw the clues from the occasional extra snacks on Lin Weixia's desk, the fact that Ban Sheng never lacked homework, but always lacked Chinese homework, and Lin Weixia had to go and urge him in person to get it.
I don’t know when it started, but speculative looks began to flow over the three of them.
But everyone thought that it was obvious that Liu Sijia had been interested in Ban Sheng first, and Lin Weixia and Liu Sijia were recognized as sisters, so for a while, there were many rumors.
But the queen is the queen and doesn't seem to be affected at all.
To outsiders, Lin Weixia and Liu Sijia are still very close, but Lin Weixia feels that there is a vague barrier between them. The friendship between girls is delicate and sensitive, and they can sense the slightest changes.
Liu Sijia became much colder and more distant towards her. For example, the two of them no longer regularly showed up in the cafeteria to eat together. She would occasionally eat with Li Shengran and the others, and would lightly use excuses like "I forgot" or "I have something to do" to evade Lin Weixia.
It feels like there is a thin thread wrapped around my heart, making it hard to breathe.
The school party soon arrived, and the two went out of school to have dinner in the afternoon. Liu Sijia still had no appetite, so she bought a whole wheat bread at the convenience store, while Lin Weixia ordered a bowl of udon noodles with two skewers of oden.
The winter wind felt cool, but the squid balls tasted hot. Lin Weixia took a bite and found that Liu Sijia had torn the bread in her hand into pieces, but her face looked trance-like.
"What's wrong with you?" Lin Weixia asked with concern.
Liu Sijia came back to her senses, pulled the corners of her mouth mechanically, and replied: "It's okay. By the way, how is your cello practice going?"
"Not bad. What about you? I heard from Fang Mo that you also signed up for a show."
"That's it." Liu Sijia crumpled up the plastic paper and threw it into the trash can.
The school party soon arrived and was held in the school auditorium. It was a large-scale event organized by Shenzhen High School and attended by all teachers and students of the school. The school also invited two reporters to interview and report on it.
On Friday night, the dressing room backstage at the auditorium was in a mess. Usually, people were still putting on makeup here, but people were pushed up. Lin Weixia sat in front of the dressing room and had her makeup done. Every time the host announced the program, her heartbeat would speed up. She couldn't help but laugh at herself, probably because she hadn't participated in a competition for too long.
After the makeup was done, Fang Mo looked at Lin Weixia with her eyes fixed on her, muttering to herself, "Too beautiful."
The heating was on very high. Liu Sijia walked over in her performance costume without even a coat. She wore a purple skirt, black boots, and bright makeup, which made her look very charismatic. Li Shengran was always by her side.
Li Shengran was startled when he saw Lin Weixia in the mirror, then he patted her shoulder, looking reluctant: "Hey, Ning Chao seems to have something urgent to talk to you about, he's outside. I'm impressed, how could there be such a vicious person."
"Oh, okay." Lin Weixia put down the lipstick in her hand.
Lin Weixia stood up, picked up the coat on the back of the chair and put it on. She was a little uncomfortable with the long skirt, so she lifted it up and walked out. When she walked outside, she found Ning Chao and a group of people standing under the tree, discussing what bad things to do.
She called out, "Ning Chao."
The boy next to him bumped into his shoulder and started whistling. Ning Chao looked up when he heard that and walked towards Lin Weixia. After a few steps, he spat and cursed at the people behind him who were making a fuss.
Ning Chao walked up to Lin Weixia, and seeing her running out in her performance clothes, he asked with a puzzled look, "What's the matter with you running out?"
"Aren't you looking for me? Li Shengran just told me that." Lin Weixia ran out in a hurry, with beads of sweat on the tip of her nose.
"She's sick, why should I look for you?" Ning Chao was speechless and sneezed, "No, I have to look for that stinky girl..."
Ning Chao kept talking, but when he looked up, he was gone, not even a shadow of him. Lin Weixia's throat was a little dry when she ran backstage. Fang Mo was looking for someone everywhere, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Lin Weixia.
"Weixia, where have you been? It's your turn to go on stage soon, and everyone is looking for you." Fang Mo ran over in a panic.
"It's okay." Lin Weixia shook her head. She walked to the dressing table and carried the cello on her back.
The timing was just right. The staff backstage called Lin Weixia to come up. The red curtain was lifted and Lin Weixia walked onto the stage carrying a red cello. Before going on stage, she deliberately pressed the button on her hearing aid to turn down the volume of the received sound.
The lights were dim at Lin Weixia's location, and the audience did not see her go on stage. Two meters away from Lin Weixia, the host was announcing the show. She was wearing a dark green evening dress with a slit in the back, revealing her snow-white back.
Her voice is pleasant, her pronunciation is clear and her words are melodious, reminding people of a cup of warm milk.
After the host finished his announcement, he turned around and smiled in the direction of Lin Weixia before stepping aside. Lin Weixia nodded, and with a "click", the spotlight on his head turned on, illuminating Lin Weixia in the dark.
Lin Weixia's amber eyes turned slightly and looked towards the audience. The audience were looking at her seriously, focusing their attention on her as the performer.
I couldn't help feeling a little nervous.
She also spotted Ban Sheng in the packed audience. He was wearing a black cap, revealing half of his curvy face. Lin Weixia exhaled lightly, holding the bow in her right hand, and as everyone waited with bated breath, she placed the bow on the instrument, closed her eyes, and gently plucked.
The expected low and pleasant sound did not come, but instead an unpleasant and harsh sound rang out. Lin Weixia opened her eyes in confusion and pulled the string again. With a "snap" sound, the white strings suddenly broke, like the sound of tearing silk.
In an instant, the strings curled up like burnt hair.
There was a burst of laughter from the audience, and the discussions were getting louder and louder, with one or two laughs mixed in. Even the teachers watching in the front row couldn't help whispering to each other and asking about the sudden situation on the stage.
Lin Weixia was completely dazed, and she remained seated in the same position without moving. The noise from the audience grew louder and louder, surging like a tide. Her eyelashes drooped, and as she recalled that bright and sincere smile from before, her eyelashes trembled.
The hostess saw the opportunity and had the lights turned off, leaving the stage dark. The audience shouted even louder for Lin Weixia to leave the stage. The hostess walked up to Lin Weixia's ear, whispered a few words to her, and then left the stage.
"Are you annoying? What the hell is this? Is this the end?"
"Student on the stage, can you do it? If not, please get off quickly and let the person behind you do it."
"That's right, come down quickly, it's embarrassing."
Curses came one after another. Li Yiran, who was sitting on the side, looked like he was watching the fun. He raised his drooping eyelids and said, "Tsk, why don't you go up and save the beauty?"
Ban Sheng sat in his seat, still maintaining the same posture, and replied nonchalantly: "She can handle it."
"Wow, you trust her so much." Li Yiran continued to insult others.
Ban Sheng spoke slowly: "Otherwise, you are not the one that I, Ban Sheng, like."
With a "boom", the spotlight on the stage lit up again, and a melodious piano sound rang out. Lin Weixia was still sitting in that seat, but the instrument she played was not the cello, but the erhu.
She actually changed the performance program.
Lin Weixia lowered her head slightly, with half of her jet-black hair lifted and tied behind her back, revealing a small part of her fair and pretty face, but her fingertips were very powerful, and the graceful tune of "Butterfly Lovers" flowed from the strings.
The first tune is sad and graceful, making people unable to help but immerse themselves in it, recalling the story in the book where the talented scholar and the beautiful woman were forced to separate. In the middle of the song, the tip of the zither in Lin Weixia's hand turned, and the tone suddenly became urgent. The sound of the zither was pure, as crisp as pearls falling on a jade plate, and very contagious.
A boy in the audience seat in front of me cursed and whispered to his friend: "Fuck, this is amazing. I declare that she is my new goddess from now on."
Ban Sheng raised his dark eyes and glanced at the boy, who touched his neck belatedly and felt a chill.
He withdrew his gaze and looked back at the stage, his eyes fixed on Lin Weixia.
Lin Weixia sat in the center of the stage, wearing a red long dress with water sleeves. As the melody reached its climax, her voice became more powerful. She played the violin faster and her left hand pressed the strings flexibly. Her movements were both cool and beautiful, and the music was majestic as the melody came to an end.
There was a sense of brokenness about her, but her eyes were firm, and the audience seemed to see the protagonist in the melody turning into a butterfly and flying out, finally landing on Lin Weixia's fair face.
It just happened to rest on the red birthmark.
At the end of the last note, Lin Weixia put away her bow, stood up with her erhu, and bowed deeply to the audience. The audience was suddenly silent, like a deep ocean.
Half a minute later, the audience burst into applause, the lingering sound, screams and cheers almost blew the roof off. This was an excellent performance.
At the school party that day, Liu Sijia was not to be outdone and won first place with a modern dance, while Lin Weixia became famous at Shenzhen High School with her majestic "Butterfly Lovers". Although she had to change the program due to a stage accident, her on-the-spot performance was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and was very contagious, so the organizing committee specially awarded her a special prize.
After the party, most people gathered around Liu Sijia and congratulated her with flattering tones. Lin Weixia was sitting in her seat removing her makeup alone when suddenly, the cell phone on the table vibrated. She picked it up, took a look, removed her makeup, packed up her things, and walked out.
Liu Sijia was surrounded by the crowd, her red lips curled up, and Li Shengran also smiled. However, when she caught a glimpse of the figure hurriedly walking out, her smile paused.
Ban Sheng sent a text message saying that he was waiting for her outside. When Lin Weixia walked out, she was startled to find him standing with a group of people, with a cigarette between his fingertips. One of the boys looked sleepy, and his decadent temperament was too obvious. It was Li Yiran at a glance. Next to him stood a girl with a graceful figure and excellent temperament. From the back, she was a first-class beauty.
Lin Weixia found that Ban Sheng looked extremely relaxed when he was with them. When Ban Sheng saw her coming, he raised his hand holding the cigarette to let her pass. In the scarlet firelight, she saw the clear finger bones as he held the cigarette.
When Lin Weixia approached, she found that the girl was actually the host who had just helped to clear the situation on the stage. She thought for a moment and took the initiative to speak, guessing in her tone: "Are you a senior? Thank you for helping me out just now."
The girl turned her head, her dark pupils overflowing with smiles: "You're welcome, Cheng Wusuan, you can just call me Wusuan."
"In terms of seniority, I am Asheng's distant cousin, and he is Li Yiran. We are good friends who grew up together." Cheng Wusuan explained.
The party had been over for a while, but there were still a few passers-by passing by. When they saw the most talked-about people in the school gathered together, they couldn't help but gossip: "Is that Li Yiran?"
"Ban Sheng is here too. It's worth it. I can watch the school party and meet two handsome guys." The companion added.
"Forget about Li Yiran. Do you know his nickname is garbage?" said the friend.
"And Senior Wusuan! My goddess senior, woooo."
Ban Sheng was about to speak, he lifted his eyelids and glanced at them without saying anything. His thin eyelids were like sharp blades, causing the onlookers' hands to tremble. They stopped gossiping and immediately ran away.
"Tsk, Mr. Ban, don't you understand what it means to be gentle and considerate to women?" Li Yiran said with a smile.
He doesn't mind being called trash.
Cheng Wusuan didn't want to get involved in their bickering at all, and patted Lin Weixia on the shoulder: "If you want to thank you, you should thank Ah Sheng. It was he who told me to take good care of you."
"He really cares about you." Wu Suan joked.
Li Yiran pretended to meet Lin Weixia for the first time, rubbed Leng Bai's neck, and deliberately asked: "A Sheng, is this your girlfriend?"
"No." Ban Sheng replied.
Lin Weixia's eyelashes moved, and she looked over. Ban Sheng said calmly, "Still chasing."
Li Yiran gave him a middle finger, with an expression of having to admit defeat, and pulled Wu Suan away. Only the two of them were left, and the air was filled with a vague sense of awkwardness. Ban Sheng looked at Lin Weixia's red lips and said:
"She's painted like a female ghost, so ugly."
Ban Sheng raised his thumb and pressed it on her lips, and was about to wipe it. Lin Weixia was stunned for a moment, and stood there to let him wipe it. His rough thumb pressed on her red lips, and the fingertips instantly turned bright red. In fact, she looked very good like this, not like a female ghost at all. Her skin was extremely white, and with her red lips, she looked cool and beautiful, like the white snow in March, and could be called a work of art.
Her lips were very soft, like jelly. The more he rubbed them, the more his fingertips felt like they were on fire. Ban Sheng's throat began to itch uncontrollably. He immediately withdrew his hand and looked away: "Let's go."
The two walked side by side on the school's boulevard. Lin Weixia always felt that the warmth of the boy's fingers was still on her lips. Her lips were numb, and she subconsciously wiped them with her sleeve.
"By the way, this time the prize money is 1,000 yuan. I'll give you half of it as we agreed before. It may not be enough to compensate you for your cello..." Lin Weixia grabbed his sleeve and handed him 500 yuan.
Ban Sheng stopped and took a look at the money she handed over. He didn't take it and smiled nonchalantly: "That broken piano is nothing. I won't take the money. Please treat me to a meal."
Lin Weixia opened her eyes and looked at him: "What do you want to eat?"
"Dumplings, maybe." Somehow, Ban Sheng remembered the bowl of steaming dumplings on the winter solstice.
Although winter is almost over.
Lin Weixia looked confused: "Ah?"
He is such a smart man, shouldn't he take the opportunity to make a killing on her
"What? If you don't leave now, I'll change my mind." Ban Sheng put his hands in his pockets and walked straight forward.
Lin Weixia had no choice but to follow his pace, and the two of them came to a dumpling shop on Minle East Road. The shop sign was old, but it was very clean and there were quite a few people around.
Lin Weixia ordered two beef dumplings and sat down after asking Ban Sheng if he had any dietary restrictions. Ban Sheng had a slight mysophobia and repeatedly scalded the cup and spoon with boiling water.
The phone screen suddenly lit up. Lin Weixia swiped it open and saw a congratulatory message from Fang Mo. Her tone was excited:
[Ah, Weixia, you are so beautiful on the stage. Did you know that you have become very popular on the school forum? Everyone is talking about you. Are you happy to receive the award?]
Lin Weixia typed in the dialog box and sent: [Not bad. ]
Fang Mo also sent her a forum link, but Lin Weixia didn't click on it. She didn't care about other people's views or evaluations at all, and being noticed was not within her scope and purpose.
She just wanted to do what she likes without pressure. It was a pity that the cello performance was changed to the erhu performance.
Ban Sheng took a sip of hot buckwheat tea, the hot steam enveloping his lazy brows and eyes. He suddenly remembered something and asked, "Can you also play the erhu?"
Lin Weixia took a bite of the round dumpling and her tongue was instantly burned. The other party pushed a glass of water over to her at the right time. She took a sip and didn't know whether she was being honest or modest:
"When I was young, I learned cello from a teacher. Every time I went to his house early, he was still teaching his daughter to play the erhu. Later, I was tempted to learn a little bit, but I didn't learn it very well. I only know this one piece."
"The on-the-spot reaction was quite clever," Ban Sheng commented.
After eating the dumplings, Lin Weixia walked out with Ban Sheng. She stood at the door to pay the bill with the proprietress. The proprietress was busy, and she touched her apron with her hand. When she borrowed money, she looked at the handsome man and beautiful woman in front of her and couldn't help but praise:
"You two siblings are so handsome, like you're in a movie poster."
The girl was wearing a navy blue uniform jacket with a light-colored knit underneath and a plaid narrow skirt, revealing a pair of long white legs. She looked pure and pretty. The boy was much taller than her, also wearing a uniform jacket, with a tall and straight figure.
The two men's eyebrows and eyes are surprisingly similar, and they are both cold.
The boss lady sighed more and more as she looked at them: "Your parents must have been good-looking when they were young. Look at how you and your sister look..."
Ban Sheng put one hand in his pocket and was about to walk out, but he stopped when he heard the words, turned back with an expression that looked like he had endured it, and asked:
"Do they really look like brother and sister?"