Chapter 42: Programme

The distance from the parking lot to the study classroom was a bit far, requiring some time.

Su Yao didn’t enter the building until almost 7:40.

She had been wondering how to push the door open when she realized there was no sound coming from inside the study room at all.

Immediately, Su Yao grew nervous.

Usually, this time of day would be noisy and bustling, so something felt off.

She looked around; the entire corridor was unusually quiet.

Although the lights were on, there were still some dark, shadowy areas, creating a rather eerie atmosphere.

Su Yao shrank her neck and withdrew her gaze, forcing herself not to overthink.

She carefully approached the study room door, extending her slightly trembling hand to touch the door handle.

The metal was cold to the touch, and she swallowed hard.

Even through the wooden door, she couldn’t hear any noises from inside.

The only sound was her own heartbeat, pounding as if right beside her ear.

Thump~ thump~ thump…

Where did everyone go?

Su Yao couldn’t help but wonder.

She had become like this already; maybe something major had happened at the school?

But what could it be?

Collective Transmigration?

Her mind drifted far away, completely ignoring the fact that someone was standing right behind her.

A pale, bony hand slowly lifted and reached toward Su Yao’s shoulder.

Ah?!

When Su Yao suddenly felt the weight on her shoulder, her whole body trembled and froze.

She didn’t dare to turn around, fearing she might encounter some terrible thing.

If she turned, she might end up dead right there.

So she pretended not to notice the hand at all.

At that moment, Su Yao thought of Mu Nanqiu.

She realized she probably wouldn’t be able to keep her appointment tonight.

Yun Qing looked at the motionless Su Yao, puzzled, and asked.

“Su Yao, why are you so late?”

“……”

Hearing Yun Qing’s voice, Su Yao breathed a sigh of relief but suddenly recalled those Urban Supernatural Rumor stories, where protagonists who sensed the presence of ghosts would sometimes turn around upon hearing the familiar voice, only to meet a grisly end.

So this must be fake! Damn you, Yun Qing, trying to trick me!

Yun Qing frowned, carefully examining the person in front of her—the outfit and physique confirmed it was indeed Su Yao, standing right at the study room door. She couldn’t be mistaken, could she?

To be sure, Yun Qing stepped in front of Su Yao, but Su Yao hurriedly turned away and covered her face to avoid being seen.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Yun Qing’s lips twitched.

It was definitely Su Yao, but her strange behavior was baffling.

Could she be having some kind of episode?

Yun Qing couldn’t understand, but she didn’t care.

Following the class advisor’s instructions, she just needed to take Su Yao along.

The rest of the time, she was just a human-shaped camera.

“Let’s go. Gather in the activity room; the first rehearsal is about to start. Go there to show support.”

Yun Qing left those words and walked away confidently.

Su Yao watched her leave, quickly turned the study room door handle, and opened it.

Inside was indeed empty.

They secretly gave themselves a holiday without telling me?!

Su Yao arrived at the activity room building and was surprised to find it quite lively.

There were noises everywhere, but they were normal human sounds—not strange or eerie ones.

People crouched in the hallway playing on their phones, couples cuddled closely, and buddies slung arms around each other, creating a lively atmosphere.

Su Yao wiped a nonexistent bead of sweat from her forehead, kept her head down, and passed through the corridor.

She entered her class’s activity room and found that the turnout wasn’t large; some people seemed to have slipped away, around seven or eight fewer than expected.

Su Yao thought, the nearby Net Bar probably opened seven or eight more computers again, right?

Not only were the main performers present, but Zhang Li was there too.

As the class advisor, abbreviated as class guide, she had to lead by example.

If she wasn’t proactive, it would be difficult to rely solely on the students’ enthusiasm to participate.

Any collective activity required a flagbearer, and Zhang Li was currently filling that role.

Zhang Li sat in the middle of the room but didn’t interfere with the decisions made by the elected director.

This year’s director, only eighteen years old, was cheerful and outgoing with good relationships, but was clearly a complete novice when it came to on-site coordination.

The others only humored him out of courtesy, which made the scene quite chaotic.

Su Yao found a quiet corner to stand and pulled out her phone to send a message to Oyster Sauce.

“Did you manage to meet up with the junior you asked out?”

“Met up.”

Met up?

Aren’t you supposed to be at evening self-study now?

Hm, Su Yao scratched her cheek, bit her lip, and thought for a moment before replying to Oyster Sauce.

“What did the junior say?”

“She agreed to give it a try. She’s great.”

Su Yao’s lips twitched.

The first part sounded normal, but why add “She’s great” at the end?

Still, since the result was good, that was fine.

Things were looking up on her side as well.

Thinking of what Mu Nanqiu had told her today, a faint smile involuntarily appeared on Su Yao’s face.

The music started.

Su Yao glanced over.

Since the costumes hadn’t been made and many props weren’t assembled, this rehearsal was just the actors reading lines together.

Four young, handsome men and women stood on stage and began reading their lines in rhythm with the music.

The machine’s sound drowned out their voices.

Even though they were usually quite talkative, reading these heavily translated lines in front of so many people was a bit torturous.

Su Yao thought, if the sound suddenly cut off now, they probably wouldn’t keep reading.

After all, they were young and shy during their first time.

The director, who was also the vice class leader, looked a little embarrassed.

Their performance was far from how they acted privately among themselves.

This awkward atmosphere lasted about ten minutes.

When it ended, the room fell silent.

Zhang Li stood up from her bench and started applauding, leading to scattered clapping that prevented the atmosphere from dying completely.

For Zhang Li, this was already a good outcome; she didn’t demand better.

“You’ve done your best, and that’s the best result. Just do what you can.”

Hearing this, the lead actors all breathed a sigh of relief, feeling lucky.

Only the vice class leader, a big guy, wore a sour expression.

As the director who also handled the script, props, art, and music, he was clearly unhappy.

Just moments ago, everyone was smiling and saying they’d do their best, but now they had all lost enthusiasm and shifted into a slack-off mode.

We can’t compete with those seniors, so whatever.

He was still unwilling to accept this.

He tried hard to do better, but the others were just resting on his efforts, making him angry yet helpless.

After the crowd dispersed, only a few performers and main organizers remained in the activity room—less than ten people.

They sat together for a brief meeting.

Before anyone spoke, Yun Qing, sitting at the edge, sneaked a mischievous smile and was the first to stand.

The moment she spoke, everyone was stunned.

“I propose we rewrite the script. I’ll take charge.”