“Boss Su, Boss Meng, this is the classroom Teacher Liu approved for us!”
Climbing the stairs of the teaching building all the way to the rarely-visited sixth floor, Xiao Fen stood in front of a classroom near the stairwell. After checking the room number above, she turned to Su Wanli and Meng Wange with an ingratiating smile—
“Not only is this place spacious, but it’s also remote enough that even if we make a lot of noise, we won’t disturb other classrooms. In other words, no one can disturb our rehearsal!”
“…Is that so?”
Su Wanli gave her a displeased glare, then crossed her arms and cast a cold glance at the classroom’s interior.
‘…Spacious and remote. It sounds nice when you say it.’
‘But isn’t this just an abandoned music classroom?’
‘No, calling it a music classroom is generous. This classroom clearly looks like an unused storage room. As far as the eye can see, there are dusty musical instruments everywhere. The piano cloth on the piano in the corner looks like it hasn’t been lifted in centuries.’
‘…Honestly, how can our homeroom teacher not even get a decent empty classroom? The only advantage now is the remoteness Xiao Fen just mentioned.’
“Oh? It seems this environment is just perfect.”
Meng Wange walked lightly to the window, peeked inside, then turned back and smiled at everyone.
“Huh? Perfect where? It’s a mess like this. Without a thorough cleaning, we can’t even rehearse, right?”
“So, isn’t this environment perfect for rehearsing our first act?”
As she spoke, Meng Wange stepped forward and pushed open the classroom door.
Creak—
The dust kicked up by the door was just as they had expected. The air here was filled with the smell of old dust, and some corners even had tiny cobwebs, making one worry that a spider might suddenly crawl up their feet.
“Miss Su, do you remember the first line? After all, it’s our first practice. If you’re not familiar with the script, you can read it aloud. Just to get a feel for it.”
Meng Wange casually wiped the dust off a table with her palm, placed the copied script in a clean corner, then naturally picked up the cleaning tools behind the door.
‘…It’s already started? So informal! I thought there would be an “Action!” cue!’
‘First line, what was the first line again? Should I speak first?’
Hearing Meng Wange’s words, Su Wanli frantically took out her own script and flipped to the first page. She was about to clear her throat and read it aloud, but before she could speak, she subconsciously looked around.
Meng Wange, on the other hand, quickly got into character and began to bend down and sweep the dust nearby. However, Xiao Fen and the others just stood excitedly at the door, staring intently at Su Wanli’s eyes and lips.
‘S-Such piercing gazes, but…’
‘After all, the play is meant to be seen by others. If I can’t even bear the stares of these three subordinates, how can I perform on the big stage in the playground in front of the whole school?’
‘Stop looking at their eyes.’
‘Anyway, the first scene has me sitting arrogantly on the sofa, trimming my nails while staring critically at Meng Wange who is cleaning.’
Su Wanli took a few deep breaths in her mind, then pulled out a chair from the desk and sat down.
Inhale… inhale… exhale…
“Hey, you useless glutton over there, can’t you even clean the floor? Are you hungry or what? I’ll make you skip dinner today, believe me!”
‘!? It should be “If I see a speck of dust, you can forget about dinner tonight”!’
‘Crap, after I said that, even Xiao Fen and the others have that slightly mocking expression. This reaction?! It doesn’t match the original lines Meng Wange wrote at all—’
‘I told you I can’t act at all, I can’t even read the lines from the script…’
However, Meng Wange, standing opposite Su Wanli, did not stop.
She hugged the broom tightly to her chest, did not question Su Wanli’s line delivery, but instead pursed her lips.
“…Sorry, big sister, I didn’t mean to. Please let me continue cleaning. I’ll be more careful not to make any noise to disturb you.”
‘Huh? We’re continuing? Even with such a blunder on my first line, she still wants to keep going?’
Upon hearing this, Meng Wange lowered her head and swept the floor forcefully.
Next came Cinderella’s inner monologue, indicating that although she felt her stepsister was deliberately making things difficult for her, perhaps she didn’t truly hate her. In the script, it was a very long section.
‘Hiss, inner monologue… Am I supposed to wait for Meng Wange to speak it?’
‘Or will there be a backstage speaker playing Meng Wange’s pre-recorded lines?’
Flustered, Su Wanli looked at her next action in the script.
After this monologue, Cinderella was supposed to look up, notice that her stepsister had been staring at her swollen knee, and then stand up angrily.
‘In other words, I need to keep staring at Meng Wange, pretending to have a sprained ankle…’
‘Okay, from now on, I’ll keep an eye on Cinderella’s gaze. The moment our eyes meet, I’ll stand up immediately!’
Even with this plan in mind, as soon as Meng Wange made a move, before her head even raised, Su Wanli stood up in a panic, and the movement was so fast that her knee accidentally scraped against the sharp corner of the desk.
“…Ouch!?”
‘But now it’s my turn for the next line!’
“Meng Wange! Who told you to clean the floor under my feet first? You almost made me fall!”
‘Even though I accidentally used Meng Wange’s real name, I’ll let it slide for now. At least let me finish the first part…’
However, this time, Meng Wange did not continue the act.
Her brow furrowed slightly, and she stepped forward, kneeling in front of Su Wanli.
She was silent for a moment, then smiled at the three people standing at the door watching the show—
“Could you please excuse us for a moment?”
“Sorry, I suddenly had an idea I wanted to discuss with Miss Su.”
“Huh? What, what? An idea? I want to hear it too!”
With that, Xiao Fen was grabbed under each arm by Da Zhuang and Tudo, and almost without any resistance, was lifted out of the music classroom.