This time, for the Performance, there was no one— nor would there be anyone— standing on stage to perform.
Even the Host, while introducing the act, was full of curiosity, because this Performance hadn’t even had a rehearsal.
It was said that if it weren’t for their Class Teacher’s persistent insistence,
the School Program Committee would have already canceled their class’s Performance.
“Up next is a Performance from Class 2-1, presented by Xia Hua: ‘Blue Sky Summer’. We hope all the Grade 3 Students can have a summer of memories beneath a blue sky.”
“Please enjoy.” The Host bowed to everyone and quietly retreated backstage.
Yet, strangely, no one came out from backstage to begin the Performance.
All that happened was the red curtain behind the stage was drawn open, revealing a huge white cloth behind it. After a few flickers, the projector slowly began to work.
Was it finally about to begin?
Some were looking forward to it, while others were cursing under their breath.
“What could it be? I’m really looking forward to this.” In the crowd, Ji Fan crossed his arms and smiled slightly.
“You draw too, do you really look forward to this that much?” Lin An beside him spoke calmly, until a figure in a short-sleeved shirt appeared on that white screen.
She bowed to the far end in front of the screen.
She sat gracefully in front of the camera, so gentle and quiet.
There was nothing else in her eyes.
Her sweet posture as she held the drawing tablet was already as beautiful as a painting.
It was as if something… had struck Lin An right in the chest.
He had never known before that a girl could be this beautiful, could have such an overwhelming impact, striking straight to the heart, as if fate had returned to its proper track.
To this day, Xia Hua still couldn’t figure out one thing.
“Why was Lin An’s last wish before he died that he wanted me to become a traveler child?” Leaning against the entrance, Xia Hua quietly voiced the question she had always wondered about.
Her gaze drifted over the dense sea of students.
Among thousands, she found Lin An’s figure precisely.
“Unless Lin An was actually gay!!”
“But I’m pretty sure he wasn’t…” Xia Hua shook her head.
As Lin An’s closest friend for ten years, Xia Hua certainly had the right to speak on whether he was gay or not.
So after Lin An made that final wish, Xia Hua kept thinking about it— if Lin An wasn’t gay, was it just a prank?
A dying person’s words are always sincere.
Xia Hua could feel that wish was truly Lin An’s desire.
“So…” Xia Hua looked deeply at Lin An and said softly, “Could my long-held suspicion be true? You’re not gay, and it wasn’t a prank.”
“You really did fall for me.”
“Or to be more precise,”
“It was the girl role I played at that year’s Evening Gala…”
Yes, at that year’s Evening Gala, Xia Hua dressed as a girl, playing a silent background character in a stage play.
It was clear that Fang Qiao had designed that role with a hint of mockery.
Letting Xia Hua wear a dress, and she was laughed at for a long time after.
“So, the one he liked,”
“Was actually the girl he imagined, using me as a template?” Xia Hua began to understand.
Even though Lin An later learned that the girl he saw on stage was actually Xia Hua dressed as a girl,
What did it matter? As long as Lin An liked that girl, it was enough.
Up until his death, Lin An had always liked the girl he’d imagined, who only existed in his mind, in his heart— so distant, so unreachable.
If only he could see her one more time, how wonderful would that be!
So his final wish was for Xia Hua to become his “her”.
“Sigh, how silly~” Xia Hua chuckled softly, but her heart felt heavy.
“Please, don’t fall for me, okay?”
“The same Evening Gala, the same… No, this time I’m truly presenting myself to you as a girl. As long as you don’t fall for me,”
“Then I’ll believe,”
“That fate really can be changed.”
“I want to…”
“Change fate.”
Xia Hua wanted, ten years later, to drink cold beer with Lin An in May.
Not go to that cold Hospital.
If only you never fell for me, could fate really be changed?
In the auditorium, the giant speakers rang out with crisp piano notes. As ‘Proud Of You’ began to play, the brush on the big screen lightly sketched out a rough outline.
Since it was a normal playback, the video played at double speed.
It was the outline of a building.
“That’s our One Number Teaching Building.” Someone immediately recognized it.
As the most recognizable building at the school, it was always the One Number Teaching Building.
In front of that teaching building, scattered students walked by, and then the page was quickly turned.
The next scene was the Main Stadium, where Freshmen were undergoing Military Training.
They were the Grade 1 Freshmen who had just entered the school.
They were like Siberian Huskies who had just joined the pack.
Their faces still carried traces of childishness that couldn’t be wiped away, but was that all?
As the first climax of ‘Proud Of You’ played, Xia Hua’s stroke of genius added two Upperclassmen drinking cold drinks and eating watermelon on the steps by the Military Training field.
Seeing this, “Damn, now that’s the feeling!” the Grade 3 Upperclassmen sitting in the front suddenly shouted.
This was a common technique for local visual focus.
You could never capture all the thousands of Freshmen on the Main Stadium.
So by highlighting those two Upperclassmen, in an instant, all the Grade 3 Upperclassmen were reminded of themselves as new Grade 1 students, just like those Siberian Huskies who’d just joined the group.
The drawing style of the Grade 1 segment had a unique feature and technique.
No matter which school building, whether it was the teaching building, the basketball hoop, or the old tree by the road, they were all drawn so tall, as if you had to look up at them.
Wasn’t that just like Freshmen?
Wasn’t that just the adorable kids who had just entered high school?
Everything seemed new.
Everything seemed towering.
Some people couldn’t help but laugh as they watched: “When I just started high school, everything seemed so big. That perspective is definitely me, hahaha…”
“That confused guy under the signpost, that’s me for sure.”
“No, no, that’s obviously me! Look, that Prohibition Lawn— none of you got caught, only I did! The way that person in the drawing is being scolded, that’s a hundred percent what I looked like back then.”
“……”
What is resonance? It’s when people find traces of themselves in the tiniest details.
That’s resonance—people’s emotions are contagious.
When enough people resonate, it becomes empathy.
While they were still looking for those common points, as the first song ended, they realized the first segment had already quietly finished.
The timing was just right.
Just like when they were in Grade 1.
Just as they felt they’d finally blended in and were about to start their high school life,
They realized, “Grade 1 is already over without me noticing?” Someone sighed— it had just begun, but already ended. Wasn’t it a bit too sad?
While they were still savoring it,
The second song, ‘Sold Out’, started playing.
This was a high-energy, fiery battle anthem.
It marked the beginning of their Grade 2 life…