Chapter 165: My Future Is Not a Dream ③
Time passed at a steady pace, and the art festival was fast approaching. The performance order was decided by the homeroom teacher or music teacher drawing lots. They were placed in a middle position. During rehearsals, they didn’t have the whole class participate; instead, they performed the dance from beginning to end.
After the rehearsal, everyone walked out of the auditorium, chatting and laughing. Judging by the teachers’ expressions, they were satisfied with their performance, even amazed.
Because of the daily rehearsals, they knew the dance’s song by heart. Many in Class 10 would automatically play the song in their minds when they quieted down; it was like a spell.
Returning to the classroom after rehearsal, they found it in a state of commotion. Everyone returned to their seats with suspicion. After settling in, whether by asking others or overhearing by chance, they gradually understood: in Class 7 of their grade, a girl had started bleeding during dance practice a few days ago! TV dramas had depicted it countless times: bleeding meant a miscarriage! The other girls practicing with her didn’t help her get to the hospital; instead, they pulled her aside and pointed and gestured at her. There’s a saying: good deeds go unnoticed, but bad deeds spread far and wide. This incident spread from one person to ten, then to a hundred, and soon almost the entire school knew! For a time, everyone was discussing it animatedly, with a mixture of curiosity and scorn.
Nie Qiu was quite surprised to hear this, she hadn’t expected someone to… at the middle school level.
In her memory, during her junior high school years, let alone pregnancy, even dating only started after the third year. Now, people were dating as early as the first year. Pregnancy during middle school didn’t seem so unexpected. They said the girl was quite pretty and had many boys pursuing her, but there were no rumors of her dating at school. Many people believed she must have been messing around with someone outside of school.
Sitting in her seat, Nie Qiu remained noncommittal. She took out the books she needed to study from her desk and, before class started, began reading the original novels she had rented from a street stall.
Li Kai looked at Nie Qiu with some worry. With something like this happening at school, would Nie Qiu refuse to date him because of it? “Nie Qiu…”
“Hm? What?” Hearing Li Kai call her, Nie Qiu turned her head to look at him.
“Nie Qiu, let’s be together…” Li Kai said, his face blushing. “I won’t bully you.”
“Huh?” Nie Qiu was stunned for a moment before she understood what Li Kai was saying. Her face instantly turned red, and she felt a bit flustered. Who knew who would be bullying whom! But… “Who said I wanted to be with you?”
Li Kai grabbed Nie Qiu’s hand. “If you’re not with me, who will you be with?” In fact, seeing Nie Qiu constantly going in and out with Huang Yan and Peng Yu Yang every day made him very unhappy. He felt he couldn’t stand it anymore. He couldn’t explain why, but he just felt that if he were part of that group… it would be better.
At the same time, every time he saw Peng Yu Yang and Nie Qiu dancing together, his heart felt like it was being scratched by a cat. He was afraid that if he wasn’t careful, Peng Yu Yang might take advantage of Nie Qiu, or worse… Nie Qiu might accidentally fall for Peng Yu Yang.
As he worried about these things, he then heard the news about a female classmate from another class being pregnant. He became even more worried. What if Nie Qiu refused to be with him because of this?
Looking at the hand Li Kai was holding, Nie Qiu glanced around at her classmates. Seeing them all looking at her with eager gossip, she silently pulled her hand back, avoiding Li Kai’s eyes.
The day of the art festival arrived quickly. Nie Aifang had taken leave the day before. Zhang Qitian had asked his wife to watch Nie Qiu’s family’s stall. This way, they could keep all the profits from the goods they brought and sold, without having to pay stall fees. It was a win-win situation.
