Chapter 73: Who Desired Whom?

"I'm the one who envies you," Dong Yanyan laughed. "There’s nothing worth looking at on me except maybe my waist." She had a sudden urge to pinch her own chest, but thought better of it. That would be far too indecent. Although the girls of this era were innocent and wouldn’t think anything of it, she herself would. See, living more than a decade longer had made her lose even that little bit of childhood innocence.

She rubbed shower gel all over with the bath flower, working up a lather of bubbles. As she played with the bubbles, she asked, "Have you picked a song for the finals yet?"

Liu Siying gathered her wet hair up and smiled, "Not yet. I don’t really think I have much hope of making it into the top three. Lin Mei is definitely going to be in the top three, and Li Ling is singing ‘Tibetan Plateau’ this time, so she’s sure to make it. The two senior girls from Broadcasting ‘96 and ‘97 both have higher scores than me. I don’t have much chance of surpassing them."

Dong Yanyan had thought about this too. Now that Liu Siying had made it to the finals, she really didn’t have much of an advantage. However, none of the top five had sung a foreign language song yet. Only one guy from ‘96 Broadcasting had sung Pavarotti’s "O Sole Mio," and with that song, he made it to the finals with the highest score. At this time, not many students could sing foreign songs, so singing one had a big advantage. Right away, you’d stand out.

"Siying, can you sing any English songs?"

"Yes, 'Yesterday Once More'," Liu Siying replied.

"No, no, that one’s been sung to death!" Dong Yanyan thought of the "Loving You" she sang last night, but quickly realized that the dolphin notes would be impossible for Liu Siying. She herself didn’t know much about music, but even she knew you couldn’t master the whistle register in two or three days—it all depended on talent. Better pick something more reliable. After thinking for a while, she finally came up with one.

"How about 'Scarborough Fair'? My absolute favorite!" she asked excitedly.

Liu Siying smiled sheepishly. "I haven’t heard that one."

"You definitely have! Let me sing you a few lines." Against the sound of running water, Dong Yanyan sang a few bars. Liu Siying’s eyes lit up. "So that’s the song! I have heard it—it’s often used as background music on the radio."

"Perfect! I bet no one else will sing an English song in the finals. If you do it well, you’ll definitely amaze everyone! Even if you can’t beat Lin Mei, you’ll outshine those two beauties from the Broadcasting class, and maybe even give Li Ling a run for her money. High notes aren’t invincible, as long as she doesn’t pull off dolphin notes. We still have hope," Dong Yanyan said with a smile.

"I’ll listen to you! Let’s go buy the cassette right now!" Liu Siying quickly rinsed the bubbles off and dragged Dong Yanyan out, making her laugh helplessly. "It won’t make a difference if we wait a bit. Are you sure you can master a pretty challenging English song in a week?"

"I’m sure! If I set my mind to it, I can do anything!" Liu Siying declared.

Dong Yanyan loved her competitive spirit; there was such energy and vitality in it. So much better than the girls in her own dorm who did nothing but talk about boys and snacks.

There weren’t many music stores around the school. They scoured most of the city, visiting several shops before finally finding an English song compilation. But the accompaniment tape was nowhere to be found.

"What do we do now?" Liu Siying asked, massaging her aching legs, disappointed.

"It’s fine. Let’s try Red Flag Street. I don’t believe we can’t find it," Dong Yanyan said, leading her out. Just as they turned, they bumped into Lin Feng and Yang Lili. Before Dong Yanyan could say anything, Liu Siying greeted them enthusiastically, "You guys here to buy tapes too?"

"You too?" Lin Feng replied with a smile.

"Yeah, we’re looking for the accompaniment to an English song, but haven’t found it yet." Liu Siying waved the tape in her hand. Yang Lili took it to have a look and asked, "Which song? I can help you find it—my brother works at the radio station. He should have it!"

At these words, Dong Yanyan’s eyes lit up too. She and Liu Siying exchanged an excited glance.

"Lili, thank you so much," she said sincerely.

"Don’t mention it! We’re all classmates," Yang Lili smiled. "About yesterday, I had a bad attitude. Don’t be angry."

"Forget it, I wasn’t exactly in the best mood either. As long as you’re not mad." Dong Yanyan grinned. "By the way, isn’t there a new mixed duet performance in the finals? It’s just you two from our class, right?"

Yang Lili nodded. "Just so happens it’s one boy and one girl from our class, so we don’t need to pair up with anyone from another class. Help me pick a song, will you?"

Dong Yanyan thought for a moment. "Siying’s already working on an English song, so she won’t have much time to rehearse a duet. It’s best to pick something you both know well, something that’ll stand out. How about this one? The melody is beautiful and the lyrics are great."

The store was playing a familiar song, "Good People, Good Dreams." Yang Lili listened for a while, then turned to Lin Feng, "What do you think?"

Lin Feng waved his hand grandly. "Perfect, let’s do it!"

And just like that, their little duo became a group of four, and they all had lunch together. That’s just how things were among girls—the relationships were so delicate, but after a quarrel and making up, they actually felt closer. Only Lin Feng seemed to be deliberately ignoring Dong Yanyan. She understood though: last night, she’d been dragged back to the dorm by Song Mingcheng like a sack of potatoes, drunk out of her mind, and Lin Feng had seen it all. Whatever good impression he had of her likely vanished. That’s what you get—no love, no dignity, nothing left.

*

That afternoon, Ren Jiaxuan called Dong Yanyan, but Lu Tian picked up. Hearing his voice, she laughed sweetly, "Ren, looking for my Fifth Sister? She’s not here!"

Ren Jiaxuan had originally wanted to ask if she’d woken up yet. Hearing she wasn’t there, he sounded a bit disappointed. "Where’d she go?"

"I don’t know either. Ren, you didn’t do anything to her last night, did you?" Tian Tian asked.

"What could I possibly do?" Ren Jiaxuan laughed helplessly, but suddenly felt something was off and asked warily, "Tian Tian, what did she tell you guys?"

"She said after spending half the night out with you, she concluded you’re a pervert! I’m only telling you because you’re not an outsider—do what you will with this info," Tian Tian laughed.

Ren Jiaxuan hung up, rubbed his face hard, and muttered angrily, "Damn! Who’s the pervert here, really?!"

Li Zhe was shaving at the window with a small mirror. Seeing Ren Jiaxuan’s expression, he couldn’t help but laugh. "What’s wrong, Jiaxuan? Did you get rejected?"

"She wasn’t there—Tian Tian answered," Ren Jiaxuan said, straightening his shirt and pretending not to care.

From the top bunk where he was playing games, He Jingxuan grumbled, "Don’t mention her in front of me! Annoying!"

Li Zhe laughed again. "Sixth, did you and Tian Tian have another fight?"

"Don’t mention her to me! Jiaxuan, I’m telling you, those two little ones in Broadcasting—neither of them are easy to handle! The farther you stay from them, the better!"

"But aren’t those exactly the kind you like?" Li Zhe teased, then turned to Jiaxuan. "So, took her out last night—did you get anywhere or not? You don’t look too excited today."

Ren Jiaxuan rolled his eyes and flopped onto his bed, smiling with a complicated look. "Her? I didn’t even get a chance to test her depth before she was already trying to test my length! Don’t ask, it’s too tragic to recall!"

"If Yan Yan heard you say that, I guarantee she’d slap you clear across the world," Li Zhe joked.

Ren Jiaxuan shot up as if his tail had been stepped on. "She wouldn’t dare!"

"Catch up to her first before you start talking. And when you talk to girls, be more tactful—show some class. Don’t make people think all Broadcasting guys are perverts," Li Zhe said, carefully wiping his mouth and smoothing his glossy hair with a little comb.

*

That afternoon, Dong Yanyan accompanied Liu Siying back to the classroom to practice singing. They took over the only tape player in the class. Liu Siying loaded her tape and hummed along, following the lyrics.

Dong Yanyan gestured and critiqued from the side. "To sing this song, you have to capture that goddess vibe. Imagine your voice is heavenly—just like this!" She struck a queenly pose. "Listen to it a few more times and memorize the lyrics. Oh, right, we need to translate them first. How much do you understand?"

Liu Siying frowned thoughtfully, then smiled. "About seventy or eighty percent. Literal translation is fine, but to really grasp the song’s essence, we’ll need some help."

"Let’s ask Miss Tian! She’ll definitely be happy to help," Dong Yanyan laughed.

Liu Siying nodded. "I was thinking the same."

Too much heavenly singing can make you sleepy too, especially when you hadn’t slept well the night before. After a while, Dong Yanyan was drifting off as she listened with Liu Siying.

From the hallway came the sound of a bouncing ball, mixed with Ren Jiaxuan’s serious voice: "Liu Qiang, see if Dong Yanyan is in there."

That woke Dong Yanyan up instantly! She didn’t want to see him—at least not now. That would be too awkward. She was just about to bolt when Liu Qiang came in bouncing the ball, spotted her, and shouted, "Dong Yanyan, Ren Jiaxuan is looking for you!"

She glared at him and whispered, "Tell him I’m not here!"

"Okay!" Liu Qiang turned around and, thinking himself funny, called out to Ren Jiaxuan, "She says she’s not here!"

Ren Jiaxuan walked right in. At the sight of him, Dong Yanyan’s palms actually began to sweat and her heart skipped a beat. She could only prop her head up and pretend not to notice him. Ren Jiaxuan sat on the desk next to her, tapped her on the head, and laughed, "What are you hiding for? Where’s all that guts from last night?"

There were plenty of classmates around, and at his words, they all turned curiously to look their way.

"Classmate, if you talk like that, people will get the wrong idea. They’ll think I did something to you," Dong Yanyan said gloomily, covering her head.

"Yanyan, I’m heading back to the dorm," Liu Siying said as she packed up the tape player, patted Dong Yanyan on the shoulder, and slipped away.

Ren Jiaxuan nodded to her, then took her seat and pulled Dong Yanyan’s arm away, grinning mischievously. "If you didn’t do anything to me, why are you blushing?"