novellhall Chapter 9 Another Encounter with Tang Yun
Chapter 9 Another Encounter with Tang Yun
After sending the letter, Li Si'an stopped thinking about the manuscript. If it succeeded, great; if not, so be it. Anyway, she had already received the 300 yuan per thousand words fee, so one more article wouldn't make a difference.
At the end of April, the notice for the May Fourth Arts Performance was issued.
The music competition team partnered with ethnic dance to rehearse "The Butterfly Lovers." The teacher stood in the middle of the rehearsal hall, calling out names, tracing names on the list with his finger, and finally pointing to a corner: "Li Si'an, you're in a group with Tang Yun."
Li Si'an looked in the direction the teacher was pointing.
A girl stood in the corner, wearing a drab gray practice uniform, her hair casually tied up, her head down, grinding a scar on the wooden floor with her toe.
Hearing his name called, his body visibly stiffened, he raised his eyelids slightly, then quickly lowered them again. His eyelids lifted very gently, as if afraid of disturbing something.
That's her. The one who cried in the rehearsal room last time. The one who stood him up.
Li Si'an smiled and walked over.
"Tang Yun. We meet again."
Tang Yun didn't look at him, her voice muffled: "Mmm."
"I invited you to dinner last time, but you didn't come."
"...I said I wasn't going."
"Are you going today? I'll treat you after rehearsal."
"No need." She turned her face away, the tips of her ears turning slightly red.
Li Si'an didn't say anything more. The teacher had already started explaining the movements.
During the first two days of rehearsals, the two barely spoke. When Li Si'an placed his hand on her waist to lift her up, she tensed up, like a cat whose belly had been touched.
But she did everything she was supposed to do, without dodging or complaining, just keeping a straight face the whole time and not giving him a single extra glance.
Li Si'an wasn't in a hurry. He lifted her when he needed to, and let go when he needed to, his movements clean and efficient, never touching her an inch more than necessary. After rehearsal, they went their separate ways without even saying "see you tomorrow."
On the fourth day of rehearsals, the teacher called it a day. The students walked out in twos and threes, chatting and laughing, their practice shoes making a clattering sound on the wooden floor.
Soon the rehearsal hall was empty, leaving only Tang Yun.
She didn't leave. She sat on the floor under the barre, hugging her knees, staring blankly at the mirror on the opposite wall. The girl in the mirror was wearing a drab gray practice uniform, her hair was disheveled, and her face was expressionless.
Li Si'an didn't leave either. He leaned against the door frame, hands in his pockets, watched for a while, then went in and plopped down next to her.
Tang Yun was startled and shrank back to the side, her brows furrowing: "What are you doing?"
"Nothing. I just want to ask you something."
"What?"
"Why do I always see you alone?" Li Si'an tilted her head and looked at her, her tone casual.
"You eat alone, you leave get out of class alone, and you don't talk to anyone during rehearsal breaks. Don't you get along with your classmates?"
Tang Yun pursed her lips and didn't reply.
Li Si'an glanced at her and added, "Or... do you look down on them? That's why you don't want to associate with them?"
These words were like a needle, piercing something instantly. Tang Yun turned her head sharply, her eyes reddening, and her voice rose abruptly: "When did I ever look down on them? What gives you the right to say that to me?"
"Then why do you always stay alone?"
"I—" She took a deep breath, her voice trembling, "I just transferred from the ballet class to the folk dance class. I don't know anyone here. I don't know anyone. Who am I supposed to talk to?"
Li Si'an looked at her without saying a word.
Tang Yun turned her face away and wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand. After a few seconds, she turned back, staring straight at him, her voice lower, but still defiant:
"I'm asking you. Why do you think I look down on them?"
Li Si'an leaned against the wall, a smile on her face, and glanced at her up and down.
"Because you have a better figure than them."
Tang Yun was stunned.
"Look at the girls in your class," Li Si'an gestured with her chin toward the door, her tone as if she were commenting on the cafeteria food today, "they're all flat-chested. Unlike you, you've got everything you need just by standing there."
Tang Yun opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She heard the words "flat-chested" and felt something was off, but she didn't immediately understand what they meant. The rehearsal hall was silent for a few seconds. The fluorescent lights hummed.
After a while, she asked in a low voice, "What does 'flat-chested' mean?"
Li Si'an glanced at her and chuckled.
"Airports, the areas where planes take off and land...don't they have to be perfectly flat?"
Tang Yun pondered the sentence for a moment, and then suddenly realized what it meant.
Her face flushed instantly, from the tips of her ears all the way to the roots of her neck. She wanted to curse him, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the words that came out were—*pfft*, she couldn't help but laugh.
She quickly covered her mouth, turned her face away, and her shoulders trembled. It wasn't crying, it was laughter. The kind of laughter that couldn't be contained.
Li Si'an leaned against the wall, watching her cover her mouth and chuckle, and smiled too.
"What are you laughing at? I'm just stating the facts."
"You—how can you talk like that…" Tang Yun covered her mouth, her voice muffled, her eyes still red, but a smile was already on her face, "How can you be so indecent?"
"What was inappropriate? I said you have a good figure, I was complimenting you."
"You call that praising someone?"
"What else?" Li Si'an shrugged. "If you insist on saying I'm being a pervert, I'll admit it."
Tang Yun lowered her hand and glared at him, but the wariness in her eyes was gone. She lowered her head, tied her disheveled hair back up, her fingers still trembling slightly, but not from anger, but from laughter.
"Li Si'an".
"Um."
"You're not allowed to say those things in front of others."
"Which words?"
"It's—it's that." Her face flushed a little more, "the airport or something."
"Fine. You decide."
Tang Yun lowered her head, a smile lingering on her lips, one she couldn't suppress. She stood up, brushed the dust off her pants, and picked up her bag.
"I'm leaving," she said.
"Are you coming to rehearsal tomorrow?"
"Come."
"Then I'll have someone treat you to dinner tomorrow."
Tang Yun was taken aback: "Looking for someone?"
"Yes. She's from the ethnic dance class at our school, her surname is Zhang, and her name is Zhang Ziyi." Li Si'an leaned against the door frame, her hands in her pockets. "She's in the same major as you, but not in the same class."
"Why did you ask her to treat me to dinner?" Tang Yun's brows furrowed again, her tone wary.
"Nothing. I just feel sorry for you eating alone every day."
Tang Yun did not respond.
"I'll talk to her about it later, and you two can get to know each other," Li Si'an said. "You're both from the folk dance class, so having more friends means more opportunities. If you think it's a good idea, I'll tell her."
Tang Yun lowered her head, her fingers gripping the bag strap for a long while.
"Would she...be willing?"
"Let me ask," Li Si'an smiled. "Just tell me if you're willing or not."
Tang Yun was silent for a few seconds, then nodded slightly.
"Okay." Li Si'an straightened up. "Then I'll talk to her tomorrow."
The next afternoon, Li Si'an went to the rehearsal hall of the ethnic dance class.
Zhang Ziyi was stretching her legs in front of the barre, one leg resting on the barre, her body leaning forward, her face almost touching her knee. Her practice clothes were soaked with sweat, her hair was tied up tightly, and stray hairs were stuck to her forehead.
Li Si'an stood at the door for a while, waiting for her to finish pressing down before knocking on the door frame.
Zhang Ziyi turned around, saw it was him, and laughed.
"Oh, what a rare sight! What brings you here?"
"I've brought you some money." Li Si'an took an envelope out of her pocket and waved it. "Last month's commission from the magnetic card."
Zhang Ziyi's eyes lit up, and she rushed over, snatched the envelope, opened it, and her smile widened.
"Good job, Comrade Li, you're quite efficient." She put the envelope into her training uniform pocket, patted it, and said, "I'll treat you to dinner later."
"You should have treated me to a meal a long time ago!" Li Si'an said indignantly, "All I did was ask you to relay a message between me and your dad, and you have the nerve to charge me two hundred a month!"
Upon hearing Li Si'an bring this up, Zhang Ziyi smiled at him like a fawning Shiba Inu.
"Oh my, it's all thanks to your generosity, Boss Li. I'm incredibly grateful. Let's not turn back this time; I'll treat you to a meal tonight."
"You don't need to invite me this time," Li Si'an said, leaning against the doorframe. "I have something else to discuss with you."
"What is it?"
Do you know Tang Yun?
Zhang Ziyi thought for a moment, frowned slightly, and then nodded.
"I know him, but we're not close. He's from the second class of folk dance, the one who just transferred from the ballet class."
She paused, a mischievous smile playing on her lips, and lowered her voice, "You mean that one—tall and thin, with really big breasts, and who looks a bit like a foreigner. Why are you asking about her?"
"She doesn't have many friends in class and eats alone every day. I'd like you to treat her to a meal so you two can get to know each other."
Zhang Ziyi glanced at him, her eyes filled with a hint of inquiry.
"What's your relationship with her?"
"She was my rehearsal partner. We were in the same group for the May Fourth performance, dancing 'The Butterfly Lovers'," Li Si'an said. "I felt sorry for her, so I helped her out."
Zhang Ziyi stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly smiled, a smile that conveyed "I understand," but she didn't say anything more.
"Sure," she said. "Anyway, I've been saving all the commission you give me, so treating you to a meal is nothing. Besides—"
She paused, glanced into the rehearsal hall, and lowered her voice: "I'm quite curious about her too. My classmates are always talking about her behind her back, saying all sorts of things. I just want to see what kind of person she really is."
"Then you can schedule a time later."
"How about tomorrow at noon?" Zhang Ziyi said. "The cafeteria is on the third floor, it's on me. You can invite her up."
"Okay." Li Si'an straightened up. "Then I'll talk to her."
"Hey, wait a minute." Zhang Ziyi called out to him, tilting her head to look at him. "You're introducing friends to people and arranging meals for them—Li Si'an, you wouldn't happen to have a crush on her, would you?"
Li Si'an neither admitted nor denied it, smiled, and turned to leave.
Zhang Ziyi stood at the entrance of the rehearsal hall, watching his retreating figure, shook her head, and couldn't suppress the smile on her face. She turned back to continue stretching her legs, muttering something under her breath:
"This guy has so much free time."