“I would like to gift you this bouquet. You deserve it!” Shen Mozhen’s eyes were full of appreciation. If it wasn’t for Liu Man’s assistance, she probably would’ve already turned her performance into a fiasco. And now, she wouldn’t be facing flowers and applause; she would be facing defamation from the audience, scoldings from her parents, and disappointment from her teacher.

The audience that didn’t know the truth felt even stranger. Liu Man’s Guqin performance was low-tiered! What did she even play? Wasn’t she only muddling along? Why was Shen Mozhen looking at her with a grateful expression?

Besides, this triangle relationship looked too complicated. Tang Tu gave his flowers to his ex-girlfriend, but his ex-girlfriend gave the flowers to her love rival. Seeing Tang Tu’s perplexed look, he didn’t seem to have known what was going on either.

Everyone silently lit up a candle for Tang Tu.

TL’s Note: R.I.P

They thought Tang Tu’s ex-girlfriend and his current crush were completely ignoring and abandoning him. They were sympathetic to each other and became best friends.

But Tang Tu was Tang Tu, and he soon realized what Shen Mozhen had meant. He also listened to Liu Man’s supportive part just now.

The smile in his eyes became bigger, and he told Shen Mozhen and Liu Man, “It’s my fault. I should’ve prepared two bouquets.”

Liu Man, bewildered, took over the flower and held it in her arms with a confused expression. Still feeling bewildered, she stood with Shen Mozhen and Tang Tu, receiving the loud applause from the audience and all kinds of strange looks.

It was Shen Mozhen’s graduation concert, where she was the main character today. Liu Man felt as if she was stealing all the attention. However, she was already staying very low-profile, and she didn’t take the initiative to steal all the attention.

The trio stood on the stage, and they had matching temperaments and appearances. No one got suppressed by the others. They were looking so brilliant, and they were the real chosen ones.

There wasn’t a single hint of ambiguity or entanglement in the trio’s open and dauntless expressions. Now that everyone thought about Zhang Daqiang’s exposure post, they felt as if it was ridiculous.

Now was the time for the photographers to shoot the group photo. The other students who took part in the performance were really excited to see Tang Tu, and they crowded around the three of them.

Wen Fangfei, who was initially standing in the same row as Shen Mozhen and Liu Man, was squeezed to the very back and blocked by the others. In the group photo, only the tip of her head got shown.

Wen Fangfei, watching Shen Mozhen and the other two people’s silhouettes, suddenly realized that these three people were the ones that belonged in the same world. Wen Fangfei herself seemed to have been secluded.

Wen Fangfei thought that as long as she tried her best to practice the instrument, one day, she would be able to reach or even surpass Senior Mozhen’s level, and she would receive Senior Mozhen’s recognition and admiration. However, Liu Man’s appearance took away all of Senior Mozhen’s attention. Liu Man’s brilliance instantly covered everyone else. Not only did Senior Mozhen admire Liu Man, but she also seemed to have treated Liu Man like a confidant.

And Wen Fangfei herself became invisible.

She felt as if she was forgotten and abandoned by Shen Mozhen.

Her nose started becoming sour, and her eyes felt sour too.

She lowered her head and went down the stage alone, walking backstage while feeling lonely.

Suddenly, someone behind her called her.

“Fangfei,” It was Li Xiaoru’s voice.

Wen Fangfei subconsciously turned her head. Li Xiaoru immediately stopped smiling when she realized there were traces of tear on the corners of Wen Fangfei’s eyes. Wen Fangfei had on an obvious makeup, and even if there was a bit of wetness in her eyes, her makeup would get smeared.

Seeing the surprise on Li Xiaoru’s face, Wen Fangfei immediately turned her face around and said in a cold voice, “Why did you call my name?”

“Your performance just now with Senior Mozhen is very outstanding. I just wanted to say that,” Li Xiaoru said carefully. She recalled what Liu Man said before, about how Wen Fangfei covered up her weakness with indifference. Li Xiaoru couldn’t help but felt pity for this silently crying girl.

To be fair, when Li Xiaoru looked back from Wen Fangfei’s perspective, her decision to quit was not wrong. Anyone would’ve done that. She probably really, really liked Shen Mozhen to the point that she wouldn’t tolerate anyone to hurt Shen Mozhen at all. With Wen Fangfei’s mood at that time, even if she forced herself to go on stage with the two of them, the performance would be very sucky.

TL’s Note: By “She wouldn’t tolerate anyone to hurt Shen Mozhen at all”, the author meant Wen Fangfei thought Tang Tu was cheating on Shen Mozhen because of Liu Man, and in a way, Liu Man was hurting Shen Mozhen.

“You don’t have to be toady towards me when you don’t mean it. I know what level I am at very clearly, and my performance isn’t outstanding,” although Wen Fnagfei, on the inside, really appreciated Li Xiaoru for being the only one to remember her, she still said stubbornly.

Facing Wen Fangfei’s cold words, Li Xiaoru still kept on smiling, “But I think it sounds good, and I think it’s brilliant. It’s all that matters.”

One could never bring themselves to be mean towards smiling people. Wen Fangfei could no longer keep on her aloof face. For a moment, she couldn’t understand Li Xiaoru’s intention, so she softly asked, “Are you no longer angry at me?”

“I was so, so angry at you back then that I was going to explode; however, as time passed, I realized it was not a big deal. You abandoned Man Man and me, which isn’t an issue. Your only issue is that you didn’t trust Man Man and me enough,” Li Xiaoru sounded sincere, “I’ve already forgiven you.”

Hearing Li Xiaoru’s words, Wen Fangfei’s eyes started blurring again, and tears subconsciously filled them up.

“Hey, hey, don’t cry,” Li Xiaoru got nervous. She immediately stepped up and helped Wen Fangfei wipe away her tears with the back of her hand. However, the more Li Xiaoru tried to wipe away the tears, the more tears came out.

Li Xiaoru was getting way too nervous.

If any passersby saw this scene, they would think she was bullying Wen Fangfei to the point that Wen Fangfei started crying!

If this rumor started spreading, how would she survive here at school in the future?

Li Xiaoru decided that since it had already occurred, she would do a good deed. Like a (wo)man, she hugged Wen Fangfei, taking the beauty into her arms. Li Xiaoru was 170 centimeters tall initially, and Wen Fangfei was 160 centimeters tall. She was just tall enough to bury her face into Li Xiaoru’s neck.

Li Xiaoru, like Wen Fangfei’s “boyfriend”, patted Wen Fangfei’s back and coaxed, “Seriously, stop crying. Your crying is making me scared. I’m scared of you, okay?”

Li Xiaoru’s coaxing completely let Wen Fangfei loose. She started crying out loud in Li Xiaoru’s arms.

Li Xiaoru, bewildered, looked around.

Everyone was laughing while covering their mouths. Even Tao Zhiyao and Miao Xiaomei were laughing at them and refused to come to help. Li Xiaoru felt extremely helpless.

“It’s my fault. I know now. Sorry,” Among Wen Fangfei’s crying, Li Xiaoru ambiguously heard these words.

Li Xiaoru, stunned for a moment, suddenly calmed down as she watched the girl in her arms. Li Xiaoru no longer was disgusted at Wen Fangfei crying and let Wen Fangfei vent her regretfulness in her arms.

After the group photo, Liu Man initially wanted to leave. Shen Mozhen stopped her, “My teacher, Professor Wei, wants to have a few words with you. Is that okay?”

“Of course,” Liu Man had no reason to decline.

Wei Wanru was the oldest professor in the folk song major and was also the most famous and sophisticated one.

Liu Man still remembered when Professor Su said Wei Wanru was his old friend.

It was time to depart. None of the audiences wanted to go, for they all wanted to keep on looking at the beauties and the handsome. However, they still left through the egress orderly.

At this time, Wei Wanru and Shen Mozhen’s parents went onstage together. Tang Tu greeted the three of them politely; it was clear he was very familiar with them.

Translated by: Sydney

Proofread by: DoraiO