Chapter 8 Hello Everyone! I Am Fang Qiu!
Music rang at the same time.
It was Tu Honggang’s “Wind and Cloud”, a quite forceful and vigorous song. Especially when the lyrics came to the session full of parallel constructions that started with “where”, the momentum was magnificent.
The moment the music sounded, Chen Cong suddenly stripped off his coat and tossed it into the air, revealing the inside tight black vest and his strong physique.
His big bronze muscles instantly set off a burst of scream from the schoolgirls.
“Gosh!”
The scream was even louder than the cries the boys made previously.
“Humph! What a show-off!”
Sun Hao jealously snarled. Those words actually spoke for most of the boys off the stage.
“The wind picked up the dust!”
As the first line sounded, Chen Cong moved—he directly jumped up and gave a high-kick on the spot.
“The clouds melted and the rain fell.”
He landed on one leg without noise.
The one single move instantly earned shouts of “Bravo!”.
It was done sleekly and neatly, quite excellent!
But there was more of it.
“Numerous heroes swarmed about!”
Next, he performed a whirlwind kick and 720-degree twist!
“The upright force exists both in the past and today.”
As he landed, another swiveling twist instantly came up!
“Swords thrust and withdrew rapidly!”
Each line came with a breathtakingly difficult move.
Such as side somersault twist, 540-degree leap and crescent kick, backward somersault on the spot, and so on. The most amazing thing was that all those difficult moves were performed consecutively, without any interval. The dense distribution of the moves was very intimidating!
Any person who had been practicing sets of moves would be shocked at Chen Cong’s performance at this time. Any combination of those difficult moves in martial arts performance competitions would earn them brilliant high marks. However, Chen Cong did all of them one after another.
Dead silence spread in the whole audience.
At this moment, all the students were petrified by Chen Cong’s martial arts skills.
Even though they were not professionals, they could tell that Chen Cong’s performance was freaking awesome!
They had never seen such a martial arts show.
This would-be-lame show brought them unprecedented astonishment!
Fang Qiu watched all this with a beam. He noticed that Chen Cong looked his way intentionally or unintentionally whenever he changed to his next move, as if showing off and trying to provoke him.
It was true that Chen Cong was trying to provoke Fang Qiu.
At first, he was going to do a simple set of moves as planned. But since he found out that Fang Qiu was a dubious martial artist, he immediately altered his performance.
All he did were very challenging moves, which served as a provocation for Fang Qiu.
Facing Chen Cong’s provocation, Fang Qiu did not bother to react but merely watched him performing with pure appreciation.
He only had eight words as comments for this show.
Flashily and garishly designed but without any substance!
Real martial arts would kill the target at one go!
Why did he need all the intricate movements?
However, Fang Qiu knew all of the moves as well. If it were he doing the show, he would put on a performance a hundred times flashier and garnish than Chen Cong’s!
“Only friendship is as deep and boundless as the sea, no matter the clouds scatters or wind gathers!”
As the song drew to an end, Chen Cong, who was already soaked in sweat, withdrew his moves and slowly ended his practice.
Thunderous applause and whistles broke out from the audience.
The martial arts show not only stimulated the boys’ male hormone but also girls’ lustful desire.
Originally, everyone thought it would be a simple and boring show of martial move sets. But it turned out to be the best performance so far, which was quite beyond everyone’s expectations.
The beautiful senior Liu Feifei did not expect it to be so successful, either.
The whole Class Three was ennobled by Chen Cong’s performance and felt very proud of it.
The host stepped onto the stage accompanied by the applause. Chen Cong, who should have been getting down the stage, did not do so. Instead, he reached out for the microphone the host was holding.
At this, the audience all quieted down, knowing Chen Cong was going to make a speech.
Chen Cong grabbed the microphone, his eyes looking Fang Qiu’s way with somewhat challenging force.
“You might think my performance was quite stunning, but I know there is someone sitting in the audience who is even better than me.”
At his words, the audience was all taken aback.
“Could some martial expert be sitting among us?”
“My show only serves as a modest spur to induce the expert sitting in the audience to come forward with his valuable instructions to enlighten me. Tomorrow night, this time, this place, I’ll wait until you come!”
He said all this with his eyes fixed on Fang Qiu.
Fang Qiu laughed.
But the audience burst into an uproar.
This... this was equivalent to sending a challenge letter!
This was the first time they had witnessed the announcement of a letter of challenge. Such a legendary event just happened in front of them.
Plus, this was a letter of challenge sent out at the Mid-Autumn Festival gala.
There came murmurs from the audience. Everyone was eager to know who Chen Cong’s speech directed to.
But they knew that tomorrow there would be a good show—a fight in public!
Cold sweat was beading on the face of the host on stage.
He never thought Chen Cong could be so audacious to throw out a letter of challenge in the presence of all the students and school officials. How could a college student intentionally pick up a fight against another student?
He cast a furtive glimpse at the principal and seemed to see him wearing a smile.
But he was not sure of what he just saw. Anyway, he hastened to snatch the microphone and spoke to draw the gala back on track. “Many thanks to Chen Cong’s brilliant performance. At tonight’s gala, we should not focus on private business. Next, please enjoy a poem recitation ‘Eulogy of the Bright Moon’, performed by Wu Siyuan from Class Two, Chinese Medicine Diagnostics. Please enjoy!”
...
Stepping off the stage, Chen Cong took a glance at Fang Qiu, who seemed to be as cool as usual, and went back to his class in the gaze of every audience and sat down quietly.
Fang Qiu was also surprised to see Chen Cong announcing his letter of challenge in public.
“This move is both harsh to me and himself!
“Whether tomorrow I should turn up...
“Depends on my mood.”
Halfway through the poetry recitation, Liu Feifei, his senior and teacher in charge of his class, snuck towards him.
“The next show after this one is your hand flute performance. Just now, Chen Cong made us all proud. Now, whether our class can make a name at this Mid-Autumn Festival gala is up to you! Please be focused and put on a good show!”
Liu Feifei looked into Fang Qiu’s eyes and did a serious pep talk.
“Relax, senior. This is not boasting, I assure you my hand flute skills are absolutely amazing, I guarantee you my show will be outstanding and make all the students be on their hands and knees in admiration!”
Before Fang Qiu tried to say more, Sun Hao simply opened his mouth with a wicked smile and pretended to play the hand flute.
Fang Qiu glanced at Sun Hao, and then, shifted his eyes helplessly to his senior, who appeared to be tenser than himself.
“You are giving me so much pressure. Aren’t you afraid of making me nervous and causing me to blow it?”
“Well, I have faith in you!”
Liu Feifei gently patted on Fang Qiu’s shoulder and raised up her pink fists as saying, “Go for it!”
“Go for it!”
Zhu Benzheng, Sun Hao, and Zhou Xiaotian all cheered Fang Qiu on.
“Go for it!”
Fang Qiu echoed. Then, he took a deep breath and stood up from the ground, followed the senior and disappeared into the audience.
They went all the way to the messy and shabby backstage. To Fang Qiu’s surprise, he saw a figure that should not have been there—Jiang Miaoyu, the campus belle.
A very good-looking man was standing next to her, staring at her with a smile, while she was talking with the host.
Fang Qiu knew this man. He was the president of the student union of their School of Chinese Medicine, a junior student named Li Qingshi.
He was in the same major and at the same year with Fang Qiu’s pretty senior Liu, but not in the same class.
It was evident that the two campus celebrities knew each other, for they nodded at each other politely.
From beginning to end, Li Qingshi’s eyes did not rest on Fang Qiu but directly shifted from Liu Feifei to Jiang Miaoyu.
Fang Qiu could use one word to concluded the impression Li Qingshi gave him—arrogant!
He must be a rather arrogant person.
“Go there and have a rest, organize yourself. Don’t go up onto the stage until the host called your name.”
Liu Feifei pointed a chair and said, “I have to go now, need to keep an eye on those kids of our class, in case they make any trouble.”
Fang Qiu nodded. When Liu Feifei left, he strode straight to the chair.
Not until now did Jiang Miaoyu noticed Fang Qiu. At the sight of Fang Qiu at the backstage, she was also a little surprised. But then, she nodded at him with a smile.
Fang Qiu smiled back.
It was at this moment that Li Qingshi cast his eyes squarely on Fang Qiu for the first time. After he scrutinized him from head to foot, a trace of astonishment flitted across his eyes. But then, it turned into a hint of contempt and he looked away, quitting examining him.
Fang Qiu took no notice of him. He walked to the corner and sat down straightway, closed his eyes to enjoy a quiet moment.
“Your show is already arranged as the third last, just after the street dance and the song ‘Hélène’. Looking forward to your stunning performance.” said the host to Jiang Miaoyu politely.
At the words, Fang Qiu opened his eyes and stared at Jiang Miaoyu with a surprised look. It never occurred to him that she not only came here but was going to present a show. But this was the Mid-Autumn Festival gala of their School of Chinese Medicine.
Fang Qiu was familiar with the song “Hélène”, which was also one of his favorite songs. Both the French version and the Chinese version were his likes.
He never thought Jiang Miaoyu was going to perform this song.
But this warm and sweet song really matched Jiang Miaoyu’s disposition.
“Then, I’ll count on you!”
Jiang Miaoyu said courteously while beaming.
Finishing the words, she left the backstage in company with Li Qingshi, the president of the student union.
Fang Qiu sat quietly at the backstage by himself, waiting to be called on stage.
Ten minutes later, the host announced, “Please enjoy ‘Celadon Porcelain’ performed with hand flute by the student from Class Three of Chinese Medicine, Fang Qiu!”
As the words faded, Fang Qiu immediately heard the loud cheers from the Class Three.
“Fang Qiu! Fang Qiu!”
The loudest voices clearly came from his three roommates.
Fang Qiu felt a warm current flow into his heart and stepped onto the stage with a smile.
“Hand flute?”
Off the stage, Jiang Miaoyu’s beautiful eyes looked upward and landed on Fang Qiu in amazement. A moment ago when he appeared at the backstage, she knew he was supposed to do a show. Since he did not bring anything with him, she just presumed that he was going to sing a song. However, it took her by surprise that he was playing the hand flute, a thing that she never heard of.
And she did not learn his name until now.
“Fang Qiu? Fang Qiu?
“I wonder the Qiu pronunciation stands for which character.
“But the name does sound pretty good.”
Jiang Miaoyu was now sort of looking forward to the show of this student who gallantly helped her out the other day.
The student next to Jiang Miaoyu detected the unusual expression of Jiang Miaoyu, who appeared to be rather interested in the upcoming show, and asked curiously, “You know him?”
Li Qingshi, who had been nearby squeezed in a crowd of girds, pricked his ears.
“Just met him once by chance.”
Jiang Miaoyu said beamingly.
The student nodded, and Li Qingshi let out a small sigh of relief as well before casting his eyes to look at Fang Qiu who was now on stage.
He wanted to know what kind of performance a student, who had met the campus belle by chance but made her remember him, could do.
He was quite looking forward to it.
The applause was rather thin except for Fang Qiu’s Class Three.
Most of them had no idea what hand flute was and just assumed it was a musical instrument. They had no interest in watching someone play any musical instrument.
At the less enthusiastic applause, Fang Qiu did not feel disappointed or anything. He went straight to the microphone placed at the front of the stage and spoke with a calm and natural tone, “Never forget why you started, and your mission can be accomplished. Only when you climb over the hills can you know how vast the world is! Hello, everyone, I am Fang Qiu!”
“Fang... Qiu.”
“It turns out that the ‘Qiu’ stands for the character ‘hill’.”
Jiang Miaoyu thought.
This unexpectedly simple self-introduction instantly made everyone present remember the name “Fang Qiu”.
“Fang Qiu! Fang Qiu!”
His three roommates took this opportunity and started yelling his name right off, swinging their arms in excitement.
But next came an embarrassing moment.
Everyone at the scene was silent, but the three.
Instantly, all the eyes fell on his three roommates.
Catching the looks that shot at them from all directions, all of a sudden, the three went thunderstruck.
Their ecstatic expressions froze in an instant.
They let out a fit of dry laughs, continued to shout a few cheers. But their voices were fading. Eventually, they put down their arms in awkwardness.
“Hahahaha...”
The audience burst out laughing.
Even Fang Qiu on stage was amused. He spoke through the microphone. “Thank you for your cheers, my dear roommates. And let me give a brief introduction of them, hmm... they’re unmarried.”
Everyone was petrified.
“You paused for that long but only said one word—unmarried!”
“This introduction is out of the world!”
“Hahahaha...”
Two seconds later, a riot of laughter broke out in the audience.
His three roommates, on the other hand, were so embarrassed that they wanted to die immediately. How they wished to rush onto the stage and give Fang Qiu a good beat! They had been being so supportive in vain.
How could he do this to them!
“You bastard, wait for our revenge!”