The January wind carried a biting chill.
The ginkgo leaves outside the Music Building had all fallen, their bare branches stretching toward the pale gray sky like an old man’s fingers.
“Haah…”
Lin Lu, wrapped in a white scarf, exhaled a puff of white breath as she walked across campus with Chen Xingye and the others.
“The weather’s getting colder and colder lately. I can’t believe you guys still want to come with me to the Piano Club to watch me practice on such a cold day…”
“But you have a competition coming up, Little Sister! And you’ve been practicing for so long without us ever seeing you. We have nothing else to do, so we might as well go take a look,” Chen Xingye said with a smile, “I also heard our winter break starts right after your piano competition.”
“Eh? That’s quite a coincidence?”
Lin Lu turned her head, looking at Chen Xingye with a slightly surprised expression.
“Yeah, so I bet a lot of people will go watch your competition then… The news about you representing our school in the competition has been spreading all over the campus forum recently.”
Chen Xingye took out her phone, opened the hottest post on the school forum, and handed it to Lin Lu.
The post’s title read: [Beijiang University’s Top Campus Belle, Lin Lu, Participates in the Intercollegiate Piano Competition!]
The comments below were numerous: [Eh? Can someone tell me if this is true or not?]
[The person above, the news is real.]
[Our campus belle is so talented? She even plays piano?]
The post even included photos of her eating in the cafeteria, attending class, and even practicing the piano—who knew who had taken them secretly.
“Don’t they have anything better to do? Finals are almost here. Shouldn’t they be focusing on studying?”
Su Tang chuckled, “What can we do? You’re so pretty and talented, Little Deer. How could students our age resist your charm?”
“Is it my fault?”
Lin Lu and the others continued walking and complaining.
When they reached the Piano Club door, they could already hear scattered piano notes from the hallway.
Lin Lu was about to push the door open when she noticed something in her peripheral vision—a poster seemed to be hanging next to the door?
“What’s that?”
There hadn’t been a poster there before when Lin Lu came.
Lin Lu tilted her head to get a better look.
It was a hand-drawn poster, likely made by a Piano Club member.
It featured a manga-style drawing of Lin Lu, with artistic lettering that read: “Senior Lin Lu, good luck in the competition! The entire Piano Club is cheering for you!”
“Wow! It’s so pretty, and it’s actually a poster of you, Little Lu.” Su Tang also leaned in to look.
“Do you know who drew it, Little Lu?”
“No.”
Lin Lu shook her head, pushed the door open, and entered, only to find five or six club members inside.
“Huh? Why are there so many people today?”
Lin Lu was puzzled, ‘Usually, there were only one or two people in the Piano Club at most. Why were there so many today?’
“Senior Lin Lu, you’re here!” A girl with twin ponytails ran out from the group, holding a folder, her face flushed with excitement.
“I’m Xiao Qing, the vice president of the Piano Club. We’ve met before.”
Lin Lu nodded and asked, “Why are there so many people today?”
Xiao Qing smiled, turned around, and waved to everyone.
“Come on, everyone, gather around!”
The five or six club members immediately surrounded them.
“Senior, actually, we club members discussed it and decided to form a cheering squad for you. On the day of the competition, we’ll wear matching outfits and go cheer for you live,” Xiao Qing said, handing the folder in her hand to Lin Lu.
“After all, we can’t lose in terms of momentum! Although our cheering squad only has us club members for now, I think we can recruit other students from the school to join.”
“A cheering squad?”
“Yes!” Xiao Qing turned and pointed at the wall, “Look, these are the cheering banners we made. There are three in total, each with a different design.”
“And this.” Another member brought over a cardboard box from the corner, inside which were several neatly folded white T-shirts.
She took one out and unfolded it for Lin Lu to see.
The front of the T-shirt had a chibi-style portrait of Lin Lu, with the words “Cheering Squad” written below.
Lin Lu felt her vision darken.
This was way too embarrassing!!
“Ah… I don’t think this is nec—”
Lin Lu was about to refuse when Su Tang, who was standing nearby, interrupted.
“Eh?! A cheering squad? That sounds really fun!”
Xiao Qing only then noticed the few people behind Lin Lu.
“Right, right! I think it’s fun too! When so many of us go to cheer, we’ll overpower the other schools in terms of momentum!” Xiao Qing invited Su Tang, “Do you want to join?”
“Sure!” Su Tang agreed immediately, “I want to be the vice leader!”
“What about me? What about me?” Chen Xingye also leaned in, “I want to join too.”
“You? You’ll just be a regular member.”
“Why?!”
“Because I signed up first!”
The two started bickering.
Lin Shuiyue shook her head.
“Hey, stop arguing, stop arguing! What vice leader? It’s just a cheering squad, not a fan club.” Xiao Qing quickly pulled the two apart.
“Besides, we still need to recruit people. I’ll post on the school forum later to gather other participants…”
Seeing everyone chatting enthusiastically, Lin Lu’s mouth twitched.
She seemed… to not have given her opinion yet, right?
Chen Yuwei came out of the room at that moment, walked quietly to Lin Lu’s side, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, “Alright, just accept it. They mean well, wanting to cheer for you.”
Hearing Chen Yuwei’s voice, Lin Lu was startled.
She looked at the group of club members discussing fervently in front of her and could only sigh silently.
“…Fine.”
“Actually, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s just a temporary cheering squad.” Chen Yuwei looked at Lin Lu, a somewhat amused smile appearing on her face.
“You don’t mean to tell me you don’t know you actually have a fan club, do you?”
“When did I get something like that?!” Lin Lu stared at Chen Yuwei with an incredulous look.
“Who started it? I’ll go have them disband it right now!”
“It’s been around for a while, you just didn’t notice. Otherwise, why do you think you’re so famous at school but hardly receive any love letters or confessions? It’s actually all because your fan club intercepts them.”
“So… I should thank them?”
“Not necessarily, but… if you disband them, I estimate your future days will be plagued by those secret admirers and pursuers.” Chen Yuwei chuckled, “It’s better to just let them be.”
“By the way, do you have a formal dress? You can’t possibly go on stage to perform in casual clothes for the competition, right?”
Lin Lu frowned.
A formal dress?
How could she possibly have that kind of clothing?
She then shook her head.
“Not having a dress won’t do. I’ll accompany you to pick one out this weekend. Consider it… payment for helping the club compete.” Chen Yuwei suggested.
“What? What? Buying a dress? I want to go too!”
Chen Xingye poked her head over from the side.
“I’m just going to buy a piece of clothing. Do we really need this many people together?”
“Little Lu, you clearly have no experience picking out formal dresses. We can go with you to help give our opinions.”
Chen Yuwei didn’t refuse the others’ participation, just said calmly, “Then it’s settled. Saturday afternoon at two, meet at the entrance of the commercial center. Don’t be late.”
“Yay!” Su Tang cheered, “Dress Procurement Team, let’s go!”
Lin Lu covered her face, not wanting to speak.
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