Heartthrob, Your Ima Chapter 78: The Military Training Performance

To be honest, Chang Hao didn't think much of the potential relationship between Li Qiang and Lu Lin. The things Li Qiang did were laughable. Lu Lin's financial troubles were her own business, but giving her his financial aid money? There's a saying: "If you don't have the skills, don't take on tough jobs." Li Qiang seed to lack self-awareness.

Of course, these were Chang Hao's private thoughts—he'd never say them out loud. Still, watching Li Qiang's antics provided so amusent. That's why he felt comfortable joking about Zhou Yuwen and Lu Lin in front of Li Qiang, without caring how it made Li Qiang feel.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Zhou Yuwen was exasperated. Chang Hao joked about him with everyone—first Su Qing, then Shen Yu, and now Lu Lin. Zhou Yuwen was still single, after all.

"Heh heh." Chang Hao grinned widely.

Zhou Yuwen asked what the two of them were doing there.

"Oh, Chen Xiang's parents ca to visit him and brought us so canned peaches. I brought so over for Yanyan," Chang Hao said, shaking the can of peaches in his hand. Then, rembering sothing, he nudged Li Qiang with his elbow.

Li Qiang, however, tucked his can of peaches away.

"Hey, Qiang, didn't you say you were going to bring so peaches for Lu Lin too?" Chang Hao reminded him that Li Qiang hadn't taken the hint.

"Stop it! I never said that!" Li Qiang snapped, suddenly irritated with Chang Hao's presumptuousness.

Li Qiang hadn't said anything about bringing Lu Lin canned peaches. Chang Hao didn't want to co alone and dragged Li Qiang along. Having just had a fallout with Lu Lin the night before, Li Qiang couldn't bring himself to offer her the peaches now.

Chang Hao had been insisting that pursuing a girl required persistence. Just because you hit a small snag, you don't give up. Even if things don't work out, you should still show so goodwill, right?

Li Qiang realized he had been out of his mind to co along with Chang Hao. Seeing Zhou Yuwen and Lu Lin chatting and laughing together made him furious—not with them, but with himself for being so pathetic.

The worst feeling in the world is seeing the girl you like with another guy, knowing deep down you can't compare to him in any way. This realization filled Li Qiang with self-loathing. That night, he had cried under his covers, but he couldn't bla Lu Lin for liking Zhou Yuwen. He'd choose Zhou Yuwen, too if he were in her shoes. That's what made it so infuriating.

That's why Li Qiang couldn't say a word when Zhou Yuwen and Lu Lin approached.

"See, still not admitting it!" Chang Hao continued to tease.

Li Qiang kept his head down, his face and neck flushing red.

Lu Lin glanced at Li Qiang and then turned to Zhou Yuwen. "I'm heading up now, okay?"

"Go ahead," Zhou Yuwen replied.

Lu Lin left, and as she did, Chang Hao called out, "Hey, Qiang, aren't you going to walk her up? If you don't, she'll be gone."

"Shut the f*** up!"

Li Qiang couldn't hold it in any longer. He threw the can of peaches on the ground with such force that it burst open, spilling syrup everywhere.

Chang Hao was stunned, not daring to blink as he watched Li Qiang storm off, his eyes wild like those of an enraged beast.

"Whoa, what's his problem?" Chang Hao asked, bewildered.

"You are," Zhou Yuwen replied with a roll of his eyes before walking off.

Chang Hao didn't understand what had happened until later when he learned that Lu Lin had rejected Li Qiang by confessing her feelings to Zhou Yuwen. Once he knew, Chang Hao felt guilty and apologized profusely to Li Qiang. "I had no idea Lu Lin confessed to Zhou. If I had known, I never would have said that. Don't be mad, Qiang. Here, have a cigarette."

"Seriously, Qiang, I'm really sorry. Lu Lin was just ssing with you. She couldn't possibly like Zhou Yuwen. Su Qing's been all over him—if Lu Lin liked him, would Su Qing let that slide? Don't be mad."

Chang Hao tried his best to comfort Li Qiang. This was three days after the incident, and when Li Qiang finally accepted the cigarette with a sigh, he said, "Chang Hao, I don't bla Lu Lin."

"?"

Chang Hao didn't quite understand what Li Qiang ant by that, so he just lit a cigarette for him.

Li Qiang explained that he had done a lot of thinking over the past few days.

"When I got mad that day, it wasn't at you. It was at myself. I hate my own weakness."

Li Qiang admitted that he couldn't bla Lu Lin for choosing Zhou Yuwen. He would have made the sa choice if he were in her place.

"Zhou's just too good."

"I'm just too poor."

The two rarely had a chance to smoke together in the dorm hallway.

As they looked out at the moonlit sky, Li Qiang took a deep drag of his cigarette and talked about his life. He ca from a small village in the north, where he had to walk several miles through the mountains just to get to school in the county. His father had broken his leg while working in the fields, and his mother supported him and his sister by making handicrafts.

"You have a sister?" Chang Hao asked.

"Yeah."

Li Qiang said his whole family depended on him to make sothing of himself in college.

"But what have I been doing these days?"

As he spoke, Li Qiang couldn't hold back his tears. This tall young man was crying like he was wearing a mask of pain. He knew he didn't belong in that world but had tried to force his way in anyway. He even thought of giving Lu Lin his hard-earned financial aid money. His family had scrimped and saved to send him to college, and all he could think about was chasing after sothing that wasn't ant for him.

The more he thought about it, the harder Li Qiang cried.

All Chang Hao could do was pat him on the back and say, "It'll pass."

"Yeah, it'll pass."

After that day, Li Qiang beca much quieter. As the military training ended, the school activities began to pick up.

One day during training, a group suddenly appeared on the parade ground. They stood on the reviewing stand and tested the microphone. It turned out they were from the student council.

They announced that on September 30th, there would be a club recruitnt event in front of the gym. Anyone interested was welco to check it out. The student council, organization, and external relations departnts were there.

After that, each departnt's seniors put on performances.

The student council vice president was a slightly chubby, fair-skinned boy nad Xiao Yang, who played and sang a song.

Then it was the art departnt, the organization departnt, and so on—each one put on a show.

The new students sat on the parade ground in their camo uniforms, cross-legged, watching the performances. It was a rare break from training, and the student groups were a new and exciting concept for them, so everyone watched with great interest.

Chang Hao grinned and said, "Zhou, that Xiao Yang guy isn't half as good as you at singing. You should go up there and show them how it's done."

"Don't be silly. Don't ss up their program," Zhou Yuwen replied.

"Heh heh, if you won't ss it up, I will," Chang Hao joked.

The entire morning was spent watching the school's various departnts perform. By lunchti, they noticed a stage was already set up in front of the gym.

Earlier in the training, strict discipline was enforced to the letter, but as the training neared its end, the strictness beca more of a joke. The "closed" training area was frequently visited by casual second-year students in regular clothes.

The gap in the fence behind the cafeteria was no longer a secret, with students regularly slipping out to buy snacks.

The instructor announced the parade schedule in the afternoon: the grand parade would be on Friday afternoon, followed by a bonfire party and a talent show in the evening. Any students with talents were encouraged to sign up.

After the announcent, Chang Hao excitedly raised his hand and said, "I'm signing up! I'm singing with Zhou Yuwen!"

Chang Hao wanted to form a band with Zhou Yuwen and perform a song.

Zhou Yuwen didn't like being in the spotlight and declined.

But Chang Hao wouldn't take no for an answer and tried to drag Zhou Yuwen into it.

Just then, Li Qiang returned from outside.

"Brother Zhou, Shen Yu is waiting for you outside the dorm."

"She's looking for ?"

Zhou Yuwen was curious, so he left Chang Hao behind and headed downstairs.

"Hey, Zhou, are you going to do it or not?" Chang Hao called after him, looking pitiful as he followed Zhou Yuwen.

In late September, the sun was still bright and hot.

Shen Yu stood in front of the boys' dormitory under a magnolia tree. She had her hair down and wore simple black overalls, showing off her long legs. She wore white cotton socks with white sneakers, giving her a "school belle" vibe.

It was rare for girls to co to the boys' dorm at this ti of day, and even rarer for soone as beautiful as Shen Yu.

So, as Shen Yu stood there, the passing boys couldn't help but glance back at her, wondering who she was waiting for.

Who was the lucky guy?

At that mont, Zhou Yuwen ca downstairs and noticed Shen Yu. He wondered why she was looking for him.

Shen Yu said it was nothing special.

"Just wanted to thank you for the burger the other day. I made so cookies myself," Shen Yu said, pulling out a glass jar shaped like a bear, filled with homade cookies, from her white canvas bag.

"Did you make them yourself?" Zhou Yuwen asked.

Shen Yu smiled, "Yes."

"You—"

"You're not the only one who can sneak out," Shen Yu said playfully.

Zhou Yuwen chuckled. Shen Yu had co to the boys' dorm just to give him so cookies, so he couldn't just let her leave right away. He suggested they take a walk.

"Okay."

So they started walking away from the dorm. Zhou Yuwen ntioned that she should ssage him beforehand if she planned to visit again.

"If I'm not in the dorm, you'll have co for nothing."

"No, I just wanted to try my luck," Shen Yu said, her cheeks blushing slightly, perhaps from the heat. She smiled shyly as she spoke.

The competition for Zhou Yuwen was fierce, and Shen Yu had considered giving up. But the more she thought about it, the more reluctant she felt. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, she had gone to her aunt's house and made so cookies but didn't know if she should give them to Zhou Yuwen.

She had walked to the boys' dormitory with mixed feelings, wanting to ssage Zhou Yuwen but too embarrassed to do so. She had walked back and forth several tis, trying to decide.

Finally, she ran into Li Qiang, who had just returned from outside.

Li Qiang asked what she was doing there.

Shen Yu stamred, "C-Could you call Zhou Yuwen for ?"

"Oh," Li Qiang understood. Maybe Lu Lin did like Zhou Yuwen, but even if they ended up together, Li Qiang couldn't help feeling envious of Zhou Yuwen.

And so, Zhou Yuwen was called down.

Zhou Yuwen asked Shen Yu if she had other reasons for looking for him.

Shen Yu blushed as she made a small request, unsure if Zhou Yuwen would agree.

"What is it?" Zhou Yuwen asked.

Shen Yu, her face turning even redder, asked if Zhou Yuwen would sing a duet with her during the military training performance.

"Sure."

"You're saying yes?"

"Why wouldn't I? I've already taken the cookies; it wouldn't be right to refuse," Zhou Yuwen said.

Shen Yu's face lit up with a smile. She had thought Zhou Yuwen would say no.

With that settled, Shen Yu left, feeling satisfied.

When Zhou Yuwen returned to the dorm, Chang Hao imdiately approached him with a pleading look, hoping Zhou Yuwen would agree to sing "A Lifeti with You" by Shui Mu Nian Hua with him on stage.

Zhou Yuwen said, "Sorry, you're too late. I already promised Shen Yu."

"What? No way! I was here first!" Chang Hao protested.

Zhou Yuwen shrugged. "What can I say? You're a guy."

"Hey, what song are you two singing?"

Zhou Yuwen hesitated to say the title.

"What song is it? Co on, tell ," Chang Hao persisted, curious about Zhou Yuwen's silence.

"Shen Yu picked the song."

"So what's the song?"

"Because… of Love…"

"???"

Chang Hao's eyes widened in disbelief, and even Li Qiang, quietly playing on his phone, looked up.

"No way, Zhou, you're singing that song with Shen Yu?"

"…"

Zhou Yuwen felt a bit helpless. It was Shen Yu's choice, after all. To him, it was just a song, nothing more.

But Chang Hao saw right through it. "Man, Shen Yu really knows what she's doing. You sing that song with her, and it's like announcing to everyone that you're her boyfriend. Su Qing is going to be furious! Haha, Zhou, you're in for it!"

Zhou Yuwen didn't care.

Chang Hao looked at Zhou Yuwen with envy and asked, "Zhou, be honest—who do you like?"

"What?"

"Su Qing, Lu Lin, or Shen Yu—you're always tangled up with them. Haven't you thought about picking one?"

"Which eye of yours sees

tangled up with them?"

"Both of them! Right, Qiang?" Chang Hao grinned.

Li Qiang ignored him.

Zhou Yuwen said, "First of all, Su Qing and I have nothing going on. Secondly, Shen Yu and I are just friends. As for Lu Lin…"

"It's not as dirty as you think."

"Yeah, 'just friends'—sure. Do you think I believe that? And you stole Lu Lin from Li Qiang, didn't you?" Chang Hao teased.

"Shut up if you can't say anything nice. I have nothing to do with Lu Lin!" Li Qiang snapped, frowning.