The Silent Palace Chapter 8: The Dance Party Experience

  In the deep autumn season, it was popular to hold parties in the school campus. The venue was readily available, right inside the student cafeteria, which was spacious and had a sound system. Liu Hong, the life committee member, made full use of his power and after simply greeting Xu Shaojie, required everyone to attend the party. Liu Hong was good at dancing, probably having learned from his parents since he was young. Xu Shaojie was different, coming from a small county town where such things were rarely seen, and he didn't know how to dance at all.

  Time is tight, the weekend dance party has only two days left. Looking at Liu Hong's energetic appearance every day, Xu Shaojie, although expressionless on his face, was anxious in his heart. As the class leader, he couldn't set a bad example, or else everyone would laugh at him. But he really didn't know how to dance, and it wasn't like he could learn by himself without a teacher.

  "Xu Ban Zhang, about the weekend dance party, what are you going to do? Make good preparations and shine brightly then, also make our dormitory famous."

  "Ma Jianhua, I don't know what to do, I can't dance."

  "What, the famous Xu Ban Zhang can't dance, now that's news."

  Everyone in the bedroom got up from bed and stared at Xu Shaojie.

  "What's so strange about that? I grew up in a small county town and never had any contact with ballroom dance, of course I wouldn't know how. Do you think I'm a god or something, knowing everything?"

  "No way, Xu Class Monitor, look at you, dressed so stylishly, smoking Red Pagoda Mountain cigarettes, eating meat every meal, you're clearly a spoiled rich kid. Where's the spoiled rich kid who can't dance?"

  Xu Shaojie pulled Du Yu Xin down from the upper bunk with one hand, Xu Shaojie's strength was great, and Du Yu Xin could not resist.

  "Du Yuxin, you little brat are a real spoiled rich kid. Every time you smoke, only you can blow smoke rings. We all study poorly, just looking at you is the authentic spoiled rich kid. Say, do you know how to dance?"

  "Alright, alright, Xu class monitor let go, I can jump, I can jump, isn't that enough? But what's the use if only one person jumps?"

  Xu Shaojie looked at Ma Jianhua, Ma Jianhua from Beijing, must be dancing.

  "Xu, don't look at me, I can, we'll teach you, dancing is simple, but you have to treat us, the food in the cafeteria is boring, let's go out and eat, how about it?"

  Everyone in the dormitory quickly jumped up, it's not even 9 o'clock yet, and the time is early. The older students usually come back after 11 o'clock, and the old man at the entrance of the dormitory is also dozing off.

  "Alright, alright, let's go out and eat a big plate of food. We'll follow along too. Roommates can't be missing."

  "Shh, Sun Yong, keep your voice down, with that broken throat of yours, are you trying to let the whole building know?"

  "Hehe, got used to it, sorry about that."

  Sun Yong scratched his head, while the others had already started getting dressed. Seeing this situation, Xu Shaojie was helpless and knew he couldn't avoid eating from a big plate. However, he thought that the old man at the door would be easy to deal with, as the new freshman from last year's class was still recognizable. After thinking for a moment, Xu Shaojie gritted his teeth and took out an unopened pack of Hongtashan cigarettes, stuffing it into his breast pocket.

  When they arrived at the entrance, the old man indeed had sharp eyes and saw Xu Shaojie and others. Just as he was about to speak, Xu Shaojie hurried forward and whispered something in his ear. Then he handed over a whole pack of Hongtashan cigarettes to the old man. The old man looked at the cigarettes in his hand, pretended to be serious, waved his hand, and let Xu Shaojie and others leave.

  After finishing the big plate, on the way back, it was already 11 o'clock. Everyone stumbled forward, and Sun Yong suddenly opened his mouth and shouted out a local folk song: "Brother you go west, little sister I really can't stay..."

  The loud shouting echoed through the campus, with everyone laughing loudly. Xu Shaojie, however, broke out in a cold sweat. He had originally said he wouldn't drink, but a group of pseudo-intellectuals were saying that Li Bai wrote a hundred poems after drinking wine, so how could they not drink? They drank and drank, unable to control themselves, ordering high-proof baijiu, one by one, until they couldn't even walk steadily, speaking nonsense. Among so many people, only Xu Shaojie was still relatively sober, but he was completely unable to control the situation, and could only secretly lament his fate, silently crying out "Amitofu" in his heart. But ultimately, something happened, and with such a commotion, it would be strange if the campus patrol team didn't come.

  Inside the patrol team were all high-grade school brothers, looking at the crooked and twisted line of people, couldn't help but laugh. Xu Shaojie knew he was in trouble, hastily pulled out Hongtashan cigarettes, and handed them out to everyone. The patrol team had a total of 7 people, including two female students. Xu Shaojie found it somewhat strange that there were female students. He happened to have fruit candy on him, left behind by Yan Yuhuan, which he hadn't eaten yet. Xu Shaojie pulled out the fruit candy and handed it to the two female students. At night, he couldn't see their faces clearly, but based on his instincts, he felt they must be very beautiful.

  "Haha, so you're that Xu class monitor, we've all heard about you, a connoisseur of good cigarettes, and a low-key person. Speak up, what's going on today, how did things end up like this?"

  "That's what happened, the brothers in our dormitory have a good relationship and always wanted to find an opportunity to eat out, just right today afternoon didn't eat enough, tonight thinking about going out to eat something, while drinking, couldn't control it, ended up like this, won't dare next time, won't dare."

  "Haha, it's not easy, I'm already a senior, but I don't have the luxury of being as carefree as you guys. They're all drunk, how come you're not?"

  "They know I can't get drunk or no one will pay anymore. We really don't dare."

  A girl's giggles came from behind her back.

  "Alright then, Captain Xu, we'll remember you, and don't forget that you owe us one."

  Back in the dormitory, Xu Shaojie was so angry that he spat up blood. The relationships between people on campus must be settled, but Xu Shaojie didn't know the other person's name or grade, and he couldn't ask anyone. The others had already gone back to their beds and were snoring away, still wearing their clothes. Xu Shaojie had no place to vent his anger, so he could only seethe with rage.

  Ma Jianhua and Du Yuxin were still very responsible, on Thursday and Friday afternoons, they continued to teach Xu Shaojie how to dance the waltz. The waltz was not complicated, and with Xu Shaojie having a good sense of rhythm, he picked it up quickly. Ma Jianhua and Du Yuxin were both amazed, saying that Xu Shaojie had a natural talent for dancing. In just two and a half days, he had become so skilled that his dance moves looked even better than those of his teachers.

  Xu Shaojie kept thinking about that pleasant voice, wondering who it was and how to repay the favor, but now thinking about it is useless, when the time comes, they will find him.

  On Saturday afternoon, after lunch, many students returned to their dormitory, tidied up a bit, and then headed to the canteen. When they were having dinner, they saw someone setting up audio equipment. A staff member suggested that everyone not eat in the canteen as there was still water on the floor from cleaning. Xu Shaojie saw Liu Hong, who was participating in the setup inside the canteen with an air of authority. As a life committee member, Liu naturally participated in organizing the work.

  Ma Jianhua and Du Yuxin urged Xu Shaojie to dress up a bit, in this dormitory, Xu Shaojie's appearance was the most decent, and he also had some reputation in the department, even Sun Yong and others agreed. However, Xu Shaojie didn't want to show off, he insisted on dressing as usual, not particularly outstanding, but the clothes on his body were carefully selected by Yan Yuhuan, according to a woman's perspective, accompanying Xu Shaojie's figure, there was nothing worth picking on.

  Xu Shaojie and his group entered the cafeteria a bit late, and there were already many people inside, including some teachers. The school dance party was more about watching than dancing, and most of the dancers were from higher grades, with very few freshmen participating. It seemed that this kind of dance party was specially prepared for the upperclassmen. The dance party was about to start, so Xu Shaojie and his group found a spot to stand and wait for it to begin.

  "Xu Ban Zhang, the dance party is about to start, you must lead the way and dance!"

  At some point, Liu Hong appeared beside Xu Shaojie and his group. Xu Shaojie didn't notice, unaware that Liu Hong had been paying attention to him all along, and he smiled faintly.

  "Don't worry, Director Liu."

  Liu Hong left quickly and didn't know where he had gone to.

  The student union's life committee announced the start of the dance party, and the music began to play. The sound of the dance music was very loud, and the surroundings quickly became quiet. The first ones to enter the dance floor were a few pairs of teachers, most of whom were two female teachers dancing together. At this moment, Xu Shaojie felt a bit bewildered. Dancing required a partner, but he hadn't considered this problem before. Inviting a girl to dance here and being rejected would be very embarrassing. Moreover, as a freshman in their first year, they had thin skin and were somewhat shy. Xu Shaojie didn't have such thoughts, but he knew that the girls who came to the dance hall probably wouldn't know how to dance either, so it was natural for them to refuse if asked.

  Xu Shaojie saw Liu Hong embracing a girl and entering the dance floor, starting to dance elegantly. As a freshman, it was rare for someone to start dancing from the first song. Liu Hong naturally drew everyone's attention. His performance was a bit exaggerated, hugging the girl and wandering around the edge without entering the center of the dance floor. Many girls were envious but couldn't dance themselves, so they could only watch from the side. The gaze towards the boys in the dance floor was not uncommon, as there were many pairs of girls or teachers dancing together, making the boys look rather pitiful and scarce.

  "Xu Ban Zhang, why aren't you dancing?"

  When a soft female voice appeared, Xu Shaojie's scalp felt numb. This was the same female voice from that night, which Xu Shaojie remembered no matter what. He turned around and saw a girl wearing a purple suit looking at him with a smile. The girl was really beautiful, with long hair tied up in a ponytail, which the boys called "horse tail", a very popular hairstyle among students nowadays. This fair-skinned, double-lidded, big-eyed girl looked at Xu Shaojie, making him feel uneasy all over.

  Although Xu Shaojie had a maturity that was different from others, when it came to girls, he was still far from being mature and sophisticated. When Xu Shaojie was in elementary school and junior high school, it was popular to be rivals with the girls, drawing lines on the desk and not allowing anyone to cross over. If someone wasn't careful and crossed over, the girls would use sharp pencils to "serve" them without mercy. Xu Shaojie had suffered a few times from this kind of treatment, but he couldn't do the same to his female classmates. Finally, one time he got an opportunity to use a pencil to "serve" a female classmate, and she burst into tears on the spot. Xu Shaojie was asked to stand in front of the classroom and listen to a whole lesson, and from then on, he was very afraid of the girls in his class.

  These girls' emotions were so rich that they would cry at any moment, which Xu Shaojie just couldn't understand. When he entered high school, the studies became more intense, and Xu Shaojie's energy was almost all focused on studying, without paying attention to the girls in his class.

  "I have no dance partner."

  "Hehe, can I be your dance partner?"

  "Okay, okay, but let me declare in advance, I just learned how to dance, if I don't dance well, please be more forgiving."

  Xu Shaojie took preventive measures, having just learned to dance. If he stepped on his partner's feet, it would be embarrassing. Although he had practiced with Ma Jianhua and Du Yuxin, after all, they were male partners, and it was all laughter and no big deal if they stepped on each other's feet. But now things are different.

  "I'm also not very good at jumping, it's okay."

  "You're making me even more nervous, if I don't jump well, I'll listen to your command."

  "Hehe, where is there a girl taking a boy to dance?"

  The girl covered her mouth and laughed, Xu Shaojie's face turned a little red, he was too honest himself. Where did girls take their male classmates to dance? Maybe the other party is good at dancing, but it's just a joke.

  "Alright, this song is almost over, for the next one, may I have the pleasure of dancing with you?"

  "Xu Ban Zhang, you're really interesting, being so cautious."

  "I was really nervous when I danced for the first time."

  The girl, wearing high heels, was nearly 170 cm tall and had already stood beside Xu Shaojie. Ma Jianhua, Du Yuxin, and Sun Yong, who were standing next to them, couldn't help but feel a little envious. The two of them really did make a perfect match, Xu Shaojie was handsome and elegant, while the girl was lovely and charming, they were truly a match made in heaven.

  "Hello, I am Xiao Shaojie from Chinese Department, a freshman in grade one. Please take care of me from now on."

  "Hello, I'm Zheng Yuxin from the Journalism Department, a freshman in grade one. Please take care of me, Classmate Xu."

  Seeing Xu Shaojie's shocked expression, Zheng Yuxin smiled.

  "Was Xu the monitor involved in that strange thing last night? Our female students from the journalism department always have to accompany the campus patrol team, it's a rule we just established. From now on, our news reporting work can't be separated from this."

  Xu Shaojie only realized now, he had always been puzzled as to why the school patrol team would have girls. It turned out that it was because of this situation - the pretty girl's words were being taken as gospel by the boys who were just starting to develop feelings.

  ..?