Chapter 156: The Anniversary Speech
“Classmate… Classmate… Wake up…”
Amidst a gentle call, Luxianbei suddenly awakened, sitting up straight and looking blankly in the direction of the voice. A familiar face came into his view.
This seems to be… the girl who ran away earlier? Why is she back?
Wait, I need to quickly put away the ancestral kitchen kn*fe; it wouldn’t be good if I scare her.
Luxianbei thought as he hurriedly searched for the kitchen kn*fe. Upon seeing the empty tabletop, he froze momentarily, his peripheral vision involuntarily drifting toward the corner of the wall beside him.
The guitar bag was still quietly placed there as it was when he arrived, not even the laptop or headphones were taken out, as if they had never been opened.
Everything he just experienced felt like a nightmare; the moment he woke up, it vanished like a bubble under the sunlight.
He wasn’t sure when he got caught up in this, but judging by the current situation, it must have been before he entered this self-study classroom.
While Luxianbei was pondering this, a delicate, fair hand suddenly waved in front of his eyes, interrupting his thoughts.
“Classmate? Are you alright? You’ve been lying there sleeping since you entered this classroom, and you kept making strange noises. It was quite scary.”
“I personally suggest that if you’re feeling unwell, you should quickly go to the infirmary; even though today is the anniversary, the infirmary is still open.”
Anniversary! Luxianbei’s pupils dilated for a moment as he suddenly turned to the girl in front of him, expressionless as he asked, “Classmate, do you know what time it is now?”
The girl was startled by Luxianbei’s slightly agitated reaction and shrank back a bit, quietly saying, “It should be past five o’clock, right?”
Luxianbei, “…”
It’s already five thirty in the afternoon? I’ve been here for almost four hours? Doesn’t that mean the speech is almost over?
Thinking of this, he bent down to grab his guitar bag and left the self-study classroom, rushing through the corridor like the wind, disappearing at the staircase.
On the other side of the corridor, Lin Yiqi, hiding around the corner, watched Luxianbei’s retreating figure, letting out a slight sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the urban legend that was asleep inside him didn’t wake up and cause any serious incidents.
This time, I can consider it a success in averting a crisis. As long as I’m a bit careful in the future, it seems we won’t have any further interactions, Lin Yiqi thought.
……
On the other side.
In the auditorium of Huacheng University, a student’s speech was coming to an end as the substitute for Luxianbei waited backstage to go on.
“…
Dickens once said, ‘What I harvest is what I have planted.’
…”
In the corridor backstage of the auditorium, Zhang Yijing stood by the window, gazing at the sun sinking towards the horizon, gradually dyeing the clouds with flames. His eyes were vacant, resembling a salted fish that had lost its dreams.
“Tap tap—tap tap—!”
Suddenly, a hurried footstep sound came from the other end of the corridor. He numbly turned his head and peered in the direction of the sound.
A familiar figure came rushing over, the fiery glow of the sunset casting over him, as if a colorful cloak was trailing behind.
For some reason, seeing Luxianbei rushing over moved Zhang Yijing unexpectedly, and with a lump in his throat, he shouted, “Why did it take you so long to get here! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting, and how much I’ve suffered for you?”
“I’ve held off for so long, only to have this kind of outcome. After it’s all done, I’ll probably get a good scolding from the teacher! Boohoo—!”
Seeing Zhang Yijing looking like someone abandoned by a scumbag after waiting for many years, Luxianbei suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine and came to a screeching halt about two or three meters away from him.
“I got held up by some things. Now… is it too late?”
“It’s too late, too late! The lighting and background music can’t be arranged in time, and I can’t narrate the rhythm of the speech! If you had come twenty minutes earlier…”
“You’re right, it’s too late; it’s my turn soon!” A boy who had suddenly appeared from nowhere said arrogantly, “Speaking of which, you should be grateful to me for saving you; otherwise, both of you would be done for!”
At this, Zhang Yijing leaned closer to Luxianbei and quietly explained, “He’s the one who’s going onstage to substitute for you…”
Luxianbei glanced at the boy and quickly withdrew his gaze.
“But don’t worry; I can try to help negotiate on your behalf. Just wait here,” Zhang Yijing said before trotting away.
Watching Zhang Yijing’s retreating figure, the boy rolled his eyes in annoyance and shouted angrily, “You sissy! Do you really believe what he says? If there’s any slip-up, can you both bear the responsibility?”
Luxianbei was initially ready to give up on the speech after hearing someone was substituting, but hearing the boy’s words, he suddenly changed his mind.
He looked at the boy and asked, “Classmate, can I ask what your speech topic is?”
The boy suspiciously sized up Luxianbei, “Why do you want to know that?”
“Oh, I’ve heard so much about your name. Finally meeting you, of course, I want to admire your literary talent and spiritual aura.”
I was already in the wrong for this; if his preparation is really good, letting him go onstage would definitely be better than my awful speech. Luxianbei thought.
“Haha, you have good taste. I don’t mind telling you, my speech topic is ‘How College Students Should Start Their Own Businesses’! How about that? Pretty impressive, right?”
“Impressive, very impressive!” Luxianbei replied perfunctorily.
“Then tell me, what’s so impressive about it?”
Luxianbei, “???”
I™ haven’t even heard it, how would I know what’s impressive about it?
“It’s impressive because it has a very retro feel and comes with a high degree of uncertainty, like a mysterious spell with strange powers.”
“May I ask, have you started your own business successfully?”
The boy glanced at Luxianbei, “Almost, a P2P project; the planning stage has already finished. Once we enter the market, we’ll go public in less than a year!”
Luxianbei, “…”
P2P? So you couldn’t even get a scam project off the ground, and you’re here fooling people? Are you trying to ruin the lives of those passionate young people?
Luxianbei suddenly felt that he absolutely could not let this unreliable guy go on stage—not only could he not let him go up, but…
How should I put it?
I might not be good at dealing with urban legends, but I’m quite skilled at getting on people’s nerves. Luxianbei thought.
“By the way, do you know what my speech topic is?”
The boy sized up Luxianbei again, his eyebrows raised flippantly, “Though I’m not very interested, wasting a minute is fine; I might as well listen.”
“It won’t take long, it won’t take long,” Luxianbei repeatedly reassured, “Just sit tight here, and you’ll hear it very soon…”
Upon hearing this, the boy was momentarily taken aback, staring wide-eyed at Luxianbei, “W-what do you mean?”
“What I mean is…”
Luxianbei was about to say something when he heard Zhang Yijing calling from a distance, “Luxianbei! Come here quickly! They said if you’re prepared enough, you can still go up.”
“Prepared, very prepared; just throw on any background music; the lighting doesn’t matter. I can even go off script!”
He had already written a draft of the speech, and with memories of four other people in his head, it wouldn’t be too difficult to cobble together a ‘Frankenstein’ speech.
Luxianbei shouted back at Zhang Yijing, turned to pat the boy’s shoulder, “Little bro, I’m going on stage now. I suggest you hurry to the auditorium; you’ll hear it more clearly there.”
“You… come back! Do you realize that what you’re doing is causing losses for so many people without them even knowing it? You’re harming others!”
Hearing the frantic shouts from behind, Luxianbei didn’t look back, turned his back to the boy, and silently raised his right hand, giving him the middle finger.
During this time, dealing with all kinds of urban legends, living in constant anxiety, finally standing up to someone felt really refreshing! If only I could do this more often with urban legends, Luxianbei thought to himself.
……
(I’ll have another update soon, um, it should be…)
