All the students in the class had arrived. After Teacher Liu finished taking attendance, she led the entire class toward the auditorium.
The roads were filled with freshmen from every department, marching in neat lines as they converged on the auditorium in a grand procession. The sound of footsteps and lively conversation mingled together, creating a bustling atmosphere.
When they reached the auditorium, each class took its assigned seats. Class One of the Finance Department was seated toward the front and center, while the Computer Science Department’s group was farther back and slightly to the right, with several rows of people between them.
They had barely settled in when an upperclassman wearing a staff badge found Class One of the Finance Department. He walked over to Zhang Yanyan and asked politely, “Hello. Are you Zhang Yanyan, the freshman representative?”
“That’s me.”
“Great. Ms. Wang asked me to come get you. The backstage lounge is ready. Please come with me and prepare for the ceremony.” The upperclassman smiled and gestured for her to follow.
“All right. Thank you.”
After saying goodbye to Lin Yue and the other two girls beside her, and informing Teacher Liu, Zhang Yanyan followed the upperclassman through a side entrance into the auditorium. They passed through a quiet, carpeted corridor and made their way to the backstage lounge.
Several people were already in the lounge: a middle-aged woman who looked like a teacher, along with a few students in school uniforms. They were probably representatives from various departments who would be going onstage later.
When a bespectacled female teacher saw her enter, she walked over with a smile. “You must be Zhang Yanyan, right? I’m Ms. Wang, the teacher in charge of the opening ceremony. You’ve arrived just in time. Here’s your speech. Just read it as written when you go onstage.
“Have a seat for now. The opening ceremony officially begins at two-thirty. You’ll be speaking during the third segment, after the principal and the department heads have given their speeches. At two-twenty, I’ll take all of you to the waiting area.”
“All right. Thank you, Ms. Wang.”
Zhang Yanyan accepted the speech and sat down in a nearby chair.
She glanced over the pages. The content was fairly standard—thanking the university, looking ahead to the future, promising to study hard and strive for excellence, and other conventional formalities. There was nothing particularly original about it, but there was nothing wrong with it either.
She placed the speech on her lap, leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes to rest. She had no intention of striking up a conversation with the people around her.
The other students chatted in small groups. Their voices were quiet, but it was easy to tell that they were all outstanding freshman representatives from their respective departments. Some talked about their scores on the national college entrance exam, others about why they had chosen their majors, and still others about where they had gone during the summer vacation.
Zhang Yanyan simply sat there in silence, occasionally catching a few words. Her fingertips tapped lightly against her knee.
At two-twenty, Ms. Wang arrived right on time and led them toward the waiting area.
The waiting area was behind the curtain at the side of the stage. Through a gap in the curtain, they could see that the audience was already filled with people—a dark, indistinct sea stretching across the auditorium, numbering several thousand.
The freshmen from every department sat in neat rows in their matching school uniforms. The auditorium was brightly lit, and cheerful campus music played over the sound system while the host stood to the side of the stage, checking the schedule.
At exactly two-thirty, the music stopped. The lights dimmed, and a spotlight shone down on the center of the stage.
The host walked onto the stage, his voice carrying through the speakers and filling the entire auditorium.
“Respected leaders and teachers, dear students, good afternoon! The opening ceremony for the incoming class of 20XX at Tengyuan University now begins—”
Thunderous applause erupted, sweeping through the grand auditorium in an instant.
The ceremony proceeded through one item after another: speeches from the university leaders, an address by the head of the Academic Affairs Office, remarks from the faculty representative, and so on.
Zhang Yanyan stood quietly behind the curtain, waiting. She did not feel particularly nervous.
That was, at least, until the host called her name.
“Next, please welcome the freshman representative, Zhang Yanyan from Class One of the Financial Management Department, to the stage!”
Another round of applause rang out. In the formation of Class One of the Financial Management Department, Lin Yue and the other two girls clapped so hard their palms turned red, shouting encouragement at the top of their lungs.
Zhang Yanyan took a deep breath, straightened the hem of her school uniform, and stepped out from behind the curtain. She climbed the stairs and walked to the microphone at the center of the stage.
The spotlight fell on her, making her look even more cool and immaculate in her navy-blue uniform. Her high ponytail was neat and brisk, while the tiny diamond studs in her ears glimmered faintly beneath the lights.
She came to a stop and swept her gaze over the densely packed freshmen below. After giving them a slight nod, she lowered her eyes to the speech in her hands and began speaking, her voice carrying throughout the auditorium.
“Respected leaders and teachers, dear fellow students, good afternoon. I am Zhang Yanyan from Class One of the Financial Management Department. It is my great honor to stand here today as the freshman representative…”
Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, her pace neither hurried nor slow. Every word was clear, and her tone remained steady.
Inside, Zhang Yanyan was actually panicking too. But she had to stay composed. There were so many people watching from below—if she made a mistake, wouldn’t that be utterly humiliating?
The auditorium fell completely silent. Everyone was watching the composed girl onstage.
In the Computer Science Department’s formation at the back of the auditorium, Song Ze’s gaze remained fixed on her from beginning to end. He did not even notice when the classmate beside him spoke to him or asked him for water.
The speech lasted no more than three minutes. Its contents were conventional and unremarkable, but the calm, self-possessed presence she exuded made it impossible to look away.
After reading the final sentence, Zhang Yanyan closed the speech, bowed slightly, turned, and walked offstage.
The applause was even more enthusiastic than before, continuing for a long while.
Song Ze sat among the Computer Science students, watching the cool, slender figure disappear behind the curtain. Only then did he slowly withdraw his gaze. His fingers unconsciously rubbed the crease of his uniform trousers, and his Adam’s apple bobbed faintly.
Zhang Yanyan.
He had seen the name that morning on the complete list of incoming freshmen: Class One of the Financial Management Department, freshman representative for the entire university. To have been chosen to speak in front of several thousand people, her grades had to be outstanding.
And she was beautiful.
Not the kind of beauty created by heavy makeup, but something clean and fresh. Standing onstage, she had been neither servile nor arrogant, speaking with a steadiness that commanded the room. At a glance, anyone could tell she was a girl with confidence to spare.
Song Ze lowered his eyes, his heart stirring quietly.
His family was in poor circumstances. His mother had been bedridden for years, his father was addicted to gambling, and his younger brother was an idle layabout who had not even managed to get into high school. The entire family’s livelihood and future rested on Song Ze alone.
He had worked himself to the bone for three years just to be admitted to Tengyuan, one of the country’s top universities. If he could only find someone to help him rise above his circumstances, he might be able to change the desperate situation he was in.
He had heard plenty about those scions of elite families. They all clustered together in their own circles, the sense of superiority instilled in them from childhood etched into their very bones. They had drawn clear lines from the moment the school term began. As an ordinary computer science student, he had no chance of even getting close to them. For now, all he could do was hold back and wait for an opportunity later.
But Zhang Yanyan was different.
He had casually asked the students around him about her, and no one had heard that Zhang Yanyan was the daughter of any prominent family. She wore an ordinary school uniform and no expensive jewelry. Most likely, like him, she had come from an ordinary family and earned her place through her grades.
She was beautiful, at the top of her class, and from an ordinary family—yet presentable enough to bring along anywhere.
A girl like that was exactly the right choice for him at this stage.
She lacked the sense of distance that came with being born into an elite family, yet she was exceptional enough. If he could get together with her, she could prove useful to him in the future, whether in his studies or in building connections.
As for what came after that... he could worry about it later.
If necessary, he could always break up with her once he met someone more suitable.
Song Ze pressed his lips together, etching Zhang Yanyan's name and that cool, clear face firmly into his mind.
He remembered that she was in Class One of the Finance Department, while he was in Class Two of Computer Science. Though they were in different departments, Tengyuan University was only so big. If he wanted to arrange a few chance encounters, there would be plenty of ways to do it.
