“Fan Xue, are you out of your mind? Have you forgotten that their Red Star and our Qianjin are sworn rivals? Why are you defending her?”
Fan Xue spread her hands: “I’m just stating the facts. Good is good, bad is bad.”
“Did you last until the end? Or did Shengnan? Neither of you made it. Especially you, you couldn’t take it early on.”
“Shengnan started out trying to compete with Ye Zhiqiu, but even she couldn’t hold on in the end.”
“I heard that the dance troupes around Jiangning have done this kind of training before, but even they didn’t last. Only Ye Zhiqiu stuck it out until the very end. Even if our troupe and theirs are sworn rivals, just for that, she deserves my respect.”
Jiang Miao was furious: “If you think she’s so great, why don’t you go room with her? You wanted to room with her at first anyway.”
“Yeah, I did want to. But I also have to follow the arrangements. They put the three of us in one room. What can I do about it?”
Fan Xue wasn’t someone to be pushed around. She could tell Jiang Miao was taking her anger out on her, and she fired back without hesitation: “Jiang Miao, I don’t care why you’re angry, that’s your own business. Don’t come acting unreasonable with me. I’m not your parents. I won’t indulge your tantrums.”
“Fan Xue, what’s that supposed to mean? What do you mean I’m taking my anger out on you? What anger have I taken out on you? You’re clearly siding with an outsider. The three of us are from the same troupe.”
Fan Xue’s father outranked Jiang Miao’s father, so Jiang Miao didn’t dare pick a fight with Fan Xue. Instead, she turned her focus back to Ye Zhiqiu: “So what if Ye Zhiqiu is skilled? Her character is terrible! Everyone knows she’s a pair of ‘discarded shoes’ (slang for a woman of loose morals). She must have seduced Yue Mingyuan.”
“Jiang Miao, did you personally see Ye Zhiqiu seduce Yue Mingyuan? If you didn’t see it with your own eyes, then you shouldn’t say things like that. Just because you like Yue Mingyuan doesn’t mean you can talk about Ye Zhiqiu that way.”
Fan Xue shook her head, disapproving: “Even though I haven’t interacted with Ye Zhiqiu and can’t vouch for her character, I still wouldn’t talk behind her back.”
“Jiang Miao, when we’re out here, we represent not only ourselves but also the image of our troupe. If someone else hears you saying things like that, what will they think of our troupe?”
If someone is quick to gossip about others behind their backs, they’ll do it to you today, and to someone else tomorrow.
Fan Xue understood this principle very well.
Ye Zhiqiu hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but who knew they’d start talking about her?
She had to walk past their window to go forward. If she went back, what would she do about her practice clothes?
No way. She was a clean person. If she didn’t wash that practice uniform today, she wouldn’t sleep well all night.
Faced with the choice between losing sleep herself or making others feel awkward, Ye Zhiqiu decisively chose the latter.
“Ye Zhiqiu?!”
Jiang Miao was facing the window. When she saw Ye Zhiqiu, she felt terrible: “You… you were eavesdropping on us?”
“You’re wrong. I wasn’t eavesdropping, I was listening openly. You were so loud, it would have been hard for me not to hear.”
Ye Zhiqiu looked at Fan Xue: “Thank you for your affirmation.”
“You’re welcome.”
Fan Xue leaned on the windowsill and saw Ye Zhiqiu holding her basin: “You’re going to do laundry?! You still have the energy for laundry?”
“I’m used to it.”
Ye Zhiqiu shifted her gaze back to Jiang Miao: “You guys go on chatting.”
With that, she headed toward the washroom with her basin. Fan Xue leaned her head out and called to her: “Ye Zhiqiu, wait for me. I’m coming too.”
Fan Xue was quick. Her practice clothes were already in her basin, and she had been debating whether to wash them.
It was already windbreaker weather back in Guojing, but it was still very hot in Jiangning.
If she didn’t wash her practice uniform and let it sit all night, it would probably stink by tomorrow.
In the washroom, Ye Zhiqiu was pouring laundry detergent into her basin. Fan Xue brought her basin right next to her and looked at the detergent by Ye Zhiqiu’s hand: “Hey, what are you using? It smells so good.”
“Laundry detergent.”
“Laundry detergent? What’s that? I’ve never heard of it.”
Ye Zhiqiu handed the detergent to Fan Xue, who was very curious. Ye Zhiqiu explained: “It’s a foreign technology. It’s more convenient than soap, and the cleaning power is pretty good too. Give it a try.”
Fan Xue poured a little into her basin. Following Ye Zhiqiu’s method, she stirred the water clockwise a few times, and soon there were lots of suds in her basin.
She found it really novel: “This stuff is great.”
“Zhiqiu, where did you buy this laundry detergent? I want to get some too.”
Ye Zhiqiu answered: “Mine was brought over by a little friend. I heard it’s sold here in Jiangning. After the training is over, I plan to look around Jiangning. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find it.”
Fan Xue said: “I’ll come with you then.”
“Sure.”
“Zhiqiu, can I ask you something?”
Ye Zhiqiu guessed: “Are you asking if I seduced Yue Mingyuan?”
Fan Xue nodded and admitted it: “Yes.”
“No.”
Ye Zhiqiu dared to say those two words to anyone. She walked upright and stood straight. No matter what kind of dirty water anyone tried to throw on her, she wasn’t afraid.
Whether Fan Xue believed her or not was Fan Xue’s business.
“I knew you weren’t that kind of person. But I still wanted to hear your answer.”
“You’re someone worth befriending.”
Fan Xue dried her hands and patted Ye Zhiqiu on the shoulder. Ye Zhiqiu dodged: “Your hands are so cold.”
“My hands are always cold like this. Don’t mind it, okay?” Fan Xue pulled her hand back and rubbed them together vigorously, but they were still ice cold.
“Since you think I’m worth befriending, I suggest you go see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. Cold hands and feet mean your qi and blood aren’t flowing properly. You’re still so young, it’s not good to have poor qi and blood flow.”
Ye Zhiqiu could tell that Fan Xue was straightforward, and she was too.
“I’ll find an old TCM doctor to check it out when I get back. My parents mentioned it before too, but I didn’t take it seriously. Funny, the way you say it, I’m actually willing to listen.”
The two of chatted as they walked back. Fan Xue reached her dorm first and called out to Ye Zhiqiu: “Come visit our dorm sometime, okay?”
Ye Zhiqiu felt the unfriendly stares from Jiang Miao and Wen Shengnan and said plainly: “Only you in your dorm welcome me. Why don’t you come visit our dorm instead?”
Fan Xue was taken aback. She hadn’t expected Ye Zhiqiu to be so direct. She looked so delicate and soft, but her personality was completely the opposite. It surprised her again and again.
“Alright, I’ll come over then. Don’t mind me bothering you.”
“I won’t.”
Ye Zhiqiu left, and Fan Xue entered the dorm. Wen Shengnan spoke up: “Fan Xue, you and Ye Zhiqiu seem to get along really well. Did you two really not know each other before?”
“Some people can know each other for a long time and still not get along, while others hit it off right away. Ye Zhiqiu and I hit it off right away.”
Compared to Jiang Miao, Fan Xue actually disliked Wen Shengnan more. She felt Wen Shengnan was very fake, always acting like she was wearing a mask.
She rarely spoke to Wen Shengnan unless necessary. And she could tell that a lot of what Jiang Miao said were things Wen Shengnan wanted to say.
Jiang Miao said all the nasty things, and then Wen Shengnan said all the nice things.
People like that are too calculating.
