Shen Yuqing returned to school that afternoon, and no amount of persuasion from Shen Wanjun could stop him from leaving.
That evening, after Wen Yu spent some time working through practice problems, he entered Fu Chen’s bedroom. Fu Chen was lying in bed playing on his phone, and upon seeing Wen Yu enter, he lifted his eyelids to glance at him.
“You really are quite flirtatious. Even Shen Yuqing managed to get hooked by you,” Fu Chen scoffed.
In truth, he had not really heard the content of their conversation, but the way Shen Yuqing was holding Wen Yu did not look like good friends greeting each other. It was the first time Fu Chen had ever seen that kind of expression on Shen Yuqing’s face.
However, Fu Chen did hear what Wen Yu said about continuing the family line for the Fu family.
“Unfortunately, my standards are not high enough. The great Young Master Fu still ended up engaged to someone else.” Wen Yu did not deny it; instead, along with Fu Chen’s words, he said something that pleased him.
Fu Chen climbed down from the bed. Step by step, he closed in on Wen Yu. The imposing physique of the Alpha possessed an overwhelming sense of deterrence, and Wen Yu kept retreating until he was enveloped by Fu Chen’s shadow.
When his back struck something behind him, Wen Yu realized he had reached his own bed. Fu Chen stopped in his tracks, lifted Wen Yu’s chin, and scrutinized his face closely.
“Shen Yuqing, Ji Chen, just what kind of magic do you have?” Fu Chen seemed genuinely curious, observing him in meticulous detail. “Are you casting love potions or something?”
“That is right, I am casting a love potion,” Wen Yu emphasized the last two words with particular weight.
“Then why are you not casting it on me? Did you not want to continue the family line for the Fu family?” Fu Chen smiled slightly, leaning close to Wen Yu’s ear to speak in a soft voice. His warm breath brushed against the curve of Wen Yu’s ear, making Wen Yu feel a slight tickle. “I find you repulsive just looking at you. How could you possibly continue the family line for the Fu family?”
Wen Yu had not expected Fu Chen to overhear that fabricated remark of his. Deciding not to continue discussing this topic with Fu Chen, Wen Yu replied, “Of course it is because I genuinely like you and cannot bear to leave.”
The smile curling the corners of Fu Chen’s mouth stiffened instantly upon hearing those words, and his gaze turned icy. “Say disgusting things like that again and I will kill you.”
True enough, Fu Chen had been utterly sickened. He turned around and climbed into bed.
Goosebumps broke out all over Wen Yu’s body. After turning off the bedroom lights, he also got into bed, passing the night without a single dream.
First High’s annual school anniversary was fast approaching, and since this year marked the seventieth anniversary, the school attached great importance to it. The teachers instructed the cultural committee member to organize a proper performance, with very generous cash prizes for the top three places. The students in the class all displayed immense enthusiasm.
It was not because of the prize money, but rather because every year during the anniversary, each class would dispatch their absolute best faces to win prestige. Practically all the recognized, crowd-pleasing handsome boys and beauties in the school would take the stage.
During last year’s school anniversary, the cultural committee member, Shu Ran, had actually invited Fu Chen. After being pestered by Shu Ran for several days, Fu Chen finally agreed, but right around that time he was suddenly diagnosed with Pheromone Disorder Syndrome, leading to a last-minute replacement, and they ultimately only placed third.
Essentially, however, anyone who had a programmed routine received a third-place prize, so getting third place was practically the same as getting no prize at all.
What Shu Ran arranged last year was a safe-bet poetry recitation, but because it featured a major draw like Fu Chen, it still had plenty of viewing appeal.
After all, within First High’s forum poll for the school’s most handsome students, Fu Chen’s vote count remained consistently high.
Moreover, Fu Chen’s background at First High had always remained an unsolved mystery because rumor had it that someone once saw the principal speaking to Fu Chen with extreme politeness and caution. This sparked various speculations among the students, yet nobody managed to dig up Fu Chen’s true identity.
Fu Chen usually kept a very low profile. Everyone only knew him as a handsome guy who loved to sleep and got great grades, and that he was on very good terms with Ji Chen from Class 3, while other details remained a total blank.
In fact, throughout his freshman year, Fu Chen had always sat alone without a deskmate. It was only starting this semester that everyone discovered Fu Chen had ended up sharing a desk with a transfer student.
Wen Yu’s face had actually stirred considerable discussion around the school. Teenagers going through puberty paid exceptional attention to classmates with striking appearances, which led to Wen Yu’s name being added to the ranks of school beauties on the First High forum.
Wen Yu himself remained completely oblivious to this, as he was currently busy preparing for the upcoming mid-term examinations.
Shu Ran frequently browsed the school forum, so she had a clear idea of which individuals generated the highest discussion volume, and she already had candidates for this anniversary celebration locked down in her mind.
This year, she planned to go big by putting on a stage play, using the famous fairy tale Sleeping Beauty adapted for the script. In fact, she had been preparing for months in advance, and her script was nearly finished.
She had long since decided on the candidates, but neither of those two leads was someone who would easily agree to her request. Consequently, Shu Ran proposed to the teacher that they determine the lead roles through a drawing of lots.
The teacher let her take charge, telling them to go ahead with peace of mind and explaining that they could apply for activity subsidies from the school if funding fell short.
Shu Ran had hidden slips of paper with the lead roles written on them inside her sleeve ahead of time, secretly sliding them in when her turn approached those two individuals. Whichever of them ended up playing the prince or the princess would guarantee explosive attention.
Following the seating arrangement, starting from the first row by the door and cycling down in order until it finally reached the window side, Fu Chen stepped up and drew a slip. Frowning as he opened it, he saw the characters for Prince.
Last in line was Wen Yu. Wen Yu pulled out the final slip, unfolded it, and there before his eyes were the stark characters for Sleeping Beauty.
Wen Yu also furrowed his brows.
The two occupants of the very last row by the window both stared in silence at the slips of paper in their hands.
Having successfully achieved her scheme, Shu Ran suppressed the smile at the corners of her mouth and asked with a feigned, innocent air from the podium, “Which two lucky people drew the Prince and Sleeping Beauty? Raise your hands, please.”
The students below scanned their surroundings in all directions, seeing no one raise a hand. After a brief standoff like this, Fu Chen raised his hand with a dark expression, and shortly afterward Wen Yu slowly raised his as well.
The entire class turned their gaze toward them.
Fu Chen tilted his head to look at Wen Yu, and Wen Yu happened to be looking back at him. Their eyes locked.
Such a disgusting fate.
Fu Chen muttered inwardly.
Some were overjoyed while others worried. Shu Ran could barely keep the smile from showing on her face as she announced with absolute solemnity from the stage, “It seems this is simply destined by heaven! Our Prince and Sleeping Beauty will be played by Fu Chen and Wen Yu!”
A wave of enthusiastic applause erupted from the classmates, and someone even shouted out a cheer!
Fu Chen’s face darkened even further.
A cheer my foot.
Shu Ran attached immense importance to this school anniversary. The story of Sleeping Beauty was household knowledge, so presenting it with a fresh twist was no easy feat. While writing the script, Shu Ran even had other characters make guest appearances, such as the Seven Dwarfs coming in as guests, alongside Rong Nian and Ziyi. In short, it was an all-encompassing hotpot stew.
Naturally, the main plotline remained Sleeping Beauty, while everything else was just for fun, keeping the heavy focus squarely on the two leads.
Shu Ran had coveted Wen Yu’s looks for quite some time, intending to personally take charge of all his styling and makeup. Coupled with Fu Chen, to say the least, this lineup alone was already more than enough to arouse anticipation.
At the end of classes that day, Shu Ran organized all relevant personnel to stay behind for a brief meeting.
She had already printed out the script, giving one copy to each person. The story was very simple: roughly speaking, a country’s king and queen had never had children, and they desperately wanted one. Eventually, the queen finally conceived and gave birth to a beautiful daughter.
Overjoyed, the king hosted a grand banquet, inviting seven Blue Smurfs to bestow blessings upon the princess, wishing her wonderful traits like beauty and wisdom. However, an uninvited evil Blue Smurf turned red with fury and transformed into a red sprite, cursing the princess to prick her finger on a spinning needle and die when she turned fifteen or sixteen. Fortunately, a kind Blue Smurf mitigated the curse so that the princess would not die, but instead fall into a century-long slumber.
After the princess grew up, she discovered Rong Nian pricking Ziyi with a needle in an ancient room within the castle. When the princess went to rescue Ziyi, her finger was accidentally pricked, fulfilling the curse as she collapsed into a deep sleep.
Simultaneously, the entire castle fell into slumber, encompassing the king, queen, and servants. Thorny brambles grew up all around, enclosing the castle within them.
Many years passed by until a prince heard the legend of Sleeping Beauty. Bravely charging through the brambles, he picked up a heavy artillery cannon and blasted away indiscriminately, causing the brambles to magically part the way for him.
Walking into the castle, the prince beheld the sleeping princess. Struck by her beauty, he could not resist kissing the princess.
The princess woke up, shouted loudly, “Assault!”, and everyone else in the castle woke up as well.
In the end, the prince and princess swore a sworn-brotherhood alliance and became great buddies.
Everyone fell silent after reading through the script. Lin Qiaoyue looked at Shu Ran and asked, “Is this right?”
Wearing an expression that seemed to say you do not understand, Shu Ran explained, “Everyone is already sick of those cliche stories. What we need is a bit of innovation!”
“Actually, it is quite interesting.” Wen Yu finished reading it carefully and remarked quite supportively.
“As expected, our Wen Yu has a discerning eye!” Shu Ran gave Wen Yu a thumbs-up, her eyes filled with appreciative approval.
Fu Chen frowned. His gaze focused squarely on the words artillery cannon, and he expressed his dissatisfaction, “Since the cannon is so heavy, can we not just sweep through with a machine gun instead?”
Shu Ran pondered for a moment before declaring, “That makes sense! Let us change it to a machine gun then!”
Continuing down the page, Fu Chen saw that the prince was supposed to kiss the princess. He glanced at Wen Yu, rolled his eyes internally, and stated, “Since it is already a crazy parody, let us just cut the kiss.”
“The kissing scene cannot be cut!” Shu Ran insisted. “After all, it is the most classic shot in Sleeping Beauty. Cut it and it loses its soul!”
Just as Fu Chen’s gaze turned cold and he was about to say something else, Shu Ran immediately chimed in, “It is not a real kiss, just camera angles. You stood me up last year and forced me to go through incredible trouble to find a last-minute savior, so you definitely owe me one!”
This explained why Fu Chen was being so cooperative this time. He really had broken his promise last year, and going back on his word was something Fu Chen despised most of all. He was undeniably in the wrong.
Fu Chen let out a cold snort and said no more.
The six kind Blue Smurfs were to be played by several robust Alpha members of the basketball team, with the core appeal resting entirely on the contrast. The villainous red sprite was to be played by the sports committee member, Cheng Zhiyuan.
The king was to be played by the study committee member, Li Heng, while the queen would be played by the class monitor, Song Yiyi. Shu Ran intended to play Rong Nian herself, leaving Lin Qiaoyue responsible for portraying Ziyi.
Fu Chen was the prince, while Wen Yu was the core sleeping beauty of the story.
The plot was not complicated. Shu Ran had clearly made thorough preparations, aiming to make up for last year’s regrets and win a first-place prize for Class 1.
The voting method for this competition primarily relied on launching a poll on the forum, where each ID could select their top three preferred entries, and the class with the highest vote count would win.
This was also the exact reason why Shu Ran went to such great lengths to have Fu Chen and Wen Yu play the leads. The two of them commanded high discussion volume on the forum, and everyone was quite curious about them, especially Fu Chen, whose background no one had ever managed to uncover.
Their combination naturally carried its own spotlight.
Shu Ran was determined to take back everything she had lost this time around!