oks conveyed confidence when faced with issues. But now, it was clear that he lacked confidence. So she nodded and said, "Okay, I will talk to my dad about this and see what he says."Some girls who we...Chapter 89: The Walk-on Character Geng

The rebate system offered a high degree of discount, saving nearly twenty million in rent. In terms of the exterior design style, it respected Dunhuang's opinions, wrapping the three-story building with golden flames and supporting the stereoscopic character 'Dunhuang' on the rooftop.

The news about the construction of the Dunhuang Mall circulated among the citizens. This year, in Xiahai City’s business district, there had never been such a fashionable name as this. Names like "Red Prosperity," "Great Treasure Department Store," and some might include "Hong Kong goods market" or "Fulaibinguan wealth wholesale."

What is considered trendy changes with the times: something that is trendy now would be viewed as outdated ten years ago, old-fashioned twenty years ago, retro half a century ago, and avant-garde a hundred years ago.

Thus, one can imagine how striking it was for such an imposing name from a thousand years ago to emerge in this era of Jay Chou's "Friends" and Andy Lau's "Kiss Goodbye," in the bustling Xinhai Square. This name could be called eye-catching.

The city’s first high school would soon host a major event, preparing for the upcoming arts performance.

At City High School, each class was required to submit two programs for review; in this regard, the female students of Class 5, Senior Year 2, where Su Can was located, were more assertive. Both submitted programs reported by the cultural committee chairperson were performances put on by girls; boys had hardly any achievements. One was a play or sketch performed by several active girls in the class, and another was Chen Lingyan's solo dance "Silk Road Flowers."

When Su Can heard this information, he paused for a moment before smiling. This really was an amazing coincidence.

Last summer vacation, when Chen Lingyan received Xia Zhiyu’s bouquet of flowers, many people believed that a new era had arrived.

Chen Lingyan would bid farewell to her single life, and the time for this girl to fall in love was at hand. However, it seemed that things were not developing as expected; there was no sense of entering a new age. Chen Lingyan's relationship with Xia Zhiyu did not leap overnight either, nor was there a romantic scene where they waited silently after school for each other to hold hands and go home.

In any case, it seemed like nothing had happened. After the semester started, life continued as before, studying from morning till night and going back home. Occasionally, during PE classes or brief breaks, Xia Zhiyu would exchange a few words with Chen Lingyan, leading people to feel that Chen Lingyan had simply made another good friend of the opposite sex.

However, those who were close to Xia Zhiyu in their grade discussed this issue. They said it was unrealistic for someone to expect Chen Lingyan and Xia Zhiyu to take a decisive step forward; such a girl needed a slow development process. Xia Zhiyu was gradually getting closer to Chen Lingyan bit by bit, and during each period of time they could make further progress. After all, they still had plenty of time left, even if they were now in their second year of high school.

Moreover, there was the formidable Su Can standing between them. Xia Zhiyu's influence at City High School couldn't compare to Su Can's; even Su Can failed when he pursued Chen Lingyan, so why should Xia Zhiyu be expected to achieve better results

Some people also said that Xia Zhiyu’s relationship with the two families was very good. Both families believed their children would end up together and had planned for them to attend the same university. Therefore, it was too hasty and shallow to demand more development between them during this period of schooling. With the support of both sets of parents, there was still plenty of time for them in the future.

Sometimes during PE class or breaks, Xi Zhiyu noticed an issue.

Whenever he was hanging out with Chen Lingshan and a group of girls, as soon as Su Can appeared, Chen Lingshan would be very enthusiastic towards him. Occasionally, she would even laugh at one of his jokes and hit him playfully.

But when Su Can wasn't around, she reverted to her usual gentle demeanor. After spending nearly half a semester observing these patterns, Xi Zhiyu suddenly felt quite uncomfortable inside.

The physical exercise room at No. 1 High School was mostly used by various classes for rehearsing their performances now.

Chen Lingshan's dance performance titled "Dunhuang" required her to be the centerpiece, highlighting her graceful and delicate movements with long sleeves. To emphasize this, many male students were recruited as supporting dancers—essentially extras in the background.

Since middle school, Chen Lingshan's performances have always been a highlight for all the students, which is why she became such an influential figure. Before each cultural performance event, numerous girls would gather around her to inquire about her planned act and offer suggestions.

In these recruitment efforts by the female student review teams, Xu Yi Yang, Su Can, even Li Weimei contributed their male friends, turning them into accompanying dancers for Chen Lingshan.

Su Can was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. After several refusals of "no," he was overwhelmed by the saliva from the female student review teams and had no choice but to join as an accompaniment dancer. His position involved walking around in bright yellow clothes, seamlessly blending into the crowd.

Su Can felt that this could be considered his active participation in school activities. After all, such performances were far removed from him in the future—neither did he excel at it nor did he have a strong desire for performance; thus, his greatest exposure was usually singing with the entire class on stage.

The Dunhuang dance requires stability under extreme bending and tilting. It seeks a sense of freedom within these special curves. The essence of the Dunhuang dance resembles ancient murals, placing high demands on female dancers who must display continuous flowing movements, harmonious head and neck motions in line with mural poses, matching breathing rhythms to convey profound grace, forming distinct Dunhuang styles.

The rhythm of the Dunhuang dance might be related to its Buddhist mural origins, revealing deep reverence and introspection.

Su Can was highly impressed by Chen Lingshan's dance foundation, no wonder she always stood out in her performances. A girl who could interpret such grace so well must have undergone rigorous training since childhood.

Being one of the accompanying dancers for Chen Lingshan was an extremely honorable affair. At least these boys, including Xu Yi Yang, felt "very satisfied" when they saw Chen Lingshan's willowy waist sway and her subtle fragrance waft around them during rehearsals.

Su Can, who occasionally glanced at the slim waist of Chen Lingshan under her white lace dress as a background figure, felt secretly pleased.

When Chen Lingshan was adjusting her dance posture, he, as someone unrelated to the performance and not named among others like Xue YiYang's 'Ren', did not need to participate on stage. He could help by fetching girls' pockets or watching over their shoes and other belongings outside the rehearsal room.

Xue YiYang often introduced him to people: "See that line of boys The son of the general manager of Telecommunications in Xiahai Branch Company! His father bought a shop next to the soon-to-be-opened Dunhuang Mall beside the newly-built Starsea Square for his elder brother. They say they have several million, and this kid is loaded!"

Seeing that Su Can showed no reaction, he continued: "McDonald's and KFC are rumored to enter Xiahai soon; Jinchang Sports plans to move to Starsea Square too. The provincial Carrefour supermarket also wants a spot here! When will we have our own Carrefour and KFC in Xiahai Oh right, there's also Jack & Jones—have you heard of it"

"I've heard a bit," Su Can smiled.

Xue YiYang seemed disappointed and shifted the topic to: "Alas, we're only enjoying these things in our second year. Those one or two grades below us are lucky! Back when we were in junior high, there weren't even these options!"

Su Can wanted to say 'you should be content', but if placed in the future, it would take another three to four years before Xiahai saw such development.

Over there, Chen Lingshan and others had finished their dance. After everyone's rehearsal was over, Xue YiYang handed clothes back to everyone.

When Chen Lingshan walked up to him, Su Can realized that during the big clean-up earlier, he still held her single shoe from when water splashed inside. A man holding a girl’s shoes indeed looked unusual.

"Finished" Su Can smiled, masking his embarrassment as he handed the shoe back to Chen Lingshan.

Chen Lingshan blushed and took it, sitting down on the chair again to take off her dance shoes. She revealed delicate feet, then with a blush put on the yellow single shoe that Su Can had been holding. As if nothing happened, she stood up and smiled at Su Can: "The final part of the dance is still rather stiff; I can't seem to connect it well."

"Isn’t there still time Practice slowly then," Su Can thought Chen Lingshan's entire routine was very graceful and appealing. Because he didn't understand dancing, he couldn't tell that her ending had any issues.

Chen Lingshan nodded, "Okay." Her face blushed prettily.

This moment, Xia Zhiyu changed his clothes and walked over to carefully observe Chen Lingshan's feet: "Lingshan, you just got your foot injured. Walking must still be difficult for you. Shall I send you home

Lǐ Jùméi said aside, "Your home is not on the same route as Língrán's. There might be someone else who lives along her way." As she spoke, she glanced at Sū Càn. Between Xià Zhìyǔ and Sū Càn, she tended to favor the latter.

At this moment, Chén Língsān lifted her head and looked at Sū Càn. With her head slightly raised, her rosy lips pouted, and her autumn-like eyes gazed deeply into his. This posture was quite enticing.

Xuè Yìyáng once again found himself sadly isolated from this atmosphere. However, the tense situation made it clear to everyone what Lǐ Juéméi's implied meaning was: If someone were smart enough at this moment, they would say, "Yes, my home is on your way; I'll take you home."

Then everything would be fine, and right then, the theme song of 'Shanghai' might play.

Sū Càn was stunned. He met Chén Língsān's gaze but found himself unable to speak.

Xuè Yìyáng inwardly screamed, "Damn it! Why isn't the main character me"

The atmosphere froze like in a moment of combat between two martial arts masters in a wuxia film, where everything else became still.

Chén Língsān's gaze transitioned from hopeful to wandering. She blinked and then turned her beautiful eyes towards Xià Zhìyǔ, smiling gently without showing any inner agitation.

"Thank you."

Xià Zhìyǔ was very excited and hurriedly picked up Chén Língsān's backpack and bag, walking past Sū Càn. There should have been a tense atmosphere at this moment, but no one could sense it.

As Lǐ Jùméi passed by Sū Càn, she glared at him and said, "Stupid!"

Sū Càn smiled and suddenly remembered that tomorrow was the recruitment day for Dunhuang Mall.

Since his rebirth, Sū Càn had never before felt the illusion of time passing differently.

Yes, it's月底了，爆發是一定的，不出意料的話，希望這一卷的**能夠伴隨著爆發的章節一同到來。

(Translation note: The last sentence is a meta-commentary on the story's structure and progress, which may not translate smoothly into English without context.)ea of people. Pushing open the door revealed at least seven large beer boxes stacked behind it. Looking around, one could see everyone cheering and having fun, clearly indicating that these people wer...