Instead, he patiently helped others with their studies, explaining questions to those who didn’t understand.
That alone had won him a lot of goodwill.
And then, at the sports festival, he represented Qibao Dwith School and won first place in two events.
At this point, if anyone were to name the most popular student in the class, the answer would undoubtedly be Rong Xingyu.
After all, people are naturally drawn to those who shine brightly.
Rong Xingyu clicked Accept and joined the chat group.
Almost instantly, his screen was flooded with warm greetings from his classmates.
A faint smile appeared on his lips. His chest felt light and warm as he typed out a short message thanking everyone.
He wasn’t the talkative type, so after sending his thanks, he simply stayed quiet and began to scroll through the chat silently.
The weekend evening made the group lively. Instead of dying down, the conversation only grew more active as everyone chatted away.
Then, someone brought up the upcoming school anniversary.
Qibao Dwith School’s anniversary would take place at the end of November. It’s about a month and a half away.
On that day, many alumni who had already graduated would return to visit the campus and take part in the celebration events.
But what most current students cared about is aside from the possible day off was the evening performance during the anniversary celebration.
Each class could submit a performance and after several rounds of selection, only a few programs would be chosen to appear on stage in the grand auditorium that night.
It was considered a huge honor.
Not just for the performers themselves, but for the entire class.
And, of course, those who got to perform would be in the spotlight because that night, the audience wouldn’t just consist of students.
There would also be distinguished alumni, members of the school board and even well known figures from various industries.
Even if you didn’t win any awards, just getting to perform in front of such an audience was already a big deal.
Because of that, some classes and clubs had already started preparing their school anniversary performances right from the beginning of the semester.
However, Rong Xingyu’s class was not one of them.
Last year, their class had worked themselves to death during rehearsals dragged around by a few overzealous class officers who treated it like military training.
In the end, their program didn’t even make it past the first round of selection.
In order to make things worse, some rehearsal photos had somehow been leaked and those awkward pictures went viral on the school forums.
They were even turned into memes that had stayed popular for quite a while...
It was a memory too painful to look back on.
So when someone in the group chat asked what kind of program their class was doing this year, a classmate named "Ms. Tomorrow" seemed more than ready to answer.
[ Ms. Tomorrow: We’ve already planned out the program for this year’s school anniversary! We’re officially starting the casting process now～ ]
Right after that message, she sent an image. It was an actor recruitment flyer.
The moment everyone saw that this year’s performance was once again a stage play, the chat instantly went silent for a moment.
After all, the trauma of last year’s disastrous play still haunted everyone like a dark cloud.
[ Why is it another stage play again? ]
[ And seriously? The Little Mermaid? Isn’t that way too cliché? ]
[ Wait, is this cast list right? There’s only one female role but so many male roles, what’s that about? ]
[ Don’t tell me... ]
[ ... ]
It seemed everyone had reached the same horrifying conclusion at the same time because the previously rapid-fire messages suddenly stopped.
The whole group chat went quiet except for the class secretary, who cheerfully kept sending messages.
[ Ms. Tomorrow: The number of roles is correct! The script has been completely rewritten～ ]
[ Ms. Tomorrow: This year we’re not doing some weird "artsy" version. We’re going for something new and it was a gender swap version of the Little Mermaid! The Little Mermaid will be played by a boy! Now that’s creative, right? ]
[ Ms. Tomorrow: Don’t worry, we’ll get professional costume designers this time! The outfits will be top quality and completely accurate! ]
[ Ms. Tomorrow: Come on, guys! Sign up, everyone～ ]
[ Ms. Tomorrow: Where is everyone??? @AllMembers @AllMembers @AllMembers ]
After several rounds of her desperate @-everyone messages, someone finally stopped pretending to be offline.
[ Final exams are coming up soon... I’d better study instead. ]
[ Same here... ]
[ I really don’t have time lately. My dog’s about to give birth... ]
[ I can’t swim, so I can’t play a mermaid. ]
[ I have thalassophobia and fear of the deep sea. I’ll faint if I even see water! ]
[ I’m allergic to seafood... ]
[ ... ]
The excuses became more and more ridiculous, but one thing was clear, no one wanted to take part in this year’s play, no matter what reason they gave.
Nonsense! Acting as a beautiful mermaid in front of the entire school, including all the big name guests and faculty members?!
And the costumes were supposed to be "completely accurate"? That was exactly what everyone was afraid of!
Who on earth had come up with The Little Mermaid as the play? Whoever it was must’ve been out of their mind.
Seeing that no one wanted to cooperate, the class secretary finally sent a smiling emoji.
[Ms. Tomorrow: In that case, we’ll just stick with the old tradition. ]
Rong Xingyu who had been quietly reading the chat, frowned. What old tradition?
Before he could figure it out, he was suddenly added to a new group chat.
Every single boy in the class was there.
[Ms. Tomorrow: Same rule as always. Whoever gets the luckiest draw will play the role. ]
Seven red envelopes appeared in a neat row, just enough for The Little Mermaid and her six sisters.
Under the class secretary’s "fearsome authority," the boys grumbled and complained while opening the envelopes, each praying silently that they wouldn’t be the unlucky "winner."