RGL – Chapter 98

“Hey, your grades drop fast, but why do they take so long to recover? You better learn your lesson from this. It’s easy to go downhill, but hard to climb back up. Let’s see if you’ll study properly from now on.”

Su Min adopted a modest and receptive attitude. “I promise I’ll study hard.”

The clothing shop gradually got on track, and Su Min didn’t need to spend too much effort on it anymore. Later, she brought in a batch of winter clothes from Sanye again. Su Min sketched out a few designs and had Sun Yan modify them in the shop. There was no need to alter too many—just a few samples. If customers wanted to buy them, Sun Yan would make custom pieces for them. Of course, that came with a hefty price tag.

For Sun Yan, altering clothes wasn’t difficult, and Liao Zhaodi could help out in the evenings too. So within a few days, they had several sample pieces ready to hang up.

Sure enough, customers did come in and liked the samples, and Sun Yan tailored clothes to their measurements.

Thanks to this line of business, even though it was just the start of winter, the shop earned a sizable amount again.

New Year’s Day was approaching, and the school was preparing a celebration. This time, Su Min and Liao Zhaodi signed up to perform a duet. When they registered, Tang Man was so surprised her jaw nearly dropped.

Su Min hadn’t had any particular talents before, but she wasn’t tone-deaf either. Normally, when she heard a new song, after a few listens she could hum along. But due to her low self-esteem and the need to care for her mother at home, she had never participated in any events at the factory.

In this life, she had come to realize that she wanted to make the most of her school years—to shine, just like those she had once envied.

She actually knew how to sing many songs, but a lot of them hadn’t come out yet.

Many were future hit songs. If she sang them now, others wouldn’t be able to, and it might alter someone’s fate. So Su Min didn’t choose songs from the future, but opted for ones that already existed.

If she was going to sing, she wanted to pick a classic from the present.

After discussing it, Su Min and Liao Zhaodi decided to sing “On the Fields of Hope.”

The song had an upbeat rhythm and was popular enough that most people on the streets could sing it. Performing it at the evening party would easily liven up the atmosphere. The event was meant to be festive anyway—whether or not they won a prize wasn’t important.

Though they both knew how to sing the song, neither had performed on stage before or sung together, so they spent a lot of time practicing. In the mornings, they would meet earlier than usual to practice in the school field. They only returned to class when the bell rang for morning reading.

“Tomorrow, Minzi’s school is putting on a performance. We should go watch her perform,” said Sun Qiufang during lunch.

This was her daughter’s first performance since she started school—she had been looking forward to it.

Su Changrong chimed in, “I’ve been counting down the days. Our Minzi is performing; of course we have to go.”

“Mom, Dad, I’m just singing a song, not playing an instrument or anything. It’s not such a big deal.”

“Singing is great too! If we asked your dad to perform, he wouldn’t even be able to say one sentence properly.”

“Heh, your mom’s right. We never thought we’d raise such an accomplished daughter—good grades and can sing too. People envy me when I talk about you.”

Listening to her parents praise her like that—almost like they were putting her on a pedestal—Su Min felt a bit guilty and embarrassed. After all, she had lived more years than others. If she still muddled through life, she would really be letting herself down.

That night, after returning to her room, Su Min reviewed the lyrics and melody again.

She had never been on stage in her past life, so she had no idea how this performance would go.

On New Year’s Day, Su Min arrived at school early to help with preparations.

Tang Man was in charge of logistics for the school this time, and many classmates were helping too. Su Min didn’t shy away either and joined in moving chairs and arranging food and drinks.

When the leftover fruit was being handed out, Tang Man gave a red apple to each helper and handed Su Min one too. “This one’s the biggest.”

Su Min looked at her in surprise.

Tang Man blushed and said, “You’re not actually that annoying, you know.”

Su Min smiled. “You’re not that hard to get along with either.”

Tang Man rolled her eyes and laughed. “You’re something else—you always manage to talk back at the right time.”

“I’m just being honest,” Su Min replied, taking a bite of the apple. She suddenly realized that getting along with people her age could actually be pretty fun. At this age, everyone was still innocent, and relationships weren’t complicated.

As the sky darkened, the stage and tables were all set up. Many parents were also starting to arrive at the school.

For Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang, this was their first time attending a school event. They were full of curiosity. The couple arrived early and took front-row seats in the parents’ area.

As soon as they sat down, Su Changrong craned his neck around. “Where’s our Minzi?”

“She’s probably helping out backstage,” Sun Qiufang replied, adjusting her clothes and munching on sunflower seeds. She smiled and added, “Changrong, it’s a good thing we made money. Otherwise, Minzi wouldn’t have this kind of environment now.”

If their family were still like before, Minzi wouldn’t even have had the money to attend school. And both she and Changrong would’ve been too busy with odd jobs at home to make time for events like this.

Su Changrong smiled. “Life really is getting better and better. Back in the village, we wouldn’t even have dared dream of days like this.”

“Dream? When were we ever able to dream? We were too busy surviving to even imagine this,” Sun Qiufang said, a bit wistfully.

As they chatted, music started playing from the field.

Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang immediately craned their necks toward the stage, afraid to miss their daughter’s performance.

Backstage, Tang Man was getting anxious. The costume for the lead dancer had been snagged and now had a tear—right at the collar. Even if it were sewn up, it would still look awkward.

There wasn’t enough time to find a replacement.

The dance had been choreographed for the lead to be part of it. Now, with no proper outfit, replacing it with something else would affect the overall effect. The lead dancer was so upset she sat down in a chair and began crying.

Tang Man was in charge of the logistics for the second class’s performance participants. Now that such a visible problem had occurred, she was so anxious her lips were about to blister.

Su Min and Liao Zhaodi had already changed into their outfits. Both were wearing long powder-blue coats, with ponytails tied up and artificial flower garlands adorning their heads, exuding youthful energy.

Seeing that everyone looked downcast, Liao Zhaodi asked curiously.

After hearing the classmates complain about the issue, she said, “I do know how to sew, but since the fabric has torn open, just patching it up wouldn’t look good.”

Su Min carefully examined the outfit. The collar and sleeves were ruffled, decorated with embroidered flowers. There was also a colorful ribbon around the hem of the skirt.

“Why don’t we let Liao Zhaodi patch it up?” suggested Zhou Qi, the lead dancer.

Tang Man looked at the dress and finally nodded. Though she had always pursued perfection, she couldn’t afford to be picky now. Still, she felt quite uncomfortable inside. This was her first time organizing a school event, and something like this had to happen—it made her feel incredibly defeated.

Just as Liao Zhaodi was about to start mending the outfit, Su Min suddenly snipped off a strip of pink ribbon from the hem.

“What are you doing?!” Tang Man stared wide-eyed at Su Min.

Su Min replied, “The hole is too big. Stitching it up directly will cause the fabric to pucker and look bad. I’ll make a flower out of this ribbon and sew it on top.”

As she spoke, her fingers deftly shaped the ribbon into a flower, which covered the tear perfectly. The flower’s color matched the outfit well, and with the ruffled edges of the dress, it looked very fitting.

“Zhaodi, sew it on just like this and hide the thread underneath.”

“Okay,” Liao Zhaodi quickly got out a matching thread and started sewing.

Tang Man and the other students stared at Su Min in astonishment. They hadn’t expected this normally quiet, bookish girl who rarely talked to others to come up with such a clever idea.

Liao Zhaodi was already a skilled hand at altering clothes, so sewing on a flower was no big deal. She quickly finished repairing the dress.

Even though a piece of ribbon was missing, there had been many to begin with, so it wasn’t noticeable at all. The flower that now covered the tear made the dress look even prettier than before.

“Su Min, Liao Zhaodi, I didn’t expect you two to have such skills!”

Su Min smiled, “It just happened to come to mind.”

The others looked at Su Min and suddenly found her more approachable, no longer feeling like she was separated from them by an invisible wall.

Tang Man also said, “Sorry, Su Min. I misunderstood just now and got too worked up.”

Su Min shook her head, “It’s okay. You were just worried about the performance.”

The announcer’s voice came again, and the students who had changed into their performance outfits filed out one by one. Once they left, Su Min and the others peeked through the gap in the curtain to look outside. The audience seats were packed; it was hard to make out who was who, with only the stage brightly lit.

There weren’t any real stage lights yet, and the school’s equipment was limited. But the students performed earnestly, and the parents in the audience watched with joy.

“Next up is Su Min and Liao Zhaodi from Class 2 of Grade 10, presenting — ‘In the Fields of Hope’!”

Hearing the familiar song title, many parents in the audience grew excited and began clapping enthusiastically.

Su Min and Liao Zhaodi were a bit nervous, took a deep breath, and walked hand in hand onto the stage as the music began.

“Our hometown lies in the fields of hope, smoke rising above newly built homes…”

At first, they sang nervously. Then, from backstage, someone began singing along in tune. With others joining in, Su Min and Liao Zhaodi relaxed and sang with more strength and confidence. Many parents in the audience recognized the song and started singing along as well.

Soon, the entire venue was swept up in the lively atmosphere.

Though the song lasted only a few minutes, to Su Min it felt like a long time—so long that it brought back memories of her past life, when she had watched others on stage with curiosity and envy.

So she could do it too.

And with the support and help of so many friends, it really was much more joyful than struggling alone.

When the song ended, the parents clapped enthusiastically. Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang clapped so hard their hands turned red, faces full of excitement. “Changrong, did you see that? Our daughter looked so pretty. And she sang so well!”

Sun Qiufang’s voice choked slightly as she spoke. So what if she never had a son in this life? With a daughter like this, she still had every reason to be proud.

Backstage, as Su Min and Liao Zhaodi came down from the stage, a few girls who had performed earlier pulled them into another tent. Their class’s part of the performance was nearly over, and some boys had already bought snacks to celebrate with those who performed.

“I didn’t think you two could sing so well! The audience was so hyped up. I even saw our teacher, Ms. Huang, singing along!” said one lively girl in the class.

Then someone else suggested, “Now that the performance is over, why don’t we do a class-only performance? Su Min and Liao Zhaodi can sing again, and the dancers can join in for a fun, informal act.”

Su Min and Liao Zhaodi had shaken off their earlier nervousness. Hearing the idea, they cheerfully agreed.

Some students who could play instruments even started providing accompaniment.

Though there had been no rehearsal, no one cared. Once the music started, everyone sang along.

Before long, laughter echoed from the tent.

“Not going to see her?” Zhao Xue patted Xue Mian on the shoulder.

He hadn’t expected that this guy, upon hearing that Su Min would be performing, had secretly rushed back. That was dedication.

Xue Mian smiled and shook his head. “Forget it. She’s never been this happy before. I don’t want to interrupt her.” He handed his bundle to Zhao Xue. “Give this to her for me. It’s a gift for the performance. Don’t tell her I came back, just say I mailed it.”

“You’re still being secretive? Fine, whatever.” Zhao Xue gave him a look of disdain. You dare come back but not face her? And even the gift has to be sneaky.

After the performance, everyone was a bit exhausted.

Su Min and Liao Zhaodi said goodbye to their classmates and quickly changed clothes to go find Sun Qiufang and Su Changrong.

Just as they stepped outside, Tang Man called out to them.

She straightforwardly said, “This weekend, Yin Jing and I are planning to go shopping. Want to come?”

Su Min smiled, “When? I’ve got things to do both Saturday and Sunday, might not be free.”

“Knew you’d say that,” Tang Man replied knowingly. “Saturday morning. I heard there’s going to be a cultural event organized by the city to celebrate the end of the year. Let’s go check it out.”

Su Min had never been to an event like that, so she smiled and nodded. “Sure.”

Just then, Zhao Xue walked over and handed her the bundle.

Seeing Su Min’s surprised expression, he quickly explained, “Xue Mian knew you were going to perform, so he sent this over. I picked it up from the post office today.”

Su Min finally took the package, her heart warming. That guy had actually remembered—she’d only mentioned it once.

“Thanks. I’ll write to him later.”

Zhao Xue nodded. In his heart, he thought: that guy is probably hiding somewhere watching her right now. What a coward. When this girl likes someone else, we’ll see him cry.

When Su Min got home, she went straight to her room and opened the package. Inside was a pair of leather gloves and a fluffy scarf. She wrapped the scarf around her neck—it was warm and cozy.

“So thoughtful,” Su Min smiled with her lips pursed.

The next day was the New Year’s Day holiday. Su Min woke up early, wrapped in the scarf, packed her homework and review materials, and headed to the shop to help out.

Since it was a holiday, many people were out shopping. Sun Yan had opened the shop early, holding a hand warmer and stomping her feet at the door.

After breakfast hours, people began trickling in, and the store grew lively.

When Su Min arrived, the shop was already busy. She quickly dropped her things and jumped in to help.

To celebrate New Year’s, Su Min had launched a “Warm Winter Appreciation” promotion—clothes were 20% off. Business kept going strong until lunchtime. Once the customers were gone, the staff finally sat down to rest.

Since winter food cools down fast, Su Min didn’t let Sun Qiufang bring food anymore. She had Sun Yan watch the store while she and Zhaodi went to a nearby snack shop to get something hot to eat.

As soon as Su Min and Liao Zhaodi left, a few young women who looked like housewives came into the store.