Chapter 4: Dance Partner (Part 2)

  Xiao Ye Sheng lowered her head to look at Ning Qing Min, the black frame glasses hiding her expression. The dim lighting in the dance hall also hid her pale complexion, only revealing a small pointed nose slightly turned towards him, and he found it strange that this girl was so calm. Although she didn't dare to compliment her attire, hmm, her waist was quite flexible.

  "I'm waiting for you to change your ways!" Xiaoye Sheng casually joked after a while.

  Ning Qingmin's heart warmed up, thinking that Xiao Yesheng was indeed a good person. But why did Zhou Ling choose Jiang Mingzhi as her boyfriend instead of him? Ning Qingmin was lost in thought and almost stepped on Xiao Yesheng's foot.

  "What's wrong? Dancing with the handsome guy, can't keep up with the rhythm?" Xiao Yesi saw that Ning Qingming was a bit distracted and leaned in to say something.

  Because the teacher turned up the music, Ning Qingming suddenly couldn't hear Xiao Yesong's words and raised his voice to ask: "What did you say?"

  Xiao Ye Sheng suddenly wanted to play a joke on this rustic girl and raised his voice, saying: "I say, you look very beautiful tonight!"

  Ning Qingmin came back to his senses, opened his mouth, and felt Xiao Yesheng's large hand gently pulling him, with his right hand half-supporting his waist, moving him along with the music. He couldn't help but laugh, and after a while, he raised his voice to reply: "Your aesthetic is really one of a kind!"

  Xiao Ye Sheng chuckled "heh heh" and stopped talking.

  After all, with seven more years of experience, Ning Qing's mind gradually stabilized, and she moved her feet to the rhythm of the music.

  When the music stopped, a boy stepped on a girl's skirt and she fell to the ground. Because the floor was slippery, the girl slid all the way to the corner of the wall under a table, and when she grabbed the leg of the table to get up, it shook violently. A ball-shaped object wrapped in red cloth rolled off the table and onto the floor, shedding its red wrapping as it rolled towards Zhou Ling.

  Zhou Ling saw the object stop at her feet and squatted down to help pick it up.

  "Ah......" Just as he was about to squat down, Zhou Ling let out a blood-curdling scream and jumped up, stumbling and staggering as he ran off several steps.

  Jiang Mingzhi didn't have time to see what was on the ground and rushed over to hug Zhou Ling.

  Several classmates close to Zhou Ling also looked down at the ground, followed by screams all around.

  "Ahh! Human head!!"

  "Ah! Skull!"

  "Ahh! Murder!"

  The entire dance hall was in chaos.

  Ning Qing quickly heard Zhou Ling's scream and suddenly remembered the time when Zhou Ling was frightened, hurriedly wanting to go over to comfort her, but just as she turned around, she bumped into another panicked classmate.

  "Don't be afraid, I'm here!" Xiao Yes saw Ning Qingming's flustered appearance and thought she was scared, so he instinctively reached out to hold her hand tightly.

  Following the screams of others, the teacher hastily turned on the fluorescent lights in the hall. Clearly visible was a spherical object on the ground.

  "Whose head is this?" The teacher's anger soared, "Is it specially brought here to cause trouble?"

  "Teacher, it's mine." A boy stood up, somewhat flustered, and explained: "A classmate made a plaster bust of me in sculpture class, and another classmate, just for fun, painted on some colors that make it look just like the real thing. I wanted to take it back to the dorm, but since we're learning dance, I brought it along."

  Everyone also saw clearly that the head under the ground was just a colored plaster statue. Just now, the light was dim and they thought it was a real human head, which scared them to death.

  As soon as they stepped out of the dance hall, Zhou Ling was still in a state of shock and pulled Ning Qingmian's hand, complaining: "That person's head, why did it have to roll under my feet, it really scared me to death."

  "I'll treat you guys to a midnight snack to calm your nerves!" came Jiang Mingzhi's voice from behind, "After we're done eating, I'll send you back to the dorms, guaranteed no surprises."

  "What, are you only inviting them and not us?" Duan Shurong and Li Xiuzhen had just walked out of the dance hall entrance and heard Jiang Mingzhi say that he wanted to invite Zhou Ling and the others. They loudly said: "We're all classmates, everyone has a share!"

  "Everyone, let's go together!" Jiang Mingzhi stared at Zhou Ling with eager eyes, while Xiao Yesheng, who was standing next to him, looked somewhat lazy and unenthusiastic.

  "You guys go ahead! I'll head back to the dorm first!" Ning Qing had been through a lot in the past seven years, her chest felt tight and her thoughts were jumbled, she just wanted to calm down and untangle the knots in her mind.

  "Hmm, Qingmin isn't going, I'm not going either!" Zhou Ling didn't like Duan Shurong and Li Xiuzhen, and didn't want to have a midnight snack with them. Seeing Ning Qingmin say she wasn't going, he quickly found an excuse and also wanted to decline.

  "Ning Qingmin, let's go together! You see, if you don't go, Zhou Ling won't go either." Jiang Mingzhi took a step forward, blocking Ning Qingmin's path, looking down at her with his thick black eyebrows slightly furrowed, a hint of impatience in his tone. If it weren't for Zhou Ling's sake, who would bother to deal with this ugly girl?

  Jiang Mingzhi's expression seemed to suggest that if he didn't go, it would ruin his and Zhou Ling's good relationship. Ning Qingming felt a bit stunned and uncomfortable. He recalled how Jiang Mingzhi had pursued Zhou Ling in the past, using him as a shield, while Jiang Mingzhi had always tried to get close to Zhou Ling through him. Thinking about this, his face darkened. Now was not the past, other people's romance was none of his business, he wasn't a tool, one pushing and the other forcing.

  "Whether Zhou Lingai wants to go or not is her own business, don't drag me into it!" Ning Qingming said word by word to Jiang Mingzhi, then walked past him and continued on her way. Zhou Ling was taken aback, and quickly chased after her.

  Jiang Mingzhi was stunned on the spot, really didn't expect that the timid-looking Ning Qingming would have the guts to say this sentence to him.

  Xiao Ye Sheng stood on one side, watching Ning Qing Mian and Zhou Ling go far away with great interest, and unknowingly, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

  "Wow, I didn't expect this country bumpkin to be so tough-talking." Duan Shurong said with a mixture of surprise and delight, "You can't judge a person by appearance!"

  "Didn't we say we're going to have a midnight snack? Are you guys coming or not?" Li Xiuzhen reminded, seeing that several people were still standing at the entrance of the dance hall.

  "Go, why don't you go?" Jiang Shizhi came back to his senses and didn't want to lose face in front of the other two girls, so he took the lead and walked towards the cafeteria.

  "Hey, hey, don't go so fast!" Zhou Ling saw Ning Qing walking quickly and hastily, and chased after her, grabbing her hand and saying "Almost couldn't catch up!"

  "I'm not a lace edge, what are you chasing me for?" Ning Qingming said irritably.

  "What?"

  Ning Qing Min saw Zhou Ling's confusion, and only then remembered that the term "Lace Edge" hadn't become popular yet. She changed her words: "Nothing. I hope in the future, those chasing me from behind will be handsome men."

  "There will be bread and there will be handsome men." Zhou Ling saw that Ning Qing's expression had eased, and he let out a sigh of relief.