Chapter: Chapter 263
Xiaoya’s classroom is on the third floor of a building that resembles a Western ancient castle. Following Xiaoya into their classroom, Leticia was first stunned by the scene inside.
It’s so big, so bright, and so high-tech.
It’s completely different from how it looked from the outside. If the exterior of the building gave off a sense of history, then stepping inside the room, one was immediately hit by an aura of advancement and technology.
Leticia even saw a few boys manipulating a holographic projection!
This is outrageous.
Seeing Xiaoya walk in with two girls, a young woman standing by the podium and talking to a girl turned her head.
“Classmate Xiaoqi, it’s not something a good child does to hide at home and not come to school.” This was clearly Xiaoya’s teacher, and upon seeing her student appear before her after a long absence, this young lady was quite helpless.
She had seen troublesome students before, but a student like Su Qi, who started skipping school for extended periods after only a few days, was something she had only encountered once.
“You must be Su Qi’s sister?” Then, the teacher’s gaze fell upon Leticia.
“Yes, my name is Su Qianqian.” Leticia put on a very aloof demeanor. “I am indeed Xiaoqi’s elder sister.”
Her act actually managed to fool the young teacher, who looked no older than twenty-five or twenty-six. Although Leticia looked quite young, according to Xiaoya, this young lady was actually older than herself.
“Regarding Su Qi…”
“I can’t control her. Rather, she controls me.” Leticia wore a helpless expression. “Teacher, please don’t dwell on these minor details. Aren’t there more important things right now?”
Is your sister skipping class a minor detail? The teacher’s thoughts immediately stalled. She felt like she needed to use a different brain to keep up with Leticia’s thinking speed.
Uh, perhaps this is the way rich people think?
Ah well, never mind, let’s finish the important business first.
“You two should have heard from Xiaoya that our school is holding a cultural performance in a week, right?” the teacher asked.
Leticia and Qila nodded.
“We’ve been preparing for this performance for a long time. Our classmates wrote the script themselves, and we also put a lot of effort into custom costumes. Originally, everything was fine, and our performance was sure to be completed smoothly, but, sigh…” the teacher sighed.
Just last night, she received a message from a classmate. That girl said she had some family issues and couldn’t participate in the performance.
Along with that, the girl also took a long leave of absence.
The teacher didn’t know what had happened, but she felt that the girl was very depressed, likely due to some sudden bad news from home.
This has become troublesome. That girl played a very important role in the performance. If she couldn’t participate, they would either have to rewrite the script or have someone else take her place.
“The role she played is… the kingdom’s princess controlled by the Sleeping Beauty. In the end, the prince is supposed to be together with the princess,” Xiaoya added from the side.
“Moreover, during the story, the princess will guide the prince with her voice and illusions. When the prince is lost, she will appear by his side to counsel him.” Continuing Xiaoya’s words, a voice with a slightly cold tone came from the side. A girl in a black dress walked up to Xiaoya. “She’s practically the female lead.”
“Yes, although the whole story revolves around the prince and the Sleeping Beauty, the princess is also a very important character.” Bai Ya nodded, then introduced the girl in the black dress to the sisters. “This is the girl I told you about. She plays the Sleeping Beauty.”
“A meng. My name is Zi Meng.” The girl nodded to Leticia and Qila.
“Xiao Meng is wearing the costume she’ll wear on stage later. Qianqian-jie, Xiaoqi, what do you think?”
“It looks very nice, and it suits Xiao Meng’s temperament well.” Leticia nodded. The outfit perfectly highlighted Zi Meng’s icy demeanor, almost as if it was tailor-made for her.
Speaking of costumes, Leticia looked at Xiaoya, wondering what outfit Xiaoya would wear.
Although Xiaoya played the prince in the play, surely they wouldn’t make Xiaoya wear those thick prince costumes, right?
“The script is like this. It’s a pretty good story with twists and turns.” Meanwhile, Qila had already taken the script from the teacher and started reading. After browsing through the script, Qila gave a very positive review. “Did you write this script, Teacher?”
The teacher shook her head. She pointed to Xiao Meng beside her and said, “Everything in the cultural performance is done by the students. I only played a coordinating and directing role. This script was written by Xiao Meng, and she also decided on the actors for the two main roles.”
“If everyone competed, I definitely wouldn’t be able to get the role of the prince. There are many people in the class who are more suitable to be the prince than me,” Xiaoya said a bit shyly.
Although Xiaoya’s height wasn’t short, she still had a gap compared to the tall and handsome princes in traditional stories.
If it wasn’t for the pre-selection, the best role Xiaoya could have gotten was probably an unnamed passerby lying on the roadside.
“No, Xiaoya is the most suitable,” Zi Meng said to Xiaoya earnestly.
Qila frowned. Why did she feel that Zi Meng’s attitude towards Xiaoya was a bit off?
Leticia had the same thought. She nudged her sister with her elbow and whispered to her, “Qila, your Xiaoya might be snatched away.”
“Sister, Xiaoya and I are just good friends. It’s a good thing for her to have one more friend.” Qila glared at her sister, then walked to Xiaoya’s side. “That’s right, Xiaoya is indeed quite suitable for the prince’s role in the script.”
“Really?”
“Really. Rather than saying Xiaoya is suitable to be the prince, it’s more like the prince in this script was written based on Xiaoya’s appearance.” Qila looked into Zi Meng’s eyes and said with utmost certainty, “Just like the Sleeping Beauty in the script.”
“Classmate Su Qi’s discerning eye is truly sharp,” Zi Meng revealed a harmless innocent smile, acknowledging Qila’s statement.
The characters in the story had real-life references, which was not surprising. It’s not like all characters could be imagined out of thin air.
And the prince in this story was clearly modeled after Xiaoya, almost identical to Xiaoya except for the gender.
As for the Sleeping Beauty, there was no need to think about it; it was naturally Zi Meng, who was playing the Sleeping Beauty, who served as the prototype.
However, there was still one more question.
Although in the end, the Sleeping Beauty was defeated by the prince, and the prince lived happily ever after with the princess, Qila felt that the story hadn’t ended there.
There were quite a few entangled moments between the prince and the Sleeping Beauty during the prince’s adventure. If Qila hadn’t known that the prince was supposed to end up with the princess, she might have thought that the story’s ending was the Sleeping Beauty being reformed by the prince and marrying him.
However, from this, she could also sense one thing: Zi Meng’s feelings for Xiaoya were probably not so pure.
“I have no objections to playing the princess. I actually quite like the role,” Qila said to Xiaoya with a smile.
Regardless, the one who ultimately achieved victory was the princess, not the so-called Sleeping Beauty.
“Great! I knew you’d help me, Xiaoqi!” Xiaoya happily hugged Qila and nuzzled into her arms, making Qila blush slightly.
“Xiaoya, your classmates and teacher are watching.” Qila patted Xiaoya’s back, reminding her that there were many strangers around them.
Oh, right, we’re still in the classroom! Xiaoya quickly let go of Qila. Fortunately, their commotion wasn’t too big and didn’t attract much attention.
As for Miss Zi Meng, she didn’t show any expression worth noting.
After deciding on the roles, Xiaoya suggested they go to an empty classroom nearby to practice their scenes. There was less than a week left before the performance. Having a newcomer who had never participated in rehearsals before take over the role of the princess made people a bit uneasy.
So, Xiaoya wanted to see if Qila could adapt to the role. In her mind, Qila should be able to perfectly embody the princess.
After all, Qila was a princess in real life.
This was called method acting.
Leticia naturally chose to follow them. It was boring to chat with the teacher here. Moreover, this young teacher clearly had many things to do, and it wouldn’t be good to bother her. It was better to go and see her sister’s performance.
“This classroom has been empty for a long time, and our class has always been responsible for cleaning it. So, it’s completely fine to borrow it at this time.” Xiaoya pushed open the classroom door and introduced the situation of the classroom to Qila and Leticia. “Many classmates are already rehearsing here for the upcoming performance.”
Looking in from the doorway, Leticia saw many young boys and girls in gorgeous costumes standing in the classroom and rehearsing their lines. These should be the actors who would appear in this performance.
As soon as the two main characters appeared, the supporting actors quickly gathered around, talking to Zi Meng about the problems they encountered during rehearsals.
A small number of students also noticed Qila. They had already had many speculations about this mysterious transfer student who had only attended school for a few days. Qila’s reappearance this time further fueled their curiosity.
“Classmate Su Qi will be taking over Yue Yi’s role. She will be playing the princess,” Zi Meng explained in a stiff tone. “Everyone, let’s rehearse the first scene first.”
After saying this, Zi Meng turned her gaze back to Qila. “Su Qi, are you okay?”
“Are you okay? Of course, I am.” Qila flashed a confident smile. “Yes, I’ve already memorized my lines. However, without a costume, it might be a bit distracting.”
“That’s fine. If we expedite production, we should be able to make one quickly,” a student in charge of costumes said, scratching their head. “You just need to give me the body measurements.”
Her family owned a clothing factory, so making a few outfits was not a problem.
The final issue was resolved, and Qila’s first rehearsal after replacing the princess character was about to begin.
Leticia moved a chair from the side and sat down excitedly. She was also eager to see how her sister would portray the role.
“Ahem, then, Act One, begin!” a young boy wearing a brown flat cap, looking like a director, cleared his throat and shouted dramatically.
He had brought this outfit from home himself, and he didn’t have a role to play. His purpose standing there was to shout “begin” during rehearsals.
But this already made him quite satisfied, as his dream was to be a director, and he felt like he was directing right now.
After the cue, Xiaoya walked out from one side of the stage, which was demarcated on the ground. As she walked, she spoke to herself in a singing tone.
She introduced her background and what she was about to do.
After reciting this monologue, she walked to the base of a large tree, sat down against the trunk, and began to polish the beautiful long sword in her hand.
Then, accompanied by dreamlike music, Qila sang her lines from below the stage.
Before being seen, her voice was heard first. Qila’s voice carried a hint of nobility and reserve. Although she was begging the prince, she did not lower her status at all.
This voice made the classmates present show expressions of surprise. Compared to the previous princess, Qila’s performance was closer to their impression of a princess.
After reciting these lines, Qila slowly walked onto the stage. Although she was still wearing her daily clothes, she gave off the feeling that she was the princess.
Xiaoya was also surprised by Qila’s performance, but she quickly reacted and recited her lines, asking about the princess’s origin.
In the exchange, Qila revealed the task the prince needed to complete: to defeat the Sleeping Beauty and save the kingdom’s subjects affected by her magic.
If the prince could save the kingdom, the princess would be willing to give herself to him. It was a cliché plot, but it was timeless, wasn’t it?
The prince naturally believed the princess. How could such a noble girl lie to him? So, he picked up his sword and embarked on a journey to the distant land of eternal slumber.
A legendary adventure story thus began.
However, in this scene, the true heroine only had her name mentioned.
