Chapter 44: I’ll Do The Narration
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ning Li shook her head. “You guys don’t need to go through the ha.s.sle.”
Intrigued, He Xiaochen insisted, “It’s nothing! There are no more than 10 lines in your role. What do you think, Pei Song?”
It was a piece of cake for Pei Song, so he simply nodded.
Right before He Xiaochen could say a word, Ning Li read her lines. Her voice was clear and soothing, sounding pleasant to the ears.
The reading corner fell into silence for a moment, so only her pleasant voice was heard.
The others looked at Ning Li in surprise.
It was Ren Qian’s gasp that broke the silence.
“d.a.m.n…it’s so…good!” He then looked at Pei Song.
Pei Song used to live in the UK for two years when he was younger, so he could speak fluent British English. While the others wanted to learn, it was difficult to master the accent.
However, Ning Li’s p.r.o.nunciation was perfect—the tone and the accent were almost the same as Pei Song’s.
It seemed like their new cla.s.smate had outstanding learning abilities! Smart people shone no matter where they were!
He Xiaochen was slightly stunned before her eyes glittered like diamonds.
“Ning Li! You were great!”
As expected, as long as Ning Li was willing to put in the hard work, she could do it!
“This is what speaking is about. As long as you are willing to open your mouth, there’s nothing hard about it!” He Xiaochen thought that she would have to put in extra effort to help Ning Li, but Ning Li surprised her. She was even more excited than before.
“Okay, we’ll let Pei Song read all the lines first, and you can read after him!”
He Xiaochen urged Ren Qian to continue with the narration.
Soon, it was Ning Li’s turn to read the second line.
Pei Song looked at her for a few seconds before reading her lines.
Ning Li read after Pei Song. She repeated it smoothly and swiftly while her accent was extremely similar as well, as if she was mimicking Pei Song’s lips.
There was actually a subtle difference in their accent though.
Pei Song knew that Ning Li was not just copying him. Even though both of them were speaking in a British accent, there was still a slight difference due to the difference in possibly the location where he had picked up the accent.
He paid attention to Ning Li’s accent and noticed that her accent was from…
“I give up. I’ve been together with Brother Pei for so long and still can’t get a thing from him. Ning Li just heard it once and she’s mastered it?!” Ren Qian sighed.
They spent around half an hour going through the script twice, and in the second round, Ning Li no longer needed any support to perfectly deliver the lines.
Ning Li glanced at her watch. “Let’s call it a day now. We’ll practice again on Wednesday afternoon.”
The next part would be memorizing their lines and a simple rehearsal. Since there was still time until next Monday, they could take things slow.
“Huh? That’s it?” He Xiaochen was disappointed when she heard that Ning Li wanted to stop.
Time had flown by before she knew it. Ning Li’s words also implied that He Xiaochen would have to wait until Wednesday to closely admire her beauty.
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?” Ning Li asked.
He Xiaochen held her sadness back and shook her head. Then, she thought of something and said, “Oh, right, Ning Li. Are you preparing for the Physics compet.i.tion? I’ve some questions about Physics. Can you help me some time?”
Ning Li nodded. “Sure.”
He Xiaochen bolted up, determined to go to war with Physics today!
…
The first-cla.s.s third-year students noticed that He Xiaochen had gotten close to Ning Li recently.
Not only would she study the script with Ning Li during lunchtime, break, or even during cla.s.s, but she would also go to Ning Li frequently and stay with her for quite some time.
On Friday afternoon, while Ning Li and her group were rehearsing in the study corner for one last time, Ye Ci and her friends pa.s.sed by.
“Isn’t that Ning Li and her group?”
Sun Huihui had a glance at the group and spotted the handsome and tall figure. Jealousy overflowed from her eyes. “The cla.s.s monitor is really a responsible person, but I wonder how much had Ning Li studied.”
Ning Li’s English was so poor that it was beyond saving, and yet the English teacher had grouped her with the best student of the cla.s.s to help her.
The others thought Ning Li was simply dragging her group down, especially Pei Song.
Looking at Ning Li, Ye Ci said softly, “Sister Ning Li comes from a complicated background. We shouldn’t blame her for that.”
Cheng Xiangxiang ridiculed, “Why? Are you jealous that she can be with Pei Song?”
Sun Huihui was embarra.s.sed because Cheng Xiangxiang was right. Nonetheless, her temper got the better of her and she said, “N-no! I’m just thinking that it’s not good to drag others down. Aside from the cla.s.s monitor, even He Xiaochen has spent a lot of time with Ning Li in the past week. I wonder how she managed to keep her patience up.”
“I know right. I saw Ning Li’s script had pinyin and intonation labels on every word,” Cheng Xiangxiang said with a scoff.
“Since her group mates are so caring, I’m sure she can perform well on Monday.”
…
Cla.s.s was extra quiet during Friday night’s self-learning cla.s.s.
Lin Zhouyang went to He Xiaochen with an English test paper. “Xiaochen, my good pal, can you teach me how to solve this comprehension pa.s.sage?”
He Xiaochen was doing calculations of a Physics formula. When she heard Lin Zhouyang’s request, she simply said, “Hold on. Let me finish this calculation.”
Lin Zhouyang rested his foot on one of the table legs and said frivolously, “Come on, Xiaochen, have you been out of your mind recently? I thought you hated Physics.”
He Xiaochen pushed her gla.s.ses up. “You don’t understand.”
“Of course, I do! You pretend to go to Ning Li every day, but,” Lin Zhouyang acted mysteriously and whispered, “everyone knows that you went to her with a Physics book but are actually teaching her Englis.h.!.+”
He Xiaochen looked up at Lin Zhouyang with a complicated expression.
“Are you guys…out of your mind?”
Lin Zhouyang giggled. “What’s the matter? It’s just a cla.s.s play! Just let her embarra.s.s herself! I did…Ahem…So, since everyone thinks that you did it, it’s not necessary.”
He Xiaochen thought about it for a while. She arranged her words and said, “I didn’t really teach her English. I went to her because I want her to teach me Physics.”
“I mean there are a lot of others who are good in Physics, not just her.” Lin Zhouyang did not believe her.
He Xiaochen sighed. “Okay, since you’ve caught me red-handed, I’ll come clean. I went to her because she’s gorgeous.”
Lin Zhouyang was silenced.
“I like Ning Li because she’s beautiful!”
Shocked, Lin Zhouyang faltered backward.
“He Xiaochen, are you insane? Why are you doing this to her? If you want beauty, you can go to Ye Ci—”
He Xiaochen continued to look at him with a complicated gaze. “People like us have our own standards, okay? Ye Ci? I’m not blind.”
…
A week flew by quickly.
Lu Huaiyu had been busy for the entire week, thus he barely had any contact with Ning Li. All he did was ask her about her studies.
Ning Li answered honestly, but that was it. She did not ask what he was doing either.
…
On Monday, during English cla.s.s, Sun Huihui came into cla.s.s with several cups of milk tea.
Behind her was Lin Zhouyang, who seemed to be in a hurry. He ran in and accidentally b.u.mped into her arm.
Splas.h.!.+
The milk teas fell onto the rostrum where the scripts that Ning Li had placed earlier were. They were planning to use the rostrum and the scripts for the play later.
Unfortunately, the scripts were soaked in milk tea, and the words were blurred out.
Ren Qian frowned and kicked Lin Zhouyang. “B*stard Lin, are you blind?”
Lin Zhouyang said in a grievance, “I didn’t mean it…”
It was then that Kong Rou came into the cla.s.s and saw the mess. She was slightly annoyed. “It’s okay. Ning Li, you can go make a few more copies at the office.”
Ning Li looked at the dripping rostrum and said, “Thank you, Ms. Kong, but that won’t be necessary. It’s only going to delay the cla.s.s.”
“Not necessary? Does it mean…”
Chen Xiangxiang said, “Ms. Kong, printing a few papers won’t delay the cla.s.s, but labeling the words with pinyin is tedious!”
Kong Rou frowned. “Even if you and your group had memorized the lines, there’s still the narration portion.”
Ning Li said calmly, “I’ll do the narration.”