Chapter 064 Singing Competition

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Reborn to Realize My Dream Life – Second update completed, asking for recommendation votes and favorites! Tonight at midnight, "Realizing My Dream Life" will make its final push on the New Book Chart, and there will be new updates. Everyone, please come and support—Xiao Mo bows in gratitude!

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"Xiao Tian, wake up, the morning reading bell is about to ring!" Early the next morning, Yang Tian was still lost in dreams when he heard Huang Juan softly calling him.

"Oh, you're up already. Did you sleep well last night?" Yang Tian opened his eyes and saw Huang Juan’s cheeks flushed. He asked with concern. The little girl had already dressed, though Yang Tian still liked her appearance in last night’s nightgown.

"Not well at all. You put your arm across my chest, nearly suffocating me! You have your own bed, why did you squeeze onto mine?" Huang Juan murmured in complaint, her face turning even redder.

"Wasn’t it you who told me to wait until the thunder stopped? It only stopped this morning!" Yang Tian got up, laughing.

"Liar! The thunder stopped halfway through the night. And I’m not afraid of thunder anyway! Alright, I won’t argue with you. I’m off to school!" Huang Juan’s neck was red now, and she left without looking back.

Yang Tian shook his head with a smile, understanding in his heart that the girl probably hadn’t slept all night, otherwise how would she know the thunder stopped in the middle of the night? He had assumed she was asleep, and was lucky he hadn’t tried to sneak a kiss, otherwise who knows how it would have ended.

Moreover, did he really press his arm against her chest? He hadn’t moved around, right? If it was uncomfortable, why didn’t she move his hand away? Yang Tian couldn’t figure out her thoughts.

The morning reading bell rang, and the students in the class were reading aloud. At this moment, their homeroom teacher, Bao Yuehong, strode in.

"Everyone, please quiet down!" Bao Yuehong clapped her hands and called out. The students put down their textbooks and looked at her.

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"The annual singing competition at First High School is open for registration. Its aim is to let students relax amidst their intense studies. I hope everyone signs up! Although in past competitions, first-year students rarely win any prizes, I still say, rankings and prizes are secondary—the important thing is to participate!" Bao Yuehong continued. Immediately, chatter broke out below.

Actually, the students at First High School all knew why first-year students seldom won prizes. The reason was mainly twofold: first, first-year students were younger and lacked stage experience, so even with a wonderful voice, their performance would be halved by nerves once on stage.

The second reason was popularity. Second- and third-year students had been at the school for two or three years and knew more classmates. When they sang, the audience would cheer loudly; even first-years who didn’t know them would clap out of admiration for upperclassmen. In this regard, first-year students were at a disadvantage.

These two points happened to be the judges’ scoring criteria, so first-year students were always called the “warm-up act.” The real highlights of the singing competition lay with the second- and third-year students.

"Yang Tian, Chen Ming, are we going to participate?" Zhao Shilei and Zhang Yunxiang leaned their heads between Yang Tian and Chen Ming, who sat in front of them and shared a desk.

As Zhao Shilei spoke, he started humming the hottest love song of the moment, Richie Jen’s "Too Softhearted": "You are always too softhearted, too softhearted, crying alone until dawn. You love that person selflessly and without regret—I know you’re not really that strong. You are always too softhearted, too softhearted, carrying all the burdens alone…"

"Alright, alright, with your goose’s voice, better save it. If the girls behind hear, they’ll say you’re being a rascal again!" Zhang Yunxiang shot him a look. The two were close friends but always squabbled, both in class and in the dorm.

"What, singing love songs is being a rascal? Is there no freedom anymore?!" Zhao Shilei retorted, glancing back at the two girls behind.

"You’re always whistling at them, and secretly passing them mushy notes—classic rascal behavior! Enough about you, talking about you just annoys me! Yang Tian, Chen Ming, should we sign up or not?" Zhang Yunxiang nudged Zhao Shilei, then smiled at Yang Tian and Chen Ming.

"Yeah, should we sign up?" Huang Juan and An Qi in the row ahead also turned around, asking eagerly. Clearly, they all looked forward to the competition—after all, it was a rare splash of color in the dull and tedious high school life, how could they miss it?

"Maybe we shouldn’t! Right after the singing competition is the midterm exam—we can’t let that slip. Besides, we wouldn’t win any prize money anyway!" Chen Ming shook his head with a smile. Everyone knew Chen Ming was saving money. Though he could only save by cutting expenses and winning school prizes, he kept saving bit by bit.

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"Don’t be so quick to say that, Chen Ming. The first prize is three hundred yuan. If I win, I could… buy a Step-by-Step portable music player. That would be wonderful!" Zhao Shilei was lost in his daydream, reveling in it.

"Wishful thinking! But he’s got a point. We could just play for fun. Yang Tian, what do you think?" Zhang Yunxiang rolled his eyes at Zhao Shilei, then laughed and asked Yang Tian.

"I think, either don’t participate at all, or go all out if you do! Second- and third-year students are people, but aren’t we first-years as well? Why should they win all the prizes while we’re just the warm-up act?" Yang Tian put down his English textbook, smiling confidently.

"Yes, well said, brilliantly said! Everyone, applause!" An Qi shouted, then laughed and clapped. Chen Ming and Huang Juan followed, applauding enthusiastically. The classmates were stunned at first, then joined in, cheering loudly.

Bao Yuehong squinted at Yang Tian, smiling, while Yang Tian shrugged with a grin. He knew Bao Yuehong wanted all of them to participate, and best of all, to win prizes. She was a competitive person and wanted her students to be the same.

Thanks to Yang Tian’s words, over twenty students from Class 8, Grade 1, signed up for the singing competition, including Yang Tian, Huang Juan, Chen Ming, An Qi, Zhao Shilei, and Zhang Yunxiang.

As soon as class ended, they gathered to discuss which songs to sing, eager to decide early so they could practice and showcase their voices in the competition.

Huang Juan chose Li Lingyu’s "Mother’s Kiss," Chen Ming picked Luo Dayou’s "Childhood," An Qi opted for Teresa Teng’s "Sweet Honey," Zhao Shilei stuck with his signature "Too Softhearted," and Zhang Yunxiang selected George Lam’s "A Man Should Stand Strong."

In no time, the purpose of the school’s singing competition was achieved. Whenever class ended, the campus and classrooms were filled with song, especially in Class 8, Grade 1—even those tone-deaf or terribly off-key joined in, and once the bell rang, a few "pig squeals" could always be heard.

Every night, when Huang Juan returned to the small room she rented with Yang Tian, she couldn’t resist turning on the computer, playing "Mother’s Kiss" from mother.org, and singing along. Her spirits soared, and she often sang out loud toward the little lotus pond outside the window, as if the sea of lotus leaves were her audience and she was standing on stage, searching for the feeling of performing before a crowd.