The Purple Clown
That kiss that day seemed to be nothing more than an illusion in the midst of confusion and infatuation.
After some coordination by the Student Council and the Social Union, the next day’s event exceeded the expected attendance and generated a significant online buzz.
The third evening’s social gathering had no specific theme, and it boldly invited bands and DJs. If not for the absence of alcohol, it would have almost turned into a nightclub.
The energetic music and dazzling lights created a lively atmosphere, and the excited crowd swayed to the rhythm on the dance floor. The social gathering tonight felt more like a party than a formal event.
There were even some young teachers and many students from neighbouring schools who joined in the celebration, adding to the festive atmosphere.
Amidst the flashing lights, Wen Le danced with a few acquaintances on the dance floor for a while before leaving the crowd.
Although the atmosphere tonight was even better than the previous two days, Wen Le felt somewhat uninspired.
“Who are you looking for?”
Wen Le was brought back to her senses by the voice and saw Cheng Hui bringing Dan Shan while approaching her.
Wen Le shook her head. “I’m not looking for anyone.”
But Dan Shan suddenly asked, “Why didn’t we see Zhou Kao tonight?”
Cheng Hui glanced teasingly at Wen Le upon hearing that.
Wen Le hesitated for a moment, then looked away. “How would I know? He’s not part of the Student Council.”
Seeing that Wen Le was reluctant to talk about it, the two of them didn’t pursue the topic further and shifted to another subject.
Cheng Hui said, “You guys must have completed the mission this time. Damn, triple the sponsorship, that’s impressive.”
Wen Le replied, “Thanks to our benefactor.”
Dan Shan laughed, “The Student Council and the Social Union should host a celebration banquet, right?”
Wen Le responded, “They said it would be tomorrow night, Monday.”
Cheng Hui remarked, “That’s really nice. If I had known, then I wouldn’t have quit the Student Council earlier.”
“Well, you joined too many clubs back then and couldn’t handle the workload”, Wen Le replied.
Dan Shan smiled gently and said, “Our Volunteer Association is doing well too.”
Cheng Hui proudly replied, “Of course, otherwise I wouldn’t have stayed.”
Then Cheng Hui brought up something else, “Resident Evil 7 is out. Want to go watch it?”
Wen Le nodded, “Sure, let’s go.”
Cheng Hui suggested, “Great, we have no classes for the last two periods on Thursday afternoon. We can invite Bao Xiaofan and Man Qingxuan as well. It’s been so long since school started, and we haven’t had a meal together. I miss the taste of grilled meat.”
“Okay.”
Dan Shan looked at the two of them enviously and said, “You guys have such a good relationship in your dorm.”
Cheng Hui replied, “There are six of us in our dorm, but only the four of us can truly get together.”
Dan Shan’s voice lowered as she said, “The atmosphere in our dorm… is a bit complicated.”
Cheng Hui reassured her, “That’s normal. Every dorm is different. If you don’t get along, just find friends you can get along with.”
Unconsciously, Wen Le glanced into the crowd again, but she still didn’t see Zhou Kao tonight.
The dinner on Monday night was lively.
The collaboration between the Social Union and the Student Council, after working together for nearly half a month, had secured such a significant project and garnered unprecedented attention.
The social gathering had an unprecedented level of excitement, and discussions on the campus forum remained high, surpassing even the popularity of the Campus Singer Competition and Campus Beauty Contest.
Some even began to propose that such social gatherings should continue from one year to another, and the demand for such events was growing.
Although nothing had been confirmed yet, it was a recognition of their work for everyone involved.
The cooperation over the past half month had fostered a sense of belonging among them. The relationship between the Social Union and the Student Council had become closer, and Wen Le had also made friends in the Student Council.
However, while everyone else was getting closer, Wen Le and Zhou Kao seemed to have drifted apart and returned to their initial state, but there was a subtle difference in the distance of this drift.
They didn’t communicate with each other throughout the entire event and celebrated within their own circles.
Zhou Kao was constantly being persuaded by the president and male members of the Student Council to drink, engaging in conversations among guys.
The president and a few friends insisted on toasting Zhou Kao, mainly due to a post on the campus forum.
On the second day of the social gathering, a picture of a purple-clad clown and a red-and-blue-clad clown passionately kissing in a corner was taken and posted online. Some people mistook the purple-clad clown for Zhou Kao.
People started speculating whether Zhou Kao had a girlfriend and if the girl was Wen Le.
But soon, someone released a picture of Zhou Kao standing with Wen Le, and they compared the height difference between the red-and-blue-clad clown and the purple-clad clown. It was clear that the red-and-blue-clad clown was shorter than Wen Le and clearly not her.
Netizens began to speculate about the identity of the girl.
This post actually had high popularity, but recently, the social gathering had stolen the spotlight, and the topic’s heat remained high. The post was hidden among many other posts and wasn’t that noticeable.
However, someone did notice it.
So some classmates from the Student Council dragged Zhou Kao and forced him to drink, trying to get him to reveal who the girl was.
Zhou Kao drank quite a bit and repeatedly emphasised that the purple-clad clown was not him.
But no one believed him because the person in the picture looked extremely similar to Zhou Kao.
Zhou Kao, feeling helpless, pinched his brow and mentioned a name, saying, “If I’m not mistaken, that should be Ding Jian.”
Someone didn’t understand and asked, “Who is Ding Jian?”
Someone in the know gave a strange look and explained, “He’s a male model who does fashion shows, and he seems to be their class monitor.”
A carefree guy who initially thought it was Zhou Kao expressed some disappointment, “Ah, it’s really not you? But you two look so alike.”
Another guy chimed in, chuckling, “He’s probably intentionally imitating our handsome campus idol.”
Zhou Kao lowered his head and took a sip of his drink. His face didn’t reveal any emotions, and his calm and cold demeanour showed a maturity beyond his age.
The boys who were familiar with Zhou Kao were accustomed to this side of him. In fact, the inexplicable aura he unintentionally revealed always created a sense of distance. Even though they were all sitting at the same table, they seemed destined to exist in different worlds, even at different levels.
On the other side, the girls were discussing the same topic. Wen Le sipped her drink quietly, listening to the other girls’ gossip.
Unlike some carefree boys, the girls were more sensitive to such topics.
“The purple-clad clown that day seemed to be Ding Jian,” the girl sitting across from Wen Le whispered, her eyes gleaming with the unique light of gossip. She continued in a hushed voice, “To be honest with you all, the clown girl from that day is our class beauty.”
“Really?” another girl exclaimed, her voice sounding somewhat excited as if she had just learned some juicy information.
“Yes, it’s true. Why would I lie to you?” the girl opposite her smiled and continued, “Actually, our class beauty initially thought Ding Jian was Zhou Kao, especially when Ding Jian kissed her with his head lowered. It reminded her of how Zhou Kao kissed you, Wen Le.”
As they spoke, several people couldn’t help but look at Wen Le, their eyes filled with curiosity.
Wen Le lightly tapped the table and said, “We were just hyping things up. Besides, he actually kissed the ring on my hand.”
A girl beside her shoved Wen Le playfully and teased, “Stop lying, then why did you two dance together later?”
Wen Le cleared her throat, feeling somewhat embarrassed, but still remained composed as she came up with an excuse, “Because I said his dancing skills were not as good as mine, and he couldn’t accept that challenge, so we had to have another dance-off~”
Wen Le gave herself a mental thumbs-up; she almost believed her own excuse.
TN: LOLLLLL haha our FL is such a mood.
“Pfff, hahahaha”
Laughter erupted from the girls at the table.
“Indeed, it is something that you two would do, hahaha.”
“I can’t believe it! Wen Le, you danced with the handsome hunk Zhou, and you weren’t even slightly flustered?”
Wen Le flirtatiously tossed her hair back and said somewhat discontentedly, “Why don’t you ask him if he was flustered dancing with me? Am I not attractive enough for him?”
The girls burst into laughter, finding this competitive spirit amusing.
Seeing Wen Le talk about this topic without any shyness, had everyone convinced. After all, they had seen the way the two of them faced off during meetings, like they were about to draw swords and fight each other.
Their competitiveness had reached such an extreme that they completely ignored each other’s attractiveness.
Once the laughter subsided, the girls lost interest in Wen Le and Zhou Kao and shifted their focus to gossiping about Ding Jian.
A girl across the table said, “Our class beauty initially thought Ding Jian was Zhou Kao. She actually quite liked Zhou Kao. And then, she got quite forward with him. Our class beauty is no slouch when it comes to flirting. I always feel like there are multiple suitors in her fishing pond, at least three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine fishes.”
“Pff haha, what on earth? Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine…”
“Oh well, I didn’t count them specifically, don’t get sidetracked.”
“When our class beauty tried all her charms on the legendary ‘unflirt-withable’ Zhou Kao…” The girl paused for a moment and then burst into laughter, “It turns out, Zhou Kao truly is unflirt-withable, even our great beauty Wen Le couldn’t sway him.”
Another girl laughed and said, “That’s mainly because others want to conquer Zhou Kao, but this weirdo here wants to defeat him, haha.”
Wen Le straightened her chest proudly, “So what, this female warrior is proud of it.”
“The female warrior might end up as the leftover warrior if she keeps going like this.”
Wen Le issued a warning about gossiping, “We were just gossiping, why twist the story?”
The girl across the table put her hands together and said, “My bad, let’s continue gossiping.”
“When our class beauty was about to try all her charms on Zhou Kao, who was rumored to be unflirt-withable, she found out that he was surprisingly proactive. Before they could finish dancing, they rushed off to find a place, and sparks were flying.”
“At that moment, they were kissing passionately, and our class beauty found the mask to be a hindrance, so she just pulled it off. Ding Jian seemed surprised by her bold move.”
“As our class beauty looked up and saw Ding Jian’s face, she just…”
Excitedly, a girl asked, “What happened? Did she give him a slap?”
The girl across the table playfully kept them hanging for a moment before bursting into laughter, saying, “She burst right into ugly tears, hahaha.”
The table fell silent, and after a while, someone asked, “Really? Is this Ding Jian that ugly?”
A girl in a yellow dress next to Wen Le explained, “Hmm I don’t think he’s that ugly, actually just about average, some may even find him handsome in an unconventional way, but he can’t be compared to Zhou Kao.”
“Is he… imitating Zhou Kao? Why does he look a bit awkward doing it?”
“I feel the same way, he didn’t act like that before.”
“Why is he doing it?”
“Just a piece of gossip I heard. Apparently, an entertainment company came to recruit people, and he went for an audition, but the company noticed Zhou Kao passing by and was interested in him. Zhou Kao turned them down, and for some reason, Ding Jian didn’t get the contract either in the end.”
“Oh, so that’s what happened. No wonder he’s imitating Zhou Kao. But he’s only a sophomore; he doesn’t need to rush, right?”
“It’s better to become famous early, you know?”
……
It was a joyful night, and everyone drank a fair amount of alcohol.
Wen Le was happy and had two drinks, but she had a low alcohol tolerance, and her face quickly flushed.
A tipsy beauty exuded charm, and Wen Le herself didn’t notice, but more and more glances were directed her way.
Zhou Kao had drunk a bit too much and got up to go to the restroom. As he glanced around, his eyes unintentionally swept over that vivid colour in the crowd. He frowned slightly, whispered something to the classmate next to him, and then left.
After a while, a waitress brought freshly made strawberry milkshakes to the girls’ table.
The sweet pink strawberry milkshakes were particularly popular among the girls, so the beer was quickly set aside and went untouched.
TN: Awwww I wonder why did the girls suddenly got served strawberry milkshakes 😉
