One fine day, the 16th of September 2005, also known as Freshman Friday, the long-anticipated welcome party was held on the campus grounds. After seeing Wu Hao's rehearsal, the Student Union, clearly swayed by his charm and blatant lack of coordination, decisively set his performance of "Little Apple" as the opening act, and "Red Dust Inn" to close the show.
Wu Hao, was less than thrilled. He wondered, what if his crush Yang Mi left before the party ended, thereby missing his star turn? That would be disastrous. The little ray of hope emerged when Yuan Shanshan assured him she would make sure Yang Mi stayed until the end. This was when Wu Hao reluctantly agreed, simultaneously realizing the lengths one would go to impress their crush!
Finally, the show began. The emcees for the night were Jiang Yiyan and Zhu Yawen, both from class '02 and classmates of Liu Yifei.
After the cliched greeting and the drone of the principal's speech, Wu Hao found himself waiting backstage, his heart pounding like a jackrabbit. He was just a regular guy, not exactly the life of the party, and this was the first time he'd be performing in front of a crowd. He was nervous, but equally thrilled.
Following the principal's address, it was Wu Hao's moment. He walked onto the stage, looking as bright as a cherry in his red suit, alongside Yuan Shanshan and his three backup dancers. Wu Hao grabbed the microphone with his left hand, pointed to the sky with his right, and began to shake his booty like nobody's business. His dance was so infectious, so absolutely ridiculous, it sparked an immediate laughter from the crowd below. Who knew that dance moves could induce such camaraderie among students?
Then came the opening line of his song: "I planted a seed, and it finally bore fruit. Today is a great day…" His classmates were perplexed. Did he plant an actual apple tree or was it a metaphor for something deeper, something more profound like the fruit of his hard labor?
But, there was no time for overthinking, because the catchy tune had them all humming and shaking their booty with Wu Hao. His song had even managed to invoke some salsa steps from the elder lady teachers! The 'Little Apple' was proving to be the anthem of the year!
As the second verse kicked in, Wu Hao directed his performance toward his classmates. Seeing their classmate onstage, they showed him the only support they could, by doing the "Apple Salsa" with him. Wu Hao, feeding off their energy, danced his heart out. It seemed that the crowd had warmed up to his performance, to say the least.
Suddenly, Zhu Yawen, the MC, stopped Wu Hao. He walked up to him, put his arm around Wu's shoulder, and asked: "So Wu Hao, is it true that you wrote this catchy song?" Wu Hao simply responded with a proud grin, "Yes, I wrote it while practicing guitar, even roped in teacher Gao Xiaosong for the composition." Zhu Yawen turned to the audience and asked, "Classmates, do you want to hear Wu Hao sing another song?" The students, fueled by the adrenaline, shouted back, "Yes!"
Yang Mi initially intended to praise Wu Hao's performance, after all, it was quite good and she had genuinely enjoyed it. However, seeing Wu Hao's complacent look, she couldn't help but resist satisfying him.
So, Yang Mi said, "Hmm! It was just average. Didn't you say you were going to sing a song for me at the welcome party? Was it this one?" Yang Mi knew about Wu Hao writing a song for her not from Yuan Shanshan's dance arrangement but from the initial class meeting. It was after Yang Mi's dispute with Yuan Shanshan when Yuan Shanshan told Yang Mi about Wu Hao's song. Yang Mi had agreed at that time.
Truth be told, "Little Apple" was a nice song, but Yang Mi was somewhat disappointed. After their interaction at the military training, she subconsciously wanted to hear Wu Hao sing a love song for her.
"Of course not," Wu Hao, looking at Yang Mi sincerely, said, "The song I will sing for you is the next one. It's specially written for you, I promise it's good."
Hearing that it was another original, Yang Mi was a bit skeptical, thinking it would be another "Little Apple". "Little Apple" was a good song, but not quite suitable for singing to a girl. In her opinion, a person's creative style wouldn't change too much, especially for those who haven't been professionally trained.
"Your song might not be suitable for girls," she said, "Maybe it would be better to choose another song."
Hearing Yang Mi say this, Wu Hao realized she had misunderstood. He didn't explain, but teased Yang Mi: "Mi, what's the 'other song'? Do you want to hear me sing a love song for you?"
Yang Mi just glanced at Wu Hao after hearing what he said, then focused on the performance on stage, ignoring him.
Wu Hao, of course, didn't think Yang Mi was really ignoring him. He shamelessly moved closer: "Mi, give me your phone number, it's been so long since school started and I still don't have your number."
"No!" Yang Mi retorted with feigned arrogance.
"Mi, don't be so stingy, we are classmates after all. Just tell me~" Wu Hao was purposely trying to annoy Yang Mi.
Hearing Wu Hao whining, Yang Mi shivered and intentionally moved away from Wu Hao, giving him a disdainful look.
Wu Hao didn't care at all, and curiously looked at Yang Mi's face: "Mi, there's something on your face."
Yang Mi looked at Wu Hao as if she could see through his tricks: "Kid, are you trying to take advantage of me? Are you waiting for me to ask you where, so you can touch me?"
"Of course not, I can't believe you see me that way," Wu Hao pretended to be hurt, as if life had lost its meaning.
Yang Mi was genuinely deceived by his act: "Really? You tell me where it is, I'll do it myself."
Wu Hao immediately put on a big smile: "It's a bit of beauty."
Yang Mi didn't react right away, thinking for a moment, oh, was he complimenting her?
Not giving Yang Mi any time to react, Wu Hao continued: "I find something strange about you."
Yang Mi really couldn't understand what Wu Hao meant, but she wanted to know what he found strange about her, so she cautiously asked, "What...what's strange?"
"You're strangely cute!" Wu Hao smiled.
Yang Mi felt slightly nauseated hearing this, but why did she also feel a bit of sweetness in her heart? However, she now understood his tactic; he would ask her a serious question at first, and when she answered, he would flirt with her.