Goodbye Banquet
The night before they were scheduled to leave, the school arranged a big banquet for the participants to give their farewells. From each year, ten people were selected to populate the small island.
She was unsure of the first years since they were all new, but she did know others.
From Year Two, she only knew two people, her youngest sister, Aishi and her friend Xun Shouhan. Anshi was originally going to participate but chose not to due to her career.
From her year, Sheng Rong, Gebao, Zhangmin, Angli, Jian Nu, Jiexu, the Kahn twins, Oulong and Shen, Fa Ren, and herself.
From the fourth year, her cousin Aonu and nine other people.
From the fifth year, Wenshi, Maorong, Long Ao, and seven others.
In total, 50 students from their school were going to be shipped off to another school, far from their families. It was a pity, especially for the first years. They weren't even sure if they were going to be allowed to have any outside connection once they left.
The Banquet was only a semi-formal banquet and didn't require four hours of preparation. Tables were ordered by names, and each had twelve seats.
In the center of the room was a circular stage. From where they were sitting, the view was exceptional.
Sitting with her family of seven was Lu Sheng Rong and her older brother, Lu Zhi Sai.
The other family had the last name, Lan, their oldest child, a girl, was named Lan Yua, was the participant and was in the first year. With her were her parents and baby brother. Just by looking at the family, you could tell that the boy was heavily favoured.
Her friends sat all over the place. Zhangmin and Aonu were all the way in the back along with Gebao and the Zhang twins, Wenshi and Maorong. Ran Jiexu should be sitting around them as well, and Jian Nu was a few tables down. The Kahn's and Gu's sat ahead of them along with the Hu's.
Her oldest brother Li Shenhui and her now official sister-in-law, have both graduated and were going to start working in their respective family businesses.
Their grand wedding was scheduled to be held next year, she prayed that the higher-ups would make an exception and allow her to attend it. It wasn't confirmed yet, but she was pretty sure that Yuan Fa Ren was making the dress and suit for her brother and sister-in-law's wedding.
Even though the wedding hadn't happened yet, her grandparents and her parents were all pushing for some babies.
They made their plans painfully obvious, pushing the two to go to bed early, buying baby clothes, openly asking for an extension to the family. It was both painful and comedic to watch.
They were also asking Long Ao and Wenshi what their future plans were after graduation, both of them seemed to take the hint and always flushed in embarrassment, neither wanted to admit to anything. Sometimes Maorong would be standing at the side with an angry scrawl on his face.
"Testing, testing. Is this thing on?" A few tables laughed and the man's antics. The man was standing on the circular stage with a gem-encrusted microphone.
"Hello everyone, I am Ye Man and the project leader for the new program G.I.F.T.E.D. I would like to thank everyone for making the decision to participate in this as well as the parents for letting them." This earned a cheer from the crowd. "My father, the chairman, isn't attending today to avoid showing favouritism, we do have thirty-five high schools worldwide after all." Nods of approval and understanding. "Now, may I introduce Ning Wubin, the representative for China and a major shareholder of G.E.N.I.U.S.!"
A round of applause exploded across the room as a man, supposedly in his forties, walked on stage.
"Thank you, thank you. As you just heard, my name is Ning Wubin, and I am a shareholder of this education system for the gifted." Mr.Ning continued with his speech for the next two-five minutes before Mr. Ye returned to the stage.
"Thank you, Mr. Ning, for your speech. Keep your ears open ladies and gentlemen, I will now be telling you important information about the new program." Once those words left the man's mouth, everybody was hooked.
"You are all familiar with Hogwarts, are you not? Well, the structure of the school system is similar to that. Each country will have a team of 50 students, those 50 students will all have to work together to gain points for their team." A cheer from the students.
"At the end of the year, depending on your team's ranking, both the team and the graduating class will receive resources. What they are will depend on the year as well. If you have any questions, please write them down on a post-it note on your table. Make our country proud students!"
As soon as Mr. Ye finished announcing the Harry Potter themed system, waiters and waitresses rolled out carts of delicious food.
Appetizers consisted of breadsticks, several different spreads, cold cooked chicken (if you've been to a Chinese banquet, then you'll know what I'm talking about), fruits, vegetables, etc.
While they were devouring the appetizers, a slideshow played no all the jumbotrons placed around the room. They displayed all of the participant's names, their year, and their biggest strength according to the educators' points of view.
Her brother was given leadership, she was given communication, and Aishi was given technology.
"You guys think we'll get first?" Sheng Rong asked.
"We already are,"
"And what makes you so sure, Xiao Ai?"
"She designed a watch and special contact lenses for the students attending the new school." Yaorui shrugged and continued to eat her bread.
"I also designed a few secret inventions for our team exclusively."
"You see, this is why she's my go-to sister when I want a better gun," Long Ao swung his arm around Aishi's small body and pulled her in, earning an elbow from Aishi.
"Hey, Lan Yue, what's your strength?" Sheng Rong looked at her curiously.
Lan Yue blushed and bowed her head down, "S-stealth,"
"Is super speed included in that?" Long Ao asked.
She nodded.
"She'll play a good role on the team," Zhi Sai informed, Long Ao nodded along.
"An important role too,"
"What would the role be? if you don't mind me asking,"
"Messanger, reporter, spy. It sounds simple, but it is the most important,"
Yaorui nodded in agreement, "Without information, do you think a general can win a war? A leader cannot lead a war without knowing its enemies,"
"Whether you believe or not, you will be, and you are an important part of the team," Aishi added on, nowadays, she was much better at saying encouraging words than Yaorui was.
Lan Yue chewed her last bite, stood up, and gave them a ninety-degree bow. Surprising her unaware, parents.
"Thank you, seniors!"
"Remember, just because you are important, doesn't mean you can slack or be arrogant,"
"I'll keep your words in mind senior sister Li Yaorui,"
Yaorui nodded her head in approval and continued her meal.
After dinner was over, Ye Man returned to the stage with the same gem-encrusted microphone from before.
"Alright, now that dinner is over, let's answer some questions," a few hoots and cheers from a few overenthusiastic dining members were heard during the applause.
"The first one is...uniforms. Uniforms aren't set, but you will need to wear your assigned colour or your team symbol, the symbol will be up to you and your teammates, and if you wish, you may come up with your own team name otherwise, you will be called Team China,"
"Next question...communication. This is a good question, because of the remote location, things like texting, messaging, and video calling is impossible if you wish to communicate with each other, letters are your best hope. Phones, computers, laptops, smartwatches, tablets, and iPads will be confiscated." A loud boo targeted at none other than the pitiful MC spread across the room. Slightly embarrassed, the MC choked out a laugh while awkwardly pulling out another question from the jar.
"Positions slash jobs! This one I like, your independent roles will be decided within the team together."
The night ended uneventfully in a happy atmosphere.
________________________
"What are you doing?!" Samuel turned his head to look at his caretaker, he stood outside on the balcony and was gazing at the full moon. "Come let's get you back to bed, your wounds aren't entirely healed yet,"
"Baobei, in this life, you treat me the best," Samuel smiled at her and allowed himself to be pulled along towards the bed.
"Ayo, my Gege is being all sweet again~," Her delicate hands pulled the blanket over his chest, and her lips fell onto his forehead. "Do you want me to play you a song?"
"En,"
His saviour reached for a cherry wood violin and positioned her bow against its strings. The moonlight glowed from behind her, exposing her figure and hiding her beauty at the same time. Under the moon's watch, she looked like a fairy bathed in a silver halo.
She took a deep breath and pulled her matching bow across the cherry wood violin's strings.
A low G3 reverberated around the room.
Samuel closed his eyes and soaked in the music as his inner thoughts were being calmed and drifted off to the back of his mind. It wasn't long until he succumbed to his drowsiness and fell into a slumber.
When the last note was played, the girl with the delicate hands climbed into bed next to Samuel and drifted off.