Chapter 5 Shi Xinghe Asks Her to Have Dinner Together

Shi Niannian arrived at school and first sent her luggage to the dormitory.

She had a dormitory at the school, but she seldom stayed there, as Shi Xinghe always insisted she come home and forbade her from dating while at school.

The female students at the Dance Academy all had good looks and figures, so there were quite a few wealthy individuals and second-generation rich kids who would come here to find girlfriends.

There were four girls in their dormitory, two of whom had found rich boyfriends, and another one was Xu Wenwen, who was relatively simple and lively.

As she opened the door to the dormitory, Xu Wenwen turned her head, saw Shi Niannian pulling her luggage in, ran over to hug her, "Niannian, are you going to stay in the dormitory for a long time now?"

Shi Niannian smiled and nodded, "I can stay with you from now on."

"That's great, I've been living alone every day, so boring!"

Xu Wenwen helped Shi Niannian organize her clothes and even asked about the situation last night. Not wanting to worry her, Shi Niannian just smiled and said that everything went smoothly, and she had already gotten her hands on the two thousand yuan.

"Niannian, why are you in such a hurry to earn money?" Xu Wenwen asked, voicing her inner question.

Shi Niannian didn't want the innocent Xu Wenwen to know the truth, and such matters were best kept to as few people as possible, so she made up a reason, "I want to save money to study abroad, and I don't want to spend the Shi family's money, after all, I'm just an adopted daughter."

Xu Wenwen nodded in understanding, "That's right, he who takes the purse rules, we should work hard to earn our own money!"

"Speaking of earning money, I just remembered something," Xu Wenwen took Shi Niannian's hand, "Yesterday, there was a poster on the bulletin board, the school is going to hold a dance competition, and the top prize is fifty thousand yuan!"

Shi Niannian's eyes lit up, "Fifty thousand? Are there any requirements to participate? Solo or group dance?"

"Either is fine, but it must be original choreography."

Original choreography, she could do that. Shi Niannian took Xu Wenwen's hand, "Come with me to look at the poster for the competition, I want to sign up right now."

The two ran to the bulletin board, and Shi Niannian read every word on the big poster carefully.

When she saw the prizes, Shi Niannian could hardly believe her eyes, besides the substantial prize money, the winners of first, second, and third places would get to go to Rost Dance Academy in Country A for a month-long exchange program.

Rost Dance Academy was a world-class Dance Academy that had produced many top dancers in the world, and it was a place Shi Niannian had always aspired to go to.

The prize money was important, but the opportunity to learn there was even more important. Shi Niannian resolved to seize this chance.

"Let's go sign up right now." Shi Niannian pulled Xu Wenwen and ran towards the registration place.

Arriving at the registration desk, Shi Niannian was a bit out of breath, "Teacher, I want to sign up for the dance competition."

The female teacher at the registration desk looked up, "Do you have a recommendation letter?"

"What recommendation letter?" Shi Niannian was taken aback, as she had read every word on the poster, which hadn't mentioned anything about a recommendation letter!

"To sign up, you need a recommendation from your department head or higher-level leaders." The teacher added another sentence, "Each leader has a limited number of recommendations, so if you want to sign up you need to hurry."

Shi Niannian had come with high spirits but left dejectedly.

She wasn't foolish. While the official requirement was a recommendation letter, in the shadows, it was about who had powerful backing. How could such a good opportunity fall into the hands of people with neither power nor influence like them!

"Niannian, should we go ask the department head?" Xu Wenwen suggested, seeing Shi Niannian so downcast.

Although Shi Niannian knew the likelihood was slim, she went with Xu Wenwen to find the department head.

Director Xing Ying knew Shi Niannian, who had entered with the top professional score that year.

Xing Ying looked troubled, "I really want to give you this opportunity, but I only have three spots, and they've all been given out already."

Shi Niannian forced a smile, "I understand, thank you, Director Xing."

"Shi Niannian!" Xing Ying called out to her, "I know our principal still has some spots left, and if you have connections, you might try there."

Shi Niannian once again thanked Xing Ying.

After leaving the office building, Shi Niannian's heart sunk to the depths, thinking how hard it was to break away from the Shi family, how hard it was to make money, how hard it was to enter a competition, and how hard it was simply to live!

Xu Wenwen also figured out the ins and outs of the competition, "Niannian, why don't you ask your father or brother to see if they could use their connections with the principal."

The Shi family? She didn't want to owe the Shi family any more favors, otherwise how could she break away from them.

"I'll think of other ways first!"

Shi Niannian returned to her dorm room dejectedly, took out her practice clothes and dance shoes, and prepared to go to the classroom for basic practice.

When she opened her wallet to find her meal card, a business card fell out. She picked it up and saw that it was the one Ling Yichen had slipped her that night.

She glanced at the phone number, the last four digits were four eights, easy to remember; she wanted to throw it away, but hesitated for a moment before putting it back in her wallet.

That day, Shi Niannian spent all her time in the practice room, except for meals.

In the evening, Shi Niannian lay exhausted on the floor, her practice clothes soaked with sweat, her cheeks flushed with a healthy glow.

It took her a good while to slowly get up off the floor, so tired! It was only when she was exhausted to the extreme that she could empty her mind and forget all the unpleasantness.

She put on her coat, went back to the dorm to take a shower, and changed her clothes before taking out her phone to check.

Shi Xinghe had actually called her; Shi Niannian struggled for a long time before sending him a message asking what was up.

In just a few minutes, Shi Xinghe made a video call, and Shi Niannian's heart tightened; she dared not delay and pressed the answer button.

Shi Xinghe, on the other side, glanced at the background behind her, "Are you in the dorm?"

"Yes, I didn't hear the phone ring this afternoon in the practice room," Shi Niannian explained why she hadn't answered the call.

Shi Xinghe gave a noncommittal "Hmm", "Have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet."

Shi Niannian thought to herself, she could use dinner as an excuse to hang up the phone quickly later.

"Come out and have dinner with me, I'm at the entrance of your school."

Without giving Shi Niannian a chance to refuse, Shi Xinghe hung up after speaking.

Shi Niannian put down her phone, puzzled by Shi Xinghe's intentions. Why did she feel like he had been acting strangely these past few days?

"Wenwen, I can't have dinner with you tonight, my brother has come over," Shi Niannian turned and told Xu Wenwen.

"Alright then! Will you come back to stay the night?"

"I think I should be able to come back!"

Shi Niannian wasn't sure if Shi Xinghe would bring her back to the school.

After a quick tidy up of her handbag and making sure her phone and keys were packed, Shi Niannian went out the door.

At the school entrance, sure enough, she saw Shi Xinghe's conspicuous Rolls-Royce; passing students couldn't help but give it a second glance.

Shi Niannian walked over, opened the passenger-side door, and sat down, "Big brother, why did you invite me to have dinner with you today?"

Shi Xinghe didn't reply but instead leaned in close to her, and Shi Niannian could smell the tobacco on him…