Love Me in Another Universe

Chapter 97. Singing Competition (Part 1)

September 21, 2000, Thursday. After lunch, Guan Xuchen and his roommates headed back to the dorm.

"Oh? What is it?" Guan Xuchen smiled and replied, "I hope I can help."

"Don't worry, it's nothing tough or dangerous." Wen Yuwei explained with a laugh, "I just want you to team up with me for the singing competition at the college arts festival."

"Ah, me? I'm not cut out for that!" Guan Xuchen quickly shook his head and waved his hands, then asked in confusion, "Didn't you join the solo category last year? Want to try the duet category this year?"

"Yeah. The solo competition was way too competitive—I only managed to get third place last year," Wen Yuwei looked a little disappointed, but soon perked up with hope. "I've heard fewer people sign up for duets, so it'd be easier to win a prize."

"Oh, I see. But I'm really no good singer..." Guan Xuchen politely declined, gesturing toward the other boys in the dorm. "Why don't you ask them instead?"

"They all say they don't want to join, but they fight over the microphone like crazy when we go karaoking..." Wen Yuwei glanced at their roommates and replied helplessly. Then he grinned at Guan Xuchen, "Tommy, you sing pretty well at karaoke, though. Besides, I accidentally came across an old news article online from 1998. Turns out you and Prince Lang sang together on stage at a charity fundraiser back in middle school!"

"Ah, you even found that..." Guan Xuchen recalled singing "The Call of Love" with Gao Xinglang at the charity event during senior middle school, and a flood of emotions washed over him.

"That was almost two years ago..." A touch of nostalgia flickered in Guan Xuchen's eyes before he forced a wry smile. "Lang practically dragged me up on stage back then. We were raising money for a junior who'd been hurt in a car accident, so I just bit the bullet and did it. Singing at karaoke is just for fun, anyway. If I actually join the competition, I'd probably hold you back—you might not even get third place this time."

"Don't say that. It's all about participating, right? Besides, extracurricular activities like this can give your resume a boost when you're job hunting later." Wen Yuwei kept trying to persuade him, "Why don't you think it over? The registration deadline isn't for a few days yet. Or we could practice singing together tonight and see how it goes."

"I want to do some reading tonight. How about we talk about it tomorrow afternoon after the oral English class?" Guan Xuchen didn't want to ruin Wen's mood, so he gave a tactful reply, then asked curiously, "Besides, didn't you say you were going to the movies tonight?"

"Ugh, just thinking about it makes me mad!" Wen Yuwei huffed indignantly, "I asked a fellow townsman to line up for tickets at Lv Qiuju Hall this morning, but he slept in and forgot all about it. I should've skipped class to get them myself. The original price was 25 yuan per ticket, but now scalpers are selling them online for 100 yuan each. Who wants to be such a sucker?"

"What movie is so hard to get tickets for?" Guan Xuchen asked in surprise.

"U-571!" Wen Yuwei looked shocked and shot back, "There are posters all over campus! How could you not have noticed?"

"Oh, the one about submarines?" Guan Xuchen replied with a little embarrassment, "I'm not really into war movies, so I didn't pay much attention to it..."

Then he tried to cheer Wen up with a smile, "You could download it online later or buy the DVD."

"It just came out this July—it's a new release! Of course I want to see it as soon as possible!" Wen Yuwei said matter-of-factly, "The theater tickets were too expensive before, so I couldn't bear to buy them. I thought I could get cheaper tickets at Lv Qiuju Hall, but it still didn't work out!"