As Qian Wei ate, she thought aloud, “There are two ways to show off your appeal — the first is hard power, the second is soft power. Hard power is external stuff like build and looks; soft power is things like personality. Let’s start by showing off your hard power in front of Mo Zixin! You’ve got such a great physique, we shouldn’t let it go to waste! How about inviting her to go swimming together? No wait, never mind, I forgot Mo Zixin can’t swim. What about karaoke? Your voice is really nice.”
Qian Wei slapped her thigh. “Actually, I think this could work. In that intimate, dim lighting of a karaoke booth, ah, the music starts playing, you sing her a soulful rendition of Eason Chan’s ‘Ten Years’ with that magnetic voice of yours, no need to say anything else, just glance at her deeply from time to time every once in a while…”
Lu Xun said flatly, “I’m tone-deaf.”
“…”
That plan wasn’t going to work, so Qian Wei pressed on with another idea. “Apparently men’s hormones peak during physical activity — how about inviting Mo Zixin to play badminton with you? You can show off your skills and charm in front of her!”
“My badminton is terrible.”
That didn’t add up… Qian Wei thought. In her memory, after starting work, Lu Xun’s badminton game was practically unbeatable throughout the entire firm, no one at the City A Bar Association could even match him. How could his skills be so bad back in college? Was that expert-level badminton skill something he’d practiced hard to develop later on just to show off after starting work??
Well, forget badminton, something else would do. Qian Wei kept brainstorming. “What about tennis, then?”
“Can’t play.”
Unbelievable… so even his tennis, which rivaled professional-level players, was something he learned after starting his career too…
Qian Wei racked her brain, coming up with idea after idea, but each time, either Lu Xun couldn’t actually do it, or the plan simply wasn’t practical. She never would have imagined that the future all-around capable Lu Xun had once been such a novice at everything back in college. Unbelievable!
But perhaps heaven rewards those who persevere — after finishing dinner with Lu Xun, still troubled and unable to come up with a solution, Qian Wei was walking back toward her dorm when she happened to glance up and spot a new glimmer of hope.
It was a poster for the campus dance competition.
Right! In her previous life, it was around this same time that the school, claiming to promote cultural literacy among contemporary college students, had organized the first campus dance competition. To ensure good participation, every college had to send at least three groups of contestants.
In her previous life, this very dance competition had been won by Lu Xun and Mo Zixin’s tango duet!
Qian Wei remembered this so clearly because the winning college would receive funding from the school for their activities, which was why Teacher Ji, their department’s counselor, had been so enthusiastic about it, going around actively mobilizing everyone to participate — even dragging Qian Wei, who had zero enthusiasm for school activities, into the effort. As the face of the law school’s cultural activities, Mo Zixin naturally didn’t hold back. Having grown up immersed in an environment of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, she had quite a solid dance foundation, with tango being her strongest.
Coincidentally, Lu Xun’s tango was also exceptionally good. In the end, with the counselor playing matchmaker, the two of them ended up representing the law school in the competition together.
Qian Wei hadn’t gone to watch the competition in person — she’d learned all these details entirely from Qian Chuan, who, in that timeline, had been desperately pursuing Mo Zixin and kept a close eye on every move made by her and his rival, Lu Xun.
Though she’d never actually seen Mo Zixin and Lu Xun compete, Qian Wei knew for a fact that Lu Xun’s tango really was excellent.
After starting work, because he needed to attend receptions with foreign clients and had no girlfriend, Lu Xun had, without a shred of hesitation, used his position as boss to pressure Qian Wei into an intensive crash course. From then on, Qian Wei had ended up accompanying him to quite a few such receptions as his dance partner — though she didn’t mind too much, since every single time, Lu Xun paid her double overtime.
No time to waste — Qian Wei practically sprinted straight to Mo Zixin’s dorm.
“Zixin, you’re joining the dance competition, right? Have you found a partner yet?”
Mo Zixin’s face showed a hint of distress. “Not yet. I was planning to dance the tango, but none of the guys can be my partner.”
“Ask Lu Xun! Lu Xun can dance the tango!”
Mo Zixin sighed. “I know. The counselor said he’d once written on his personal profile that tango was one of his specialties, so we specifically went to ask him, but he turned us down.”
“Huh???”
Mo Zixin looked rather dejected. “No matter what we said, he just wouldn’t agree. The counselor even said she’d turn a blind eye if he skipped the general elective class roll calls afterward, but even that didn’t sway him. We can’t force him, I guess he just doesn’t want to participate in this kind of dance competition.”
Qian Wei practically flew straight to find Lu Xun.
“Mo Zixin and the counselor asked you directly to be her dance partner, why did you refuse?” Qian Wei looked at him in disbelief. “Didn’t we agree you were going to pursue Mo Zixin? You clearly know how to dance the tango, isn’t this the perfect chance to have her fall for your dance moves?”
“I’m not that good at it.” Lu Xun glanced at her, still wearing that expression as though every extra word cost him a million dollars.
Qian Wei felt her anger flare up. “Didn’t you write tango as one of your specialties in your own profile?! And now you’re not that good at it?? Lu Xun, false modesty is basically arrogance!”
“Have you ever looked at celebrities’ personal profiles?”
“Huh?”
“Celebrities’ bios always list things like piano and ballet as hobbies and specialties, and for language skills, at least claim fluency in English — but in reality? Can you actually understand what Zhang Lin says in English? Chen Jia can’t even read sheet music, but doesn’t she still use ‘Piano Grade 10’ for publicity?” Lu Xun scoffed. “Don’t you know ‘specialty’ is basically just false advertising and marketing packaging for most people?”
“But… but you really do dance well!”
Lu Xun shrugged. “You’ve never even seen me dance, how would you know I’m good?”
“…”
“I do know a bit of tango, but I’m not that skilled — just learned the basics. And dancing with Mo Zixin would make me nervous, so I’d definitely perform even worse, let alone on an actual stage.”
Hearing Lu Xun’s explanation, Qian Wei finally understood — right! The Lu Xun in front of her right now was just a nineteen-year-old boy. Facing the girl he liked, getting nervous and failing to perform at his usual level was only natural.
“But you still can’t just give up the opportunity like this!”
Yet Lu Xun’s stance remained firm. “I’m not going.”
Oh, the pride of men! This was clearly a fear of not just failing to impress but making a fool of himself instead!
Qian Wei thought about it and decided to sacrifice herself for the cause. “Alright, how about this — I actually know a bit of tango myself too. Why don’t I be your practice partner? You can get used to it with me and find your rhythm, then give it a real shot?”
“You know tango too?” Lu Xun seemed rather surprised by this.
“A little!” Qian Wei tried hard to persuade him. “Come on, I’ll dance with you, practice against me, once you’re comfortable, you won’t feel nervous anymore!”
Though Qian Wei tried her best to convince him, she honestly didn’t hold out much hope — Lu Xun’s stubbornness was well known; once he made up his mind about something, no one could change it.
Yet perhaps because this involved Mo Zixin, Lu Xun made an exception this time too. He mulled it over for a moment, then actually nodded.
“Alright, let’s do it your way. I’ll practice tango with you.”
For the sake of love, even Lu Xun this time knew when to bend with the times!
Qian Wei secretly had it all figured out in her head. She thought, Lu Xun’s tango foundation was already solid — he was just lacking confidence and feeling nervous right now. With enough practice and encouragement from her, once his confidence came back and his instincts returned, he’d surely be able to go on and win the dance competition alongside Mo Zixin.
But all of Qian Wei’s careful scheming completely fell apart the moment they actually started practicing together.
Someone please tell her — who was this person standing in front of her, with uncoordinated limbs, unable to keep his steps in time with the music at all?! Was this really the same Lu Xun whose tango had once made the girls at the firm want to swoon?!
Faced with a Lu Xun who seemed to know absolutely nothing about tango, Qian Wei was beside herself with indignation. “Lu Xun, how could you have the nerve to put tango down as a specialty on your resume! You should really look up what false advertising charges are!”
It seemed clear now that in her previous life, Lu Xun must have also crammed to learn the tango last-minute, purely for Mo Zixin’s sake.
“Alright, for the tango, you need to press your foreheads together, the partners’ heads need to stay very close, positioned like this, crossing over — yes, about right, now get a little closer to me.”
“Put your hand on my waist, a bit higher.”
“When the music hits this beat, remember to turn, then kick.”
“Your waist! Move your waist and hips the way I’m doing it!” Lu Xun really was hopeless — no matter how Qian Wei tried to verbally guide him, his movements never quite landed, forcing her to physically position his body herself. “Your hips! Lift your hips! A bit higher! There, that’s it!”
“Hold me tighter!” Following the music, Qian Wei kept talking as she pulled Lu Xun’s hand to rest more firmly on her waist. “Tango is a form of physical communication, you need to feel your partner’s body with your heart, sense the intent behind their steps, feel the music, feel the rhythm.”
“Keep your body close to mine, even closer, and then your calf and my toes need to interlock in the steps like this…”
After an hour of coaching, Qian Wei was practically exhausted. She couldn’t help but blurt out, “Lu Xun, oh Lu Xun, you usually pick up everything in one try, how come when it comes to dancing, you’re this hopeless?” This Lu Xun needed Qian Wei to physically correct every single one of his movements — how could anyone be this untalented? After starting work, Lu Xun had somehow managed to dance the tango so seductively and charmingly — turns out hard work really does make up for lack of talent!
Qian Wei was worn out to the point of collapse, and yet Lu Xun, despite barely getting any of the movements right, was now looking slightly flushed.
“You’re not going to cut it like this, Lu Xun. There’s only a month left until the dance competition — starting tomorrow, you’re doing hellish training every single day.”
“Okay.”
The one comforting thing was that although Lu Xun wasn’t particularly talented, at least his attitude was obedient.
Somehow, word must have leaked from somewhere in the law school, because not long after Qian Wei had secretly started training Lu Xun, Qian Chuan came knocking.
“Damn, this guy has no shame at all. I heard he’s actually planning to dance the tango with Mo Zixin — here I was thinking I’d misjudged him, turns out he still hasn’t given up on chasing her!”
“Isn’t this dance competition organized by college? What did you expect?”
Qian Chuan looked deeply frustrated. “I wonder if it’s too late to switch majors.” He looked utterly pained. “Why does your law school have to pick tango, of all the vulgar dances? Couldn’t you have done ballroom dance instead? Or waltz would’ve been fine too!”
This didn’t sit well with Qian Wei. “How is tango vulgar? Tango is an art form!”
Qian Chuan exaggeratedly mimicked tango moves. “Look at yourself — all that hugging, holding, touching, twisting, and grinding! In the ’80s, that would’ve been considered outright indecency! If you ask me, this kind of dance should be banned! It’s way too suggestive dancing like that! And probably exchanging flirty glances the whole time too, so improper!”
Qian Wei instinctively jumped to tango’s defense. “Tango doesn’t even allow much eye contact! You’ve got a huge misunderstanding about tango!” “Tango uses a closed embrace — the partners’ heads stay close, but they’re positioned to the side, there’s basically no opportunity for eye contact at all, okay!”
“With all that suggestive tangling of the body, who even needs eye contact anymore!” Qian Chuan’s tone was full of grievance. “I’ve noticed that in movies, whenever there’s a tango scene, it’s basically always some shady, cheating couple dancing! No wonder the heads are positioned off to the side — you know why? So they can keep glancing around nervously, checking if their husband or wife has come home! Making sure they don’t get caught cheating!”
“…”