Chapter 304: The Push Reception (Part 2)

The Collande Auditorium is an event venue connected to the Collande Academy. Originally, it was used as the dining hall for the Collande dormitory, but later, due to the reception culture at the Collande Academy, and with half a century of evolution, it gradually became a venue dedicated to receptions.

On the last day of February, the Collard Auditorium once again began with a reception. A red carpet was laid out from the auditorium all the way to the door, and on both sides of the red carpet were flower baskets. Two tall hostesses stood at the door, smiling and welcoming all the guests.

Suddenly there was a commotion at the door, and someone exclaimed, 'Look who's there! What is she wearing?'

With this exclamation, everyone's attention was suddenly diverted from the hostesses. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Ye Ning walking out of the auditorium in traditional Chinese dress. Her temperament was otherworldly, and she looked like a fairy who had stepped out of a painting. And unlike the heavy oil paintings of the West, this was a completely freehand ink painting. Despite the cultural differences, these fair-haired Americans were still stunned, and exclamations of surprise came one after the other.

'Oh my god, this is so beautiful! Is this a Far Eastern kimono? It's just so pretty!'

someone exclaimed, but was immediately corrected, 'What do you know? A kimono is nothing compared to this dress. I've heard that this is a very ancient Han Chinese dress from China, and only a nation with thousands of years of cultural heritage like theirs could have such a beautiful dress!'

'Of course, it also needs to be worn by a beautiful young girl. My goodness, this Chinese girl is so pure, like an angel, and it's impossible to even think of desecrating her in the slightest. This is the first time I've looked at China with admiration!' Another person exclaimed.

'And this reception, I heard it was also organised by a group of Chinese people. Look at all the Chinese people coming and going inside. I never thought that those ignorant Chinese people could organise such an elegant reception. Although it hasn't started yet, just looking at their decorations, I feel that compared to their reception, our previous receptions were simply rubbish!' Someone added.

...

As these shouts came one after the other, this reception was indeed different from the past. The entire auditorium was decorated in a very Western palace style. More than ten long tables surrounded the auditorium in a square shape. Each long table either had a buffet or drinks. Behind the stage platform, there was also an orchestra, with violins, violas and harps playing melodious and long-lasting music, which was very relaxing and not noisy.

In short, it's exactly like those high society cocktail parties you see in TV dramas – very classy.

As the host of the cocktail party, Li Yang is leading the teacher in charge of the Korand, Mr. Moer, around the party.

'My God, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought I was at the city hall, attending a reception with the mayor and city councillors. I can't believe this is our Collège du Lac reception. The setting and decorations are amazing! Li, how on earth did you come up with this idea?' said Mr Moore, incredulous after greeting two students.

'Actually, it's nothing. I just thought it would be better this way,'

Li Yang replied, scratching his head apologetically. He was really embarrassed, because the idea for the reception's layout had come from Teacher Zhou Ming, and he had just followed orders.

In addition, as Li Yang himself said, this reception was actually just better in appearance. In fact, the buffet and drinks inside were more or less the same as those at previous receptions. After all, if they had been replaced with good ones, they would have gone over budget. It was just a small dormitory convenience store project, and it would not have been cost-effective to use good ones.

Although this was Harvard, many students did not understand this because they had not entered society yet, so just a good layout could fool a lot of people.

'This is more than just a little better, it's blown my mind!' exclaimed Moore.

Li Yang and Moore's conversation naturally attracted the attention of others as well. Many students from Lander College came over to say hello, saying, 'Classmate, I heard that this reception was organised by your Chinese club. You Chinese people are really amazing. This is the best reception I've ever been to in my life. I'm so glad I came. If a few of my roommates in the dorm had held the same negative views of the Chinese people as they do, I'm afraid I would have regretted it for the rest of my life!'

'China Li, it's so great to meet you. I'm already a junior, and I've been to a lot of parties, but I've never looked forward to meeting the host as much as I do now. You're the only idol I admire!' Someone else praised Li Yang.

Someone else gave Li Yang some advice: 'But Li, I think it's a shame that you let people attend such a good party for free. In order to keep the party going in the long term, you could charge an appropriate entrance fee or some other fee, as long as it's not too high. I think most students would pay it. Because if one day this kind of party is cancelled due to the cost, we would all feel frustrated and sorry.'

Li Yang said in response, 'Thank you very much for your concern and love, everyone. I want to assure you that our cocktail party will continue forever. We have sponsorship for the party, and you can see the banner behind the podium.'

With Li Yang's words, everyone looked up at the banner, and sure enough, it had the words 'The dorm convenience store wishes the cocktail party a success.'

This surprised the students, because none of them had heard of the dormitory convenience store, but Li Yang didn't explain much about it and suddenly ran out the door.

If the banner with the dormitory convenience store's sponsorship was just surprising, then Li Yang's sudden exit was going to make everyone's eyes pop out, because they had no idea what was going on with Li Yang. How could he suddenly leave so many important guests, and even there was the teacher in charge of the College of Lander, Moore, here, and he just ran away, was there something more important than this?

In fact, Li Yang's answer is that there is indeed something. If someone follows Li Yang outside, they will see Li Yang go to the door to greet a Chinese person and say, 'Teacher, you're here, please come in.'

Not only Li Yang, but Ye Ning, who had previously amazed the audience, also stood next to Li Yang. Like Li Yang, she also said to the Chinese person, 'Teacher, you're here, please come in.'

Just a short sentence clearly indicated the identity of the person who had come, namely the homeroom teacher of their finance class and the actual planner of this reception, Zhou Ming!

Facing the invitation of Li Yang and Ye Ning, Zhou Ming smiled and said, 'You don't need to come to the door to pick me up, I will go in.'

Li Yang and Ye Ning both shook their heads insistently: 'No, you are our teacher, it is only right that we come to greet you.'

Zhou Ming knew the temperaments of his students, so he said nothing more and followed them into the reception. When Moer saw this, he was shocked and thought: This is a real teacher! Respected by his students, he receives all their love. No wonder these Chinese students were able to throw such a high-quality reception. Is it because of the influence of such a teacher behind the scenes?

Moore did not know this, nor did he know that all the Chinese students here were brought up by Zhou Ming, and that today, due to the need for manpower in various areas, otherwise if all 25 students from the finance class had greeted him at the door, the scene would have only shocked Moore even more. Because in his impression, even President Laurence might not be able to receive such treatment from so many students. You have to know that the smarter the students, the weaker their sense of awe.

Zhou Ming followed Li Yang into the reception venue. It was already 7:30 pm, the scheduled start time. Li Yang said to Zhou Ming, 'Teacher, the reception is about to begin officially. Please go up and give a speech.'

Zhou Ming, however, shook his head and said, 'Li Yang, this is your reception. This dormitory convenience store project is yours. From the very beginning, when you asked Mr. Moore for permission, to now when you are hosting the reception, you have done it all. So now, you should also give the speech at the reception. This is called seeing things through to the end. If I take over now, I would be overstepping my bounds.'

Zhou Ming continued, 'Don't be afraid. You have to believe in yourself. Since you have done so many things and done them well, today is just the final push for the reception. You have to believe that you can do a good job again!'

Li Yang nodded vigorously, 'Thank you, teacher. I believe that as long as you are here, I can do a good job!'

Li Yang became very confident under the encouragement of Zhou Ming. He took a deep breath, walked up to the podium amidst the applause of everyone, cleared his throat and said, 'Good evening, everyone from Collard College. Thank you very much for coming to our reception. I am Li Yang, the host of the reception. I am very happy to meet you here.'

'I think everyone must have the same question: what is this dormitory convenience store, and how did it sponsor our reception?'

Li Yang answered his own question: 'I want to say that this dormitory convenience store is a special convenience store that has been authorised by Mr Moore and will soon open in our Colland College. It is a very tasteful convenience store, just like this reception.'

'This dormitory convenience store is a special convenience store that is open 24 hours a day. Here you can buy most of the daily necessities and food you want, including everyone's favourite sandwiches,' Li Yang said, 'This way, no one will have to worry about not being able to buy things late at night when all the convenience stores are closed, or about being stuck in the cold in winter and not wanting to leave the warmth of their room. Everything can be bought from the dormitory convenience store, and even for non-daily necessities, you can place an order in advance and we will buy it for you, and you only have to pay a small fee for our trouble. After all, we have to eat too.'

As Li Yang spoke, the students from the nearby Collège du Landry burst into laughter. As Li Yang spoke, the students from the nearby Collège du Landry shouted in unison, 'This dormitory convenience store is so cool! Where can we find it?'

'The dormitory convenience store hasn't started yet, but it will meet you soon,' Li Yang replied.

'Hurry up and start it! I really want to meet the dormitory convenience store, and I will definitely buy things here every day!'

'Will the dormitory convenience store be decorated as cool as this reception? I don't want to see a dormitory supermarket.'

Li Yang replied, 'Of course not. The dormitory convenience store will definitely be a very tasteful convenience store, beyond your imagination.'

'I can't wait! I think I'm already in love with this dormitory convenience store!' The students below shouted.

Facing the continuous cheers from below, Li Yang finally let out a sigh of relief. He subconsciously looked over at Teacher Zhou Ming and saw that he was smiling and giving him a thumbs-up. He was very moved: Teacher, I haven't let you down. I've succeeded in promoting this reception!