woman wearing irish linen shirt

Those who sat close evidently heard Miss Pender's words.The strongest in Asia speaks a bit slowly: "Which area are you... strong in?"

Miss Pender's sigh was next to her ear, clearly audible: "I'm talking about dancing."

"Then why do you use the past tense?" Asia's strongest frowned, "Don't learn their messy grammar from Americans."

There was a burst of laughter from the two younger ones, I don't know if they were hit by the laughing point.

"Thank you for trying to make me happy." Miss Pender also laughed, "But I'm not at my peak anymore."

"But you are still very strong." He raised his chin towards the wall, "Look at your commemorative photo! People come and go, except for those who run their own classrooms or do choreography, a few people have reached their 30s. Can you still persist every day?"

Miss Pande took a breath, and seemed not encouraged by his words at all: "Next year, I will definitely arrive early and tear up all the photos."

"Every year we make a photo wall." The person next to me explained to me, "All kinds of themes. After all, there is always plenty of material."

I paused: "Is Sonia that powerful? Are there so many media photos?"

"Veronica took a lot of pictures." Peter said abruptly, "Me too. In addition, if you look carefully later, you will find that some of them are cut from the game video. After all, not everyone here is like that. The two were chased by the media for publicity like that."

I'm at a loss.Asia most powerfully pointed to himself: "He said me."

"And me." Weng Kexin said.

"Wow." I responded with applause.Regardless of being the strongest in Asia, she is a professional dancer, so she has no achievements to justify. Why is this college student so popular?Her level seems to be really high. Since Weng Kexin said that Peter is the best, she is at least as good as him in terms of completion of movements, so she probably won't be a paddler.

Weng Kexin folded his arms and emphasized to me very seriously: "I am very good!"

Compared with the sluggishness before, Weng Kexin is a different person.

I looked at Miss Pender.

Miss Pande nodded: "Her best result is the U21 final round of Blackpool."

"That's right." Weng Kexin looked at me expectantly.

Embarrassed, I looked at Miss Pender again.Miss Pender lowered her head and laughed, and said softly: "This means that at her age, her dancing with her partner was considered world-class."

I took a small breath.So she is the most powerful person in the dance classroom?

"Really conservative." Weng Kexin pursed his lips, "Can't you praise me?"

Miss Pender just said, "You're not thirteen anymore."

"You were taught by Sonia and Peter. She felt too embarrassed to praise you." Asia's strongest shrugged, "I can praise you, if you are willing to become a professional player."

"Me too. My mother won't let me." She sighed.

I hesitated to say something: "But, it sounds like you are already at the level of an Olympic medalist?"

"Latin dance competitions are divided into many groups, with age differences, as well as amateur and professional." Peter and I explained, "Even the professional players who have made achievements in the world face survival problems after retiring. Very few people can Being a teacher or being a referee, in general, the situation is not very optimistic. We are still more like a sport than a more popular dance, and it is still very unpopular. Ordinary people don’t pay attention to our competition.”

I blurted out: "But your dancing is really good!"

Peter froze for a moment, then laughed loudly: "You are right! I love dancing!"

Everyone laughed along, and the slight melancholy in the air was swept away.

I asked Peter: "What made you choose Singapore?"

"Subsidy." He spit out a word that was eye-popping, and it was only then that I realized that Peter actually had a good sense of dry humor.After a pause, he added: "The most important thing is the climate. After I get my master's degree, I want to find a place that is not in the United States but has a tropical climate. It is best to fly to a place that is closer to Moscow. Singapore is the only answer."

I opened my mouth: "That's it?"

I thought I could hear touching stories about Slavic boys walking the tightrope for love, or the legendary lives of Latin dance ambassadors in Southeast Asia.

"Peter hates the cold," said Miss Pender.

"Peter hates the cold." Asia's strongest said.

"Peter really hates the cold." Weng Kexin added, "And America."

"Everyone hates the United States." The strongest in Asia began to tell international jokes again, "Especially in recent years, even Americans hate the United States."

I covered my forehead and everyone had a good laugh.

However, I still don't hate that country on the other side of the ocean-I looked at her who was laughing beside me.

If I hadn't gone to America to study, I'm afraid we would never have met each other.But who made us meet again in Singapore, Peter, who was attracted by the tropics, or Karma, which in Sanskrit represents all karma and determines karma?

I don't believe in God.

But is there really cause and effect in this world?

Is there really no cause and effect?

I went home with Miss Pender in the evening.There is an impromptu meeting tomorrow morning, the time is too early, her home is closer to the company...

I don't know whether she believed this excuse: after all, tomorrow is the extended holiday of the National Day holiday, and theoretically people don't have to work.Sleeping at each other's homes is almost the new norm, and I wonder if I'll get a chance to talk to her about it.

I have no plans for this at the moment.Not yet.

The best situation is that it can be delayed until the end of the project, so that no one needs to apply for avoidance of benefits, and our relationship is purer, and everyone is happy.I wasn't too worried at first, but today's incident gave me a wake-up call: her friends have different personalities, but they all accept me so well, which is enough to see the seriousness behind them.

And after being so solemn, the figure of Miss Pan De was hidden invisibly again.

If I don't give a clear statement, will she think that I don't cherish this relationship enough?

Miss Pender took me for a walk, the destination was the subway station two stops away.She always seemed to enjoy walking with me, and I enjoyed it too, and the two of us walked side by side with our bags.

The expressions of hurried passers-by were mostly swallowed up by the masks, and the atmosphere was different from the usual one.National flags are waving everywhere, and she and I, two foreigners from Nanyang, are still restrained, preserving our complete selves in society.The ego is professional, commercial, intriguing, and the ego is never quite me.

But among the phantoms in my brain, in that crowd intertwined with her, is it completely me?

I like to buy clothes and all kinds of shoes, I like to watch cultural activities, I like to be in a high position, I like to hold important positions, lead the team to create results from zero to one, I like food, I like women, I like her.

What is she like?

"I don't think I asked you before," I said, "Why did you come to Singapore?"

"I came here to play after graduation, and then sent my resume to some consulting companies by the way."

I frowned slightly: "That's it?"

"And Peter." Miss Pender said, "I don't have any particular geographical preference, and my best friend is staying here. Of course, on the other hand, not meeting a suitable dance partner in Boston is also a reason... I Have a lifelong dance plan, ideally dancing until you can't move."

"I'm kind of jealous." I pouted, she couldn't see me because I was wearing a mask anyway, "but at the same time I didn't know whether to thank him. After all, you wouldn't come to Singapore without him."

"I didn't know you were still jealous." There was a smile in her eyes, "How jealous are you?"

"Very jealous." I made a gesture, about the length of a shoebox, "So many."

She laughed: "That's not enough."

I thought about it for a long time without realizing it, and looked at her: "Are you jealous too?"

"sometimes."

I became more and more confused and stopped: "What is jealousy?"

She looked at me for a while, her eyes softened again, and said, "Maybe I'm jealous of time. Time spends with you day and night, and understands everything about you, and participates in everything about you."

"Time eats me. Time eats us all." I looked back at her and took a deep breath quietly.

Wearing a mask is good too.All my anxieties and apprehensions were hidden away.

"Time is nothing to be envious of," I said. "Whatever Time can get from me, so can you."

A gleam flashed in Miss Pender's eyes.Is it a passing car?Comet on the go?

will it be me?

She remained silent for a long time, and led me forward, saying: "Hearing you say that, I feel very happy."

It's time for the fireworks to go off.Today, in order to disperse the gathered crowd as much as possible, the number of display points for National Day fireworks has been increased to ten. Passers-by stopped and looked up to watch the fireworks in the distance.Some pedestrians on the opposite side held small national flags in their hands, and Miss Pan De and I looked over at the same time.

"The Polish flag is also red and white, with white on top and red on the bottom." She said suddenly, "This design comes directly from the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania. Did you know that Poland and Lithuania were once the same country?"

I nodded: "The Battle of Vienna."

Miss Pender raised an eyebrow: "So you do know something about Poland."

I felt something: "Have you ever been to Poland?"

"No." Her eyelashes drooped, "My mother's whole family left Poland in 81, and the situation was stable later, and no one went back. They still like to cook the old dishes. When I was young, I had a long vacation every year. Back in Manchester, my grandpa still sings "Hej Sokoly" to me, but they don't talk about the past at all, and they hardly speak Polish. I will say that because I have been self-taught since high school, but the only ones who correct my pronunciation are Peter and Ro Setta's language pack."

Her sadness reappeared, and my heart felt a dull pain. Why did the person who was talking about happiness just now showed such a hurt expression?

I took the lightest point in her words and asked, "Peter also speaks Polish?"

"No, it won't." She laughed. "It's a long story."

"The nights are long too." I looked at her. "Shall we go home?"

Forget about the gorgeous celebration fireworks of other people's homes.