LOVE PLAYLIST

First Christmas (That I Loved You) (Zazounette86)

Shen Yue had hesitated for a long time, suddenly dreaming of an acting career in the spotlight. However, something seemed to hold her back and made her anxious. She finally went back to her parents' home in Wugang to talk with them.

They told her that they were worried that she would get involved in such a career. They warned her about the pressures that such a job could put on a person. She would have crazy schedules, and there would be a distance from the family.

After thinking about it for a long time, Shen Yue finally agreed with them and followed her father's advice: she became an art teacher at her old middle school. Although she often imagined what her life could have been like, she never regretted her choice. She loved her quiet little life and adored her students.

They were the ones she was packing for at this very moment. She had entered her class in a contest about Christmas traditions in Western countries. The twelve-year-olds had done extensive research and created a virtual exhibit that combined their handmade illustrations with text to describe the long history of Christmas in the West.

Shen Yue was proud of her students' work! But she never expected them to win the first prize in the contest! And what a prize! A trip to New York to discover the Christmas tradition!

She who had never traveled in her life had found herself preparing a whole educational program with a few colleagues, with visits to museums and the main historical monuments of the Big Apple, in addition to the festive evenings planned by the association that was bringing them.

The young woman took a deep breath and reviewed once again everything she had put in her suitcase. Trying to ignore her growing nervousness, she crossed her fingers not to have forgotten anything.

***

On the television, Dong Shancai shouted "Daoming Si!" for the umpteenth time in the face of a tall fool with a pineapple hairdo. Wang Hedi glanced absent-mindedly at the screen, wondering if he would be able to sleep well tonight.

The next day would be his first mainline flight as a pilot, and he felt more than a little nervous. When he was in college, he had worked as a flight attendant instead. He had even served as a model for his aviation school posters in Sichuan. He had only recently become a pilot and kept this anxiety before every trip.

Sometimes he wondered if he had made the right choices. After all, flying was not originally his dream. A few years earlier, he had won the big competition sponsored by several universities in the region, the "Sichuan Campus Red Festival."

He was then spotted and invited to participate in the "Super Idol" show on the Youku channel. But after hesitating for a long time, Wang Hedi declined the offer, abandoning his short-lived stage name "Dylan Wang."

He preferred to devote himself to his studies, finally taking a liking to the world of aviation. He still remembered the first time he had flown an aircraft, the feeling of seeing the world from above, of rediscovering it. This simple memory still gave him shivers of delight.

Yet, the young man found himself imagining what his life would have been like if he had participated in the "Super Idol" show. Perhaps he would appear today on this television screen, in the place of this Daoming Si with whom he had some similarities.

He shook his head, coming to his senses. He had to stay focused on his flight the next day. After finishing his dinner, some leftovers from his parent's restaurant, he turned off the television and forced himself into bed, trying to clear his head.

There was no reason for his trip to go wrong.

***

The thirty young teenagers in Shen Yue's class were going wild. The young woman and her colleagues had difficulty calming them down as they stood in line to check in. The teacher wondered if it would be better to cancel everything and take them back to the middle school, but a colleague reassured her by putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.