Before leaving the mall, Mike specifically sent Missy and the other person away for a while, specially going to the counter to buy the Christmas gifts they wanted and packaging them in exquisite gift boxes.
Afterward, he also packed all the small gifts he had picked out in advance for Connie and others.
After shopping, when Mike and the two returned home, they just saw George driving a pickup truck, bringing back a medium-sized Christmas tree.
"Mike, come help!" George, who was about to trim the excess branches of the pine tree, greeted with a smile.
"OK!" Mike responded, handed the items in his hand to Connie, who was watching the fun, and then joined the ranks of making the Christmas tree.
More than an hour later, when Mike stepped on a stool and decorated the top of the Christmas tree with a giant golden star, a Christmas tree covered with sequins, candies, and small colorful lights was officially completed in Connie's living room.
"Great, I'll go flip the switch and see the effect!" Seeing everything ready, Missy cheered and connected the power.
Then, accompanied by the flickering lights, the crisp and cheerful Christmas song "Jingle Bells" also sounded from inside the Santa Claus doll used for decoration on the Christmas tree.
"It's beautiful!" Connie exclaimed in front of the sparkling Christmas tree.
A beautiful Christmas tree is undoubtedly the best gift for Christmas.
Seeing that their family liked it, George and his son, who had personally brought back the Christmas tree, exchanged glances and simultaneously showed smiles of great accomplishment.
"Alright, just let it stay lit like that!" Connie said with a smile, indicating that she didn't mind the electricity bill.
Then, she called everyone over to taste the roasted meat feast she had personally prepared.
The Christmas party held by the school actually started at 3 PM and ended at 8 PM.
This conveniently freed up time for Christmas Eve.
At Connie's, after everyone had a simple lunch, the family, except for Mary who was going to church, got into cars driven by Connie and George and headed to Medford High.
Around 2 PM, when Mike and the others arrived at the school, many students and their parents were already seated in the auditorium.
Mike, after Connie and the others found seats in the front row, said goodbye: "It's almost time, I'll go backstage to prepare."
"Go ahead, we'll be waiting for your wonderful performance later," Connie responded with a smile.
After bidding farewell to the Cooper family, Mike went to the backstage lounge and immediately saw the youthful and beautiful Cady and the three others.
The girls were uniformly dressed in Christmas short skirt outfits, sitting in a circle, discussing the upcoming performance.
Judging by the enthusiastic atmosphere, they were not nervous about the upcoming performance.
But thinking about it, The Plastics has always been very popular at school, and today's performance is just a "small scene" for them.
What's more, there's also a "Queen Bee" who loves to show off; with her to liven up the atmosphere, the girls would be even less nervous.
Seeing Mike arrive, Regina happily shared: "Mike, do you know? Our single sales have reached three thousand copies, we're going to be famous!"
Taking advantage of the arrival of Christmas, the single June had been working on successfully entered the music market.
In just one morning, for a previously unknown group to sell over three thousand copies of a single is indeed a very good achievement.
"Really? Congratulations on your single selling well, future stars!" Looking at the girls' happy expressions, Mike immediately offered his blessings.
"It's congratulations to us!" Regina said with a smile: "We're a team, aren't we?"
The "Queen Bee" was not stupid; she knew that Mike played a decisive role in the production of this song.
Hearing the "Queen Bee's" words, Mike smiled and didn't decline. Then, he asked: "How are your performance programs coming along?"
"Don't worry, we rehearsed again this morning, and the performance later definitely won't drag you down..." Regina said, then encouraged everyone: "This time, we will definitely make a splash!"
...
As the time approached 2:40 PM, just before the performance began, Regina pulled Mike into a small room nearby and took out the men's performance outfit prepared by June.
It was a big red Santa Claus costume, and its style matched Regina and the others' outfits very well. It was also clear that a lot of thought went into the design and tailoring of this outfit.
Unlike the Santa Claus costumes with large bellies, the Santa Claus outfit Mike wore was very comfortable and form-fitting.
Dressed in all red, he naturally exuded an irresistible charm.
Across from him, Regina, who was helping Mike adjust his outfit, her eyes gradually became fiery.
"Wait! It's not time yet..." Mike stopped her from pouncing and calmly said: "After the performance, there will be a chance for you to taste Santa Claus's power."
And with Mike's reminder, Regina also realized that the performance was about to begin, and now was indeed not a good time.
She licked her lips, then put away her devouring expression and said with a smile: "Later, I'll properly savor you, my candy!"
Clearly, the anticipation during the waiting period before unwrapping the candy was enough to make one feel joyful.
Soon after, when the two returned backstage, the announcer's voice was already heard on the stage.
Damian, dressed in a white suit, was the host of today's party.
"Thank you all for coming to Medford School's Christmas party on this special day..."
At this moment, Damian, with his hair combed like an adult, controlled the stage very well.
After a series of practiced opening remarks, he continued: "Next, please enjoy the first program, a song performance brought to you by me!"
Some teachers by the stage who knew the program list showed surprised expressions upon hearing this.
Clearly, Damian had used his position to temporarily add a performance for himself.
However, the school's Christmas party emphasizes joy, and there are no strict requirements regarding professionalism.
Since things had come to this, those teachers who knew some inside information shook their heads helplessly and did not stop Damian's "nonsense."
Damian stood center stage, holding the microphone, his head tilted at a forty-five-degree angle in an exaggerated look of intoxication, and began his song performance.
However, with his somewhat feminine voice, he surprisingly sang a tenor song.
The scene was very much like a woman singing "O Sole Mio" with a pinched voice.
It's not that he sang badly, it's just that this unconventional performance was too unique...
Finally, after Damian had sung about half of the tenor song, a boy in the front row could no longer endure the torture, took off his shoe, and threw it at Damian's face.
"Get off the stage!" the boy shouted in dissatisfaction.
In the middle of the first row, Connie, who had also endured the song's torture for a while, saw the boy's action and her eyes lit up, as if she had found a new way to enjoy the party.
However, looking at her hard high heels, Connie gave up the idea of throwing them.
If she really threw pointy high heels, they might become dangerous weapons.
Then, Connie smiled and turned to look at Georgie, who was wearing sneakers.
Sensing Connie's thoughts, Georgie quickly shook his head and shrunk back, simultaneously hiding his feet under the chair.
Still not thick-skinned enough, he certainly didn't want to crawl onto the stage later in front of everyone to pick up his shoes.