Author's Note:
Chapter 129
Cheng Qing's comforting words were so gentle that Luo Xi was stunned and turned to look at her blankly.
The halos of light behind her created a hazy, beautiful effect. From the first time Cheng Qing appeared before her in the bright sunlight, it was as if she had emerged from the light.
Just like now, her dazzling smile shines in the light, a smile that is full of tolerance, pampering and care.
Who wouldn't be captivated by a teacher like Teacher Cheng?
Luo Xi looked down at her toes. To match the dance, she and Cheng Qing had both chosen to wear white sneakers; she and Teacher Cheng were wearing the same shoes. What size was Teacher Cheng again?
But……
Teacher Cheng is so good at saying nice things; it's even more effective than her 100 tricks.
Lossie's thoughts eventually returned to Cheng Qing's comforting words. She just thought Teacher Cheng was amazing; she always managed to say things that made people blush and their hearts race.
Cheng Qing didn't realize this; she just wanted to comfort the nervous Luo Xi. After confirming that Luo Xi was no longer nervous, she reached out her hand to Luo Xi: "Let's go!"
The two walked hand in hand to the front of the stage. All the lights converged on them, casting a ring of light around them.
They were wearing matching long-sleeved black knit sweaters paired with charcoal gray skinny jeans and white sneakers. Youthful, beautiful, and elegant.
They bowed in unison and looked up with smiles on their faces.
The audience below the stage immediately applauded as they watched the staff's actions.
Music began to play softly on the spacious stage. Beautiful and melodious music always brings joy and tranquility.
It spread out from the stage and enveloped the entire audience. There were about a hundred audience members in the audience, in front, behind, to the left, and to the right.
They looked up at the two girls on stage, watching their graceful figures sway gently to the intro. The audience cheered, some drank, some cheered, some chatted with friends, and of course, some exclaimed in amazement at their own performance.
Cheng Qing looked at Luo Xi and smiled slowly. She suddenly remembered a line from a song, which felt very fitting for the scene.
“Lossie…” As the intro began, she suddenly leaned closer to Lossie and said, “A friend of mine wrote a song.”
Losi gently swayed her hands to the music, looking at Cheng Qing with a puzzled expression. "We're about to start dancing, why do you have to tell me what song it is now?"
Under the spotlight, both Cheng Qing and the audience could clearly see the confusion on her face.
Cheng Qing smiled and said, "That song is very nice. I used to listen to it often but never really felt anything about it. But today is different. Standing here with you, it seems like the feeling is much clearer."
Upon hearing this, Losi became curious as well, waving her hand and asking, "What song?"
When Cheng Qing saw that she had asked, she found it amusing that she was so easy to hook, and then said affectionately, "There is a lyric that goes: 'Among a gathering of distinguished guests, I express my hidden love to the fullest.'"
Love...can it all be expressed?
Cheng Qing's clear and pleasant voice, along with her words that made hearts race, left Luo Xi momentarily speechless.
Every word that drifted from Cheng Qing's slightly smiling lips seemed to possess endless magic.
Losi stopped what she was doing, turned around and stared blankly at Cheng Qing.
She struck Rossi's heart with the magic of her words, catching Rossi completely off guard; she was both surprised and excited.
Ultimately, due to the camera angle, all that remained on Rossi's face was a blank stare and confusion.
After the prelude to the music ended, the dance officially began.
Seeing that Luo Xi was still staring blankly at her, Cheng Qing took Luo Xi's hand and started dancing. Luo Xi instinctively followed Cheng Qing's movements, as if she were the newcomer to the dance world.
Cheng Qing is funny, but she takes leading the dance very seriously.
As she danced, she remembered every step and movement Losi had taught her. She also remembered the afternoons they practiced together, their hair damp with sweat, the sweat pouring down their faces.
These memories of Losi are so real; the sense of satisfaction is something that only those who have experienced it firsthand can truly understand!
Losi finally realized what was happening and quickly adjusted herself to keep up with Cheng Qing's pace. Their movements gradually became more synchronized; Losi danced with agility, while Cheng Qing danced with power.
She danced with light steps and graceful movements, her beauty unparalleled.
The music was urgent, and so were the dance moves. With delicate hands and feet treading on lotus leaves, the two dancers moved with the grace of swallows in spring.
They looked at each other, and slowly smiled, their beauty beyond compare.
The music stopped and the dance ended; both of them breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Before the audience could respond, Cheng Qing didn't care. She glanced at Luo Xi first and felt that the lighting was like mist, giving Luo Xi a hazy beauty.
Applause erupted from the audience, and the two bowed again before being led off the stage.
The day's task was finally over, and Losi breathed a sigh of relief as she followed them to the back. She then said somewhat dejectedly to Cheng Qing beside her, "I noticed that the audience's reaction after we left the stage wasn't as enthusiastic as the others."
Cheng Qing didn't care: "It's okay, as long as we pass the test."
Lossie sighed: "It's my fault for not choosing the right program."
Cheng Qing chuckled: "It should be that I didn't dance, right?"
Losi: "...You're so good at comforting people."
Originally, Luo Xi only wanted to praise Cheng Qing for dancing well, but after thinking about it seriously, Cheng Qing replied, "Maybe it's because I'm comforting you?"
Losi: "..." She's also quite good at flirting.
Once backstage, staff members took over from them and led them to the dining table below the stage.
Two tables were prepared for the guests. Cheng Qing and Luo Xi were seated at the table for the temporary guests, where they sat with Mu Xue.
When Mu Xue saw the two of them coming over, she clapped and cheered, "You danced so well!"
Cheng Qing thanked her and sat down with Luo Xi. Only then did they realize that Ming Yue was indeed not there; she must have been called back by her manager yesterday?
Mu Xue was leaving, so she drank some alcohol that night.
She clinked glasses with Cheng Qing, her cheeks flushed, and said, "Teacher, although we haven't known each other for long, I toast you."
Cheng Qing remained calm and composed, clinking his glass with hers before drinking it all in one gulp.
Mu Xue wasn't a big drinker, but after toasting everyone, she became slightly tipsy.
At 6 p.m., the guests' performances ended. After the live stream was closed, the director invited a local opera troupe to perform.
Li Mingyao and Ye Lingyun only performed a recitation on stage and came in last place.
Therefore, he was also punished by the director to complete a task for the fans.
It wasn't too difficult; it just required Li Mingyao to lead Ye Lingyun in a Waltz dance. This was still within Li Mingyao's acceptable range, and he earnestly led Ye Lingyun in the dance.
The result was applause; it seemed the punishment act was more popular than anything they had prepared themselves.
Only after the two of them left the stage did the opera troupe go on stage.
The play we've chosen tonight is called "The Flower of Fate," a script made up by the members of the opera troupe themselves.
The overall structure is somewhat similar to "The Butterfly Lovers," but there are several fundamental differences in the story.
In short, the story is about Liang Shanbo, disguised as a man, meeting Zhu Yingtai, also disguised as a man, at an academy. Both believe the other to be a man and fall deeply in love, but their true identities are eventually revealed, and they discover that the other is also a woman.
The family of "Zhu Yingtai" was wealthy. When their young lady fell in love with another woman, the family simply assumed that the other woman was a con artist.
Therefore, they gathered a group of people and beat up "Liang Shanbo". "Liang Shanbo" was a woman, delicate and weak. The beating left her with a chronic illness, and she was bedridden from then on. She passed away not long after.
Before she passed away, she wrote a letter to "Zhu Yingtai," expressing her deep affection for her.
He told "Zhu Yingtai" in his heart how much he loved her, that his love would last until the seas dried up and the rocks crumbled, and that he only regretted that he was a woman and could not give her happiness.
Looking back now, it turns out that the days at the academy were the most carefree time for the two of them.
She now deeply regrets not telling "Zhu Yingtai" that she was a woman.
Even if she misunderstands him as a heartless and ungrateful man, and lives her life with disgust for him, it's better than spending your life longing for someone who will never come back.
At least, there's disgust, a temporary grime in life. But you'll quickly clean it up and start a new life.
Perhaps in the future, it will be enough if people remember that there was such a person as "Liang Shanbo".
But now, she is a person suffering from a serious illness. She understands in her heart that love runs deep and cannot be controlled, and she understands even more the pain of separation by death.
She was about to pass away, so naturally she didn't care. But she was left alone in the world, missing him, wasting her life day after day.
Therefore, it would have been better if the two had never met or never revealed their identities.
But since things have come to this, one can only hope that "Zhu Yingtai" will forget herself soon and live happily with a gentleman of equal social standing.
Tears streamed down his face as he left his name, yet he still said, "I have never regretted meeting you in this life."
The story was performed with deep emotion on stage, and Mu Xue and Luo Xi watched with tears in their eyes.
Cheng Qing was speechless: "...Aren't you guys filming TV shows? Why are you being so sentimental?"
Mu Xue looked at her with tears in her eyes and scolded, "Teacher, you are too heartless."
Cheng Qing: "..."
Cheng Qing isn't actually heartless; in fact, she's begun to think things through. Isn't what the character in the play is saying exactly what she's worried about?
Tonight's performance perhaps resonated with the audience, who empathized with Zhu Yingtai's heart-wrenching cries. Hearing her call out her lover's name, many in the audience secretly wiped away tears.
But Cheng Qing completely projected herself onto the deceased "Liang Shanbo." She even seriously considered what kind of letter she should write to her beloved if she had to pass away.
Before she could figure it out, Losi's innocent voice interrupted her thoughts.
Losi said pitifully, "The ancients were so pathetic."
Cheng Qing snapped out of her daze, turned to look at her, and saw that her eyes were red and swollen, like those of a snow-white rabbit with red eyes.
Cheng Qing asked, "...What's wrong?"
Losi remarked with deep feeling, "Women can't marry each other!!! Otherwise, they wouldn't be separated."
Cheng Qing laughed and tapped Luo Xi's forehead, reminding her, "The biggest difference between them isn't gender, but social status. Even if Miss Liang weren't a woman, the Zhu family wouldn't let their daughter marry into that family."
Losi blinked, looking aggrieved, and asked, "Why?"
Cheng Qing looked at the opera girl on stage crying and calling out "Liang Lang~" with a sigh, and explained, "Miss Zhu was carefully cultivated and pampered by the Zhu family. On the other hand, Miss Liang's family has fallen on hard times and has no power or influence. How could the Zhu family allow their daughter to marry into such a family? Therefore, even if same-sex marriage is allowed, Miss Zhu and Miss Liang cannot be together. What the Zhu family wants is... a marriage between equals."
Author's Note:
The article mentions the song "The Truth Is True".