Chapter 25

Act IV: Billy Elliot (6)

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The news that the great god Wang Qingyun was about to appear in the new work soon reached Xiang Cai’s ears through post-production.

He had been looking forward to cooperating with Wang Qingyun, but did not expect it to happen so soon.

guess: Is Yun Da a leading character?

Post-production: No, he is busy in the three-dimensional world, and can only take a supporting guest role.

Post-production: But if Yun-sama is invited for a cameo, our drama will definitely be hot!

Post-production: Little guess, you have to perform well, our crew has three episodes pointing at you ~~

guess: Well, I must work hard!

guess: However, at the moment, it might take a few days to finish the dry sound ...because recording is not convenient.

Post-production: Huh? Are you busy in the three-dimensional world?

guess: No.

guess: I don’t have any recording equipment. I have to borrow it from school, and recently, the vocal classrooms are always occupied. I can only wait.

Post-production: Okay, then you can get it in as soon as you can.

Post-production was a very talkative girl. She knew that Xiang Cai was a student, so she didn't force him to rush the dry sound. She only told him to finish the work as soon as possible.

Xiang Cai’s finger tapped on the screen and returned a hippie smiley swan emoji.

However, if the post-production girl stood right front of him, she would find that there was no smile on his face, and his expression was indifferent, as if split from the lively boy on the Internet.

Because it was not others who occupied the vocal classroom, but the main creative team of Out of My World.

At first, only the producers and directors came to cast roles. Later, the screenwriter and Chinese lyricist also came. They directly stayed in the hotel opposite the school and appeared on campus almost every day. Sometimes they were watching in the professional class of the Ballet Department, sometimes discussing problems with the vocal teacher, sometimes appearing in the cafeteria ... another time, Xiang Cai met them downstairs in the dormitory, and he lowered his head and hurried away.

The main creative team seemed to be rooted here. It was originally scheduled that they would stay for only half a month. However, an entire month passed in the blink of an eye.

Hua City was located in the north so autumn was very short; in the blink of an eye, it moved from late summer to late autumn. In a few days, when the ginkgo leaves on the tree fell, it would be time for winter.

The bright seasonal changes also gave Xiang Cai an illusion, as if the crew had been with him for so long, so long that even if he covered his ears and did not listen to those rumors, there was countless news flowing into him from the world.

Take Chen Ziran, who was sitting behind him, for example. His friends were all over the world, and he had a wide range of news channels. Every time the wind blew, he would yell for the whole world to know.

In the ten minute break between classes, Chen Ziran sat his butt on the desk and began to broadcast again: "This time, the casting has brought together all boys from the age of 16 to 18 in the Ballet Department, adding up to 52 people. However, only 26 people signed up to participate in the selection."

Someone asked why.

"What other reason is there? They feel that rehearsing a musical is a waste of their precious ballet time. To put it bluntly, they are short-sighted and are afraid they won’t be chosen!" Chen Ziran curled his lips and continued, "The twenty-six all passed the initial test, and then were packed and taken to vocal lessons. "

"Oh~" Someone continued. "I wondered why every day when I was in self-study, the vocal classrooms were closed and I was not allowed to use it. I dare believe that the little swans are using it!"

Xiang Cai’s ears moved— ‘Little Swan’ —a name that was so familiar from Wang Qingyun's mouth, was full of tenderness and compassion. However, when he heard it from the other people, it only violated the peace.

Xiang Cai didn’t say a word, and the pages in his hands flipped and rattled.

Chen Ziran in the back row was still talking about it: "As a result of the vocal exam, they swept away a full fifteen!!!" He covered his stomach and fell on the other students, "Who would have thought that those twenty or so little swans would actually be out of tune. So many!!! The rest couldn’t remember the lyrics!!!"

Chen Ziran blablabla-ed endlessly, with a lingering scent of lemon in his tone.

"Cut, the director really doesn't know what to think. They are good at ballet, but this is a musical. Shouldn’t the emphasis be on the music?! They really thought that if they just went to the Ballet Department and caught a few ducklings, they would be more professional than us and sing better than us?" He paused suddenly, looking towards his front. His right hand raised high and then landed heavily on Xiang Cai’s shoulder, making a crackling sound. "Speaking of which, someone who can dance ballet well and sing well, I have seen one in my life—that is the little prince of our class!"

But as soon as his words fell, Xiang Cai suddenly shook his shoulder and unceremoniously threw the male student's palm off of him.

He got up and stood still, his hands in his school uniform pockets and his face extremely calm.

It was quiet all around.

Xiang Cai didn't meet any pair of eyes, and just whispered, "Sorry, I'm going to the toilet." Then he passed the crowd and walked out of the noisy corner of the classroom.

Chen Ziran blankly sat cross-legged on the desk and asked, "No ... no, was I not bragging about him? Is the little prince of our class angry?"

Qi Ji twisted her body and puffed up, her whole face wrinkled into a bun: "Chen Ziran, why is your mouth so broken!"

Chen Ziran jumped up and said, "Jin Qi Ji, you scold me and scold me, can you swallow what’s in your mouth first and then speak?! Look at what you've sprayed, it's covered my chest in oil splatters, will you be responsible for washing it?"

...

Xiang Cai’s feet seemed to have their own will. When he reacted, he was already standing in front of Teacher Chu Ping's office.

This was the office shared by all the class teachers of the Musical Theatre Department, and the single room of the department head was opposite this large office.

Xiang Cai’s right hand stopped in the air, less than one centimeter away from the door panel.

There was a voice in his heart urging him—knock, quickly knock, knock on the door, find Teacher Chu, the head of the department, and anyone else you can find! Tell them that you want to participate in the selection of Out of My World! Tell them that you want to stand on that stage even if your foot is injured!

He didn't know how many times he had watched the musical Out of My World. He knew all the songs in it and could recite all the lyrics without reading the music.

Every time he saw that work, he would be moved by the perseverance of little Billy. He thought of his former self breaking into the dance classroom regardless of his parents' obstruction, begging the teacher to accept him.

He had gone through all the hardships that little Billy had experienced, and he had also experienced hardships that little Billy didn’t. If they must choose a little Billy from their school, he was the best candidate!

He could sing loudly, and he could dance gorgeous moves on the stage.

His voice and feet would carry his dreams, he ...

... He was not a waste.

The blood rushed into his heart, and at the same time, into his chest came courage and persistence.

After all, he was a seventeen-year-old boy. He was still an adolescent, and his life had just begun. Even if he had encountered such suffering, it had never extinguished his hope.

He raised his right hand, his fists clenched, his knuckles dropped slightly—

But he didn't expect that the door of the office was originally slightly open. As soon as he touched it, the door shifted to reveal a gap.

From the gap came the voice of the Teacher Chu Ping and the head of the department.

He heard Teacher Chu say, "Is it really impossible to give Xiang Cai a chance? Xiang Cai’s voice conditions are good, his progress is fast, and he has ballet skills. Tomorrow morning, the main creative team of Out of My World will leave. I want to let Xiang Cai show his face before they leave. "

He heard the head of the department say, "What's the use of just showing his face? If they don't choose him, it will hurt the child even more!"

"But it won't necessarily fail ..."

"Teacher Chu, I know that you are distressed about Xiang Cai. But I am also distressed! The principal is distressed too! Old Liu of the Ballet Department is still crying whenever she mentions the child! But what is the use of our distress? Are you being realistic? His case is there in black and white, four operations, countless steel nails, exemption from sports exams, missing half of the first half of the dance class ... this is the reality! "

"But ... but ..."

"No buts!" The head of the department’s voice sounded like thunder, dark clouds pressing down, and dusk was heavy. “It’s impossible for Xiang Cai to be the protagonist of Out of My World. Although it is a pity, this is the result of a unanimous agreement of all the teachers.”

After that, the head of the department continued to talk with Chu Ping.

But Xiang Cai couldn't hear anything else.

He seemed to have become a puppet, a machine, neither feeling sadness nor joy,
a soul without feelings. 

 He seemed to be floating in the air, he seemed to have fallen into an abyss.

He had nothing, he was nothing.

He was Xiang Cai, but Xiang Cai had already died in that car accident.

He was a waste, trash who thought that he could return to the stage on his own two feet, but in fact, everyone was looking at the waste he was with pity.

He actually wanted to fight against fate—but everyone, everyone, everyone, already concluded the end of his fate.

He couldn’t.

He couldn’t.

He couldn’t do it.

He would never be the protagonist of Out of My World.

He couldn't show the whole audience his love on the stage with his own feet.

That used to be a belief that ran through his life.

It was a dream he was proud of, thinking that he would fight for that dream his entire life.

But this dream was broken ...

in the afternoon when the cicadas cried, in the small town that was his hometown, a place without any surveillance, under the wheel of that rampaging car.

... everything he was, was over.

He knew that as long as he worked hard and was willing to pay, he might become the protagonist of a musical someday in the future. That musical wouldn’t have any drastic dance moves, it just needed his feet to fall to the ground, no jumping, running, or rotating; he would just stand there quietly and sing the whole play.

There were many musicals like that.

But all those musicals ... none was called Out of My World.

He could never be that boy named Billy Elliot in ballet shoes.

…………

The bell had already rung twice, signaling class, but Xiang Cai sat on the toilet in the middle of the bathroom, staring at the spider web on the ceiling.

He didn’t know how he got here.

He thought calmly that it should be the pair of feet that was deemed useless for ballet that carried him over.

There was a window next to him. Looking out of the window, Xiang Cai saw that the sky was high and clouds sparse, and it was a beautiful scene of late autumn.

It was unfortunate.

To Xiang Cai, it was a pity that the window actually had a guardrail.

The cellphone in his pocket was vibrating, constantly shaking. Xiang Cai took a glance at it and found that it was Qi Ji.

Miracle Girl: Xiang Cai, where are you???

Miracle Girl: Come back to class soon!

Miracle Girl: This is not a physical education class. Did you go back to your dorm to sleep?

Xiang Cai didn't reply.

He knew that as a friend and as a little gentleman, he should not let a girl worry about himself.

But he couldn't care less right now.

He thought, go f*ck.

The young boy swore for the first time, but it made him feel very satisfied. 

He didn't want to see anyone's face right now. No matter if it was Qi Ji, Chen Ziran, Teacher Chu, the head of the department, Teacher Wu Ji, the vocal teacher ... he just wanted to spend the day quietly in a place where he was alone.

But at the same time, another voice was telling him:

‘Let it go—vent all your pain, all your tears, all your regrets and resentment. Tear down all the masks and stop being a good and humble child, vent the pain that has been put on your feet thousands of times.

Otherwise ... you might as well jump out that window.

Maybe in the afterlife, you can become a butterfly, a cloud, a flower, or, or a little swan.

In short, don't be a ballet prince anymore.’

Xiang Cai held the phone in his hand and subconsciously pulled down, refreshed, pulled down, and refreshed.

He seemed to click on Weibo and the contact list, but in the end, he opened the chat software and found a person's name.

guess: Great god, are you there?

guess: I'm in a bad mood right now.

guess: Can I talk to you ...?

After half a minute, the phone screen lit up again.

Yiming Qingyun: You say it.

Yiming Qingyun: I am listening.

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The author has something to say: Hey, Cai Cai.

(I cried, how about you guys!)

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