Chapter 49

Act VII: Fan Letter (1)

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—The memories of five years ago came to an abrupt end.

Tan Yiming sat in the audience and looked up at the lights on the stage.

Onstage, the boy sang loudly while performing dazzling dance steps. His voice was as penetrating as it was five years ago, it was unforgettable.

Incredible.

It seemed as if they were still chatting and laughing online just yesterday. But in the blink of an eye, when they met again, they've spent almost two thousand days and nights apart.

...

Accompanied by the energetic encore, Kinky Boots, which was completely rehearsed by the students, finally came to an end.

The ejectors on both sides of the stage sprayed gold glittering ribbons, and Xiang Cai, who was wrapped in a tight red sequin dress, flapped his exaggerated false eyelashes.

His gaze shifted faintly to the left rear of the auditorium, and he easily found the strange and familiar figure.

Xiang Cai had fantasized of the man’s features countless times.

He should be tall, with soaring eyes, and with a warm smile in his brow. But when said man really appeared in front of himself, Xiang Cai found that all the adjectives that had appeared in his mind were not enough to describe the man’s actual appearance.

In the auditorium, Tan Yiming was the first to get up and applaud. He was already handsome and upright, very conspicuous in the audience of less than a hundred people. When he stood up, the rest of the audience even stood up together one by one.

In the end, there was thunderous applause in the entire small theater, and they cheered loudly, sincerely giving praise to the young students on the stage.

Although their performance was immature, the enthusiasm contained in it could not be discounted.

When the curtain finally fell, Xiang Cai’s legs, which were so tired that he almost collapsed, softened and almost caused him to fall to the ground.

The female lead standing next to him hurriedly supported him, and together with the two angels on the left and right, hugged him off the stage.

Before he sat in the dressing room, the logistics classmates waiting in the backstage corridor had already rushed up.

This one fed water, one fed chocolate, and someone else was responsible for removing his wig.

The hair net was completely wet with sweat, and the soft black hair clung to his scalp. Sweat rushed down, and mixed with the cosmetics on the face, looked particularly embarrassing.

Someone squatted down and took off his tight high-heeled boots. It took a lot of work to take off the shoes because his feet were swollen. When the boy's feet were finally freed from the boots, a strong bloody smell came to their faces, and a scared female classmate shouted, "Xiang Cai, you get no more amputations!!! ''

"..." Xiang Cai glanced at the crow's mouth quietly.

After that, a lot of time was wasted with debridement and medicine application. All the bloody blisters were sprayed with Yunnan Baiyao. With each spray, Xiang Cai’s shoulders shrank, and his eyebrows twisted together, but there was no pain.

After all, in order to return to the stage and dance again, he experienced much more pain than he did now.

Stepping into the flip-flops with both feet, Xiang Cai sighed in comfort. He picked up the makeup remover beside him to wipe his face.

Because the stage lighting was very strong, the stage makeup was exaggerated many times more than daily makeup. And Xiang Cai played another sexy and enchanting drag queen. He had three pairs of false eyelashes alone, and half a tube of glitter on his eyelids. When removing makeup, he used rough methods. The female classmates next to him couldn’t continue watching.

"Class monitor! That is your face, not a wall!" Someone was distressed. "Forget it, you put your hand down, I will remove your makeup!"

"No need." He rubbed again, casually. "I'm in a hurry."

After removing the bright red lip gloss and exaggerated eyeshadow, the boy stood in front of the mirror. His skin was extremely white, and his slightly long hair was softly placed on his forehead. He washed his hands for a while, and subconsciously raised his hand to touch himself in the mirror. He suddenly couldn't remember what he looked like five years ago.

Forget it.

Seventeen-year-old Xiang Cai had already left.

He hastily changed back into his clothes, grabbed his wallet and mobile phone, and ran out of the backstage: "I’m leaving early today!"

"Where are you going?" Asked an angel who was still taking a selfie. "Are you not going to the celebration party?"

"No!" Xiang Cai didn't look back and waved his hand, "Don't play too late tonight, the money for the barbecue will be charged to my account!"

"Open arms to brother!"

"Class monitor is mighty!"

"Ah, when can I be as big as Xiang Cai Ge."

"When Tang lets you be a lead, you can be so classy!"

Xiang Cai didn't listen to the jokes of the classmates behind him. He turned the last corner and walked out of Shanhe Theater through the side door.

This side door was reserved for actors to enter and exit. Some fans would also be waiting there with gifts, looking forward to their beloved actor.

But now, under the dim light, there was only one figure standing there quietly, with his hands in his pockets and his head down. Who knew what he was thinking.

Xiang Cai paused in his steps.

He suddenly had a strong urge to run away. He could turn around and go back to the theater to celebrate the success of the premiere with his classmates and eat and drink at the barbecue stall in front of the school, instead of facing a person he didn't know how to face on this silent night.

But it was too late to escape.

Tan Yiming heard his footsteps and looked up.

The two eyes collided, and it was as if a light was lit in the dark night.

"Cai Cai." The man whispered his name softly, with an inexplicable smile at the corner of his mouth. "I thought you wouldn't come out."

"..." Xiang Cai was a little embarrassed and bent his head down before the man. He had nothing to say. "Why wouldn't I come out? It’s not like I can live in the theater."

"I thought you deliberately stood me up and slipped through the front door." Tan Yiming shrugged.

"..." Xiang Cai couldn't lift his head anymore.

Well, he would admit it. He had just, indeed, a little bit, really only a little bit, wanted to slip away through the front door.

But in the end—reason trumped emotion—he appeared as promised.

It was late, and the cafes around Shanhe Theatre were closed. Only the 24-hour Kentucky Fried Chicken was still brightly lit.

This way, the two could only move towards KFC with no emotion.

Tan Yiming was in a rush a few days ago and had been staying in the recording studio. Everyday he ate fast food. Now just looking at the white-bearded old man on the signboard made him feel sick.

So, he only ordered a cup of coffee, then pulled out his wallet and set it aside, waiting to check out with Xiang Cai after ordering.

Xiang Cai directly said to the waiter, "I’d like a family bucket."

Tan Yiming hurriedly interrupted him: "You don't have to order for me, I’ll just drink coffee."

Xiang Cai: "... I ordered it for myself."

He had jumped and bounced on the stage for two and a half hours. He was so hungry that his chest stuck to his back, and now he could only comfort himself with the oversized fried chicken and a burger.

Tan Yiming: "..."

With slight embarrassment, Xiang Cai called up his WeChat wallet and prepared to check out, but Tan Yiming stopped him to pay.

Soon, the fragrant fried chicken was placed on the table. Tan Yiming held coffee in his hand and watched the boy kill the pair of spicy wings and burger at the speed of wind, and then lick his fingers and attack the next dessert.

When he was a teenager, he weighed himself on the scales weekly, ate less oil, less salt, and less stinky foods, and was careful not to let his weight exceed the range required by the school. At that time, he was slender and light. When a white shirt hung on his body and wind was blowing, he seemed to be drifting away.

However, ever since he first appeared in a musical at the age of 20 and fainted backstage after having just performed five shows, the director ordered him to stop controlling his appetite and to eat when he was hungry to ensure his physical strength.

Since then, Xiang Cai’s appetite had grown at an alarming rate. After all, it was too hard to play in a musical, sing, dance, and act, sometimes crying and sometimes laughing. If you couldn’t keep up the energy, you would be sent to the hospital any minute.

So, after each performance, Xiang Cai would eat the food of two adult men in one breath. ——As for gaining weight? That didn’t exist! He was no longer a skinny little swan, now, he was a muscular fighting goose!

While he was struggling to eat, Tan Yiming who was sitting across from him kept looking at him.

The heavy makeup on his face was removed, and the boy's delicate appearance was shown in front of the man.

If you wanted to use one word to describe Xiang Cai’s appearance, then Tan Yiming would choose: "clean".

Xiang Cai was too clean.

Like a verdant bamboo, or a clear spring, each feature had a refreshing and clean taste.

He wore a t-shirt of the Huacheng Dance Academy, and the large "dance" line was twisted and changed to outline the figure of a dancer.

Under his feet, he stepped on a pair of flip-flops. Tan Yiming's eyes fell on his feet, and he noticed the long and short hideous scars on those feet.

Those scars were too terrible and too conspicuous. Tan Yiming’s pupils shrunk, he couldn’t imagine what kind of accident would leave such horrible marks.

Cai Cai ... wasn’t he a ballerina? Why did he appear on the stage of a musical, could it be related to those scars?

Tan Yiming wanted to ask, but he didn't know from which status he would ask with.

—As a friend?

No, their relationship was far more complicated than friends.

At that moment, Xiang Cai’s feet moved, and the feet, which were originally exposed under the light, suddenly retracted. The two feet and ankles overlapped and hid under the chair.

Tan Yiming subconsciously retracted his gaze from the boy's feet, and when he raised his eyes, found that Xiang Cai had already finished eating the food on the table and was looking at him.

"You..." Xiang Cai said, his clear male voice very pleasant to listen to, "... You are not the same as I imagined."

"Really?" Tan Yiming laughed. "You are ‘very different’ from what I imagined."

Not the same, very different. If the two words were reversed, the meanings would be quite different.

Curiously, Xiang Cai couldn’t help but ask, "What did you imagine me as?"

Tan Yiming replied: "My imagination was based on the information you gave me—five years ago, you were a ballet student about to graduate from college. I never expected that you would have studied at your university for so many years.”

Xiang Cai was so embarrassed that he felt like he was exploding in place.

After lying all that time, the truth was finally exposed.

Xiang Cai didn't know that the misinformation he left misled Tan Yiming for a full five years.

After the night of the song meeting was over, Xiang Cai turned and left without a goodbye. At that time, he resolutely decided not only to delete Tan Yiming’s contact, but even never used his QQ number ever again.

Tan Yiming tried to find him—there were only a few universities in China that offered ballet majors. He had inquired about them one by one, but there were no freshman names with the word “Cai”.

Later, Tan Yiming entrusted several famous ballet companies in China to inquire about whether there was such a male dancer, but the answer was still negative.

Tan Yiming doubted himself countless times. Was the little swan that fell in front of him a dream that he constructed in his lonely study abroad? And now that he woke up from the dream, the swan flew away?

... Until today, when they met by chance, he discovered that the dream was true and the swan was also true, but the swan lied and deceived him.

"That ... I'm sorry," Xiang Cai said. "Because I was young, I wanted to be more mature."

"Then you are 22 years old this year?"

"No, it's 23. I took a year off from high school."

"Stopped school?"

"En." The little swan stretched out his webbed goose feet again and moved. "I did learn ballet before. But there was a serious car accident, and after a year off school, I switched to the song and dance profession. At that time, I was in a very low mood, and later I overheard Yun Da’s voice by accident, and I just..."

He just…

In the latter words, Xiang Cai didn't say anything, and Tan Yiming did not follow up.

After a while, Tan Yiming reopened a topic, stretched out his hand, and said, "Don’t call me 'Yun Da'. Introduce yourself. My name is Tan Yiming, and I am now the head of a commercial dubbing studio."

The hand stretched out in front of Xiang Cai. After a few seconds, he hurriedly stretched out his hand, touched his fingertips gently, shook it up and down for a few seconds in a false manner, and then hurriedly collected his hand back.

The palm of the man was thick and hot. Xiang Cai felt that he had been burned by him.

"My name is Xiang Cai," he said. "I'm a musical actor."

After that, they talked for a long time.

They talk about each other's lives and each other's work.

Tan Yiming told him that he did not return to China immediately after graduation five years ago. He first got a job as a trade assistant at a financial company in the United States, repaid his student loan, then returned to China with his saved money to open his own commercial dubbing studio. Because of this incident, he had a fierce conflict with his parents. More than a dozen relatives entered the battlefield, worrying more about his annual salary than him. Because the conflict with his parents was too difficult to reconcile, he now almost no longer dealt with relatives except for going home during the Spring Festival.

Compared to him, Xiang Cai's life was a lot smoother in recent years. He got into his first college that he applied to, because he performed well in singing and dancing. He premiered onstage when he was 20 and appeared in a musical remake from South Korea. The musical had a very good reputation and was performed nearly a hundred times. However, because of his heavy academics, he only participated in the first round.

Tan Yiming said that, less than three months after he returned to China, his identity was exposed. Some fans rejoiced and encouraged his return, and naturally some sunspots scoffed at his "false farewell." His main job now was to take over the dubbing of some movies and TV series, and he also did business as a commercial dubbing agent, to match the other CVs under his hands.

Xiang Cai said that none of his current classmates were familiar faces from his high school. The musical industry was too poor and too tired. Most of his high school classmates had gone on to other fields. There was also a boy who debuted as an idol, and was now very popular.

"Popular traffic idol?" Tan Yiming asked curiously, "Who? If he’s acted in a TV series, maybe I've even dubbed him."

"Chen Ziran." Xiang Cai blinked, "He sat behind me when I was in high school. He didn't pass the college entrance exam, so he went straight to the talent show to make a high-profile debut."

"..." Tan Yiming's expression was beyond words.

Xiang Cai: "No way, right? You didn’t really dub him?"

"It's not me, my voice doesn't stick to him. But the people under my hands have matched him." When talking about this, he got a headache. “For the costume drama that was released this month, he was full of one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. No one can dub him, the broker's requirements are particularly high."

[T/N: A kind commenter pointed out that actors sometimes recite numbers if they forget their lines because they are usually dubbed over]

Xiang Cai’s body leaned forward slightly, and he whispered: "His agent signed him to three big jobs at the same time, a variety show and two plays. How could he have time to recite the lines?"

The two looked at each other and smiled.

That night, they talked a lot.

After talking about work, and after talking about life, they talked about gossip.

They were both halfway in the entertainment industry, but their scope of work did not overlap, and much gossip could be shared easily.

They talked about almost all things - big and small—but they didn't talk about that one particular sensitive thing. The scene five years ago when he left without saying goodbye.

They both deliberately avoided this topic.

It seemed that as long as they ignored it, they could forget the song of the rose, forget the regrets, forget the tears, and forget the words that were not spoken.

The atmosphere was getting better and better.

They really were like old friends who hadn’t seen each other in years. After meeting again, they still had a harmonious relationship.

"It's getting late." Xiang Cai glanced at his phone. "This good swan is going back to his nest to sleep.”

Tan Yiming was amused by him.

The two got up at the same time and Tan Yiming asked very gentlemanly, "Where do you live? I'll send you back."

"No need." Xiang Cai shook his head and raised his finger to the glass door, "My boyfriend is waiting for me outside."

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The author has something to say: The second part is starting.

Five years have passed, and five years is enough for a lot to happen.

[T/N: Thanks for the reviews on Novel Updates!]

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