Chapter 74

Act IX: The Secret That Cannot Be Told (8)

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Only two hours before the opening, Tan Yiming's car finally rushed through the rain and into the theater parking lot.

Several staff members waiting there immediately raised their umbrellas to greet them, their faces joyful enough to last the rest of their lives: "Xiao Xiang, you are finally here!"

"Sorry, the plane was delayed for too long, and it rained so heavily, so the road was terribly congested." Xiang Cai followed the staff, running all the way to rush into the theater.

"It's okay, it's okay, as long as you've made it here!" A young staff member patted her chest, "You were originally pulled by us as an emergency backup."

Xiang Cai walked hurriedly, and asked, "Are all the other actors here?"

"You’ve arrived early! Everyone has finished warming up. Sister Yan'er said that she wants to hurry up and meet you."

"Okay," Xiang Cai nodded. "Then invite her into the dressing room. I will get in touch with her while putting on makeup."

Two hours sounded like a long time, but for two stage actors who had never collaborated before, this time was not enough for them to rehearse.

After all, actors were not really Lego blocks, and everyone had their own performance style. If there was little tacit understanding between each pair of partners, it would be inadequate for outsiders. Xiang Cai, whose abilities were driven to its limits, was very worried about any omissions on the stage.

The staff member led Xiang Cai backstage, picked up the work card on her chest, and shook it in front of the security guard.

"Wait!" The security guard looked at the staff member, "Where is his work permit?"

The staff member explained: "This is our actor! His face is the best work permit."

Because of the recent incident, security had been extremely strict these days. The company specifically sent several bulky security guards to guard the entrances and exits to prohibit all unknown persons from approaching.

"I don’t mean him," The security guard said in a huff. "He is so good-looking and has a good temperament, he looks like an actor at first glance - I'm talking about the one behind."

...The one behind?

Xiang Cai looked back and found that the person stopped by the security guard was actually Tan Yiming, who had followed them all the way backstage.

Xiang Cai was full of thoughts about work, and forgot to say goodbye to the man when he got out of the car. Tan Yiming didn't bother him, and followed him quietly like a shadow, until he was unexpectedly stopped by the sharp-eyed security guard.

The blocked Tan Yiming didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, thinking: in the eyes of the security guard, I am not good-looking or temperamental. At first glance, am I just a person in a crowd?

"This is my friend." Xiang Cai hurriedly said, "He had spent several hours driving me here from the airport. Can he go backstage and wait for me?"

The security guard shook his head selflessly: "Sorry, the rules are the rules. The company says that, except for actors and employees with work permits, no one else can enter backstage, even employees' relatives and friends."

"That..."

Tan Yiming took the initiative to round the field: "It's okay." He smiled, "It's okay now that I’ve sent you safely. I'll leave first, then I’ll pick you up when the show is over."

Having said that, where could he actually go? It was raining so heavily outside and there were traffic jams everywhere. He could only go back to the parking lot and survive a few hours alone.

He turned and was about to leave, but the staff member next to him stopped him.

"It's raining so heavily outside, stop tossing back and forth!" The staff member said enthusiastically, "I will apply for an employee ticket from the class leader later. You can stay and watch the show."

Tan Yiming and Xiang Cai were both startled.

The gazes of the two collided, and then quickly moved away.

Xiang Cai whispered: "That is no good..."

"It's okay," the staff member shrugged. "Your friend is not an outsider, and it's just an employee ticket. The class leader will definitely approve it."

Tan Yiming had only watched a musical of Xiang Cai’s once. That time, he had walked into the theater by accident and reunited with him. Unexpectedly, he could sit in the theater again so quickly and watch Xiang Cai’s performance once more.

So just like that, Tan Yiming was left in the theater by the staff member.

...

Happy Pancake Company had several cooperative theaters in Huacheng. This theater today was three stories high and had three performance halls. The largest hall could accommodate 800 spectators.

Tan Yiming slipped to the front entrance of the theater and found that many audience members had arrived early. It seemed that even the heavy rain failed to extinguish everyone's enthusiasm for watching musicals.

In the most conspicuous position of the theater hall, a tall poster wall was erected. The poster was printed with a promotional image of First Love Is Now, and the numerous awards won by the musical were listed on the side.

Many viewers took photos in front of the poster wall, and some gathered together to discuss the incident from a few days ago.

Tan Yiming noticed that, in the open space on both sides of the poster, there were more than a dozen real-life flower baskets. The colorful flowers were bunched together and supported, standing tall with balloons and dotted colored paper besides them; it looked very lively.

Tan Yiming took a closer look and found that each group of flower baskets had a message hanging on them. There were a total of fifteen groups of flower baskets. Three groups were given by the audience to the crew, five groups were given by fans to the injured male protagonist, and the remaining groups were given to the female protagonist Sister Yan'er and other actors in the group.

Tan Yiming looked back and forth twice and found that none of these flower baskets were for Xiang Cai.

If he thought about it, to the old audience in Huacheng, Xiang Cai was an absolutely unknown young actor. He did not have fans in this city or crew, and naturally, no one would applaud him.

Tan Yiming looked at the dozen sets of flower baskets in front of him, thinking — let him be Xiang Cai’s first fan.

Tan Yiming remembered that there was a small flower shop on the way here. The distance was not far, and it took only five minutes to go back and forth.

He immediately drove out towards the small flower shop.

The road was a little congested, so there were a few minutes of delay.

When he got out of the car, he didn't even bother with an umbrella and rushed directly into the flower shop.

"Boss, can you still arrange a bouquet now?" he asked straightforwardly.

"Yes, how could I not?" The boss didn't expect business to come to his door on a rainy day. "Who is it for, to whom?"

Tan Yiming gave a clear cough: "Ah, it's not a love interest... I’m giving it to an actor I like, they are acting in the theater next door."

The flower shop owner was surprised. Because his small shop was very close to the theater, he occasionally received orders to send things to the crew, but those who placed the orders were young female fans. However, this guest who came in under the heavy rain, no matter how he looked at it, was nothing like a fanatical star chaser.

However, the boss changed his mind - female fans could chase male actors, and male fans could chase female actors.

The boss asked familiarly: "What is the theme color of the actor you like? I want to determine the main color of the bouquet."

"...I do not know."

Tan Yiming thought blankly, did Xiang Cai have a support club? He probably shouldn’t have one.

The boss could only change the question: "Then what color do they like?"

"...I do not know that either."

Tan Yiming and Xiang Cai had lived together for a little less than a month, but he couldn’t find his color preference yet. His towel was blue, his toothbrush was yellow, the cup he bought was checkered, and his bedding was gray...Every time Xiang Cai went to the supermarket to buy something, he always took the cheapest one on the shelf, no matter the color.

After the boss received such answers from Tan Yiming for three consecutive questions, he simply put his pencil behind his ear and asked, "Brother, tell me the truth - you are not chasing a star, you are chasing a person, right?"

"..." Tan Yiming was speechless.

The boss waved his hand: "If you tell me the budget, can I do other things freely?"

Tan Yiming nodded, took out a stack of RMB from his wallet, and put it on the counter.

He was a wealthy boss and was not stingy with money. The boss was very fast and tidy in his work, in only an hour, he managed to actually arrange a large bouquet of flowers and plants.

The theme color of the bouquet was elegant pearl white. Because Tan Yiming was willing to spend money, the boss chose 99 flowers as the center. Scattered baby’s-breath interspersed between the green lining of leaves, embracing the center bouquet. There was also a greeting card behind the flower basket, so that Tan Yiming could write his blessings.

But the only problem was... the main flowers of this bouquet were actually white roses!

The boss admired his masterpiece quite contentedly: "Look at how delicate my idea is; the colors are elegant, and the layers are distinct. It's perfectly grasped. It is very ambiguous if you want to say it is ambiguous, and it is very serious if you want to say it is very serious. If you take a step back, one can say that is from a fan to an actor; taken a step further, one can say it is from a suitor to their sweetheart...Don't worry, if you take this bouquet to the actress you admire, she will definitely like it!"

Tan Yiming really wanted to tell the flower shop owner that he was not chasing an actress...

But now it was too late to make another bouquet. Tan Yiming could only hold the handful of white roses and drive towards the theater again.

...

When he arrived in the theater parking lot, he saw a delivery van blocking the theater entrance gate. Several uniformed workers were carefully moving flowers from the car to the theater.

The flower stand was extraordinarily magnificent, a whole square meter on its own. The main filling of the bouquet was light green carnations clustered together; and in the center of the stand, there were two big characters spelled out with the main yellow flowers - “Xiang Cai”.

Tan Yiming: "...???"

A nearby audience member spoke: "Xiang Cai? Xiang Cai is today’s male protagonist, right?

"Yes, yes, that’s him." An audience member next to them said, "His local fan tyrant is too rich, sending such a big bouquet to the stage! There are more than a dozen groups of flower baskets for this show, but none of them are so supportive."

"Wait, look at the words on the workers' uniforms. That flower shop is so famous! I remember the previous wedding-of-a-century of that XX actress. The bouquets were made at their house."

The porter quickly moved the arrangement with Xiang Cai’s name near the poster, and it instantly attracted countless gazes. When the workers left, many spectators gathered around to take pictures.

Someone sharply saw a greeting card behind the flower stand, and immediately pulled it out, publicly reading—

—"Xiang Cai, I wish you a smooth performance! Your friend: Chen Ziran"

The audience exploded in an instant.

"Chen Ziran? It's not that Chen Ziran, is it?" A girl said incredulously, "That Chen Ziran who made his debut through The Avenue of Stars?"

Standing next to her was a man who was a few years older than her. They stood very close, and seemed to be boyfriend and girlfriend.

Her boyfriend immediately said: "It’s the same name, right? Chen Ziran is so popular, how do they know each other?"

The girl shrugged: "Chen Ziran is an actor, and Xiang Cai is also an actor. The entertainment industry is so big, they can get acquainted at any chance."

But her boyfriend insisted: "Just because they are called actors doesn’t mean they are all the same. Those extras in Hengdian are also called actors! Chen Ziran follows the traffic route. The mobile game I played is endorsed by him, and the endorsement fee is only 10 million! But how much money can a musical actor make in one showing? Do you think Chen Ziran will really become friends with someone whose income level is so low?"

When the girl heard this, her expression became a little uncomfortable. She tactfully joked: "As the son of the boss of Wanda Group said: 'I don't value money when making friends, I'm already rich anyway.' Maybe Chen Ziran is thinking the same way. He is already rich, so he doesn’t need anything from Xiang Cai. He must have become friends with Xiang Cai because he liked him."

"Cut, you haven't graduated yet, you’re too innocent," her boyfriend snorted. "Even if Chen Ziran doesn't think much of it, can Xiang Cai also not think too much? Xiang Cai’s friend earns more money in one minute than he does every year - can he not be jealous? Can he not be envious? If he is not jealous or envious, it must be because he wants to hug his thigh, and maybe use Chen Ziran as a springboard to enter the entertainment industry after a while!"

The tone of the young man's speech was extremely ‘oily’. As he said it, he also gave a weird laugh. It was obvious that he didn't know the relationship between Xiang Cai and Chen Ziran, yet he could make up so many things with only a greeting card.

Tan Yiming listened to them for a long time. Seeing that the other party continued to make things up about Xiang Cai, the man couldn't help but interrupt.

***

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