Chapter 74.5

"Mister, what is your occupation?"

The young man was taken aback, turning his head and looking over.

Tan Yiming's appearance was extraordinary. They looked over at him, he had a hand in his trouser pocket while holding a handful of white roses in the other. He was personable and calm as their gazes fell upon him.

The young man looked him up and down, and then questioned slyly: "Who are you, why are you asking?"

Tan Yiming smiled: "I investigate household registrations, okay?"

"..." The young man was choked by his response, and without turning his head for a while, stupidly said his profession.

Tan Yiming raised an eyebrow: "Oh, it seems to be my misunderstanding."

The girlfriend beside the young man asked curiously: "What did you misunderstand?"

Tan Yiming chuckled: "I was thinking, this gentleman can compose so much nonsense with just a greeting card. I thought he was writing a novel - However, if he can compose such an illogical plot, even if he is a writer, he’d probably be an 18th-rate writer who wouldn’t get any subscriptions."

The young man became angry: "You!"

"What am I?" Tan Yiming raised his sword-like eyebrows, lowered his tone, and brought out his most wicked voice, specifically the voice of the gangster in Hong Kong movies and the perverted killer in Hollywood blockbusters: "I am Xiang Cai’s friend. I know more about what kind of person he is than you. He is sincere, simple, and enthusiastic. He puts all his energy onto the stage and has no time to pay attention to how much money his friends make.

"Sir, you are here to watch a play, not to write a play. If Xiang Cai does not perform well, you can criticize his acting skills; but it is not necessary for you to decide whom Xiang Cai is friends with. Of course, it is impossible for Xiang Cai to not perform well, so all your nonsense can be saved."

People who knew Tan Yiming said that he had a good temper. However, no matter how good his temper was, he would take the initiative to stand up when his beloved was slandered by outsiders.

And his amazing power...couldn’t be easily resisted by anyone.

Sure enough, the young man was speechless. He couldn't add much verbally, so he wanted to start something - but as soon as he raised his fist, he was stopped by the security guards patrolling the theater.

The young man lost face and could only leave in despair. Before he left, he still wanted to drag his girlfriend. However, his girlfriend also disliked him spitting out shit, and ignored him with a flick of her hair.

A young female staff member heard the quarrel and hurried over. She was the one who had brought Xiang Cai backstage just now.

Tan Yiming asked the staff member: "Do you not care if an audience member slanders the actors?"

"This...this can't be controlled." The staff member scratched her face, "Don't look at the stage actors earnings; they may not look like they are popular, but in fact, they have a lot of fans and black fans. We are not agents after all, the company does not have the powerful public opinion management and control capabilities of a serious agent company. Everything can only rely on the consciences of the audience..."

If an actor was praised by the audience, what should they do? —Smile and accept the compliment.

If an actor was scolded by the audience for no reason, what should they do? —Not do anything, as for being scolded...just get used to it.

After understanding the subtext, Tan Yiming felt another pang of soft pity in his heart.

Xiang Cai on the stage was always shining, but in places where the light couldn’t reach, how many dark arrows did he resist with his immature arms?

The staff member noticed the white roses in Tan Yiming's arms, and hurriedly changed the subject: "Is this bouquet of flowers for Xiang Cai? If you don't want to show it outside, I can help you get it backstage."

Tan Yiming looked at the nearby giant flower stand from Chen Ziran, and then looked at the bouquet in his arms. Suddenly, he felt that it was shabby.

"No need," Tan Yiming shook his head. "These flowers...won’t be sent."

Tan Yiming moved the bouquet back to his car. He wanted to stuff it in the back seat, but suddenly felt that it was an eyesore, so put it in the trunk of his own accord.

The car door slammed shut, and the pure white rose petals trembled, a leaf falling.

...

Xiang Cai didn't know what had happened in the theater hall.

Now, he was entirely focused on the script in front of him. While facing the script with the female protagonist Yan'er, he changed clothes with the help of the makeup artist.

"Xiao Xiang, I'm close to you, we should have a sibling-like relationship!" Sister Yan'er was a senior with more than ten years of stage experience, and she had starred in many musicals and dramas produced by Happy Pancake. She told the makeup artist, "Hurry up and apply a few more layers of powder, especially on my neck lines and nasolabial folds. Don't let me stand on the stage for a while only to let the audience joke that I am an old cow eating tender grass."

Xiang Cai was ten years younger than the previous male protagonist. Seeing that his face was tender, the makeup artist specifically deepened the color of his base makeup. His two eyebrows were drawn in thickly, and his hair was well-groomed. Only in this way could he form a CP feel with Sister Yan'er.

Sister Yan'er said: "Xiao Xiang, don't play these choruses too high. I'm not in good shape these days, and haven't rested well. My vocal cords are strung pretty tight, so I might not be able to sing the high notes."

Xiang Cai nodded happily. After Sister Yan'er saw her acting partner get dragged off the stage by the black fan that day, she became very frightened. She had a low-grade fever this morning that had just disappeared.

Stage acting was so hard. Their bodies belonged to the stage, and they must take good care of their bodies, for the cruel stage did not allow them to get sick.

If they were ill, what they thought was not ‘I'm so miserable, why do I have to work when I'm sick’, but ‘I'm sorry for affecting other actors’.

Xiang Cai relieved her: "Sister Yan'er, don't worry, I got the chorus."

Time was tight, and the two could only pick and touch on a few dance details. This First Love Is Now had many dance passages. In order to express the emotional development of the male and female protagonists, many dances had very close physical contact.

Especially in the last scene of the couple dance, when the two finally got their marriage certificate. The female protagonist wore a white wedding dress, and it was the most affectionate moment - there were three points where he had to lift her in this period.

Xiang Cai and Sister Yan'er practiced backstage for a while, only to find that he...he couldn't lift Sister Yan'er!

Xiang Cai was originally thin, and his previous female partners were all petite and exquisite. However, Sister Yan'er was from the north, with a height of 1.7 meters, a large frame, and a different center of gravity.

Xiang Cai could only barely lift her once, and if it was three times in a row, he would definitely fall.

Seeing that they would be out on the court in five minutes, there was no time for them to dig into the dance.

Sister Yan'er made a decisive choice: "Forget it, let's keep only the last of the three lifts."

Xiang Cai hesitated: "But in this way, the dancing effect will definitely be greatly reduced, and the protagonists' feelings will seem less intimate."

"If the dancing isn't intimate enough, we can only make up for it by acting and singing." Sister Yan'er smiled heartily, stretched out her index finger and raised Xiang Cai’s chin, deliberately teasing him, "Student Xiao Xiang, when I’m onstage later, you have to love me very hard!"

Xiang Cai didn't even notice that his big sister was flirting with him, nodding seriously and saying loudly, "I'll do my best!"

"Good." Sister Yan'er smiled: "Sister will love you very carefully."

...

Tan Yiming's spot was very good, and though the position was a little off because the viewing angle of the first three rows was slightly obstructed, the effect was not significant.

This drama was the main play of Happy Pancake last year. It had a good reputation, and the plot was not too twisted. It was a standard silly and sweet romantic drama. The time was not long, it lasted one hour and 45 minutes not counting the intermission.

After Tan Yiming took his seat, he found that there were pairs of young lovers on his left and right, and he was alone in his seat, very conspicuous.

But this little embarrassment was immediately gone from his mind after the curtain opened.

The lights were brilliant and the music roared.

Xiang Cai appeared dressed up in a school uniform, with a book bag slung over his shoulder, just like youth.

The young boy was handsome and tall, like a poplar tree growing in the breeze. He hurriedly walked across campus with a book in his arms. Who wouldn't like such scenery?

So, the female protagonist fell in love with him, a secret crush. She would silently cover a whole page of her diary with his name, go to his seat for a while after school, and secretly delight in the fact that they both had afterclass duty on the same day.

On the stage, her gaze chased Xiang Cai.

Under the stage, Tan Yiming's gaze also chased Xiang Cai.

Tan Yiming had watched Xiang Cai’s musical - he had seen his struggle and pain in Fan Letter, and had also seen his sexy unrestrainedness in Kinky Boots. The former was a gloomy black, the latter was a brilliant red.

In this drama, Xiang Cai gave Tan Yiming another surprise.

—It was a young, sunny, laughing boy.

He seemed to be born without troubles, he was the happiest of all people, he was the little sun that fell into the world, he was the never-at-home Peter Pan.

Tan Yiming's gaze followed the prince on the stage nostalgically.

He watched him take exams, go to school, and grow up. Watched him go through crushes, fight, and get hurt.

Watched him finally fall in love and enter society.

Watched him change from a carefree boy to a responsible man.

Xiang Cai’s gaze was very gentle, as he loved the female protagonist for one hour and forty-five minutes on stage.

Tan Yiming's gaze was also very gentle, as he loved Xiang Cai the whole time from under the stage.

In the beginning, there were still whispers in the audience. The old audience members were comparing Xiang Cai’s acting skills with the previous male lead’s, and the new audience members were complaining about how the CP’s age gap was so big... But as the plot deepened, those voices all disappeared.

Everyone was involuntarily immersed in the plot, and their mood followed the little couple up and down.

When they quarreled, some viewers clenched their fists; when they kissed each other, some viewers showed an aunt-like smile...Even Tan Yiming, this person who never watched romantic dramas except for in the workplace, could not help but behave and applaud the onstage CP.

Finally, the plot progressed to the final scene.

The male protagonist put on a suit and the female protagonist wore a white veil, as they walked hand in hand to the marriage hall.

This was the last dance and the essence of the whole show. The two people on the stage danced lingeringly, their limbs close to each other. He hugged her waist, she hugged his shoulders, and they were like two balls of butter melting regardless of each other, stickily sweet.

As the scale gradually climbed, the female protagonist ran towards the male protagonist barefoot.

Xiang Cai tightly locked Yan'er's waist with both hands, and held her up, lifting her above his head - a beautiful lift!

After two hours of jumping, dancing, singing, and acting, Xiang Cai was actually very tired, and now he had to use his last effort to lift Sister Yan'er up, and even walk around the stage...

He desperately told himself to persist, to persist, to persist.

...But in the end, the lifting motion lasted less than ten seconds, before he loosened his elbows and let his female partner fall.

Surprise flashed in Sister Yan'er's eyes, but when she saw the dense beads of sweat on Xiang Cai's face, she immediately understood.

The background music hadn’t finished, but the dance ended early. It was only an accident when it was small, but it could be called a performance mistake if it was too big.

Time was tight and there was no room for more thinking.

Sister Yan'er was experienced on the stage. At this moment, she chose the best remedy - she raised her hands to encircle Xiang Cai’s neck, raised her head, tiptoed, and kissed the corner of the boy's lips.

...

The kiss lasted for over ten seconds. It wasn’t until the last note fell that the male and female protagonists separated from each other.

There was thunderous applause from the audience, and no one noticed the dance accident.

The tips of Xiang Cai’s ears were red, he almost stepped forward with the same arm as foot. Sister Yan'er made the decisive choice to walk to the front of the stage hand-in-hand with him.

Fortunately, the foundation on his face was thick enough that he did not reveal any abnormalities.

Now, Happy Pancake no longer allowed the audience members to enter the stage, nor did it allow actors to jump off the stage to interact with the audience. So, Xiang Cai and Yan'er could only get as close as possible to the edge of the stage and bow to everyone.

First to the right, then to the middle, then to the left—

—Xiang Cai stood together with her, meeting the deep gazes of the audience.

Tan Yiming sat in front of him, only ten meters away.

Xiang Cai: "..."

The man suddenly raised his hand and pointed to the corner of his mouth.

Xiang Cai didn’t understand, stupidly raising his hand and rubbing the corner of his lips with the back of his hand.

When he brought down his hand, he found a conspicuous red mark on the back of his hand.

That was...Sister Yan'er's lip gloss.

Xiang Cai was not weak at heart, but under Tan Yiming's scorching gaze, his heartbeat became chaotic.

***

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