Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes: Swan Lake

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After finishing the first set of tours for Waiting for the Midnight Sun and the second round of tours for First Love is Now, Xiang Cai could finally have a long, leisurely vacation.

Musical actors were like this. When they were working, they would run to the rehearsal hall every day. When they were not working, they had blank schedules for weeks or even months.

He decided to take this rare and precious vacation to travel.

And that vacation’s destination was a country to the north - Russia.

When he was fifteen years old, he was sent by his school to the Vaganova Academy of Ballet in St. Petersburg to study as an exchange student. At that time, he had come and gone in a hurry, and spent his limited time immersed in the rehearsal hall. Only in his free time would he walk out of the school and wander around. Looking back now, he had stayed in Russia for several months, but he hadn't even been to Moscow! Not to mention Murmansk and Lake Baikal, which were further away.

No, he must make it up this time!

He was going to Russia, a decision which Tan Yiming obviously agreed with. The two enthusiastically planned their itinerary and finalized detailed strategies for visiting the four cities.

However, when it came to the mode of transportation, the two had a disagreement.

Tan Yiming had a limited vacation and his itinerary was tight. Of course, an efficient and quick flight was preferred.
 

On the one hand, Xiang Cai had plenty of time and wanted to completely empty his brain and liberate his mind. He wanted to take the famous K19/20 train all the way from the capital of China to the capital of Russia. However, this journey, which spanned the Eurasian continent, covered a total distance of 9,000 kilometers, and took a full seven days and six nights.

Xiang Cai said: "How about I take the train while you take the plane. If I leave a week earlier, can’t we meet in Moscow?"

"No!" Tan Yiming firmly disagreed, "I have been on that seven-day train, and 99% of the passengers on the train are Russian. Even the conductor can't speak Chinese. How can I be rest assured if you are there alone!"

Tan Yiming also bought a copy of Murder on the Orient Express and placed it on the bedside table, hoping to dispel Xiang Cai’s intentions.

But though he was stubborn, Xiang Cai was even more stubborn.

In the end, the two had a fight in bed, another fight in the living room, and another fight in the bathroom... They both suffered losses and decided to each take a step back; they’d take the train to Lake Baikal and then from there switch to an airplane to continue their journey.

※

The latitudes of Lake Baikal and Huacheng Fortress were pretty similar, so it only would only take a direct three-hour flight for them to reach their destination. However, since they were taking a train, they had to go round and round, and it took four days to arrive.

It was an exceptionally long train journey. Everyone on the train, lived in fast-paced cities and had long been accustomed to efficient and convenient transportation. Suddenly, they were beaten back to their rough origins. They rode on the train for four days without being able to surf the Internet, or even take a shower. It was really difficult.

The first two days were quite interesting. When the train departed from Manzhouli, a special crane would lift the entire carriage: the width of the railways were different in China versus Russia, so the train needed to be changed. At the same time, the Chinese national emblem and Chinese logo on its body must be removed and replaced with a symbol of the Russian railways.

But other than that...there were no other highlights during the whole trip.

The rest stops were all tiny Russian towns, and the red cabbage soup provided in the dining car was not that good.

Tan Yiming already finished reading all the e-books stored in his mobile phone, and Xiang Cai already finished all the snacks they had brought. The two sat in the box, silently looking at the beautiful scenery outside the window.

Xiang Cai asked awkwardly: "...Could we take a plane instead if we got off the train right now?"

"Now you want to fly, but the nearest airport is over two hundred kilometers away." Tan Yiming teased him, "Didn't you say you wanted to enjoy the 'slow life'? It didn’t satisfy you?"

Xiang Cai scratched his nose: "I never thought this would be so boring. I’ve finished my books, I’ve eaten the snacks, and those next door will judge my falsetto, so I can’t practice... I'm really bored, I want to find something to do."

Tan Yiming got up and sat next to Xiang Cai, putting his hand on his waist.

The man's voice was low, charming him through sound: "I know something that can kill time, do you want to do it?"

"..." Xiang Cai stammered, "Well, the soundproofing of this car is not good, I'm afraid that..."

"It's okay, if someone asks, just say you are clearing your throat."

"..."

...

Four days later, the couple finally arrived at Irkutsk station. The two didn't have the energy to admire Lake Baikal, and just wanted to go to a hotel and take a long hot bath.

Tan Yiming booked a room with a double bed, surprising the young lady at the front desk when he checked in. Tan Yiming frankly and openly held Xiang Cai’s hand, wishing for the whole world to know that they were a true couple.

That night, they finally laid down on their soft bed and slept soundly. When they woke up the next day, the two looked at each other's nest-like heads of hair and laughed at the same time.

"You know, I even dreamed last night that we were still sitting around on that train." Xiang Cai felt wronged for a moment, then after a while, realized it was funny.

Tan Yiming asked him: "Will you still sit and ride a train in the future?"

"I won’t sit, I won’t sit." Xiang Cai said hurriedly, "Sitting makes my butt hurt."

"Your butt hurts?" Tan Yiming raised his eyebrow, "I'm afraid that’s not from ‘sitting', but from ‘doing’."

"..." Xiang Cai asked, "Why didn't I find you so shameless before?"

"Don't worry." Tan Yiming stretched his arm around him, and kissed him loudly on his forehead. "I will be even more shameless in the future."

...

Lake Baikal was beautiful in the summer, with the scenery of extensive blue waves and white clouds hanging in the sky. According to locals, Lake Baikal was even more beautiful in the winter. The entire lake would freeze, and it would display the rare blue ice; it looked as if it was from a dream, or from a mythical world.

Many tourists would rent cars to drive on the ice, deep into the blue world.

Xiang Cai lingered in a small shop selling souvenirs. He pointed to Lake Baikal on the postcard, which looked like a blue jewel, and said, "Let’s come again in the winter to look at the blue ice!"

Tan Yiming said: "The average temperature here in winter is minus 38 degrees Celsius."

Xiang Cai immediately changed his words: "I suddenly remember that I have to go on tour in the winter."

Tan Yiming laughed.

The two walked around the lake while holding hands and took many photos. Xiang Cai picked a few pictures and posted them on his increasingly-popular verified Weibo, with a cute sun emoji as its caption.

The sun that shone on the lake was brilliant. And Xiang Cai in Tan Yiming's eyes was just as brilliant.

They kissed in the shade of the trees, took a nap on a grassy clearing, and learned how locals fished from the lakeside.

Around the perimeter of the lake, many locals rented fishing rods to tourists. Tan Yiming got a fishing rod and also carried a small bucket of fish food.

The old Russian aunt who rented out the fishing rods did not speak English, so Xiang Cai could only use his weak, stammery Russian to bargain with her. Fortunately, body language was universal.

Don't look at Xiang Cai as shy - in fact, he was very good at bargaining, and would not surrender in the face of a price he didn’t agree with.

The auntie turned pale because of his bargaining and mumbled: "You are such a great young man (pahrain)."

Xiang Cai paid with one hand and held the fishing rod in the other. He was quite proud. He was about to say ‘you let me win’. How could he think that Tan Yiming, who had been a telephone pole next to him for a long time, would suddenly interject—

—"He is my ‘pahrain'."

The man inaccurately repeated the Russian word, with a proud smirk on his face.

The old Russian aunt: "..."

Xiang Cai: "..."

Xiang Cai’s face instantly turned red, and even his ears and neck flushed crimson.

He didn't bother looking at the old aunt's expression before running away with heavy footsteps.

Xiang Cai didn’t stop to breathe until they reached a deserted area of the shore.

Tan Yiming was at a loss, and asked: "What's the matter? What's going on?"

Xiang Cai said: "Did you even know what the old aunt and I were talking about just now? Why did you just interject?"

"I don't know." Tan Yiming said confidently, "but I heard her say ‘pahrain', and I at least know what that word means."

Xiang Cai’s face flushed even more as his heart pounded. The boy wanted to blame him for being reckless, but also wanted to kiss him hard.

Tan Yiming came to Russia to travel and learned three Russian phrases before his journey was over.

They were hello, thank you, and ‘he is my pahrain’.

The word pahrain originally meant young man or lad, but also had another important usage - ‘boyfriend’.

Xiang Cai was Tan Yiming’s pahrain, and Tan Yiming was also the pahrain of Xiang Cai.

It was inconvenient for Tan Yiming to display his affection in China. Now that they were abroad for vacation, he didn’t care about others’ secular views.

They were each other's boyfriends, and one day, they would become each other's husbands.

...

They stayed on the shores of Lake Baikal for two days - fishing, walking, and chatting. Xiang Cai sang "By the Lake Baikal" to Tan Yiming, while Tan Yiming read Alexander Pushkin's poems to him.

Their misty cold breaths intertwined in the morning fog, and they hugged and kissed in the evening twilight.

Irkutsk was a small city. They saw few tourists there, so enjoyed two days to themselves.

However, when they headed north for Moscow, the secluded environment they had for themselves immediately disappeared.

Moscow was extremely popular, especially the Red Square, which was full of tourists, as Europeans and Asians both frequented the area. Tan Yiming and Xiang Cai were like two small boats that were almost overturned by the passing traffic.

After exiting Moscow, they went to Murmansk for their round trip. Murmansk was the only port in the Arctic Circle that wasn't frozen all-year-round, because of the warm North Atlantic current that passed through. Every winter, this area would enter a month-long polar night, and if one was lucky, they could see the aurora borealis.

When he heard the word ‘aurora’, Xiang Cai’s eyes lit up. He excitedly took Tan Yiming's hand and said, "Let's search for the aurora borealis in the wintertime!"

Tan Yiming reminded him: "Winter here is colder than in Lake Baikal."

"That’s okay!" Xiang Cai happily said, "We can wear more during the day and hold each other a little tighter at night, so it won't get cold!"

Tan Yiming laughed and decided to write down this plan of ‘chasing the aurora during the polar night’ into his calendar for the latter half of the year.

...

Their last stop in Russia was St. Petersburg, the city with an extensive art history.

Walking on the streets of St. Petersburg, one could see classical buildings everywhere. They spent a whole day in the Hermitage Museum, immersed in the amazing art.

In the evening, they went to the famous Kalinsky Theater to watch Swan Lake. The tickets were booked by Tan Yiming a month in advance, and he grabbed the best spot in the golden area on the first floor. The fare was expensive, but to see such a wonderful performance, it was definitely worth the price.

When the dancer of the black swan appeared on the stage, she won deafening applause from the surprised audience with her stunning thirty-two-turn pirouette. The difficulty of her solo dance was extremely high, and there were very few dancers in the world who could perform thirty-two rotations in a row.

The only time Xiang Cai had pirouetted after his incident was when he spun in public at the auditions for the male lead of Out of My World. At that time, he had only insisted on twelve turns, but still regrettably fell; however, his soul was able to stand on the stage again at this moment.

As Xiang Cai observed the play, he obsessively watched the ballet dancers perform in the spotlight. He had previously had the opportunity to be a swan, to be a prince, just like them. However, it didn’t matter, he was the prince of a different stage now.

While Xiang Cai watched the ballet, Tan Yiming watched him.

Tan Yiming liked to look at the light in Xiang Cai’s eyes.

He didn't need to chase any aurora borealis, Xiang Cai was his aurora.

After the ballet ended, the two slowly walked out of the theater along with the flow of people. On their way, Tan Yiming told Xiang Cai what he thought.

Xiang Guai was surprised: "You think I am your aurora?"

"Yes." Tan Yiming held his palm, "A bright, eye-catching, unforgettable aurora borealis."

"..." Xiang Cai smiled, "But to me, you are my aurora."

In the long polar night of the boy’s hardest year, Tan Yiming was the aurora that illuminated his entire sky.

...

On the last day of the trip, Tan Yiming handed over the ‘tour guiding rights’ to Xiang Cai.

They got up early and left their hotel at 8 o'clock in the morning, walked slowly through the alleys, and headed to the most important destination of their journey - the Vaganova Ballet Academy.

This ballet academy had a history of nearly three hundred years. It was the most prestigious ballet school in the world and a place that all dancers yearned to be in.

Xiang Cai had once stepped onto this campus and accepted the guidance of a famous teacher.

Tan Yiming had many fantasies about this school, but as he followed Xiang Cai to the gates of the school, he was surprised to find that the school looked too ordinary.

There was no magnificent school gate, no impressive main building, and no statues erected in front of the school.

It was so inconspicuous that it blended into the surrounding small buildings. Its so-called ‘school gate’ is nothing but a glass front door that wasn’t even as big as the window of a street shop.

There was a metal school sign hanging next to the door. Tan Yiming didn't recognize the words on it, but Xiang Cai heavily raised his head and slowly flicked his fingertips over the letters.

It was not yet time for class, so through the glass door, one could see young students chatting together in the corridors of the school.

The girls' hair was all combed shiny and smooth, with polished little buns coiled on top of their heads. Though they wore casual clothes, their feet were naturally posed and open, their postures were upright, and they walked proudly.

There were few Asian faces with black hair and black eyes in this area, so as soon as Tan Yiming approached the glass door, he was immediately spotted by the students inside. These little ballerinas curiously looked at the two strange men outside the door, some of whom were bold and beckoned at them.

"So cute." Tan Yiming waved at them and asked Xiang Cai, "How do we get in?"

He had thought that there was a special reason for their delay in entering, until Xiang Cai answered, "Let’s not go in, we won’t be able to get in, anyway."

"...?" Tan Yiming was taken aback, and looked at him in surprise. Tan Yiming repeated: "We can’t get in?"

"Of course we can't get in." Xiang Cai said softly, "Vaganova has strict access control, and it is not easy for even parents of students to enter the school. Unless we received an official letter, we would need to make an appointment one month in advance."

"..." Tan Yiming asked, "I thought you had come all this way wanting to visit your alma mater."

"This is enough." Xiang Cai’s eyes fell on the group of chatting ballerinas through the glass door. "Some memories don't need to be revisited, as long as I know it's still there, that’s enough."

At that moment, a little blond ballerina in the hallway suddenly performed an attitude derrière towards their door. She stood upright with one leg and lifted the other behind her, bent. Her posture was elegant like a swan.

Before Tan Yiming could react, he saw Xiang Cai take a step back beside him, and across the gate, he actually did an attitude like that little ballerina.

The little ballerina’s eyes were burning and she looked at him happily.

Immediately afterwards, The little ballerina cleanly performed a four-spin pirouette with her supporting leg as the axis.

Xiang Cai smiled and did a four-spin pirouette through the glass door.

Tan Yiming understood; he could dare to say that these two were ‘making friends through dancing’.

The two inside and outside the door were of different ages, genders, and nationalities, but they both shared the same passion for dancing. They didn't need language to communicate, and they didn't need music to accompany them, just dancing across the glass door.

They seemed to be looking in a mirror, and on the other side of the mirror were themselves in a different position on the long river of time.

Tan Yiming watched all this quietly by the side. He had wanted to take out his phone to record, but in the end, decided to write down this moment in his heart.

The little ballerina ended with a classic arabesque, and Xiang Cai mimicked her, also performing a timeless, beautiful arabesque.

This was Xiang Cai’s favorite dance step, as it had a very vivid Chinese translation - "Flying with Wings Spread".

At the age of seventeen, the little swan flew into the sky with his wings spread in the wind. He flew higher and higher, tirelessly, not thinking of a place to rest.

At the age of twenty-three, the little swan found a partner who could fly with him. He finally found his home.

...

At half past eight, the class bell rang. The ballerinas who were still wandering in the corridor rushed away towards their classrooms. The girl who was dancing with Xiang Cai also ran away. She was dexterous, and it was as if she was a dream blown away by the wind.

Xiang Cai guarded the gate. As he watched the beautiful dreams float into the dance studio, his soul seemed to follow them there before finally returning to his beating chest.

He turned to look at his lover beside him, with a cheerful smile on his face. He said loudly, "I have finally achieved my dream!"

Tan Yiming also laughed, and asked him, "Shall I applaud you?"

"No need for applause." Xiang Cai opened his arms to meet him, "Give me a kiss."

Alright.

Then Cai Cai let Tan Yiming give him a passionate kiss.

[End of full text]

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The author has something to say:

At this point, this story is over.

Thank you for your company.

My inspiration for this story came very suddenly. I just wanted to write a short novel about the musicals I like, the ballets that interest me, and some stories about professional voice acting that I have heard.

As the result grew longer and longer, Cai Cai also grew from a little swan to a big swan (laughs).

Thank you for loving Cai Cai.

Thank you for loving Cai Cai.

Thank you for loving Tan Yiming.

Thank you for loving Yao Yin, Cen Manchuan, Jin Qi Ji, and Chen Ziran.

This story is over. See you in the next story.

T/N: Thanks to Cocole, our amazing editor, for all the help, and thank you for reading this translation of Cai Cai :)

"By the Lake Baikal" - Li Jian

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