Chapter 1689: Cloud Boss and Little Cousin Extra (6)

Although Fan Mingjue didn’t believe her, it was normal for a child to grow up and have her own little secrets. Since she didn’t want to talk, as her father he couldn’t very well dig to the bottom of it. "You’ve been preparing for that National Day performance lately. How’s the preparation going?"

"It’s okay."

"The school has arrangements on National Day. Your mother and I probably won’t be able to go watch your performance."

Ever since Fan Zhengyu returned to China, she’d held several solo concerts. Whenever they had time, Fan Mingjue and his wife would go. But as teachers, they really weren’t that free.

The teaching aids had been constantly changing these past two years, and even for older teachers like them, it took some adapting. Besides leading a class and teaching, Fan Mingjue also worked in the political and educational affairs office, so he was even busier on a daily basis.

"It’s fine." Fan Zhengyu just smiled, but as her gaze brushed past her father’s, her heart kept thumping uneasily.

Had her dad noticed something?

The next day Yun Hezhi had a performance, and Fan Zhengyu happened to be free. She specially went and bought a neck massager for her parents and replaced Grandpa Fan’s old radio with a new set.

When Fan Mingjue received the gifts from his daughter, he kept saying she was wasting money, but his actual behavior clearly showed he was very happy.

So happy that he completely forgot about his daughter’s recent oddities.

**

After Fan Zhengyu and Yun Hezhi had spent some time working out their chemistry, the National Day performance was fast approaching. They had to go to the orchestra’s performance venue to do stage rehearsals, because the lighting and sound would need to be arranged according to their positions on stage. Performances were never that simple.

Once Yun Hezhi entered the orchestra with her, he immediately became the object of a lot of envy.

"Boss Yun is younger than I imagined. Is he this good-looking after he takes off his makeup?"

"He’s actually not that old to begin with."

"Fan Zhengyu really has amazing luck. They didn’t manage to get Boss Zheng, and ended up with Yun Hezhi instead. The teacher’s letting them close the show this time. I’m guessing we’ll all end up as background scenery again."

...

After entering the orchestra, Yun Hezhi greeted everyone, shook hands—just basic social politeness.

But when he shook hands with one of the girls, she had just sweetly called out, "Boss Yun." The moment she looked up, she realized Yun Hezhi was giving her a strange look.

As if he could see right through her.

This girl was the one who’d gone to Peach Garden and interrupted Zheng Lansheng’s silent rehearsal. Peach Garden had surveillance cameras; it was very easy to find out who she was.

As Yun Hezhi and Fan Zhengyu went backstage to get ready, he asked casually, "Aren’t you curious who tried to steal the gig last time?"

"I know who it was." Fan Zhengyu opened her violin case and took out the violin.

"You know?" Yun Hezhi had assumed she didn’t. As far as he knew, she had never asked Peach Garden about that girl’s details.

"You think the water in the orchestra isn’t deep? There’s way too much scheming going on. Right after it happened, someone contacted me anonymously in private, clearly hoping to watch me tear her apart." Fan Zhengyu chuckled.

"I’m basically not one of this orchestra’s own people. I parachuted in and took the concertmaster seat. Of course some people would resent me."

"If I played into certain people’s hands and really got into a feud with that girl, there’d definitely be someone fishing in troubled waters. By tomorrow the scene would be buzzing that I’d bullied someone on their own turf."

"Sometimes the biggest blow to her isn’t a frontal clash, but complete disregard—like I never even put you in my eyes, so you don’t get to make drama for yourself."

...

She wasn’t afraid of trouble, but she didn’t want to stir it up either.

At the end of the day, that whole incident had indirectly helped Fan Zhengyu; otherwise she might not have been so magnanimous.

"For me, that thing wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Because she tried to sabotage it, I got the chance to work with you."

Fan Zhengyu flashed Yun Hezhi a smile, and he only nodded in response.

"Zhengyu." The orchestra teacher came over holding a bouquet, greeted Yun Hezhi, then handed the flowers to Fan Zhengyu. "These are from that suitor of yours."

"He’s still sending flowers?"

"You haven’t come in to train for a while, but he’s still sending them every day, rain or shine. He really is devoted to you, huh? He started after your Qixi performance ended, and look how long it’s been now." The teacher joked as he set the flowers down and left.

Fan Zhengyu felt a bit helpless. All these years she’d never lacked suitors, but someone clinging on for months, chasing her from venue to venue wherever she performed, and still remaining devoted after being rejected—that was a first.

"A suitor?" Most people who came to watch opera were older. There’d been flowers before, but never someone who actually chased after him. Yun Hezhi glanced at the bouquet, his gaze landing on the card.

It wasn’t that he was deliberately trying to read it; it was just a simple card, and the text on it was very clear.

My .love, signed "the one who loves you."

So cloying!

Yun Hezhi raised a brow. Truly saccharine.

Fan Zhengyu was a bit embarrassed and set the flowers to the side. "Let’s go up and rehearse."

Yun Hezhi nodded. It was their first time rehearsing in the theater. Nearly everyone from the orchestra was sitting in the house or standing behind the side curtains, all looking forward to seeing what kind of sparks the two of them could create.

"I really am curious. They’ve only been working together for less than a month—what can they possibly put on?"

"Just don’t let it be some neither-here-nor-there thing that ends up embarrassing us, the orchestra people."

"I’m actually quite looking forward to it."

...

The people below were muttering away, but as the violin sounded, Yun Hezhi’s stage presence came alive.

When his operatic voice rang out, everyone got goosebumps. Because it was just rehearsal, the sound equipment hadn’t been brought up yet, and his voice was so clear and bright.

Their performance was beyond what "stunning" could describe.

The orchestra director finally felt like he could relax. They’d already decided that if the rehearsal didn’t go well, they’d have Fan Zhengyu go on stage to play a solo instead. Because of that, they hadn’t dared to heavily promote this collaboration, afraid they’d ruin the orchestra’s reputation.

Now with only a few days until the performance, it was probably too late to promote it.

That was also why, even though the two of them were about to have a public collaboration, people like Fan Mingjue and Jiang Jinsang still had no idea.

After rehearsal, the orchestra members wanted to invite Yun Hezhi to dinner, but he declined politely. He was very particular about what he ate and had to protect his voice. To outsiders it might look overly finicky, but in his line of work he really had no choice but to be careful.

Once he explained the situation, everyone understood.

Since his home and Fan Zhengyu’s were close by, they went back together.

"This is the first time I’ve watched you perform opera from such a close distance. It feels really different." Fan Zhengyu was full of confidence about this performance. "Did you use to get nervous when you went on stage? I used to shake every time I went up there."

"I’ve been booed off the stage before. People said I sang terribly."

Fan Zhengyu froze for a second, glancing at Yun Hezhi from the corner of her eye. His tone was light and calm; clearly this was something that had already passed for him...

But hearing it, she felt a little heartsick.

She understood that feeling all too well.

They weren’t acting in a TV drama—if people thought the show was bad, they cursed the screen, not your face. Their performances were so close to the audience that any displeasure could be felt at once. But being literally booed off stage—that was something she hadn’t experienced.

"Boss Yun..."

"Mm?"

"You’re really good! Honestly, I know that."

After working with him for this long, Fan Zhengyu knew how professional he was. Even when he wasn’t performing, he was always practicing his voice—through bitter winter and blazing summer, probably never missing a single day.

Yun Hezhi looked at her. She was smiling at him, bright and sincere. He only nodded slightly and turned to look out the car window, but it felt like his heart had been doused in fire.

Suddenly warm and glowing—

Plenty of people knew he’d once been booed off stage. They said they felt bad for him, that he was pitiful and all that.

This was the first time someone’s reaction was to say:

He’s really good!

The feeling of being affirmed... was wonderful.

**

The performance day arrived quickly. Yun Hezhi needed a long time to get ready; just the makeup alone took ages.

The orchestra had many people, so they couldn’t give Yun Hezhi a private dressing room. He shared one with Fan Zhengyu.

Fan Zhengyu had followed Jiang Jinsang backstage before and seen him do his makeup. But seeing Yun Hezhi today, her mood was completely different.

She watched Yun Hezhi wield his brush to draw his brows, her eyes going a bit dazed.

She remembered her own first attempt at makeup, when she’d turned her eyebrows into two caterpillars, and felt a wave of embarrassment.

The products used for Beijing Opera makeup were different from regular cosmetics. Fan Zhengyu had only watched before, but now that they were familiar, she got his permission and tried some on the back of her hand.

It was new and fun.

Most importantly, once Yun Hezhi finished his makeup, he was simply stunning.

"You like it?" Yun Hezhi tilted his head to look at her.

"I think it’s really interesting. If I get the chance, I want to try it too, maybe shoot a photo set or something." There were quite a lot of such themed photo shoots nowadays.

Yun Hezhi put down the makeup tools in his hand.

"If you like it..."

"I’ll do your makeup for you."

Fan Zhengyu was taken aback. Yun Hezhi, do her makeup?

Her heart started beating out of rhythm again—

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