Chapter 661
The Sun and the Moon
Waiting area.
Gu Zheng stood at the back of the line, and all she could see was the trailing skirt of the senior student in front of her.
"Guzheng (Chinese zither)".
"Ok?"
Are you nervous?
At this moment when everyone should have been holding their breath, the senior student in front of her suddenly turned around and repeated the question she had asked earlier in the dressing room.
"I'm not nervous," Gu Zheng replied, just as she had before.
"I wasn't asking if you were nervous going on stage," the senior student said with a smile. "I was asking if you were nervous about dancing in front of someone you like for the first time."
Gu Zheng paused slightly, then shook her head: "I was a little nervous before, but I'm not nervous anymore."
The senior student didn't ask why, but just smiled gently: "I remember the person you like once told you, 'If you're the sun, you should shine brightly,' right?"
Everyone in the club knew that this freshman was a first-time dancer, and that she had become the lead dancer in less than six months. Her hard work was evident to all, and no one would dislike a girl like that, including her.
In fact, without the guzheng, she would definitely have been the lead dancer this year. It would be a lie to say she wasn't disappointed. Everyone rehearses day and night in the rehearsal room, just to be seen by the audience. But there's nothing that can be done if you're not as skilled as others.
She only recently learned that this wasn't just an exaggeration; the girl who always strives to be number one is as dazzling as the sun.
And someone who can see through this at a glance... must really like her.
Seeing the ambiguous look in her senior's eyes, Guzheng felt a heat rise to her ears. After practice, everyone would often gather together to chat, and she would join in. She had mentioned this sentence during one of the chats, but she clearly had never said that it was said by the person she liked, yet everyone could tell.
In the words of a senior student, "You can't hide the look in someone's eyes when they like them."
Everyone was making a fuss about it, and another senior even joked, "But if you like two people, you'd better keep it a secret."
She blushed at the time but still laughed along, but now, thinking back on it, she only feels bitter.
Even so, she still gave a soft "hmm" and frankly admitted that she liked Han Zhou.
Liking someone is liking them, even if you can't be together.
"so good……"
A smile appeared in the senior's eyes as she softly remarked, "If someone said something like that to me, I might even fall for him—of course, he'd have to be handsome enough."
She winked at the guzheng and lowered her voice, "Then shine brightly on stage tonight for that person."
"Quiet down, everyone, it's time to enter," someone whispered from ahead.
The smile vanished, and the air suddenly became solemn.
Everyone took a deep breath.
The warm backstage lighting and the cool stage lighting drew a clear line at their feet. Guzheng stared at that line until her senior stepped into it—
So she stepped out too.
In an instant, spotlights cascaded down like a waterfall, and a dozen pairs of dance shoes stepped across the dark stage, their crimson skirts forming a shimmering red expanse at the edge of the field of vision.
Amidst this tumultuous crimson wave, everyone's gaze was involuntarily drawn to the center of the stage—
The crimson dance dress seemed to be on fire. Guzheng stood in the center of the pillar of light, her eyes lowered and her wide sleeves hanging down. The skirt spread out on the dark stage, as steady as still water. Only the thin veil on her shoulders floated slightly, swaying gently like a flame.
Despite wearing the same dance dress and striking the same pose, she was like a fire burning in the cold night, instantly engulfing all eyes.
It seems that she was born to shine when she stood on the stage.
"So beautiful..." Zhong Ling murmured softly from below the stage.
Zhong Yin, who had been staring blankly at the first row of seats, was momentarily stunned.
On the stage, Gu Zheng lowered her eyes and head, her long eyelashes slightly lowered, as if the thunderous applause, the dazzling lights, and even the swaying crimson skirt around her had nothing to do with her.
Yet everything around her seemed to exist solely for her.
"Teacher Ouyang..."
At that moment, Han Zhou also wanted to say something to Ouyang Lianyu beside him, but the next second, he met Gu Zheng's gaze as she looked up.
With just one look, he understood what she meant—
Look at me.
With a light pluck of the pipa, a string of notes, like pearls rolling and jade falling, suddenly burst forth, followed by the sound of the sheng, warm and mellow, as if enveloping the entire crimson skirt in misty vapor.
A dozen pairs of arms stretched out at the same time, their skirts spreading out like the sunset over the entire stage. The guzheng blended into that crimson hue, yet subtly became the crest of a wave.
"What were you about to say?" Ouyang Lianyu asked in a low voice beside her.
"Ah."
Han Zhou gazed at the figure on the stage. "I originally had a question I wanted to ask the teacher, but now I don't want to."
He should have kept quiet, because once he did, Ouyang Lianyu became even more curious. However, since the guzheng was being performed on stage and this moment was important for both of them, she didn't press him for details and had to leave it at that for the time being.
But speaking of which... isn't Mo Yixia watching guzheng dancing right now? I wonder what she's thinking...
Could this be what Han Zhou wanted to ask?
Probably not...
As Ouyang Lianyu was lost in thought, the dance music reached its climax, and the group of dancers retreated to both sides like flower petals, leaving the center of the stage entirely to the guzheng.
The scheduled solo dance time has arrived.
A beam of light shot through the darkness from behind the audience seats, precisely enveloping the guzheng. Outside the beam of light, the figures of the dancers disappeared into the darkness, but they did not stop. Their arms continued to stretch, and their skirts continued to sway, like stars hidden in the night sky, silently twinkling in a corner where no one could see them.
The guzheng became the only source of light at that moment.
As the music softened, her movements also became gentler. With each gesture, her sleeves fluttered, and Han Zhou in the first row was enveloped in a crimson glow.
Actually, the senior student made a mistake.
The reason she's dancing on stage today isn't to shine in front of Han Zhou—perhaps she still has that thought to some extent, but it's definitely not the whole story.
Han Zhou had already seen those things.
She wasn't always able to win first place. Although she rarely failed, she had her share of embarrassing moments—when she was so exhausted from practicing dance that she collapsed on the floor panting, when she stayed up all night studying for exams, and when she ate so much during the high school eating contest that she couldn't walk. In those moments, she didn't look very good, and was even a little embarrassed.
Han Zhou had seen all of these appearances before.
Even the way she cried when she lost to that guy this time was the same.
She's not some exceptionally bright genius, so getting first place is actually very tiring, especially in areas she's not good at, where she has to put in double the effort.
It's nothing like the sun at all; it's just a planet that's gritting its teeth and stubbornly holding on.
But what can you do when Han Zhou likes it?
Human beings' obsessions are actually limited, Gu Zheng often thinks.
Her obsession with being number one stemmed from the passing of her grandmother. In order to achieve what she considered "special," she has been relentlessly pursuing the top spot.
But then there was a period of time when she suddenly didn't want to be number one as much anymore. It wasn't that she wanted to give up, but she was a little hesitant. She could continue to be number one, but there was no need to work so hard.
But just then, she saw Han Zhou standing on the rooftop, enjoying the breeze, looking rather unhappy.
At first, she thought he was going to jump off the building and wanted to quietly pull him down. But as soon as she got to the edge of the rooftop, she heard him ask her, "Why do you work so hard to be number one? Aren't you tired?"
They weren't that close back then, so of course she wouldn't tell the truth. So, she cleverly replied that she wasn't tired.
Looking back now, I realize that was actually a lie.
She's clearly not good at lying, everyone says so, but for some reason, Han Zhou just believed her.
She had forgotten what the two of them had said on the rooftop, but she remembered Han Zhou's expression. He was probably moved?
To put it more specifically, it's like being struck by something distant.
Silly.
In the days that followed, the two gradually became familiar with each other, and Han Zhou became her "simp." She would occasionally waver in her determination to be number one, but every time she wanted to relax, she would remember his expression at that time, so she would grit her teeth and persevere.
She always said Han Zhou was a liar, but she herself wasn't much better. She was clearly a fake sun, yet she fantasized about becoming someone else's light.
How could the real sun give up so easily?
But since he likes the sun, then she will be his sun, even if it's just a fake, even if she has to burn with all her might.
She felt that she would probably never tell the truth in her life, it was too embarrassing. Anyway, Han Zhou was always lying to her, so it wouldn't be a big deal for her to lie to him once, right?
As her thoughts drifted through the strings, the guzheng suddenly felt something strange.
Since Han Zhou had already seen all of her, why was she standing here?
...She didn't know.
Just as she didn't know why she was so determined to play the role of the sun that would never go out.
Perhaps it was simply because, when the music started and all eyes naturally turned to her, she no longer had to hide her longing to be watched by him.
She couldn't learn to act cute, so she could never make those kinds of requests that were impossible to refuse.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why she lost to that guy—that guy probably knows better how to openly ask for love, while she just foolishly gets angry with herself.
Is this the answer?
she does not know.
But she knew that, at least at this moment, no matter who was sitting in the audience or who they were thinking about, everyone's eyes were on her.
She disguised herself as the sun once again.
As she twirled, the hem of her skirt brushed against her ankles, and the abrasions from training throbbed faintly. She lowered her eyes, avoiding looking at the dark audience seats, silently sketching someone's silhouette in her mind.
Even if everything is over, even if it's destined to be meaningless, as long as he can watch me, it seems like it's not so bad to keep jumping like this.
Looking at me, she thought.
Even if I'm not number one anymore, you still have to keep an eye on me.
The soothing music gradually turned into a more exciting one. She suppressed the bitterness and resentment in her heart, and her dance steps became lighter and more lively with the music.
However, just a second before she touched the ground with her toes and was about to take off—
"Fuck!"
The music stopped abruptly.
"what happened?"
Why did the music stop?
"I think I heard a strange sound. Could the speakers have exploded?"
A suppressed commotion arose from the crowd in the darkness.
Xia Qing's urgent commands came through the headset: "Emergency! Stay calm! Nobody move! Don't move the lights!"
That's right, there were even headsets. This year's New Year's Eve party was that professional.
Upon hearing the instruction, the guzheng froze in place.
She maintained that poised-to-go posture, one knee slightly bent, arms embracing the moon. The spotlight, which had originally bathed her in its light, now made her look like an isolated island.
Thousands of eyes in the audience were fixed on her through the beam of light. If she moved even slightly, if she showed even the slightest sign of panic, the entire performance would be ruined.
Why……
She gritted her teeth, a sense of powerlessness rising within her, not from tension or fear, but from a feeling of absurdity—
She had clearly stopped striving for first place; she simply wanted Han Zhou to take a good look at her now. Was even such a small wish impossible to fulfill?
Deathly silence, a suffocating deathly silence.
"Han Zhou, what are you trying to do?"
Seeing Han Zhou trying to rush onto the stage, Ouyang Lianyu quickly pulled him back and whispered, "This is a performance accident. It won't do you any good even if you go up there."
“I can fix the sound system quickly,” Han Zhou said.
"You can fix things, but you can't just rush onto the stage recklessly..."
Just then, music suddenly started playing from the emergency broadcast system overhead.
It was not the magnificent symphony of pipa and orchestra that had just played, but rather the melodious sound of a piano.
The piano music was clear and melodious, with a slight distorted, static-like sound typical of broadcasting, as if it were coming from a very distant place.
The melody is not complicated, even a little awkward, as if someone pressed the keys on a whim, but it is precisely caught in the milliseconds between the break of the previous note, perfectly connecting the rhythm line that was about to break.
Han Zhou was taken aback.
Using the radio to play the piano as a last resort was indeed an emergency measure, but even if Xia Qing quickly came up with this idea, she wouldn't be able to get to the broadcasting room in such a short time, let alone play the piano accurately.
As far as he knew, there just happened to be someone in the broadcasting room at that very moment who could come up with a solution in a short time and also play the piano—
Mo Yixia.
But the question is... where did the piano come from?
He didn't remember there being a piano in the broadcasting room.
"Is that Mo Yixia...?"
Ouyang Lianyu had also considered this possibility, and her expression became somewhat subtle.
Han Zhou did not answer, but simply looked up in the direction of the surveillance camera.
In his hazy vision, he seemed to see a girl wearing a mask and a baseball cap, her head bowed as she earnestly played the piano.
At the same time, on the stage, Guzheng's tense shoulders relaxed slightly, and she also looked up, gazing in the same direction.
The stage lights went out for a moment.
The broadcasting room was brightly lit, while the stage was shrouded in darkness. The two people looked at each other through the wall, unable to see each other.
"Thank goodness, someone came to the rescue..." Xia Qing's relieved voice came through the earpiece, "Can you continue dancing to the rhythm of the piano?"
"Yes," the guzheng replied softly.
She is the lead dancer, and as long as she can dance, the performance can continue.
"Then I'll leave it to you," Xia Qing said gratefully.
I don't know who is playing the piano or why they are playing it.
All she knew was that she could continue jumping.
The lights came on again the next moment.
As the unfamiliar zither music played, she finally rose into the air, her flowing sleeves fluttering, and danced her solo dance in that lonely halo of light.
……
After the performance ended, the staff immediately repaired the sound system, which meant that all subsequent programs would have to be postponed, including the stage play in which Han Zhou was about to participate.
Before going backstage to prepare, he couldn't resist running into the broadcasting room and finding Mo Yixia, who was looking out the window listlessly.
Why did you help the guzheng?
The room window was open, and a night breeze blew in, blowing the girl's long hair.
Mo Yixia seemed to have been thinking for a long time before turning around, giving him a half-smile, and then saying something that seemed familiar yet puzzling:
"Don't you think the moon is very bright tonight?" (End of Chapter)