Chapter 04
Because it was a temporary addition, there was no corresponding content page in the study manual. Instead, the promotional page was pinned to the last page with a paper clip.
Because I was walking too fast, I don't know when the paper clip fell off, and it slipped to the ground as soon as I opened the small poster.
I didn't pick it up immediately. Instead, I lowered my head and stared at the photo of the woman on the ground for a long time, as if I was looking at a familiar stranger.
The woman had her hair neatly tied up in a bun, and her slim black ballet skirt perfectly showed off her soft and slender figure. Although she was over 30 years old, the years did not seem to have left any visible traces on her face, leaving only the accumulated elegance and charm.
She is even more beautiful than when she was a child.
The woman in my memory who always had a stern face and complained about everything seemed to have been reborn. She was radiant and full of vitality. She became distant and unfamiliar.
"Masako Takahashi, a world-class dancer known as the Queen of Dance"
"The first Japanese to win both the Blackpool Best Choreography Award and the Most Expressive Award"
…
In any case, such a woman seems to have nothing to do with the secular world, like a fairy who has strayed into the mortal world.
This is also my mother.
Before her father divorced her, her name was Masako Koizumi.
*
I feel like I shouldn't be here, but somehow I ended up here.
The auditorium was almost full, with only a few empty seats in the back row, which was just what I wanted, so I found a seat and sat down.
Because we arrived late, Takahashi Masako's dance performance had already ended, and now it was time for questions. After all, Takahashi Masako is an internationally renowned dancer, so this meeting also attracted many weekly reporters to visit.
These are basically the people who rush to raise their hands to ask questions.
"Ms. Takahashi, your dance adaptation of 'Salome' in the UK last month was acclaimed. It was named one of the top ten classics worth watching this year by a leading international weekly magazine, and you also won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the American Dance Festival. Could you please share your success story with us, the younger generation?"
The woman sat calmly on the stage, the spotlight shining on her, and her black dance costume reflected tiny rays of light.
"As for experience... it's probably hard work, sweat, and... the support of my family..."
She smiled slightly, her face filled with happiness, and looked at the man in the first row of the audience.
"My husband has always been behind the scenes supporting me and accompanying me around the world... Without his support and understanding, I would never have come this far and achieved what I have today... So I want to express my special thanks to my husband and my daughter..."
I noticed that there was a girl with two ponytails sitting next to the man. She looked only about five or six years old.
The girl was wearing a beautiful pink dress and little leather shoes, looking cute and lively.
I couldn't help but think back to when I was five or six years old, always wearing tight, dirty dance costumes and dance shoes that hurt my feet when I walked.
I first heard about her remarriage from Aunt Huimei, my father's sister, about three years ago. Her remarried husband was over 30 years old, but he looked gentle and elegant in a slim-fitting gray suit.
It is said that he is a well-known author, divorced, and has a little girl, but he has a gentle temperament and is very family-oriented. The two of them have different personalities, one radical and the other gentle, which makes them a good match.
I shook my head, clearing away the unnecessary thoughts and emotions from my mind.
As soon as Masako Takahashi gave her answer, everyone's eyes immediately turned to the two people, one big and one small, in the front row, and they started talking about it with envy.
The man being paid attention to merely smiled indifferently, while the little girl beside him gracefully gave Takahashi on the stage a big heart with her hands.
The cute gestures and expressions made even the reporters smile knowingly and praised:
“You have a handsome husband and a very cute daughter…”
Masako Takahashi nodded and continued, "...So I decided it was time to return to my family life. After becoming an excellent dancer, I began to explore more possibilities for my identity, such as being a good wife and a good mother..."
Because Masako Takahashi is very famous in the circle, and she had never revealed before that she would retire from the screen and return to her family, it caused a great response at the banquet. There was a lot of discussion and it was quite noisy for a while.
The reporters present pricked up their ears and prepared to write down her words with their pens.
I can imagine what the headline of tomorrow's industry weekly will be -
"The double crown dancing queen announced that she would suspend her career to focus on training her successors"
"Who will succeed the dancing queen of that era? Is she a genius or an idiot?"
Then, to everyone's surprise, Masako Takahashi smiled and shook her head, denying the reporter's remarks.
She looked lovingly at her husband and daughter in the audience and said, "I didn't return to family life just to teach my daughter to dance. Don't underestimate her. She's still young. Children these days are very independent. She doesn't particularly like dancing, and as a parent, we should respect her hobbies... She loves painting and might become a painter in the future... Forcing her to dance is like delaying the future Van Gogh or Picasso, don't you think?"
Everyone smiled knowingly when this was said. No one thought the little girl would really become the future Van Gogh or Picasso, but they just thought Takahashi Masako was a very open-minded mother.
Following this topic, Takahashi Masako began sharing some anecdotes about herself, her husband, and her daughter. Her vivid descriptions of everyday family matters imbued them with warmth and amusement, often drawing laughter and applause from the audience.
All I felt was a terrible buzzing noise in my ears.
Suddenly, a hand gently patted my shoulder.
I turned my head and saw that everything in front of me was blurry for some reason. A brown-haired, squinty-eyed boy kindly handed me a tissue with a teddy bear print on it.
He opened his mouth and seemed to be whispering something, but the noise was so loud that I couldn't hear clearly, but I could probably guess.
You should tell me not to cry and wipe my tears.
"I didn't..." she cried.
Before I could finish my words, tears began to fall onto the back of my hand. I didn't know when the tears had already flowed, and most importantly, there was someone sitting next to me the whole time?
How long did he look at it?
From the beginning till now?
When I thought about how I had cried for the entire time in front of such a handsome senior stranger, my tears stopped instantly and flowed even more happily.
So... so embarrassing...
I looked at the other person intently. He was wearing a blue and white sports jacket with the high school uniform of Seigaku underneath. I secretly swore that I would never be admitted to Seigaku in this lifetime!
hateful!
"These are tears of joy. Don't you think her... Ms. Takahashi's story is very touching?"
I tried hard to make up for it myself.
Idiot, is this the only excuse you can think of that is obviously a lie?
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh——The clown is actually me.jpg.
But what I didn't expect was that the boy still had that squinting smile on his face, as if he really believed what I said, and he agreed with me.
"Yeah, I think...it seems like the junior is a kind and sensitive person."
If you can praise someone, praise them more, really!
My face almost turned red, and my eyes began to wander unconsciously again. I didn't realize how pitiful I looked at this moment.
Because she had run so fast all the way here, her black hair, which had been draped over her shoulders, was a bit disheveled. Sweat had stuck to her fair cheeks, and her jade-like skin was faintly blushing. Her eyes, black as ink, shone with tears, and her eye circles were red, as if she had been severely bullied...
It makes people want to continue bullying.
Fuji Shusuke thought so in his heart.
But if you say it out loud, you'll be treated as a weirdo and immediately run away from him... Knowing when to advance and when to retreat, and catching the old and the new, is also a very important skill in capturing wild animals...
So he remained silent on the surface, but just silently handed the tissue forward, motioning the other party to take it.
The other party was kind and handsome. I looked down at the tissue. Hmm, the tissue was also very cute. I sniffed and took it, whispering:
"The little bear is so cute, I can't bear to let him go..."
Then, she persisted, wiping it with the sleeve of her school uniform. "Ms. Takahashi's story is so touching... I couldn't help crying while listening to it. I have so much to say about my reflections on this study tour... But thank you anyway, senior... Can I keep your tissue? It's... it's so pretty..."
The audience in the audience applauded appropriately, but no one knew what was said.
Fuji Shusuke: "...Of course."
Actually, I still couldn't hear his voice clearly, but looking at his helpless smile, I knew he must have agreed.
"You're a good person."
I casually put the teddy bear tissue into my pocket, and my round black eyes rolled around. Suddenly, I noticed that the sportswear on the other person was the same as the one on the tennis club member I saw outside. Maybe he knew Kunimitsu Tezuka.
If I could get a photo of Kunimitsu Tezuka through him...
I felt like money was beckoning to me, so much so that I didn't even notice how familiar this person's voice was... I was completely focused on the beautiful fantasy of hoping to take the opportunity to get to know him and successfully get into the tennis club.
"Thank you, senior. My name is Xiao..."
I was just about to introduce myself, but when I looked up, I saw a familiar figure walking towards me. The moment my eyes met the owner of those eyes, we recognized each other immediately.
No, you still love baseball caps so much after all these years?
So the baseball cap is your true self?!
Isn’t this guy in front of me wearing a sports shirt, a baseball cap and looking so cool the neighbor I knew when I was a child, Ryoma Echizen?
Obviously, he recognized me, but his tone didn't sound surprised at all. "It's you, after all. I felt that figure was very familiar..."
I reacted and screamed, then without even caring about my backpack, I ran away before the other person came over.
I don't want to see Ryoma Echizen!
Echizen Ryoma:?
Echizen Ryoma:!!!
Fuji Shusuke:?
Backpack:? !
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