Chapter 173 My Own Pride
After taking all the check-in videos and photos at Meixiang Theater, Ren Limeng was about to leave with Fang Shuyun and others. When she walked to the display wall on the side of the first floor, her steps suddenly stopped and her eyes unconsciously fell on a display photo at the bottom of the wall.
This time when she returned to Meishi, it was the first time that Ren Limeng passed by here and saw the only trace of her stay in Meixiang Theater - a photo of the champions taken at the 2018 Opera Challenge.
This competition was not only of great significance to her and the drama school, but also caused a sensation in the entire Huangmei Opera circle in Mei City. That is why this photo was hung on the display wall of Huangmei Opera's previous honors.
At that time, she was full of vigor and vitality, and everyone was looking forward to her brilliant performance after her stunning success.
Ren Limeng stood straight with a complicated expression. She probably never thought that many years later she would return to Meixiang Theater as a guest of the show. She looked confident and full of longing in the photo, but she could not have predicted that just one year later, she would resolutely change her career and leave the Huangmei Opera that had accompanied her since she was a child.
Ren Limeng's eyes were dazed for a moment, but quickly became firm. She curled her lips and stared at herself in the photo again, smiling brightly.
She did not follow in her father's footsteps and become an excellent Huangmei Opera actor that made her parents proud, but she did not regret her choice and never felt any regrets.
Standing here today, Ren Limeng just couldn't help but secretly tell herself, and also generously tell the girl in the photo, that she was actually proud of herself.
Over the years, she has earned a doctorate degree and traveled all over the country in her work. She has found her dream. She is willing to devote her life to hosting and believes that she can firmly make her own voice on the stage with a microphone in her hand.
Ren Limeng was very satisfied.
She couldn't help but smile softly, as many of the questions lingering in her mind seemed to have been answered unknowingly during this recording journey.
Ren Limeng stared at the girl painted in bold ink on the wall with bright eyes.
Maybe one day, she will stand in the Meixiang Theater again, staring at the girl in the photo, but she can't remember what the girl looks like behind her makeup. However, Ren Limeng believes that at that time, she will definitely continue to follow her inner choices just like today, and will not completely abandon Huangmei Opera.
Huangmei Opera is her origin. Although she did not become a professional opera actor, she will never forget the singing, reciting, acting and fighting that are engraved in her bones, and she will never forget all the ups and downs that Huangmei Opera has brought her.
She will no longer dwell on certain things in the past.
Even if she fails to fulfill her parents' wishes, she will continue to do her best to promote Huangmei Opera. This is her natural bond with Huangmei Opera, and it is also her firm mission that she cannot shirk.
"Li Meng, is this a photo of you from that year?"
Shen Xingzhi stood silently beside Ren Limeng, noticing the complex emotions in her eyes. After a long time, he finally spoke slowly.
"Well, Brother Xingzhi, can you recognize which one is me?"
The photo shows all the teachers and students from the drama school who participated in the 18th competition. Surrounded by Qi Yunxi and others are her, Li Chuyue and several other actors. Everyone had changed out of their costumes but had not had time to remove their makeup. At first glance, Ren Limeng felt that she and Li Chuyue, who were wearing makeup at that time, looked as if they were cast from the same mold.
Although the makeup of male and female characters is very different, to an outsider like Shen Xingzhi, there may not be much difference. Ren Limeng asked casually, and a hint of cunning flashed in her eyes.
She somewhat expected Shen Xingzhi to guess wrong, so that she could tease him harshly!
Fang Shuyun, who was standing next to him, was afraid that Shen Xingzhi wouldn't be able to distinguish the painted face in front of him. Just as she was about to open her mouth to give a hint, she heard Shen Xingzhi chuckle and extend his right index finger, calmly confirming, "This is Li Chuyue."
"Do you recognize her?"
Ren Limeng was surprised for a moment. She didn't expect Shen Xingzhi to give this answer. He was right, but she was a little confused. She looked around and found that there were indeed no names written around the display photos.
"She's your partner. Mr. Xu introduced her to you."
Chen Xingzhi didn't say much. He noticed that Ren Limeng had no strange expression when she mentioned Li Chuyue, and his eyes unconsciously softened.
"...Brother Xingzhi, this is not an excuse for answering irrelevant questions."
Ren Limeng followed Chen Xingzhi's gaze and found that he was looking at the side of where his index finger was pointing. She was grinning in the photo.
The smile on Ren Limeng's lips deepened. She turned her head to look at Shen Xingzhi, and suddenly met Shen Xingzhi's deep eyes that were like a dark pool. When their eyes met, she seemed to be able to feel the ripples rising from the bottom of the pool, and the rippling ripples spread out in circles in the silent gaze.
Ren Limeng knew that Chen Xingzhi was teasing her. She glared at Chen Xingzhi with some embarrassment, but the upward curve of her smile deepened at the corners of her mouth.
"Since you can recognize Chu Yue and me at a glance, it seems that I haven't changed much since then. It's true that girls are always eighteen!"
Ren Limeng glanced at her bright eyes in the photo again and suddenly continued, "Come on, let's go. Let's hurry up and take you to Xilou Park, which was my favorite place to go when I was eighteen!"
The bright girl on the display wall has been watching the laughter of the crowd in front of her fade away. She still stands quietly in the same place, her smiling eyes flying in the photo, frozen in time.
"Li Meng, I admire you very much."
In the business car, Ren Limeng had just sat down and looked at Shen Xingzhi who suddenly spoke across the aisle, her eyes slightly stunned.
"You were just as wonderful and brave in that photo as you are now."
What’s even braver is that you still dare to face yourself back then with a smile as beautiful as a flower.
Chen Xingzhi looked at Ren Limeng with some tenderness that could not be hidden in his eyes. His melting black eyes were as bright and clear as moonlight. Staring at Chen Xingzhi's eyes, for a moment, the figure in front of Ren Limeng's eyes slowly overlapped with the figure she first met in her memory, as if Senior Xingzhi was standing in the quiet of time and looking back at her.
"It's still different. It's a pity that I'm wearing makeup in the photo. My face was full of collagen back then."
Ren Limeng paused her trembling breathing, took a deep breath, and subconsciously changed the topic with a hint of unspeakable melancholy and ridicule. The intertwined complex emotions finally turned into a smile under her palm as she raised her hand and gently pinched her cheek.
"Well, it's different."
"Um?"
Is Shen Xingzhi a straight man?
If I agree with her at this time, wouldn't that be like agreeing with her implication that I'm old?
Ren Limeng's eyes were slightly stern, with a hint of surprise unconsciously in the corners of her eyes. The "death stare" had been restrained under the camera, but Shen Xingzhi opposite her could still feel the warning in Ren Limeng's eyes.
She asked him to think before speaking.
"You are more dazzling now, standing on a bigger stage."
Shen Xingzhi spoke softly, the depths of his eyes seemed to be stained with some memories and became hazy.
Listening to Shen Xingzhi's calm answer, the smile on Ren Limeng's lips stretched unconsciously.
She has a lot in common with herself in the photo, for example, they both like to hear nice words.
"Senior Xingzhi, you too!"
Ren Limeng's voice was firm. She tilted her head, her sincere gaze fixed on the person in front of her. "I think you're also amazing and brave. We're really lucky. We've both become better versions of ourselves."
Her decision to leave Huangmei Opera and change careers was just a temporary choice at a young age, but Shen Xingzhi's decision to give up hosting meant the life and death of his mother.
Ren Limeng thought of Chen Xingzhi picking up the microphone and hosting on Wednesday night, and thought of the careful editing he had done before releasing her hosting video on Thursday night. She wondered if Chen Xingzhi would have a moment of regret and melancholy when watching her hosting videos over the years.
But she couldn't help but realize that he was standing next to her in too many photos of her hosting events at the university.
What kind of mood did Shen Xingzhi have when editing all the hosting footage in the university?
Even in the video... there's the graduation party they hosted together when his mother was critically ill.
At that time, she thought that the party was her own pain, but now it seems that the one who was more painful was Shen Xingzhi.
Ren Limeng also thought of herself.
On her first day back in Mei City, she actually deliberately avoided taking the photo on the first floor of Meixiang Theater. She hadn't walked past that side of the theater for many years. She knew that she had been indulging in the secret thoughts of escape in her heart, but a few days ago she had to use all her energy to stay calm in front of and behind the camera.
She just didn't make things difficult for herself at the time.
Therefore, Ren Limeng couldn't help but admire Shen Xingzhi.
At least, to this day, she is still reluctant to rewatch all her previous stage plays, such as "Peach Blossom Fan" at the challenge competition that year. Ren Limeng still has no urge to open the live video until now.
She can now treat Li Chuyue as a stranger colleague, but even if she seems to have let go of the past, she can't help but feel resentful at some point.
“Are we praising each other in business?”
Chen Xingzhi rarely joked easily, breaking the sudden quiet atmosphere in the car. Ren Limeng also smiled lightly, as if she had never noticed the similar complexity in each other's eyes at a certain moment.
"If you say so, then so be it."
"Hmm? I have the final say?"
Shen Xingzhi turned sideways completely, and suddenly leaned forward a little, as if to confirm with a slightly teasing tone. Ren Limeng straightened her back, and her smiling face showed no sign of a pounding heart.
"Of course, Brother Xingzhi, you are the captain!"
Beneath the impeccable answer was a rapidly running brain. Even though it was not the first time that she had stared at Shen Xingzhi at such a close distance, they seemed to be maintaining a normal aisle distance at this moment. In the narrow space of the workshop, Ren Limeng's heart was immediately shaken by Shen Xingzhi's actions. The "welfare" of the handsome face was really too much for her to bear.
Even after all these years, Ren Limeng still couldn't stand up to the face that had made her fall in love at first sight. The only thing that had improved was her calm demeanor from her experience as a host, but...
When she thought of those nights when their distance was a little subtle, Ren Limeng's mind still froze.
It’s easy to have wild thoughts when you haven’t been in a relationship for a long time.
It's human nature!
Yes, it’s human nature!
"Then... San Gong, do you want to continue to team up with me?"
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