Chapter 90 Li Chuyue didn't know if she was possessed
Ren Limeng tilted her head and looked at Yan Fangshu with a smile, her tone somewhat flattering, "Fangfang, well... I might not be able to go shopping with you this week. Since I have to give it my all, I have to practice in seclusion like Yueyue. Okay Fangfang, can we go later~"
"Okay, okay, I'm really impressed by you two! You train so hard during the week, and you still work hard on the weekends? Weekends! You two are so hardworking, Mengmeng, no wonder my parents like you so much and talk about you every day. If I were even a third as hardworking as you, my dad would be burning incense and praying to Buddha!"
Yan Fangshu sighed softly, "Forget it, my stinky boyfriend's birthday isn't a big deal. I won't buy him a gift. I'll just stay here with you guys! Let me make it clear, I'm only here to watch and not practice. I'll just be there to help with the atmosphere!"
Compared with Li Chuyue and Ren Limeng, Yan Fangshu is not as hardworking. She has always had a laissez-faire attitude, and her family is more tolerant of her. Unlike Ren Limeng's parents, especially her mother Wu Murong, she is not so demanding of perfection and always requires Ren Limeng to perform to the best and then better.
"Okay, okay, of course the three of us sisters should go together!"
Hearing the laughing voices of Ren Limeng and Yan Fangshu, Li Chuyue finally showed the first genuine and relaxed smile in the past two days.
But learning opera is not easy.
"Mengmeng, are you... planning to play both roles?"
The weekend ended quietly in sweat. After Monday night self-study, in the training room, Li Chuyue stared at Ren Limeng who was practicing in front of the mirror in a daze, and finally couldn't help but ask softly.
In the final of the Opera Style Challenge, "Peach Blossom Fan", Ren Limeng played the male protagonist Hou Fangyu, a patriotic scholar, and Li Chuyue played the female protagonist Li Xiangjun, a famous Qinhuai prostitute. Hidden in this was Ren Limeng's ingenious design. In the early competitions, she had impressed the judges with her heroic image of a female warrior. The role of a refined young man in the final was extremely subversive and also showed her unlimited possibilities.
Although the challenge was to evaluate plays and select rising opera stars, as soon as the male lead Hou Fangyu, played by Ren Limeng, appeared on the stage, everyone couldn't help but hold their breath in amazement. Li Chuyue could not forget the admiring eyes of the judges and the audience at that time. She did not understand Ren Limeng at that time.
"Your performance as Hou Fangyu was excellent. Didn't Teacher Qi say that Zhushi should cooperate with our selection? Why are you trying out Li Xiangjun's moves now?"
That was her role. Li Chuyue looked at Ren Limeng with a look of incomprehension.
"Hou Fangyu has practiced so many times, there's really nothing much to prepare. Since I promised you to do my best, I have to come up with something new. I haven't played a Huadan role like Li Xiangjun in a long time, and I'm not used to the finger movements."
Ren Limeng pinched the thumb and middle finger of her right hand together, stretched out her index finger and raised it, looked at herself in the mirror and gently tapped her orchid finger, trying to be more graceful. She really needed to practice more such soft and graceful dance-like movements and postures.
After checking for omissions and filling in the gaps in this way, it seems that the so-called selection competition has some meaning.
Moreover, she prepared seriously for both roles. If she accidentally lost, even if her "Judge" mother wanted to find fault with her, she wouldn't be able to say that she wasn't serious.
Ren Limeng was very satisfied with her sudden inspiration. After a long time, she finally noticed that Li Chuyue next to her had not spoken for a long time.
Ren Limeng was stunned for a moment, then seemed to finally remember something and added, "Yueyue, don't worry. During the competition on Friday, we can perform together first, and then I can perform a solo performance of Li Xiangjun. Or... if you want, you can do both solo performances, that's fine with me."
Ren Limeng's original intention was to say that she would not affect Li Chuyue's performance, but what she said was very harsh to Li Chuyue's ears. She lowered her head, clenched her hands tightly in her sleeves, and her finger bones turned slightly white.
"No, I can play both roles too. We'll both play two roles on Friday. It's fair and square!"
A long time later, whenever Li Chuyue recalled this incident, she could only smile bitterly and lament that she was too stubborn at the time. But the 16-year-old girl was too proud and too unwilling to give up. She was too afraid of many things, so she pushed herself so hard.
Especially on the evening before the audition, Li Chuyue did not expect to see her father at the drama school.
The wind was cold and the sky was gray. The camphor trees standing alone on both sides of the teaching building were also covered with a layer of cold silver gauze. Before I knew it, small snowflakes were floating in front of my eyes.
"Chu Yue, your teacher invited me and your mom to watch your tryout tomorrow. I heard that if you win, you can be admitted. We finally got a job tomorrow and really don't have time to come. I came to the city today to hand in the work and come to see you. You must do your best! If you are admitted, can you go directly to university? You don't have to pay for your final year of tuition?"
"Dad! There is a chance to be admitted! Don't take it for granted!"
Looking at her father's dark and rough face, Li Chuyue, who was already anxious because of the unsuccessful practice of the role of Hou Fangyu, became even more upset. She exhaled and loudly corrected her father who could only fantasize.
It was not as easy as he sounded. She was not the versatile Ren Limeng. The role span from Dan to Sheng was too challenging. In just less than a week, she slept less than four hours a day and still could not master the role.
Her singing style and body movements were not right, and the performance became more and more chaotic, while Ren Limeng was right next to her and was able to play both roles with ease.
Why is that?
Ren Limeng hasn't even stayed up late once in the past two weeks! She even has some free time to chat with Yan Fangshu, smiling as she listens to her sweet complaints about her boyfriend! Not doing her job!
Li Chuyue felt extremely unbalanced. She had been frequently stuck in her actions and emotions these days, and even in her lines that she had already memorized. She broke down many times. The more Ren Limeng comforted her, the more she couldn't help crying. Her tears always poured out and she couldn't contain them. But it was like running into a dead end. The pain in her heart did not lessen in the slightest even after she vented her tears.
She couldn't deny that she wanted to win, she wanted to get this admission. Although Li Chuyue and her father explained that it was "a chance", she understood Teacher Qi's hint in her heart. As long as she could be selected as the leading actor of "Peach Blossom Fan" on Friday, the admission was almost a sure thing.
That was the dream she had practiced for many years, the road to her long-cherished goal, her only hope. She was not the indifferent Ren Limeng, she had an entire family's earnest expectations behind her.
Li Chuyue didn't know if she was possessed.
Before the competition the next day, in the backstage area, when Li Chuyue realized what she had just done, she was already clutching the Li Xiangjun costume with a glaring long mark on the lining painted black with charcoal black eyebrow powder.
This is a gorgeous costume that seems fine at first glance. The purple-blue gauze is embroidered with exquisite and intricate patterns, and layer upon layer of colorful petticoats cover the black on the inside of the hem. Only when the head hits the ground at the climax, the obvious black stain is revealed as the actor dances vigorously.
Not only can it make the judges frown and lose their focus instantly, it can also make them feel that the actors are frivolous and arrogant and do not pay attention to costumes and the selection competition.
And the costume she tampered with was - Ren Limeng's size.
Time seems to have stopped before my eyes.
Li Chuyue's mind went blank, and all around her was suddenly white. She clenched her hands and tried to grab something, but she felt nothing in her palms.
Just now, she saw Ren Limeng chatting and laughing with the judges of Meixiang Theater in the corridor. Among the group of people from the theater troupe, she noticed Ren Limeng's mother Wu Murong at a glance. When Li Chuyue returned to the backstage to put on makeup, she felt a little aggrieved and...angry that was beyond words.
Thinking of her father's eager eyes when he finally came to the city, remembering Ren Limeng who was deliberately left in the office but didn't care, thinking of the judges' loving looks at Ren Limeng just now, when Li Chuyue came back to her senses, she had already painted Ren Limeng's lining with eyebrow powder.
This glaring black mark was like her troubled heart at the moment, silently and unsightly reflecting the thorn in her throat that she had suppressed for too long. When her reason regained control of her body, Li Chuyue's eyes went dark.
Are you crazy?
What is she doing?
Or rather, what did she just do!?
Li Chuyue was visibly panicking. Even in the middle of winter, beads of sweat were already oozing out of her forehead. She looked at her trembling hands in disbelief, but she was unwilling to accept it. The glaring black in front of her reminded her all the time that what was done was too late to undo.
Everyone only had one costume. Even though Li Chuyue was secretly regretting it, she couldn't immediately wash Ren Limeng's costume and restore it to its original state. She couldn't erase her impulsive "crime scene". Now there was less than an hour left before the competition started.
Outside the window, heavy snow was falling quietly, and all that could be seen was silver-white. The biting cold seemed to be able to penetrate the thick and silent walls, making Li Chuyue's heart feel cold. The deep and shallow despair was like a bottomless abyss in her heart.
she......
"Yueyue, what are you doing?"
As soon as Ren Limeng entered the backstage, she saw Li Chuyue, staring blankly at the clothes rack holding her costume. She said with a smile, "You've finished your makeup? Looks like I need to speed up too!"
Li Chuyue subconsciously wanted to hide the crumpled costume behind her, but thinking of Ren Limeng's sharpness and meticulousness, she was at a loss. She just responded vaguely and raised the corners of her mouth very stiffly.
Ren Limeng walked to the dressing table next to Li Chuyue. She picked up the eyebrow powder box on the table, closed the lid, put the box back in its place, and took out the foundation on the other side.
Noticing Li Chuyue's strange behavior and abnormal expression, Ren Limeng subconsciously stared at Li Chuyue for a few more seconds. As Li Chuyue's hands trembled, Ren Limeng finally noticed the faint black marks on the inside of the gauze of her costume in her hands.
Ren Limeng's pupils shrank sharply, and she quickly put down the powder she had just picked up. She walked forward quickly, grabbed Li Chuyue's hand that was trying to retreat with one hand, and flipped open the outer layer of her clothes with the other hand.
"Who did it?"
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