The theater's punishment of Gao Xianyue came swiftly; she was expelled from the orchestra and a serious stain was added to her resume.
The cellist who shone brightly on the Rhine music stage never had the chance to hold his own solo concert after returning home, and thus forever missed out on joining this most outstanding ensemble.
"Director Gao, I don't believe you can't see that this is a frame-up."
Gao Xianyue could not accept this. "I have the right to hire a lawyer to protect my reputation."
"I don't care about any persecution, because of you, tonight's highly anticipated performance by the band has become a major disaster!"
The band leader's face was ashen. "You can't even protect the cello, which is more important than your life. I'm starting to seriously doubt whether the decision to let you join this band was the right one!"
She hadn't been back to China for so long that she had forgotten that it was a society that valued personal relationships more than any other country.
Her perfect resume was now tarnished.
When Gao Xian Yue went out, she lit a cigarette, the smoke obscuring her cold, clear eyes.
The assistant tried to comfort her, "Sister Yue, it's okay to make a mistake once. We'll just be more careful next time."
Gao Xian Yue smiled and said, "You go first."
"Maybe I should stay with you—"
Gao Xian Yue looked up at her, her smile unchanged. The assistant felt a chill run down her spine.
Over the years that Gao Xianyue had been with him, she was mostly gentle and smiling, but his assistant was inexplicably afraid of her.
She turned and left.
In the vast, empty corridor, Gao Xian Yue leaned against the wall and finished her cigarette. Just moments before, a band had passed by her, their smiles contemptuous and provocative.
She slowly and deliberately stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray on the marble pillar.
Suddenly, she heard steady footsteps beside her. They weren't heavy, but each step seemed to strike her heart. Gao Xian Yue turned her head to look.
The backlight casts a silhouette of the woman, who holds a bouquet of roses in her hands. As she gets closer, her face sheds its weakness and silence, completely overlapping with that of many years ago.
Meng Jiuyi handed over the flowers, her eyes clear and bright.
"Crescent Moon, how did the performance go?"
Gao Xian Yue's gaze remained fixed on her face, slowly shifting from shock to calm, and her smile faded.
"It's you?"
Her question brought her to a sudden realization, but she clearly didn't quite believe that the person who had been silently enduring bullying back then could do something like this today.
"Are you asking what I am? Cutting your strings? Or isolating you? How could I possibly have so many things?"
Meng Jiuyi curled the corners of his mouth, "I'm just learning some of your little tricks from back then, you didn't teach me, did you?"
Sunlight streamed down from the dome, falling on her face, making her exceptionally beautiful.
Gao Xian Yue had thought this person was dead, or was just surviving somewhere like a lump of rotten flesh, but she never expected him to be able to jump around in front of her.
She smiled nonchalantly, "So, you think getting me removed from the band is revenge against me?"
"Not at all, this is our gift to you."
Meng Jiuyi whispered in her ear, "Revenge means repaying what you did to me back then, tenfold."
They looked at each other, and Gao Xian Yue smiled.
"You really are very lucky. You didn't die in that fire back then, but your good friend was implicated."
Meng Jiuyi stared at her coldly, "Was the fire that Zhu Lijian set related to you?"
"So that's what you wanted to ask?"
A wisp of bluish-white smoke rose between her two fingers, giving Gao Xian Yue a strange look of excitement on her face. She smiled slowly.
"Want to know?"
Meng Jiuyi didn't speak, but her heart suddenly started racing.
Gao Xian Yue leaned close to her ear and said, word by word, "My answer is—"
Before she could finish speaking, the curtains behind her burst into flames—she had just pushed open the thick cap of the lighter and slowly placed it under the curtains.
Meng Jiuyi retreated in fear, his face turning deathly pale.
Fear gnawed at her like a leech, climbing up her spine, and her pupils burned with intense fire.
Gao Xian Yue laughed out loud, "I just wanted to try it out. I didn't expect you to still be afraid after all these years. Now I'm very curious about how scary it is."
Meng Jiuyi stared at her, his eyes bloodshot, wishing he could pounce on her and bite her to death.
The fire raged wildly behind Gao Xianyue. She smiled at Meng Jiuyi, covering her mouth, and then hurriedly went to call for help.
The fire was extinguished quickly, and no one suspected it was premeditated. Furthermore, since it was in a blind spot of surveillance, there was even less way to investigate.
The sound of the toilet flushing could be heard repeatedly from the bathroom.
Meng Jiuyi was lying on the toilet, not knowing how many times she had vomited. Her stomach was filled with only acid, but she still kept dry heaving.
When we came out of the theater, most of the audience had already left. Everyone was expressing their disappointment with the concert, and even more so with Gao Xianyue, who had graced the Rhine stage.
Meng Jiuyi leaned against the wall, hot sweat suddenly bursting out of her pores, only to cool instantly, the repeated sensations making it hard for her to breathe.
The security guard noticed that she looked terrible and came over to ask if she needed any help.
Meng Jiuyi shook his head and continued walking forward without stopping.
Outside the dome, a light drizzle had begun; autumn in Kyushu always begins with a rain shower.
A Rolls-Royce slowly pulled up in front of the theater. Meng Jiuyi stood not far away, almost thinking he was seeing things.
Because she saw Xu Yanzhi slowly getting out of the car with an umbrella, and he didn't seem travel-worn at all in the misty rain.
The cuffs at the wrists and the perfectly pressed creases of his trousers all demonstrate his meticulousness.
Xu Yanzhi held the umbrella over Gao Xianyue's head and casually asked, "How did the performance go?"
"It didn't go very well; you could say it was a complete failure. It might be my final performance."
Gao Xian Yue said, "Since I'm in a bad mood, Brother Yanzhi, are you planning to treat me to something delicious?"
Xu Yanzhi seemed a little absent-minded. He only smiled relaxedly after the other person called him twice.
What would you like to eat?
As the car door opened and Gao Xianyue got in, Xu Yanzhi's umbrella naturally tilted towards her. Rain fell, wetting his shoulders and leaving dark watermarks.
Perhaps because the attention was too intense, he glanced at the theater unintentionally.
Meng Jiuyi immediately hid in the corner, the icy rain washing away the tears on her face and seeping deep into her neck.
The Rolls-Royce had already driven away, and she stared blankly in the direction it had gone.
It felt like going back to many years ago—
When he carried Su Yan away, it was Gao Xian Yue this time.
The rain that drenched her so thoroughly that year returned four years later.
My phone suddenly vibrated.
After Meng Jiuyi answered the call, the plump aunt said, "Miss Meng, come quick! Aunt Zhang has fainted!"
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