"Drink some water. You'll be on stage soon."
Just as Chen Yixia was deep in thought, Jiang Zhirou's voice suddenly rang in her ear.
She came back to her senses and looked up blankly at the other person, not knowing when Jiang Zhirou had stood in front of her.
The words she had just said to Si Moshen still lingered in her mind...
Qing Mian would never say such things. At least, she had never heard her say so.
Chen Yixia's eyes dimmed instantly. Her gaze fell on the bottle of mineral water in Jiang Zhirou's hand. Before her mind could catch up, she just stared straight at the person.
Seeing that she just stared at her motionlessly, Jiang Zhirou suddenly thought of something and explained, "This is a new one. I haven't drunk from it."
Hearing this, Chen Yixia knew that she had misunderstood her and quickly waved her hand, "No, I didn't mean that."
Jiang Zhirou didn't really care about such things. She directly stuffed the water into Chen Yixia's hand and then turned around and walked out of the lounge under Chen Yixia's gaze.
Just then, the voice of a staff member came from outside the lounge.
Chen Yixia quickly took a few big gulps of the water in her hand and then trotted out.
This performance was neither extremely grand nor very small. It was not only Qing Mian's first performance but also hers. It was inevitable that she would be a bit nervous.
There were still ten minutes until the performance time.
Chen Yixia stood behind Jiang Zhirou, her gaze fixed on the person in front of her.
Not sure if it was because of nervousness or some other reason, Jiang Zhirou's fingers hanging by her legs were constantly tapping a small rhythm.
Chen Yixia stood behind her and couldn't see her expression.
She and Qing Mian had already planned how to celebrate after the successful performance.
But now, the person standing in front of her was no longer the one who had made the agreement with her. The celebration... probably wouldn't happen anymore.
Chen Yixia looked at the person in front of her, opened her mouth, wanting to say something. She struggled for a long time, but in the end, until it was time to go on stage, she still couldn't say a word.
...
Half an hour later, there was a burst of applause in the huge theater.
Chen Yixia and Jiang Zhirou walked to the center of the stage, bowed deeply to the audience, and then left the stage one after another.
Their performance was very smooth, just as perfect as if they had rehearsed many times before.
But Jiang Zhirou's expression was always cold. It was hard to tell if she was happy or not. Chen Yixia didn't dare to randomly find a topic to talk about. She just quietly followed behind her and walked towards the lounge.
...
...
At the same time, in the backstage lounge.
Chi Yu and Si Moshen were sitting on the wide sofa in the room, one on the left and the other on the right.
There was a bouquet of sunflowers beside Chi Yu.
"Mr. Chi is really considerate, traveling thousands of kilometers specially to attend the performance."
Si Moshen's voice carried a hint of sarcasm.
Chi Yu lifted his eyes and looked at him. Although he couldn't hear, from the man's expression, he could tell that the man wasn't speaking in a good tone.
He knew that with Si Moshen's intelligence network, he must have already known about his hearing problem. He said this obviously to deliberately mock him.
Chi Yu just gave the man beside him a faint glance and didn't respond.
His mind was now completely focused on Qing Mian. He didn't have much energy to deal with others. He raised his hand to check the time. The performance was already over.
Qing Mian should be in the lounge soon.
Just as he was thinking, the next second, the door of the lounge was pushed open from the outside.
After coming off the stage, Jiang Zhirou's mind was on learning self - defense. Her head was full of thoughts about getting her body in good shape, fighting against Kai, and at the same time, quickly finding out why she was sent away back then.
Too many things occupied her mind. When she pushed open the door, she subconsciously walked towards her previous position while still talking.
"I was talking to you before about finding a—"
"Professor Chi!"
Chen Yixia's voice interrupted Jiang Zhirou's words.
Hearing the voice, Jiang Zhirou slowly raised her head and only then noticed Chi Yu sitting beside Si Moshen.
She took a deep breath, and the second half of the sentence got stuck in her throat. She stared blankly at Chi Yu.
"Baby, the performance was a success."
Just as Jiang Zhirou was in a daze, Chi Yu held out the sunflowers in his hand and presented them in front of her.
Before she could say a word, Chi Yu's voice rang out again.
"You look very beautiful today."
His gaze fell on "Qing Mian".
She was wearing an apricot fishtail dress today, which perfectly outlined her figure.
Her long hair was coiled up behind her head, and her bangs were neatly tucked behind her ears. Her face wasn't heavily made up with a flashy stage makeup but with a relatively cold and light makeup. She looked gentle yet powerful.
The design of the dress she was wearing was no less than the one he had designed for Qing Mian himself.
Looking at the fabric and material, Chi Yu didn't even need to think to know that it must have been custom - made for her by Si Moshen.
Thinking of this, Chi Yu felt a bit sour in his heart.
He had been too busy recently and had even forgotten about the performance dress.
Next time, he would definitely not let Si Moshen have another chance to show his kindness.
It was just a dress. It could be thrown away.
Chi Yu still maintained the action of offering the flowers, and Jiang Zhirou still looked up at him as before, not taking the flowers.
Seeing this, Chi Yu subconsciously frowned, "Baby?"
As he spoke, he reached out and gently tapped the tip of "Qing Mian"'s nose, just like he had done countless times before.
The moment Chi Yu's finger touched the tip of Jiang Zhirou's nose, she suddenly came back to her senses and unconsciously took a step back.
Her eyes were a bit evasive.
Chi Yu's hand froze in mid - air.
Looking at the familiar face in front of him, an inexplicable sense of panic welled up in Chi Yu's heart. His look at "Qing Mian" was rather complicated.
Just as Chi Yu was about to speak, the woman in front of him spoke first.
Jiang Zhirou suddenly took the flowers from Chi Yu's hand and said, "Be careful not to mess up my makeup."
As soon as the words fell, the expression on Chi Yu's face obviously softened a lot. He let out a sigh of relief.
"I'll go to the restroom."
After saying this, without waiting for Chi Yu to speak, Jiang Zhirou hugged the flowers and turned around to run towards the restroom.
Chi Yu watched her running back, and a complex look flashed quickly in his amber eyes.
"Professor Chi, when did you come?" Chen Yixia suddenly asked.
Only then did Chi Yu withdraw his gaze and look at Chen Yixia standing beside him. A faint smile curled up on his lips, "I just arrived not long ago."
"Then you didn't get to hear our performance?"
Hearing Chi Yu's words, Chen Yixia unconsciously asked, and at the same time, she felt relieved.
She was glad that Chi Yu hadn't heard this performance.
Because the person performing wasn't Qing Mian.
Chi Yu just pointed at his ear and said, "I have a bit of a hearing problem now. I can't hear. But I've already asked someone to record your performance. I'll listen to it slowly after my hearing recovers."