White Swan

Chapter 39

After returning to the villa, Qiao Fei has been having nightmares for several nights, and the content of the dream is different every night.For a while, I dreamed that the sun was shot down by Houyi, and the blood that flowed out was orange syrup. For a while, I dreamed that I fell down while dancing, and everyone in the dance troupe, including the audience, laughed at him, saying that he danced like A jester to please the king.

The dream that night was the most terrifying. He seemed to be trapped in a sticky and cold swamp. When he was about to be suffocated, a hand stretched out to him. He couldn't wait to hold it, but the hand didn't pull him, but instead Push him into the swamp, make him sink deeper and deeper.

I woke up twice in the middle of the night, my body was sticky with cold sweat, and it was useless to change clothes.The heating in the room didn’t seem to be working, and it was always cold inside the bed. Qiao Fei got out of bed and turned the heating to the highest level, and pulled out a blanket from the cabinet to wrap herself in it.

After being awakened by a dream at 04:30 in the morning, Qiao Fei was lying on the bed waiting for the dawn, her mind was in a mess.

There was the sound of a nanny going upstairs, and a short while later the door of the master bedroom at the end of the corridor opened and closed, and footsteps were heard in the corridor.

Qiao Fei pulled up the quilt to cover her head, heard the footsteps outside the door pause at his door, and then walked towards the stairs.He was slightly relieved.

The room was quiet again.

There are two small stones on the bedside table, one light gray and one dark blue.Qiao Fei reached out to take them over, and looked at them in the palm of her hand.

The blue stone is bigger, and if it is placed under the light, it will be somewhat transparent, and the lines and imperfect impurities inside can be seen clearly.

Qiao Fei's heart was so numb from the pain, something had been taken away.It's strange, the blue stone in his hand seems to prove that he still has something, but the reality is just the opposite.

He raised his hand and ruthlessly threw two stones into the corner of the room. The sound of the stones colliding in the quiet room was particularly ear-piercing.

Wrapped in the quilt, Qiao Fei bit her lips tightly until she tasted blood on the tip of her tongue.

There is no real good fortune in the world, and a sun does not illuminate an entire planet.

In fact, when the loss becomes a habit, maybe it doesn't hurt so much, and he may lose something that never belonged to him.

It was only when the pillow was wet that Qiao Fei realized that he was crying. He didn't have the strength to wipe away the tears, so he just blinked his eyes.

He no longer wants to believe in small stones.

-

January [-]th is the rehearsal day, and after the Chinese New Year, the dance drama will be officially staged.

The posters and promotional photos of "A Winter's Tale" have been hung outside the theater. Several leading actors in gorgeous costumes are in the center of the photos, like dazzling stars and moons.

Several people from the media came to interview Shi Xubai and the chief of the dance troupe a few days ago, saying that they would publish their articles in the ballet magazine.

The arrangement for today's rehearsal with makeup is to try on costumes in the morning and go through the dance drama on the stage in the afternoon.Upstairs, at the entrance of the dance hall upstairs, there is a timetable for costume fitting and tailoring. When the time comes, the actors go to the costume room to try on the clothes.

The whole theater was busy, and many stage managers and lighting adjusters with earphones gathered at the door to prepare for the rehearsal in the afternoon.

Qiao Fei sat in the lounge, waiting for his time to try on clothes.

He hasn't spoken to Shi Xubai since the New Year's Day holiday.He didn't even know if Shi Xubai knew that he heard his conversation that night.

He just hid Xu Bai every time he saw him, trying his best to suppress the dull pain in his heart.Fortunately, the dance troupe had too many things to do, and Shi Xubai, as the choreographer, was very busy these two days, and they didn't have time to talk.

Qiao Fei didn't even know what to say to him.

It doesn't matter, he was fine before he came to the dance troupe.After he's gone, just treat it as a dream.

The pain in the heart may be the same as the pain in the body, and it will dissipate and heal after a while.

At around twelve o'clock in the noon, Luo Ziwen chatted heartlessly with Qiao Fei about the few comics he found on the street stalls two days ago, and said that if Qiao Fei wanted to read them, he could lend them to him, but they had to be in good condition when returning them. lossless.

Qiao Fei sat on the sofa in the lounge and listened silently, thankful that she still had such a friend.

His clothing was tried on at 12:30, and it was almost time, so he went directly to the clothing room.

There are a lot of people inside, and several actors are waiting to try on clothes or take measurements.The actress who played the role of the queen, Lu Yang, was also there. She was wearing a long plain dress and was waiting for the dresser to change the length of the skirt.

Qiao Fei's costume is different from other group dancers, others are brown or brown gowns, but his is a dark gray long coat, imitating the style of the British style duke.

If Qiao Fei was in the mood, he might be happy for a long time because of his special and unique costume, but he was not interested, and after getting the costume, he didn't feel very happy.

The clothes of several leading actors are all custom-made. After they are measured, the tailors will directly make the costumes. The costumes for other solo dancers and group performances are existing in the theater.

Qiao Fei has a thin waist and a small frame. The coat he was wearing was a bit too big for him. The staff who modified the clothes asked him to sit down and wait to make his waist narrower.

There were so many people in the clothing room, so Qiao Fei sat on the small bench at the far end in order not to get in the way, and waited for the clothing assistant to change his clothes.

The clothes have not yet arrived, but I heard a familiar voice from the door: "There are too many decorations for Perdita's third dress, can you remove some pearls on the neckline and skirt?"

Qiao Fei looked up and saw that Shi Xubai was discussing with a fashion designer. He froze for a moment. He didn't know why Shi Xubai came to the clothing room suddenly. After realizing it, he immediately looked around and wanted to find a place to hide .

There is no place to hide around, only rows of clothing racks, piles of fabrics and various decorations. Fortunately, there are so many people here that no one will notice the boy in the corner.

Qiao Fei cat slipped to the back of a row of fabric rolls and squatted down. His heart almost jumped out. He bit his sleeve tightly to avoid making a sound. After he squatted, he began to laugh at himself again, as if he The importance is average, how could Shi Xubai pay special attention to him.

Just thinking about sneaking out, anyway, his role is not that important, at worst, wearing a sack to dance on stage, his name was called.

"Qiao Fei." The costume assistant came out of a room next to her with the newly modified costumes in her arms, and told him that the costumes had been changed.

Qiao Fei cursed in a low voice, cursing her bad luck.

"Hey, where's the person?" The assistant looked around, "It was still there just now."

Her voice was a little loud, and several people around her had already looked over.When Qiao Fei saw that Xu Bai had already noticed this place, she knew it was useless to hide, so she quickly ran out from behind the shelf, picked up the costume and ran outside.

"I want to try it..." the costume assistant yelled when Qiao Fei snatched the costume from her hand, just in time to attract the attention of all the people around him.

Shi Xubai was standing at the door, and Qiao Fei would pass by him if he wanted to go out.Qiao Fei pretended not to see him, pretended that her heart didn't almost jump out of her throat, and ran past him quickly.

"Qiao Fei, you..." Before Shi Xubai finished speaking, Qiao Fei had already rushed out of the clothing room, leaving him standing there alone inexplicably.

There are many people behind the stage, and there are two rows of poles in the middle of the space for the actors to warm up.Seeing Luo Ziwen standing in the corner, Qiao Fei hurried over, put down her things, took off her clothes and put on a performance costume.

"What's the matter?" Luo Ziwen saw him coming and made room for him on the bar.He saw that Qiao Fei was still in shock, and asked him with a smile, "Did you see a ghost?"

Luo Ziwen was wearing a long brown gown and looked tall and slender. He was looking back and forth in the mirror leaning against the wall, looking at Qiao Fei from his reflection in the mirror.

"It's okay." Qiao Fei ran over from the clothing room, still panting, and shook her head at Luo Ziwen.He glanced at the backstage door, and felt a little relieved when he saw that Shi Xubai hadn't followed.

Rehearsals began soon.Shi Xubai summoned all the actors to the stage, first repeated the walking direction and the direction of each leading actor on stage and their positions, and then directly started the first act.

Shi Xubai saw Qiao Fei standing behind at a glance, and frowned subtly, but due to the need for rehearsal, he couldn't pay much attention to him.

Qiao Fei didn't dare to look in his direction, hearing him keep talking about the performance, she didn't seem to notice him, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Some managers of the dance troupe, including head Zhao, were also there, sitting in the first row of the auditorium to watch.

The rehearsal is to perform the whole dance drama on the stage from the beginning to the end, just like a formal performance, with the audience watching.The orchestra below the stage will accompany the dance on stage.

Shi Xubai held the microphone and stood at the right front of the stage, carefully watching the progress of the dance drama and the effect on the stage.

The group dances are performed seven times in this dance drama, three times in the first act and four times in the second act after the intermission.

Qiao Fei stood on the side of the backstage waiting for him to enter the stage. Before going on stage, he habitually reached out to hold a small stone in his pocket to wish for a smooth performance, but his fingertips didn’t touch anything.He panicked for a moment, thinking that he had lost the stone that gave him good luck, and stood there for a few seconds before he remembered.

Oh, by the way, he threw the pebbles into the corner of the room, and I don't know where the ashes will fall.

For a moment, Qiao Fei regretted it a little. He clenched his hands into fists in his pockets, not used to the feeling of being empty and holding nothing.

Before I had time to think too much, the music had already reached the part where the group danced.It took Qiao Fei some time to get used to the lighting after she came on stage, trying to calm down.He tried his best to make his movements flawless, and wanted Shi Xubai not to notice him.

Fortunately, today's rehearsal is mainly to see the performance of several protagonists and the smooth movement of the stage, and did not pay attention to the details of the movements of solo dances and group dances.