White Swan

Chapter 12

Qiao Fei was shaken awake by He Haoyun in the morning. He woke up in a daze, with a headache that was about to explode.

He struggled to look up at the watch on the bed, and sat up from the bed with his head supported: "I'm going to the theater, I have an interview today."

"I know, I'll take you there." He Haoyun didn't reach out to support Qiao Fei, but just watched him get out of bed and stand still, "Get ready, I'll wait for you outside."

When Qiao Fei went out, He Haoyun was already waiting for him in the car.

Looking at the Lamborghini, Qiao Fei suddenly had the idea of ​​walking to the dance troupe.

Qiao Fei kept his eyes closed all the way, his brain was throbbing and throbbing, and he kept nauseated, feeling like vomiting.He Haoyun glanced at him from the rearview mirror and asked him, "Dear, are you feeling bad?"

Qiao Fei shook her head, then nodded, pressing her head against the backrest, trying to stop the spinning world.

For the first time in history, He Haoyun did not drive fast, and drove extremely smoothly all the way. He parked the car at the entrance of the theater, leaned over to open the car door for Qiao Fei, "Go, I will wait for you here."

The artistic director from the UK was talking with head Zhao in the lobby downstairs of the dance troupe.Lu Yang was also there, nodding with a smile. Her slender neck was straight, with nobility in her bones.

Maybe this is the so-called princess.

No lights were turned on in the theater, only the spotlights on the stage reflected a unique world.

Qiao Fei went backstage and started stretching and warming up in the corner. More than half of the dance troupe's actors came, scattered in different places, preparing for the audition dance.Shi Xubai was also there, discussing the essentials of action with an actor.He is a choreographer, so there was no need to come to this kind of interview.

Feeling a little uncomfortable, Qiao Fei put her legs on the pole, buried her head in her arms, and closed her eyes.

Shi Xubai glanced at him, probably seeing that something was wrong with him, excused himself from the actor, then walked up to Qiao Fei, and asked him, "What's wrong?"

Qiao Fei opened her eyes and looked up at him, Shi Xubai lowered her eyelids, and her eyelashes cast a small shadow under her eyes.

"Uncomfortable...headache." He was sweating on his forehead, and there was a cramping pain in his stomach.

"Why is it uncomfortable?" Shi Xubai scanned Qiao Fei up and down, as if to confirm whether he was injured, "What are you doing?"

It wasn't the external body that he felt uncomfortable at all, but the invisible stomach.Qiao Fei didn't answer.He didn't know what to say or how to explain it.

Shi Xubai frowned slightly, "Why don't you stop dancing?"

"No, I want to dance." Qiao Fei gently pinched her thigh with her nails, trying to use the pain to drive away the cloud in her head, "I want to try."

Shi Xubai did not continue to persuade him to give up, nodded, and instructed in a low voice: "Remember to jump high enough when you are in tourenl'air, and spin twice. Tighten your legs and straighten your toes."

Qiao Fei nodded, not having the energy to answer at all.

Shi Xubai lowered his head and seriously instructed: "Don't look at the ground, you know?"

He didn't tie up his hair today, and a few strands of hair naturally fell to his forehead.Qiao Fei raised her hand slowly as if possessed, trying to brush away the hair that blocked his eyes.He thinks Shi Xubai actually looks good with loose hair, casual but not messy at all.

But Qiao Fei still wanted to see his crooked little prick.

Shi Xubai didn't shrink back, he just stood there and looked at Qiao Fei, as if he wanted to see what he would do.Qiao Fei stopped with a guilty conscience, raised her arms in mid-air, and was at a loss.

He didn't expect Shi Xubai to reach out his hand suddenly, he didn't have time to dodge, his wrist was caught by Shi Xubai.

Shi Xubai didn't look at him, but stared at his wrist.Qiao Fei followed his line of sight, and belatedly found a strangle mark on her arm and bruises around it.In fact, he didn't even remember how the mark got on him, only a blur remained last night.

After a while, Shi Xubai let go of his arm, the backstage lights were dim, and the light was behind him, so it was impossible to see the expression on his face clearly.

"Look up, remember to raise your gaze." Shi Xubai asked him, "Are you afraid?"

"A little bit." Qiao Fei told the truth, he was really scared, not only worried about making mistakes, but also afraid of knowing the result after the interview.

So dizzy, he just wants to sleep.

Shi Xubai nodded slightly, not knowing what he was thinking, he looked into Qiao Fei's eyes and said, "I will be in the center of the second row of No.30 in the auditorium."

Qiao Fei didn't immediately understand what Shi Xubai meant by saying this, and he didn't realize it until he turned around and walked towards the auditorium of the theater.

The second row of No.30 is exactly at the level of the stage. If the actor's eyes look straight ahead, they will just fall on this row.

The actors who were being interviewed on the stage stepped off the stage, and the stage manager stood by and glanced at the list in his hand, and said to Qiao Fei, "You are next."

Qiao Fei responded, rubbing the pebbles in her hands, carefully going through the details of the dance steps in her mind.When jumping up, the abdomen should be tightened, the shoulders should be relaxed, and the toes must be straightened.

Can't look down.

The head still hurts, so Qiao Fei can only gently rub her temples, trying to wake herself up.He couldn't remember how much he drank last night, it seemed to be five glasses, and it seemed to be more.

Before going on stage, Qiao Fei gently kissed him on the pebble.He was wearing ballet tights with no pockets, so he could only store pebbles in the interlayer of his breast pocket.Some cold stones pressed against his chest, but they also made him inexplicably relieved.

"You can go on stage." The stage manager listened to the instructions in the earphones and said to Qiao Fei.

Qiao Fei took a deep breath and walked into the spotlight.

The auditorium was pitch black, and it was almost impossible to see anything.He could only vaguely see a few people sitting in the third row. The art director from abroad seemed to be sitting in the middle, with Head Zhao beside him.

Moving his gaze upwards slightly, Qiao Fei saw Shi Xubai in the second row of No.30 at a glance.He didn't sit in a seat in the theater, but leaned against the edge of a folding chair, his upper body was completely exposed to the stage's sight, and was not blocked by the seat in front of him at all.

I don't know when he changed his clothes. The dark shirt he was wearing was replaced by a snow-white T-shirt, which happened to be slightly reflected by the spotlight on the stage.

Qiao Fei seemed to have found a lighthouse in a storm, and suddenly she was not so afraid.

The brisk and familiar music sounded, Qiao Fei emptied her mind and let her body dance to the accompaniment.

The male variation of "Don Quixote" is very short, less than 2 minutes, but it requires the dancer to enter the state in the shortest time.Qiao Fei's heartstrings were tense at the beginning, but now her movements are larger, and she can't breathe a little bit.

Halfway through the dance, there are two whip spins followed by a single-leg spin.Qiao Fei took Shi Xubai as her fixed point, and found him every time she turned around, and the white T-shirt he was wearing was always in sight.

After ten spins, Qiao Fei felt nauseated in her stomach.He began to scold the choreographer of the play in his heart, why did he spin so many times, like a spinning top.

A burst of vomit suddenly came up in her throat, and Qiao Fei couldn't stand it any longer. Before finishing a movement, she hurriedly ran off the stage and staggered to the wall.

The music was still playing on the stage, and there was still a quarter of the dance left.

He hadn't eaten since the night before, and he retched while leaning on the wall for a long time, but he couldn't spit out anything, only the acid water running up his throat.His stomach seemed to be pinched tightly by a claw, and the colic was so painful that his legs almost went limp.

Several actors who were waiting in the background came to express their condolences to him. Qiao Fei shook his head and said that he was fine, but he couldn't straighten up anyway.

Qiao Fei suddenly put a cold hand on his arm, turned his head to look, he knew these hands that could dance ballet, moved his gaze upwards, and Shi Xubai's gentle eyes came into view.His good-looking eyebrows were slightly frowned, and the palms holding Qiao Fei gradually tightened, and finally almost clenched his arms tightly.

Is he worried about himself?Qiao Fei laughed inwardly, how could it be possible.

A few actors over there were still asking if Qiao Fei was okay, Shi Xubai reached out to hold Qiao Fei, and said to them: "It's okay, you go and get busy, I'll take him to the bathroom."

He then whispered to Qiao Fei: "Qiao Fei, it's okay, take a deep breath."

Shi Xubai pushed open the bathroom door, let Qiao Fei lean against the edge of the sink, turned around and took out a piece of paper, wet it and handed it to him.Qiao Fei didn't answer, but lowered her head, her fingers tightly gripping the edge of the pool.

"Headache……"

"It's okay, do you have any painkillers?" Seeing that Qiao Fei didn't take the paper, Shi Xubai hesitated a little, and reached out to wipe the tiny beads of sweat on his face.

Qiao Fei was startled, and shrank instinctively, looking at the piece of paper as if she was looking at some kind of beast.He shook his head and blurted out: "He won't let you eat."

Shi Xubai was silent, didn't say anything, crumpled up the paper and threw it into the trash can.

"Drink some water."

Qiao Fei raised her head upon hearing the sound, and looked at the mineral water bottle in Shi Xubai's hand that had already unscrewed the cap.

It's amazing how he has everything.Last time it was orange, this time it was water, I don't know where it came from.Qiao Fei wanted to lift him up and shake to see what good things he was carrying.

The door of the bathroom was pushed open suddenly, and bounced back after hitting the wall, making a loud noise, and the two looked up at the same time.After seeing the person at the door, Qiao Fei shook violently, retracted her outstretched hand, and clenched it into a fist beside her.

He Haoyun walked into the bathroom, looked Shi Xubai up and down, and didn't look at Qiao Fei at all, "My dear, I've been looking for you for a long time."

He took Qiao Fei's hand and let him lean against him, "Let's go, I'll take you home." When He Haoyun took him out of the bathroom, he leaned down and whispered something in his ear.

Shi Xubai was still holding the water bottle in his hand, watching the bathroom door being slammed shut with a bang.

Holding the plastic bottle tightly, he poured the water into the sink, twisted the bottle into a ball as if venting his anger, and threw it into the corner.

The faucet of the sink was not turned off tightly, and the ticking sound of water droplets falling from time to time sounded in the quiet space.

In Shi Xubai's mind, the strangle marks on Qiao Fei's wrist and the bruises on his face when he first saw him appeared in his mind.This is how much effort it takes to pinch a mark on a person's face.

Shi Xubai hated violence, and hated it since he was a child. When he was a child, he watched his father beat his mother and grew up, but he was unable to protect her.Maybe this is his obsession, wanting to protect all the good things in this world, he can't bear to watch the dusk being destroyed by the night, the stars are swallowed by the darkness, and the ugly duckling is eaten by the devil.

He wanted to protect him, just like when he rescued stray cats on the street and picked up unwanted puppies when he was a child.

Shi Xubai raised his hand to turn off the faucet, and the words that bastard whispered to Qiao Fei when he went out still echoed in his mind.

"You can't even speak English, don't even think about going abroad."