White Swan

Chapter 8

After the rehearsal, Shi Xubai did not leave the dance hall. He spread out his notebook on the piano, turning his pen to think about the rhythm of the dance steps.

"The Winter's Tale" is a very artistic stage play.Adapting it into a dance drama needs to consider how to bring the emotions of tragedy and comedy to the audience without using words.There are many details in Shakespeare's story, and some inadvertent moments are also the places that can shock the audience the most.

A harsh horn downstairs pulled Shi Xubai out of his thoughts, interrupted his train of thought, Shi Xubai was a little irritable, he ignored the sound, and continued to study his notebook.

Less than a minute later, the horn sounded again, Shi Xubai frowned slightly, and looked out the window.A silver-white Lamborghini was parked at the intersection, the engine was still on, and the sound of the engine was deafening.

He walked to the window just in time to see Qiao Fei open the car door and climb in.The person in the driver's seat could not be seen from this angle, only one hand was lazily resting on the steering wheel.

Just as Qiao Fei closed the passenger door, the car jumped out. The sports car picked up speed quickly and disappeared around the corner of the street in a few seconds.

"Hey, isn't this our honorable prince?"

When Shi Xubai heard the sound and turned his head, a short man in a white shirt was leaning against the door of the dance hall, tilting his head and smiling at him.

Shi Xubai recognized him, laughed, and shook his head in disbelief.

This person is Ji An, an old friend of Shi Xubai.

Ji An was originally a doctor in the Santa Maria Ballet, but because he disliked the fact that there were too many Santa Maria dancers and the work was too cumbersome, he resigned and returned to China. Now he works as a medical doctor in City Ballet.

The two had a good relationship at first, but because they were in different places and there was a jet lag, they gradually lost contact.I didn't expect to meet again by such a coincidence.

Ji An is in his early thirties, but with a baby face and a lively personality, he looks like a college student.

"Okay, you kid didn't tell me when you came to Chengba. I was still thinking about who the new choreographer and director was hired by the group leader. It turned out to be you. When did you arrive?"

"You just came here a while ago, and besides, I don't know which dance troupe you went to." Shi Xubai packed his things, walked up to Ji An with his bag, and patted him on the shoulder.

"How is it? Prince of the ballet world, is your knee alright?" Ji An put his arm around Shi Xubai's shoulder and glanced at his leg.

"Okay."

Ji An turned to lead the way, and led Shi Xubai towards the medical room, "Come on, I'll check it out for you."

On the second floor of the Ballet Troupe of the City Theater, there is a medical room dedicated to the dancers. After all, it is common for ballet dancers to be injured, and there are countless people who usually go to Doctor Ji for massage and healing.

When Shi Xubai was sitting on the examination bed, Ji An held his right ankle, pushed it up slowly, then straightened it gently, repeated several times, and asked Shi Xubai how he felt.Shi Xubai didn't answer, but frowned slightly.

"Your knee hasn't healed, it's still the same." Ji An thought for a while, but still finished the sentence, "I still can't dance."

Shi Xubai stood up, and dusted the dust off his trousers: "I know, the old men with such superb medical skills outside can't cure it, so how can you say it?"

Ji An shrugged apologetically, turned around to clean up the cabinet, suddenly thought of something, paused, and asked hesitantly, "Your uncle... let you come back?"

The originally lively atmosphere became a little stagnant, Shi Xubai let out a "hmm" and didn't answer.

"Okay, it's good to be back." Ji An didn't notice Shi Xubai's abnormality, and continued, "It's not easy to meet, let's have a meal together later?"

Shi Xubai relaxed a little visibly, and replied: "Wait until the weekend, I have to go back and think about the dance steps for tomorrow's rehearsal."

Ji An laughed as soon as he heard it: "You don't dance anymore and you work so hard, what's the point of resting for two days?"

"Why do you rehearse tomorrow after taking a break?" Shi Xubai sent Ji An back with a single sentence.

"Okay, okay." Ji An raised his hand as a gesture of surrender.

While Ji An was tidying up, Shi Xubai put his hands in his pockets and looked curiously at the things pasted on the wall of the medical room.Most of them are various postcards and photos collected by Ji An. He likes to travel alone and experience different people and customs around the world.

There is a list posted in the middle of the wall.Looking carefully, it is the record of the actors coming to the medical room, which states the time and approximate reason for each person to sign in the medical room.

The name on the top is Qiao Fei, and the date was just a few days ago.The ugly duckling's handwriting is the same as others', very obedient and somewhat shy, but what caught Shi Xubai's attention was the following line of writing.

He turned around and asked Ji An, "Why did Qiao Fei pull his muscle?"

Ji An scratched his head, as if he didn't remember who Qiao Fei was, and it took him a long time to realize: "Oh, he said that he didn't warm up well before dancing."

"Why are you so careless?" Shi Xubai didn't think too much, and said casually, "If I knew it earlier, I would let him rest for two days."

Ji An was looking for the stretch belt that he didn't know where he put it. He laughed when he heard it, and joked: "You care about him so much?"

"Blind and poor." Shi Xubai threw the stretch belt left in the corner to Ji An, "I just gave him the lead dancer's corner, but if he can't dance, I have to find someone else."

After laughing, Ji An still said what he knew: "But no matter what, I advise you to stay away from him, we can't afford to mess with the people behind him."

Shi Xubai raised his eyebrows, waiting for Ji An to continue.

Ji An asked him mysteriously: "He Haoyun, do you know?"

"Who?"

"Hey, you've heard of He Chijie, right?" Ji An's mouth was broken, and he couldn't hide anything from him.He put his hands on the cabinet behind him, "You came back from abroad, why did you make it look like you jumped out of a crack in the stone."

"What do I care about those dead old men doing business?"

Ji An was delighted when he heard it: "Fucking old men, He Haoyun is the youngest president in the business world in recent years. Eye-catching."

Shi Xubai ignored Ji An's gossip, and brought the topic back: "The He Chijie you mentioned earlier is the boss of Zhongnai Group?"

"The nominal boss is pretty much the same. The company is under the management of his younger brother, He Haoyun. Anyway, He Haoyun is the sponsor of our dance troupe. In recent years, all funds have come from his company."

Shi Xubai was not interested in this, and was too lazy to talk, waiting for Ji An to continue.

"Qiao Fei, I came to the dance troupe for an interview two years ago, but I was rejected, and then I was picked up by He Haoyun and brought home." Ji An narrowed his eyes and smiled.

Shi Xubai understood, but there was no expression on his face, and he couldn't tell what was going on in his heart.

When the two chatted for a while, Xu Bai said goodbye to Ji An.It was raining when we walked out of the theater.Shi Xubai started the motorcycle and frowned slightly under the helmet.

It turned out that the boy was not an ugly duckling, but a canary raised in a cage by others.