Delighted, the next day when she was making clothes with Yang Anxin, Ai Changhuan smiled all the time, and hummed a song or two from time to time.
Yang Anxin looked at her and asked curiously, “Did you pick up some money after you got back home last night? Why are you so happy?”
Ai Changhuan answered proudly, “Even if I did, there’s nothing to be happy about it. The money picked up at home is still mine. It’s something more exciting!”
Because what she picked up was a man.
Yang An couldn’t help feeling curious, urging, “Oh, then what is it?”
But Ai Changhuan refused to talk about it anymore, because she had to save a little face for Lu Zhanke, otherwise, he might not be able to maintain his authority. So, she hurriedly changed the topic and said, “Anxin, your home is like a treasure chest, you even have a sewing machine.”
“The army thought it obsolete, so I brought it home. In my free time, I can sew things like insoles for those soldiers.” Yang Anxin treated everyone here as her family.
Hearing that, Ai Changhuan couldn’t help praising her, “Anxin, you are really amazing.”
“Stop praising me like this, I’m flattered. Let’s see how to make clothes.”
Ai Changhuan opened the dance video again, familiarizing Yang Anxin with other people’s clothes first, and then making her redesign the clothes according to their own need.
In terms of costume design, Ai Changhuan knew nothing. So, Yang Anxin was in charge of design while she worked as an assistant.
The progress of making clothes was very fast. Two finished products were made in one week, and they were very successful, and only a slight modification was required.
In order to get themselves more adapted as soon as possible, they rehearsed the dance in costumes. Fortunately, Yang Anxin wasn’t as nervous as before, and the dance was pretty smooth.
Time was still moving forward, and soon, the day finally came.
Early in the day, three trucks arrived: One was loaded with video equipment, another one costumes and props, and the last one flowers… No, the flowers were all beauties.
Ai Changhuan and Yang Anxin stood and observed them at the door for a while, then quietly went back into the room, discussing the countermeasures.
“What should we do? Our opponents look quite competitive,” Ai Changhuan sounded a bit worried.
“Yeah, all of them are dressed up. Didn’t you see the guard’s faces? They are all captivated,” Yang Anxin said.
“No, we can’t give up.”
“Do you have any idea?”
“Uh… I haven’t figured it out yet. What time does the party start?”
” It gets dark early in the mountains, so we will start at four.”
“So, are they going to have lunch here?”
“Yes, Pei and Lu have to accompany them.”
“What the f**k! Why am I eating without being accompanied?”
“How about I let my little son come here to join you for lunch?”
“… I’d rather have lunch in your place.”
“Come over then.”
“What are you going to cook for lunch?”
“I am going to do……”
So, though Ai Changhuan was grumbling, her foodie nature made her naturally transfer the topic to food, then she totally forgot about what she wanted to do before.
At 3:30 in the afternoon, Ai Changhuan and Yang Anxin took the costumes to the General Assembly Hall and they rehearsed briefly with everyone, and then waited until four O’clock when deputy commander Ouyang delivered a speech.
The first show was singing military songs altogether. The name of the song was Return from Target Range. She used to sing this song during college military training with her schoolmates, but their voice sounded soft and lacked some masculinity. Now she heard so many soldiers singing together, which was loud and so powerful, making Ai Changhuan deeply shocked.
It was a pity that Lu Zhanke’s voice was drowned in the chorus and she couldn’t make it out.
The next one was performed by the Military Region Hospital, a medley
of pop songs. Ai Changhuan thought that these medical workers were quite fashionable.
Because their show was arranged behind a sketch comedy and a song performance. As the sketch started performing, Ai Changhuan and Yang Anxin went backstage to make final preparations.
When Ai Changhuan stood up, she whispered to Pei Mu, “Brother Pei, I’m a little bit nervous. Can Anxin stay with me for a while?”
She was really nervous when she said this, but it was because she was afraid of being caught in a lie.
Pei nodded, comforting her, “Don’t be nervous. It’s nothing to you. You can do it!”
Ai Changhuan nodded, then took Yang Anxin away quickly.
They could hardly rest for a while in the backstage because Yang Anxin hadn’t applied makeup yet. They had to hurry.
When trying to find a seat, Ai Changhuan saw Ouyang Zhenzhen again. Well, after all, one couldn’t always avoid his enemy successfully.
Obviously, Ouyang also recognized her, and she hummed defiantly before saying, “I will win.”
Ai Changhuan ignored her and thought, “Even if you win, Lu Zhanke won’t like you. So naive!”
Finding that she was completely overlooked by Ai Changhuan, Ouyang flushed with anger. She goggled at Ai Changhuan, and then turned away.
Yang Anxin asked, “Who is she? Why does she seem to hate you?”
Ai replied, “Just ignore her. Let’s do your makeup first. Don’t move.”
When the short sketch was over, Ai and Yang had finished their make-up. Having changed the clothes, they stood at the entrance, waiting for the last song to finish, and the host should be on stage after the show. They were the next one!
“Are you nervous?” Ai Changhuan asked Yang Anxin.
Yang Anxin swallowed and said, “I’m nervous. How about you?”
“I’m not.”
Yang Anxin glanced at Ai, “Then don’t shake your shoulders.”
“…” Well, Ai was seen through.
When the two were chatting, a young man suddenly ran over and asked anxiously, “Ai Changhuan? Yang Anxin?”
Ai Changhuan turned back and answered, “That’s us, what happened?”
“The next show is yours? But the background music that you downloaded before cannot be played. Do you have a backup source?”
“What?” Ai Changhuan raised her voice in surprise, “How can this be?”
“We don’t know what happened, either. It was fine during the rehearsal.”
“What can we do?” Yang Anxin was clearly panicked. “It’s too late to download again.”
At this moment, there came a burst of warm applause. The singer had finished singing and was conveying thanks, and the host was going to announce the next show on stage.
Ai Changhuan asked, “Can the next show perform first?”
“No, after your dance, it’s the time for double dance which is scheduled in one hour. After the rehearsal, they have gone to dinner directly. Even if they can come over, it will be too late.”
Ai Changhuan was so anxious, and suddenly an idea occurred to her. She passed her cell phone over, “I have a song here that can replace the sound source.”
“That’s so great.” The young man took her cell phone away happily and left in a hurry.
“Anxin,” Ai Changhuan held Yang Anxin’s hand, “It’s okay, didn’t you tell me before that you could dance with no mistakes even though without music? Then let us dance without music. Are you afraid?”
Yang Anxin, who was supposed to be nervous, suddenly laughed, “At this point, fear is useless. Let’s just do it.”
“Okay.” Ai Changhuan made two paper balls and plug them into Yang Anxin’s ears. She was afraid that Yang Anxin would mess up the pace because of the new melody, so it would be better for her to hear nothing at all.
……..
The host said, “Let us warmly welcome the next show. The Peacock Dance performed by Ai Changhuan, and Yang Anxin.”
Hearing Yang Anxin’s name, Pei Mu was shocked for a moment and wondered if he heard it wrong when two ladies showed up on the stage wearing white dresses with long sleeves. They were none other than Ai Changhuan and Yang Anxin.
The two posed well, and the music played slowly.
…
“When I grow up, I can only run
How fearful I am to fall in the dark
……”
This was an inspirational song. Although it was a bit incongruous with the Peacock Dance, the faint sadness in it went well with it.
The noise before made the audience impatient, however, this dance was accompanied by soft music, and it somehow calmed the audience down. What was more, the lyrics reflected the inner voices of many of the audience, so everyone was silently immersed in the song and dance.
This song was Ai Changhuan’s favorite. When Qin Zhan left, she would listen to this one repeatedly.
The more beautiful things were, the more people would be afraid to get them. This was her former thought, but she wasn’t sure whether Qin Zhan could hear and understand this kind of mood.
Lu Zhanke stared at the dancing girl on the stage, totally captivated. This was the first time he had seen Ai Changhuan dressing like this, which was different from the lively figure in the common days. At that moment, she exuded the quiet and beautiful ethos all over her body. This was almost the same as his vision of wife at the beginning. She was gentle, beautiful, pure, and graceful. He looked at her, deeply intoxicated, as gentleness accumulated in his eyes.
Moreover, he seemed to know her better from her dance. To be honest, she was just a girl yearning for a sense of security. What she wanted indeed was a pair of big warm hands to comfort her and a solid and reliable shoulder she could reply on.
Lu Zhanke secretly vowed that he must protect Ai Changhuan till the end of the world and he would never let her go.
And Pei Mu was completely stupefied, staring at Yang Anxin. He knew little that Yang Anxin should have such a captivating facet. He always thought that she was graceful and demure. It turned out that she had her own beauty, but no one was waiting for her blossom, and no one knew how to appreciate it. He began to reflect on himself, whether he knew too little about her.