âHey, Class 3, start preparing! Start preparing! Itâs almost your turn to go on stage!â
Backstage, students from each class participating in the performance were busy making their final preparations, but Chu Jiao heard the hostâs announcement.
âGot it!â Wang Minyu, the class committee member, responded in an instant and started counting the number of people.
âEh? Whereâs Classmate Fu Xiruo?â Wang Minyu looked around in slight panic but didnât catch a glimpse of their second female lead.
âI donât knowâ¦â
âShe was just hereâ¦â
Chu Jiao overheard this and raised her head to get a glance at the backstage, which wasnât very spacious. Indeed, she did not see Du Xiruoâs figure anywhere.
âIâm sorry, Iâm sorry,â Not so far away, a dark door connected to the outside swung open, revealing a frantic Du Xiruo running out from there, âMy stomach felt a little uncomfortable a while agoâ¦â
âItâs okay as long as youâre here.â Wang Minyu didnât put too much concern and glossed over it. Everyone started rubbing their hands in anticipation and waited for their turn to get on stage. Only Chu Jiao cast an inconspicuous glance at the dust that had clung onto the hem of Du Xiruoâs white skirt but she remained silent.
The curtains on stage were slowly pulled up, and everything was ready.
The alluring narration began.
âIt was said that there was a small teahouse in the city of Taiyuan called Haojie Ju. The shopkeepers were a mother-daughter pair. The daughterâs countenance was akin to a flower, her appearance exuding graceâ¦â
Chu Jiao appeared on stage in a simple skirt jacket.
Her hair was combed into a double-ringed bun, and her figure nimbly interweaved between the tables and chairs, elegantly pouring tea and serving dishes, appearing extremely efficient at her work. A little powder was applied on her palm-sized face. Her big eyes were dark and glossy, and her whole person was lovely and charming, inciting the customers to fight over each other when ordering food.
âDu Sang, do you know this little beauty?â
On the first row of the seats, Yoshida Hideakiâs eyes looked lustfully at the girl on stage, who was currently rebelling against the noble son that wanted to take liberties with her. He had felt a sudden itch in his heart.
âThe little girl lady looked reallyâ¦kawaii(1).â
Kawaii is Japanese for cute.
âCough,â Du Shourong awkwardly glanced at the governor, who was just two seats away from them, and whispered into his companionâs ear, âShe is Governor Yanâs fiancée.â
âTsk,â Yoshida Hideaki smacked his lips in regret. âSo, sheâs the future Mrs. Yan. â
Du Shourong heaved a sigh of relief but still felt a little stuffy.
Although he also expected the Japanese to fight with the Peking government, seeing that Yoshida Hideaki did not dare provoke Yan Zhan even with his amazing courage, he couldnât help but thinkâ¦
This coward!
On stage, the plot was reaching its climax, and soon, they arrived at the scene of confrontation between Chen Yueying, who was played by Chu Jiao, and Xiang Cuiâe, played by Du Xiruo.
âImpudent! Where did this lecher pop out from!â
Du Xiruo angrily yelled out, hurriedly drawing her sword and running forward.
Chu Jiao originally wanted to quickly dodge her advances, just like she did during rehearsal, but she didnât expect Du Xiruo to carry her strikes out for real. Every move and swing she made brought about a strong wind that Chu Jiao could feel.
Chu Jiao dodged rapidly, raising the sword in her hand to ward off her powerful attacks.
Du Xiruo was a little surprised. She didnât expect Chu Jiao to also know how to use a sword. The sword was drawn out beautifully, but unfortunately, it didnât contain any inner strength. Du Xiruo heaved a breath of relief and continued to force the person to retreat to the center of the stage.
Chu Jiao was forced to retreat again and again and had soon reached the center of the stage, which meant that she was directly under the big bright stage light.
Then, in the next instant, a change unforeseen occurred.
The huge eight-petal lotus lighting unexpectedly began to shake. Then, it fell towards the two people who were in the middle of the stage fighting, catching everyone off-guard.
âAhhâââ
Seeing that the students on the stage were about to turn into a bloody mess on the spot, the audience in the hall started to scream in terror.
Yan Zhan, who had been watching the performance attentively, felt his heart clench tightly. He stood up abruptly and propped himself up using the edge of the stage, running towards the stage.
Get away! Jiaojiao, get away from there!
Chu Jiao understood Du Xiruoâs plan the moment the change had happened.
She took advantage of Du Xiruoâs attention on the falling lighting to quickly fling her sword away before grabbing her and dodging towards the side.
This female lead was simply out of her mind!
Just for a dragon seal, not only did she intend to take advantage of the situation to hurt her, but for the sake of proving her own innocence, she also didnât care for her own life!
[Completed]