166. Proposal

When Qi Le’an arrived at the theater group, he found that something was wrong with the atmosphere today.

Today was not a day for the overall rehearsal. It was reasonable that everyone should stay in their  rooms. However, today, they all gathered in the large training room outside. And there were plenty of them.

Not only those who were going to perform on Saturday but also the spare actors who Qi Le’an had rarely met before were here.

In short, maybe almost all the members of the theater group had come here.

However, among such a group of people, Qi Le’an didn’t see Jenny, Robert, or Dossey.

Qi Le’an whispered to an actress who was familiar with him, “What’s wrong?”

The actress was confused as well. “It is said that they will announce something… This morning, the head of the theater group said that everyone must be here.”

“The head of the theater group?” Qi Le’an was shocked.

The actress nodded her expression a little worried.

“Hopefully, it is not something bad…”

Qi Le’an knew that the so-called head of the theater group was an investor of the theater group. He was only a reputed head so he didn’t deal with the actual operation of the theater group. However, if something serious happened, such as firing a member, he would appear.

“…Where is Dossey?” Qi Le’an asked further.

“Talking to the head in the office,” the actress replied.

Qi Le’an nodded, wondering whether Dossey directly asked the head of the theater group to deal with the matter.

As expected, after a few minutes, the head of the theater group, Dossey, Jenny, and Robert came out of the office. The people who had been gossiping quietly finally fell silent.

Jenny’s eyes were red and she kept her head down. Robert’s facial expression was not that good. It seemed that he would explode emotionally.

Dossey glanced around and saw Qi Le’an in the crowd. Then, he blinked playfully at the latter.

The head of the theater group was a man in his forties. Bald and stout, he looked rather serious. The newcomers in the theater group were all afraid of him.

It was said that the head of the theater group was also handsome and a dashing fan of operas but he was not allowed to work on the opera by his family. Therefore, his dream about being an opera performer was ruined.

“Hello, everyone,” the head of the theater group said, “Long time no see.”

No one said anything.

The head of the theater group glanced at the people off the stage and said, “I’m here to deal with something particularly bad.”

Qi Le’an noticed that the female member beside him turned stern.

“Everyone should know the code of our theater group, right?”

Someone started to whisper, “Peace, equality, happiness.”

The head of the theater group narrowed his eyes and said, “Exactly! I don’t think anything is more important than these three principles! However, just a few days ago, someone openly violated the principle of equality!”

Everyone was shocked. There were many discussions while the several black actors instantly put on a sensitive look.

“The members of our theater group are from different places. We are here because of our love for operas. I will never allow any discrimination to happen in my theater group! Today, as the head of the theater group, I shall fire Robert and never hire him anymore!”

The audience was in an uproar. The actress beside Qi Le’an cried out in surprise, then covered her mouth.

“I didn’t expect it to be about Robert…”

Qi Le’an’s feelings were quite complicated. On the one hand, he finally got what he wanted. On the other hand, he couldn’t help wondering if he would be treated as a vile person?

At this moment, he suddenly felt gazed at by someone.

Qi Le’an looked up and found that it was the head of the theater group.

The two of them looked at each other, and the head of the theater group looked away soon and said, “There will be a performance on Saturday. I’ll watch it on set then. I hope everyone will work hard on it.”

After saying this, the head of the theater group left in a hurry. Fired in public, Robert was ashamed and left quickly too. However, before leaving, he cast a resentful look at Qi Le’an, which made Qi Le’an a little scared.

The people dispersed in twos and threes. Dossey ran to Qi Le’an and squinted at him, whispering, “What do you think? Did I handle it very well?”

Qi Le’an sighed that the effect was different when a member of the theater group dealt with the matter.

The head of the theater group didn’t mention who was the cause or what happened, but he fired Robert. If anyone familiar with Robert wanted to pursue the matter, he wouldn’t hate Qi Le’an.

“Thank you, Dossey,” Qi Le’an whispered.

Dossey looked a little shy and regretful. “But I didn’t manage to let Robert apologize…”

Qi Le’an shook his head. Whether Robert apologized to him was no longer important now. What mattered was the attitude of the theater group.

As they were talking, Jenny came over.

Qi Le’an was a little embarrassed and didn’t know how to face Jenny.

On the other hand, Jenny said to Qi Le’an with red eyes, “An, I’m sorry… I’m sorry. I don’t know what I can say to make up for my mistake. I’m sorry… Robert… He…”

Jenny couldn’t continue talking anymore and her eyes got red.

Qi Le’an couldn’t forgive Jenny generously so he could only remain silent.

Jenny put on a forced smile and said, “An, I…”

Dossey recognized the awkward atmosphere and said to Jenny, “Jen, An has already received your apology. Is that so, An?”

For the sake of Dossey, Qi Le’an only hesitated and nodded.

Then, Dossey said to Jenny, “Jen, go back and have a rest. Remember to come and watch our performance on Saturday!”

Jenny realized that Dossey was giving her an out, so she left with a reluctant smile.

After Jenny left, Dossey whispered to Qi Le’an, “I’ve also just found out that Robert and Jenny are together but Robert is a scum and Jenny can’t bear to break up with him…”

Qi Le’an instantly took a tumble.

He couldn’t figure out how a passionate and cheerful girl like her would be with such a scumbag, so he could only sigh.

After solving the matter of Robert, Qi Le’an continued practicing diligently. The last rehearsal on Friday was held in the opera house. All the members set off early by bus in the morning.

There was no one in the opera house in the morning. Everyone changed their clothes and took the best form to practice early in the morning. This venue was bigger than the training room of the theater group. Qi Le’an couldn’t help but feel nervous when he looked at the venue that could accommodate thousands of people below.

Luckily, Dossey was joking aside, “As I recall, the first time I came here, I was so nervous that I sang off-key!”

Dossey’s voice was hailed as the top golden voice in the theater group. Hearing him say so, Qi Le’an asked curiously, “Really?”

“Of course!” Dossey giggled and pointed to a row of seats below, “My parents and uncle were sitting there, haha! My uncle’s eyes were green with anger.”

Qi Le’an couldn’t help saying, “Shouldn’t your uncle be born with green eyes?”

Dossey was stunned and started to recollect the memory. Then, he said laughingly, “Oh you are right! His eyes are born green!”

After saying that, for some reason, he kept smiling.

Qi Le’an really couldn’t understand what was so funny.

In the evening, everyone grabbed their things and said goodbye to each other while Dossey sent Qi Le’an back home as usual.

Qi Le’an tried to decline the offer but Dossey said seriously, “Le’an! Robert is a scum. What if he kidnaps you? Before the show is over, I will ensure your safety!”

Qi Le’an didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Recalling the frightening gaze of Robert, he acquiesced to letting Dossey send him back home.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t let Wei Changfeng pick him up, but…

At that thought, Qi Le’an sighed again.

It seemed that after the performance, he needed to talk to Wei Changfeng.

Although he knew that Wei Changfeng would reject him, after going back home, Qi Le’an still invited Wei Changfeng to his opera performance.

He didn’t take the ticket for relatives and friends from the theater group. Instead, he bought a ticket for the best seat for Wei Changfeng with the money he earned from the performance. Holding the ticket, he said, “Wei Sama, I’m going to perform tomorrow… You’ll come, right?”

While he was talking, Wei Changfeng was standing in the kitchen, frying the steak. When he heard this, his hands trembled. The steak that had already been readily cooked fell into the pan and got burnt.

Wei Changfeng took out the steak again and put it on the plate, saying. “Le’an, I have something to tell you.”

Qi Le’an knew what it was but he didn’t want to hear it.

Wei Changfeng looked at the steak on the plate and smiled, “Forget it. Let’s talk after dinner.”

Wei Changfeng was also very good at cooking Western food. Qi Le’an had eaten steaks cooked by various chefs, but none of them could be compared to the one fried by Wei Changfeng. While eating, Wei Changfeng poured orange juice for Qi Le’an and said, “With you a good performance!”

Qi Le’an suppressed the sadness in his heart and smiled, “A good performance!”

He didn’t know why the two of them became like this. They were a couple, but now there seemed to be something making them drift away from each other.

After dinner, Wei Changfeng said, “Le’an, I’m sorry. I can’t go to your performance tomorrow.”

This was just like Qi Le’an had known that he was going to be sentenced to death, but when the judge pronounced the death sentence on him, he would still fall into a state of despair. Qi Le’an was extremely sad now.

Seeing Qi Le’an stay silent with his head down, Wei Changfeng put his hand in his pocket and touched the thing in his pocket.

“But Le’an,” Wei Changfeng raised his head and smiled. “There’s one more thing. I…”

“No need to say it,” Qi Le’an hastened to interrupt Wei Changfeng and said quickly, “I’m going to perform tomorrow. I’ve sacrificed a lot for this performance. I don’t want to be distracted.”

Ablaze of shock flashed across Wei Changfeng’s eyes and he said, “Okay… Then let’s talk tomorrow.”

Qi Le’an, who seemed to be seeking revenge, said, “Do we have time to talk about it tomorrow?”

Wei Changfeng asked, “Why are you not free tomorrow? I’ll pick you up after the show ends tomorrow.”

Qi Le’an quickly shook his head and said, “Sorry, no need. After the show is over tomorrow, I’ll treat Dossey and his uncle to dinner at Chinatown.”

Wei Changfeng frowned and asked, “Dossey? The green-eyed man who sends you back home every day? Can’t you take a rain check?”

Qi Le’an looked at Wei Changfeng standing in front of him and said coldly, “Why can’t you take a rain check?”

Wei Changfeng was dumbfounded.

Qi Le’an finally stood up from the sofa and said, “Wei Sama, I’m a little tired today. I want to sleep first.”

Then, he went into the bedroom, ignoring Wei Changfeng’s expression.

Wei Changfeng stood there, rubbing the thing in his pocket again and again with mocking laughter.

Qi Le’an did not notice that the distance between them was enough for Wei Changfeng to kneel on one knee to do something very special.