Chapter 70 Something Went Wrong

"What's wrong, Teacher?"

"What happened?"

Noticing the situation, the girls from the dance troupe immediately gathered around.

"Nothing major, it's just that our ballet might not have a live piano accompaniment this time. We'll have to make do with a recorded accompaniment instead," Teacher Jiang Ling announced with deep regret.

The ballet *The Dying Swan* was originally a solo premiered in 1907 by the French ballerina Anna Pavlova, set to the music of *The Swan*, the thirteenth movement of Camille Saint-Saëns's *The Carnival of the Animals*.

This piece was originally scored for a solo cello with piano accompaniment.

However, the piano is entirely suited for the performance of *The Dying Swan*; whether in a piano solo or a piano accompaniment version, it can actually provide different musical atmospheres and emotional expressions for the dance.

With its rich timbre and expressiveness, the piano can exquisitely convey the elegance, sorrow, and dying struggles of the swan in *The Dying Swan*.

This was precisely why the teachers of the dance troupe chose to perform it with a live piano solo, having communicated in advance with the pianist Wang Liding. For this very reason, Wang Liding had not gone home to prepare for the New Year, staying instead at the theater to be ready for the literary gala on the fifth.

Yet, Teacher Jiang Ling never expected that this old fellow would actually go out drinking with someone the night before the gala, resulting in a bleeding ulcer that landed him straight in the hospital!

This completely ruined their plans!

Realizing this, the girls' expressions shifted slightly. They knew all too well that a recording could never match the effect of a live piano performance.

"During our previous practices, it was always old Wang playing. Knowing that live accompaniment offers richer expression and stronger artistry, we didn't use a recording for our rehearsals."

"What are we going to do now? There's no time to find someone else! Besides, this piece, Saint-Saëns's *The Swan*, is rather obscure; not many people learn it specifically!"

"That's right! Then we'll just have to use the recording. Good thing I brought a tape."

The two accompanying teachers and other instructors from the troupe began offering various suggestions, causing a stir that even alerted the dean.

"That Wang Liding! This is simply outrageous! If he has messed up something this important, I'll make sure he faces disciplinary action!" Dean Fan Ji'an said coldly.

...

All morning, the stage in the Municipal Committee Auditorium had not been quiet for a moment.

One troupe finished and another took the stage, the tide turning continually.

When it was the turn of the twenty girls from the dance troupe to take the stage for rehearsal, as the loudspeakers emitted a piano piece crackling with static electricity, the girls present showed no sign of discomfort and danced with all their might.

Yet, after the rehearsal concluded, far from improving, their morale had sunk even lower.

Once they finished dancing, the girls sat in the lounge in absolute silence, heads bowed. A few with weaker emotional resilience even began to softly weep.

This was a performance they had prepared for over two months, for which they hadn't even gone home for the holidays.

And now, just like that... it was all ruined.

"What are we going to do?"

Wang Danping had lost her usual lively demeanor, her face etched with profound worry.

"Sigh..."

Liu Xiaoli glanced around the room and noticed that even Hu Yanzhang, who was always so confident, looked utterly deflated. She let out a sigh.

Although she had studied the piano since childhood and considered her proficiency quite decent,

she knew she lacked the ability to learn and fluently play a brand-new piece in less than half a day.

What should they do now?

Was her very first performance on a large stage destined to be cursed with bad luck right from the start?

Holding her small shoulder bag, Liu Xiaoli sat in her chair, gazing blankly up at the ceiling and letting her thoughts drift.

Her fingers unconsciously rummaged inside her bag until suddenly, a photograph slipped out and fluttered to the floor.

Instinctively, Liu Xiaoli picked it up, revealing an image of a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy leaning casually with one hand against a piano.

Huh?

"Would he happen to know this piece?"

A thought suddenly blossomed in the girl's mind, swiftly occupying her every thought. She turned around and said, "Danping, I'm stepping out for a moment. I have something to take care of."

"Oh, oh."

Looking a bit bewildered, Wang Danping watched as Liu Xiaoli's figure vanished from the lounge.

"What's going on?"

"Sister Xiaoli went out for a moment, seems like she's going to find Brother Kaiyan."

"Hah... even at a time like this, she still runs off!"

Teacher Jiang Ling, along with Xiao Caiyun, Zhang Yi, and the others nearby, all frowned, feeling a sudden surge of frustration.

The dance troupe was facing a severe crisis right now. While staying with the group might not solve the problem, at the very least, one shouldn't desert their post in the face of battle.

Sigh... forget it, forget it. Things were already in this state anyway.

At that thought, Teacher Jiang Ling rose and walked over to several girls in the troupe who were weeping bitterly, offering them tender comfort.

"There, there~ As long as everyone manages to dance through the entire piece, it's a success. Teachers have seen all the hard work everyone has put in these past two months. After today's performance, everyone will get a break, okay? We'll all have a joyous, wonderful time playing together for a few days before heading home for the New Year!"

"Okay~"

The girls nodded, looking wronged and pitiful.

...

The Editorial Department's Gatehouse.

The iron-sheet wooden door was shut tight, the glass windows were covered with drawn curtains, and a single light bulb burned brightly from the rafter.

A mysterious and tense atmosphere pervaded the room.

Beneath the light, several people sat around a square table playing a game of blue-and-white mahjong: Cheng Kaiyan, the elderly gatekeeper, Chen Shanshan, and Editor-in-Chief Yang.

A brazier burned beside the square table, with an iron kettle hissing away on top of it.

Cracking melon seeds with her teeth, Cheng Kaiyan played her hand with a bored expression.

After wandering around the Municipal Committee Auditorium for a bit, she had been grabbed by Chen Shanshan and Editor Yang and dragged back to the editorial department to play mahjong.

The room was cozy and warm, with only a tiny crack left open in the window for ventilation. Yawning, Cheng Kaiyan reached out, felt around blindly, and casually discarded a tile: "Four of Bamboos."

"Pong! Mahjong!"

Chen Shanshan's eyes suddenly lit up as she pointed at Cheng Kaiyan and laughed loudly, "Ha哈哈哈! Cheng Kaiyan, did you deal into my hand again? All-Chow pure hand, fully ponged! Twenty cents!"

"Are you possessed by a money ghost?"

Cheng Kaiyan rolled her eyes in speechlessness. To be honest, she really didn't know how to play this game; she had been dragged into it entirely against her will.

Barely half an hour into the game, she had already lost a whole yuan.

"Kaiyan's skills really aren't up to par, but she's doing much better than when she started—at least she knows what she's trying to win now."

Editor-in-Chief Yang looked at the two of them with amusement, thinking to himself that this kid was truly a money-bringing boy; he simply had to win a few good rounds off her today.

"Clatter, clatter~"

The crisp sound of mahjong tiles colliding echoed through the room.

Playing mahjong in the dead of winter really made one's fingers a bit cold. It was a pity there were no automatic mahjong tables yet; otherwise, those things would sell like wildfire.

Why hadn't anyone in any of the rebirth novels thought of making an automated mahjong table?

The thing required virtually no high technology, yet each unit sold for thousands.

A dozen minutes later, she suddenly heard the shouts of a girl—it sounded like Liu Xiaoli.

"Kaiyan!"

"I'm not playing anymore, my partner is here!"

Cheng Kaiyan leaped up in a single motion, then shoved the remaining few coins, which had been pinned down by the melon seeds on the table, deep into her pants pocket and shouted.

She had finally found an excuse!

Damn it, this group of people played family mahjong like cutthroat assassins; in the blink of an eye, she had dropped a yuan or two!

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't run off! I haven't broken even yet!"

The old gatekeeper grew anxious as well; he hadn't managed to win a single hand yet.

"Forget it, Grandpa, these two came specifically targeted at us. Best not to lose the last of my private stash."

Cheng Kaiyan glanced at Chen Shanshan and the other who were trying to stifle their giggles, offering a warning.

"Kaiyan, my boy, is it possible that your grandpa just wanted to win the cash right out of your pocket?"

Yang Shuan rubbed his chin and offered an explanation.

Cheng Kaiyan shot him a look: "Huh?"

"Ahem... there's no need to be so blunt about it! With the New Year upon us, you should respect your elders and show some kindness to the young."

Facing Cheng Kaiyan's questioning gaze, the old man replied with a slightly guilty conscience.

"Game's over, game's over."