Chapter 81: Chu Feng, Wearing Lipstick
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“Chu Feng, Chu Feng—”
The competition ended, and Chu Feng, dressed in a tuxedo, hid within the crowd of spectators like a conspicuous wave.
He was looking for Xie Shiyu.
Meanwhile, his parents were looking for him, and although Chu Feng heard them, he pretended not to.
“Chu Feng—!!”
In the crowd, Chu Feng’s mother grabbed him and pulled him close: “Where are you running off to!”
Chu Feng remained silent.
The row they were sitting in was the VIP section for the audience, just behind the judges’ seats. The judge sitting at the end saw Chu Feng approaching and Chu Feng politely smiled at him first.
The judge smiled back, as if greeting him: “You’re… Teacher Zhang’s student, right?”
Chu Feng nodded. His piano teacher, Teacher Zhang, was sitting in the center of the judges’ seat and also nodded politely.
Chu Feng’s mother didn’t want to cause a scene in public. She pulled Chu Feng close and whispered sternly: “What were you playing on stage just now!”
Teacher Zhang, sitting in the center of the judges’ seat, also turned his face slightly, paying attention to the situation on Chu Feng’s side.
“I… just played according to the music, I was supposed to play two pieces, right?”
Chu Feng blinked his eyes like lychee seeds, with a watery innocence, like an innocent and pure puppet cat.
Chu Feng’s parents were immediately confused by him. Every contestant usually played only one piece.
Without further ado, because he knew that no matter how much he explained, his parents would still have doubts, Chu Feng turned to his piano teacher and directly threw the question to him: “Right, Teacher Zhang?”
All the judges looked at Teacher Zhang sitting in the center.
Chu Feng knew that his teacher, who could sit in the center of this position, had the most seniority. In this kind of competition, the judges were all aware of which teacher’s student was performing, and the teacher with the most seniority and influence in the industry would determine how many points to give to their students and how much face to give them.
Chu Feng deliberately chose this critical moment to ask, and in front of all the judges, his teacher would inevitably not lose face and admit that his student had played randomly on stage, and he would have to cover for him.
Teacher Zhang, sitting in the center, laughed awkwardly a few times, facing the gaze of all the judges, and said, “Haha, I asked him to play a popular song after the piece ended to liven up the atmosphere. It’s not always good to just play highbrow classical music. Occasionally, interspersing some pop music to appease the audience. Oh Chu Feng, you really… the teacher asked you to play a little bit, but you played a whole song. Now it’s delaying the next contestant from coming on stage!”
Chu Feng lowered his head, pretending to be a good student admitting his mistake: “I’m sorry.”
The next contestant was a student of Teacher Huang, sitting at the far end of the judges’ seat, and he quickly said, “It’s okay, it’s okay. On stage, when students get passionate about music, they can’t stop playing. I understand, I understand. Teacher Zhang, your idea is very clever, combining classical and pop music! There are quite a few students here in the audience, and they really like listening to this pop music.”
“This student played well. Originally, classical and pop music are completely different styles, but the solo he played on stage just now was very cleverly connected…”
Chu Feng immediately followed up with, “Teacher Zhang taught me.”
The other judges knew that the idea of playing an extra song was Teacher Zhang’s, so they all praised him one after another. Teacher Zhang sat in the center, speechless, and could only laugh along.
Chu Feng knew that his piano skills were impeccable, so as long as he got Teacher Zhang’s approval for playing an extra song, the other judges would also take Teacher Zhang’s face into account when scoring, and be more lenient.
The next performance was about to begin, and the judges’ seats gradually quieted down. Chu Feng stood beside his mother, who lovingly stroked him: “So it was the teacher who asked you to play, why didn’t you tell Mom beforehand? Just now, both your dad and I were so scared, we thought you…”
“What did you think?”
Chu Feng’s mother replied, “We thought you… went crazy on stage, playing the piano randomly.”
“How could that happen?”
Thirteen-year-old Chu Feng nestled against his mother, lifted his head, and looked at her with his watery eyes, as if accusing her of not trusting her obedient son!
Chu Feng’s mother averted her gaze and patted Chu Feng again: “Okay, okay, it’s over once you finish playing.”
“Yeah, come, sit over here with Dad! We’ll watch the piano awards ceremony when you go on stage to receive the award!”
Chu Feng looked towards the last row of the audience, and the little yellow hat was gone.
He wondered where Xie Shiyu had gone, perhaps he had gone to work again?
“Come over here! What are you still standing there for?” Chu Feng’s dad pulled him into his seat, “I brought the camera specially. When you go on stage to receive the award, we’ll take a good picture.”
***
“Now, the results of the piano group competition are announced. Honorable mention… Third place… Second place…”
Chu Feng was nowhere to be seen.
His parents’ hearts were pounding with excitement, while Chu Feng absentmindedly looked around, wondering where Xie Shiyu had gone…
“In this competition, one student won with super high piano skills, and at the same time, creatively connected classical and pop music perfectly, shining brightly for both our audience and judges. So now, I announce—”
Chu Feng’s parents clasped their hands tightly, as if they were the ones receiving the award.
“First place in the provincial piano competition: Chu Feng! Guided by Teacher Zhang…”
Chu Feng suddenly felt his neck tighten as his parents hugged him tightly:
“Fantastic, fantastic!” Chu Feng’s mother kissed him on the head, “My dear son, you’re amazing!”
“Now let’s invite Chu Feng to come on stage to receive the award…”
Different from the excitement of his parents, Teacher Zhang had everything under control. Chu Feng smiled on the surface, but inside, he felt as calm as still water. Standing under the spotlight of being the provincial first place, he even started to feel bored again.
He slightly lowered his head and took the certificate handed to him by the presenter. Following the practice his mother had drilled into him, he recited fluently, “Thank you, Teacher Zhang, thank you, my parents…”
Chu Feng’s parents straightened their backs. They had prepared a fully detailed acceptance speech for Chu Feng. When it came to recounting specific instances of raising their child, they would even gesture to the audience and stand up…
Suddenly, Chu Feng noticed something sharp. Above the curtain, he saw the shadow of half a little yellow hat…
Xie Shiyu!
Chu Feng quickly deleted the overly sentimental and self-indulgent acceptance speech that his parents had written for him, and replaced it with a simple, “Thank you all!”
He bowed.
Then he turned and walked off the stage.
The audience members, who didn’t like listening to acceptance speeches and wanted to go home early, applauded.
Chu Feng’s parents sat in the audience, waiting for the spotlight to shine on them. They were ready to talk about how they had nurtured Chu Feng’s piano skills, but now they were dumbfounded.
Chu Feng didn’t return to the audience seats after leaving the stage. Instead, he walked down the left side staircase—
Normally, performers would go up on the right side and down on the left. If you went up from the left side, it usually meant you were heading to the staff area.
“…Xie Shiyu?”
There was no one here, it was a bit dark and high, with only the light from the stage below seeping through the cracks. There seemed to be some scattered tools underfoot…
Clack!
In the darkness, Chu Feng suddenly stepped on a pair of pliers, causing him to stagger forward. He instinctively reached out to grab something nearby—
“Are you okay?”
Someone wrapped their arms around his waist from the side.
It was Xie Shiyu’s voice.
Chu Feng turned his head, unable to see Xie Shiyu clearly, only his silhouette. The faint light from the cracks in the wooden floor cast a silver border on Xie Shiyu’s profile.
This guy had a high nose.
Chu Feng turned away, no longer looking. Xie Shiyu steadied Chu Feng and then let go:
“How did you get up here? It’s a bit dangerous here.”
Xie Shiyu, like a nocturnal leopard, accurately kicked away several tools scattered around Chu Feng.
“It’s boring down there.”
Chu Feng disdainfully shook the paper in his hand, and the orange-red certificate of first place in the provincial competition made a rustling sound, like autumn maple leaves.
“Congratulations,” Xie Shiyu smiled, “I didn’t expect your teacher to ask you to play a pop song…”
“Of course not!”
Chu Feng interrupted Xie Shiyu, feeling somewhat dissatisfied. He glanced away, pretending to be shy and indifferent.
After a pause, Chu Feng finally said:
“That song was for you.”
***
Thirteen years old, above the stage, with light leaking through the wooden boards underfoot, Xie Shiyu froze on the spot.
At first, when he heard that song, his whole body was burning with excitement. Later, when he heard the presenter announce the award, the boiling blood in his limbs gradually cooled down.
It must have been arranged by the teacher, otherwise a well-behaved student like Chu Feng wouldn’t suddenly do something like that at such an important provincial competition…
People don’t do things for no reason. Especially, it didn’t seem like something friends, brothers, or buddies would do.
In this moment, Xie Shiyu suddenly realized that Chu Feng might have the same feelings as him…
“Are you done with your work?”
Chu Feng, blushing and eager to change the subject, said hurriedly, “Do you want to go down together?”
“Sure.”
With courage from the darkness, Xie Shiyu took a step forward, getting closer to Chu Feng.
Chu Feng didn’t evade, and even turned his head slightly towards him.
They were so close that they could feel each other’s warm breath.
Xie Shiyu almost confirmed something in that moment.
In the darkness where colors were indistinguishable, the vague light leaking from the wooden boards made their silhouettes appear silver-plated. Chu Feng’s lips seemed to be coated with a layer of water, shimmering like moonlight.
“Are you wearing lipstick?”
Xie Shiyu asked in a low voice.
Their proximity, the atmosphere, the voices—all felt too ambiguous. Chu Feng felt that this was not an atmosphere any pair of friends would have.
“Mm.”
Chu Feng replied softly.
Xie Shiyu slowly lowered his head, and Chu Feng felt him getting closer. The warm breath gradually fell on his cheek…
Chu Feng seemed to sense what was about to happen next. He closed his eyes slowly, waiting…
***
In the darkness, there was silence.
The anticipated first kiss did not happen as expected.
Chu Feng opened his eyes.
Xie Shiyu was very, very close to him, his lips almost touching Chu Feng’s—
But they didn’t touch.
“Peach flavor, smells pretty good.”
Xie Shiyu stepped back, keeping away from Chu Feng. He smiled as if casually mentioning Chu Feng’s lipstick.
At the last moment, Xie Shiyu realized that if he had kissed Chu Feng just now, Chu Feng’s life might have been completely changed because of him.
He didn’t want Chu Feng’s originally smooth life to become difficult because of him.
Xie Shiyu took another step back, turned around, and pretended to be nonchalant:
“Let’s go, let’s… go down from here…”
Suddenly, Xie Shiyu stopped in his tracks. He felt Chu Feng grab the hem of his clothes from behind:
“Peach flavor…”
Chu Feng lowered his head, his heart pounding like a drum:
“Do you want to taste it?”
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