Chapter 17 Performance: Three Men, One Play

The young man’s outfit was even more noble than the one from rehearsal, looking exceptionally dazzling in this small backstage area.

“Where have you been? The performance is about to start and I haven’t seen you.”

“I went to arrange a seat for Lili.” Fang Chuning looked around, clapping her hands to signal, “Everyone, remember to proceed as we did during rehearsal, go on stage in class order, and classes that aren’t ready yet need to hurry and prepare.”

“Yes!” The unified response was very loud.

“By the way, Fang classmate, have you decided on the place for the spring trip?”

The young man’s voice was clear and pleasant, but Fang Chuning listened with a confused expression, “What spring trip?”

“Hasn’t Teacher Song told you yet? She said to let you arrange the class spring trip for this month.”

If she was to arrange it, at least she needed to know about it, “When did Teacher Song tell you this?”

“Just now.”

Fang Chuning unconsciously fiddled with the button on her sleeve, her gaze slightly unfocused.

Xu Muzhou quietly watched her for a while before smiling and reminding her: “If you can’t think of anything now, you can plan after today is over. You must be quite tired from preparing for the performance during this time, make sure to rest.”

The sudden concern made Fang Chuning feel a bit flattered. Ever since she helped him after he dirtied the painting at her house, Xu Muzhou’s attitude towards her had changed greatly, so much that she couldn’t quite react to it in such a short time.

“Ah, um, okay.” After responding, her peripheral vision caught sight of Gao Qiong still fiddling with a mirror in the corner, and she directly left him to walk over there.

Xu Muzhou’s slightly opened mouth slowly closed, his honey-colored pupils as still as dead water. He turned his head to look in the direction of the girl, his hand hanging at his side lightly clenched into a fist.

Outside, the audience seats were almost full. Fang Tianli and the others were sitting in the middle of the front row, with two empty seats next to them, specially reserved by Fang Chuning for Hong Jie and her husband.

Just a minute before the audience lights dimmed, Fang Tianli saw Hong Jie arriving late with Li Yipeng following behind her. At this point, Fang Tianli was still completely unaware of the source of conflict between his parents, and happily raised his hand to wave frantically, “Mom, I’m here!”

Fang Tianli had a very good impression of Li Yipeng, not only was he gentle but also easy to talk to. Last time, he had helped resolve Su Qi’s issue, “Uncle Li!”

Standing in the aisle, Li Yipeng gave him a gentle smile, nodding in response, then said to Hong Jie beside him: “I won’t go over, to avoid further misunderstanding if your husband arrives.”

“Mm, you can go look around first, I’ll call you later.”

As soon as Li Yipeng got outside, he stopped a passing student, “Excuse me, do you know where your Fang President is now?”

The one stopped happened to be Jiang Luoyu, who was on his way to help backstage. He took a small step back, somewhat surprised, secretly examining the man in front of him, “Do you have business with the President?”

“Ah, it’s like this, I’m her mother’s assistant. Her mother is looking for her now but can’t reach her phone, so she sent me out to look.”

The man’s demeanor was calm, his handsome and gentle features naturally inspiring goodwill. Jiang Luoyu didn’t suspect anything, and knowing the man was someone from the President’s mother’s side, he became even more eager to help, “The President is backstage now and probably didn’t hear her phone. No worries, I’ll take you there!”

Li Yipeng’s eyes gleamed softly, “Then I’ll trouble you.” He looked at the cardboard box the young man was holding and offered, “Let me carry that for you.”

“No need, no need, it’s not heavy, I can manage!”

Li Yipeng didn’t insist, stepping aside to gesture for him to lead the way.

Jiang Luoyu silently passed by him, his peripheral vision unable to resist examining him again. This man was very tall, with features that were stunningly beautiful. Although he had long hair, it didn’t seem out of place at all, instead adding to his elegant demeanor, as if he was meant to look this way.

Could such a man really be just an assistant?

They didn’t talk much on the way, with the few exchanges being the man casually asking about Fang Chuning’s affairs, which made Jiang Luoyu feel a bit uncomfortable. Wasn’t he just the President’s mother’s assistant? Why was he so curious about the President’s matters?

After walking for about a few minutes, the two arrived backstage. The performance had already started, and many people backstage were coming and going, their faces tense and somewhat stiff with nervousness.

Li Yipeng’s first glance caught sight of Fang Chuning, dressed in a magnificent outfit, peeking through the heavy curtains to check the stage situation. His smile deepened as he took long strides towards her.

Jiang Luoyu instinctively followed behind him.

Just as he was a few steps away from the girl of his dreams, a very striking young man suddenly blocked his path. Li Yipeng stopped in his tracks, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the person in front of him.

The young man’s features were exquisite and beautiful. His first glance wasn’t at him, but fell on the male student behind him, “Jiang classmate, don’t you know that idle personnel are not allowed in here?”

The young man’s voice was soft and pleasant, as if he was just confirming. His equally luxurious outfit looked almost like a couple’s outfit with Fang Chuning’s.

Li Yipeng’s narrow eyes narrowed slightly, vaguely sensing an aura of someone similar to himself from him.

Jiang Luoyu opened and closed his mouth, his gaze drifting towards the back of the girl’s head who hadn’t noticed the situation here at all, “He’s the President’s mother’s assistant, said he had urgent business with the President, so I brought him over.”

“Even so, you shouldn’t casually bring people in. Jiang classmate should know better about discretion.”

Every time he faced Xu Muzhou, Jiang Luoyu felt like he was being targeted, and he had no right to refute.

“I don’t mean to blame Jiang classmate, I just think that if you encounter such a situation next time, if you can’t reach Fang classmate’s phone, you can tell me first.”

Jiang Luoyu pressed his lips together without speaking.

Li Yipeng looked at the beautiful young man in front of him who could speak so eloquently that it was hard to harbor ill will towards him. His eyes were gentle and profound, “I asked this classmate to bring me over because I was in a hurry and had no choice. I didn’t mean to break the rules here.”

Xu Muzhou’s gaze slowly moved up to meet his eyes. After a while, he smiled lightly, “If that’s the case, then there’s no helping it. Uncle, why are you in such a hurry to find Fang classmate? Is something the matter?”

The word “uncle” was spoken smoothly and naturally. Li Yipeng was almost 100% certain that the young man said it deliberately. Having experienced the intrigues of the workplace and finally being valued by Hong Jie, how could he be affected by a mere form of address? He smiled and pointed towards the person who had been facing away from them the whole time, “May I go over and speak to her?”

The young man’s expression was serene as he slowly uttered: “Of course you may.”

Over there, Fang Chuning, who was observing the stage situation, hadn’t noticed them at all. This was mainly because people were constantly moving about backstage and the stage music was loud. It wasn’t until someone came to her side that she belatedly realized, thinking it was a classmate nervously waiting to go on stage, “Don’t worry, it’s not our turn yet.”

“It’s very splendid.”

The man’s soft laughter came from behind her head. Fang Chuning turned back in surprise, her expression as if she had seen a ghost, “Why are you here!?”

As if remembering something, she frowned, “Idle personnel are not allowed backstage.”

Li Yipeng, “But… I came to find you on a matter.”

“What matter?”

Li Yipeng raised his hand, his fingertip gently straightening the slightly crooked black and gold crown on her head. His voice was as gentle as if it could drown someone, “Director Fang asked me to come today to explain that day’s incident to your father. Although it was indeed a misunderstanding, I’m afraid I might not explain it well and make their relationship worse, so I wanted to ask you.”

I think you’re just looking for trouble, Fang Chuning thought to herself. She was still just a child, how would she know how to explain such things!

“Just tell him directly!”

Li Yipeng gently gazed at the young girl’s cute appearance, “What if your father doesn’t believe it?”

“If he doesn’t believe you, then resign and leave Fang Corporation.” Fang Chuning was cold and merciless.

Li Yipeng wasn’t surprised at all that she would say this, “But I’m reluctant to leave.”

Fang Chuning thought he was reluctant to leave this high-paying job, “With your qualifications, it shouldn’t be difficult at all to find a good job, but, if you really want to explain, I’ll help you too.”

“Really?”

“Mm”

The man’s smile widened, and he suddenly reached out both hands towards her. Fang Chuning instinctively dodged, only to realize he was just going to help her adjust her collar.

This feeling was strange, as if this man was even more attentive to her than her father. Before Fang Chuning could ponder deeply, the curtain fell on stage and it was their class’s turn next.

“I don’t have time now, you’d better not stay here too long, or the teacher will come and question you later.”

What seemed like a warning sounded like concern to Li Yipeng. A warmth spread through his chest, and his gentle brow showed a hint of compliance, “Alright.”

In fact, he didn’t leave until the end of the performance, standing behind the heavy curtain watching the young girl’s delightful performance. It was clear what they were performing, as there were some comedic segments added, and laughter constantly erupted from the audience.

Li Yipeng knew that the finale of this arts performance was Fang Chuning’s duet. He didn’t want to miss it, but if he continued to stay here, she would definitely be unhappy. Thinking of this, the man turned and left the backstage area.

On the other side, halfway through the performance, Fang’s father ran out, with Hong Jie following closely behind. He wouldn’t listen to her explanations, so she simply stopped talking. Fang’s father was both angry and aggrieved, until halfway when he happened to bump into Li Yipeng, who was returning to the audience to continue watching the performance.

Fang’s father widened his eyes in disbelief, pointing at him and questioning the woman harshly, “You actually brought this scoundrel here too!?”

“You wouldn’t listen to my explanation, so I could only bring him here to explain to you. Secretary Li,” Hong Jie’s gaze fell on Li Yipeng.

Li Yipeng, who was called a scoundrel, remained expressionless, as if completing a task, “That day at dinner, it wasn’t just me and Director Fang, there was another important client. I was drunk at the time, which is why Director Fang sent me home. There are surveillance cameras all the way from the restaurant to where I live. If you don’t believe me, you can check the footage. Director Fang and I are just superior and subordinate.”

Of course, Fang’s father wouldn’t believe such one-sided words. He laughed coldly: “Of course you wouldn’t dare to do anything where there are cameras, but I saw you two almost kissing at that time!”

Li Yipeng lowered his eyes, as if remembering something, a hint of blush appearing on his handsome face, “……I’m sorry, I was drunk at the time and mistook Director Fang for someone else.”

Men judge men most accurately. Fang’s father didn’t miss any expression on his face, and he vaguely started to believe. He turned back to question the woman again, “Then why didn’t you push him away?”

Hong Jie, “……I didn’t have time.”

How could Fang’s father believe such nonsense, “Was it really that you didn’t have time, or that you were tempted?”

Hong Jie found that after explaining, things became even more unclear. She glanced at the man, “Secretary Li, you can go back now.”

Li Yipeng nodded, passing by them without looking back.

At this point, the performance had just reached its finale. Li Yipeng stood at the back of the audience, his eyes fixed on the two people under the spotlight, shining like diamonds.

The young girl and boy had already changed out of their elaborate costumes into pristine white formal wear. The young man sat at the grand piano, while the young girl stood to his right, her chin resting on a reddish-brown violin.

On stage, she was confident and composed.

As the piano began to play, the young girl slowly drew her bow. This was a world-famous piece, “Salut d’Amour”. The beautiful, slow melody rippled through everyone’s ears, involuntarily captivating them.

As the piece ended, thunderous applause erupted from the audience. The young girl gallantly raised her hand to take the young man’s hand, and they gracefully bowed to the audience.

Li Yipeng watched the two under the spotlight and softly murmured: “They truly make a dazzlingly perfect pair.”