Chapter 186

Chapter 186

Huo Dieyi rose and folded her arms across her chest, her expression rather stern.

“You are entering the field I love most. Since I’ve agreed to become your teacher, I will hold nothing back. Take your lessons seriously and don’t be lazy. If you perform well, I’ll write an opera for you.”

Xiao Huai arched a brow. “If we’re writing an opera, I do plan to produce a script later and trouble you to look it over.”

“Oh?” Huo Dieyi had not expected him to be interested in either acting or writing. “What kind?”

“You’ll find out when the time comes. Oh, right, Miss Dieyi, you can perform as well, can’t you?”

Huo Dieyi frowned slightly. This time, Xiao Huai had called her Miss Dieyi. He was addressing her as a playwright asking a performer a question.

Huo Dieyi flourished her sleeve in a standard operatic gesture. “What do you think?”

Her rhetorical question said everything.

Huo Dieyi said, “If your opera is good, I may consider joining it.”

“All right. Thanks.” Xiao Huai waved and turned to leave. Behind him, Huo Dieyi called,

“Come at seven every morning.”

Seven in the morning.

Ordinary classes did not even begin until eight, yet Huo Dieyi expected him an hour earlier.

In truth, most opera students rose far earlier. Huo Dieyi knew many people practiced only fitfully.

If she began by demanding that they rise too early, some might quit before they had even truly started.

Xiao Huai nodded slightly.

Huo Dieyi watched his departing figure.

She thought, *He says he isn’t very clever. I can only hope hard work makes up for his lack of talent and that he applies himself.*

How difficult would it be to reach a stage-ready standard in a single week?

Mastery onstage demanded years of work behind the curtain.

This deal would hardly be easy for her.

Yet was taking her through the fog not equally impossible?

She sighed and murmured, “People are always like this, chasing impossible dreams. I am no different.”

She lay down on the sofa. She wanted to believe in Xiao Huai just once.

She wanted to cross the fog and reach a place that should have been impossible to enter.

* * *

Xiao Huai left Huo Dieyi’s office. The moment he turned the corner, he saw a familiar figure leaning against the wall.

Even a black mask could not conceal the man’s extraordinary presence.

Lu Yuanshi removed his mask. An entire lake lay hidden within his eyes, too deep to read or see through.

Even so, Xiao Huai found himself staring into them, trying to find a ray of light that might illuminate him.

The thought lasted only a moment before Xiao Huai looked away.

Lu Yuanshi sidled over impishly and draped an arm across Xiao Huai’s shoulders. “Aren’t you surprised to see me?”

“You and I often think alike. You came here looking for something, didn’t you?” Xiao Huai lightly patted the hand resting restlessly on his shoulder.

Reluctantly, Lu Yuanshi lowered it. “Yes. I thought Huo Dieyi was probably connected to the Huo family.”

“Mm. I thought so too. Which is why I found this.” He handed Lu Yuanshi the family portrait he had discovered in the corner.

Xiao Huai said, “Young Master Huo may be Huo Dieyi’s brother.”

After studying the picture, Lu Yuanshi stopped walking.

Xiao Huai noticed and stopped as well. “What is it?”

At that moment, Lu Yuanshi’s lips curved upward. He raised one hand and ran his fingertips through the hair above Xiao Huai’s forehead. As the movement drew Xiao Huai’s attention, Lu Yuanshi quietly leaned toward his ear, his whisper tickling the skin.

“Then why did you decide to study opera with Huo Dieyi?”

So he had heard them after all.
Lu Yuanshi’s voice made Xiao Huai’s ear turn red. It was only a physical reaction; his face showed not the slightest discomposure.

Even so, Lu Yuanshi’s gaze lingered on the pink shell of his ear.

Xiao Huai stepped sideways. “When did you start listening?”

Lu Yuanshi shrugged carelessly. “I heard almost all of it.”

“You were already here when Huo Dieyi came back?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Xiao Huai was nearly speechless. Lu Yuanshi must have followed Huo Dieyi without a moment’s delay. He had moved incredibly fast and had not even been discovered.

What Xiao Huai did not know was that Lu Yuanshi had never been following Huo Dieyi. He had followed Xiao Huai himself.

But Lu Yuanshi would not tell him, and Xiao Huai would never know.

“I’m studying performance because there’s a play I want to put on. Do you have a problem with that?”

Lu Yuanshi raised a hand. Four or five little booklets lay in his palm.

An actor’s license, a professional performance certificate…

A whole assortment of credentials.

“I took the exams when I had nothing better to do. If you want to learn, you could ask me.” Lu Yuanshi smiled.

Xiao Huai glanced at the documents in his hand.

So the man truly was a card-carrying, fully certified actor.

“It’s a shame you never became one.” Xiao Huai patted his shoulder and continued walking.

Lu Yuanshi matched his steps. “Then how about I become your actor alone?”

*Your actor alone.*

Xiao Huai raised his eyes. A lively spark flickered within them as he studied Lu Yuanshi.

“You just reminded me. There is a role you seem perfectly suited for.” He suddenly tipped Lu Yuanshi’s chin upward, examining him as though appraising a work of art.

After a moment, he smiled. “Lu Yuanshi, would you like to play my lover?”

Lu Yuanshi froze.

Xiao Huai said, “Don’t worry. It’s only acting. You don’t have to mean it. You only need to pretend you love me deeply.”

The hand hanging at Lu Yuanshi’s side curled slightly.

Xiao Huai had already begun walking away.

Lu Yuanshi stood where he was and watched him.

Very softly, he said,

“I’ve never known what it feels like to love someone.”

Xiao Huai turned sideways, his gaze falling on Lu Yuanshi.

“Then keep your eyes on me. Don’t look away.” Step by step, Xiao Huai returned to Lu Yuanshi’s side. “Once the stage is set, you and I will both belong to the play.”

Those who belonged to the play carried their roles’ souls within them. Love or its absence followed wherever those souls led.

Actors called it losing themselves in a role. Once the role’s spirit possessed them, a single glance could draw strength from it.

But neither of them knew that they already stood within a game of another kind.

And those inside the game were always the ones most likely to turn a false performance into reality.

Lu Yuanshi reached out and touched Xiao Huai’s cheek.

This time, Xiao Huai did not pull away.

Lu Yuanshi enunciated every word with perfect clarity. “All right. Then I’ll be sure to show you exactly how a man looks when he loves someone more than anything.”

Xiao Huai met his gaze. In that instant, he seemed to feel the force hidden in those ink-black eyes.

“Mm.”

Perhaps within the play, both of them could speak the thoughts buried deep in their hearts without restraint.

Lu Yuanshi lowered his eyes, his gaze turning clear and gentle.

The man before him shone as brightly as the moon and stars.

Lu Yuanshi had never imagined that someday, the two of them would meet upon a stage.

A faint smile touched his lips.

In his heart, he whispered,

*I’m so glad I could come to your side.*

* * *

The others had been waiting in the Jinlemen Club’s main hall, but the two men still had not appeared.

Just as they began to fear something had happened, they looked up and saw the pair returning together.