Chapter 151
Chapter 151
The Ling Village residents chosen to watch the performance arrived at the audience seats one after another.
Ning Xi took one look and was instantly amused.
There was the little girl who had said Fu Zhi’s laugh sounded like a rooster clucking, the young couple Li Hua and Han Meimei holding hands with shy, sweet expressions, and the siblings Niu Xiaohua and Niu Xiaocao, who were currently bickering with each other…
They were all people who had appeared during the previous filming.
Of course, there were also a few unfamiliar faces who had never appeared on the variety show.
Director Qin had a portable waist mic clipped to his belt as he explained the rules to the audience. “Tonight, each of you will receive a card from the Program Team. After each of the guests’ performances ends, you may give your card to the performance you like. The performance that receives the most cards will be named the best performance of this stage!”
The crowd immediately erupted.
“I’m voting for the most handsome big brother!”
“Then we don’t even need to wait until the performances are over. I already know which one of the guests I want to vote for!”
“Me too! I want to vote for Sister Ning Xi!” Niu Xiaocao also raised his hand!
Director Qin had long expected this. He coughed and said, “Are you all sure you want to vote right now? Every single vote you cast is extremely important! Because not only will the guests with the best performance receive a reward, but every audience member who helped contribute to the winning performance’s vote count will also receive a special gift prepared by the Program Team!”
“What?”
“So that means if the performance we vote for becomes the best performance, we get a gift too?”
“Then I’m watching all the performances before I vote. I think the finale might be the best!”
“Then I’ll wait before voting too.”
…
At eight o’clock that night, the show officially began.
The first to take the stage was Shen Yibai.
His performance was a shadow puppet play.
The audience immediately became interested. “A shadow puppet play? A young person actually knows how to do that?”
“Huh, I know that big brother. When he came to my house to do a mission before, he looked super cold. Why does he seem different today?” a little boy asked curiously.
The netizens looked over.
They realized that Shen Yibai’s expression really had changed compared to before.
In the past, Shen Yibai’s whole person had carried a calm, lifeless air.
He gave off the feeling of someone who thought living was fine, but dying was fine too.
But now, there was actually a trace of life in his brows and eyes.
As if vitality had burst forth in him again, and he had found hope.
The lights flickered.
Shen Yibai manipulated the little shadow puppets, using the light to stage a silent mime on the curtain.
“Are those two shadow puppets playing a game? They must be kids, right?!” The little boy who had just spoken kept staring intently at the silhouettes on the curtain. After figuring out the plot, he excitedly shared it with everyone.
The story that followed showed the two of them holding hands, growing from tiny childhood friends into a teenage boy and girl.
But the relationship between them had subtly changed.
It was in the way the boy would instinctively look toward the girl whenever he was happy or sad.
It was in the way the girl won first place in a marathon and excitedly wanted to hug the boy in celebration, only to suddenly stop herself.
After that, the two naturally ended up together, as if they had lived a happy, perfect life…
“How sweet~” the audience exclaimed one after another.
“This is so freaking unhinged!”
Ning Xi couldn’t help cursing out loud.
Back when they had once learned shadow puppetry together, the two of them had written, directed, and performed this shadow puppet play, Innocent Childhood, based on their own relationship.
But the plot of Innocent Childhood had ended long ago, right after the two of them had grown from little brats into a teenage boy and girl.
The reason was that at the time, she had developed a greater interest in singing and dancing, so naturally she no longer had the energy to spare for her other little hobbies.
Besides…
Back then, when she won first place in the marathon and wanted to hug Shen Yibai but suddenly stopped herself, the real reason was that she had already become aware of the difference between boys and girls. On top of that, she had discovered that Shen Yibai seemed to be pretty popular with the girls at school.
The last thing she wanted was for Shen Yibai’s future girlfriend to post on Little Potato asking, “What should I do if my boyfriend has a girl best friend?”
Of course, there was another, most important reason-
She, Ning Xi, had believed since she was fourteen that she would become a top idol one day!
So she had started upholding the idol code ahead of time. She absolutely could not let puppy love or messy feelings between men and women drag her down!
After spending more than half her life upholding the idol code, Ning Xi was suddenly faced with Shen Yibai’s absurd, black-is-white version of events. A wicked fire shot straight from her chest to the top of her head.
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In contrast to the fuming Ning Xi, Ning Mingyue’s face was as pale as paper.
The full version of Innocent Childhood?
Why would the present Shen Yibai know the full version of Innocent Childhood?
In her previous life, Ning Mingyue had read every report about Ning Xi and Shen Yibai. She knew the history of their relationship backward and forward.
When Ning Xi was twenty-two and Shen Yibai was twenty-four, they confirmed their relationship at a summer fireworks festival.
When Ning Xi was twenty-three and Shen Yibai was twenty-five, Shen Yibai set off fireworks on a mountainside in Xiangcheng for an entire night to celebrate Ning Xi’s birthday, simply because Ning Xi liked shiny things like that. Every year after, he did the same.
When Ning Xi was twenty-four and Shen Yibai was twenty-six, Shen Yibai booked an entire island to propose to Ning Xi. The two became the very picture of a young couple who had married early.
…
When Ning Xi was thirty-two and Shen Yibai was thirty-four, Shen Yibai became the richest man in Xiangcheng. Their relationship became Xiangcheng’s favorite post-meal gossip. It was said that at his wife Ning Xi’s birthday banquet, Shen Yibai personally performed a shadow puppet play he had created, Innocent Childhood. But Ning Xi seemed less than satisfied with the gift, and rumors began to spread that their marriage was on the rocks…
Yet the very next year, when Ning Xi was thirty-three and Shen Yibai was thirty-five, Shen Yibai transferred all of the hundreds of billions in assets under his name to his wife, Ning Xi, crushing every rumor of marital trouble. From then on, Ning Xi became the rich woman every man and woman in Xiangcheng most wanted to marry…
When Ning Xi was thirty-four and Shen Yibai was thirty-six…
That year, after years of jealousy and resentment toward Ning Xi, Ning Mingyue had made herself sick with pent-up bitterness. Her physical and mental condition deteriorated day by day, and in the end, she died from an acute infectious illness, filled with regret and unwillingness-only to be reborn at twenty-one in this life.
This year, Ning Xi and Shen Yibai, who were the same age as her, had not yet confirmed their relationship, nor did they have the deep bond they would later share.
So…
Why would the current Shen Yibai know the full version of Innocent Childhood, something only the thirty-four-year-old Shen Yibai from her previous life should have known?
A thunderbolt of a thought struck Ning Mingyue’s mind.
Shen Yibai had been reborn too!
No wonder. No wonder she had always felt that Shen Yibai in this life was impossible to read!
Before, she had thought Shen Yibai was simply mature beyond his years, which was why even she, a reborn person more than ten years older than him, could not control him.
Now that she thought about it, she had trusted too much in Shen Yibai’s title as the richest man in Xiangcheng from her previous life, and that was why she had overlooked such an important truth!
But…
If Shen Yibai had been reborn, why would he abandon Ning Xi and choose her instead?
In her previous life, Shen Yibai had never spared her a single glance. She had racked her brains trying to use their former engagement to win him back, only for him to treat her like a hysterical lunatic.
Why? Why?!
Ning Mingyue’s head hurt as if it were about to explode, yet the pain only made her more clear-headed.
There had to be something. There had to be something she had overlooked.
In a flash of insight, the file she had seen in Shen Yibai’s room suddenly surfaced in her mind.
A genetic disease!