Chapter 78 – Stunning
After five minutes of preparation, the last group of guests from “Survive!” began their performance.
Lin Ganzhi didn’t ask for the water sleeves provided by the show. He simply took a fan and went on stage. Dressed in a shirt and black trousers, he stood nervously in the center of the stage, but the simple, form-fitting outfit made him look like a straight little green pine tree. Qi Yushuo sat in a corner with a pipa, his gaze quietly fixed on Lin Ganzhi. One might have thought Qi Yushuo and an instrument like the pipa would be an odd match, but seeing him now, with his unrestrained aura subdued, his long, slender fingers resting on the pipa looked surprisingly harmonious.
Lin Ganzhi had once spent a year learning dance for a supporting role in a play and had even spent several thousand to have a junior from the dance department at his university choreograph for him. He still remembered the hardship involved. To say he had completely forgotten it would be a lie, but he was definitely not as skilled as before. He had just hastily chosen a rough piece of music with Qi Yushuo backstage and was in a complete panic. In contrast, Qi Yushuo, who hadn’t touched the pipa in a long time, was the one comforting him and even helping him stretch. All he could say was, a friend like this was truly worth making!
Thus, Lin Ganzhi quickly added Qi Yushuo to his list of people to treat to a meal.
A beam of light from the stage fell upon Lin Ganzhi’s clean face. While both expressed emotion, Zhong Jingyi had shed two lines of tears in a sorrowful manner, but Lin Ganzhi’s eyes merely held a layer of irresolvable mist, the paper fan in his hand slowly rising vertically.
Beside him, Qi Yushuo touched the pipa, plucking a string to produce a resonant “zheng!” that lingered in the air.
As if summoned, Lin Ganzhi’s body began to move with the music, holding the paper fan. When he bent down, his waist was slender enough to be encircled by a hand. When he rose, his posture was as straight as a snow pine. Every expression that accompanied his movements seemed meticulously designed, completely undisturbed by the fast-paced dance. His brows were furrowed with an irresolvable sorrow and story.
The outsiders watched in a daze, while the expert, Que Jin, exclaimed in amazement, “So Ganzhi can do classical dance. Although his movements are a bit rusty, but…” it was still breathtakingly beautiful.
Over here, Yan Shengping had just finished his meeting when Tian Nini quickly sent him a private message. He was now one of Ganzhi’s fans, and with his natural talent for making friends, his phone had already received hundreds of messages during the meeting, urging him to watch the live broadcast.
[CEO Yan! Ganzhi is dancing on the show! It’s sooooo beautiful! I just found out the show was changed to a live format! Sob sob sob, how can he be so good-looking~]
Yan Shengping couldn’t help but frown at the thought of Tian Nini, built like a side-by-side refrigerator, holding his phone and weeping. He used to be much more composed. However, Yan Shengping’s actions betrayed his thoughts. He deftly and familiarly clicked on the interview show’s official Weibo and entered the live broadcast.
The moment he opened the live stream, he was greeted with a close-up of Lin Ganzhi. The hair at his temples was damp with sweat, his eyes held an irresolvable tenderness, and the corners of his eyes were tinged with red, whether from tears or some other reason, it was hard to tell. Yan Shengping was reminded of when they first met; this person always liked to pretend to cry. But none of his fake crying had ever been like this, infused with emotion. It was as if he was seeing a completely different side of Lin Ganzhi. So, this was his true self?
Yan Shengping’s gaze uncontrollably followed Lin Ganzhi’s movements.
Sitting in the corner, Zhong Jingyi sneered when the camera wasn’t on him. Lin Ganzhi was so stupid this time, trying to rehash his old act. His own dance had been guided by a professional teacher from a film crew. Did he really think that doing a backbend and twirling a fan could surpass him?
Indeed, in the first thirty seconds of Lin Ganzhi’s performance, the movements didn’t seem very difficult. A non-expert wouldn’t be able to see his skill.
But as the sound of Qi Yushuo’s pipa suddenly changed, becoming short and rapid, Lin Ganzhi gripped the fan and began to spin rapidly, facing the stage. His arms led his body in an extremely difficult rotation, his upper body forming a vertical circle while his lower body alternated dance steps left and right. The movements were steady and swift, the white fan becoming a blur.
Wenren Yi & Lu Xi: Holy shit?
Que Jin’s eyes were filled with undisguised admiration. “A Series Flip.” It was a common technique in Chinese dance, one that could reveal the depth of a dancer’s skill. To see someone in the entertainment industry perform it as fast, fierce, and precise as Lin Ganzhi was truly rare.
The rapid pipa music hadn’t stopped. After finishing one technique, Lin Ganzhi had to move on to the next. He completed an elegant turn, placed the fan on the ground with a backhand motion, and then, following the pipa’s rhythm, did a front aerial cartwheel. The movement was crisp yet graceful. After a full rotation, he flipped over and picked up the fan, leaving everyone present completely stunned.
“A Cloud Front Bridge,” Que Jin murmured the name of the dance move, her admiration turning into complete astonishment.
The dance had now reached its climax. In the center of the stage, Lin Ganzhi was like a sharp sword, his aura fully unleashed, perfectly expressing the resilience of classical dance. His expression had also changed from initial sorrow to exultation. Every frown and smile was filled with the spirited vigor of youth, and even more so, a sense of liberation. As the pipa music neared its end, Lin Ganzhi danced with the fan, lifting his leg and spinning, as fierce as a long whip. The fan seemed to have become one with him.
At the end, the pipa once again let out a “zheng” sound. Lin Ganzhi’s body fell like a kite with a broken string, arching back and kneeling on one knee, a fan covering the lower half of his face. On camera, his eyes, in the final moment, were filled with hot tears, fiery and mournful.
The lingering vibration of the music had not yet faded, much like the pounding of Yan Shengping’s heart. The feeling was difficult to dispel.
[Sob sob sob, I’ll never again say Lin Ganzhi is just a little fool who only knows how to eat! He’s not a little fool, he’s the little beauty of my heart~ Baby, don’t cry, let auntie hug you~]
[Lin Ganzhi and Qi Yushuo’s coordination is too good! I never knew my big brother was so amazing at the pipa. I’ve never seen him say he had this skill before. I give this performance full marks!]
[Sob sob sob, what’s with this show? If Ganzhi wasn’t married, I’d suspect he and Qi Yushuo were promoting a CP. Their coordination has captured my heart!]
[If this wasn’t live, I’d suspect it was edited! Lin Ganzhi, you’re so flexible when you dance, and your expressions are so alluring. Why don’t you bring any of that to your acting? Do you know how many filters I have to add to watch your dramas because I like you? Production team, remember to release the recording on time. I want to watch it a hundred times to cleanse my eyes!]
[My mom, a classical dance teacher, watched it and said it was good. Ganzhi, your mother-in-law has taken a liking to you. You know what to do! [Dog head for life-saving]]
[CEO Yan, let’s not beat around the bush. Your wife is cute, I want to fuck him.]
[Hahahaha! CEO Yan is on his way with a ten-meter-long sword.]
[Unbiased netizen here, isn’t this better than Zhong Jingyi’s dance? Didn’t he say before that his dance was choreographed by a professional teacher, and that he specialized in classical dance?]
[Now that you mention it, I think so too. Although I’m not an expert, Lin Ganzhi’s movements are way more exciting than Zhong Jingyi just waving his sleeves around, right?]
[It’s just a talent show, is there a need to compare and belittle? Hehe, some people’s fans have really low class.]
[The fans are right here. The fans didn’t say anything. Don’t blame everything on the fans. Does praising Ganzhi for being amazing bother you? Don’t you know that besides Lin Ganzhi’s fans, there’s another type of person in this world called an unbiased netizen?]
[Hahaha, first time seeing Zhong Jingyi’s fans get so flustered. Didn’t they used to promote themselves as the most peaceful and detached fans in the country? Did their mask just slip? [Dog head]]
“Clap, clap, clap, clap!” Yin Quanxi led the applause, breaking the silence. “It seems our director really hired the right people this time. This isn’t an interview show, this is ‘human evolution left me behind’ live on site.” Yin Quanxi’s joke made everyone laugh.
Everyone except for the toe-curlingly bad singer Fan Feimiao and the utterly crushed Zhong Jingyi.
The show continued for another two hours before finally ending. Due to their lower celebrity status, Yin Quanxi rarely cued the people on their sofa row, so he successfully slacked off for two hours. After work, Wenren Yi was called away by a phone call, and Que Jin was summoned back to the company by Brother Zhang. He heard that a director of a popular drama wanted her to audition, and Lin Ganzhi was sincerely happy for her.
As for his remaining two friends, Qi Yushuo disappeared somewhere after leaving the recording studio, and Lu Xi, who had just agreed to have dinner with him, received a call from his brother.
Judging from the conversation, Lu Xi was mostly just raging impotently. The moment he hung up, he looked completely deflated. He looked at Lin Ganzhi with a lifeless expression. “Ganzhi, let’s do dinner next time. My brother wants me to go home for a blind date.”
“A blind date? Aren’t you about the same age as me?” Lin Ganzhi was shocked, then quickly realized his mistake. He touched the ring on his finger and smiled sheepishly. “I almost forgot, I’m already married.”
The resentment in Lu Xi’s eyes deepened. “My brother came out to our family when he was eighteen. My dad beat him so badly the doctor said he’d be bedridden for two months. But after half a month, he went back to the army behind my dad’s back. My dad was so angry he ate a few bowls less for dinner those days.”
“Uh, so why does your brother want you to go on a blind date now?”
“He said the Old Lu Family still has a fortune to inherit, and the family line can’t end. But he gave me the freedom to choose. If by some chance I don’t like girls, I can go find a boyfriend if I can last three moves against him. The money can just be donated to the country after he’s gone.”
The more Lu Xi spoke, the more curious Lin Ganzhi became about his brother. “Then you might as well just go and fight him for a couple of rounds. Then you wouldn’t have to be called back for blind dates like this.”
Lu Xi shook his head, looking utterly lifeless. “Not unless you want to not see your brother on the next episode. And I’m really not interested in guys. I just want to find an older sister, the kind who can dote on me.” Lu Xi blinked his pitiful eyes, bid a sad farewell to Lin Ganzhi, and dragged his heavy feet home.
Lin Ganzhi felt sorry for him, but at the same time, he couldn’t control the smile on his face.
With no other plans, Lin Ganzhi simply sent a message to Uncle Yan from the break room, asking him to come pick him up. He also took the time to think about what delicious food to make for Yan Shengping tonight. This month’s salary had arrived on time. He definitely had to thank his boss properly!
Feeling that Uncle Yan was about to arrive, Lin Ganzhi put on his thick cotton coat and waddled out like a little human penguin.
Outside the building, the grounds sloped slightly forward. With the heavy snow, besides the passing cars, there were hardly any pedestrians on the road. Lin Ganzhi looked left and right, then squatted down, hugging his legs, and slowly slid down the snowy path others had trodden. The cold wind blew against his slightly messy pink hair.
Wrapped in his thick coat, Lin Ganzhi let out a comfortable yawn. Just as he was about to turn into the parking lot, his collar was suddenly pulled from behind. When he looked up, he saw Shi Wending’s disgusting face smiling at him.