Chapter 430: Chapter 256 Elopent
Hearing how ng Wanning addressed Chen Cheng, Cui Xiaoling’s frown deepened.
“What did you just call him?!”
ng Wanning hurriedly explained, “Master, Chen Cheng has really been good to ! You’ve seen it recently, I’ve been so happy, looking forward to each day…”
Cui Xiaoling, cutting her off, spoke sternly, “Happy? Looking forward to?”
“I think you’ve been blinded by sweet words, unable to see the road ahead!”
“Who is Chen Cheng? What kind of life does he lead? Do you understand him?”
She took a deep breath, her tone sowhat softer, “Xiao Ning, master has been through this; blinded by montary sweetness and ultimately ended up miserable. I don’t want you to repeat my mistakes.”
Chen Cheng rembered Jin Baogen once briefly ntioning his own love history, and concluded that the present Cui Xiaoling was soone whose heart had been hurt.
“Master, I understand Chen Cheng, and I trust him,” ng Wanning continued, “He’s not that kind of person. He respects , cares for , understands …”
“Understands you?”
Cui Xiaoling said coldly, “What does he understand about you? Does he understand the years of hard training? The hardships of practicing into the night every day?”
“Does he understand the sweat and tears behind every single move and gesture? Does he understand your love for Beijing Opera, your longing for the stage?”
“Does he understand the glory and satisfaction you feel the mont the stage lights up? Do he understand the emotions and stories behind every look, every action, every line you sing?”
“Does he understand that for a role, you would sacrifice sleep, pour all your heart and energy into it?”
“Does he understand the legacy and responsibility you carry? Does he understand? He doesn’t understand anything!”
“He only sees your glamorous side, only sees you shining on stage, he only sees the you on stage! What does he understand about you?”
ng Wanning was choked up by the series of rhetorical questions. She had never seen her master so confrontational.
“Yes, Chen Cheng doesn’t understand the opera, but he understands the outside the opera!”
“The you outside the opera?”
Cui Xiaoling scoffed as if hearing a joke, “What is the you outside the opera? After removing makeup, taking off the opera costu, are you still you?”
“From childhood to now, over twenty years, eating, sleeping, living, which part isn’t connected to opera? Tell , what is the you outside of opera?”
She pointed at the various masks on the wall, and nurous certificates and flags, speaking fiercely, “Ask these, do they know the you outside of opera?”
ng Wanning’s eyes turned red but stubbornly refused to back down.
“Master, I love singing opera, it’s part of my life, but I also need a life, I need love, I need soone to understand and be with .”
“Chen Cheng doesn’t understand opera, but he understands as a person, my happiness, my sorrow, my fragility…”
Seeing ng Wanning’s teary eyes, Cui Xiaoling’s tone softened slightly.
“Xiao Ning, master isn’t trying to stop you from pursuing happiness, just hoping you could be a bit more sensible, instead of being blinded by temporary sweetness.”
“You and him, belong to two different worlds.”
Until now, Chen Cheng, who had been silent, spoke, “Mr. Cui, two different worlds can rge. I can step into her world, understand everything she loves. She can, slowly, understand my world as well.”
Cui Xiaoling looked at Chen Cheng, “Your world is full of deceit and hedonism, how can you expect her, a pure child, to adapt?”
“I will protect her.”
Chen Cheng said firmly, “I will do my best to keep her away from those disturbances, to let her maintain her innocence in my world.”
“Protect?”
Cui Xiaoling chuckled softly, “How will you protect? With what?”
She paused briefly, “Marry her?”
Cui Xiaoling had not been able to marry Jin Baogen, leaving her with an eternal pain.
And ng Wanning and Chen Cheng, too, were stunned by this sudden question.
Chen Cheng couldn’t possibly marry ng Wanning, and from the mont ng Wanning fully committed to Chen Cheng, she was very clear, she would not beco his bride.
“What do you say? Chen Cheng, today, in front of , say you will marry Xiao Ning, and I will agree to let you take her away.”
Cui Xiaoling crossed her arms in front of her chest, awaiting Chen Cheng’s answer.
The office fell into a dead silence.
The air seed to solidify, becoming oppressively suffocating.
Chen Cheng was also considering. Mr. Cui’s displeasure towards him might also involve forcing this promise from ng Wanning.
But Chen Cheng didn’t, as she might have expected, vow vehently that he would marry ng Wanning, nor did he retort angrily.
He simply remained silent for a mont, then made a move that surprised everyone.
He let go of ng Wanning’s hand.
The warm and strong hands that had once given ng Wanning imasurable security now drifted away like leaves in an autumn wind.
ng Wanning looked at Chen Cheng in shock, only to see him walking slowly towards the door.
Each step he took, so slow, as if stepping on the very tip of ng Wanning’s heart, causing her sharp pains.
“Sir!”
Chen Cheng stopped, not turning back, “Wan Wan, I don’t want to lie to you, nor will I.”
“I can’t make a promise I can’t keep.”
Then, he pushed the door open and walked out, without a mont’s hesitation, without a trace of reluctance.
The office door was blown shut by the wind, cutting off the sunlight outside, like two separate worlds.
ng Wanning stood there, staring at the closed door, tears silently falling down her cheeks.
Reviews
All reviews (0)