It was a sunny and beautiful day today.
However, Guan Yue was in a terrible mood. She and her teacher were representing the Chinese Dancers Association to perform in the Golden Hall. An old injury had set her back during her teacher’s practice yesterday.
The doctor sternly warned her against exercising for a certain period. Otherwise, the damage would be permanent and irreversible.
Those who pursued a career in dancing from a young age had suffered many injuries along the way. Ms. Shu’s old injury was a torn ligament from ten years ago. It had not completely healed and had since been acting up from time to time.
In recent years, rheumatoid arthritis that came along with age put Shu Baiyu in a worse condition.
No one knew about this except people close to her. The outside world only saw Ms. Shu’s glamor and success without knowing how much effort she put into it. She utilized her body in exchange for her present fame and standing.
Ms. Shu’s new choreography was supposed to be the highlight. A suitable replacement for it could not be found even if they wanted to.
Guan Yue blamed herself for not being able to do better. She choreographed the dance alongside Ms. Shu, yet she was unable to complete the dance to perfection despite practicing for so long. Otherwise, she could take Ms. Shu’s place and perform on stage.
She turned the corner to see someone dancing.
On the lawn, a girl’s agile figure swayed to the great rhythm and was breathtakingly graceful in her movements, reflecting the integration of both form and spirit.
It was hard to look away. Her dance had life and magic that captured the audience for them to be lost in it.
The dance was close to the end.
The curtains were drawn.
Guan Yue gradually snapped herself out of amazement. Pulling herself together, she gazed at the girl and nodded at her in greeting. Guan Yue drew close and greeted Shu Baiyu before turning to Shen Xi in admiration. “That was perfect.”
Exactly.
If there was a word to describe it, it would be perfect.
Although the movement was not precise, it embodied both form and spirit. Compared to her who had been practicing all this while, Shen Xi was more capable. Moreover, she breathed life into the dance and could invoke emotions in the audience. Only a handful of dancers were capable of this.
Shen Xi humbly smiled. “I was only simply dancing around. Sorry about my poor performance.”
“Don’t give me another blow. If that’s ‘simply’ dancing around, I don’t want to live.” Guan Yue looked at her with a smile. “Do you know how long I have been trying to learn this dance? I have been choreographing alongside Ms. Shu and yet I can’t carry out the dance like you.”
Shen Xi replied, “Ms. Guan, that’s because you’re in pursuit of perfection.”
“Alright now. Stop flattering each other.” Shu Baiyuu cut them off or else it would only go on forever. “How was the discussion there? Any program to replace me?”
“No.” Guan Yue respectfully came forth and stood by her. “Although it’s a group performance, the program had made adequate arrangement. However, news had leaked out that Flower Fairy, the new dance you choreographed will premier on stage.”
Fortunately, it was not mentioned that Shu Baiyu was the performer, otherwise, it would not end well. Many had bought their tickets for Shu Baiyu and most of them flew in from various parts of the world.
There would be consequences and definitely would not look good should Flower Fairy was removed from the event at the last minute.
Shu Baiyu remained optimistic as she said with a grin, “Don’t get worked up. There’s still time before the performance. I can do it.”
Her body was failing her as she aged and her old injury acted up when it came to the crunch. Despite so, she had been feeling better the past two days and should be able to perform on stage after resting for a few more days.
Guan Yue put on a solemn look. “Ms. Shu, I won’t agree to it. Don’t even think about it. Your body is most important. Don’t worry about everything else. I will discuss it with them again.”
Her health was an asset. Ms. Shu was professional and dedicated to her work so as not to let her audience and fans down. Hence, she never told anyone, including Guan Yue when she tore her ligament a decade ago.
Shu Baiyu insisted on finishing the performance in perfection while sustaining the injury. She was faultless on stage and gave the audience a flawless visual feast. However, no one knew the pain she endured to complete the dance.
Once off stage, Guan Yue found out that Ms. Shu tore her ligament a day before the performance.
The doctor diagnosed that the injury could have healed had she forgo the dance. There was no way to repair the damage after she tore her ligament and performed a high-intensity dance.
Since then, her injury had been relapsing. However, it was never to a stage as severe as right now. It was so bad that her attending doctor, Dr. Chen told her off from doing anything reckless.
“We’ll talk about this another time.” Shu Baiyu did not want to talk about it in front of Shen Xi. Thus, she interrupted Guan Yue and spoke to Shen Xi instead. “Xixi, why don’t you watch the clip with Yueyue to see if there’s anywhere you think we can improve on?”
Shen Xi shook her head. “The dance has achieved perfection. I don’t think there’s any need to change it by my standards. It is the best at its current state.”
Shu Baiyu smiled and sighed. “There’s no such thing as a perfect dance in the world.”
Guan Yue was under the impression Shen Xi’s level of performance earlier was because Shen Xi had learned the dance prior to her arrival. She was dumbstruck to find out that Shen Xi performed only after watching the clip twice. “Xixi, are you for real? You watched the clip twice!? Teacher, I can’t take it. I can’t handle the blow.”
Shu Baiyu lamentably chuckled. “No human’s the same. A talent like Xixi comes once in a lifetime.”
Yueyue brought vibrance into her dance. Otherwise, Shu Baiyu would not accept her as a student.
However, both were geniuses, but the talent was also divided into different levels. Xixi was the natural and smart kind who could bring the dance to life.
Even Shu Baiyu played second fiddle to the girl, let alone Yueyue.
“Teacher, that’s a blow from you too.” Covering her face, Guan Yue no longer had the will to live.
OMG. She was completely beaten to take another blow. Jesus. How could they crush an ordinary girl like her?
Shu Baiyu grinned as her usually aloof student revealed a cute side to her for once. “You’re outstanding too.”
Guan Yue was only joking. Sure, she took a hit, but she was still happy to get her teacher’s validation. “I may not measure up to geniuses like you and Xixi, but I strive to be a diligent contender.”