Chapter 32

The lights were on all night on the 17th floor.

Xie Lianyun and Bo Jue both lacked when they practiced, so Longjia took them to dance poppin’.

Breaking was known as floor dancing or as joint breaker.

Pei Ruye deliberately made the practice easier, focusing on poppin’ and lock dancing to protect their bodies as much as possible.

Chi Ji helped Mei Shengyao repeatedly rehearse the track for the concert in the south practice hall.

Father and son had agreed to sing the same song at the concert. Although the nature of the family interaction was more than performance, Mei Shengyao was still nervous for fear of humiliating his father.

“Your breathing is occasionally erratic, and you can make a conscious correction quickly.” Chi Ji was very energetic to cheer him up: “The performance will be very good. Let’s practice again!”

Rock and roll songs in the north hall and ballad blues in the south hall. The two songs resonated dozens and hundreds of times on the 17th floor, making the summer even shorter and hotter.

Huoren didn’t join them as he practiced dancing with Pei Ruye on the 16th floor.

He finally got his first B last week on the exam and was gradually keeping up with the others.

There were still many flaws in his small movements, but his progress was really fast, and he was getting hit less and less.

Pei Ruye often danced from evening to 11 pm or later because of his work.

When they were over, he would also break down the basic movements of different dance styles for Huoren.

Huoren was neat and intelligent, and most of the skills could be easily understood. The ability to control his body had been polished the year before, and this year his condition had been gradually improving.

He completed all the poppin’ courses in two weeks and learned the most dangerous breaking steps with Pei Ruye.

This dance was full of dangerous movements that supported the body with elbows and palms. If you were a little careless, it could end in a lifelong regret.

So Pei Ruye took him to the gym first.

“We’ll start with physical training.” The man picked out a pair of dumbbells and handed them to him, “You have to pass physical strength and flexibility, these two passes to continue to learn.”

Huoren weighed the dumbbell twice and said, “I can lift heavier.”

His body was growing so fast that he grew taller when he slept.

Pei Ruye bowed his head and wrote in a training log, but he didn’t respond.

“Teacher Pei.” Huoren repeated, “I can withstand more strength, so this is too light.”

Pei Ruye put down his pen, walked in front of him and pressed his shoulder with his hand.

“There’s something I forgot to tell you before.”

Huoren thought that he had said the wrong thing. He unconsciously pressed his lips and avoided his eyes when Pei Ruye looked at him.

“I’m your teacher and will teach you how to control your body, so you must trust me unconditionally.”

The man’s eyes were serene and gentle, but his lips were another thing.

“I know your physical condition better than you and will prevent every fall or injury you may have in the future. Huoren, you need to trust me unconditionally. At the same time, leave your body to my complete control.”

The teenager stared at his eyes.

If these words had been said by any other teacher, he wouldn’t have been able to fully accept them. But even if it was just a few seconds of eye contact, Teacher Pei gave him a continuous sense of security even with his silence.

He was instinctively close to the man.

“Alright, I trust you.”

He trained the upper body strength and the balance and stability of the lower body according to the plan the teacher made especially for him, and his ligaments kept being heard because of the stiffness.

The time of enduring the plank increased.

Huoren was constantly getting lighter, more dexterous and more powerful. Because of that, Huoren began to practice more difficult steps like handstands and one-handed.

When he first did the handstand, he wobbled and felt dizzy as he was upside down.

Holding his ankles in one hand, Pei Ruye was leading him forward.

“Exhale…breathe. Good, go on.”

The man’s palm had calluses and was warm.

Once he was freed, he couldn’t completely control doing the handstand and accidentally tilted an angle down.

Huoren was afraid of pain. At that moment, he closed his eyes directly and waited for the vibration and pain in his whole body that showed that he had fallen on the floor.

The next second, he was firmly controlled by that hand again, instantly balancing his gravity, allowing him to return to safety again.

“Don’t be afraid, do it again.”

The teenager responded quickly and continued to support his entire body with both hands.

Dancing didn’t seem to hurt that much.

Breaking required a lot of physical skills for dancers, and it was common for them to fall during dance practice, but as long as he danced next to Pei Ruye, he would not get hurt no matter how much he fell.

There was no fracture, no sprain, and almost no bruising.

The white jade bamboo sword stranded on the side of his leg all the time, guarding him silently and correcting him at the same time.

“Turn over– pam!”

“Your elbows are straight – move your hip!”

When Huoren completed the first one-handed plane to support Thomas Flare, he thought he had become a fast rolling spinner.

The body was carried into mid-air by inertia. When it rotated, his arms and legs were open and made powerful movements, so beautiful that even the teacher wanted to applaud.

“Good, again.”

His muscle weight was obviously increasing, but when he danced, he was light enough to fly like a kite.

Then, he bounced up and did all the steps.

“I did it well?!” Huoren looked at his hands with a little wonder: “Have you seen it, teacher?”

Pei Ruye also bent over to clean the dust on his clothes: “Wipe the floor clean.”

“Can I get an A for this action, teacher?” Huoren rubbed his wrist and looked at him with bright eyes.

“B+” The man tapped with the bamboo sword and not to let even a roar of laughter he said, “Again.”

In the blink of an eye, eight days passed and Saturday came.

The concert began at 7:30 p.m. as usual. Uncle Jiang brought his briefcase and knocked on the door at 2 p.m, taking the 6 kids to Shidu International Stadium in his car like a babysitter.

Mei Shengyao was rubbing his hands on the road, and he was hugged by Bo Jue, who rubbed his face.

“It’s still too early, relax.”

Mei Shengyao wanted to escape: “Why don’t I just don’t go?”

Uncle Jiang got fed up: “Just sit down for me!” Don’t move around in the car!”

The stage was built yesterday and the lighting, smoke and elevator were still being adjusted.

When Huoren was in middle school, he listened to the girls in his class talk about concerts. He had never thought that his first visit was a super-large concert like God Mei’s, and he could also sit in the front row as a guest.

They did a sound test with the console, and Mei Heng was still dressed up in sportswear for the last dance rehearsal.

Pei Ruye hung the organizer’s work permit around his neck and waved to them from afar on the other side of the stage.

Six trainees stood in front of their qianbei, their teammate’s father, and bowed shyly.

Mei Heng, as he saw Mei Shengyao bowing to him for the first time, looked excited.

“Come on,” he said quickly, “I’ll show you around here.”

Although there was still a lot to do, he knew Uncle Jiang’s purpose of touring them and leading the children backstage.

“This is the elevator, and the red thing next to it is the emergency brake button. The corridor on the left is the lounge and dressing room, and the field control room and the mixing room are on the right.”

After strolling around backstage and returning to the stage, their eyes were immediately opened to the maximum.

The stage was at least four meters high. The T-shape was convenient for shaking hands and interacting with the audience in the front row. This wide space could have hundreds of people dancing together.

Mei Heng was old and famous, but he was humble in front of children. He felt like a brother who lived next door.

His skin condition was also very good in his late forties, and he even had a warm sense of youth. With Mei Shengyao, it didn’t feel like a father-son relationship.

For the first time, Huoren was so close to a star that he was restrained and said nothing during the whole journey.

He stood on the stage, listening to the echo of his steps, and looking sideways at his companions not far away.

In the future, maybe even next year, they would sing and dance together on such a vast high stage.

They would also hold a concert that seated hundreds of people, giving a unique night that belonged to Crown.

A person standing there was so small and insignificant, but as long as the six were there, it wouldn’t be frightening and it would be worth looking forward to it.

“What are you thinking about, Huohuo?” Bo Jue saw that he was very quiet today and walked forward to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Are you not used to it? If you are nervous, just talk to us.”

Huoren looked at him with a smile in his eyes: “Ge, we will come here to perform in the future.”

He stared at Huoren with a big smile: “We will.”

“We will all come here to have a big concert and let 100,000 people sing our song together.”

Xie Junyun smiled next to them, “By then, you’ll be in the C position.”

“The C position is here!” Longjia pulled Huoren from the edge to the middle of the stage and said, “Feel it in advance, is our leader happy?”

The boy blinked and smiled as brightly as the rest did.

“Mn!”

At 6:30, it wasn’t completely dark yet, and fans had rushed in with lightsticks and signs. There were many people holding posters of Mei Heng and having his name painted on their cheeks.

The five big boys were led to the golden position on the corner of the runway in advance by the staff. Mei Shengyao and his father went backstage to change their stage costumes and makeup. The security guards were in place one after another, and the protective bars were all pulled up.

At seven o’clock, the venue was almost full. As soon as the warm-up music was played, many fans were swaying and singing together, holding up their hands before starting.

Longjia had been there many times. He wasn’t surprised by this fanaticism. He also smiled and received a fluorescent stick from a nearby girl and gave each of them one to put on their wrists.

“Isn’t this too girly for a boy…” Xie Lianyun stared at the bright pink-blue light on his wrist: “Can I take it off?”

“No, we’re all blue; it’s pretty!”

For the next hour and a half, all six of them focused on the show.

Originally, they came to see Mei Shengyao today to help their little boy cheer up and give him some confidence.

However, when God Mei slowly came in a colorful robe rose with psychedelic smoke, everyone got excited without noticing.

Every God Mei album had reached the top of the list and had reached the level of being a classic.

He sang fast songs, and everyone on the stage danced to the rhythm. Fans hung out with each other regardless of whether they knew each other or not.

When he sang a slow song, many little girls cried while singing the lyrics. One could see how their tears flowed down.

Huoren rarely entered such a state of fanaticism but only faintly came to consciousness at the transition stage.

Indeed, a qianbei was a qianbei.

His breathing was steady and his performance was strong. He sang dozens of songs in one breath and in perfect pitch, as if they were listening to the CD. Personal style and dance were seamlessly integrated to make people enjoy every second.

Cool, so cool.

Whether watching the God’s dance or listening to him sing, it seemed like it purified and cleansed their souls, released their accumulated stress and anxiety as much as possible, and the feeling of joy poured into their minds from their ears. It made them not think about anything.

“Now, I’m going to invite a special guest to sing my debut song, Deep Sea, with me.” Mei turned around and looked at the other end of the stage, where a boy was rising slowly in golden smoke.

The screams were higher than before, and the flash became wild.

“It’s Yaoyao!!”

“Yaoyao came-“

Mei Shengyao, dressed up as a prince, appeared on the big screen, and Longjia shouted, making the others shout his name too.

“Yaoyao!! Jiayou!!

Mei Heng looked at his son with relief and gently said, “I hope he will invite me to his concert when he makes his debut.”

Mei Shengyao smiled in a very restrained manner and waved to the audience lightly.

Huoren watched them sing together and gradually relaxed from listening to the song.

He suddenly remembered the previous events and quickly recalled today.

This concert was the first of God Mei’s tour this year and the first public appearance for Mei Shengyao, but his mother never made a phone call nor did she send him a message of support.

Mei Shengyao inherited Mei Heng’s beautiful features. His eyebrows and eyes were very similar, so it was obvious that they were blood related.

Huoren knew that he shouldn’t care about this gossip, which was other people’s family business.

He quickly tapped his forehead with his knuckles and forced himself to turn his attention back to the stage.

At least Corona was another home that would always be there for Yaoyao.

Not long after the concert was over, they had a test.

Xie Lianyun and Bo Jue barely crossed the line and got B and B-, respectively.

Chiji got her first A for dancing, and Huoren got A-, unexpectedly.

When he rolled around and danced breaking on the floor, as if he were with his street gang, he was uninhibited, confident, and at ease. Longjia, next to him, was stunned.

“This is what you learned in the summer?!”

“Yeah.” Huoren climbed up from the ground and patted the dust: “After three months of wiping the floor with Teacher Pei, please call me Xiao Huo, the cleaner.”

Next to them, Bo Jue covered his mouth with his report card as if he had escaped from his death. He couldn’t help but kiss the paper.

“I still live!”

Longjia teased him: “What about teacher Long?”

“Teacher Long, I’ll hug you! Thanks, teacher Long, for helping us!” Bo Jue opened his hands and hugged him. After that, he went to hug Xie Lianyun and Huoren: “We passed!!”

Longjia blushed a little and said, “Why are you holding me so tightly?”

Xie Lianyun was calm: “You have to practice, after all, you are a B-.”

“But I still passed!” As he had played the piano for so many years, Bo Jue didn’t think he would be able to dance hip-hop. He slammed the table and said, “Let’s go to the team building, I’ll treat you to a movie!”

“That’s great–” Mei Shengyao also rushed over to hug him: “We haven’t gone out for more than a month!”

The hottest new movie of the year was Inception. They avoided the crowded weekends and went on Monday after greeting Uncle Jiang.

However, many students in the nearby university city also came out to watch movies at this point and almost didn’t buy joint seat tickets.

The six of them were sitting among students in uniform. Although they were about the same age, they had too many eyes surrounding them. Some girls nearby were still secretly taking pictures with their mobile phones before the movie started.

“Excuse me… are you trainees?” A girl whispered to them, “I think I saw you guys on Qingxi Road?”

Huoren got up to greet them as their teachers had taught them. “We are a group that has not yet made our debut. Thank you for your attention.”

“Then, can I take a picture with you?”

“Of course.”

The six stood next to them and smiled at the camera.

The three girls were suddenly surrounded by so many handsome boys, so they got so nervous that they were a little embarrassed to say: “Thank you, I wish you all the best!”

They were in a good mood and said goodbye. When they sat back down, the movie just started.

At this time, several tourists rushed over with popcorn and milk tea and sat around them.

They got popcorn with chocolate chips, which was crispy, freshly done, and creamy. As it had just been cooked, it was warm and had a creamy fragrance.

The milk tea was brown sugar milk tea, which was sweet and delicious per se, but it also had an ice cream cheese milk cover.

Huoren unconsciously stopped breathing the moment he smelled it, and the next second he heard how Bo Jue and Chi Ji did the same at the same time.

Xie Lianyun sat next to Huoren and clenched his five fingers: “I need to challenge my willpower.”

“The smell will go away later,” Huoren comforted him, “If you focus on the movie, you’ll forget about it.”

Before he finished talking, the guy on their right side tore open a bag of steamed potato chips and ate them with relish.

Xie Lianyun was standing still in his seat: “I haven’t eaten potato chips in six months, I have to hold back.”

Just in time, the boy seemed to hear their chat and smiled as he handed over the chips: “Dude, do you want some? How can you want to lose weight when you are so thin?”

Xie Lianyun breathed deeply to control himself, but he still couldn’t hold back and reached out without thinking twice. “I will just taste one…”

Huoren hit his hand: “Don’t succumb.”

Xie Juyun looked at the tempting potato chips in his eyes with great sadness and smelled it again, “No, thank you.”

Five minutes into the movie, Huoren found himself listening to the chewing sound in the back row.

The milk and popcorn scent seemed to surround them at 360 degrees.

How come it smells so good… Isn’t it so sweet?

Then, the woman sitting in front of them checked her bag and took out a KFC family bucket to eat with her companions.

Huoren: “…?”

Do you want to target us so much? Even corn sticks and finger-sucking chicken are brought in?

The strong smell of fried chicken immediately competed with the popcorn for air. The audience on the left unscrewed iced drinks, and the taste of lemon soda floated. This moment felt particularly long and alluring.

Chi Ji stood up and went to the bathroom. He didn’t come back after he went. He texted Huoren that he was going out quietly.

Then, Mei Shengyao and Bo Jue also quickly escaped, as they couldn’t stay there for a single more second.

If they stayed longer, their patience would fade.

Longjia pretended that he had a call, but he put it down when he went outside.

“The ones that were next to you are funny” The guy on the right took a sip of his iced cola and said, “They are all gone without watching the movie.”

Huoren and Xie Lianyun looked at each other, got up and withdrew quickly.

If they stayed longer, they would fall into temptation. That mustn’t happen.

When they left the theater, they were surrounded by milk tea shops and muffin shops. Chi Ji was still watching the sign of blueberry brownie before leaving, and couldn’t help swallowing.

Huoren took the initiative to take him away: “Don’t look, the more you look, the more hungry you will be.”

They couldn’t expect to see a movie like this. I simply led them to the shopping center that had from trendy brands to old British brands.

All of the shelves had clothes, and they would look good on anything.

Where the six went, people’s eyes followed.

As they had worked on their bodies, they felt confident as everyone had a beautiful bodyline.

They were already starting to shine.

Before they finished walking the fourth floor, Chi Ji lay on the railing and suddenly called out to Bo Jue.

“There are two Steinways downstairs, is it a promo?”

Bo Jue’s eyes started shining right away.

“Go, go down and play!”

The staff were also excited to see a group of bright boys in group coming: “Find out about our new campaign and give it a go! Play the piano and we’ll give you a present!”

Someone next to us took out a wet tissue to wipe their hands and laughed as they promoted the class: “Our teachers are all professional and can teach you how to play pop songs in ten minutes.”

Huoren silently looked at the world champion and didn’t say anything.

Not sure who should teach who…

Bo Jue turned back to them and pointed at Huoren, then pulled him to sit down: “Let’s play together.”

Huoren broke into laughter: “I haven’t finished grade six yet, you know.”

“It’s okay, just play.” Bo Jue danced until midnight a few days ago. He hadn’t touched the piano for a long time. Together with Huoren, they played a four-handed couplet, starting with Tchaikovsky’s Snowdrop.

The sound of the piano was like a stream under the moon, with the smell of the early melting of ice and snow in Russia in April.

Huoren accepted the invitation and calmed down to accompany him.

The two hands played together, and the music flowed up and down under their fingers.

Chi Ji smiled and sat in front of the opposite grand piano with Mei Shengyao. They glanced at each other at the same time, speeding up the thrust of the gentle and rich tune and playing it on the other piano.

Huoren unconsciously looked up at the opposite side, and Bo Jou sneered. He greeted Chi Ji and accelerated smoothly. While catching up with the beat, they also added several strings.

The four teenagers played together, and the music changed with their teammates, and the sound of the piano rose and fell at the same time. They were improvising on the pianos!