“Oh, oh…when is Brother Orange Juice going to be on the stage?” Xiaotu nodded, but continued to ask the same question.
“…” Teacher Zhao rolled his eyes with an exasperated expression on his face. Then he asked Xiaotu in a whisper, “Little girl, do you only have eyes for Brother Orange Juice?”
“Yep!” Xiaotu nodded vigorously.
“Brother Orange Juice and his class will appear on the stage in the second segment.” Teacher Zhao had flipped through the program list in his head. He turned to Xiaotu and said, “Coincidentally, during our class’s program, there is an open spot for someone to deliver flowers to them on the stage. I have a very good idea. Why don’t I let you do it?”
“Will I be delivering flowers to Brother Orange Juice?” Xiaotu immediately appeared intrigued.
“No, Brother Orange Juice is only in an accompanying role. You must deliver the flowers to the lead dancer,” Teacher Zhao said with an amused expression on his face.
“All right.” Xiaotu thought about it for a little while, and then she smiled and said, “Okay, I’ll deliver the flowers.”
“That’s great. But you must pay careful attention. The dancer wearing red clothes in the middle of the front row is the lead dancer.” Teacher Zhao gave Xiaotu careful instructions about what she was supposed to do.
As the host ended his opening remarks, melodious music could be heard from the stage, and a group of girls in white tutu dresses started entering the stage from both sides.
“Edelweiss, Edelweiss, every morning you greet me, small and white, clean and bright, you look happy to meet me…”
As the music to the song “Edelweiss” played, the girls in the white tutu dresses twirled gracefully in sync with the melodious music. It was as if the stage had been suddenly transformed into a land of snow elves. The scene exuded a refreshing sense of longing.
Sitting in her seat as she watched the performance intently, Xiaotu felt in awe of how gorgeous the white tutu dresses the older sisters were wearing were.
“The older sister who had given her that piece of candy earlier was wearing a white tutu dress like that as well, wasn’t she?”
After the Edelweiss dance ended, thunderous applause sounded from the audience.
While the audience applauded, the host walked onstage with a smile, full of praise for the performance that had just ended. Then, after making some other remarks, he promptly announced the next performance, which would be “Jingle Bells” performed by Class One of the fourth grade.
The stage curtains slowly opened, and a black piano could be seen gleaming with dazzling luster under the spotlight. Cheng Zhiyan sat quietly at the piano, wearing a black suit, a white oxford shirt, and a red bow tie.
As he started playing, notes flowed like water from his fingers.
The melodious and catchy notes of “Jingle Bells” instantly quieted the noisy audience, which had started humming with conversation during the announcements.
Xiaotu’s eyes teared up as she stared transfixed at Cheng Zhiyan performing onstage.
His eyes were downcast as he stared intently at the piano keys. His profile was all the audience could see under the spotlight: his prominent nose, his pink lips pursed in concentration, and his lustrous skin.
As his fingers gracefully bounced over the keys, the music became increasingly upbeat, and two rows of children in red costumes immediately skipped onto the stage with chiming bells in their hands.
“Do you see the person in the center who is wearing a red skirt and a hat? She is the one you are going to give the flowers to later.” Teacher Zhao sat beside Xiaotu and pointed to the pretty girl who was dancing onstage to remind her once again of what her task was going to be.”
“Yep, yep, I see…” Xiaotu nodded, yet her eyes never left Cheng Zhiyan for a second as he sat there onstage, playing the piano.
“You’re going to climb up onstage from the steps over there in a moment, do you understand?”