Chapter 24: Enemies Meet

After returning home, both Shuangtao and her mother were very satisfied with the makeup trial. He Fangying was so grateful to see her daughter’s happiness that she enthusiastically invited Jiang Ning to have lunch together.

During the conversation, they brought up the matter of the art troupe’s small class teacher.

“Teacher Zhou is very partial to Li Qin and Tang Jianhong. Before, I heard from my classmates who dance together that someone overheard Teacher Zhou privately assuring Tang Jianhong that she would definitely pass the exam.”

Shuangtao said this with a hint of gloom.

She didn’t eat much for lunch because she needed to maintain her figure for the afternoon exam. She had prepared specially bought chocolate and candy to eat a few before the exam to replenish her energy.

He Fangying comforted her daughter: “It’s not certain, maybe they’ll perform poorly? Just focus on dancing well yourself, don’t worry about others. Now that you have Sister Jiang dressing you up so beautifully, you’re already a step ahead of everyone else!”

“That’s true. I saw the makeup Teacher Zhou did for the others, it’s not as good as mine. Their faces are like blank sheets of paper. Sister Jiang is definitely much better than Teacher Zhou!”

Shuangtao added: “But it’s said that Teacher Zhou’s family has a lot of connections. Her father is some kind of secretary, so what she says holds a lot of weight in the art troupe. I think Tang Jianhong will definitely pass in the end.”

She wanted to say that Tang Jianhong had only been dancing for a few years, her basic skills weren’t solid at all, and she certainly didn’t dance as well as her.

But she held back, afraid that Sister Jiang would think she was the kind of person who liked to gossip behind people’s backs.

Jiang Ning listened to the mother and daughter constantly mentioning Teacher Zhou, the corners of her mouth twitched silently, and an incredible thought arose.

She asked slowly: “…Can I ask for Shuangtao’s Teacher Zhou’s full name?”

He Fangying: “What was it again? Zhou Meisha?”

Shuangtao: “Zhou Mansha.”

Jiang Ning: …

Amazing.

This is what they call, enemies meet?

Unbeknownst to them, the snobbish dance teacher they were talking about was actually Zhou Mansha.

No wonder… she remembered the first time the male and female leads met, it was outside this theater.

The female lead was selling small goods at a stall, and once she was harassed by someone. The male lead, who happened to pass by, saw the female lead’s plight and stepped in to help.

From then on, the female lead fell in love with the male lead at first sight, couldn’t forget him, and left a deep impression. But the male lead just helped out casually and forgot about it.

So, it seems that Meng Yuanbin was often appearing at that theater because of Zhou Mansha, and he happened to meet the female lead!

After much thought, Jiang Ning decided to go with Shuangtao in the afternoon.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t to eat gossip, it was purely out of concern for the matter of the guarantee that Shuangtao mentioned.

This Zhou Mansha, she had already experienced her. If she dared to say that she had a guarantee, then there was definitely something going on.

A public selection exam for an art troupe should be decided by different judges scoring and discussing the results together.

Zhou Mansha was just a small instructor, not a judge for this exam, nor a professional dancer. What guarantee could she give? It could only be that she had secretly discussed it with one of the judges or staff members present today.

Having eaten someone’s food, Jiang Ning didn’t mind helping them to the end.

She definitely wasn’t going to eat the gossip of the male and female leads and the female supporting role appearing together…

Well.

The exam started at 2:30 pm, and they needed to arrive at least half an hour early for the drawing of lots.

At the entrance of the Cultural Theater, there were already a bunch of people there early.

The young girls were all dressed brightly, with dance dresses covered by large coats, they held their heads high, some were talking in groups of two or three, some were diligently practicing high leg lifts, the scene was lively, passersby all looked curiously at them.

A tall girl in a red dress was surrounded by a few companions, everyone looked enviously at the makeup on her face.

“Jianhong looks so good today, there’s an indescribable feeling!”

“Jianhong is so stylish!”

A girl boasted: “Teacher Zhou personally did Jianhong’s makeup, it took a long time. The eyeshadow and lipstick are all Teacher Zhou’s own things, how could it not look good?”

Several girls were extremely envious, some of them had also had their makeup and hair done by Teacher Zhou, but it didn’t look as good as Tang Jianhong’s.

Some people didn’t go to Teacher Zhou’s small class, and didn’t dress up much, they just put their hair in a bun, and now they were standing aside with a sense of inferiority, their faces drooping.

Tang Jianhong was looked at with envy by everyone, she was full of joy, the corners of her lips, which were smeared with lipstick, rose slightly, she pretended to be indifferent and frowned: “Everyone, hurry up and practice your dancing, don’t surround me, I’m so nervous.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly heard a voice beside her gasp: “Who is that…”

“Oh my god, she’s so beautiful!” someone whispered in awe.

“Strange, why do I think I recognize her?”

“Hey, isn’t that Cheng Shuangtao?!” A young girl quickly recognized her.

In the distance, Cheng Shuangtao walked towards her companions with calm brows and eyes. She was already slender and well-proportioned, a good frame for dancing, and wearing a dance dress made her limbs look even longer.

The familiar girls present all saw it, Cheng Shuangtao slightly raised her perfectly made-up face and smiled at them, her eyebrows were drawn thin and long like willows, inexplicably smooth and beautiful, her lips appeared moist and bright under the sun, even revealing a layer of soft, shimmering luster.

The girls who danced together were all mesmerized, and then someone exclaimed and went forward: “Shuangtao, how did you become like this? You look so beautiful today…”

Almost everyone’s eyes were drawn to Shuangtao.

And behind her was a young sister, although she wasn’t dressed up, she was very eye-catching.

Cheng Shuangtao had already prepared herself mentally all the way here, suddenly being surrounded by her companions, she exchanged glances with Jiang Ning and tried to maintain a calm appearance as she spoke to them.

Actually, Shuangtao was already nervous and excited.

But Sister Jiang said that the afternoon exam was the most important, makeup was just an embellishment, the most important thing was to maintain a calm state of mind and perform to the best of her ability.

The girls chattered and asked, “Shuangtao, did your sister really do your makeup?”

“Wow! You look even better than Jianhong and Li Qin after you dressed up like this.”

Cheng Shuangtao was very humble: “Jianhong and the others look better, this is just my sister casually dressing me up, it didn’t take a few minutes.”

“Really? Your sister is so amazing, I wish I had gone to your house and asked your sister to do my makeup too!”

The girls who usually worked hard at dancing were all experiencing this kind of grand dressing up for the first time, they found it very fresh, they gathered together in groups to chatter and discuss, which also diluted the tension of being about to go on stage for the exam performance.

Jiang Ning, as a parent, said she was Shuangtao’s cousin, who came to accompany her to take the exam.

Over there, the girls who had been surrounding Tang Jianhong suddenly dispersed, all curious to gather around Shuangtao.

The girl who had been accompanying Tang Jianhong to talk couldn’t help but look over, and suddenly said: “Cheng Shuangtao’s lipstick is so sparkly.”

They had only seen this kind of lipstick in calendars and fashion magazines, it shimmered under the sun, and it seemed to make Cheng Shuangtao’s face look even more beautiful.

Tang Jianhong’s eyes also glanced over, her eyes filled with resentment and disappointment, she secretly squeezed her palm.

But thinking about what Teacher Zhou said, that she would definitely pass the exam today and enter the art troupe, she slowly calmed down.

What’s the use of just having a beautiful face? Teacher Zhou said that Cheng Shuangtao dances well, but unfortunately her family’s conditions are ordinary, and her personality is too arrogant, this kind of person is not suitable for joining the art troupe at all.

Thinking this, she pressed her legs on her own, suddenly she heard a burst of happy shouts from over there.

“Can we really use this lipstick? Thank you, Sister Shuangtao…”

Although Cheng Shuangtao didn’t understand why Sister Jiang suddenly took out her lipstick and gave it to other girls to use, she wasn’t the kind of person who would be afraid of overshadowing others. The exam was ultimately about everyone’s basic skills.

She cooperated generously and said: “Go ahead and use it, but be careful. This is my sister’s purchase from Guangzhou, this color is hard to find now.”

Several girls who usually danced with her were all excited to put it on, one finished putting it on and carefully passed it to the next, after putting it on, they didn’t forget to carefully wipe the top layer of the lipstick with a tissue, they were all very happy.

The girl next to Tang Jianhong was also very interested, wanting to join in the fun.

However, she first looked at Tang Jianhong, hesitating: “Jianhong, her lipstick is from Guangzhou, the top layer of glitter, it will definitely be very shiny and beautiful under the stage lights during the exam.”

Tang Jianhong snorted impatiently, but she unconsciously licked her lips.

Teacher Zhou had applied a bright red lipstick on her, which was also very bright, but it was obviously not as stylish as this one.

“Jianhong, why don’t we go over and ask them to borrow it? I think this color would be the most suitable for you, you know how beautiful you would look? You’ll definitely be prettier than Cheng Shuangtao!”

…