Chapter 98 – Dance Battle

It took only five hours to fly from New York to Los Angeles, so they boarded the plane to Los Angeles the next day. Lena came with her husband to the airport to see her two children off.

“Will you still come to America often to visit us?” Lena looked at Shen Fubai with reluctance. She had heard Ethan say that her elder son was very popular in China, and every time he went out, there would be a large group of paparazzi following him, a scene that was no less intense than their most popular star, Xavier.

“Yes, you can also come to China,” said Shen Fubai. “That’s Grandpa and Grandma’s hometown.”

After saying that, he turned around and boarded the plane.

“Goodbye!”

They were waving at him.

The plane slowly took off, and the scenery below became further and further away. All the houses, cars, and people turned into tiny dots.

Shen Fubai stared at the airplane window for a long time before finally sitting upright.

“We can come back anytime,” Jiang Heng noticed his reluctance.

Shen Fubai smiled. “I’m already very satisfied. This trip… it’s been very fulfilling and very happy.”

He wasn’t without family. He had a mother, a younger brother, and a boyfriend… and this boyfriend would be his future husband. They would appear on the same household registration and form another family.

He also had a group of very lovely friends, whether it was Xavier, Xie Chian, or the people he met in the circle.

Before, he was trapped in his own nightmare, thinking that the circle was very dirty, the world was terrible, and people were bad.

But it wasn’t like that.

The circle could also be clean, the world could be wonderful, and people were good.

The sky wasn’t always shrouded in gloom, and the long night wasn’t endless and without light. From the moment he met Heng Heng, everything started getting better.

He really is my lucky star. Shen Fubai thought dreamily,

In Los Angeles.

“Hey! Fubai, we meet again!” Xavier was clearly delighted to see him again.

The two exchanged a big hug.

Xavier released Shen Fubai and then opened his arms towards Ethan. “Ethan! Long time no see!”

Ethan said, “We saw each other two weeks ago.”

“Really? I feel like we’ve been apart for centuries.” Xavier pounded Ethan’s chest. “I saw the photos you posted on Twitter. You went to China to play without inviting me. That’s not cool.”

“First, I went to China for work, not to play. Second, I did invite you, but you were busy filming ‘Paradise’ and couldn’t come,” Ethan stated the facts.

“No problem, we can have a good reunion in the next week.” Xavier put an arm around each of their necks. The three stunning beauties standing together were quite a sight.

Jiang Heng asked, “Can you control your Xavier?”

Chapman shrugged and sized up Jiang Heng. “You look different this time.”

Jiang Heng only smiled without speaking.

How could they be the same? Last time, both of them were virgins, but now neither of them was anymore,

‘Paradise’ had already started filming in November, and as the lead actor, Xavier had filmed many scenes. Shen Fubai and Ethan joined the production halfway through. They didn’t have many scenes, and if things went smoothly, they could finish shooting in just one day.

The Universal Studios venue was very expensive every day, so they didn’t waste too much time and got straight to business upon arrival.

Shen Fubai had already received the script – actually, he didn’t need much of a script. Throughout the whole process, all he needed to do was sit inside a giant pearl shell, wag his tail, comb his hair, and be beautiful. There were only a few lines of dialogue.

According to the script, merman Wells swam to the Eastern sea and heard a moving song from afar. He followed the sound and saw the beautiful Eastern merman Lin. Seeing him, Lin stopped singing and looked at this golden-haired blue-eyed Western visitor hiding behind the coral.

“Hello, your singing is really nice to hear.” Wells swam out from behind the coral. “My name is Wells, I come from the Atlantic Ocean. What’s your name?”

The mermaid replied, “Lin.”

“Lin, we need your help.” Wells earnestly said, “The Atlantic has been polluted. The elder of the angel tribe told me that only the Immortal Candle of the Eastern merman tribe can purify the ocean. I crossed the entire Pacific Ocean to China, hoping to get your help.”

Lin looked at him apologetically. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. The Eastern seas have also been polluted, and the Immortal Candle is almost burning out. Our mermaid tribe is also facing the threat of extinction.”

Wells was surprised and then said dejectedly, “What can we do then? I’ve already searched for dwarves, elves, angels… If even you can’t help, who else can?”

Lin said, “There’s a saying in the East that ‘the bell must be unfastened by the one who tied it’. It was humans who polluted the oceans, perhaps you should seek the help of humans.”

This was the entirety of Shen Fubai’s lines and content in the movie.

This fantasy adventure film had a style somewhat similar to a Disney fairy tale. There was a scene in the film where the mermaid had to sing, which was supposed to be dubbed by a professional singer. But Chapman had another novel idea – he wanted Shen Fubai to sing the Chinese song himself.

For people whose native language was English, most of them didn’t understand Chinese. And for languages they couldn’t understand, people would apply a filter, believing it to be the voice of the gods.

This was exactly the effect Chapman wanted.

“Do you think this proposal is good?” Chapman sought everyone’s opinion.

“…” Jiang Heng said, “You’d better listen to him sing first.”

“It doesn’t matter, even if it’s terrible, there are audio editors. I’ve already politely declined the original singer of the mermaid’s song, Philip, and I want Shen’s original voice in the film.” Chapman didn’t care. “Shen, try singing a few lines a cappella.”

Shen Fubai was very embarrassed. “I’m afraid I’ll poison your ears.”

The pop diva, Antonia, who wore bright red lipstick and bloody eye shadow, said, “Don’t worry, we can handle it. We’ve seen all kinds of grand occasions…”

Jiang Heng covered his ears in advance.

Ethan silently put on headphones and gave one to Xavier. He already had psychological trauma from his brother’s off-key singing during his childhood.

Shen Fubai was deeply moved and began to sing, “In the distant East, there is a dragon…”

Antonia kindly said, “Okay, shut up.”

Chapman calmly told his assistant, “Help me contact Philip again.”

Nighttime was when people relaxed. After a day of shooting, the actors had taken off their makeup and changed into casual clothes. Xavier came over with several tickets. “Fubai, Ethan, there’s a dance troupe performing a ballet tonight at the Pantages Theatre, I got some tickets, do you want to go and watch?”

Shen Fubai asked, “What ballet?”

Xavier: “Don Quixote.”

Shen Fubai immediately became interested. “Let’s go.”

Dance knew no borders. Shen Fubai practiced classical dance himself, and he also appreciated other dance styles.

“Hold on.” Xavier said, “We have to change into formal attire first.”

Abroad, watching ballet was a serious affair that required formal dress as a sign of respect.

Chapman and Jiang Heng naturally accompanied them, and Ethan came along as well. They entered the theater after checking their tickets, and Xavier lowered his hat.

The entire ballet was divided into five acts and lasted three hours. The theater remained silent throughout, with applause only given at the end of each act.

The charm of dance could only be truly appreciated once experienced. The body was the language, the steps were the story, and these were all precious artistic treasures. Xavier and Shen Fubai, both experts, watched with great interest. Even for laypeople, as long as they possessed basic aesthetic abilities, they could feel the beauty from the music and dance.

Chapman looked seriously, not knowing what new inspiration he had gained.

When the ballet ended, and the female dancers knelt on one knee to gracefully bow, and the male dancers bowed deeply, the audience erupted in thunderous applause. When the ballerina playing the role of Kitri appeared, the applause was so loud it seemed it could lift the roof off the theater.

Xavier was also clapping vigorously. He graduated from ballet, and he knew the etiquette of watching a ballet.

When the dancers bowed, the louder the applause, the more wonderful the dance. If the applause didn’t stop, the dancers couldn’t stop bowing. If the applause continued for a long time, the dancers had to repeat their bows. Not only ballet, but opera was the same. The famous tenor, Placido Domingo, once received applause for an hour and a half after a performance, bowing a total of 83 times.

This time, it wasn’t that terrifying. The applause gradually subsided after ten minutes. They walked out of the theater still immersed in the performance.

“That was really good. Fubai, next time you come to America, I’ll take you to see more ballets. ‘Swan Lake’, ‘The Nutcracker’, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ are all very exciting.” Xavier enthusiastically invited Shen Fubai.

Shen Fubai smiled. “Sure, when you have time, come to China, I’ll take you to the National Centre for the Performing Arts to see performances.”

Xavier asked, “Is it also ballet?”

“There is, but also Chinese classical dance. For example, ‘Confucius’, ‘Wang Zhaojun’s Departure to the Frontier’, ‘The White-Haired Girl’…”

Xavier listened with yearning. “I was watching down there just now, I almost wanted to jump up myself. I haven’t had many opportunities to dance since graduation, I’m a bit itchy to show off my skills.” He looked around and ran to a vacant area ahead, doing 32 fouetté turns on the spot.

“Wow, cool.” Some passersby stopped and exclaimed. They had just come out of the theater, probably assuming Xavier was one of the dancers.

Shen Fubai warmed up and did dozens of continuous aerial cartwheels, his arms almost spinning like a windmill, leaving afterimages in the air.

“!!!” The surrounding passersby exclaimed again, some taking out their phones to take pictures.

“Awesome!” Xavier showed an eager-to-try expression. “Fubai, let’s have another competition!”

Xavier did a grand jeté.

Shen Fubai did a front somersault.

These two difficult moves attracted a crowd of people.

Xavier didn’t display any more techniques. Without music, he relied on his own sense of rhythm to perform a complete variation of the Swan Lake trio. Shen Fubai stood there with one hand on his waist, watching him dance.

After finishing the variation, Xavier elegantly placed his right hand on his chest and made a gesture of invitation to Shen Fubai.

Shen Fubai nodded, raised his arms, and performed a segment of ‘Letter’.

The entire process lacked music, but it was exhilarating to watch.

During their dance battle, a black youth suddenly jumped in from the crowd, supported himself on the ground, and spontaneously did a breakdance.

This ignited the crowd, and countless people took out their phones to shoot videos.

Without a word, Xavier and Shen Fubai tactfully yielded the stage to the other party. After the black youth finished his segment, he held out his hands to the two of them, indicating that it was their turn.

A dancer’s joy was that simple. They found kindred spirits through dance and built friendships through competition.

Street dance, classical, ballet, completely different dance genres, but it didn’t hinder them from communicating through dance. And for most of the laypeople watching the fun, they only needed to exclaim in amazement.

When the delightful dance battle ended, the black youth came over to shake hands and exchange names with them. He was a member of the dance troupe performing in the theater tonight, and upon seeing the two dancing here, his innate dancing genes couldn’t resist the urge to join in.

This atmosphere was great.

Xavier was even so happy that he forgot about the cap on his head, causing it to fall off.

The crowd fell silent for a moment.

Xavier and Shen Fubai looked at each other and immediately fled for their lives,

When they managed to catch their breath and escape Xavier’s pursuers, the two looked at each other and burst out laughing. Chapman and Jiang Heng could only let their partners be playful. Single Ethan was rather resentful.

He had enough of running away with Shen Fubai in China, and now he had to run away with Xavier in America. Life was too hard,

“Did you have fun tonight?” Back at the hotel, Jiang Heng lay on the bed and asked him.

Shen Fubai was equally exhausted and collapsed on the bed. He turned to look at Jiang Heng, rolled over, and landed on top of him.

“Happy.”

“But the happiest thing is being with you after a day of fun.”