Chapter 177: As Beautiful As A Painting

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Everyone knew the famous peacock, but the phoenix only existed in legends.

There were descriptions of the phoenix in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, that had sparked the imagination of artists. Many folk songs had been written about the phoenix after.

The phoenix that Tang Beibei created was a monster that lived among chickens. She was socially isolated and grew up lonely. In the end, she found out that she was a phoenix that could fly.

The storyline was quite similar to The Ugly Duckling but with a few tweaks. Tang Beibei had also added many folk dance moves that were very difficult.

Ruan Qi saw the shocked expressions on the other students’ faces and felt extremely proud.

She knew that Tang Beibei’s dance would be popular.

Moreover, the teacher’s expression was also one of surprise.

In the last part of the dance, the phoenix spread its wings and flew high. Tang Beibei did a few jumps, a split and a few spins in the air. It was called a folk dance but it looked more like an acrobatics performance.

When the music stopped, Tang Beibei made a phoenix pose with its beautiful curves and slender neck. She was as beautiful as a painting.

The crowd was quiet for a long time until Ruan Qi clapped. Everyone then clapped, and a few boys even wolf-whistled.

Fu Jin stood at the door and watched Tang Beibei dance the phoenix. He was amazed by her imaginative choreography.

It was as if she was the phoenix that had broken free from people’s prejudices and lived an independent life happily.

He applauded her sincerely. Not long ago, she was still a clumsy trainee trying to keep up, but she had quietly made herself so outstanding.

The teacher couldn’t help but give Tang Beibei a big thumbs up. “Tang Beibei, you’re a very soulful dancer. That was an outstanding performance. Congratulations on passing the test.”

“Thank you, Teacher.”

Tang Beibei bowed to everyone and walked back to her seat while patting her heart that had been threatening to jump out of her chest.

Ruan Qi whispered, “I told you. Your dance is very good, as good if not better than Ye Lan’s. You just need to have confidence in yourself.”

Tang Beibei was also very happy to hear the teacher’s praise. “I do have more confidence now that my ideas have been validated. I think your dance will also pass the test.”

Ruan Qi rubbed her cheeks. “Godspeed!”

The students before her all did quite well. Their dances were all unique and brought out each student’s strengths.

She told Tang Beibei to be confident, but when it was time to challenge herself, she didn’t have the courage.

When the teacher called her name, she took a deep breath, got up, walked to the stage, and turned on her music.

Ruan Qi was performing a hip hop dance, which was her forte. She edited the music herself and called it “Breaking Out.”

The music started slowly with a hint of sadness. Her dance moves were hip hop, with some modern dance and folk elements, to better tell the story she wanted to express.

The story she was telling was about metamorphosis, how an adult butterfly emerged from a chrysalis, how it struggled to break out of the cocoon to see the beautiful world despite all the injuries.

The pace of the music quickened and made people tense up and worry for her. Worried that she would be stuck and unable to emerge as a butterfly.

Just as she was about to break out, she had to do a difficult maneuver.

However, the floor was slippery from the previous dancers’ sweat.

She couldn’t finish her maneuver and fell to the ground with a thud.

The other students covered their eyes in fear.

Tang Beibei’s face was pale as she stood up. “Qiqi!”

The music was still playing. Ruan Qi smiled at her, got up from the ground, and calmly continued her dance.

She adapted and repeated the same maneuver at the next chorus.

The metamorphosis was complete, and the butterfly spread its wings.

Every butterfly has its own personality, and Ruan Qi was a very cool butterfly, unafraid of any difficulties or twists and turns in her transformation journey!

The music ended and Ruan Qi revealed a smile, as if she was admiring this beautiful world, the world that she desperately wanted you to see.

Tang Beibei clapped excitedly. The others did not know Ruan Qi’s dance, so they did not know that she had made a mistake in the middle. They thought that it was a deliberate move to highlight the theme.

The teacher was also very gratified. “Ruan Qi, 1 can see that you’ve grown and I’m very happy for you. By the way, was your fall in the middle deliberate?”

Tang Beibei and Ruan Qi looked at each other. Ruan Qi said, “Yes, Teacher, please give me your critique.”

“It’s very good, very dramatic. I thought that you would do finish that maneuver well but when you fell, it made my heart ache. It was very touching as it showed the pain of metamorphosis.”

“You’ve passed the test with an A.”

“Wow, thank you, Teacher.”

Ruan Qi hugged Tang Beibei excitedly. She had worked so hard for so long and finally received recognition.

So far, there were only four people who got A’s: Ye Lan, Tang Beibei, Chen Xixi, and Ruan Qi.

Tang Beibei supported Ruan Qi as they walked back to their seats. Ruan Qi endured the pain and tried her best to walk steadily.

After sitting down, her face fell.

“Oh my god, it hurts so much.”

She rubbed her knees. To avoid falling on her face, she had used her hands and feet to break the fall.

“Let’s go to the washroom.” Tang Beibei said while holding Ruan Qi’s bag.

“Okay.”

The two of them went to the washroom. Tang Beibei quickly rolled up Ruan Qi’s pant legs and saw the bruises on her knees. Her heart ached so much that she quickly applied medicine for her.

Ruan Qi endured the pain. She could not let on that she was injured, or it would jeopardize her training and others would see her mistake.

A mistake during a test was fatal for the dance.

When the two of them came out, they bumped into Ye Lan. Ruan Qi quickly straightened her back.

Ye Lan glanced at her, her voice indifferent, with a hint of schadenfreude as she said, “Ruan Qi, you fell. It must be painful.”

Ruan Qi smiled weakly and said, “Thank you for your concern. I’m okay.”

Ye Lan sneered and didn’t say anything. She glanced at Tang Beibei and went into a toilet stall.

Tang Beibei helped Ruan Qi out. Ruan Qi reminded her, “Ye Lan looks cool outwardly, but I don’t think she’s easy to get along with. We should keep our distance from her.”

“Okay.”

The two of them returned to the training room. All fifteen students had completed the test. There were five A’s, six B’s, and four C’s.

The teacher conducted a dance theory class next. Although dance techniques were very important, they also needed to learn dance theory and cultural heritage to create better works.

Tang Beibei heaved a sigh of relief. Ruan Qi would not be able to handle a dance class.

At the end of the class, Tang Beibei went to the teacher to ask for a reading list so she could learn more.

The teacher who taught the class was an expensive hire famous in the industry, with the last name Zhang.

Teacher Zhang wrote a few book titles for Tang Beibei and asked her about her dance, “Phoenix.” She also asked her how she came up with the final dance moves.

Tang Beibei replied modestly, “1 accidentally saw it while watching some videos. I then practiced it myself and modified the movements for better control.”

Teacher Zhang complimented her. “You have a lot of ideas and a bright future ahead of you. I wonder if you will be interested in joining my song and dance ensemble?”

Tang Beibei looked at her in surprise. Teacher Zhang had her own song and dance ensemble. Did she just invite her to join?

She scratched her head and asked unabashedly, “Um, Teacher, how much does it pay?”

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