Translator: Fringe Capybara

Chapter 48 - Graduation Play (2)

The night before the dress rehearsal.

The officers of the student union had already finished setting up the theater, readied the costumes and the stage properties and gone home.

Inside the darkness, Tan Ke pulled out the keys and snuck in through the back door. Hunching over, she tiptoed into the back stage.

She was a little bit scared but she kept on encouraging herself. The surveillance camera was broken; nobody would notice her.

With her shaking hands, Tan Ke turned on the flash light and quickly located her target in the dark.

There was a fake tree among the props. One that Chi Ying would lean up against in the scene she had with Xiao Hang. If Chi Ying had an accident during the dress rehearsal tomorrow, she would not be able to play the female lead role in the play.

Tan Ke, in the past three months, had already learned the lines of the female lead like the back of her hand. Nobody else would be able to learn the lines within one day and she would be the only one that could take Chi Ying’s place.

Right when Tan Ke pulled her tools out of her backpack, the backstage light came on. All of a sudden, everything could be seen clearly, including her.

Tan Ke let out a shriek.

“What are you doing?” asked Cheng Huan as he looked at what was in her hands. “Chi Ying would be standing on that tomorrow. It will cause an accident if you loosen that, don’t you know?”

Tan Ke lowered her head, bit her lip, and remained silent.

“You are Tan Ke, right?” Cheng Huan tossed away the cigarette and walked over to her. With his right hand on her chin, he forced her against the wall and said, “I am telling you right now, your contract with Huanyu has been cancelled.”

Tan Ke’s eyes widened. Her lips pale and her voice shaken, “Why?”

Cheng Huan snickered and his fingers even more forceful. “Why? Because you almost ruined the face that I like the most. And now you are trying to set her up again. The platform is so high that she could die if she falls from here. Has that ever occurred to you?”

Tan Ke could hear ratting sound from her own jaw and, tears swirling in her sockets, she struggled to say, “Boss Cheng… it wasn’t stated on the contract that…”

Cheng Huan voice was vicious. “We will pay you the penalty. Go away after you have received it.”

Tan Ke cried out. “Boss Cheng!”

“But I still don’t think that will be punishment enough,” said Cheng Huan as he touched the corner of his mouth with his left hand, pondering. “What you wanted to do could cause a fatal accident. Cancelling the contract isn’t enough. You tell me. How should I punish you?”

The pain caused Tan Ke to lose consciousness. She was seeing white and she moaned in desperation, “Boss Cheng… do what you want but please, please let go of me… that hurts…”

Cheng Huan suddenly smiled and said, “Okay, I will let you go. Then you will be blacklisted.”

Tan Ke could hear an exploding noise in her head. “Why??”

“Because you are not obedient.” Cheng Huan pushed himself even closer to her. She could smell his breath with its cigarette smell on her face.

Tan Ke was dazed. Her heart beat racing uncontrollably.

“Can’t you tell? I like Chi Ying. If you dare touch so much as one of her hair…” Cheng Huan let go of her forcefully and, his look sinister and dangerous, said to her, “Do not doubt that I will have you taken care of.”

Tan Ke stumbled and, her teeth chattering, “I…”

She wanted to say something else but Cheng Huan only said one word from his throat impatiently.

“Get!”

Tan Ke’s knees weakened and could only ran toward the door.

Cheng Huan squinted his eyes and walked over to the tree.

Touching the tree with the tips of his fingers, he has on him a look of being mesmerized.