Hearing how Meng Wanning addressed Chen Cheng, Cui Xiaoling’s frown deepened.
"What did you just call him?!"
Meng Wanning hurriedly explained, "Master, Chen Cheng has really been good to me! You’ve seen it recently, I’ve been so happy, looking forward to each day..."
Cui Xiaoling, cutting her off, spoke sternly, "Happy? Looking forward to?"
"I think you’ve been blinded by sweet words, unable to see the road ahead!"
"Who is Chen Cheng? What kind of life does he lead? Do you understand him?"
She took a deep breath, her tone somewhat softer, "Xiao Ning, master has been through this; blinded by momentary sweetness and ultimately ended up miserable. I don’t want you to repeat my mistakes."
Chen Cheng remembered Jin Baogen once briefly mentioning his own love history, and concluded that the present Cui Xiaoling was someone whose heart had been hurt.
"Master, I understand Chen Cheng, and I trust him," Meng Wanning continued, "He’s not that kind of person. He respects me, cares for me, understands me..."
Cui Xiaoling said coldly, "What does he understand about you? Does he understand the years of hard training? The hardships of practicing into the night every day?"
"Does he understand the sweat and tears behind every single move and gesture? Does he understand your love for Beijing Opera, your longing for the stage?"
"Does he understand the glory and satisfaction you feel the moment the stage lights up? Do he understand the emotions and stories behind every look, every action, every line you sing?"
"Does he understand that for a role, you would sacrifice sleep, pour all your heart and energy into it?"
"Does he understand the legacy and responsibility you carry? Does he understand? He doesn’t understand anything!"
"He only sees your glamorous side, only sees you shining on stage, he only sees the you on stage! What does he understand about you?"
Meng Wanning was choked up by the series of rhetorical questions. She had never seen her master so confrontational.
"Yes, Chen Cheng doesn’t understand the opera, but he understands the me outside the opera!"
"The you outside the opera?"
Cui Xiaoling scoffed as if hearing a joke, "What is the you outside the opera? After removing makeup, taking off the opera costume, are you still you?"
"From childhood to now, over twenty years, eating, sleeping, living, which part isn’t connected to opera? Tell me, what is the you outside of opera?"
She pointed at the various masks on the wall, and numerous certificates and flags, speaking fiercely, "Ask these, do they know the you outside of opera?"
Meng Wanning’s eyes turned red but stubbornly refused to back down.
"Master, I love singing opera, it’s part of my life, but I also need a life, I need love, I need someone to understand and be with me."
"Chen Cheng doesn’t understand opera, but he understands me as a person, my happiness, my sorrow, my fragility..."
Seeing Meng Wanning’s teary eyes, Cui Xiaoling’s tone softened slightly.
"Xiao Ning, master isn’t trying to stop you from pursuing happiness, just hoping you could be a bit more sensible, instead of being blinded by temporary sweetness."
"You and him, belong to two different worlds."
Until now, Chen Cheng, who had been silent, spoke, "Mr. Cui, two different worlds can merge. I can step into her world, understand everything she loves. She can, slowly, understand my world as well."
Cui Xiaoling looked at Chen Cheng, "Your world is full of deceit and hedonism, how can you expect her, a pure child, to adapt?"
"I will protect her."
Chen Cheng said firmly, "I will do my best to keep her away from those disturbances, to let her maintain her innocence in my world."
Cui Xiaoling chuckled softly, "How will you protect? With what?"
She paused briefly, "Marry her?"
Cui Xiaoling had not been able to marry Jin Baogen, leaving her with an eternal pain.
And Meng Wanning and Chen Cheng, too, were stunned by this sudden question.
Chen Cheng couldn’t possibly marry Meng Wanning, and from the moment Meng Wanning fully committed to Chen Cheng, she was very clear, she would not become his bride.
"What do you say? Chen Cheng, today, in front of me, say you will marry Xiao Ning, and I will agree to let you take her away."
Cui Xiaoling crossed her arms in front of her chest, awaiting Chen Cheng’s answer.
The office fell into a dead silence.
The air seemed to solidify, becoming oppressively suffocating.
Chen Cheng was also considering. Mr. Cui’s displeasure towards him might also involve forcing this promise from Meng Wanning.
But Chen Cheng didn’t, as she might have expected, vow vehemently that he would marry Meng Wanning, nor did he retort angrily.
He simply remained silent for a moment, then made a move that surprised everyone.
He let go of Meng Wanning’s hand.
The warm and strong hands that had once given Meng Wanning immeasurable security now drifted away like leaves in an autumn wind.
Meng Wanning looked at Chen Cheng in shock, only to see him walking slowly towards the door.
Each step he took, so slow, as if stepping on the very tip of Meng Wanning’s heart, causing her sharp pains.
Chen Cheng stopped, not turning back, "Wan Wan, I don’t want to lie to you, nor will I."
"I can’t make a promise I can’t keep."
Then, he pushed the door open and walked out, without a moment’s hesitation, without a trace of reluctance.
The office door was blown shut by the wind, cutting off the sunlight outside, like two separate worlds.
Meng Wanning stood there, staring at the closed door, tears silently falling down her cheeks.