Of the numerous men that worked under Wesley, there was one whom Blair didn't know. He seemed quite frank with the man since he teased excitedly, "Chief, I remember you saying she's Lieutenant General Ji's niece the last time she came here. Now you're telling us she's your friend. So by next time, will she be your girlfriend?"
The entire group burst into laughter except Blair and Wesley. One was shy, the other stoic. "Yes, exactly! Chief, we're supposed to bring a family member here tonight. And you've brought Blair here! We all understand what that means. So I guess you should just be honest with us!" another soldier echoed and added to Blair's misery.
"Chief, in any case, we all know what Blair means to you!" the soldiers said in union.
As the rumble of cheer and exclamation grew louder with every passing sentence, Blair's face got hotter and redder in shyness. She was trying her best to maintain a polite smile on her lips but it was getting increasingly difficult. On the other hand, Wesley had kept a calm face throughout the torture, betraying no emotions, as if he weren't the talk of the soldiers.
"Cut the crap! All of you! Go do whatever you've been told to do. If you continue with this nonsense, then be ready for extra training sessions," he ordered coldly as he scanned the men around him. "While everyone else is enjoying the show!" he added, seeing a grin that still hadn't faded on one of the soldier's faces.
The entire group immediately turned around in one uniform motion and dispersed. As they ran off, Blair heard someone say, "Come on guys, run! Retreat quickly! Chief's got hundreds of ways to torture you to death!"
Blair chuckled under her breath as she saw them flee. It felt quite liberating! Wesley shifted his eyes towards her. "Come to my office first."
"Yes, Colonel Li." Blair saluted him playfully since there was nobody else around them now and they could be as cute as they wanted.
Wesley grinned, and then told her in a stern voice, "Your salute isn't right. It's too far below the standards. Want me to train you?" The last sentence was less stern and felt more evil than it should have!
"Oh! No, no… I'm heading to your office right now! I am never saluting you again!" As she dropped those words, Blair took to her heels, running as fast as she could. She didn't even look back. Based on how strict Wesley was with his subordinates, she knew for sure that he wouldn't let her pass the bar so easily. For all intents and purposes, it would easily take her about a couple of weeks just to learn how to salute. So, of course she wasn't going to let him train her.
On her way to Wesley's office, Blair bumped into Adalson and unable to protest, was taken to his office instead.
Adalson slumped down in his chair comfortably and told her, "I had a hunch you would be here tonight. And boy was I right! Here you are!"
Embarrassed, Blair tried to explain, "I don't go to work these days. I feel bored staying at home all day long, so I've come to see tonight's show."
And although she didn't point out the person who had brought her, Adalson clearly knew the answer without even asking.
He thought about something for a moment, and suddenly said, "You know what? I'll have someone make a little change in the programs. You are going to sing a song tonight."
Blair widened her eyes in shock. "What? I…sing a song? On stage?"
"Yes, I mean it."
"No way. Uncle Adalson, I don't have any singing prowess, discovered or otherwise. They know I'm your niece and I'll disgrace you. Please don't!" Blair refused, trying to sound nice but ended up being blunt instead.
Adalson waved his hand, motioning for her to calm down. "Oh please! I remember you sing quite well. Just do your best. Go and prepare yourself now."
'I sing quite well?' Blair was completely flabbergasted. "Uncle, I'm kind of tone-deaf. Please, I don't want to sing on the stage and embarrass myself," she pleaded, but to no avail. 'With so many eyes on me, there's no way I can sing! They will only laugh at me, ' she thought to herself.
Adalson tried to persuade her patiently, "Just listen to me. The guy's wooden-headed. You need to do something to stimulate him. You know, fall harder for you, or he wouldn't know how good you are."
With that topic brought up, Blair sighed, "Actually, there's no need to do that, Uncle. He doesn't love me. I don't want to force him to love me back anymore. What's more, I like the state we are in right now. We're getting along peacefully, at the very least." She didn't lie about anything. They were living together in harmony for the moment; she could see him from time to time; and he treated her well and took her out for fun once in a while. She was content with all this. It didn't matter to her anymore whether she could become his girlfriend or not. She wanted some peace and quiet in her life and she had it.
However, showing no signs of giving in, Adalson ignored her disagreement and dialed a number. Before the line was connected, he asked her, "What song are you going to sing? How about the song you sang with Joslyn last time. You did quite well on that. What was its name again?"
Blair didn't tell him the name. "Uncle…I don't want to sing a song. Please…" she drawled, helpless.
She got what the man was trying to do and his intentions weren't that bad. But she didn't think it would work. She had had a fiance in the past, but Wesley wasn't affected or stimulated by this. How could she hope to make any influence on him just by singing a song? She shook her head resignedly; she was sure it wasn't going to work.
As soon as the call got through, Adalson skipped all niceties and instructed the person on the other end, "Add one more program at the end of the show. The performer is Blair Jing…"
"Uncle Adalson!" Blair pulled a crying face, trying hard to convince him to cancel. She hadn't expected her uncle would be so bossy this time.
After ending the call, he comforted the girl, "You fool. I know how well you sing, which means either you lack confidence or are being overly modest. You really sing well. It's decided already. Okay, you can go out now."
Blair had no choice but to nod, sighing in defeat.
She continued to think about which song to sing continuously after she left Adalson's office. Even after she had entered the venue with Wesley and sat down, her mind wasn't made up. This was getting too late.
So she had to ask for her best friend's opinion. "Joslyn, help! You've heard me sing so many times. Which song do you think I can sing? Something easy you know, something I don't suck at?"
As usual, Joslyn replied to her message in a heartbeat.
"Something you don't suck at? Bless, you sing every song really well. But I like to hear you sing 'The Fish.' You're great at it!"
Blair thought about it carefully. She wasn't so confident about singing "The Fish" tonight.
There was a part in the middle of the song that fell almost two octaves higher than normal. If she couldn't hit those notes well, she would sound terrible and the entire song would be ruined!
Wesley noticed that she had been absent-minded the whole time and finally couldn't help it. He asked in a low voice, "You don't want to see the show?"
His sudden voice snapped her back to reality. She shook her head. "It's not that. I was just… thinking about my uncle's words."
"What did he tell you?" Wesley knew Adalson had taken her to his office earlier.
Blair stole a glance at his side face. "Well…did you read the programs list?"
"Nope. I wasn't the one who organized the program so it's not my business."
"Oh…" Blair decided not to tell him about her performance later. She had no idea how he would react.
She assured him she was okay and began to focus on the show on stage.
Most of the performers tonight had been hired from one or the other entertainment companies that graced the city. The performances were colorful and interesting and of numerous types: cross-talk, sketch, dancing, singing, magic show, everything was there. It was as wonderful as a Spring Festival Gala.
Wesley's phone rang a few times during the program. He took it out and dismissed the call every time. Finally, he began texting someone.
It was going to be Blair's turn very soon. Nervous, she felt that her hands were sweating. She'd never sung in front of so many people; most of it had been in bars and karaoke nights, and moreover, Wesley was one of the audience tonight.
She took a deep breath and stood up from her seat. She whispered to him, still deciding not to tell him the whole story, "I need to go out for a minute. I'll be back in a minute."
Wesley wanted to escort her out at first. But seeing her holding her phone in her hand, he assumed that she was going to make a call. She loved talking to Joslyn. Besides, this was a military base and it was completely safe there. So he merely nodded and watched her leave, oblivious of the upcoming show he was about to witness.
As soon as she reached the door, Blair received Adalson's call. "Get to the back stage and get yourself prepared. I've arranged for someone there to help you. Hurry up."
"Okay," she said quickly and hung up. She was too nervous to talk.
Blair asked a soldier guarding the door to show her the way to the back stage. He merely pointed her the right way and did not leave his post. When she reached there, a worker was indeed waiting for her. The worker asked Blair if she needed to get changed. In response, she looked at herself—she was dressed in a pink, long, and thin jacket. "No need. Just a little bit of lipstick will be okay."
She wasn't the heroine of the evening show, and she didn't want to attract too much attention. As long as she didn't look terrible, she was fine by her appearance.
Wesley was still busy texting Megan. The girl kept sending him messages and wouldn't leave him alone. As a result, he didn't hear what the announcer said. But for some reason, the entire audience suddenly erupted in a rumble of exclamation and began a big round of applause all of a sudden.
A few soldiers who were sitting near him even called out his name slightly, and he could sense that their gazes had fallen on him.
While Wesley was still dealing with his confusion, a soft voice came from the stage. "I'm a small spray flying from a surging wave; you're the firework blooming in the Milky Way. Your light shines into my heart and I am about to evaporate…"
The atmosphere of the evening show had reached its climax. Thousands of audience broke into thunderous applause even before the first paragraph could end. Some of them even cheered and whistled.
The light hadn't shone on the performer yet. But he was clear about whose voice was gracing the mic. Wesley glanced at the empty seat next to him. 'She's the performer too?'
The voice continued singing, "My eyes chase your light in the starry, starry night. I know I won't be lonely with you watching over me…"
