Chapter 1290 — The Plan Falls Through

The great stage rose once more, and the concert began again. Feng Xiaoxiao's and Shen Yushu's attention returned to the performance; they stood up and, together with the other fans, waved their glow sticks in delight, celebrating the concert's resumption!

Wei Zhao watched Xu Shilan onstage. Her spirits were plainly good — far better than before. He smiled faintly: it seemed Xu Shilan had recovered her normal state. Then he looked at the delighted Feng Xiaoxiao, and felt that saving Xu Shilan had truly been the right thing to do.

Of course, Xu Shilan's return to the stage brought joy to some and dismay to others.

Su Jiaonang did not yet know that Xu Shilan had reappeared. After ending his call with Zhao Qibing, he hurried down to the first basement level and dialed Manager Wang's number.

"Hello?" Sister Wang had just finished dealing with Xu Shilan's affairs. Xu Shilan had finally gone back onstage, and that had let her breathe a long sigh of relief. She was puzzled as to why Xu Shilan had suddenly been fine again, but time was short, and Xu Shilan had had no chance to explain before going on.

If she wanted the truth, she would have to wait until the concert was over and then ask Xu Shilan. Sister Wang knew Xu Shilan's health well; every time Xu Shilan had an attack, she would be in pain for quite a while — there was no way she could recover so quickly. And this time had clearly been much worse than before; one could tell that Xu Shilan had been enduring it onstage for a long time...

Just as she was about to go back to the lounge to watch the live footage of Xu Shilan, Sister Wang's phone rang. Seeing Su Jiaonang's name on the screen, she frowned at once. What business could this Su Jiaonang possibly have now?

"Manager Wang? This is Su Jiaonang!" Su Jiaonang's tone carried a note of smugness and condescension.

"President Su, what is it?" Sister Wang asked mildly.

"It's like this. I heard that Miss Xu's headaches have flared up again? I happen to be carrying Zhao the Medicine King's remedy with me. I wonder whether Manager Wang and Miss Xu might be willing to agree to Young Master Bing's request?" Su Jiaonang came straight to the point. Some things needed no concealment — especially before a perceptive person like Sister Wang.

"Who told you that? Xiaohan is fine; it was merely a stage malfunction. It seems President Su's information is somewhat mistaken." What a shrewd woman Sister Wang was. She knew that what had happened earlier could hardly have escaped Su Jiaonang's eyes, but such a thing she would never admit aloud, so she merely countered without betraying a thing.

A moment ago, when Su Jiaonang had spoken, Sister Wang had even thought that Xu Shilan had obtained headache medicine from Su Jiaonang and taken it, and that was how the pain had subsided — and that Xiaohan had paid some kind of price in exchange for the concert going on as normal.

Nor could one blame Sister Wang for such a guess. After all, in this concert hall, the only person who could swiftly relieve Xiaohan's headache was Su Jiaonang, the spokesman for Zhao the Medicine King and Zhao Qibing. Beyond him, Sister Wang truly could not think of anyone with such ability.

But from what Sister Wang knew of Xu Shilan, she knew her to be a strong-willed person who would sooner die of pain than agree to Zhao Qibing's improper demands. She was a girl who would rather die than submit; unless she truly had someone in her heart, she would never do anything beyond the bounds.

And Su Jiaonang's subsequent words only confirmed Sister Wang's guess. It seemed Su Jiaonang still had no idea that Xu Shilan had already returned to the stage and was performing as though nothing had happened — which was why he could utter such shameless words and try to strike a bargain with Sister Wang.

"Manager Wang, let's not beat around the bush. We both know what's going on with Xu Shilan — whether she left the stage because of a stage malfunction or because of her own problems. I only want to ask you: do you want the concert to continue? If you do, then you had best agree to Young Master Bing's request. I have the medicine on me that can put an immediate end to Miss Xu Shilan's headache!" said Su Jiaonang.

"President Su, I'm sorry, but I've already told you your information is wrong. Why won't you believe me? The stage has been repaired, and Xiaohan is back onstage performing. If you don't believe me, you can go and see for yourself!" Sister Wang laughed. "President Su, I think all this is plain as day to you, and I have no reason to lie to you — isn't that so?"

"This..." Su Jiaonang was momentarily stunned by Sister Wang's words. But he had indeed heard singing rise again in the gymnasium; at first he had assumed they were simply playing songs for the audience, yet on listening closely, there seemed to be the sound of Xu Shilan speaking?

Could his judgment have been wrong? Perhaps Xu Shilan had not left the stage because of a headache, but because the stage really had malfunctioned?

Half-believing, he hung up and went back upstairs to the concert. There he saw Xu Shilan standing onstage in perfect condition, singing and dancing, in extraordinarily high spirits, with not the slightest sign of a headache. This left Su Jiaonang utterly depressed.

It was just as Sister Wang had said: there was nothing wrong with Xu Shilan at all, and he had misjudged. Su Jiaonang sighed. He had boasted so boldly to Young Master Bing earlier, and now that the problem had come, how was he to explain himself to Young Master Bing?

After climax following climax, the concert finally ended amid a tide of fervent cheers. Though the fans were still longing for more, all good things must end. After singing her final song, Xu Shilan bowed to everyone and said, "Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend my concert. Thank you! Although there was a small mishap along the way today, the final result was still very smooth!"

"Xu Shilan! Xu Shilan! Xu Shilan!"

"We can't bear to see you go!"

"Xu Shilan, we love you!"

The calls from the audience rose and fell in waves. Xu Shilan's eyes grew a little moist: "Thank you all, truly, thank you! But you've all been here for more than four hours and must be tired, and I'm tired too. I hope we'll have the chance to meet again next time! The date of the next concert is not yet decided — everything will depend on the announcement on the company's official website..."

The stage slowly descended. Xu Shilan waved to everyone, reluctant to part.

Wei Zhao watched the girl's expression, unable to tell whether she truly could not bear to leave or was merely putting on a show.

Together with Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, Tang Yun, and Feng Xiaoxiao, he left the gymnasium and got into the car in the parking lot. Wei Zhao did not immediately dial Xu Shilan's number, because after leaving the stage she would have to remove her makeup and change clothes, which would take a while, so he decided to wait before calling her.

Fastest updates; for pop-up-free reading, please.