Love Is Timeless - Chapter 186
That evening, after Theresa and her parents, together with Maabelle and Bai Lu Chen returned from shopping and exploring this ancient world and eating at a restaurant, everyone gathered at the secluded room dressed to their very best. Aarti wore a red and black hanfu with a purple scarf and purple shoes, Marabelle dressed in pink, Clark in green, Long Ren and Ju Wei both wore light blue clothing, Long Hua Ming and Fu Jin wore white robes and Theresa wore black and purple robes with a pink scarf. In her hair was a golden hairpin. The three females in the group were looking beautiful and earned praises from the males.
Today, Theresa had the face of a seductress. Her mother had a gentle face and Marabelle had a wild princess face.
All sat on the chairs which had been provided by Long Hua MIng, elegantly with an unknown but refreshing incense to accompany them. Aarti, Clark and Marabelle sat close to each other, mostly because he was the only one that could translate to them.
When it was time for the party to start, Theresa rose.
” Welcome everybody! It’s a delight to have you all here tonight. We are here for the party that serves as a reunion and merry time. I hope we’ll all do our best to make this party an unforgettable one. The party officially begins. First, let there be a competition in music to liven things up. The one who wins gets to see us three dance and then there will be poetry, chess and an extra dancing competition. Finally, to soothe our nerves, we will be well fed by our Long Ren. I bet the food must be delicious,” Theresa said while eyeing a nervous Long Ren.
“Alright, who wanna go first?” Ju Wei asked, and Fu Jin volunteered. After bickering with Long Hua Ming at his house, both had gotten ready and returned 30 minutes before the party to decorate everywhere and set up lamps to illuminate the room. The room was made cooler by Long Ren.
Fu Jin stood up from his seat and walked to the mini stage with a Dizi flute and played ‘Song of the four seasons’. It seemed crude at first, but slowly it became wild and later refreshing. He seemed to be able to switch and affect others’ mood at will. While playing his hair and clothes fluttered even though there was no wind.At the end of the play, Fu Jin slightly bowed and he was given a thunderous applause.
“Not bad” Aarti said in German.
“Old man, you did well,” praised Clark.
The rest said nothing, but they approved of him.
“That was very good foster father. You are indeed a master. Who is the next person to come liven our mood?” Theresa asked with a smile and Long Hua Ming volunteered.
He directly jumped onto the stage and sat down, crossed legged. He flicked his sleeves and a Gu Qin appeared.
“Wow! Such nice Guqin,” Ju Wei praised.
“Shut up” Long Ren scolded. He was sulking at the fact that he wouldn’t perform today.
He continually stared at Theresa, hoping that she’d change her mind, but she turned her face away. That’s right! She’s still upset.
Long Hua Ming played ‘Maidens of the tea mountain’ slowly but steadily. It was a soothing tune that gripped the hearts of the listeners and immersed them in another world. Some were even close to tears.
“Who knew that evil pal has such magical hands?” Fu Jin thought and nodded in approval. Long Hua Ming was better than him, but still he was undefeatable in flute music. Heh!
8 minutes later, Long Hua Ming plucked the last string for a longer time and ended the music. It took a while for everyone to come to their senses, and they gave him an applause that lasted longer than Fu Jin’s. Yeah, Fu Jin was the one who applauded most.
Clark and Aarti came up next. He’s good with the drum and he played it together with Aarti who knew how to play the Pipa along with two Indian musical instruments. The song they played was Clark’s own song in Chinese that he had written and sung to her on their honeymoon. Though she didn’t understand a word but she could play the music and everyone nodded at ther perfect cooperation when playing. Clark did the singing, and it shocked all except Theresa and Aarti at hearing his voice. Such an angelic voice!
After they were done playing that music piece, they played an Indian song and this time, Aarti did the singing with Clark being the backup. For Theresa, it was a first to see someone play Indian music with the pipa. It felt different, but it was still good. Aarti had been taught the pipa by her late aunt Priya Singh when she was 7. After her death she touched the pipa less often, but Theresa knew her mum could play it. She has heard it when she was 12 and loved it. Hearing her mum’s sweet voice and her music again, Theresa was moved to tears and clapped slowly in a rhythm.
In the latter part of the music, Marabelle ran up to them with the harp and played along with them and joined Clark in being the backup singer. Not that she knew Indian language very well, but she was very familiar with this song, hence she joined them even when it wasn’t her turn.
After everything, the trio on stage bowed, and the rest stood up and applauded in tears except Long Ren. He was not happy here. He really wanted to show his talent, even if it’s just for a minute. But alas…
“You guys are great” Long Hua Ming praised.
“Yeah! Mister Clark, what’s the name of the first Chinese music you played,” Fu Jin asked. He itched to play it with his flute.
“Love of a thousand years not denied,” Clark replied with a smile.
“A very fitting name indeed. Your wife is excellent with the pipa too, and so is the little girl,” said Ju Wei. But Clark shot him a baleful look with his eyes for a second.
“Eh” Ju Wei scratched his head.
“Ju Wei can dance, so let’s play a song for him, shall we?” suggested Clark.
“GREAT! GREAT!” old man Long exclaimed as he fiddled with his hair.
Ju Wei went up to stage after changing his clothes to that of a dancer’s.
Clark, Long Hua Ming and Fu Jin played a piece of music and he was able to stun them with his incredibly terrible dance. His body seemed rigid and Theresa thought even a three-year-old can dance better. Gosh! His skills suck!
The trio playing didn’t even wanna play anymore, but when they were about to give up, Marabelle got up and robotically walked close to the stage and played her harp too. If one could look closely, her eyes were darker than before.
Ju Wei upon seeing this decided to be serious now and immediately his aura changed and then instead of the terrible dance of earlier he performed a shocking dance and then….twerked! At this they stopped playing and Marabelle’s eyes returned to normal. It shocked all to the point of silence.
“You….how can you do that?” Bai Lu Chen spat.
“Eh…Mistress had once asked my master to do so, but he disobeyed. So I decided to do it in place of him. Also, she said, we have to make this party unforgettable. And i also wanna show you how nice my ass is so…”
“Get… down… the… stage.” a pissed Clark slowly said and Aarti massaged his back.
He suddenly felt that this guy must be taught a lesson once the party was over.
Theresa stood up with a smile to ease the rising atmosphere.
“Ju Wei, you did well to give us a dance that will never be forgotten. But i suggest that you re-dance with your junior brother to sing for you. Foster dad and Sir Long will play for you two. Choose the song that you love to dance to and then Bai Lu Chen will sing for you,” Theresa suggested and for once Long Ren chuckled.
“Serves you right, attention seeker” Long Ren said to the unhappy Bai Lu Chen telepathically, but he didn’t reply.
“Mistress I choose to dance to ‘black knight and his rose hugging their fox’ ” Ju Wei declared and Bai Lu Chen’s face went black. Wasn’t that a part lullaby romantic song? This Ju Wei wanted him to sing that? Come on, you gotta be kidding him, here! How old was he?
“Junior brother, you won’t refuse right?” Ju Wei winked mischieviously at Bai Lu Chen.
“Fine! I’ll sing for Mistress’ sake” he finally relented with a sigh and Theresa gave him a thumbs up.
Seeing that, his heart soared in delight. He provokingly spoke telepathically to Long Ren “Senior brother, it’s a pity, someone won’t get approval no matter how much he yearns for it. I feel so sorry,”
“I also pity someone who gets a cut sleeve as a partner. I wonder who truly is the pitiful one, here?” Long Ren retorted.
“Whatever” Bai Lu Chen flew to the stage and stood proudly.
“Everyone, this taipan king wishes to sing a song to liven the party. I also propose that Mistress allows Long Ren to sing with me.” said Bai Lu Chen.
Hearing this, the rest turned to look at a speechless Long Ren and then at Theresa.
“I agree. I haven’t heard Long Ren sing, so it’s an excellent opportunity. Go on,”Theresa spoke with a sly smile and Long Ren felt his head spin.
“Fighting! Fighting” Ju Wei cheered, and the rest joined him in cheering.
“Fighting! Fighting! Fighting! Fighting!”
Bai Lu Chen chuckled and covered half of his face with a fan he took out from his spatial ring.
“Senior brother, thank you for honoring my request. I look forward to our awesome duet” Bai Lu Chen said and bowed his head slightly.