Chapter 350: Chapter 343: Taking the Stage
"What kind of crazy is your sister on? Didn’t take her meds when she left this morning?" Sisi whispered to He Chunfeng.
He Chunfeng didn’t expect the Princess of the house would suddenly attack Sisi. She must be jealous because Sisi is prettier than her! Although he wasn’t very close to this branch of the He family, he knew his little cousin quite well, and what she couldn’t stand the most was someone stealing her thunder!
"Why don’t I go up there and scold her for you?"
He Chunfeng had thought Sisi couldn’t play the piano and was ready to use his authority as her older brother to reprimand He Shishi.
"No need, just watch how I’m going to teach your little Princess a lesson!" Sisi didn’t want to appear weak.
At this moment, the guests in the hall were looking towards Sisi’s direction, drawn by He Shishi’s voice, curious to see who the most beautiful Miss He was talking about.
A few young ladies couldn’t hide their discontent. They were willing to admit defeat to Miss He’s elegance, but it wasn’t so easy to admit there was another girl prettier than themselves!
It had to be said, He Shishi’s tactic of leveraging force was very clever. With just one sentence, she turned Sisi into the target of everyone, with all the daughters of various families fixing their gazes on her. If one didn’t have the mental fortitude, they would quickly crumble under the pressure.
Now, He Shishi on the stage, seeing Sisi still hadn’t come up, was convinced that Sisi surely couldn’t play the piano, and she was smug, but her mouth said, "I’m sorry, I just got carried away and forgot that this lady might not know how to play the piano! My apologies, let me find another partner then?"
"There’s no need to go to such trouble. Although my talents are modest, a mere accompaniment is still within my capabilities," Sisi replied loudly.
She puffed up her chest, showing a flawless smile, tilted her head towards He Chunfeng, and lightly opened her red lips, "Do I need to take it easy on your family’s Princess?"
"No need, better to go full force—let it be a complete showdown!" He Chunfeng’s face bore a ’don’t worry about my feelings’ expression.
Sisi gracefully stepped forward, without a glance sideways, moving towards the stage. Under the spotlight, everyone saw a girl dressed in a pink long dress, with her hair done up in a Princess bun, adorned with jade jewelry, walking towards the stage—beautiful yet not bewitching, glamorous without being cheap, truly a stunning beauty!
Those girls who felt begrudged still weren’t convinced but also had to admit that the girl in the red dress was indeed a great beauty.
Mo Tang watched the young people’s squabbles with a smile, continuously nibbling on the candied fruit. Normally, his family wouldn’t let him have too much sugar, but today no one was watching, so he decided to indulge a bit more.
"Dad, you are sneaking sweets again, be careful not to pass your next health checkup!"
Mo Feng came over and helplessly took away the plate of candied fruit. His dad was getting more mischievous and disobedient with age and needed to be constantly watched.
Mo Tang pouted and gave his eldest son an unhappy glare. Regardless, Mo Feng took a seat next to him and whispered, "Dad, do you think I should have Ah Hui (Mo Feng’s daughter) help out Ah Liu’s friend, so she doesn’t lose face?"
"No need, do you think Ah Liu’s friend is as uneducated as you? Just watch, Miss He is going to make a fool of herself today!" Mo Tang wore a look of excited anticipation.
Mo Feng laughed awkwardly, as he was always criticized by the Old Man for not being proficient in the four arts of zither, Go, calligraphy, and painting, a criticism to which he’d grown accustomed. Compared to the rest of his family, his talents were indeed few.
"Oh? Is Ah Liu’s friend that formidable? How does she compare to Ah Hui?"
Mo Hui was Mo Feng’s most prideful daughter, skilled in all four arts.
Mo Tang shook his head: "There are mountains beyond mountains, and people beyond people. Ah Feng, don’t think that our Mo Family is the only clan of literati in this world; your mindset is incorrect. Go and cultivate your heart!"
Mo Feng replied seriously with an "Understood."
"Look, this girl is even better than Ah Hui!"
At this moment, Sisi had already walked onto the stage, stood in front of He Shishi, took the microphone, smiled, and said to the audience below: "Thank you Miss He Shishi for the invitation and praise. However, next time Miss He wishes to find a partner, it would be better to consult with me beforehand. That way, I can be better prepared to deliver a more perfect performance at Mr. Mo’s birthday banquet."
He Shishi’s face stiffened, but she quickly smiled again like spring flowers, "Indeed, that was my oversight. I got carried away and didn’t consider everything."
"No worries, Miss He, just be more mindful next time!"
The smile on He Shishi’s face grew more strained. In Hong Kong’s upper echelons, who wouldn’t give her, He Shishi, face? Who would humiliate her in public regarding manners? This person must be doing this on purpose, right?
"Alright, let’s not exchange pleasantries anymore. Everyone is waiting for Miss He’s performance!" Sisi didn’t want to waste words with He Shishi and went straight to the piano, lifted the lid, and bowed slightly to the guests, impeccable in her etiquette.
Sisi’s hands came down, and the smooth, gentle music started, very soothing, perfectly suitable for recitation at this time.
The piece she played was the very famous "Kiss the Rain" from a past life, the signature piece of the Korean pianist Li Runmin, leaping with grace, singing with emotion, extremely suitable to serve as background music for poetry recitation.
Many musicians were present in the hall. As soon as they heard this music, they all perked up. What a refreshing piece, what is this song? They had not heard it before? Oh, they were so out of the loop!
The embarrassingly uninformed resolved that, once the performance ended, they must find this young lady to ask about the origin of this music.
He Shishi took a deep breath, quickly calmed her emotions, and revealed a standard smile, slowly reciting into the microphone.
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind;
It is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips, and supple knees;
It is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination.
...
He Shishi’s voice was soft, her tone smooth, rhythmically expressive, and with a standard American English accent, which added a lot to her recitation.
Most importantly, the piece "Youth" written by the famous American writer Samuel Erman, became well-known because of General MacArthur and was widely circulated and popular, especially among successful people who liked to regard this short essay as their personal motto. It was very fitting for He Shishi to recite this poem at such a high-level private gathering. Many people in the audience began to softly follow along.
As the music ended, He Shishi’s poetry recitation also came to its conclusion. The perfect music, the perfect recitation, the perfect combination, a thunderous applause arose from the audience; some people even called out "One more!"
He Shishi did not manage to disgrace Sisi, and felt a bit disgruntled, but considering the current situation where the other had both looks and talent, she couldn’t think of a good plan immediately and decided to settle the score later, hmph, she would let it slide for now!
But just because Miss He was willing to let her go doesn’t mean the other party was willing to do the same!