Chapter 3 red shoes

Dan Bing has never had red dancing shoes, her shoes are all white, soft satin, tied with long belts, entangled layer by layer, like a woman's obsessed heart. When she fell on the stage, Qu Feng was the first to pick her up.He didn't know why, but he made a movement that everyone couldn't explain but didn't know how to stop——gently took off her dancing shoes. This was dismissed as a strange step in the emergency response and not pursued.On the contrary, Qu Feng himself thought about it for a long time after the incident, because he did an even weirder action after taking off his dancing shoes - he slipped the shoes into his pocket.The scene at that time was too chaotic, and no one noticed his behavior, otherwise it would probably have been discussed for a while, and at least he would be given the nickname of a crush.

Qu Feng discovered the pair of shoes when he was changing clothes a week later. He was deeply confused and didn't understand why he took off Dan Bing's dancing shoes, let alone how he put her in his pocket.When he touched the last in the shoe, he felt a strange feeling in his heart, as if he had touched Dan Bing's soft pain. Every girl who dances on pointe bleeds, soaking shoe after shoe. This is Dan Bing's dozens of pairs of shoes? Dan Bing has been dancing since she was six years old, even if she has two pairs a year, in twelve years, there will always be twenty or thirty pairs, right?

The pair fell into his hands. There is no need to return it to her, Dan Bing no longer needs to wear shoes. Dan Bing no longer needs to wear shoes. On the third day after she was sent to the hospital, the doctor announced that the diagnosis proved that Dan Bing suffered severe brain damage, and the congestion could not be ruled out, leading to nerve necrosis.Although the breathing is still there, the brain activity has stopped.In other words, she became a vegetable and would never be able to stand up again. Immediately, grandma screamed through the entire corridor of the hospital: "Impossible! My granddaughter is a dancer, how could she become a vegetable? Did you make a mistake? Get her to stand up, stand up!" "

But Dan Bing could no longer stand up. Grandma leaned against the wall and sat down: "Bingbing, Bingbing, how can I explain to your parents! You want to dance the swan, you want to become a great dancer, why don't you get up and dance? Get up, you Dance, show grandma the swan dance. Bingbing, grandma's heart hurts, grandma is afraid, don't scare grandma, get up, dance, dance the swan..." Grandma's crying made everyone present cry.The girls of the troupe even hugged each other, weeping uncontrollably. Dancing girls take the flexible and flexible body as their mission, but Dan Bing will become a stiff, lifeless vegetable from now on.What kind of irony?How cruel?

The doctors were not surprised when they saw it, but they also felt sorry for this too young and beautiful girl. They asked the team leader in a reproachful tone: Why didn't the patient be sent to the hospital immediately when the patient was injured?As a result, if it is delayed, it will be a good opportunity for treatment, allowing the congestion to accumulate. When they heard the group leader's answer that there was nothing wrong with Dan Bing at the time and that he really fainted after the performance, they were stunned, completely unbelievable, and said again and again: This is impossible, judging from the damage to the brain , She should have been completely unconscious at that time, and she had no ability to stand up again, let alone do strenuous exercise and finish a dance.

Back in the troupe, everyone was too heavy to eat.The group leader kept saying, "I delayed her. The doctor said that I should have sent her to the hospital earlier." It should have discovered the mystery earlier. The night before the performance, the troupe had a reception for the media.Dan Bing wore a backless evening dress with sequins. She was extremely beautiful and noble, like a princess. This was her first time as a leading role, but there was no joy in her brows.Goblets and floor-length skirts, walking through the crowd, confusedly responding to the oncoming guests, and answering reporters' questions:

"I'm a dancer, just a dancer." "Marriage is far away, boyfriend is farther away. Love is closer. Where?" "What's the date today? I won't talk about dancing on Double Day." "Death is beautiful, especially the death of a swan. I will be a swan when I die." A prophecy. At that time, it was only said that she was inexperienced and not good at coping.It turns out that everything is doomed.There are omens. The leader was so guilty that he typed out his resignation report overnight.But there is no approval above.The leader was also in the theater that night, and sat in the best front row seat to watch the show.They saw with their own eyes that Dan Bing danced quite well and did not look injured at all.

She played the swan alive, but she played herself to death. Ruan Danbing's symptoms caused an uproar in the medical community. Brain specialists from several hospitals held a special consultation and concluded that no one can stand up again after such a severe injury unless there is a substitute.In other words, the person performing "Death of the Swan" cannot be the injured Ruan Danbing. The head of the group had completely lost his ability to speculate, and he just murmured: "It's impossible to stand up? Who is that dancing person? I saw Dan Bing open his eyes well and said with my own eyes: I'm fine, I still want to fly. No Ruan Danbing, who is that? Who is dancing?"

Qu Feng was even more disturbed. After the incident, a reporter chased him and asked, "May I ask what force made Ruan Danbing so brave? Did she fall in love with you?" "Love?" Qu Feng only felt absurd, "This is a vocabulary that only exists in novels." He feels deep gratitude and guilt towards Dan Bing, but he doesn't think it has anything to do with "love".Too many emotional games have already made him numb to love. His famous saying is: "I only smoke 'Camel' cigarettes, but the more girlfriends the better." Flowers, but never say love to anyone.Because I don't believe it.

In order to avoid being tracked by reporters, he had to ask for a week off to rest. The head of the group understood his feelings very well, and opened the note without saying a word. Qu Feng was lazy at home for a whole week, eating instant noodles and drinking beer, he was so decadent that he refused to say a word, his girlfriends called, but he would not answer, and if someone knocked on the door, he would not answer it. Tchaikovsky played loudly, and people who came would not know that he was at home, so they would keep knocking persistently. He heard it, pretended not to hear it, and just turned the music up louder.

The people outside the door were finally discouraged, but without hesitation, they stuffed a letter through the crack of the door.He glanced at the envelope and knew it was Xiao Lin, the makeup artist, so he threw it away. For seven days. Empty wine bottles gradually filled the room, and the instant noodles were all eaten, so he finally had to get up and wanted to go out and buy some more.While changing clothes, I saw those shoes. Qu Feng looked at the pair of shoes in his hands for a long time, not knowing where to put them, throw them away, it's not suitable, and it's even more inappropriate to hide them. Finally, he put them on the piano stand, next to the pot of gardenias. That night, the gardenias bloomed.Opened under the moonlight, the petals are crystal clear, as delicate and beautiful as a girl's skin, with a strong and restless fragrance, ready to move, as if there is an elf hiding inside. Qu Feng stood in front of the window and sniffed deeply, never realizing that flowers are so beautiful. In the scent of flowers and the wind, he vaguely thought of something, something about a flower, a dancing posture, a wink, and a charming shadow.But he can't figure it out, he has been in contact with too many girls in his life, who knows who is whose heartache? Qu Feng didn't know that Gardenia was given to him by Dan Bing. He didn't even notice when there was such a potted flower in the piano room. It was my colleagues who discovered it first, and said hello, "Oh, you have raised a pot of gardenias." So he knew that there was a potted flower on his qin platform, called gardenia.How did you come here, why are you here, but I never thought about it. And of course don't forget to water the flowers.But the flowers are still growing well.Green leaves of hazelnut. Everyone who passes by will say: "Qu Feng, your potted flowers are not bad." "Oh, not bad." He responded casually, and it became a habit after a long time.I began to remember that I had such a potted flower called gardenia. In winter, before the holiday, the troupe gave out new year's goods, and he called a taxi to pull them.Colleagues kindly warned: "Move the flowers back, otherwise after a festival, no one will water it, and it will die of thirst." Qu Feng agreed, and moved Hua back home.Watching it every day, I also remember to water it.But I still haven't thought about where this potted flower came from, and who has been watering it before today. When he went to work again, the team leader told him that Dan Bing had been discharged from the hospital and returned home. "Because of her situation, you know, it doesn't matter if she stays in the hospital or not, she just does her best and obeys fate." The head of the regiment said that he seemed to have aged a lot this week, with gray hair on his temples. The song style was also sad, looking at a poster of "Red Shoes" on the wall, and did not speak for a long time. "The Red Shoes" is a very famous dance drama, and every dancer likes to use it as an example. In the story, a girl who loves to dance gets a pair of magical red dancing shoes, and she wears them to the ball.The girl made a big splash at the ball and won everyone's hearts.However, when the ball ended, a disaster happened, and she found that she couldn't take off the magic shoes, and couldn't stop her chaotic dancing steps.She just flew like that, dancing across the grassland, dancing through the mud, dancing through the spring and autumn seasons, dancing until the moment she died of exhaustion. She died in the arms of her lover, who took off her red dancing shoes for her. The girl said, "Finally, I don't have to dance any more. It's so easy." Then, she closed her eyes.Close your eyes forever and ever. This story is deeply rooted in the hearts of every dancer. Whenever the dancer gets tired, some girls sigh: "When can I take off these red dancing shoes?" Although, all of them are wearing only white exercise shoes. Qu Feng sighed, thinking of the pair of Dan Bing's dancing shoes that he put in his pocket. The great success of "Death of the Swan" has made Dan Bing famous overnight. The still photos of Dan Bing's dance are published everywhere in newspapers and small magazines. Hundreds of viewers came forward to testify that they saw a swan flying out from behind the curtain. Although the reporters didn't necessarily believe in such a myth, they didn't delve into it, and spread it around as an affair, not only did not refute the rumor, but even used brilliant pens to exaggerate it more and more. As a result, the story of the ballerina Ruan Danbing trying her best to dance into a swan spread all over the streets and became a hot news. The popularity that many dancers can never achieve in their lifetime, Dan Bing achieved it overnight. But what does all these excitement and honors have to do with her?She had taken off her red shoes and could never dance again. At the end, the group leader said: "Let's go and see her some other day." They saw Dan Bing. Dan Bing was lying on the bed, barefoot. Because it was early summer, she was not covered with a quilt, and only half-draped a colorful Indian thin blanket. A handful of long, dull hair. Dan Bing's long hair has been envied by girls all the time. It is black, bright, straight and smooth. When it spreads out, it looks like a cloud. When it is bundled up, it looks like a tower. Obviously, just a back view is already exciting. But now they have lost their luster, are dull and dry, slightly yellow, and are falling off day by day, like leaves swaying in the autumn wind. Even if they fall, the days are numbered. The bedroom door is connected to the large balcony, and the butter-colored rue solid wood floor extends all the way. In the corner of the door, a rattan chair in a hanging basket covered with rose branches can be seen swaying lonely in the wind, and a small rattan coffee table is next to it. The person who came to set up coffee and drinks is now sitting there alone, speechless. On the way back from Dan Bing's house, Qu Feng and the leader were silent.What do you say?have nothing to say. This is not the first time he went to Dan Bing's house. There is an unwritten rule in the troupe. Members take turns to hold a party at home. He seldom participates in it. But when it was Dan Bing's turn, he was also a little curious—because Dan Bing, like him, was not enthusiastic about group activities, and it was rare to be a host—so he went.The scene was very lively, and the scale was okay, but when the guests were about to leave, she took out a white towel to wipe the table. The white towel was very absorbent, and it became filthy in an instant.When Qu Feng washed his hands after a while, he found that the towel had been thrown into the wastebasket. —— Such a noble princess pursues perfection everywhere, and the music style can't afford it. How much is a towel worth?The money is still second, the important thing is the kind of ostentation, which makes people stay away. Qu Feng knew that he was not a prince, let alone perfect, and never thought of being friends with a princess, let alone a princess on a pea. At the same time, he remembered that once in the background, when he was smoking, he threw the cigarette butt on the ground, turned around inadvertently, and saw Dan Bing leaned over to pick it up-this kind of cleanliness is really unbearable. It has become increasingly distant since then. When I come again, things have changed. When he stood beside her bed and looked at her, he couldn't help but couldn't get rid of the association: if she hadn't rescued her in time, the person lying here should be him instead of her. Although I didn't kill Boren, Boren died because of me. He invited the head of the group to drink again, but the head didn't agree, and said, don't drink any more, you still have to play the piano, Dan Bing will hear it. There is a piano in Dan Bing's ward. The cover is painted white, a very elegant white, instead of the usual black or copper brown cover. On the qin platform, there is also a pot of gardenias, which have bloomed, but have no fragrance. It's like Dan Bing who is still beautiful but lifeless lying on the bed. Hua, like her master, lost her heart. This makes the style of music finally feel a little bit.For the first time, he suspected that his gardenia might have been given by Dan Bing, and Dan Bing's feelings for him were not just a little girl's whim. He has never forgotten the last look before the closing action of Dan Bing's "Death of the Swan", which was infinitely affectionate and infinitely beautiful. She seems to have a lot to say to him, and her thoughts are not as young as she looks on the surface. What are those unspoken words?Does gardenia know? Just because the group leader said the phrase "Dan Bing will hear it", Qu Feng proposed to his grandma that he would visit Dan Bing often and play the piano for her. Grandma agreed. Grandma's age is actually about the same as Qufeng's mother, but she is indeed a grandma. She cares about Qufeng like a real grandma, comforts his guilt and loneliness, and tells him stories about Dan Bing's childhood.She said that after Dan Bing fell asleep, the room was too quiet.Often, when she takes a nap in front of the big mirror, she will see a little girl practicing dancing in the mirror.So young, only six years old, helpless because of loneliness, only tirelessly dancing the dance steps that he only knows. For the first time, he knew that Dan Bing's childhood was so lonely.It reminded him of himself, an orphan without the love of his parents. In his blood, there is a quarter of Spanish ancestry.I don't know if this is the reason why he has developed such a surly and unruly personality that longs for freedom since he was a child. Like Dan Bing, his relatives are also abroad, the difference is that they don't give him money. The reason is simple - he is an illegitimate child. His grandfather joined the U.S. Army during World War II and came to Shanghai. After seducing his grandmother, he returned to Spain, leaving behind his grandmother, and gave birth to his father humiliatingly under the eyes and ridicule of the people, so his father was an illegitimate child; His father and his mother are in love and are already talking about marriage. Suddenly, the rich Spanish grandfather wrote to him, proposing that if he is willing to marry another rich family on behalf of his family, he can get Spanish citizenship and a good fortune. He didn't hesitate for a minute and defected, not even leaving an address.At that time, his mother's belly was already very big, and it was impossible to have an abortion. She had to give birth to him bitterly, but she didn't even want to look at him, so she gave him away. Now, his grandparents are gone and died in different countries, but they left him behind, and also the fate of his illegitimate child. Life can end, but fate repeats itself. He grew up with his aunt's parents, attended boarding school at a young age, was admitted to the conservatory with honors, and became a merry luthier in a ballet troupe.He plays the piano, but also the cello, the accordion, and even the harmonica. He is interested in all musical instruments, and his enthusiasm is no less than that of Dan Bing in dancing. But his enthusiasm is also cold, filled with hatred, and deeply tired of life. He never thought about the meaning of his own life, nor did he think about the future, but when this life was saved once by a girl with her own life, he had to reconsider the value of life. Two people live, otherwise the girl's sacrifice falls into the void and becomes comical. The piano sounded in the ward. A sigh came.Qu Feng stopped suddenly: "Who is it?" No one answered.The wind moved the gauze curtain, the flowers and leaves were blowing, and Dan Bing was sleeping on the bed. Qu Feng smiled self-deprecatingly, was it a hallucination?Guarding Dan Bing, who is like a Sleeping Beauty, is particularly prone to hallucinations. Then came another sigh. This time I heard clearly, but it was grandma. Grandma was wearing a green velvet cheongsam with dark flowers, standing at the door with a cup of black tea, and said softly: "You have been playing for a long time, are you tired? Have a cup of tea and take a rest." At that time, Qu Feng wanted to call out sincerely more than ever: Grandma!