Chapter 629 The Performer Is ir Jing


    Of the numerous men that worked under Wesley, there was one whom ir 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 thest 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 intoughter except ir 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 ir here!


    We all understand what that means. So I guess you should just be honest with us!" another soldier


    echoed and added to ir''s misery.


    "Chief, in any case, we all know what ir means to you!" the soldiers said in union.


    As the rumble of cheer and exmation grew louder with every passing sentence, ir''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, ir


    heard someone say, "Come on guys, run! Retreat quickly! Chief''s got hundreds of ways to torture you


    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    to death!"


    ir 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." ir saluted him yfully 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?" Thest 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, ir 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, ir bumped into Adalson and unable to protest, was taken to his office


    instead.


    Adalson slumped down in his chairfortably and told her, "I had a hunch you would be here tonight.


    And boy was I right! Here you are!"


    Embarrassed, ir tried to exin, "I don''t go to work these days. I feel bored staying at home all day


    long, so I''vee 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."


    ir 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!" ir 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?'' ir waspletely bbergasted. "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 onlyugh 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 stimte him. You know, fall harder for you, or he wouldn''t know how good you are."


    With that topic brought up, ir 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 be 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 Joslynst time. You did quite well on that. What was its name again?"


    ir 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 stimted 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 ir Jing..."


    "Uncle Adalson!" ir 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, heforted the girl, "You fool. I know how well you sing, which means either you


    out now."


    ir 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


    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!"


    ir 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.


    ir stole a nce 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..." ir decided not to tell him about her performanceter. 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 entertainmentpanies 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


    G.


    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 ir''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


    waspletely safe there. So he merely nodded and watched her leave, oblivious of the uing


    show he was about to witness.


    As soon as she reached the door, ir 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.


    ir 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 ir 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 exmation and began a big round of apuse 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 apuse 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 nced 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..."