NOVEL WEB Chapter 374 - 374: He Gave Her All The Sweets In The World
Chapter 374: He Gave Her All The Sweets In The World
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Gu Qingcheng smiled lightly, her beautiful eyes sparkling like a galaxy, gazing at the host beside her.
“Perhaps it’s related to my recent experiences, which is why I chose to perform this modern dance titled ‘Woman’. The meaning, of course, is there. It highlights the word ‘woman’ and the song’s lyrics, telling about the common experiences and troubles of women.”
When the host locked eyes with Gu Qingcheng, she was stunned by her beauty.
Gu Qingcheng looked back calmly, her smile cool yet confident, radiating a brilliance like starlight surrounding her, so dazzling that it was hard to look away.
The director in the host’s earpiece urged her to proceed with the interview, snapping her back to reality.
“As a woman, I really liked Principal Gu’s dance themed around women. Principal Gu mentioned it’s connected to your recent experiences. Have you encountered any troubles among women in your life?”
Gu Qingcheng heard the host’s question, hinting at the scandal involving her nominal sister, Gu Mei, and her ex-boyfriend Qin Jun’s affair.
Currently, the hot topics in Jiang City revolved around a few things: her performance at the Peach Lotus Cup, her romance rumors with Qi Shaoze, and the previous uproar involving Gu Mei and Qin Jun’s betrayal and the leaked video scandal.
Gu Mei and Qin Jun’s topic was still trending online, kept there by the money she paid to Lu Chi, to be taken down only when she requested.
Money was not her concern; what she wanted was Gu Mei and Qin Jun’s complete downfall in Jiang City, unable to turn their fortunes around.
When the host asked this, Gu Qingcheng glanced around, noticing everyone’s curious looks, eager to know the deeper gossip about Gu Mei and the others.
She smiled gracefully, stunningly beautiful.
“Everyone has troubles in life, and of course, I have mine, but not just about women. Recently, several of my female friends shared many things with me, which inspired me to perform this dance.”
Host: “What did your female friends share that made such an impression on you?”
If it were anyone else being interviewed, a smart person would quickly respond to the host’s obvious bait. But Gu Qingcheng didn’t avoid it, as it seemed like the host was interviewing her, but in reality, she was the one in control, guiding the host to ask what she wanted.
“My friends talked about love, marriage, family, economy, and appearance anxieties,” she openly started. “For example, body image. One of my friends believes that girls must weigh in the double digits, considering three digits as overweight. The face has to be V-shaped; goose egg or round faces are unacceptable. They’re anxious about their figures to the point where eating a cake is considered wrong, living every day in anxiety and pain.”
When Gu Qingcheng finished, many applauded, as only female listeners could understand the difficulties and anxieties of being a woman.
The female host smiled at the applauding women in the audience and then continued, “Principal Gu is right. The commercialization of female anxiety is severe, causing most women to feel various external anxieties. Since we’re on this topic, Principal Gu, do you have any unique insights on female anxiety to share with everyone?”
“I don’t have any unique insights,” Gu Qingcheng spoke gently, then added, “But having heard many topics about women, I understand I have no right to interfere in others’ lives. However, I know that pain and tragedy are not exclusive to any gender, but the pain women bear is too fragmented. The first love, the first childbirth, or the first signs of aging, each one is a striking self-portrait of a woman.
“Yet, most women ignore their own value, instead obsessing over others’ opinions, just like body image anxiety. Dieting not for themselves, but to conform to others’ views, all for external validation.
“I often surf the internet and see comments under videos of women, even Nobel Prize winners and champion female athletes, praising their beauty or insulting their looks. Even today, while preparing for my dance backstage, the most common compliment I heard was about my beauty.
“I wonder, do women only deserve praise for their beauty or insults? Women strive in competitions, win Nobel Prizes, only to receive comments about their looks, and their efforts are conveniently ignored?
“The most frightening thing is no matter what achievements a woman makes, there’s always someone saying that without marriage or children, she’s not successful or a complete woman, or that failing to marry a good husband is a failure, as if no one cares about the woman herself.
“My dance ‘Woman’ is a wish for every woman to be undefined by others, to live for themselves.’
She finished speaking, then added politely and gently, “That’s all from me, thank you, everyone.”
As Gu Qingcheng’s words ended, the room fell silent, then one applause broke the stillness, followed by continuous applause, eventually turning into a deafening ovation.
Women in the audience stood up to applaud Gu Qingcheng, cheering for her. Many, deeply moved by her words, discreetly wiped their tears.
Backstage, Ziyu cried like a rainperson, murmuring tearfully, “Thank you,
Principal Gu, for helping me understand the importance of living for myself,
thank you…”
At that moment, Huo Sicheng, looking at the radiant Gu Qingcheng on stage, clenched his hands on the table until his knuckles turned white, his eyes filled with affectionate concern for her.
The song ‘Woman’, paired with Gu Qingcheng’s powerful and graceful dance, captivated him, also evoking his empathy.
The song seemed to speak of many women’s pain, but it also echoed Gu Qingcheng’s own.
Her pain was about family, her constrained identity as a daughter, and the schemes of Gu Tianhao and Qin Jun against her in the past.
He knew her heart was suffering, so he vowed to give her all the sweetness in the world.
At that moment, Qi Shaoze watched Gu Qingcheng on stage with a pained expression.
After Gu Qingcheng stepped off the stage, she came face-to-face with Ziyu.
“Principal Gu…” Ziyu cried, looking at Gu Qingcheng. “I will work hard, I will live my life striving to be myself, please believe me.”
Gu Qingcheng said nothing, just approached Ziyu, smiled gently, and patted her right shoulder before leaving.
In the dressing room, Li Jing brought a cup of milk tea for Gu Qingcheng and placed it in front of her.
Gu Qingcheng glanced at the milk tea, then, while removing her makeup, said, “Master, are you about to say something cheesy to me?”