Back Then, I Adored You

“If I told you, then it wouldn’t be a secret, would it?” Liang Doukou playfully winked at the two grandfathers and pointed at the stage in front of her. She said in a mysterious tone, “I will go and get ready. The show is about to begin. I promise you that you two will love it.” She kissed both of them before she stood up and walked to the stage in front of her.

Despite her past scandals, Liang Doukou was still a respected member of her well-known family and had remained a national star, and her celebrity spread energy throughout the hall as she took the stage. She asked an attendant for a microphone and then cleared her throat to signal everyone to be quiet. “I am sorry, everyone. May I have your attention for a second?”

The noisy hall started to quiet down when they heard Liang Doukou’s beautiful voice. She also looked beautiful, standing on the stage with the microphone in her hands. When everyone was finally silent, she smiled at the audience, raised up the microphone, and said with confidence. “Hello, everyone. My name is Liang Doukou.”

After a short self-introduction, Liang Doukou continued. “Today is Grandpa Gu’s birthday. May he have a long and healthy life with boundless blessings. I am standing here because I have prepared a performance for Grandpa Gu for his birthday. I hope you don’t mind taking this time to enjoy my performance. Thank you, everyone.”

Liang Doukou politely bowed at the crowd, who applauded encouragingly. Some guests who had drunk a lot raised their voices and yelled, “We don’t mind!”

Once the applause stopped, Liang Doukou gently raised the microphone to her mouth. The crowd went to absolute quiet as she started. “Today I am going to sing an old song, ‘Wish You the Best.’”

Liang Doukou held out a thumb drive to an attendant below her and asked politely, “Could you please give this to the sound engineer?” The attendant walked up to the stage, took the thumb drive, and walked it quickly to the sound and lighting room.

In a few seconds, a photograph of Old Master Gu in his youth appeared on the screen. A line next to the photo read, “My dearest Grandpa Gu, I wish you a happy birthday. I hope I can light your birthday candles every year.” As the photograph was enlarged, the prelude of the song started.

“What mood are you in? Are you wearing a smile on your face?” Liang Doukou sang the song while the photographs switched from Old Master Gu’s wedding, to him holding Gu Yusheng’s father in his arms, to him holding Gu Yusheng as a newborn. Like the first photograph, they all had a line accompanying them with Liang Doukou’s blessing. Everyone watched attentively as Liang Doukou sang through the photographs.

“I wish you the best. Your happiness is the most important thing to me.” As the song reached the refrain, the screen suddenly turned black, and the music stopped, too. Even the microphone in Liang Doukou’s hand was cut off.