Chapter 18 Part 3

She was wearing a pleated gown, the most common type of informal stage costume, but its cut was more ethereal. The colors abandoned convention, using only black, white, and gray. Paired with the ink lotus in her hand, her jet-black eyes, and the flowing ink characters behind her, she stood like a figure from an ink wash painting. The faint light drifted across her face like a divine halo, creating an illusory feeling that made people fall silent, afraid of breaking the spell.

Jin Que, playing Lady Yunxiao, parted her lips and sang, "Thirty-three thousand leagues from the ground, a thousand years of frost and stars pass by. The radiant sun gilds the Queen Mother's feast, rosy clouds escort the ageless immortal."

Then, this ink wash painting moved, breaking through all chaos!

"Yunxiao" flicked her sleeve and stepped back. The gauze curtain parted to both sides, revealing more layers of gauze behind it. She was as light as a feather, her steps swift as she moved backward along a curve. The gauze curtains, like misty mountains in the distance, opened one by one and fell behind her, creating the illusion of a fairy flying forward on the wind as the scenery receded.

The seemingly ordinary pleated gown also billowed layer by layer with the light breeze as she walked, its corners seeming to blur into the light that followed her, instantly intensifying her ethereal aura.

Until the very last layer of gauze parted, revealing the final backdrop, along with several golden pillars and upturned eaves. This single corner was enough to bring the magnificent and vast heavenly palace vividly to life before their eyes.

The flow of the lights and the movement of the gauze curtains, coordinated with her agile steps and posture, created a trance-like state where it felt as if everyone was soaring through the heavenly palace with her, riding the clouds—scenery was left behind, then the veils were broken, revealing the resplendent and towering Hall of Miraculous Mist!

One minute on stage takes ten years of practice offstage. Just for this newly choreographed opening, Jin Que had practiced countless times, simply because the director had said that an actor's path of movement could also invisibly affect the audience's mood.

Moreover, it had to be coordinated with the lighting and the gauze curtains.

From the single point of the actor, to the line of her trajectory on stage, to the plane of the scenic curtains, and finally to the well-defined space formed by all the sets, it demonstrated the effect of conveying emotion through scenery and creating scenery through form.

In stark contrast to the clamor from across the street, when Jin Que, this "flying immortal" without a slide rail, let her sleeves fall, although she was only in black and white and not flying in the air, the entire audience felt the overwhelming presence of a celestial being. Their hearts surged with emotion, and they were completely mesmerized.

This strong visual contrast also made the final, resplendent Hall of Miraculous Mist even more breathtaking.

Zhang Dinghu slammed the table in admiration. I have my review!

The first act of "The Record of Sympathetic Joy": color born from ink wash, brilliance found in black and white!

......

As the plot developed, at the Oriole Song Stage, the immortals' hats could light up, the immortals could fly, the waterfalls actually had running water, and one magic trick followed another to represent the immortals' magical powers. A real white deer was even led onto the stage...

The audience grew more and more excited. Some people even started discussing how the mechanisms were made. Being there was like being at a temple fair, but it had to be said, the audience was having a wonderful time.

In the Changle Theater, however, except for when important characters appeared, there were only roars of applause at crucial moments. Everyone was infected by the atmosphere, completely immersed in it.

The mechanisms were just like Ji Shuangyu's previous style, only used at key points, yet still novel.

For instance, this time, he used a teaching aid borrowed from the school: a slide projector. After modification, he used it creatively on the stage to create a celestial realm. The shimmering water projected onto the stage made the actors seem as if they were at the bottom of the Dragon Palace's sea.

—Ying Xiaonong, currently the most popular jing actor in Jingcheng, was playing the Dragon King of the East Sea. Besides the female lead, he had the most scenes and received countless cheers for his majestic appearance.

The slide rail that the theater across the street used for flying people was used here to make props shake, expressing the character's perspective and emotions.

Jin Que's costume also changed from the initial ink wash colors. As her character's popularity gradually improved, it changed, and by the end, she was wearing an autumn-fragrance colored long dress with a jeweled sash around her, like a Huaxia meticulous-style painting.

The script was slightly improved. Besides streamlining and refining the plot, the lines were different, warning people that fortune and misfortune are intertwined. It was different from the auspicious plays that solely aimed to please the audience, but it didn't ruin the atmosphere either. The audience could savor it themselves, and the aftertaste was lasting.

When the play ended, the applause was long and unceasing.

Some audience members even felt a sense of pride: 'Could it be that the audience here is of extremely high quality, as if we created the atmosphere of the celestial palace together with the actors!'

It was also that Jin Que truly had a celestial air about her, making even those who usually loved to crack melon seeds stop, calling her the "Golden Immortal."

The men and women present were clearly all captivated by Jin Que, lamenting that a pearl had been gathering dust, and that they only got to see her today after so many years in the profession.

The ladies loved her makeup, her aura, and the costumes she wore. The play had just ended, and people had already started naming her new outfits. For example, the first pleated gown she wore was called the "Ink Lotus Precious Pleated Gown."

Number one fan Zhang Dinghu was so excited after watching that he wanted to smash the table. It wasn't in vain that he brought his whole family today. He remarked with fascination, "This Xieyi Style has reached a new level. To think it began by using light ink calligraphy to express the character's ethereal and otherworldly aura, then instantly crashed into a riot of color. Marvelous."

Zou Muyun had very similar thoughts. Ordinary audience members only saw the celestial aura, but they could analyze why, which made them even more engrossed.

Ji Shuangyu had not lied. His lighting was to reflect the character's movements, his props were to express the character's emotions... Everything on the stage served the play itself.

Zou Muyun had never imagined that a stage could achieve such a level, not only without any sense of dissonance but actually conforming to the aesthetic formulas of opera at every turn, even elevating the play to a higher realm!

"I was too narrow-minded. I really didn't think anyone could actually do it." Zou Muyun turned to his companions and said, emotionally. After all, he had been heartbroken over the development of old opera for a long time.

"This play is truly a magnificent display of our self-contained Huaxia aesthetics. There is painting in the calligraphy, poetry in the painting, and a single rhythm in the poetry—all of this can be incorporated into the play! The two colors, black and white, are like yin and yang. The opening seeks brilliance from the origin of heaven and earth. Huaxia's fine arts and mechanical devices are seamlessly integrated in this play, appealing to both refined and popular tastes. To be able to appreciate such artistic conception today is truly the greatest pleasure in my forty years of life!"

......

As "The Record of Sympathetic Joy" ended, Jin Que also pulled herself out of her character. After officially taking her curtain call, she could see the astonished gazes of all the audience members under the lights. Someone in the back even threw gold onto the stage!

It was all for Jin Que. This was the first time she had been tipped with such valuables. It was a huge honor. Today in the backstage, even Ying Xiaonong exclaimed that the limelight was all on her.

Although it was Ying Xiaonong praising her, as the female lead, a dan actress, and a female performer, it was entirely conceivable that once she became famous, Jin Que's splendor would indeed surpass Ying Xiaonong's.

For the first time in her life, she had received so much reward money, so many cheers, and socialites had immediately sent invitations, hoping to have her attend events...

The person she wanted to see most at this moment was Ji Shuangyu.

Before going on stage, her mind was only on the play. Now, having come to her senses and reaped the rewards, she wanted to go and chat with Director Ji. She felt that Ji Shuangyu's sharp tongue could offer some guidance for her current dazed state of mind.

Normally, after the play, Ji Shuangyu would go to exchange pleasantries with people he knew. But Jin Que heard that the socialites in the official box had already left, and Ji Shuangyu was also gone.

After searching all over, she only saw Xu Xinyue in his old posture, butt sticking out, with his big fur boots on a stool, peering through a crack in the window to see what was happening at the Oriole Song Stage—the play across the street had added so many extra features, it was still a long way from ending.

"Boss, have you seen Director Ji? Could he have been tired and gone home first?"

Xu Xinyue didn't turn his head, "I don't know. You should look somewhere high, see if he's standing on a table and glowing again."

Jin Que: "..."

......

At this moment, Ji Shuangyu was helping Zhou Siyin up as they walked out of the theater.

Zhou Siyin's long legs had been cramped for the entire performance and were truly numb. He felt very wronged.

Ji Shuangyu also glanced at the Oriole Song Stage across the street. Their lively show was still going on. "What do you think of this play? Compared to the one across the street, can we win?"

Zhou Siyin said lightly, "A play is valued for its people, not for its objects."

Zou Muyun had also quoted this sentence. For Zhou Siyin to bring it up again made his attitude very clear. He had seen the most fashionable mechanism-heavy plays in Hushang. What he saw today was a completely different creation.

Ji Shuangyu laughed twice, then got into Zhou Siyin's car and went to the headquarters of Kunlun Bookstore to meet the manufacturer from the fountain pen factory.

It was currently the Lantern Festival, so no one was working at Kunlun headquarters except for the security guard on duty.

Zhou Siyin led him to an office, where a lady was already waiting. She was sitting and reading a newspaper, and looked up when she heard them.

This lady had fashionably curled hair and was dressed in a Western-style suit and trousers—also very fashionable at the time, for women to wear men's clothes. She was about forty years old, well-maintained, with a smile on her red lips, and a slight resemblance to Zhou Siyin in her features.

"This is my aunt, Ms. Zhou Hanque." Zhou Siyin's introduction was very concise. "She has always done business in Jinling and has a newly opened fountain pen factory under her name."

Ji Shuangyu understood immediately. He had originally thought Zhou Siyin would be in charge himself, but it turned out to be another branch of the Zhou family. They had a ready-made fountain pen factory, and she probably had a good relationship with Zhou Siyin, unlike Zhou Ruojuan. When there was money to be made, they made it together.

Zhou Hanque extended her hand and shook Ji Shuangyu's with natural grace. She really wasn't interested in old plays, so she hadn't gone to the theater tonight. "Mr. Ji, you look even younger in person than I expected. I heard that someone of your great talent is still willing to live in Small Drum Alley. That is truly noble and sentimental."

Ji Shuangyu humbly replied, "Not at all, not at all, I'm just poor! I don't have the money to move!"

Zhou Hanque: "..."

Zhou Hanque was taken aback, then burst out laughing. "Lingdang'er said your temperament is one of a kind, and it seems to be true. I appreciate such straightforwardness. In that case, I won't waste any more words. I'm here to give you money. We'll draw up a contract. If we can develop a way to mass-produce this pen nib, my side will give you a 10% stake. If not, we will still pay you a technology fee, but my factory will switch to custom sales. There's also the advertising to consider. Your copybook will advertise for us. For example, if you mention it in the chapter introducing the tools, or personally write our brand name while demonstrating, I can give you an additional three thousand yuan as an advertising fee..." She said a lot in one breath and finally asked, "Is there any part you need me to explain in detail?"

Zhou Hanque was different from her second elder brother. She was crisp and generous, had calculated everything clearly and distinctly long ago. Whether it was the shares, the technology fee, or the advertising fee, it was an incredible sum for Ji Shuangyu's family.

Ji Shuangyu's expression indeed looked very surprised. He even stood up in his excitement.

Zhou Siyin thought calmly, 'Sigh, I expected this, this money-grubbing ghost.'

Ji Shuangyu looked at Zhou Siyin, "Your name is Lingdang'er!!"

Zhou Siyin: "..."