Under the concentrated attack of so many people, Cheng Ran was finally unable to resist and could only be dragged to the Grand Theater by Gao Shaoning.
The Grand Theater is actually just a name that the locals are used to calling it. It used to be called Jincheng Theater, and later it was officially renamed Jincheng Art Palace. It is a nationally renowned star building and a cultural landmark of Chengdu. Performances are held all year round, and it has welcomed and seen off many well-known artists and performance teams.
Originally, it was thought that Gao Shaoning would bring her cousins and younger brothers and sisters with her, but in fact, there were only the two of them going to the theater.
Cheng Ran looked at the old-fashioned mixed paper ticket Gao Shaoning handed over. It had a faint ink smell unique to paper rolls and was slightly rough when rubbed in his hand. It was printed in a regular Song Dynasty variant, similar to the food stamps circulated in the 1980s: "Hall A, Area A, Row 12, No. 3."
"Ordinary performers don't have tickets. I got this ticket from a good friend of mine, whose family..." Gao Shaoning, as a performer, only has an internal ticket. The ticket price for this type of performance is relatively high at this time, and being able to get a ticket as a performer can almost be said to be a very good treatment.
There are actually some concerts and stage plays every weekend at the Palace of Arts, so as to popularize the public's taste for classical music. Occasionally, international orchestras will come, and the ticket prices will be higher at that time.
This time, Gao Shaoning participated in the national drama performance "Spring Call" co-organized by Chengdu Business Daily. There were several performance groups, and Gao Shaoning and his group belonged to one of them, performing under the name of the Youth Art Troupe of the Provincial Song and Dance Troupe.
Gao Shaoning has actually been learning to dance in a song and dance troupe. His teacher is Taishan from the Provincial Dance Art Association. The team he leads is of very high quality, so Gao Shaoning and his friends have many opportunities to perform. Not to mention too much, even with the awards Gao Shaoning has now, he can be admitted to several art colleges in the province through special art recruitment. Gao Shaoning's grades are only average, but he is not actually worried about his future.
The performance starts at four o'clock, and the dancers have to be there at three o'clock at the latest because it involves preparations for makeup and costumes.
At the gate, Gao Shaoning showed his performance certificate and Cheng Ran took out his internal ticket to enter.
Walking inside the angular and modern architectural elements of the Art Palace, Gao Shaoning said to Cheng Ran, "This was one of the best theaters in the country. At that time, our granite polishing technology was not mature, so the stone was imported from Italy, and the brown glass was imported from Belgium. The crystal chandelier above is from Australia, and the sound equipment in the theater was imported from the United States and the United Kingdom... We often come here to perform..."
In this era when domestic products are immature, imports are a symbol of quality and high-end, and of course also mean unattainable prices.
Gao Shaoning is very proud of what she said. No wonder. At that time, Jincheng Art Palace was very popular. The Shanghai Ballet performed "Coppelia" in it, which was unprecedented and sold out. The Chinese Peking Opera Troupe, Oriental Song and Dance Troupe, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and the former Central Orchestra had all performed here. Gao Shaoning was able to perform in this place that represents the high-end cultural platform of Chengdu. This is what many dancers dream of. Moreover, she had performed here many times with the art troupe, so she was no longer unfamiliar with it.
So at the dinner today, the Gao family was very proud of Gao Shaoning's advantage. Xu Lan even encouraged Cheng Ran to come and take a look. She must have heard of the Art Palace's reputation a long time ago, otherwise Cheng Ran would not have been easily persuaded by these distant cousins.
"Would you like me to take you to our backstage? This opportunity doesn't come often," Gao Shaoning smiled, "I said you're my cousin, so it's fine... But don't think you can take advantage, there are both male and female actors, and they all have their own dressing rooms!"
Cheng Ran was speechless. He actually guessed what he was thinking just now
It would take a long time to get in anyway, and he had heard of the Art Palace for a long time. The chance to observe it up close aroused his curiosity. Cheng Ran nodded, thinking it would be a good idea to go and take a look, and followed Gao Shaoning to the backstage.
There were actually a lot of iron boxes piled up at the backstage door, most of which contained costumes that had been delivered. People were coming and going inside, and most of the male and female actors were wearing performance costumes and makeup. There were several groups, and each was responsible for a different part of the performance. For example, Gao Shaoning and his group performed as men and women from the Miao village. As soon as he entered the door, two girls dressed in Miao girl dance costumes greeted Gao Shaoning.
Gao Shaoning introduced them and pointed at Cheng Ran, "This is my cousin Cheng Ran, a top student in No. 10 Middle School, ranked second in the grade."
Gao Shaoning naturally would not introduce which company Cheng Ran's father worked for, as this would probably cause people to think she was showing off. However, there was no problem in saying that Cheng Ran was an excellent student.
The two girls looked at Cheng Ran in surprise. One of them exclaimed, "Wow!", "Your grades are great!" Then she told Gao Shaoning the number of the dressing room and waved to Cheng Ran, "Feel free to visit, cousin Ningning."
From the fact that they didn't care about Cheng Ran's last name or who he was, we can know that although the two of them sincerely admired the top student in No. 10 Middle School, they didn't feel too envious. Instead, they treated him normally and treated him politely as Gao Shaoning's cousin. Of course, it was probably because the girls in their dance class were naturally confident and didn't admire others casually.
Gao Shaoning waved to the two girls and said they would see each other later. The two girls stepped forward and patted the shoulders of several actors in the same team in front of them, probably talking about Cheng Ran. The men and women over there looked in their direction one after another. It probably wouldn't be long before Gao Shaoning's top student cousin would be known throughout their dance troupe.
Gao Shaoning smiled at Cheng Ran and said, "Our troupe is very interesting, hehe, but the most distinctive feature is that there are so many handsome men and beautiful women, especially our female lead dancer, she is so beautiful that many people are speechless when they meet her, and she is very legendary. A while ago, there was a young man who kept pestering her and chased her to the theater, trying to stop her from leaving, but she smashed his head with the waist drum in her hand."
"Oh, by the way, it seems that she is also from your No. 10 Middle School, maybe you know her..." Gao Shaoning said, pulling a male dancer who ran by, "Qin Qian is from No. 10 Middle School, right?"
Gao Shaoning pulled the male dancer's vest, revealing a piece of his chest muscle. The boy quickly pulled the collar of his shirt and laughed, "Gao Shaoning, you are molesting me! Qin Qian is studying in No. 10 Middle School. Are you looking for her? She's over there..."
As the male dancer pointed his finger, Cheng Ran looked over there in surprise, unlike Gao Shaoning...
There was a woman who was chatting and laughing with someone next to her. She was wearing a lotus leaf dress that was gathered at the waist and six-quarter shorts that revealed her smooth calves. She had a graceful figure.
She seemed to be aware of the smiles between her and the people around her, and their eyes met at the same time.
Right.
If not Qin Qian, who else could it be?!
…
Qin Qian was actually a little distressed. Some time ago, Jiang Zhou had given her a sum of money as a performance reward for her proposing the advertising plan for Tianxingdao Hall and also for attracting hospital advertising. The amount was 6,000 yuan.
She has now been able to change her mindset: this is not a charity from Cheng Ran, but her own income that she has earned by using the Tianxing Dojo platform.
From a girl who was spoiled at home, Qin Qian experienced family changes and then demonstrated her self-worth by taking on part of her own strength. For the first time, she felt that this was the revelation that life gave people, just like her dancing. In fact, life will never let down anyone who tries his best to live and strive.
But there was a problem in this process. The first time Cheng Ran gave her a bonus, he gave it to her in person. And almost as soon as she closed her eyes, she could think of the day when she gave him the Walkman as a gift. In that cramped office filled with goods, when he took the paper bag from her hand, they were so close that they could almost feel each other's breath.
Thinking back on everything that happened between them, from Cheng Ran arranging for her to work part-time at his Tianxing Dojo, enabling her ideas, to seeing that her father's factory was included in the investment plan of Fulong Company, in fact, she did not feel that Cheng Ran had any other intentions hidden behind these, nor did she smell any other scent.
However, this time, in return for her greater contribution, the money was not given to her by Cheng Ran himself, but... through a middleman.
This was inconsistent with her impression of Cheng Ran.
He did not give her a generous reward in person to win her heart like a normal boss would, but instead avoided her and hid away... This just proved his abnormality.
She thought he wouldn't mess around.
But it turned out that he was upset.
Yuan Huiqun, who was her deskmate and in the same dance team, was the easiest to notice that Qin Qian was distracted, so she joked, "You are in love. What are you thinking about recently? Don't be distracted during the dance today."
Qin Qian wanted to say something but stopped herself, but finally decided to speak to her best friend who was all her teammates. After all, this matter had been lingering in her mind for a long time recently. Although it was already a holiday, the holiday did not allow her brain to empty. Instead, she kept asking questions and doubting herself.
So under Yuan Huiqun's earnest gaze, Qin Qian stammered and said softly, "I think..."
"Um… ?"
"Cheng Ran... likes me."
When Qin Qian said this, her already delicate stage makeup made her look even more charming, and Yuan Huiqun's eyes widened.
And when her eyes glanced at him quickly, as if she had sensed something.
Then I saw a familiar figure next to Gao Shaoning.
Not who that guy is.
I went back to my hometown during this period. It was close to the Chinese New Year and it was a special period so there was something going on every day. In addition, this plot was stuck a few days ago. There were some unclear points in the overall structure. I didn't think it through, and the details were not put into practice, so I didn't put it down.
For an author, writing something good is the greatest responsibility to the people who read the story, so sometimes, he would rather take a break and pause to tidy up and then start writing again.
After organizing the subsequent plot in this way, I have the confidence to write the next story.
The updates have been unstable recently, I'm sorry everyone.