Chapter 18 Part 2

"The Western drama that influences us today began to diverge after the Renaissance, becoming opera, ballet, poetic drama, and so on. But our Huaxia opera is just the opposite. It incorporates various arts that have existed since ancient times, integrating poetry, painting, music, and dance into one.

"This inclusiveness is an ancient symbol and a characteristic of our Huaxia. Therefore, I believe it can also accommodate the arts of color and sculpture, such as mechanisms and sets. It is like the emergence of the fountain pen; if innovation is inevitable, we might as well try to make it conform to the Huaxia artistic conception. Otherwise, if other forms of entertainment become more and more exquisite in the future, what will become of opera?"

When Zou Muyun heard Ji Shuangyu's understanding of the opera stage, his expression softened considerably. He knew it; someone who understood calligraphy would definitely understand this kind of traditional beauty. This was indeed the reason he wanted the stage to be 'old-fashioned'—because he didn't want to see its unique style destroyed.

"What you say is not without reason, but how difficult it is!" Zou Muyun's mind was filled with the chaotic new and old stages he had seen, and it was truly difficult to have confidence.

Ji Shuangyu seized the opportunity, "The new Kunqu opera at our Changle Theater tomorrow, 'The Record of Sympathetic Joy,' aims for precisely this. If you all have time, please come and see it, to judge whether this junior has found the right path."

Ji Shuangyu's eloquence, honed from persuading investors, was too inflammatory. Coupled with his favorable impression of him, Zou Muyun finally nodded reluctantly, "Alright, I'll go and take a look then."

He thought to himself, if Ji Shuangyu's design was too outlandish, he should really persuade him to change jobs. With such good calligraphy, where couldn't he go?

Principal Sun of Jingming, however, was thinking to himself: Ji Shuangyu had mentioned the development of Western drama in a few sentences. It sounded like he also had some understanding of world theater history. It seemed that although he studied old plays, his knowledge was very broad, and there was no sense in his tone of treating new and old plays as hostile to each other.

Ji Shuangyu was completely unaware. In his heart, Huaxia's traditional opera and modern drama were not adversarial but learned from and promoted each other, letting a hundred flowers bloom. He only thought to himself: 'Great, sold a few more tickets!'

The performance was now nearing its end. While others weren't paying attention, Zhou Siyin leaned close to Ji Shuangyu's ear and said, "Do you want a one-time buyout fee for your manuscript, or a royalty commission..."

Ji Shuangyu immediately became even more attentive than when he was selling tickets. He leaned his body very close to Zhou Siyin and asked with concern, "What's the percentage for the royalty fee?"

Royalty fee was just royalties. For example, if a book was priced at one yuan and the royalty was 10%, the author would get one jiao for every copy sold.

Zhou Siyin shifted away a little unnaturally. When Ji Shuangyu moved even slightly, he would instinctively become alert. "In the future, the use of fountain pens will become more and more common. And, I have you to thank for before. For that masthead, I had originally commissioned Tan You'an and prepared five thousand. So, if it's you, this royalty fee..."

Ji Shuangyu: "Wait, five thousand???"

Key information acquired. Good heavens, and he thought he had gotten a huge bargain.

Ji Shuangyu's eyes were practically bleeding, filled with jealousy for his peer and envy for the boss. Sob, sob, sob, he got five thousand, I got fifty. "And you said you had high hopes for me. It was all just sweet talk. You're a liar, a crooked merchant, a coward..."

Zhou Siyin: "..."

The more he listened??? That last word???

Zhou Siyin: "Let me finish. The royalty is 25%."

At this time, the royalties for famous writers were mostly between 10% and 25%. For example, Shu Wangyan calculated his fees twice: once per thousand words during serialization, and then again at a 30% royalty rate for the collected publication, which was extremely high.

From this, one could see how high the royalty fee Ji Shuangyu was getting was...

Although the crooked merchant was crooked, he knew how to win people over!

Ji Shuangyu's mood was truly like a sun shower, changing from one moment to the next. He looked at Zhou Siyin, his expression not yet having had time to adjust.

Zhou Siyin's heart stirred, and he asked softly, "How long will this renewal last?"

Just as Ji Shuangyu was about to answer, Principal Sun next to them said with a chuckle, "What are you young men whispering about? Don't be bickering now."

He saw that Ji Shuangyu's expression was off and was afraid that he had been angered by Zhou Siyin's temper, so he interjected lightly. After all, everyone had witnessed Department Head Zou's high regard for Ji Shuangyu.

Ji Shuangyu suddenly grabbed Zhou Siyin's hand and said emotionally, "No, I was just saying that Mr. Zhou is loyal and sincere, truly my best friend!!"

Zhou Siyin: "..."

Principal Sun: "..."

......

.

The next day, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

After the charity performance last night, Ji Shuangyu had to go back and take care of the children. He was so tired he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. In the morning, he walked into the Changle Theater yawning, and Xu Xinyue rushed over, saying incoherently, "Do you know? Do you know!!"

Ji Shuangyu also said excitedly, "I don't know!!"

Xu Xinyue: "..."

Ji Shuangyu calmly retracted his expression, "Boss, what are you doing?"

Ever since discovering they were being targeted by the theater across the street, Xu Xinyue had been in a constant state of anxiety, peeking out the door every day to observe them secretly.

He said nervously, "I found out, they're going to have flying immortals. I just asked the person who delivers water to them. He accidentally saw their device. I've seen it in Hushang; the actors can fly in the air. Think about it, what kind of play are we staging? Their immortals are flying in the sky, while ours are running on the stage. There's no comparison, we've lost, we've lost!!"

Ji Shuangyu just said, "It's a slide rail. I used one too, for the props. I asked you for money the second time and bought it, didn't I give you an itemized list?"

At the mention of the itemized list, Xu Xinyue's heart ached reflexively. He didn't dare to look at it at all. Ji Shuangyu had asked for money several more times—even though he had already increased the budget compared to last time, this person was like a bottomless pit! Madly demanding money!

But now was not the time to feel heartbroken about this...

Xu Xinyue said with pain and disbelief, "You, you know how? Then why didn't you use it for Jin Que!" What a waste to use it on props, it would have been great if we had a flying immortal too.

Ji Shuangyu: "I don't like it."

A curse word got stuck in Xu Xinyue's throat. His expression became more and more distorted, as if he was about to strangle Ji Shuangyu in the next second. But perhaps realizing it was the last day and it was too late for regrets, he finally just threw his head back and let out a crazed howl.

Ji Shuangyu: "..."

Xu Xinyue's mind was filled with 'it's over'. The Oriole Song Stage had advertised a lot beforehand, introducing their sets and emphasizing that there were more surprises to enjoy inside. It seemed this flying immortal was one of them, which meant that even this wasn't their liveliest or most spectacular mechanism.

Xu Xinyue had never seen the other mechanisms, no one had seen them with their own eyes. There were only the words of the advertisement as proof, but he had seen that flying effect before.

The person at the counter heard the howl and cautiously peeked out, "Is the boss alright?"

"He should be fine." Ji Shuangyu waved his hand in front of Xu Xinyue's face, "Boss?"

Xu Xinyue took out a jiao from his pocket, handed it to Ji Shuangyu, and begged for his comfort, "Tell me, can we succeed this time?"

Ji Shuangyu turned his head to the counter and said, "It's bad, the boss has gone crazy!"

Xu Xinyue: "..."

......

By the afternoon, the audience had begun to enter the theater.

This was the first day of the performance, and also the most crucial day. All eyes were on them. Whether they could achieve a successful opening would directly determine its reputation. Many people who couldn't get tickets for the first day, or didn't have much money, would just wait for the first day's reviews to come out before deciding which play to see.

Zhang Dinghu came, Shu Wangyan came, and Zou Muyun and his friends also came.

High-ranking officials like Zou Muyun usually summoned actors to perform at private banquets, singing at their homes. They only came to the theater in person to support an actor. Of course, today he came incognito because he still had some doubts and was only giving Ji Shuangyu a chance.

And Zhou Siyin, of course, was also present. He was not in the same box as Shu Wangyan, nor in the same box as Zou Muyun.

Strictly speaking, Zhou Siyin didn't even have a ticket!

The Changle Theater's box office was booming. The first day he passed by, he didn't want to seem too anxious, so he didn't ask Driver Hu to buy tickets. As a result, he couldn't get any the next day.

Zou Muyun returned late, and the official box seats had been snatched up long ago by many of Jingcheng's socialites. With the show about to start, it was impossible to get one. But he had friends, so he just squeezed into his old friend's box, which was already overcrowded.

Zhou Siyin couldn't squeeze into this official box, nor could he squeeze into Shu Wangyan's box, as Shu Wangyan had also brought his whole family.

Fortunately, Ji Shuangyu said he could solve the seating problem and led him out.

Zhou Siyin followed Ji Shuangyu all the way to the very front, thinking, 'Could it be that he saved a front-row seat for me? That would mean Ji Shuangyu knows how to treat people. The renewal fee was worth it after all.'

But when they reached the front row, Ji Shuangyu didn't stop. He led Zhou Siyin directly to a spot next to the accompanying musicians and gave him a stool, "Sit here."

Zhou Siyin: "..."

Zhou Siyin looked at Ji Shuangyu in disbelief.

Ji Shuangyu: "Don't mind that it's simple. It's not easy to get a seat now, we really can't squeeze any more in. Our boss has sold tickets for every possible spot. Who told you, a big boss, to come see a play without buying a ticket in advance?"

Zhou Siyin's mouth moved twice, but he didn't say anything and reluctantly sat down.

"That's because... I mainly came today to discuss a money-making business with you," Zhou Siyin said.

"Money-making..." Ji Shuangyu said strangely, "We already talked about the copybook. Are you talking about another one?"

Zhou Siyin nodded, "The copybook is settled, so it's a good time to bring up the other matter I've planned. When the Ministry of Education promotes the fountain pen copybook in the future, won't this type of fountain pen you specially ground be the perfect match? We can offer a discount for buying it as a set."

Ji Shuangyu exclaimed, "Holy cow!" Not bad, boss. Thinking three steps ahead for every one step taken. So it was a combo punch!

Zhou Siyin said, "The fountain pen you gave me, I took it to a manufacturer's craftsman to ask. It is possible to mass-produce it, it just requires multiple experiments. If you're interested, I'll take you to meet the manufacturer after the play to discuss this matter."

"I'm willing, I'm willing, of course I'm willing." Ji Shuangyu repeatedly praised Zhou Siyin, "Mr. Zhou, you are truly audacious, chivalrous and righteous, a man of great integrity!"

Zhou Siyin: "..."

Zhou Siyin: "...I feel like you're deliberately insulting me."

"I'm treating you as a friend, just making a joke!" Ji Shuangyu said with a laugh.

After several interactions, Zhou Siyin really was a pretty good person. As a businessman, he was very ethical, and personally, his values were very upright. Since Ji Shuangyu had leverage over him, even his one sharp tongue couldn't be used against him; instead, he was the one being teased. Not bad at all!

Zhou Siyin snorted lightly after hearing this.

By this time, the musicians for both the civil and martial scenes had arrived and taken their seats one after another. Some family members of other staff also brought small stools to watch the excitement.

—That's right. Anyone who had seen a few plays knew that this area was generally reserved for family members or colleagues and was not a formal seat.

"I have to go direct now." Seeing this, Ji Shuangyu quickly waved to Zhou Siyin and ran off.

He couldn't stop them in time. The group of family members had already surrounded him, lifting the hems of their thick cotton jackets and sitting down one by one. "Hey, please move your feet—whose family are you with?"

Zhou Siyin: "..."

So Zhou Siyin sat, hugging his overcoat, his long legs tucked in, squeezed between several women, children, and old men, and began to watch the play...

......

A thick front curtain covered the stage. The musicians were in place. The good show was about to begin.

"The Record of Sympathetic Joy" was about Lady Yunxiao, one of the Three Immortal Aunts of Sympathetic Joy, who wanted to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday. Not being very popular, Lady Yunxiao didn't have a good gift, so she had to rack her brains to borrow a little something from various gods, by coaxing or tricking. It was lively and full of laughs.

Finally, she managed to gather a sleeveful of gifts to offer to the Queen Mother, but who knew she would trip and fall, scattering them all into the mortal world, filling it with blessings and prosperity.

The Oriole Song Stage across the street started at almost the same time. After its new renovation, it had a very Western style, with marble decorations and Roman columns inside. The stage was set with countless mechanisms: flying rigs, aerial rings, rollers, teeterboards... it had everything.

Looking at the high slide rail device and the beautiful but heavy dance skirt, which was weighted down by mechanisms, the lead actress quickly took a sip of wine to steel her nerves.

She fastened the flying wire and, accompanied by music, flew out from behind the opening curtain, leaving the audience dumbfounded. This stage was much higher than an ordinary stage, a full eighteen feet high!

In such a tall space, the lead actress's newly made colorful skirt was dotted with points of light, as if she were embracing the stars and the moon. Coupled with her graceful figure, the audience immediately let out excited cheers, feeling that this trip was well worth it, and looked forward to her performing more tricks.

To perform in the air, her skills must be incredible.

Everyone stared intently at the lead actress's movements. Under the strong lights, high up in the "clouds," the beautiful dan actress felt even more nervous. She tried her best to deliver every line, but her throat felt tight, and her stage experience told her that her voice was not in good condition.

However, the cheers from the audience were so enthusiastic, coaxing her to perform the next move. How well she sang seemed to be completely disregarded by everyone, as long as her flips were beautiful enough, as long as the set was gorgeous enough...

Across the street, the Changle Theater had also begun.

The front curtain slowly parted, revealing a layer of gauze behind it. On it was a line of large, ink-splashed characters, with sinuous lines and a structure full of indescribable tension, looking more like a painting than writing.

The soft stage lights shone down like the thin morning mist as a dan actress gracefully entered. She had a hibiscus-like face, her eyes dark and spirited, and she held an ink lotus in her hand. The moment her face was revealed, the audience was utterly captivated.

It was Jin Que.