Chapter 41 A high-speed train roared in from afar. ...
"Is this the script that Director Qin sent over?"
Lu Xiaoqi sat down curiously, reached out and picked up the bound booklet on the coffee table. The cover of the booklet had a few characters in regular script: "Treading on Golden Lotus".
She opened it and took a look.
Compared to stage plays, dance dramas tend to have simpler scripts and stories, with less dialogue. Much of the emotion and content is conveyed through dance movements. This is also true of "Treading on the Golden Lotus."
It tells the story of Zhao Feiyan, a young girl who enters the residence of Princess Yang'a as a dancer at the end of the Han Dynasty. She develops feelings for Fang Zichun, a nobleman, but during a dance performance, she catches the eye of Emperor Cheng of Han, Liu Ao, and is brought into the palace as a concubine. The young lovers are forced to part ways with great pain.
Zhao Feiyan felt lonely and vulnerable upon entering the palace, constantly facing crises. She then introduced her younger sister, Zhao Hede, to the palace. Hede gained favor, and from then on, the two sisters rose rapidly in rank.
Meanwhile, Fang Zichun, longing for Zhao Feiyan, entered the palace as the emperor's guard. The two met but dared not recognize each other. Later, Empress Xu, Zhao Feiyan's enemy, learned of this and plotted to frame her. To prove Zhao Feiyan's innocence, Fang Zichun willingly faced death. Deeply traumatized, Zhao Feiyan transformed into the ruthless Zhen Huan, ultimately ascending to the position of empress.
However, being second only to the emperor and above thousands of others, looking back around, one finds that the higher one climbs, the colder it gets.
While reading the script, Lu Xiaoqi sometimes frowned, sometimes leaned back, and sometimes felt a jolt in her heart.
She seemed to see the shadows of countless melodramatic novels from Green River Literature. Fortunately, the scriptwriter had some skill, and the lines were quite good. With mixed feelings, she put it down and secretly glanced at Zhao Feiyan a few times. Thankfully, she seemed to be in a stable mood for now.
Zhao Feiyan naturally noticed her actions and smiled: "Xiao Lu thought I would be angry? Don't worry, I've seen even more outrageous things."
She was too embarrassed to tell them that after she became proficient at using a mobile phone, she secretly searched her own name, and a bunch of articles written by TV series, novels and history enthusiasts popped up.
In these stories, she was sometimes a naive girl who was forcibly taken from her, sometimes a wicked woman full of ambition and wicked schemes, and sometimes a lustful harlot... At first, her feelings were naturally very complicated, but after searching through other people's stories, she became quite calm.
Even the First Emperor of the previous dynasty was portrayed as a deeply affectionate man who was infatuated with love. The current Marquis of Champion, a genius of unparalleled talent, could fall in love with a Xiongnu girl. So what is there for her to be angry about?
Shrug.
Only Liu Chan looked completely bewildered: "Angry? Angry about what?"
"It's nothing." Lu Xiaoqi waved her hand to tell him not to worry about it, and changed the subject, saying to Zhao Feiyan, "Although this script is a bit cliché, I think it's alright. Nowadays, audiences actually like this kind of drama."
Including her.
"And I've looked into it, and Director Qin's choreography is really good, so maybe this time it will actually work."
Even if it's not feasible, we have to accept it.
Zhao Feiyan nodded; she had no objection.
Upon hearing this, Liu Chan jumped up: "No way? You guys are really planning to take this?"
He has absolutely no faith in this project; if the goal is to generate viewership, a dating reality show would be better. Although it's a dance drama, they could consider other dance variety shows; it doesn't necessarily have to be Qin Shaohua's.
“You need to think this through. This show will be going on tour soon, and we'll be changing cities every few days. It'll be exhausting. Why don't we just stay in Qinghe and make this online celebrity job bigger and better? If you want to dance, I can find you another dance program.”
Liu Chan spoke earnestly and patiently.
Zhao Feiyan and Lu Xiaoqi exchanged a glance.
He didn't understand that no matter how tiring or unprofitable this dance drama was, Zhao Feiyan still had to go!
Lu Xiaoqi had pondered Zhao Feiyan's desire to continue being empress. At the time, the system vaguely said that there's always a way out, and even obsessions can be resolved. She wondered if it would work if Zhao Feiyan were portrayed as empress in artistic works, such as TV dramas, movies, or musicals, as long as it resonated with audiences?
She asked the system, but it ignored her. Lu Xiaoqi took it as a tacit agreement.
She gave up on TV dramas and movies; the investments were too large, the roles were limited, and she had no connections in the film and television industry—it was too difficult. Her idea was to wait until Qinghe Ancient Town opened for business, then find someone to stage a song and dance performance, and have Zhao Feiyan play the role of an empress in it.
Taking it slow and steady might work.
Zhao Feiyan naturally knew what she was thinking.
So this dance drama was like a golden opportunity for them.
"She has to act! She absolutely has to act!" Lu Xiaoqi stood up and patted Liu Chan's shoulder forcefully. "Our Sister Zhao should play Zhao Feiyan. By the way, do you know Zhao Feiyan's real name?"
Liu Chan: "...Isn't that Zhao Feiyan?"
Lu Xiaoqi gave him a disdainful look and withdrew her hand: "You're so uncultured! Let me tell you, Zhao Feiyan's original name in history was Zhao Yizhu. She was called Zhao Feiyan because her dancing resembled a flying swallow."
Liu Chan opened her mouth in surprise: "Then Sister Zhao...?"
Zhao Feiyan always presented herself to them under her real name.
"So you're saying this isn't fate?" Lu Xiaoqi looked into his eyes and said earnestly, "Heaven destined Sister Zhao to dance and play the role of Zhao Feiyan in her life! She was bound to become famous!"
Like many young people today, Liu Chan would choose to burn incense between going to school and going to work.
Therefore, upon hearing Lu Xiaoqi's words, he trembled, his eyes shifting suspiciously between Zhao Feiyan and Lu Xiaoqi: "So amazing?"
It really does sound like a destiny ordained by heaven!
“So we absolutely have to take this on.” Lu Xiaoqi handed the task to him. “You’re worried the dance drama won’t be a hit? Then make it a hit! With your sister Zhao’s current popularity, are you worried about ticket sales? We can even invest a little, fix the costumes and props, and then promote it online…”
She has money now, but it's not enough to invest in TV dramas and movies. Investing in a dance drama should be fine though...right?
Liu Chan was inspired by her words and suddenly realized that they made sense; if handled properly, they might actually work...
"What do you mean, 'okay'?!" He snapped out of his daze, glaring at his increasingly pie-in-the-sky boss. "Director Qin is just inviting Sister Zhao to audition. Wake up!"
Don't talk about this character as if she's already Sister Zhao!
......
Qin Shaohua rushed from Hangzhou to Qinghe City.
She felt very uneasy.
When her teacher, Wang Ying, recommended Zhao Yizhu to her, she carefully watched all of Zhao Feiyan's videos and was already half convinced of her abilities. The other half was because videos, unlike live performances, can be edited and reshot countless times, while a live performance only offers one chance.
The two demonstrated completely different strengths.
Not to mention that Zhao Feiyan appeared out of nowhere and had absolutely no reputation in the domestic dance world. Nobody knew whether she was good enough to carry a dance drama that lasted for more than an hour.
Therefore, when she contacted the other party, she required that they must try jumping a section first, and only if they passed could they proceed.
However, the other party might not be interested in such audition invitations, after all, they are all internet celebrities with millions of followers. Some time ago, Shi Xia, the mainstay of her dance troupe and originally slated to play Zhao Feiyan, broke her contract and left because she signed with an MCN agency in Hangzhou and wanted to become an internet celebrity.
When Qin Shaohua sent the email, she was even pessimistic, thinking that the other party might reject her outright.
Unexpectedly, the other party agreed, only requesting that they didn't want to travel far and only wanted the audition to be held in Qinghe City. Of course, she agreed. Let alone just Qinghe City, she'd have to fly there even if it were abroad.
Zhao Feiyan and Lu Xiaoqi were also very satisfied, which shows Director Qin's sincerity.
Qin Shaohua was amazed when she saw Zhao Feiyan; it seemed the girl's videos online were completely unfiltered. She also noticed her figure—long arms, long legs, and a slender waist—truly a perfect physique for dancing, and she would look stunning in dance costumes.
She started to get excited.
Qin Shaohua's gaze was direct, but the appreciation in her eyes was pure and unadulterated. Zhao Feiyan wasn't offended; instead, she recalled several musicians from the palace who had once been just like that—without any desires, simply immersed in their art. Every time she collaborated with them, she was able to push her own boundaries.
Zhao Feiyan felt that perhaps she had finally met the right person this time.
"Then shall we skip this part?"
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Qin Shaohua got straight to the point. She brought a rehearsal video from the dance troupe, watched it with Zhao Feiyan, and then pointed to a segment and spoke.
Zhao Feiyan raised her eyebrows slightly. This section was rather mediocre in the entire dance drama, but it demanded a high level of basic skills. Having experienced palace intrigue, she was adept at understanding others' thoughts. She guessed that Director Qin was probably going easy on her; if her basic skills were up to par, the matter would likely be settled.
It seems that finding the female lead was quite difficult.
She smiled and said, "Shall we dance this part?"
Zhao Feiyan dragged her mouse to the last section. This section depicted Zhao Feiyan, about to become empress, dancing gracefully on a golden lotus under the moon, reminiscing about her past life and her lost innocence and lover. This was the climax of the entire play, requiring not only extremely high technical skill but also profound emotional expression. She could tell that the dancer in the video was only so-so, barely passable in her eyes.
Qin Shaohua frowned: "Isn't this part a bit too difficult? You haven't rehearsed it before."
According to her plan, if Zhao Yizhu could pass the audition, she would work hard to learn this segment in rehearsals after joining the group. Perhaps in the end, she could only reach the level of Shi Xia in the video, or perhaps even less.
She couldn't help but feel that the girl in front of her was a bit too ambitious.
Zhao Feiyan tapped her slender fingers on the computer screen, turned to look at her, her eyes gentle and warm, but her words were firm: "Yes, dance this part. I happen to have a small drum in my practice room that I can use."
Looking at her, Qin Shaohua suddenly couldn't bring herself to refuse.
She gritted her teeth and said, "Fine, then I'll dance to this part."
Inside the training room.
As melodious music filled the air, Qin Shaohua's cameraman and Zhao Feiyan's assistant, who had been following her closely, faithfully recorded everything that happened on set.
She moved gracefully, like a bird startled by the moon, and then lightly leaped onto the small drum, which was no bigger than a round plate on a dining table, as if the drumhead was her home.
This drum meant nothing to Zhao Feiyan; she had even danced in the palm of a man's hand.
At this moment, she spins and leaps on the drumhead, which is only a small space, sometimes lightly touching it with her toes and sometimes stomping it heavily, making the drumhead produce sounds that are either light or heavy, in harmony with the music.
Qin Shaohua almost stepped forward, her hands tightly gripping the pen, her eyes gleaming.
She could almost imagine how beautiful it would be when Zhao Yizhu stepped on her specially made golden lotus prop, the sound of which mingled with the music and dance.
Zhao Feiyan threw herself into it wholeheartedly. She recalled the moment she ascended the throne as Empress, feeling both excitement and bewilderment, but mostly relief. At least she had survived this ordeal and could now live a better life.
As for love... she had also grown weary of it, and the young, handsome guards in the palace became a source of amusement in her spare time. She and her sister Hede would privately discuss who was more handsome.
She had her eye on one of them. Although they only occasionally exchanged glances, it was interesting enough to brighten her otherwise dull and stressful life. Unfortunately, the guard soon joined the army and later news came that he had been killed in action.
Zhao Feiyan's dance evoked a sense of subtle sadness and melancholy.
Qin Shaohua was satisfied; too much sadness would be pretentious, so this was just right.
She was amazed by how quickly Zhao Feiyan learned the movements; she had only watched a few times, yet she had already almost perfectly executed them. She also keenly noticed that Zhao Feiyan had slightly modified a few connecting movements, which was probably not a mistake but rather a deliberate act, because with her modifications, the overall movement actually looked smoother and more graceful.
The music stopped, and it was over.
Zhao Feiyan jumped down, as light and agile as a bird.
"How are you?" she asked, slightly out of breath.
Qin Shaohua took a deep breath and smiled from ear to ear.
The subsequent negotiations went very smoothly.
As Qin Shaohua was leaving, she suddenly remembered something and asked Zhao Feiyan, "Miss Zhao, why did you think of naming your video account 'Zhao Yizhu'?"
Could he be a history buff who loves Zhao Feiyan?
Zhao Feiyan brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and smiled, "Because my name is Zhao Yizhu."
......
"Are you going to Hangzhou next week?" Lu Xiaoqi asked, a little reluctant to see him go.
Liu Chan nodded: "They're in a rush to go on tour. If Sister Zhao can come along, then the tour won't have to be postponed. The fee has already been agreed upon, calculated per show, six thousand per show." He paused for a moment, "This price is already very, very high for their industry."
He found it somewhat unbelievable. By that calculation, she could only earn 30,000 to 40,000 yuan a month performing six shows during her tour, which was nothing compared to what an internet celebrity could earn. Moreover, she didn't receive any performance fees during the two months of rehearsal, only a basic salary.
It takes many, many years of hard work to earn such a small amount of money, and they still have to rely on their looks and talent... Liu Chan felt a little sorry for those young dance students.
Lu Xiaoqi: "No wonder they say you shouldn't study art if you don't have money."
Ironically, this is the complete opposite of what happened in ancient times.
"Did you discuss our potential investment with Director Qin?"
They had previously agreed that if they were optimistic about the dance drama, Zhao Feiyan would join the production with her own investment. The tour was scheduled for the second half of the year, before the opening of Qinghe Ancient Town, which would provide a good opportunity for publicity and also allow Zhao Feiyan to live a more comfortable life in the dance troupe.
Now, Zhao Feiyan and the others are no longer just summoned system NPCs to Lu Xiaoqi, but friends.
Liu Chan: "We chatted, and Director Qin was very happy."
As the two were chatting, Lu Xiaoqi's phone rang; it was Ren Zhijiao.
Lu Xiaoqi's eyes lit up with joy, and she immediately answered the phone: "Sister Ren!"
"I've made progress on what you asked me to find," Ren Zhijiao's cheerful voice came from inside. "It's in Anping County, not far from Qinghe Ancient Town."
Previously, Lu Xiaoqi had mobilized everyone to find a suitable site for building a brick kiln, and naturally, she shamelessly called Ren Zhijiao to ask her to help find one as well. However, she knew that Ren Zhijiao had only recently been transferred here and probably wasn't familiar with the area, so she didn't have high hopes. Who knew, Ren Zhijiao gave her a pleasant surprise.
“That place used to be a small brick factory, used for firing bricks. It was originally built by a few villagers to make bricks for building houses in nearby villages. It wasn’t very big. Later, the houses in those villages were almost finished, and the bricks couldn’t be sold to other places, so it went out of business. If you want to see it, I can take you there.”
One of the clerks in Ren Zhijiao's office was from that village, and when he learned that she was looking for a kiln, he thought of that place.
Lu Xiaoqi was overjoyed and arranged for Ren Zhijiao to bring the Zhang brothers to the site that afternoon.
That place isn't far from Qinghe Ancient Town, about ten miles away, on the outskirts of a village. The houses in the village are quite nice, mostly two or three stories high, but there aren't many people, mostly elderly.
“The location here is still relatively remote. Most of the young people have gone to work in Qinghe City and the provincial capital, and some have even moved to the county for their children’s education,” Ren Zhijiao lamented. “The village primary school has been closed down, and there will be more and more villages like this in the future.”
The small brick factory they wanted to see was also a product of ten years ago, overgrown with weeds and long abandoned. It was a village-owned factory, and it's said that after it went bankrupt, the village wanted to reclaim the land to build a new primary school, but the approval was never granted. Unexpectedly, a few years later, even the primary school disappeared. This piece of land has thus been preserved.
In this fast-paced era, ten years is enough time for a lot to happen.
Although the brick factory was small, it had everything it needed. The Zhang brothers inspected it and thought it was a good place; with a few minor modifications, it could be used directly. Ren Zhijiao then took Lu Xiaoqi to the village committee to discuss the matter.
The village committee was delighted to hear that the delegation came from the city's Bureau of Culture and Tourism and that the nearby Qinghe Ancient Town had come to rent the venue.
“The rent is negotiable,” the village committee secretary said with a friendly smile, rubbing his hands together. “But, if you want to open a factory, will you need any help?”
Most of the young people under forty in their village have left, but there are still some middle-aged people around fifty years old. Moreover, these people often have low levels of education and can only do manual labor when they go out. So many of them simply choose to come back and do farm work, and their economic situation is generally average.
"But don't worry, although they are a bit older, they are all used to farm work, they have a lot of strength, and they can endure more hardship than the young people." The village committee secretary said, getting a little impatient towards the end.
Ren Zhijiao quickly said, "Don't rush, tell me slowly."
Lu Xiaoqi pulled the Zhang brothers aside and asked if they needed any help later. The Zhang brothers laughed and said, "Of course we do, we were just about to tell you. Making tiles is hard work, how can two people do it?"
Moreover, the people of Xiangjia Village are all busy with their own things right now, so they probably don't have time to come over.
They did the math: "Refining clay, throwing pottery, loading the kiln, tending the fire... all in all, we'll need at least a dozen people."
With that, the village committee secretary received a satisfactory answer and rented the brick factory to Qinghe Ancient Town at a low price, on the condition that they create at least ten jobs for the village. It was also agreed that if any villager slacked off, they would be punished or dismissed as appropriate.
Everyone was happy.
Lu Xiaoqi has directly experienced how cultural tourism projects can boost local employment; if done well, it's truly a win-win situation.
Just as they were leaving the village, Ren Zhijiao asked her, "Will there be many shops in that ancient town by then? Have the investment agreements been finalized?"
She shook her head: "Not so early."
“Okay,” Ren Zhijiao nodded. “You can consider allocating a few shops to bring in some local intangible cultural heritage artisans to support the development of our local traditional culture.”
She paused for a moment: "There are subsidies available."
Lu Xiaoqi's heart stirred. The idea that had been vaguely present in the depths of her mind slowly surfaced after Ren Zhijiao's words, and seemed to become clearer.
She nodded emphatically: "I will."
It's not just about getting subsidies.
......
After leaving the brick factory, Lu Xiaoqi had already completed her weekly tasks. It was only Friday, and the new weekly tasks wouldn't be issued until Monday.
Before that, they needed to go to the high-speed rail station to see Zhao Feiyan off.
She will take the high-speed train to Hangzhou in the afternoon to begin two months of rehearsals, and if all goes well, she will seamlessly transition into the tour.
"I never expected that you would be the first to walk out." Sister-in-law Song said with some sadness.
They were all born in Qinghe and had expressed a desire to explore the world, but were always delayed by other matters. Unexpectedly, the first one to leave Qinghe was Zhao Feiyan, who appeared to be the most delicate and frail among them.
Zhao Feiyan smiled and said, "It was just a coincidence. Hangzhou isn't far from here; it only takes a little over an hour by high-speed rail. I'll come back often."
She herself isn't afraid of traveling far. She survived such hardship as a child fleeing famine, so now she's living in paradise.
“We can come see you too!” Lu Xiaoqi said excitedly.
Why didn't she think of that? She could have easily organized a trip under the guise of company team building!
Xiao Li, the girl from the self-media department who had been filming Zhao Feiyan, accompanied her. This time, she would act as Zhao Feiyan's assistant, mainly for work purposes, still responsible for filming the entire process and producing video content. With her there, Lu Xiaoqi felt at ease.
The group escorted Zhao Feiyan into the waiting hall and only planned to leave after she disappeared from sight. Lu Xiaoqi, however, pulled them to a covered walkway next to the high-speed rail station.
"Come on, let me show you something interesting."
Now that she couldn't see people off at the platform anymore, she still wanted to show them what a high-speed train looks like arriving at the station, since they were already there. Lu Xiaoqi felt like she was showing off to her ancestors: Look, we made something amazing, right?!
The covered bridge connects the station square with the park behind the high-speed rail station, and you can clearly see the platform from it.
Su Jun saw the train tracks stretching to the horizon, and the enormous white steel behemoths lying silently on them. Compared to them, humans were as small as ants, and these "little ants" hurriedly went in and out of their bodies with suitcases.
The shock was overwhelming; his throat tightened, and he couldn't speak.
A train whistle sounded, and a high-speed train roared in from afar.
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