Chapter 122 Let's open our eyes and sit together.
Qin Xiang decided to ignore the rehearsals and instead focus on designing the dance costumes. She decided to use red and white as the main colors; red was festive, and white... was inexpensive. As for the traditional aesthetic of bright red and green, she couldn't accept it. The red and white color scheme was more eye-catching and attractive.
"This batch of dance costumes were all made of Dacron. The female workers who participated in the performance wore white dresses with red bottoms, and the male workers wore white shirts and white trousers, in a looser style, and carried red flower ball ribbons."
The bright red polyester fabric produces a more vibrant color than cotton. The sixteen main dancers wear super large skirts that can be spread out with both hands to create a fan-shaped spinning dance, while the other female dancers wear skirts of normal width.
Besides the costumes for song and dance, the costumes for stage plays are also carefully designed. The white shirts worn by stage actors are all made of polyester, with a slim and simple style that is not flimsy. Male actors wearing such white shirts with green trousers can be described as handsome and dashing.
A few days later, the first batch of dance costumes was completed, and the bright red, wide skirts caught everyone's eye.
"This color is so vibrant! It's such a beautiful and pure bright red!"
"The colors produced by this polyester dye are so bright."
"Cotton fabric can't achieve this effect; these clothes are so beautiful."
...
When the sixteen female dancers, who were the main dancers, put on their large skirts and practiced, many people gathered to watch, all filled with envy.
"If a woman can wear such a beautiful dress in her lifetime, it's all worth it."
"Although this dress was given to me for free, it's too bright and I don't have a chance to wear it out."
"Are you stupid? You're saving it to wear when you get married!"
Even Li Jinling, who acts in plays, couldn't help but envy the other woman's red dress. "Sister-in-law, this red dress is so beautiful! Can our factory make red dresses again in the future?"
"Sure," Qin Xiang thought with a smile. By the 1980s, all the women on the street would be able to wear beautiful red dresses. "Our batch of red polyester is of such good quality that we should still have some left over."
"If we have any left over in the future, we'll make a few clothes for ourselves."
After all the dance costumes were made, Qin Xiangxiang felt a little relieved. Nowadays, many factories can't even make Dacron. Even if their factory only has this one red dress, it can still draw gasps from the audience... so it won't be too embarrassing.
As the competition drew closer, the actors rehearsed better and better. Xue Haiyang approached Qin Xiangxiang and said he wanted to give a full performance in front of the factory director.
"Director Qin, after everyone's tireless efforts over the past few days, our factory's program has been rehearsed. Would you like to take a look at it in its entirety?"
Qin Xiangxiang nodded.
She thought to herself, "I'll see what kind of show you guys can pull off."
That day, Xue Haiyang gathered all the actors. Only sixteen female lead dancers changed into costumes with large skirts, while the rest wore workers' clothes. Thus, more than a hundred people began to perform in front of Qin Xiangxiang.
First, there was a scene from the play "Me and My Master".
"You acted pretty well." Qin Xiangxiang laughed so hard her stomach hurt when the apprentice was slacking off earlier, but after she finished laughing, she couldn't help but feel that it was a dig at her.
Hmph, she really is that lazy.
The ending was also very touching, and Qin Xiangxiang couldn't help but applaud. Then the music started, and the next second, she saw someone do a series of somersaults to enter the arena. Qin Xiangxiang was stunned.
What are you doing? Are you doing acrobatics?
More than eighty dancers filed in, their steps perfectly synchronized. The beautiful formation was a feast for the eyes. Qin Xiangxiang stared in disbelief. "Wait, are you marching in a square formation or dancing?"
The lead dancers lifted their large skirts and began to dance.
Qin Xiangxiang was dumbfounded. For the first time, she saw a murderous aura in the dance, especially in that row—that row was definitely full of veterans!
That side somersault was so impressive!
Stand up, holy crap! Are you guys fighting with bayonets?!
Then they all lay down, and it turned into a dance of large skirts, a perfect blend of strength and grace, incomparably beautiful, leaving Qin Xiangxiang stunned.
You might say it's incongruous, but it's not incongruous at all.
But aren't these backup dancers a bit outrageous?
"My comrades are awesome!"
Qin Xiangxiang whispered, "It doesn't look messy at all, and... it's very neat."
After watching their performance, Qin Xiangxiang went back and said to Li Jianzhi, "Our factory's program... could it actually win an award?"
Li Jianzhi, holding his daughter, laughed and said, "Then your deeds will be known throughout the whole province!"
"Let's try to get first place! The prize for first place is a movie projector, right?"
Qin Xiangxiang shook his head: "Don't even dream about it. There must be something fishy going on in this kind of competition. For a small, unknown factory like ours, just making it into the top three is enough. Don't even think about getting first place."
"Don't worry about inside stories or anything like that. As long as there's applause, that's the trend. If you're destined to be number one, then you'll definitely be number one."
Two days before the performance, the factory gave all the participants a day off. Gao Rong, as one of the main dancers, returned to the family compound with her large skirt and dance costume. A group of people came to the Gou family's house to watch the excitement.
"Gao Rong, are these your dance costumes? The skirt is way too big! How much fabric did it take? How much did it cost?"
Gao Rong beamed with joy: "This is Dacron from our own factory, it's free, it's a prize we won for participating in the arts competition!"
"Why don't you put it on and dance for us?"
Unable to resist the urging of the crowd, Gao Rong changed into her dance costume and danced for everyone in front of the family building. Adults and children alike came to watch her dance.
"The clothes your factory makes are really beautiful!"
"Could your factory help make clothes for the kids' performance on New Year's Day?"
"Your dance deserves first prize!"
Gao Rong washed the dance costumes and dried them overnight. The next day, Qin Xiangxiang led all the actors from the factory to Mingzhou by boat a day in advance. Sister Gao, the head of the intelligence department of the family compound, and Zhuang Xiaoman, who had a camera, came with them, saying they wanted to see the performance.
Qin Xiangxiang brought her daughter, Suisui, along and asked Zhuang Xiaoman and Sister Gao to help look after her on the day of the competition.
A group of over a hundred people arrived in Mingzhou. There were too many of them, so they had to stay in a large dormitory-style room with ten people per room. Each person had a single bed and the room cost only 50 cents per night, which was very cheap.
That night, everyone was so excited and thrilled that they could hardly sleep.
Li Jinling: "Sister-in-law, how many people can the stadium hold? How many people will come to watch our performance?"
"There must be several thousand people, right? I've never been there either."
Gao Rong: "I'm so excited, I can't sleep at all. What if I mess up the performance?"
Qin Xiangxiang chuckled, thinking to himself, "It's good that you messed up. I'll be laughing at you guys for the rest of your lives."
Especially Assistant He, if that guy messes up, Director Qin will laugh at Gao Lishi every day!
Qin Xiangxiang said insincerely, "Gao Rong, don't worry, just jump boldly."
"Even if we don't win a prize, we will still be proud of our performance. After all, our factory's propaganda team was only recently established and none of us have any experience. It's already a great achievement that we were able to participate in the program."
"Director Qin, thank you. I feel relieved now. I'm not afraid anymore. You are truly a good director whom the people love and respect."
Gao Rong said sweetly, "The thought of sleeping in a dormitory with you, Director Qin, makes me so happy, excited, and at ease... I'm sure I'll have a good dream tonight."
Qin Xiangxiang: "??????"
"Sister-in-law, me too. I was really scared thinking about going on stage tomorrow, but the thought of you sleeping next to me tonight makes me feel so at ease."
Qin Xiangxiang's lips twitched. She didn't want to talk anymore. She closed her eyes and fell asleep peacefully.
Meanwhile, in the large dormitory area for male employees, everyone was too nervous to sleep.
"Representative Xie, I'm so nervous. What if I mess up the performance tomorrow?"
Jie Yuedong said sarcastically, "If you messed up, go back and practice more. If there are any competitions next year, you can still play!"
The man was terrified by his words: "I promise I'll jump perfectly tomorrow and make no mistakes."
"Xiao She, you're lucky. Think about it, even if this performance is a disaster, you've found a boyfriend."
Xiao She nodded and said, "That's true, but I'm afraid my girlfriend will be disappointed. She was the lead dancer, and their big skirts were so beautiful. She said that these clothes will be our wedding dresses in the future."
Wow! You are the luckiest one among us.
Xie Yuedong covered his head with his clothes, feeling extremely annoyed.
...After this song and dance rehearsal, quite a few young male employees found partners, except for him.
The next morning, before dawn, everyone got up to change clothes and put on makeup. Qin Xiangxiang became the makeup artist and led everyone to the Mingzhou Stadium before 7:30.
The stadium was already bustling with activity. Most of the seats were occupied by various performers and audience members, and there were already designated spots. Qin Xiangxiang asked Sister Gao to lead everyone to their seats, while she went to draw lots to determine the performance order for the day.
"I drew sixth place, that's a good number." Qin Xiangxiang likes even numbers.
A middle-aged woman's voice came from the side: "Our factory is number five."
The speaker was Chen Shulan, the factory director of Mingzhou Silk Weaving Factory. Director Chen looked smug and confident: "You are Qin Xiangxiang, the factory director of Feiyan Textile Factory? I've heard of you."
Factory Director Chen thought regretfully that Feiyan Textile Factory was really in big trouble behind their factory's back; this time, their silk weaving factory's performance would definitely be number one.
“Our factory has a song and dance performance, let’s show Director Qin what it’s like! Let’s sit together.”
Qin Xiangxiang: "Okay, we'll put on a show for you at our factory then."
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