Chapter 73 - 72: A Spectacular Performance

Chapter 73: Chapter 72: A Spectacular Performance

"Dear visitors, good morning!

Welcome to Lin Xian Village in Wuyuan County. We hope you have a wonderful and enjoyable time.

Today, the artistic troupes of Wuyuan County will present a spectacular show for all of you.

First up is the Youth Vitality Dance Troupe, and they will be performing ’The Dance of Life’ for us.

Our girls are taking the stage! Folks, let’s give them a warm round of applause! And now, the stage is theirs."

CLAP CLAP CLAP...

The girls, dressed in fiery red outfits flecked with glittering gold, rushed onto the stage and spread out.

The music began. First, a long, colorful ribbon was thrown into the air by the lead dancer.

The dancers behind her leaped up, forming perfectly synchronized splits in mid-air, and began to move with the music.

Lin Feng heard someone next to him shout, "Yeah! That move was beautiful!"

"The choreography for this dance is great. The movements are so fluid, yet full of power."

"Holy crap! That jump was at least one and a half meters high! Their flexibility is incredible."

The initial, high-energy, fast-paced dance began to slow down, and each performer’s movements started to diverge.

The next part of the performance made Lin Feng understand why the dance was called ’The Dance of Life.’ It used dance to portray the three stages of life: youth, middle age, and old age.

When the dance ended, the tourists burst into applause, and many of the younger people cheered.

"The tourists seem very satisfied. That dance was genuinely good; it really portrayed the three stages of life."

"Yeah. If they performed it at night with costume changes, it would probably look amazing."

The host quickly returned to the stage and said, "Folks, did you enjoy the girls’ performance? Were you satisfied?

From your enthusiastic applause, I can tell you were very happy and satisfied!

Alright, let’s all settle down. Next, let’s welcome the Wuyuan County Folk Song Choir for our second performance! Let’s give the choir members a round of applause as they take the stage!"

The performers in this folk song choir were older; the youngest was over thirty.

The songs were local folk tunes, accompanied by a live band. The lead singer was also a director from the county choir.

Lin Feng noticed that the middle-aged and elderly audience members loved this act, but the younger people weren’t too interested.

’That’s not too surprising,’ he thought. ’Young people chase trends and fads. As you get older, you find yourself starting to like the same things your parents did. Life experience changes a person’s tastes.’

’Of course, it would be nearly impossible for this act to become a permanent fixture in Lin Xian Village. It wasn’t that Lin Feng was unwilling, but that many of the performers had their own full-time jobs.’

’They were brought here today mainly to see if the tourists liked them. If so, the county planned to organize the choir for a performance every weekend.’

"Let’s give our performers a warm round of applause! Thank you so much for bringing us this authentic folk song performance from Wuyuan County.

Next up is a very niche performance from Wuyuan County, something I’m sure none of you have ever seen before.

Let’s give a big round of applause to the Clay Figure Performance Ensemble as they take the stage to perform ’The Ancient Ritual’! Try not to get too spooked by their performance!"

"Wow! The last time I saw a performance like this was over a decade ago. I can’t believe it hasn’t died out."

"This is actually a bit creepy. With this color scheme, I’d be genuinely scared if I were watching it at night."

"What a morbid performance. I love it, though. I wonder what it would look like if they went clubbing in those outfits?"

When this tourist made the comment, the people around them almost burst out laughing. It seems anything can be turned into a dance party.

Everyone quickly quieted down. The tourists realized this performance wasn’t so simple; it seemed to be a kind of ancient ritual.

The oppressive, solemn atmosphere made everyone afraid to even breathe too heavily.

As the performance neared its end, the atmosphere on stage grew even more somber.

"We thank the mountains for their bounty, we thank the sun for its brilliance, we thank the wind and rain for their nourishment. We thank the rivers, the earth, and the legacy of our ancestors, that we may continue on..."

Just as the ritual dance concluded, an ancient chant rang out, and the atmosphere suddenly turned joyous.

"Let us sing to celebrate the harvest! Let us rejoice to celebrate new life! Let us welcome a bright future together! DUM DUM..."

A cheerful drumbeat started, and the audience began to sway along with the clay figures on stage.

Lin Feng hadn’t expected that this clay figure ritual had been adapted.

’The version he saw as a child didn’t have this latter part; it was a solemn and ancient ritual from start to finish.’

’But this change was certainly a good one, making it more accessible to the audience.’

"The part at the end must have been a creative addition, right?"

"Definitely. The first part was so serious the whole time. It would be terrifying to watch at night."

Listening to the tourists’ discussions, Lin Feng could tell they were very pleased with the clay figure performance. Some were even hoping to see how it would look at night.

"It seems everyone really enjoyed the Clay Figure Performance Ensemble! Thank you, performers. I haven’t seen a show like this in a very long time, and I hope this art form continues to be passed down.

Next up is another Wuyuan County specialty, the Colorful Silk Dance! May all of your lives be as brilliant and colorful as this dance. Let’s give a warm round of applause and welcome the beautiful dancer to the stage!"

Strands of colorful silk ribbons descended from above, and the dancer drifted down from a high point, the ribbons fluttering in the air with her movements.

As the dancer’s movements grew faster, the colorful silks began to spin rapidly in the air, forming a ring with her at the center.

"How is she doing that? It’s so beautiful!"

"This stage doesn’t do it justice. It would definitely be even more beautiful performed under stage lights."

"You’re right. This dance would look much better under lights."

"The performer is beautiful too, like a fairy."

"..."

As the ribbons shot out in all directions, the dance reached its final stage.

The girl stood in the middle of the ribbons as they were pulled up and drawn in, forming a colorful skirt made of silk.

Only then did everyone realize the ribbons were actually connected by transparent strings.

Thunderous applause erupted, a clear sign that the audience was very satisfied with the performance.

Director Liu walked over and said, "Boss Lin, it seems the performances were a great success."

"Yes, a huge success. There won’t be any problem with our collaboration."

"In that case, I’ll call the group leaders over in a bit, and you can discuss the collaboration with them."

"Mm, no problem. Let’s meet at the village pavilion."

The tourists left in an orderly fashion, while the staff of Lin Xian Village surveyed them about their opinions on the performances.

Lin Feng walked toward the pavilion with the Hu Family Siblings, discussing what form the collaborations should take.

Of course, it would depend on what each performance troupe preferred. They could come on as direct employees, or they could collaborate on a per-performance payment basis.

"Brother Lin, I don’t think it’s a good idea to fence off Lin Xian Village and charge an entrance fee. Why don’t we stick to the ticket-selling model we use over at the Arrow Tower?

Let the visitors choose freely. We can also offer some ticket packages that are cheaper than buying them individually."

"That could work. Fencing it off like other tourist spots does feel a bit wrong."

’He didn’t really care about that bit of ticket revenue anyway. Lin Xian Village was bound to get better and better in the future, and there were plenty of ways to make money.’

’Take the Houses, for example. Many visitors wanted to book a stay, and those ten rooms were nowhere near enough.’

’Then there was the food service in Lin Xian Village; the banquet-style feasts were incredibly popular.’

’If it weren’t for the current inability to accommodate more tourists, he would have considered lowering the ticket prices to attract even more people.’