CH 16.4

Chapter 16.4 – Sleeping Together and Invitation

On the third day, the Wild Rose Troupe held an internal meeting.

Qin Luoluo turned her pen and compared the notebooks to talk about the arrangements one by one, including the schedule of the performance, the responsibilities of each person, and the docking of advertising and sponsorship. She had just negotiated an advertising cooperation with another industry, and she was in a good mood, her face was full of spring breeze, and her tone of voice was a bit livelier.

She said: “In half a month, we will try out the first act of the play, the same old rules, each pulling at least five audience members – the kind that can ensure attendance. I will also cooperate with the publicity by giving out free audition tickets and arranging some small gifts for the audience. Here, I officially commend Xia Fang, who has always exceeded the task of pulling in the audience.”

Xia Fang said with still droopy eyelids: “I have many men.”

“Very good, keep it going,” Qin Luoluo said again. “I also want to criticize Cheng Youwen by name. You haven’t found an audience twice in a row.”

Cheng Youwen snorted: “What’s wrong with me? I have few friends, I invited them one by one but they stood me up. They didn’t know how to appreciate the script at all. It doesn’t matter if they don’t come, it’s their loss.”

“That’s not a valid reason why you couldn’t complete the quota, even Tracy found more than you!” Qin Luoluo raised her eyebrows. “Cheng Youwen, Cheng Youwen—my Old Cheng, don’t always be so isolated, work hard and bring more people over to give feedback, otherwise, no one will find out that your script is so bad.”

Cheng Youwen knocked on the ground with his crutch: “F*ck you, how could it be bad! It’s unparalleled in the world!”

Qin Luoluo gave him a blank look, ignored him, and looked around: “Do you have any questions?”

In the silence, Shi Yuan raised his hand.

Qin Luoluo: “Shi Yuan, what’s your problem?”

Shi Yuan said, “I don’t know more than five people…”

Qin Luoluo: “…”

Cheng Youwen: “See! I will never be at the bottom this year!”

“Shut up,” Qin Luoluo scolded him, looked at Shi Yuan again, and sized him up carefully. “Why are you so indisputable, you have a good face for nothing. I recruited you in the first place because I wanted you to work with Xia Fang on publicity, you have to know how to use your strengths. Now is a critical period. You have to work harder and help the team to overcome difficulties.”

Shi Yuan curled up the tip of his tail guiltily: “Oh…”

Qin Luoluo stared at him for a few more seconds, and felt more and more that he was so silly and cute that he would definitely not be able to complete the task: “Hey, forget it, since you haven’t been here for a few days, I will lower your requirements.”

“Then how many people do I need to find?” Shi Yuan asked.

Qin Luoluo: “You can always find three people, right?”

Neither Lu Bafang nor Wang Yu was in Gleaning City, Shi Yuan hesitated and shook his head.

Qin Luoluo: “Two?”

Shi Yuan shook his head.

Qin Luoluo: “… you can at least find one person, right?”

Shi Yuan nodded.

Qin Luoluo looked up to the sky and sighed: “It’s a loss.” She leaned decadently on the back of the chair, her delicate long earrings shook, and her red dress was like a blooming rose. She supported her forehead and said, “One is better than nothing. Shi Yuan, you better find me a reliable one back.”

Shi Yuan took the task and left.

Cheng Youwen complained: “Why can he lower the standard?”

“He’s only been here for a few days,” Qin Luoluo scolded him again. “You, an old cadre, have the nerve to compare with him? Have some face.”

Xia Fang interjected, “It’s really impossible to compare, Shi Yuan must have gone to his man.”

“His man?” Qin Luoluo turned to look at him. “How do you know?”

Cheng Youwen raised his eyebrows with interest: “Tell us about it?”

“He spoke about it when I talked to him.” Xia Fang yawned. “And I didn’t mean to gossip about it. He said the guy was a friend and he said ‘he’s mine’, isn’t that obvious?”

Cheng Youwen: “Oh…”

Qin Luoluo said, “Men are just men, I don’t care what their relationship is. To be honest, I didn’t expect Shi Yuan to find an audience with a high appreciation ability. As long as the IQ is normal, not the blind and deaf, and not the ruffians, I will be satisfied.”

Xia Fang lazily crossed his legs: “Maybe it’s a big shot.”

Qin Luoluo laughed out loud: “He knows just one person, how can that person be a big shot?” She clapped her hands. “Okay, everyone, hurry up and go to work, the meeting is adjourned.”

*

This evening, just after eight o’clock, Lu Tinghan returned home with the chill of twilight.

As soon as he opened the door, there was a ball of Shi Yuan in his arms.

Shi Yuan’s tail waved like a colorful flag, and said, “You’re finally back!”

Lu Tinghan smiled unconsciously, and patted his head: “How’s the troupe going these two days?”

Shi Yuan: “Purr, purr.”

“How did you sleep?”

Shi Yuan: “Purr.”

Should mean pretty good.

Lu Tinghan finally managed to get rid of the clingy Shi Yuan with great difficulty, took off his gloves, hung up his military trench coat, took a shower, and changed into clean clothes. Shi Yuan was waiting for him on the sofa, holding the “Alliance Military History” in his hand.

“Did you read it?” Lu Tinghan was a little surprised.

“I read it, but I didn’t understand it,” Shi Yuan said.

“Which part did you not understand?”

“I didn’t understand everything.”

Lu Tinghan: “…”

Shi Yuan asked: “Do you want to read it now? I’ll give it back to you.”

“No need,” Lu Tinghan said. “I don’t want to read it today.”

He sat on the sofa and relaxed his tight muscles and nerves. It was rare for him to relax for a moment. He sat casually, leaning back lazily, with his right hand resting on the back of the sofa.

Shi Yuan nestled beside him, curled up his legs, and leaned against his arm.

Lu Tinghan said, “Shi Yuan, tell me something interesting.”

“What do you mean by something interesting?” Shi Yuan asked, “I’ve been working for the past two days.”

“It’s okay, just talk about your work.”

So, Shi Yuan told him how Cheng Youwen changed the script for him and asked him to play both the tree demon and the God of Salvation at the same time; he said that the acting knife turned out to be retractable, and the blade was plastic. When he was stabbed by Wolfgang, he only had to whimper and lie peacefully on the ground and pretend to be a corpse; he said that the troupe was very poor, there were advertisements everywhere, and the aphrodisiac oil was their biggest advertiser, and there was also a mysterious “Lady Isabella”; he said he went to clean up the performance hall, secretly played the drum, and was so scared that his tail scales exploded.

Shi Yuan scratched his head and talked about his daily life. He was very happy when he spoke, but after he finished speaking, he felt that it was so trivial, mediocre, lackluster, and no one would be interested.

Soon he couldn’t say more, and his head was tilted and stuck.

“That’s all, it’s boring,” he said.

Lu Tinghan had been listening silently, and said, “It’s not boring.”

“Really?” Shi Yuan’s eyes lit up. “I thought these were ordinary.”

“It’s very ordinary,” Lu Tinghan said. “But I… we are fighting for such ordinary days.” He rubbed Shi Yuan’s head. “I like what you said.”

Shi Yuan was praised and very happy.

He never understood human concepts, life and death, beauty and ugliness, good and evil, he didn’t think there was a difference. But at this time, a certain corner of his heart seemed to be poked by this sentence, and it became numb and itchy.

The feeling was too fleeting to be captured.

—He thought to himself, maybe one day, he will be able to understand human beings.

Shi Yuan was in a daze for a while, and then remembered one more thing: “By the way, do you have time on the 10th of next month?”

Lu Tinghan asked: “What’s the matter?”

“The troupe is previewing the first act of the play and the tickets are free and you get a small gift,” Shi Yuan said. “They asked me to find an audience, I don’t know anyone else.”

Lu Tinghan looked at Shi Yuan for a few seconds. He tilted his head slightly, the lines of his neck and throat were visible, and his gray-blue eyes were unreadable.

Shi Yuan asked again: “Will you go?” He was a little apprehensive. “I know you’re very busy, if you don’t have time forget it, I’ll think of another way.”

Lu Tinghan said, “Okay, I will go.”

*

For the next half month, Shi Yuan went to rehearsals as usual.

Lu Tinghan didn’t come back for a few nights. Shi Yuan went to bed early in the morning, turned off the lights, and heard the screams of monsters from afar. Only he could hear this sound, and it would often last until early in the morning and disappear into the morning sun.

The rumors in the city about the “peak period of infection” have never stopped. When Shi Yuan was on the bus, he could occasionally hear the discussion.

The day of the preview will soon come. Shi Yuan had to be there earlier than the audience, but Lu Tinghan said, just go together, it’s convenient.

Shi Yuan got into Lu Tinghan’s car and drove to the Garcia Grand Theater in a pure black sedan.

It wasn’t until they saw the marble statue in the theater that Shi Yuan reacted belatedly: “Can you really just show up like this?”

“Why not?” Lu Tinghan asked.

“That’s, you are the general…”

Lu Tinghan: “Can you find any other audience?”

“Can’t,” Shi Yuan said.

Lu Tinghan nodded and said, “That would have to be me, too.” After saying this, he got out of the car, wrapped his arms around Shi Yuan, and walked towards the theater with great strides.

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**TN

Previews are a set of public performances of a theatrical presentation that precede its official opening. The purpose of previews is to allow the director and crew to identify problems and opportunities for improvement that were not found during rehearsals and to make adjustments before critics are invited to attend. That’s why they need someone who can appreciate stage plays so they can get proper feedback.

Finally done with this long chapter. ٩(•̤̀ᵕ•̤́๑)ᵒᵏᵎᵎᵎ