Chapter 243 - 100: The Top Star of the 60s Cultural Troupe (39)
Chapter 243: Chapter 100: The Top Star of the 60s Cultural Troupe (39)
After a dreamless night, Xia Zhaoyun once again directed He Qingran in making breakfast. Today’s menu was potato pancakes, a smooth and savory steamed egg custard, fragrant rice porridge, and a new way to prepare pickled vegetables.
Since they were up early, Xia Zhaoyun also taught He Qingran how to make fluffy pancakes. The process was similar to making a cake, requiring the egg whites to be whipped by hand and then gently folded into the yolk batter before being pan-fried over low heat.
They made original, raisin, and red date flavors.
The fluffy pancakes had a delicate, soft, and springy texture, even more delicious than the sponge cakes from the supply and marketing co-op. A single bite while they were still steaming hot was pure bliss.
They ended up devouring more than half of the entire batch of pancakes.
He Qingran rubbed her sore arm, saying through gritted teeth, "Once my arm recovers, I’m making these again!"
The allure of such delicious food was hard to resist.
After a delicious breakfast, everyone was in high spirits. They saw the kids off to school, then went their separate ways to work.
Seeing the girls’ beaming faces, Xia Zhaoyun smiled and led them through their daily stretching routine. When they were done, she clapped her hands to gather everyone together.
"First of all, I want to praise you all. You were fantastic yesterday, far exceeding my expectations. Thank you for putting your trust in me."
The moment she finished speaking, the girls burst into enthusiastic applause.
Xia Zhaoyun couldn’t help but laugh. "Okay, okay, I can feel how happy you are. But what I need to say is this: from this moment forward, our journey to chase our dreams has officially begun."
"If you believe in me, I will lead you all to the city’s arts festival in August!"
Always warming the bench, the backups to the backups, the scenery behind the scenery—the girls of Group Three had never been particularly strong-willed. The instructors had given up on them long ago, and they had simply gone with the flow, waiting to get married and be transferred to other positions.
Only a stubborn refusal to give up completely had kept them going through their daily exercises, just barely preventing their skills from deteriorating entirely.
To them, getting to perform a thirty-second solo at a factory-level event was the highlight of a lifetime. They had never even dreamed of participating in a major performance at the city level.
Hearing Xia Zhaoyun’s words, they were all stunned. One asked in disbelief, "Teacher Little Xia, we’re simple people. If you say something like that, we’ll take it seriously."
"You’re just saying that to make us happy, aren’t you? Mr. Xue said only those who make it to the final stage performance will be eligible for the city-level festival. But the problem is, Group One is filled with our troupe’s top dancers. With them in the picture, what chance do we possibly have?"
Xia Zhaoyun chuckled. "I can get you the opportunity. Whether or not you succeed is up to you."
"For the city festival, every work unit submits a performance. Those submissions then go through a selection process to determine the final lineup. The procedure is similar to what we’re doing now, but most units pour all of their troupe’s resources into creating a single, outstanding performance."
"So, when they submit their performance, they only submit one. But who ever said you can’t submit more than one?"
"We performed exceptionally well this time, so I’m sure the troupe leader will be willing to give us a chance. When our performance is submitted, as long as we’re willing to work hard... well, based on yesterday’s results, do we really need to fear being eliminated?"
Her words sent a thrill of excitement through the girls, and they couldn’t help but get swept up in the possibilities she described.
’We’re going to the city for the selection rounds! The performances that made it that far would be the best each unit had to offer. The organizers wouldn’t waste such an opportunity; they’d surely sell tickets right from the start of the tryouts.
’Even if we don’t pass the final selection, just getting to stand on the stage of the City Cultural Center would mean we’d have no regrets for the rest of our lives! Right?!’
"Teacher Little Xia, we’re with you!" the girls declared one after another.
"Whatever you say, we’ll do!"
Xia Zhaoyun smiled and nodded, then mysteriously beckoned them closer. "I need you to help me put on an act," she whispered.
They all looked at her in confusion.
"You all know we defied everyone’s expectations and took first place in the preliminaries. What do you think Group One, Group Two, and Director Yuan, who never thought much of us, are thinking right now?"
"To prevent any trouble, we need to create an atmosphere that suggests we’re suffering in silence."
Her words left them even more bewildered.
"Let me put it this way," Xia Zhaoyun said, raising an eyebrow with a smile. "We’re about to get first place, which means we get to split three new batches of fabric from the factory. Are you happy about that?"