When She Stops Being Dramatic

Chapter 286: Chapter 112: Top Star of the 1960s Arts Troupe (51)

With a hidden danger resolved, Xia Zhaoyun continued leading the group’s dance practice, the general designs for the performance costumes already taking shape in her mind.

The *Shishu Ruyi* performance blended music, dance, and traditional Chinese painting. The choreography would change in response to the music and the subjects being painted.

Xia Zhaoyun had a rather direct approach; she loved using a single performance to unveil a brilliant corner of Xiahua’s artistic heritage. Thus, the dance directly showcased four major schools: Body Rhythm, Han-Tang, Dunhuang, and Kunqu.

The women would perform in groups of four or five, each group presenting one of the schools. Each dancer’s costume would be slightly different, and the performance would still be structured as a dance battle.

Xia Zhaoyun took a clever shortcut. She understood that the August City cultural review was essentially an artistic report presented by various work units to their leaders. In short, she was performing for a semi-professional audience. Therefore, the priority was to be lively and showcase the charm of the dance, rather than forcing the women to obsess over perfecting every technical detail.

The joy of a bountiful harvest, a sense of cultural confidence, and the delight of life steadily improving—all of it was expressed in a performance that was methodical, progressive, and complex without being chaotic.

Once all the fundamental tones and details were finalized, the designs for the women’s costumes were essentially complete.

Since they started training with Xia Zhaoyun, the three groups of women had developed an unprecedented passion for the stage. They no longer drifted aimlessly through their days or watched the clock, waiting to go home. Now, they wished time would slow down so they could gain even more precise control over their dancing.

Huo Tianhao came by two days later, bringing Xia Zhaoyun news about Teacher Gao.

"Teacher Gao was highly respected in the song and dance troupe. She even has former students in the Central Political Department. So, after they heard she was in trouble, even though her network couldn’t stand up for her and clear her name immediately, they worked behind the scenes. They had her and her husband transferred to a village with simple, honest folk, so they didn’t suffer too much."

"But they still have to work in the fields, so they’re definitely enduring some hardship in their daily lives."

"This is Teacher Gao’s address. However, if you want to mail anything to her, it would be best to go through me."

Xia Zhaoyun nodded, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

She went into another room and came back with a package, placing it in the most conspicuous spot in the living room for Huo Tianhao to take with him when he left.

Inside were summer and autumn clothes she had sewn for Teacher Gao and her husband from memory, along with some nutritional supplements. She didn’t include any money, but she did tuck in half of her own saved-up ration coupons.

Of course, the one thing the Zhaoyang Clothing Factory had in abundance was fabric. Xia Zhaoyun selected three colors that were dignified yet youthful, cut enough material for two full outfits for each of them, and added it all to the package.

’Teacher Gao’s husband is a scholar,’ she thought. ’They must have been sent down in a great hurry and probably couldn’t bring much with them.’ So, Xia Zhaoyun added a few uncontroversial books for him to pass the time.

But more than any of her gifts, Xia Zhaoyun felt the old couple would rather see that their own maternal grandchildren were safe and sound.

Xia Zhaoyun didn’t dare tell her children they were sending something to their maternal grandparents. Instead, she fibbed, saying the package was for a kind old couple who were just like a grandma and grandpa, and she hoped the children would contribute something too.

The children excitedly pulled out paper and colored pencils and began to draw. Their creations featured blue skies, white clouds, green mountains, and turquoise waters. There were also strangely shaped, different-sized creatures—presumably people—holding hands, and even a piano...

Seeing his wife’s longing for her birth parents, Huo Tianhao couldn’t help but pull her into a comforting, compassionate embrace. "Even though we can’t do a DNA test right now," he said, "I’ll do everything I can to gather evidence and find your real birth parents for you!"

Xia Zhaoyun gave a small laugh. "I have you and the children. I’m really just curious about what my parents were like, and under what circumstances I was so unfortunately taken by the Song Family."

"It’s not much of an obsession anymore. But now that I’m a mother myself, I can understand how a mom would willingly give her entire heart to her child."

"I can only imagine how heartbroken my mother must have been when I was stolen..."

The more she insisted she was fine, the more Huo Tianhao wanted to shower her with affection. He resolved to use his hidden network of contacts—and any means necessary—for her sake.

Mr. Xue had already submitted the troupe’s two performances to the city and had received a notice for the preliminary screening.

Xia Zhaoyun borrowed the key to the factory’s main auditorium and brought the women in for their final training session to review their progress.

Previously, they had been using paint substitutes, practicing the motions over and over on scrap fabric to master the choreography. Due to the limited training space, they had been practicing in separate sections.