"Royal Circus?"
Looking at the words on the sign, Yang Lin's mind instantly conjured up the circus performances he had seen in the city of Ningnan when he was a child.
He thought that such circus performances had already disappeared in the torrent of history.
Now it seems they haven't disappeared, they've just relocated, moving from big cities to small counties.
Besides this standing sign, the spray-painted cloth next to it also displayed some acts: tigers riding horses, lions jumping through fiery hoops, pythons eating people, and rats bigger than dogs.
Most of them were crudely Photoshopped, but even so, they could evidently fool some people.
Yang Lin originally had no intention of looking closely, until a familiar low growl came from the side, drawing his attention.
Under the dim lights, large iron cages with locks were placed silently, and snowflakes occasionally drifted into them.
The familiar low growl had just come from one of these cages.
When Yang Lin shone his phone light into the cage, a huge dark shadow appeared before him.
Upon closer inspection, he discovered it was an incredibly emaciated male African lion.
To be blunt, this lion's build was even inferior to that of Gou Dan.
What made Yang Lin even more speechless was that when the lion was illuminated by his phone light, it showed no reaction, no movement, just kept pacing back and forth within the confines of the small cage.
After a moment of silence, Yang Lin then shone his phone light towards the other cages.
Soon, one sickly animal after another appeared.
A large black bear with a thick iron chain around its neck, a macaque looking up at the sky and eating snow, several small dogs covered in mud, a half-grown pony, and a half-grown Bengal tiger.
To Yang Lin's surprise, he actually found a rat as big as a small dog among them.
As he scanned the cages with his phone, the scene was broadcast to the audience through the phone camera.
Instantly, the audience in the live stream exploded.
"It's 2023, why are there still animal performances like this?"
"My god, these animals are so miserable."
"So not all animals are treated as gently as those in the Xihong Zoo."
"It's like one is in heaven and the other is on earth."
"That lion was so skinny, its movements were so stereotypical, who knows what it has gone through."
"And that big black bear, with such a thick chain around its neck, probably can't do anything but stand."
"That little monkey too, eating snow, it probably hasn't been given water for a long time."
"Director Yang, please save them."
"What kind of animal is that big rat, it can't be a real rat, can it?"
"It's snowing heavily and the temperature is so low."
...
At this moment, all the viewers were hoping that Yang Lin could quickly rescue these animals trapped in the circus.
However, just then, a crisp voice came from behind Yang Lin.
"Uncle, do you want to watch the circus?"
Hearing the voice, Yang Lin turned his head and saw a little girl of about seven or eight years old.
The girl was not tall, but her eyes were very bright. Despite the heavy snow, she was wearing a school uniform that looked like it was from autumn from some school, and she was holding a pencil in her hand.
Seemingly thinking Yang Lin was not interested in the circus, she quickly added:
"Uncle, it's only 10 yuan, it's not expensive."
Saying that, she gestured for Yang Lin to follow her.
After glancing at the animals in the cages nearby, Yang Lin followed the little girl.
Soon, he arrived at the entrance of the tent.
At a glance, he saw the surging crowd inside the tent.
Before he could get a clear view of what was being performed, the little girl proactively offered a payment QR code.
Curious about the content of the show inside, Yang Lin casually paid 10 yuan.
The moment he paid, a hint of an excited smile appeared on the little girl's face.
"Thank you, uncle."
After saying that, she took the payment QR code and hopped to a plastic stool next to the entrance.
Then, she continued to hunch over the stool to do her homework. Whenever someone walked past the tent, she would look up.
The cold wind that occasionally blew in from outside the tent made her cheeks turn red with cold.
Seeing this scene, both Yang Lin and the viewers in the live stream were deeply moved.
The immense resentment and anger of the viewers dissipated considerably.
Shaking his head helplessly, Yang Lin stepped into the tent.
As soon as he entered the tent, a wave of enthusiastic sound and various chaotic noises flooded his ears.
At the same time, a huge circular stage appeared.
And on the stage at that moment, a high-altitude acrobatics performance by a pair of acrobats was being staged.
High up in the air, over ten meters above, a thinly clad male performer was holding a ribbon with his teeth, and below the ribbon was a female performer.
As the male performer spun around in the air, tethered by steel wires attached to his feet, the female performer hanging from the ribbon also spun herself at an extremely fast rate.
The danger was so high that the audience repeatedly cheered.
After this act, performers successively showcased thrilling acts such as fire-breathing and swallowing light bulbs.
Seeing this, Yang Lin and everyone in the live stream simultaneously had a question.
With such a level of acrobatics, charging only 10 yuan, were they really not losing money?
Just as this doubt arose, a pair of dwarf hosts on stage brought out a pile of products.
There was toothpaste from Diannan Traditional Chinese Medicine, and light bulbs that could light up without electricity.
Only then did everyone realize.
"So these circuses are the originators of live-streaming sales."
"No wonder a 10 yuan ticket wouldn't be a huge loss, they have additional projects."
"This is much better than current live-streaming sales. At least they have performances to watch. Now, live-streaming sales start selling products the moment they're shown."
"If I'm not mistaken, those two hosts are the same pair who performed high in the air just now."
"He was also the one who swallowed light bulb shards."
"Thinking about it, it's not easy. The times are progressing, but they have been abandoned by the times."
"Was the little girl outside just now their daughter?"
"The little girl should still be in school; she was probably brought out by her parents during the winter break."
"But that's not an excuse for them to enslave and abuse animals. They're miserable, but aren't the animals miserable too?"
"Exactly, animals shouldn't be their tools for profiteering. I suggest Director Yang rescue the animals."
"I'll give you my spot on the Great Buddha."
"Their whole family depends on these animals for a living. If the animals are taken away, what will they eat?"
Suddenly, the viewers in the live stream were divided into two camps.
While the viewers were arguing furiously, Yang Lin remained silent.
Meanwhile, the animal performances on the other side of the stage officially began.
Lions jumping through fiery hoops, tigers leaping over wooden stakes, bears skipping rope, macaques riding bicycles.
As the animal performances started, the audience's enthusiasm rose significantly, and the sales of those products also continued to increase.
The performance lasted from 7 PM to 10 PM.
After all the audience members had left, Yang Lin was the only one who stayed behind.