On stage, it was like a freeze-frame. Some stood, some sat, some held books, some were pouring tea... all sorts of characters were present.
As their chorus concluded with a clean, beautiful finish, the people on stage instantly came alive. The waiter holding a tray scurried to greet guests, the shopkeeper fiddled with an abacus, and the customers chatted idly or ate their dishes.
The vivid and lifelike performance immediately drew the audience in, making them feel as if they too had returned to that chaotic era.
In the bustling teahouse, Master Ma Wu exerted his authority, Kang Liu sold his daughter, and Chang Si Ye cursed foreign goods... each story felt as if it were happening right before their eyes, causing the audience to share in the characters' joys and sorrows.
Time ticked by. The large performance hall, which could accommodate nearly five hundred audience members, was completely silent, with no extraneous noise. Only the emotionally charged dialogue of the characters on stage could be heard. Then, at a certain moment, the figures on stage froze again, the epilogue began to play, and the curtain gradually fell. The audience finally snapped back to reality.
The nearly fifty-minute performance had ended so quickly.
The lights brightened, the curtain was pulled open again, and the thirty-six students of Class B stood in neat formation. Below the stage, thunderous applause erupted instantly.
Jin Xue, in the audience, turned as red as a liver.
Yu Zhuang, after his initial shock, was filled with disbelief. "Is this really Class B? How... how have they changed so much?"
"In just one week, how is that possible?" Gu Cheng's eyes were also wide with disbelief.
Cui Min clutched her seat tightly. "We didn't sleep well last night, our mental state was already poor, and they had more people, a mixed bag. Even if they performed poorly, it wouldn't be obvious. This competition was simply unfair."
Tian Cheng also said with a grim face, "Exactly, it's just a momentary surge of exceptional performance. Seeing their smug expressions, one would think they had won an Oscar."
"They were genuinely good," a voice suddenly countered.
Tian Cheng turned to see Zhang Luo.
She retorted angrily, "What do you know? Each of them only had a few minutes of stage time. Anyone not intellectually challenged could perform well. We chose the most difficult play, Hamlet, which has a much higher difficulty coefficient. This competition was inherently advantageous for them."
Liao Wei, who had not been given a chance to perform, felt a surge of resentment and immediately argued back, "The Teahouse is a classic play, and its difficulty is no less than Hamlet. You didn't perform well yourselves, and now you're blaming others. You have a lot of nerve."
Cui Min, who had already been upset on stage, was instantly enraged and shouted, "Do you know how hard we worked this week? For this class, we didn't sleep until two in the morning last night, and we haven't slacked off on our practice all week. You, on the other hand, are standing there talking without consequence, and now you're here spewing venom."
Her voice was quite loud, even drowning out the host's announcement. For a moment, the entire venue turned to look in her direction.
Zhang Qiang had wanted to let it go, but hearing Cui Min's words, he couldn't hold back any longer. He immediately exploded in anger, stood up, and pointed at Cui Min's nose, shouting, "You're talking utter nonsense! Even if you worked hard, it was for yourselves. You just wanted to perform well to sign with good companies. What does that have to do with us?
There are twenty-eight of us here who didn't even get a chance to appear. Is that fair?
Everyone knows how rare this opportunity is. We wanted to fight for a chance to perform on stage, but Jin Xue and Pan Fengming threatened us. They thought our exam scores were mediocre and not as good as your excellent grades, fearing we would drag down the performance. So they threatened us that if we continued to pester them, they would ruin our future careers.
Damn it, I'm throwing caution to the wind today. I don't care about my future anymore. Jin Xue, Pan Fengming, if you have the guts, have all entertainment companies blacklist me, and ensure I can never enter the entertainment industry for the rest of my life."
Zhang Qiang's face turned red and his neck bulged with anger. After his outburst, not only the audience but even Cui Min was intimidated and dared not speak.
Zhang Luo was also moved and, fueled by anger, stood up to continue, "Yes, you practiced day and night, but weren't you also gloating? You talk about hardship and unfairness now, but what did you say when we wanted to join and sought even a sliver of a chance to perform?
You mocked us for overestimating ourselves, saying that with mere average grades, we dared to compete with you, the top students. Are you the Jade Emperor, so powerful that we should worship you top students?"
Cui Min, being yelled at by two boys, finally couldn't take it anymore and burst into tears.
Tian Cheng, implicated, was about to retort when Jin Xue's voice interrupted her.
"You're talking nonsense. When did I ever threaten you?" Jin Xue rebuked angrily.
Zhang Luo let out a cold, angry laugh. "It's no use if you don't admit it. We don't have any evidence anyway. I only regret not recording your voice like Wei Tao did, so your ugly face can only be hidden in your filthy heart.
You bought Pan Fengming's lecture notes from last year to fool us, wasting a week of our time. You didn't teach us anything during the training sessions. What right do you have to lecture people now?"
The sound of camera shutters and flashes from the reporters behind them almost drowned out the two of them.
No one expected that a seemingly ordinary performance would turn into such a dramatic spectacle. Especially since the people involved were already under public scrutiny, and now their actions were being confirmed.
Li Jing knew that if the situation continued to escalate, it would be impossible to salvage. With no other choice, she had to leave the guest seating area and, as Jin Xue's agent, drag Jin Xue out of the performance hall.
The reporters behind them swarmed forward, wanting to follow. Li Jing grabbed the door of the performance hall and instructed her assistant to take Jin Xue to the car to wait.
Jin Xue was still furious and unwilling to leave.
Li Jing cursed angrily, "You idiot, if you dare cause any more trouble, I'll immediately go back and have the company sue you. Your contract with Tianyu will also be terminated."
These words finally made Jin Xue a little scared. Jin Xue had to suppress her anger and followed her assistant back to the car.
Li Jing felt dizzy with frustration. After taking a few deep breaths of the outside air, she gathered her courage, opened the door, and entered the performance hall.
The reporters immediately surrounded her, bombarding her with all sorts of sharp questions like grenades.
However, Li Jing, living up to her reputation as Tianyu's ace agent, remained unfazed. She simply said, "This is a school performance. Let's not lose sight of the main objective," and then returned to her seat as if nothing had happened.
The farce seemed to have concluded.
Wang Chuan looked at Li Jing, who had returned to her seat, with a smile. "You've had a tough time, managing someone like Jin Xue."
Li Jing shot him a glare. "Stop gloating."
Wang Chuan shrugged and looked at the stage. "But undeniably, I won this bet, didn't I?"
Li Jing frowned and looked at the stage.
On stage, Yan Chi, enduring the awkwardness, continued to host, "Thank you to the students of Class B for their wonderful performance."
The audience fell silent for a moment, then, as if someone had started it, a wave of enthusiastic applause erupted. Everything returned to the stage itself, as if the recent commotion had never happened.
Only Tian Cheng, Cui Min, and others had extremely unpleasant expressions. If it weren't for the upcoming interview and contract signing session, they would have already left.
While feeling dejected, they heard Yan Chi say, "Next, we invite our esteemed guest judges to comment on Class B's performance."