Chapter 250: 249 Dragon's Pool and Tiger's Den (Finale)

"No good! The acting is absolutely no good! It's just like a bunch of puppets dangling from strings!"

In the backstage of the Central Cross Theater, after watching the final dress rehearsal before the performance, a middle-aged man wearing an ironed, stiff double-breasted white suit, without a single crease anywhere on his body, couldn't help but fling off the top hat on his head, pointing at a group of actors and cursing furiously:

"Feeling! Where is the feeling?

You are living people, not machines reciting the lines I wrote! If you want the audience to be intoxicated by your performance, then you must first become intoxicated yourselves!

Stop obsessing over those step entrances, worrying about physical expressions, considering the lighting and facing. Drama isn't afraid of you making mistakes, and what it wants isn't your precise perfection. What drama truly wants is a performance that lets the audience feel what you feel!"

"That kind of performance where every step is flawless and every movement is more precise than a machine has no soul at all! A long stretch of flowing, gorgeous lines, not missing even half a note of the aria's tail, may not be as effective as a single heartfelt cry of anguish!

You are all just... damn it! The only one watchable, Andre, has been boycotted and can't get on stage at all, so what the hell are you all performing? You're simply butchering my script! A bunch of idiots! I wish I could just tie strings to you and make you perform!"

The middle-aged man's status in the troupe seemed extremely high. Even though he had been pointing at their noses and cursing them for a full ten minutes, among the dozens of veteran actors who had toured half the world and were extremely famous, not one dared to talk back. A rather timid actress even began trembling and sobbing softly.

And upon hearing the actress's crying, the middle-aged man seemed to feel he had gone a bit too far. After a moment of silence, he surprisingly didn't continue scolding, but instead directed the actors to run through the first act of "Twelve Days Together" once more.

But unfortunately, even though the group of highly skilled actors had tried as hard as they possibly could, the acting skills they had honed over many years of hard work still couldn't meet the middle-aged man's minimum requirements.

And seeing that this rehearsal was still so unbearable, with no one able to meet his expectations, the anger the middle-aged man had barely managed to suppress instantly became uncontrollable again.

"A bunch of trash! Trash! Trash!!!"

The middle-aged man ranted hysterically while throwing the crumpled top hat in his hand onto the ground, stomping on it repeatedly with all his might, trampling the expensive hat beyond recognition.

After a moment, once he had vented most of his disappointment and anger, although the middle-aged man wanted to run through it again, he lowered his head to check his wristwatch and found that it was already showtime. He couldn't help but sigh with disappointment, then extended his hand toward these hopeless, useless actors.

"Looks like I can't count on you all... then I'll do it myself!"

Accompanying his sigh full of regret, a row of large lights above the stage suddenly blazed to life, illuminating the backstage piled with props and scenery. One puppet after another trembled slightly, then slowly stood up with the movements of the middle-aged man's hands.

And on the face of the puppet Agatha, the female lead of "Twelve Days Together," wearing a waitress uniform, a string of strange teardrops condensed from wood rolled down her cheeks, pattering as they hit the backstage floor.

……

"Quick, quick, quick!"

Gripping Hearing Li Ang's hand and quickly entering the reserved couple's box, the princess gathered up her own skirt and clamped it between her legs, then, without a shred of ladylike poise, bent down to adjust the chairs for Hearing Li Ang and herself, found the best angle for watching the play, and hurriedly sat down.

"Come on!"

Patting the empty seat beside her, Princess Veronica urged excitedly:

"Come sit down quickly. When we came up, I already saw the announcer getting ready to take the stage. The first scene of the first act of 'Twelve Days Together' is about to begin. If you don't come sit over now, it'll be too late!"

"……"

Sitting over isn't really a problem... but is this chair really meant for two people?

Looking at the double seat that was already more than half occupied just by the princess sitting in it, Hearing Li Ang couldn't help but remind her:

"The chairs in this box... are they perhaps a bit on the narrow side?"

Otherwise, how could it be called a couple's box?

Hearing Hearing Li Ang's question, the princess, who had been looking expectantly toward the stage, couldn't help but show a sly little smile at the corner of her mouth.

The Central Cross Theater certainly wasn't short on money, so the chairs being this narrow was obviously intentional. With the width of a couple's box seat, even two slender ladies sitting together wouldn't have much room to spare. When a man and a woman sat together, they would inevitably be squeezed together by the armrests on both sides.

And for a play that averaged just over three hours, trying to sit through the whole thing with legs together and proper posture was absolutely unbearable for an ordinary person. They would definitely try changing to a different position... such as one person sitting in the chair while the other sat directly on their lap~

"It's not narrow, not narrow. It's just right for two people!"

Although she knew perfectly well what was going on, the princess, who had ulterior motives from the start, naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to explain it clearly to Hearing Li Ang.

After scooting over as hard as she could to make enough room for Hearing Li Ang to sit down, Princess Veronica pressed her lips together and urged repeatedly:

"Sit down, sit down, the curtain has already been drawn, and the opening instruments have already started playing!"

"Alright then..."

Although he still felt it was a bit narrow, seeing that the curtain on the stage had indeed been drawn, Hearing Li Ang didn't say anything more and sat down in the half-seat the princess had made for him.

And after he sat down, the princess, who had been holding herself in, relaxed slightly, and her full, soft body leaned over. Even with two layers of clothing between them, a faint warmth and astonishing elasticity still kept transmitting through.

"……"

So that's how it is...

After vaguely understanding the reason the chairs were so narrow, Hearing Li Ang instinctively drew himself in, but the princess beside him actually pressed her advantage, shamelessly leaning right over.

And her little hand, with fingertips chilled from the cold, precisely found Hearing Li Ang's right hand, unreasonably threading through his fingers to complete an interlocking of ten fingers carrying a faint coolness.

I knew it, this trip was definitely going to be a dragon's pool and tiger's den!

"It seems... still a bit cramped..."

His arm being pulled continuously to the right, his elbow inadvertently brushing against a soft, supple mound, Hearing Li Ang's mouth corner couldn't help but twitch slightly as he couldn't resist whispering:

"Actually, I could also watch standing up..."

"Shh!"

With her right index finger held up in front of her lips in a silencing gesture, the triumphant princess, with a slightly stern face, took her win and still played the innocent party as she stopped him:

"You have to keep quiet when watching a play, but if you absolutely must talk, you can wrap your arm around my back and lean over to whisper against my shoulder~"

"……"

Then I'll just keep sitting...

Having no way to deal with her one trick after another, Hearing Li Ang had to give up the idea of watching the play standing, and sat properly in the chair with a slightly stiff posture.

And on the stage, the seaside ditty full of Haigang atmosphere had already reached its finale. A "narrator" actor ringing shell bells, amidst the sound of ocean tides simulated by the marine organ and surge drums, recited aloud:

"For this quiet little harbor town of Ankara, what it never lacks is the tide and sea breeze, and the young souls longing to untangle the sorrows in their hearts amidst the beautiful, expansive waves..."

Under the "narrator's" clear introduction, a male puppet wearing a white top and with a vigorous build slowly walked out from behind a wooden prop house, sighing softly with eyes full of melancholy:

"Just twelve more days... twelve days from now, I will no longer be a free me, but a caged bird soaring in a strange prison..."

Wait, something seems off?

Looking at the male lead "Elijah" lamenting on stage, Hearing Li Ang couldn't help but raise his hand and rub his eyes in disbelief.

What I came to watch, was it a play or a puppet show? Why is the male lead on stage a talking marionette?