The Meaning of an Opponent

Amidst the raging flames, the doll's exquisite dancing robes were set ablaze, its delicately carved linden wood skeleton scorched and crackling.

Suddenly, the puppet stood up from the fire, stared intently at the old man, two lines of clear tears streaming down its face, tracing the tear tracks at the corners of its eyes. Then it slowly bowed and made a gesture of respect to the old man.

Finally, the doll raised its tear-streaked face, revealing a poignant smile. With a "crack," cracks appeared on its body, and it quickly shattered, completely engulfed by the charcoal fire. The fire then suddenly surged, as if boiling oil had been poured on it, becoming exceptionally fierce.

Music and singing resumed, accompanied by the melodious strains of traditional opera. "The wind and snow are faint, autumn's white hair is at the end, the lamplight is lush, I rub your brows with worry, if you shed a single tear, if I could accompany you in your old age, even if we turn to ashes in the misty waves, it would be a perfect departure..."

The stage lights began to brighten, signifying the transition from night to day. The burning flames gradually died down, leaving only a pile of ashes.

The old man, who had witnessed all of this in a daze, suddenly seemed to wake up from a dream, covered his face and wailed, and then spoke the only four-character line in the play.

"Warmth, yet loneliness--"

The play ends, the curtain falls.

Chapter 294 The Significance of an Opponent

When the theater lights came on, the room fell silent, with only occasional sobs breaking the silence, while most people were lost in thought.

"The Puppet Show" is not a tragedy that focuses on sentimentality; it is more "bittersweet," and behind it lies a clash between reality and ideals, concealing a serious theme.

If it were an ordinary audience member, they probably wouldn't be able to see that much depth, but most of the audience members sitting in this theater have a certain level of artistic appreciation. After all, the tickets are very expensive, equivalent to a year's savings for an average family. If it were just to join in the fun, they generally wouldn't be willing to spend that much money.

Si Ming turned around and found that the audience was immersed in a solemn atmosphere, some sobbing, some wiping away tears, and some lost in thought. No one applauded. Although such behavior could be considered a tacit recognition of the value of the play, it was still a bit of a flaw, giving the impression that the ending was not perfect.

For example, the student members of the Emperor Peak Drama Club standing on the stage looked worried and flustered, probably thinking things like "Won't we mess up the performance?" and "The audience doesn't seem to like it." Only Si Huaruo was full of confidence, standing tall and proud, which made her stand out in the group. In fact, she was even more confident in the script than Si Ming.

Si Ming comes from the information age and is well aware of the power of public opinion. The atmosphere can completely influence the judges' scores. After all, this is not a math problem where right is right and wrong is wrong. This subjective scoring mechanism has a certain range of fluctuation, with an upper and lower limit. From his perspective, he naturally hopes that all judges will give the upper limit score.

He was incredibly thick-skinned, and immediately started clapping without hesitation, even using a bit of internal force to make his voice more powerful.

His applause sounded abrupt in the silence, like an alarm clock waking up the audience. First, a few people started clapping, making scattered applause, then it joined together, and finally it exploded completely, like a tsunami, almost lifting the entire theater upside down.

"That was fantastic! I never imagined that period dramas could be performed so well. I thought period dramas were long gone and relegated to museums. Now I finally understand, it's not that period dramas are outdated, it's that the actors are too bad to produce good performances."

"Me too! This is the best-performing period drama I've ever seen! The main theme is meaningful and profound, the actors have solid basic skills, and the music is beautiful. Except for the lack of action scenes, it's impeccable!"

"Speaking of which, I still don't understand what happened to that doll. Could it really have been burned? Such an exquisite doll must have cost at least hundreds of thousands, right?"

"It definitely wasn't a real doll, otherwise it couldn't have burned so quickly, turning to ashes in just a few minutes. There's definitely something fishy going on. It's very likely that some kind of magic trick was used; it only looked like it was burned, but in reality, it was secretly replaced and hidden away."

Even now, no one has considered the possibility of it being related to deities. On the one hand, such a thing has never happened before, and on the other hand, they don't know that the deity of the Si Clan happens to be a little girl.

Under the influence of the applause, Si Shuiyun came back to her senses from the afterglow of the drama. When she realized that the script was written by Si Ming and that she had been completely immersed in it, she felt both ashamed and annoyed.

She turned her head and said angrily, "Using these petty tricks again! It's clearly a pretty good piece of work, but your little actions have tarnished it. Don't you have any dignity as an artist? Don't think that using these tricks can affect the final score. The judges here are the most professional; they won't be influenced by external factors. If the audience decides who deserves the prize, what's the point of having judges?"

Si Jingyu suddenly said, "There's no need to wait for the results; the winner this time is definitely the Emperor Peak Drama Club."

"Young Miss!"

Si Shuiyun was on the verge of tears. "Didn't you promise to save face for me?"

Why do you think that way? This drama doesn't have any action scenes; I don't even have that kind of confidence myself.

Si Huaruo's performance was undoubtedly excellent, a fact Si Ming also acknowledged. However, the teams participating in this competition were among the best in the country, and in terms of background, resources, and talent, they were no less than the Emperor Peak Drama Club. In the previous five performances, there were also one or two stories with outstanding scripts.

For example, Lu Lineage Drama Club's "Starry Sky Ocean" has a grand scene that imagines humanity's future exploration of the stars, with a touch of science fiction. However, the way they imagine taking off is not by building spaceships and rockets, but by creating a "Heaven-Flying Divine Art" that allows humans to ascend in broad daylight, directly break through the atmosphere, and soar freely in the universe.

Although there were a few scenes in this play that blew Si Ming's technological eyes out, and were somewhat of a bizarre "Guan Yu fighting aliens" scenario, he had to admit that it was indeed an excellent work full of dreams and fantasies. No wonder that girl surnamed Lu dared to come to his door to provoke him; she was indeed truly talented—this had absolutely nothing to do with the harmonica piece "Whereabouts of the Stars" that Si Ming had sold.

Most importantly, the age limit for the Nine Arts Phoenix Fledgling is under thirty, while the members of the Emperor Peak Drama Club are all high school girls. No matter how talented they are or how solid their basic skills are, they lack the time to accumulate experience. Other drama clubs have many veteran actors in their twenties who are far superior in terms of acting skills and experience.

In fact, the champion of the Nine Arts Phoenix Fledgling is usually around twenty-five years old. Those who are truly talented have already fully blossomed at this age. Those who still have no outstanding achievements by this age prove that they really have no talent and have no hope in five years. As for those who win the crown before the age of twenty, they are extremely rare.

Si Jingyu confidently stated, "Martial arts scenes have never been an essential element of drama; they are merely icing on the cake. If your play were performed on its own, it would indeed leave a somewhat incomplete impression. However, having already performed five plays, the audience and judges have already satisfied their appetite for martial arts scenes. Even if 'The Puppet Show' lacks martial arts elements, no one will feel disappointed."

Si Ming, "But this only means that the shortcomings have been addressed, not that it's the decisive factor."

Si Jingyu said, "I am certain that you will win because your play has the element that will decide the outcome, and that element is 'uniqueness'."

"Unique?"

Simply put, this play can only be performed by the Emperor Peak Drama Club, or more accurately, only Si Huaruo can perform it. No one else can perform it, no matter how good their acting skills are.

Si Ming understood and asked, "You mean... a deity?"

Si Jingyu nodded and said, "The scene where the puppet leaps into the fire and burns is undoubtedly the biggest highlight of the whole play. To make it realistic, real fire must be used. Therefore, the role of the puppet can only be played by a deity. However, deities in the form of young girls are extremely rare. Even if they could be summoned, they might not be willing to perform a play. Therefore, this play has the attribute of being 'unique.' For the audience, they only care about how good the play is and don't care much about this. But for the judges, uniqueness is the ultimate winning move. With this, you have already won 70% of the battle."

Si Ming was skeptical. He had only been in contact with the Nine Arts Phoenix Fledgling for less than a week and was not familiar with the intricacies of the play. From a personal perspective, he did not think that the "uniqueness" of a play was meaningful. However, since Si Jingyu had said so, he must not have been talking nonsense. After all, there was no point in lying about such a thing.

Subsequent developments indeed confirmed Si Jingyu's words. After the scores for "Puppet Show" were released, it crushed the other works with an undeniable advantage. Judging from the expressions of the other drama club members, there was a sense of "I knew it," suggesting that they had also guessed this outcome.

Si Jingyu clapped and sighed, "What a pity you used this script in the finals. If you had used it in the grand finals, the Nine Arts Phoenix Fledgling would have been yours."

According to the rules, each round of the competition must use a different script. This rule undoubtedly gives a great advantage to the teams that directly participate from the semi-finals. However, the Nine Arts Phoenix Fledgling was originally created by the Aristocratic Clan families, so it is reasonable for them to leave themselves some backdoors. As long as relative fairness can be guaranteed, no one else has any objections.

Si Ming, "Without this script, we won't even make it to the finals. What's the point of talking about the grand finals if we're eliminated?"

At the time, the Emperor Peak Drama Club only had three days. There was simply not enough time to rehearse any other script. Even if Si Ming copied a script that was a huge hit in his previous life, it wouldn't have mattered. The reason why they chose the lyrics of a song and went to great lengths to adapt it was because "Puppet Show" is composed of different small theaters, making it easy to perform. Moreover, by adopting the form of an ancient drama, even the lines were eliminated, greatly saving practice time. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to even get a proper choreographed performance in three days, let alone put it on stage.

Si Jingyu smiled and said, "That makes sense. However, the last ten miles are the hardest to overcome. Falling at the finish line is no different from falling at the starting line. People will only remember the winner. As for the runner-up, he is just a supporting character."

"Don't worry about that. We'll definitely win. Instead, get the Lineage ready to prepare for the victory celebration!"

Si Huaruo stepped down from the stage and forcefully entered between the two, looking at Si Jingyu with hostility, full of vigilance and warning, like Beast King whose territory had been invaded.

"Before worrying about others, worry about yourself first. The finals of the dance awards are just around the corner. As the reigning champion, it would be incredibly embarrassing to be dethroned. Don't cry then."