Miracle

The sun gradually set, the surrounding light grew dimmer, and the gaslights on the street came on. More and more people gathered in the small square outside the Moulin Rouge; soon it would be time for the Moulin Rouge to reopen.

At that moment, a thin man, accompanied by a beautiful young woman in a low-cut evening gown, walked to the entrance of the Moulin Rouge.

"Ah, it's Mr. Genet..."

Such a voice came from the crowd.

Sime Genet is the owner of the Moulin Rouge, though some say he's merely a front man for certain individuals. While his share in the Moulin Rouge isn't insignificant, it's not enormous either. Even so, he enjoys widespread respect throughout Paris.

Genet stopped at the entrance of the Moulin Rouge, waved to everyone, and they all quieted down.

"My dear friends, it's been two weeks since I last saw you all, I've missed you all so much!" Mr. Genet shouted to everyone. "Do you miss me?"

The crowd burst into laughter.

Genet looked around, then turned to the beautiful woman in the low-cut evening gown beside him with a smug look and said, "Nicole, look how much they like me!"

The girl standing next to him, named Nicole, was the star performer at the Moulin Rouge during this period. She smiled slightly, took half a step forward, and waved to everyone, just like Genet: "My dear friends, it's been two weeks since I last saw you all. I've missed you so much... Did you miss me?"

"Nicole! Nicole!"

"I love you, Nicole!"

"We missed you so much, Nicole!"

Screams and whistles suddenly merged into a tidal wave, rushing towards them, almost knocking people off balance.

It took quite a while for the tide to gradually recede.

"Mr. Genet, you see, I'm more popular than you," Nicole said with a smile to Genet, who was standing next to her, while taking a small half-step back to make Genet stand out more.

"Ah, yes, in terms of popularity, no one here can compare to you. In fact, any girl at the Moulin Rouge is more popular than me," Genet said. Then he waved to everyone and said, "In that case, I won't keep you any longer. I hereby declare the Moulin Rouge open for business! Welcome everyone!"

With that sound, everyone's eyes were suddenly brightened; the sun, which had long since set, suddenly rose again. For a moment, many people even had to cover their eyes with their hands.

"Oh, my eyes!" some even cried out.

After a while, everyone gradually adjusted and opened their eyes.

The world before them had completely changed. The glass windows that had once been embedded in the Moulin Rouge and the red windmill now shone brightly, as dazzling as stars fallen from the sky. The stones in the square, facing the glass sides of the buildings, also emitted brilliant light, projecting beams of light that illuminated the Moulin Rouge as if it were daytime. No, considering the surrounding darkness, under this light, the Moulin Rouge wasn't just illuminated as if it were daytime; it had become a source of light itself, shimmering and sparkling.

Considering the relatively high location of the Moulin Rouge, at this moment, even people in Paris could see the radiant Moulin Rouge from afar. Those who did not come to visit, those who could not afford to go to the Moulin Rouge, could now see this glittering building from a place that would take almost an hour by carriage.

"My God, this is... this is the Moulin Rouge! It's... it's like the Castle floating in the sky!" At the University of Paris, Andrei, who had just come out of the laboratory to rest, spotted the Moulin Rouge at a glance. Because the surroundings were pitch black, while the Moulin Rouge was exceptionally bright, from Andrei's perspective, it really did look like it was floating in the night sky.

"It's so beautiful!" At the University of Paris, on the Champ de Mars, and anywhere else in Paris, countless people gaze in the direction of the Moulin Rouge and exclaim in such admiration.

"Alas, what a pity, what a pity that Joseph and Napoleon always told me to keep a low profile, otherwise, my 'Palace of Bliss' would also be the focus of everyone's attention." On his balcony, looking at the brightly lit "Moulin Rouge" not far away, Lucien sighed.

Those nearby were so stunned by the light that they almost lost the ability to speak. They were silent at first, then began to utter all sorts of strange sounds, most of which were not words but simply exclamations.

It took them quite a while to recover from the shock of daylight returning.

"A miracle! This is absolutely a miracle!"

"God, may your kingdom come!" A bishop who had changed into civilian clothes to seek pleasure inadvertently shouted out these words.

"Look at those fountains!" someone suddenly shouted again.

Everyone looked towards the fountain and discovered that colorful lights were also shining up from beneath the water jets, giving the water jets a different kind of glow.

Then the music started playing, which was nothing unusual; there was already a band in the Moulin Rouge. But what was unusual was that, in response to the music, the fountains began to change in various ways. The height of the large fountain in the center of the pool rose and fell with the music, while the smaller fountains around it had long since changed from bubble-like shapes to normal water jets, but these water jets also began to sway to the rhythm of the music, like a group of dancers.

"This is... so beautiful..."

Among those who came were many art students, some genuine and some not. But at this moment, these "poets" felt that language had lost all its power. So much so that, after racking their brains, they could only utter this one sentence in the end.

This design was, of course, Joseph's idea. Musical fountains are practically commonplace in later generations. And the musical fountain in front of the Moulin Rouge is far inferior to those of later generations. But to people of this era, it truly deserves to be called a miracle.

Of course, this musical fountain wasn't without its advantages over later ones. For example, in terms of intelligence, it far surpassed its predecessors. Later musical fountains at most possessed some degree of "artificial intelligence," but Joseph's musical fountain was entirely controlled by "human intelligence"—the music was played by highly intelligent humans, and every movement of the fountain was controlled by humans with intelligence levels far exceeding those of computers.

At this moment, the doors of the Moulin Rouge opened, and dazzling light shone from them. Looking inside, the hall was brightly lit, with huge crystal chandeliers and various crystal wall lamps illuminating the entire space in a dreamlike atmosphere.

"Gentlemen, please follow us into this dreamlike stage, into a brand new era," Mr. Genet proclaimed.

Only then did people truly come to their senses. They followed the two men into the Moulin Rouge, discussing the magical lamp as they walked.

It wasn't until he stepped through the doors of the Moulin Rouge that Caderousse snapped out of his shock. He saw Genet preparing to leave before the performance began, so he quickly chased after him.

"Mr. Genet, Mr. Genet..."

Genet stopped, glanced at him, then smiled and said, "Mr. Caderousse, I know what you want to ask, but please allow me to keep this secret for one more night. Tomorrow morning you will see everything you want to know in the newspaper."

Having said this, Genet casually picked up a glass of wine, gleaming like a ruby, from a waiter's tray, raised it to Caderousse, and then addressed the people around him. "Gentlemen, eat, drink, sing, and enjoy yourselves! Now, excuse me."

He then downed the glass of red wine in one gulp, placed it on the silver tray held by the waiter, and walked through a small door, surrounded by several bodyguards.

"Really, is it necessary to keep this a secret at a time like this? We're not competitors. You're the lions, and we're just vultures at best," Caderousse couldn't help but think. Then he carefully observed the various arrangements in the hall, which had indeed changed a lot. He noted them all down and calculated their prices in his mind.

"Everything else is fine, I can manage if I grit my teeth and keep up, but I don't know how much these lights cost?"

There were definitely many people like Caderousse who were scheming. In just ten minutes, Caderousse encountered several colleagues who were constantly looking around. They all looked at each other, their eyes full of wariness and hatred.

Immediately afterwards, Caderousse spotted another very noteworthy target—Mr. Bovan, the banker, who was leisurely sitting on the sofa watching a song and dance performance.

"How did he get back here?" Caderousse thought. "Mr. Bovan isn't exactly a man who likes these things. He probably knows something, maybe it's his investment. But aren't I short of money right now? What could be more convenient than running into a banker when you're short of cash?"

So Caderousse quickly stepped forward and greeted him, "Mr. Bovan, I really didn't expect to meet you here."

"Ah, I've invested a lot of money here, and I can't sleep well until I see the results for myself," Bovan said. "Mr. Caderousse, you and Mr. Genet are in the same industry. What do you think of this renovation of the Moulin Rouge? Hmm, will it make his business even better?"

"Definitely. Mr. Bovan, although the Moulin Rouge's capacity won't increase as a result, people will definitely be more willing to spend money here."

"You're right, that's what I thought too. Um, Mr. Caderousse, what brings you here?"

"Of course it's for studying. May I sit here?"

"Please go ahead," Bovan said.

So Caderousse quickly sat down next to Bovan.