Lin Ke smiled at her words. "Why couldn't I?"
He watched the madam, waiting for her reply, his eyes brimming with confidence.
At his words, the madam's previously unreadable face scrunched up even further, though a sharp gleam flashed deep in her eyes.
The women beside her wore all sorts of expressions.
Their remarks echoed around him, every one of them convinced that Lin Ke was blowing his own trumpet. Not one believed he could dance.
"Who is he? He can dance?"
"How could someone who looks like that possibly dance?"
"That's some big talk. I bet he can't dance at all!"
The girls whispered among themselves inside the doorway, making no effort to keep their voices from Lin Ke.
Lin Ke turned a deaf ear to them. His confident smile remained unchanged as he simply watched the madam.
The madam knew there were men in the capital who studied dance, but they were few and far between, and she knew most of them. Who was this young man before her?
Could he really dance?
Then she looked at the fine-featured young man before her and asked, "Young sir, where are you from?"
Lin Ke smiled faintly. "I live at the very end of Chaoyang Street. My uncle is Qi Dayan. Mm, you can just call me Xiaolin."
"You live here? A relative of Qi Dayan's?" The madam narrowed her eyes and looked Lin Ke over, then nodded with a smile. "Then that's fine. I'll agree to your request, Young Master Lin... but I'll have to ask which of my girls is willing to exchange pointers on dance with you."
Hearing the madam say that, Lin Ke secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Only then did the madam turn to look behind her:
"Girls, you all heard him, didn't you? This Young Master Lin has come to ask me for guidance in dance. You all know I haven't danced in years. Who would like to give this young gentleman a demonstration?"
The girls who had been speaking earlier, already itching to try, immediately scrambled to raise their hands:
"Hmph, he doesn't know how high the heavens are or how deep the earth runs. Let me teach him a lesson!"
"You're no good. Mama, let me do it."
"Heeheehee, Mama, Mama, I can do it too!"
"You want a dance contest? Are you fucking worthy? You reek of average-man arrogance!"
Behind the madam, some sneered and mocked, some jumped up and shouted with fighting spirit boiling over, some were eager to try, others hurled outright insults, and still others simply ignored him.
Naturally, Lin Ke wasn't affected by any of it. Their words felt so feeble to him that none of their insults even hit the mark.
He had seen plenty of this in his previous life!
Seeing her girls show not a shred of restraint, the madam felt helpless, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Amid the commotion, a woman in a white blouse and a vivid red skirt slowly stepped out from among the girls, her red lips parting slightly:
"Mama, let me."
The moment the other girls saw her step forward, they all fell silent.
The smile on the madam's face deepened when she saw who had come forward. "My sweet girl!"
Lin Ke was briefly taken aback at the sight of her too. He raised his hands in a cupped-fist salute and smiled. "Miss Bingbing, we meet again."
Bingbing?
She was Bingbing, the girl who had come to his rescue at the painting studio when Wang Lin had wanted to see his chest muscles at the end!
Hearing Lin Ke address her, Bingbing merely gave a cool reply despite their earlier meeting. "Mm."
The madam hadn't expected them to know each other. She took Bingbing by the arm, drew her aside, and asked quietly, "Who is this boy? You've met him?"
Bingbing nodded calmly. She was a little more talkative with her mama, answering softly, "All I know is that he's Sister Wang Lin's disciple. I only met him today, when I went to Sister Wang Lin's place for her to paint my portrait. But at the time, he was in Sister Wang Lin's inner room, and..."
"Oh?" The madam narrowed her eyes at that and murmured a few words into Bingbing's ear. Bingbing glanced back at Lin Ke, then resumed her cool expression.
The two then returned to the doorway, and the madam said to Lin Ke, "Young Master Lin, since you've come seeking guidance, I'll have one of our girls take you on. I assume you already know the rules of a dance contest?"
Lin Ke looked puzzled. "My mother usually taught only me, and she never mentioned any rules. I don't know what I need to keep in mind when competing with someone. Sorry for the trouble, Madam, but could you explain them?"
The madam froze for a moment.
A boy barely out of the nest, coming to seek guidance without even knowing the rules of a dance contest?
The madam frowned. "Young Master Lin, surely you aren't here to make a fool of me? You don't even know the rules? Every woman registered as a courtesan in the world should know them."
The madam couldn't be blamed for getting angry.
It was like someone who didn't even know the rules of Chinese chess running up and saying they wanted to play against the national champion. Wasn't that just making a fool of someone?
At least, that was how the madam saw it.
Lin Ke could only say helplessly, "My mother passed away. She hadn't taught me the rules of a contest before then. I'm sorry."
Passed away...
There were plenty of unfortunate souls in the world, and the madam had seen her share.
Still, seeing Lin Ke lower himself like this, and be honest rather than lie to her, she couldn't help softening her gaze.
She looked at Bingbing. "Sweet girl, you explain."
Bingbing nodded, her voice cool and clear. "The Dance Treatise says: dance must possess continuity, quality, and beauty!"
Bingbing explained the rules in great detail, her voice pleasant to the ear.
"Continuity, quality, and beauty in the Dance Treatise are all criteria used to judge who is better in a dance contest. Continuity means whether all the movements throughout the dance flow together;
quality refers to the quality of the movements. That quality can lie in strength, in highly difficult movements, or in incomparable grace;
beauty is the impression conveyed by the entire body and its movements-in other words, how beautiful it looks."
At this point, Bingbing paused and hesitated. "Actually, there's one more criterion called 'rhythm.' It wasn't recorded in the book, but it's always used at the poetry gatherings where they compete for the title of courtesan queen. It means how closely the dance matches the music,
the closer the match, the more it synchronizes what the audience sees and hears, thereby influencing their mood. But we certainly won't need that today."
Understanding dawned on Lin Ke.
He had already understood rhythm and beauty when they were first mentioned, but quality and continuity had been less clear to him. Now that Bingbing had explained them, he understood.
Simply put, it meant flowing dance movements, graceful execution, coordination of the whole body, and harmony with the music.
These rules weren't all that different from those of twenty-first-century dance.
"Young Master Lin, you understood, didn't you? Is there anything you're still unsure about?"
Hearing Bingbing's voice, Lin Ke looked apologetic and said, "No, I understood everything. Thank you, Miss Bingbing."
When Lin Ke thanked her, Bingbing merely nodded slightly.
Seeing this, the madam walked over and said, "Since you now know the rules, Young Master Lin, shall we begin?"
"All right, then... shall I go first?" Lin Ke looked at Bingbing.
"Either is fine." Bingbing's expression was placid, as though she had been born that way.
Lin Ke then took a few steps back, closed his eyes, opened them again, and drew his right leg back half a step.
Just then, the madam spoke. "Wait a moment. You said the restaurant's proprietor sent you?"
Lin Ke nodded.
Then he saw the madam face the Tongfu Grand Restaurant, plant both hands on her hips, and bellow with a voice like the Lion's Roar Technique: "You damned fatty! How much longer are you going to keep peeking? Get your ass out here!"
Her voice carried through Chaoyang Street. A whole string of oil lamps lit up, and the people inside woke one after another.
Such a loud voice...
There was a spectacle to watch!
Before you continue