Chapter 1346: 1346

Chapter 1346: The Spring Festival Gala draws to a close!

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

In a household.

It was a family of four generations.

“Grandpa, this year’s Spring Festival Gala is so enjoyable.”

“This crosstalk is pretty good.”

“Yes, it’s really funny.”

“This year’s Spring Festival Gala has finally made me feel like I’m watching the Spring Festival Gala of when I was young.”

“Wow, it’s time for another skit.”

“This should be the second skit, right?”

“The first skit set the bar really high, so this second one will need to do really well if it’s to do better.”

“Yeah, ‘Dance If You Like’ was quite a good skit.”

“Stop chatting already; hurry up and watch.”

…

On TV.

The stage had been set up.

Two skit actors walked onto the stage.

A lot of people who were watching TV were actually having some doubts. By putting such an amazing skit like “Dance If You Like” as the first skit, wasn’t that a bit overkill? With the quality of that skit, it could easily qualify as the finale act of the Spring Festival Gala. By putting it at the start of the show, it might have amazed the viewers, but what of the skits that came later? How would they have to perform to live up to expectations? Everyone would subconsciously compare them for sure. If the latter skits were slightly off, wouldn’t the effect be softened?

What was Zhang Ye thinking?

Could he be so confident that the latter skits would do even better than the first skit?

No way, right?

But when the skit actors played their parts, everyone was convinced!

…

Skit: ” The Leading Role and the Supporting Role 1 “

Lead actor: Gao Hong.

Supporting actor: Qian Hao.

Gao Hong had bushy eyebrows and a pair of large eyes.

Qian Hao had a sharp chin and was balding.

Both of them were very famous skit actors in China. They hadn’t partnered much before as they were from different skit troupes. However, as the executive director this time, Zhang Ye had put them to work on the same act. The moment they stepped onto the stage, the two of them exuded a strong comedic feel that made the audience amused.

Qian Hao: “That’s not right!”

Gao Hong: “What’s not right?”

Qian Hao: “This costume is not mine.”

Gao Hong: “It’s yours.”

Qian Hao: “You must’ve taken the wrong one. Let me look at the one you’re wearing.”

Gao Hong: “Don’t bother looking at it! This is yours, you’re the traitor.”

Qian Hao: “I’m the traitor?! For which play?”

Gao Hong: “The one we’re rehearsing.”

Qian Hao: “Ah, I’m once again the turncoat, huh?”

Once again?

Audience: “Hahahahaha!”

Later.

Gao Hong: “Don’t you forget! The moment I draw my gun and raise it—you fall down.”

Qian Hao: “Why?”

Gao Hong: “It shows that I’m a crack shot!”

Qian Hao: “Alright.”

Gao Hong: “Mmm, are you the one who led the Japs here?”

Qian Hao: “Captain, the Imperial Army ordered you to give up your weapons and surrender—”

Gao Hong: “Shut up! You must be daydreaming, you traitor! I’ll execute you on behalf of the people and the government—”

By the time Gao Hong turned his head, Qian Hao had already fallen to the ground. “Eh! Where’d he go? Where’d he go?”

Qian Hao sat up. “I’m over here.”

Gao Hong: “Why’d you drop to the floor before I shot you?”

Qian Hao: “Hey! Wasn’t that what you said? That once you pulled out your gun and raised it, I should fall down?”

Gao Hong: “But I haven’t even opened fire!”

Qian Hao: “Aiyo, then doesn’t that show that you’re a crack shot!”

Qian Hao upstaged Gao Hong and stole the show again and again as the supporting actor while the audience laughed like crazy!

“Aiyo!”

“I can’t take it, I can’t take it anymore!”

“Hahahahaha!”

“I’m dying of laughter!”

“My stomach hurts!”

“Your sister! This is too damn funny!”

“This is even funnier than the first skit!”

“Damn, so this is their trump card for the skits!”

“Can it not be so funny!”

“That was so wonderful! I couldn’t even bear to look away for a second!”

“I was laughing nonstop!”

“Hahahaha!”

…

In the production control room.

Zhang Ye was calm and composed.

Chen Peisi and Zhu Shimao’s skit had also been brought over here by him. This skit was one of the most classic skits in the early Spring Festival Galas of his previous world, so would it look rather outdated 2 if he used it here? Zhang Ye had thought about this carefully beforehand. After some research, he realized that it wouldn’t. So he used it. The only issue was that the selection of the actors was very difficult. The actors for “Dance If You Like” were easier to choose as Auntie Ci and Master Lian were both quite apt for those roles. But for actors like Zhu Shimao and Chen Peisi who had such strong individual styles, it was quite impossible to find two people as unique as them. Zhang Ye himself couldn’t act in this either. Zhu Shimao? He did not have that imposing air about him. Chen Peisi? He could not portray that crass manner either. So Zhang Ye could only find people who were the closest fit and put them onstage.

In the end, it was the skit actors Gao Hong and Qian Hao who caught Zhang Ye’s attention.

Under Zhang Ye’s repeated direction, and gelling together in the rehearsals, this extremely well-known “The Leading Role and the Supporting Role” skit was finally presented to this world’s audience.

From the look of the live audience’s reaction?

It was had turned the world upside down!

…

The skit ended.

The audience was still laughing.

The next act in the order began. It was a dance.

When many of the audience saw this, they knew that it would be a transition act. After those wonderful crosstalks and skits, there was definitely a need to release all of that excitement. Besides, the first few performances of the dances had been too amazing. “Flying Apsaras” and the “Thousand-Hand Guanyin” were each more amazing than the last. When everyone thought of them, they felt that even if the following dances were well-performed, they would still be eclipsed by those at the beginning.

Peacock Love 3 ?

What the heck was this?

They were wrong again!

In fact, they couldn’t be any more wrong about it!

…

When the stage lights dimmed.

When a man and a woman used their hands and started the dance, the image of a male and female peacock came alive!

The mannerisms!

The movements!

The postures!

All of that was vividly presented!

The audience gasped when they saw it!

The set design also seamlessly blended into the performance. The blue tone of the background added a strong poetic feel, and the moon slowly moved across the curved screen. It created an impactful and strong visual experience, with butterflies fluttering in the bamboo forest. The particle effects slowly glowed upwards and built a beautiful environment to match the courtship of the pair of peacocks.

With the development of the peacocks’ love, the portrayal of the dance reached a climax!

When the peacock lay down at the end, the peahen fluttered her wings as peacock plumage fanned out all across the screen behind them. Everyone was shocked and astonished!

Beautiful!

It was the height of beauty!

It was so beautiful that it entered every cell of one’s body!

It was so beautiful that it weaved through the gaps in one’s teeth!

Screams!

Applause!

Everyone in the audience spared no effort in showing their praise and amazement at the performance!

“Masterful!”

“I know this woman. She’s Chang Hua, a 40-something-year-old dancer who was famous in China many years ago. She won major international prizes and then retired for some reason. I heard that she settled down abroad.”

“That’s Chang Hua?”

“Damn, I know her too!”

“She’s a goddamn master at dancing!”

“This is purely her own ability!”

“The artistic and aesthetic values of this dance are too amazing!”

“Zhang Ye is so capable. He actually convinced and invited Master Chang back from overseas?”

“This dance is too frighteningly good!”

“Chang Hua was famed for her portrayal of animals in her dances. This dance can only be performed by her, no one else!”

“The choreography is very good too!”

“Zhang Ye is too fucking talented!”

“Yeah, that final plumage fan was so good that it blinded me!”

“Me too, I could literally feel my blood pumping through my veins!”

“Eh, I have a question.”

“What?”

“Don’t peahens not have trains?”

…

In the production control room.

Zhang Ye was giving orders.

Whether a peahen could fan out their tail plumage 4 was also widely complained about for some time by the majority of the people in Zhang Ye’s previous world after Yang Liping 5 and her partner finished with their amazing dance performance.[4.][5.]

Because Master Chang Hua was the lead dancer, the roles for this dance were not changed by Zhang Ye. Ultimately, the highlight of the fanning of the plumage at the end of the dance was still left to Chang Hua to perform. Only she could be relied upon, as her partner was still lacking by quite a bit compared to her. As for the doubts of whether a peahen could display a train, Zhang Ye also had his own explanation.

And his explanation was:

If she wants to display it, who are you to say that she can’t?!

There are already so many oddities among humans, so why can’t there be one in the peacock world as well?!

…

The acts continued on one after another.

They were getting closer and closer to midnight.

1. https://youtu.be/w_o8fOKZKX0

2. The skit is from 1990 CCTV SFG.

3. https://youtu.be/JBDz4MjdrEo

4. Peahens are able to display, they just don’t have the train (the long covert feathers with eye spots) to do so. Instead, they display their tail feathers only.

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Liping | Her niece is Wei Caiqi (which Little Hu Die was based off of)