Chapter 1342: Restoring honor to the art of cross-gender acting!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Chen Tian was on fire.
The magic act was on fire as well.
Even the insiders in the field of magic were very amazed.
“How did the apple juice disappear?”
“What about the coin?”
“Did he use misdirection to distract?”
“Are the coins a prop?”
“What trickery did they incorporate into it?”
“I can’t figure it out.”
“What about the glass? What’s the mechanism to make it work?”
“Did anyone spot how the trick was done?”
“There weren’t enough gaps to analyze how the trick was done!”
“I figured out one, but not the rest. We’ll need to play it back slowly so that we can analyze it carefully.”
“Chen Tian’s technique has always allowed him to be recognized as one of the better magicians in the industry. He has handled the details of the tricks very well. But even so, why have I never heard of Chen Tian having skills in this aspect of magic?”
“Yeah, how did he suddenly get the skills?”
“He even included humor into his interactions during the act. This isn’t his usual style of magic.”
“Could it be Zhang Ye?”
“I heard that too, that the magic trick was designed by Zhang Ye.”
“But he’s a layman. How could he possibly think up something like that?”
“God knows!”
This magic act called “Myriad of Changes” had even shocked the industry insiders, not to mention the common folk. Everyone knew that magic was just an illusion. There was no such thing as instant teleportation or supernatural powers to speak of. But as for where the trickery lay, no one could figure it out!
That was why they were stunned!
That was why they praised it!
Very quickly, the whole Internet was taken over by discussions related to this magic act!
…
Tianxi Company.
The apple juice advertisement was sponsored by them.
Thinking to back then, Tianxi Purified Water and Family Spring were direct competitors in the bottled water industry. That earth-shattering advertising battle between Li Xiaoxiao and Zhang Ye was still fresh in the minds of everyone. It could be said that Tianxi Company and Zhang Ye were foes since he had dominated them. But it was precisely because Tianxi and Zhang Ye had such a confrontation that they knew how good he was. There were no eternal foes, so they also took part in the bidding of the advertising rights for the Spring Festival Gala this time. In their bid, they had even identified that they wanted Zhang Ye to design the way their ads appeared. From the looks of it, this decision couldn’t be more correct!
“The ad has been placed!”
“This is such a good placement!”
“Although it was only given one scene and a single tagline, it’s great!”
“Yeah, everyone will talk about our brand now whenever they discuss the trickery behind that magic act!”
“This money was quite well-spent!”
…
At the Spring Festival Gala.
The acts followed one after another.
…
The acrobatics act.
This was the most popular acrobatics show in all of the Spring Festival Galas in Zhang Ye’s previous world. Its difficulty, set design, and admiration for it were all spectacularly marvelous. Zhang Ye had spent a great deal of effort in approaching many acrobatic and performance troupes before he managed to bring the act to this world.
The audience was dazzled by the sight.
“Here we go again!”
“It’s time for the acrobatics show!”
“Wow!”
“Bravo!”
“Bravo!”
“This is so exciting to watch!”
“These performers are amazing!”
“They can even execute a move like that?”
“Impressive!”
“This acrobatics show is so freaking awesome!”
…
At the venue.
In the audience.
There was a woman who wasn’t paying attention to any of the performances. Her name was Zhao Ke, the wife of Gao Xiliang who was the successor to the art of cross-gender acting. Watching the acts onstage and listening to the cheers and applause of the audience around her, she was completely indifferent to it all. Right now, she was very nervous because her husband was about to take to the stage. How could she care to watch the other acts?
Honestly speaking, this was the first time that Zhao Ke was seated in the audience to watch her husband perform. In so many years, she had always been around whenever her husband performed. That was because she was his agent as well. However, she had not once sat in the audience to watch him perform. She was afraid that she would have to listen to the people around her speaking ill of her husband. The thing that angered her most was listening to others criticize her husband, so she might as well not hear that and just wait in the backstage for her husband to finish performing. But it was different today. She was seated in the front row to cheer her husband on. She wasn’t going to hide anymore!
Old Gao!
Don’t be nervous!
You can do it!
You won’t have any problems!
Show them how hard you’ve worked for the past 20 years!
Let them see what real cross-gender acting is all about!
…
Onstage, the acrobatics show had just ended.
The host came back onstage to introduce the next act.
On TV, the info box was clearly displayed onscreen.
” The New Drunken Concubine 1 ”
Lyrics: Zhang Ye.
Composer: Zhang Ye.
Choreography: Zhang Ye.
Performer: Gao Xiliang.
…
Here it comes!
Here it comes!
Zhao Ke’s heart jumped into her throat. She could feel the veins in her neck pulsing hard. The only worries she had now were that the audience would not accept the performance and not give her husband recognition. She turned her head and looked around at the audience who was still discussing the previous act. In her head, she was screaming out pleas.
Please, everyone!
These are Old Gao’s painstaking efforts that he put all his life into!
Please watch him and give him your attention!
Please listen to him seriously!
The colors on the stage changed!
The music came on and the lighting changed!
What amazed everyone most was that a platform had slowly started rising up in the middle of the stage 2 . On top of it was a person dressed as a woman, wearing a large red robe, and surrounded by dancers!
“Wow!”
“How beautiful.”
“Who’s that woman?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t know her either.”
Audience members were discussing the act.
But when the melody played, when Gao Xiliang started moving his long, flowing robes and began singing, countless TV viewers and live audience members were dumbfounded!
“Love and hate happen in a second.
“I toast the moon to show my affection.
“Lost in this love-hate relationship.
“My lord, when will you love me again?
“The chrysanthemums reflect the moonlight.
“Who knows of the chill in my love’s heart?
“Drunk in Your Majesty’s arms,
“Dreaming of the Tang.”
A beautiful sleeve dance 3 !
A stunning and beautiful face!
A gentle and lovely singing voice!
Everyone was enchanted at the sight!
…
Not many people knew who he was.
The majority of the people did not even know about Gao Xiliang.
Online.
“She’s so beautiful!”
“She’s really beautiful!”
“Why haven’t we seen this woman before?”
“That’s a man.”
“Get lost, previous poster!”
“Haha, do you know any man who’s that beautiful? And can sing with such a womanly charm?”
“That’s really a man. His name is Gao Xiliang. You can search for him online.”
“What?”
“Damn, I searched for him!”
“That’s really a goddamn man!”
“Heavens!”
“A man?”
“Oh my God! What’s happening?”
“Impossible! That’s impossible!”
“Dammit, if this is a man, then how many people in the world still dare to call themselves women?”
“W-What kind of a performance is this?”
“I heard that it’s called a cross-gender act!”
“Cross-gender? This is really very impressive!”
“He’s totally able to pass as a real woman!”
“What the hell! This is awesome! It’s so impressive!”
“Yeah, he must be very skilled! I don’t think he could do it if he didn’t put in 10 to 20 years of hard work into the craft! Those movements, that demeanor, and that voice, everything about it is imitated to perfection!”
“I’ve met a truly godly person today!”
…
At a newspaper firm.
Several reporters were dumbfounded from watching this performance.
…
At Zhang Ye’s maternal grandma’s house.
The entire family was in disbelief.
…
At Old Wu’s parents’ house.
The entire family was stunned.
…
At the venue.
Zhao Ke was also stunned. She had thought that there would be voices of scolding and ridicule. However, she heard none of that!
Everyone around her was praising it.
“Cross-gender act?”
“This isn’t some simple cross-dressing act!”
“Is this some form of art?”
“It definitely is!”
“Yeah, if this isn’t art, then what is!”
“Too beautiful! From head to toe, I can only describe it with one word: beautiful!”
Applause thundered!
Praise flooded in!
Some audience members even put up their hands and cheered loudly!
Hearing all of that around her, Zhao Ke looked at her onstage husband and then smiled. Her tears started rolling down uncontrollably!
Old Gao!
Can you hear this?
Do you hear them?
All of the applause is for you!
They’re all cheering for you!
What is cross-gender acting?
Not many knew about it in the past.
And not many understood it either.
Contempt.
Disdain.
Strange looks.
That was how everyone viewed them in the past.
Therefore, Zhao Ke felt very grateful to Zhang Ye. Because on this day, Zhang Ye had gone against all that pressure and stood his ground to bring this cross-gender act onto the stage of the Spring Festival Gala. Because on this day, Zhang Ye had restored honor to the art of cross-gender acting!
This wasn’t cross-dressing!
It was art!
It was a genuine form of art!