Chapter 72: A Breathtaking Dance

Time flew by, and soon it was six o'clock in the afternoon. The gala officially began.

The crowd poured into the auditorium like a flowing stream, packing the venue, which could easily hold a thousand people, to maximum capacity. Viewed from a distance, it was a vast, sea-like mass of humanity.

Children, young male and female comrades, and the elderly all held personal water canteens, popcorn, melon seeds, and various snacks in their hands.

It was lively, bustling, and filled with a joyous festive spirit.

The clamor of voices rose in a boisterous and extraordinary atmosphere.

In less than a dozen minutes, more than ten rows of audience seats were filled to the brim.

The front-row seats reserved for the leaders, however, remained completely empty. After all, leaders always had to make their grand entrance for the finale.

In front of the stage, several television station staff members were setting up photographic equipment with video cameras and still cameras.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, tonight's cultural gala would surely make tomorrow's news.

As the lights in the auditorium were completely switched off, spotlights illuminated the top of the stage, and the noisy chatter in the hall gradually subsided.

Two dark curtains at the back of the stage slowly parted to both sides, and two hosts appeared, holding microphones.

One man and one woman, taking turns with loud and clear voices, announced, "Respected leaders, esteemed guests, and dear comrades! Happy New Year! I declare that the 1980 Jiangcheng Spring Festival Gala has officially begun!"

"Clap, clap, clap!"

The applause from the thousands of people in the audience erupted like rolling thunder, echoing throughout the entire auditorium.

Cheng Kaiyan sat among the crowd from the Song and Dance Theatre, next to Liu Xiaoli, with Editor-in-Chief Yang and Chen Shanshan seated just behind them.

Since the audience lights were turned off, the seating area was plunged into dimness, save for the soft, gentle glow emanating from the stage ahead.

Cheng Kaiyan leaned back against the plush seat, a subtle and refreshing fragrance of the young woman wafting near his nose. He gazed at Liu Xiaoli's profile, caught in the interplay of light and shadow under the stage illumination. "Are you nervous, Sister Xiaoli? You'll be singing and dancing in front of all these people in a little while."

"A little nervous, but it's alright." She shook her head.

The two chatted idly back and forth. At that moment, the first performance began—a sketch from the Cultural Palace about the people of Jiangcheng enjoying their morning tea and breakfast.

"Poke, poke, poke~"

The sketch was quite humorous. Just as Cheng Kaiyan was watching with great amusement, a hand reached out from behind him, cupping a handful of melon seeds, and asked in a low voice, "Do you want some melon seeds?"

"No! They make my mouth dry."

Cheng Kaiyan rolled his eyes speechlessly as he turned his head back.

Chen Shanshan then placed a water canteen on the desk, tilted her head, and said, "I brought a hot water flask... Well, if you won't eat them, I'll give them to Xiaoli, not you."

茹 "You really came well prepared. Why didn't you buy popcorn?"

"I didn't have enough money. If you want to pay, I'll go buy some for you right now."

Liu Xiaoli, sitting beside them, naturally accepted the melon seeds and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Anyway, I bought these with the money Cheng Kaiyan lost to me today. Here, Xiaoli, have a White Rabbit creamy candy." Chen Shanshan curled her lips and said triumphantly.

"You!"

Mentioning this immediately riled Cheng Kaiyan up.

"What were you guys doing? Playing mahjong or Fight the Landlord?"

"His mahjong skills are simply atrocious. Him and the gatekeeper grandpa are the worst players around, though even the gatekeeper grandpa wanted to win his money."

"Haha!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the audience seating area.

Professor An, Mother An, and Zhou Xiaomin sat together, cracking melon seeds between their teeth while watching and laughing heartily.

"Xiaomin, didn't you say last time you were going to introduce a prospective match for our Shaokang? How is that going now?"

Mother An adjusted her glasses and asked curiously.

"Oh, don't even mention it. She didn't agree, and they didn't even meet. Your son is such a hopeless romantic seed! I introduced him to Comrade Hu Yanzhang from our work unit—she is a top-notch comrade in every way. Do you know what your son said?" Zhou Xiaomin sneered.

"What did he say?"

"Your son said her appearance was passable, but her demeanor was too flashy and vulgar, and her manners and behavior resembled a woman of the demimonde. That made her furious! Can you believe something like that?"

"What? Such a thing happened?"

Mother An was shocked and looked sternly at Professor An.

"Indeed... Well, never mind. It was my fault for saying the wrong thing."

Professor An wanted to explain himself, but upon seeing his mother's expression, he instantly lost all his defiance and obediently admitted his mistake.

"Good thing you know. Remember to apologize to her next time."

"Yes, yes, yes."

Professor An nodded helplessly. He was a filial son who always listened to his mother at home, where she managed all household affairs.

On the stage, the voice of the host rang out: "The next item is the group dance *The Death of the Swan* performed by the Jiangcheng Song and Dance Theatre. Please enjoy."

Professor An hurriedly looked up. Sure enough, a group of dancers dressed in white ballet costumes slowly walked onto the stage and stood quietly in the tranquil center.

"Wow! It's ballet!"

"Such pretty costumes!"

Ballet was still a novelty in the domestic scene at the time, and many people had never seen it before. Furthermore, ballet costumes were considered rather daring according to contemporary societal views.

Especially the white stockings, which were particularly novel and made the young women in the audience's eyes sparkle with fascination.

As the soothing piano melody began to play, the girls started to dance. Their movements were graceful and fluid, transforming the pitch-black stage into a calm and deep lake, upon which the girls glided like swans spreading their wings.

Utter elegance, breathtaking dance, and graceful postures...

It struck the audience's hearts like a bolt of lightning, instantly captivating everyone present. It was an audio-visual feast, an experience unlike anything they had ever had before.

"How truly beautiful! It perfectly captures the elegance of the swan."

Professor An's eyes were filled with awe. Achieving such harmony, unison, and breathtaking beauty in a group performance of twenty people was exceedingly rare.

"Indeed!" Mother An sighed with emotion.

Zhou Xiaomin, sitting beside them, felt a surge of reflected glory, considering she was a part of the theatre.

At that moment, Zhou Xiaomin noticed that the man sitting in front of the piano on stage looked somewhat familiar. A name flashed in her mind, and she could not help exclaiming, "Look, Shaokang, isn't that piano player Liu Xiaoli's partner? How can a vagrant like him play the piano?"

"He's not a vagrant; he's a university teaching assistant."

Professor An corrected her, then looked up again. Sure enough, the piano player was indeed Cheng Kaiyan, Liu Xiaoli's partner. He sighed, "Ah, as expected, he's no ordinary..."

As the lights dimmed, the piano music and the dance on stage faded away, just like the title of the ballet: the swan gently sinking into the lake.

The performance ended. After a moment of silence, overwhelming applause erupted from both the audience and the leaders' seating areas.

"Simply breathtaking!"

"So stunning."

People in the crowd could not stop exclaiming with excitement.

Toddlers were held in their mothers' arms, watching the performance obediently, while the adults were utterly spellbound.

Especially the supreme elegance of the ballet dance—the sight of a group of swans in white costumes spinning and leaping across the stage.

Time drifted by, and the sky grew dark.

As performance after performance passed, in this era starved of entertainment, this grand Spring Festival cultural gala would become a cherished memory that many people in the audience would fondly look back upon years later.

The hosts crossed off the names of the items that had already been performed on their program sheets, and the next song that came into view was titled *Xiaofang*.

"Is it almost time for Xiaoli's solo?"

Teacher Jiang turned her head to ask.

"Yes, Teacher Jiang, Sister Xiaoli's rendition of *Xiaofang* is up next."

The members of the dance troupe looked on with eyes full of anticipation. After the dance's perfect curtain call moments ago, many of them had been moved to tears of excitement.

However, their own time on stage had temporarily concluded, and next came Liu Xiaoli's solo, the final performance program for the theatre.

"Next, we invite Comrade Liu Xiaoli from the dance troupe of the Jiangcheng Song and Dance Theatre to the stage to sing an original song for us, *Xiaofang*."