Chapter 4: Rehearsal

On early Wednesday morning, Lin Ran went to find Zhang Yupeng to start the first day of training. She waited for a while at the agreed-upon New Star Theater, and Zhang Yupeng arrived. Since there were no morning performances at the theater, they could use the time for rehearsal.

The training content wasn’t difficult; it included simple magic techniques and practicing movements and lines during the rehearsal.

Lin Ran didn’t understand magic, and Zhang Yupeng told her that her role was to coordinate with the magician performing the magic tricks. As for the secrets of the magic, she didn’t need to know them. Each magician had their own unique skills, and these were their livelihoods, not to be easily shared with others.

“Oh, by the way, what name do you plan to use?” Zhang Yupeng asked her. “Or are you going to use your real name?”

Lin Ran frowned, thinking. The stage name she used before was “Xu Ruoyi,” given by the company to match her character, which is a good girl loved by everyone. However, her character later deviated, becoming a low-emotional-intelligence, selfish, and malicious woman, making the stage name ironic.

“Let’s use my real name,” Lin Ran said.

“Okay.”

Wednesday’s training had only Lin Ran and Zhang Yupeng. The next day was the official rehearsal, with several magicians participating in the performance coming to practice coordination with her. Friday night was the fixed performance time for the magic troupe, and they needed a rehearsal before that.

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Tl fsjkdtzu yeele, “R wple vs cl vbl qynl sq vbl xytkn vaswrl, cwv dso xu rspkvksd kp ds zsdtla plnwal.”

Jlqsal Nkd Syd nswze alprsde, Nk Dkdt’Gs ayd shla, vwttkdt yv bla nzsvblp, yde nsiwlvvkpbzu vokpvle bkp cseu. “R oydv vs rzyu okvb xu pkpvla! R esd’v oydv vs rzyu okvb xu casvbla! Fvkdju casvbla, pvkdju!”

Nk Dkdtuwl: “…”

Nkd Syd, rwggzle, ypjle, “Rp vbkp zkvvzl jke yzps y xytknkyd? Rp bl tskdt vs rlaqsax vss?”

Li Xingyue quickly explained, “No, he’s not. He’s not going to school today, and there’s no one at home to take care of him, so I brought him to play.”

Li Xing’Ao blinked his big eyes, suddenly extended his little hand, and shook it. A rose appeared out of thin air in his small hand. Holding the rose, he said in a childish voice, “Pretty sister, this is for you!”

Lin Ran smiled, took the flower, and patted his little head. “Thank you, little brother; it’s very pretty.”

Li Xing’Ao continued in his childish tone, “Sister is prettier than the rose!”

Lin Ran laughed, bent down, and said to Li Xing’Ao, “Promise, sister, that you won’t learn from the greasy uncles in TV dramas, okay?”

Li Xing’Ao didn’t quite understand what she said. He blinked his big eyes, looked at her with confusion, but still nodded obediently, “Okay!”

Zhang Yupeng approached, explaining to Lin Ran the magic Li Xingyue was going to perform. He specialized in spatial magic, moving from one place to another, and Lin Ran needed to coordinate with him to set up obstacles.

During the rehearsal, another group of magicians arrived, and Zhang Yupeng introduced them. One was a 32-year-old magician named Cao Xinyu, and the other was his partner, Wang Xinuo—they were a married couple. These two individuals performed various escape magic acts that were thrilling and dangerous, serving as the grand finale for the Miracle Magic Troupe.

Wang Xinuo was six years younger than Cao Xinyu; she is currently 26 years old and appeared cheerful. Upon seeing Lin Ran, she smiled and exclaimed, “Oh, this sister is so beautiful! Will the audience only watch her, and no one will look at us?”

Cao Xinyu frowned and said, “Stop making such boring jokes.”

The last pair of magicians, Qi Ruige and Liu Zhe, were both young men in their twenties. Both were quite handsome, specializing in close-up magic. This type of magic required significant cooperation with the host.

“Wow! A super beauty!” Qi Ruige exaggeratedly smiled. “We’ll need a lot of guidance from the beauty in the future. Our magic brothers can’t do without your cooperation.”

Liu Zhe, upon seeing Lin Ran, blushed slightly and said, “Hello, I’m Liu Zhe. Welcome to join the Miracle Magic Troupe.”

Qi Ruige patted his partner’s shoulder and said with a smile, “Don’t mind him; he’s a bit shy, especially around pretty girls.”

Lin Ran nodded. “Hello, let’s start rehearsing!”

The magic troupe began their respective rehearsals. Lin Ran interacted the most with Qi Ruige and Liu Zhe, spending most of the time rehearsing with them. The other two groups conducted demonstrations of their magic mechanisms, and everyone became busy.

Li Xingao, curious, took a few steps closer to Cao Xinyu’s magic water tank. Cao Xinyu noticed and immediately became irritated. “This kid doesn’t know how to behave! Li Xingyue, you brought the kid again!”

Li Xingyue, adjusting his own props, turned around and said, “Xing’Ao, come over to your big brother’s side!”

Li Xingao frowned. “No, your stuff is boring. I’ve seen it eight hundred times.”

However, he still took a few steps to the side, distancing himself from Cao Xinyu’s magic props.

Lin Ran waved at Li Xing’Ao, “Xing’Ao, come to sister!”

Li Xing’Ao’s eyes lit up instantly, and he ran over happily. “Sister, I’m here! Do you need help?”

Lin Ran ruffled Li Xing’Ao’s little head and bent down with a smile. “Sister really wants to learn your magic trick with the roses. Can you teach me?”

Li Xing’Ao nodded eagerly and said, “Sure, I’ll teach you. Dad said this trick can be taught to others because it’s basic magic.”

The magic of turning roses was very simple; the rose was originally hidden in the sleeve, and with a small mechanism, it could be pulled out. It only required fast hand movements.

Lin Ran looked surprised. “So that’s how it works! Xing’Ao, you’re amazing!”

Li Xing’Ao became proud, saying, “Yeah, I’ve already completed the introductory course for magic. I’ve learned all of it! Even big brother didn’t learn it at seven, but I did at five!”

Lin Ran continued to praise, “That’s amazing! I wonder if Teacher Li would be willing to teach big sister?”

Li Xing’Ao laughed so much that his mouth was about to split. “Big sister called me teacher! Of course, I can. Dad said basic magic can be taught.”

Qi Ruige originally intended to teach Lin Ran some simple magic techniques to make her more comfortable during coordination. Unexpectedly, she went to learn from Li Xing’Ao, not only helping with the child but also saving Qi Ruige’s teaching time. It was a win-win situation.

He didn’t know how she was so good at handling children, which made Li Xing’Ao very happy.

He looked absentmindedly for a while and sighed to Liu Zhe, “If only I were a child…”

While rehearsing, several people entered the theater through the back door. The person at the front shouted upon seeing the magic troupe, “What are you doing here? We have to rehearse. Hurry up and pack up; don’t delay our work.”

Zhang Yupeng quickly approached, smiling, “We’ve informed the theater; our rehearsals are scheduled every Thursday morning. They shouldn’t arrange for you to rehearse at the same time, right? Did Mr. Yang make a mistake?”

Qi Ruige whispered to Lin Ran, “It’s Yang Tengfei from the stand-up comedy performance troupe. This guy is unreasonable.”

Lin Ran glanced at Yang Tengfei and quietly walked to a corner.

“I don’t care. We need to rehearse. Move aside… Anyway, you won’t have many spectators.” Yang Tengfei said mockingly.

Zhang Yupeng patiently explained, “Our props are already set up, and rehearsing once isn’t easy. You don’t need props, and it’s almost noon. How about everyone go grab a meal and come back later? Besides, you don’t even need to rehearse today. It’s our turn first, right?”

Yang Tengfei remained stubborn, “Eat after rehearsing? In a little while, it will be the afternoon performance, and time is tight. No, we have to rehearse first. You remove your props.”

Zhang Yupeng continued to reason, “But your performance is scheduled for Saturday, and it’s not urgent to rehearse today, right? We have the Friday slot, and we booked it first. Shouldn’t we follow the order? How about we discuss this with Manager An?”

Yang Tengfei sneered, “Do you think Manager An will take your side? She’ll support whoever makes her money! Our Saturday night performance is the most profitable. Do you think she’ll side with you? Ridiculous!”

Zhang Yupeng was getting frustrated, picked up his phone, and called the theater manager, An Fei. After the call connected, he switched to speaker mode and explained the situation.

An Fei on the other end remained silent for a while, then suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, my signal is bad here… Hello? Can you hear me? Oops, no signal!”

Then, the call was abruptly disconnected.

Zhang Yupeng: “…”

Yang Tengfei laughed loudly. “See, Manager An won’t interfere in this matter. I told you, Zhang, your magic show is outdated. No one watches it anymore. Haven’t you had trouble selling even a thousand tickets lately? It’s not good. At this rate, you might not even get the Friday evening slot… How about Monday afternoon? Should I talk to Manager An? And by the way, I remember… isn’t your magic troupe’s contract with the theater expiring soon?”

The theater has the highest audience attendance during the weekends, especially in the evening, with the most popular programs scheduled during this time. On weekdays, from Monday to Friday, the evening shows have relatively fewer spectators, and the afternoon shows attract even fewer, often with no performances scheduled at all.

Programs scheduled for Saturday evening are the most popular and receive the highest priority from the theater.

“You…” Zhang Yupeng was so infuriated that veins popped up on his forehead, but he momentarily didn’t know how to counter.

Lin Ran walked over slowly, took out her phone, and suddenly said, “Um… Mr. Yang, right? Would you like to hear what you just said?”