To Youth, Respect Dream of the Red Chamber (3)
After a restless night, I had breakfast at the hotel. I have to praise the breakfast—there was a wide variety, and if you have no dietary restrictions, you can definitely eat your fill. Then we set off for the second day's itinerary. However, this time we hailed a taxi, and we were dropped off at a spot on the commercial street, which was a bit of a detour. But we were already familiar with the area, so we quickly made our way to the visitor center, bought some cultural and creative souvenirs as mentioned earlier, stored them (for free), and continued our journey in the Illusion City.
The itinerary for the second day was relatively relaxed. Moreover, after the rain, the sky cleared up—the sky was high and blue, the clouds were white and beautiful, perfect for taking great photos. We strolled over to the Stone Idiot, where there were two thatched cottages, two stories, two eras. The juxtaposition of present and past was quite meaningful. In the modern story, they told a tale that would make you smile knowingly, even though it seemed like dark humor. But who can guarantee that similar situations haven't happened in real life? In the ancient story, the true form of the Stone Idiot appeared. His appearance gave me a direct and profound understanding of the phrase 'sacrifice one's life for righteousness.' The audience couldn't help but applaud him. After watching, I understood why the place where the Stone Idiot was located was called 'A Foreign Land.' The escorting constable was his old acquaintance, and the many audience members were also his old acquaintances. The name 'A Foreign Land' is truly appropriate. These two plays, in my opinion, are the ones that test the actors—specifically, the foundation of stage actors—the most in the entire Illusion City.
Then came 'The Book Never Ends,' the most special play in the entire Illusion City, which focused on the continuation story of the common version. When it first started, you thought it was a supernatural play, but it was presented through mime, which was novel and unique. This was also the only time we sat in the first row, watching up close.
Who would have thought that just to taste Aunt Liu's three buns, I watched helplessly as the door to 'Four Waters Returning to One Hall' closed in front of me? There were still more than ten minutes before the official start, but it was already full. Helpless, we wandered in the scorching sun for over an hour, bought a 20-yuan ice treat, visited a few scenic spots, and then headed early to queue for the Reader's Theater, thinking that this time we could get a good seat and see everything clearly from the front row.
Totally unexpected, an anteroom shattered my dream. When we entered the next space, I realized that arriving early and queuing was useless—because there were no seats; we had to stand. Female readers were having a dialogue with Baoyu. Baoyu—I saw him so close. In one scene, he was right in front of me. In that scene, the three characters were together. At that moment, I seemed to understand a little why Baoyu said, 'I want to go back to heaven.' Following the crowd, we arrived at the second scene. There were seats, but there were many audience members, so there were no good seats left. We randomly found some empty seats. It was about male readers having a heart-to-heart with Xifeng. Xifeng's brilliant moments were fully displayed in this space. The story was told wonderfully and acted vividly. In the third space, we followed the elderly reader into the world of the old women to see the behind-the-scenes story of the raid on the Grand View Garden. The final twist of this act was both surprising and reasonable, elevating the thematic depth of the three major theaters to a higher level. A great play!
Reluctantly, we left the Reader's Theater and wandered outside for nearly an hour. Then we rushed to 'Four Waters Returning to One Hall' early, thinking that this time we could get a chair to sit in and good seats, resting while watching the play. To my surprise, when we entered the hall, there were no chairs—only stools, arranged not in tiers but in a flat layout. Although we arrived early, we only got seats in the third row. Oh my god, it was a supernatural story, from beginning to end, a story filled with supernatural elements. Was this a true story or a folk legend? Has the 'Story of the Stone' actually appeared? Does it exist at all?
It was already 6:30 PM, more than two hours later than originally planned, all for those three buns~~
