Qin Liyang moves to the city with her whole family to find work. She expects to lead a poor, bleak, miserable life, but the overbearing young master of the Wang family tricks her into joining Chen Yang City's most famous Lan Zhi Song and Dance Troupe. There, she begins her journey from apprentice to top-tier star.
On her first day with the troupe, she sees a magnificent theater, grand gardens, and beautiful women in fine clothes. Liyang marvels at how rich city folk are, only to discover later that they are not just wealthy, but know how to have fun, too.
A guide to rising through the ranks of a song and dance troupe:
[Mission 1: Qualify to make your debut]
Guide: Learn from a renowned teacher, have a celebrated composer write your songs, fight your way through the auditions, and beat dozens of fellow newcomers.
[Mission 2: Take center stage at a public performance]
Guide: Hone your skills, promote yourself in every way, and inspire fans to spend money out of love.
[Mission 3: Make a career change and break into film, television, and advertising]
Guide: Enter high society, be charming to everyone, and build an elite network.
[Mission 4: Marry into a wealthy family and rise to the top in one leap]
Guide: There is no fixed formula. Your earning power over the course of your career will be assessed.
Little Liyang: I came to this profession halfway through and have no connections. I really can't do it!
So Chen Yang City's big shots all stepped in to help her:
Senior military adviser Wang Siyuan: "I'm popular and rich. Don't worry about resources or anything else."
Queen of Songbirds Situ Lanying: "It's fine if your foundation is poor. I'll personally train you."
Genius composer Cheng Dongyu: "Let's not waste money. Whatever kind of song you want, your senior brother will write it for you."
Chen Yang's top songstress Mu Yangxue: "Just sing with confidence onstage. If anything goes wrong, I'll take care of it."
Ye Longxin, daughter of the Governor of Linhai: "If you don't want to marry, that's fine. I'll buy out your contract and open a record company for you."
And so, Liyang became the chosen royal favorite in everyone else's eyes...
But being the royal favorite has its hardships, too. Though she shines in public, behind the scenes there is far too much bloodshed and intrigue...
[Reading Tips]
1. Set in an alternate version of the Republican era. All locations, characters, stories, and details about how the troupe is run are fictional.
2. A serious story, but not a heavy one. The woman sings while the man does business. It focuses on personal effort and isn't angsty (at least, I don't think it is).
3. Some inspiration comes from Li Bihua's Bridge of Life and Death, one of my favorite Republican-era novels. I recommend it to everyone.
Theme: Promote Chinese song and dance culture
Wang Siyuan and Situ Lanying are a good match, let's let them be together hahahaha
Okay, okay, thank you teacher, I can't get out anymore
Congratulations on the completion~Spread flowers~
Why haven't I watched it for a few days? Liu Chulian is gone.
I worked overtime until midnight, I hope I have time to update tomorrow (the comment area can be dedicated to recording my overtime work)
It's too late to work overtime tonight, I'll update it tomorrow
I worked overtime today and it's too late. I'll update it tomorrow.
It's too late to work overtime today, I will update tomorrow
Master and apprentice are the real CPs, right?
The feeling of the Republic of China, dreaming back to the Republic of China, is really good, looking forward to the subsequent plot