On the other side, unaware that her performance had inadvertently been seen and favored by the higher-ups, He Jinxia, with the curtain rising slowly, officially ended this incomplete monodrama.
Stage time was limited, with many people using the stage from morning till night, it was good if one could get ten minutes.
This time, for the sake of the performance, she had taken up a whole twenty minutes. He Jinxia didn't need to think about it to know how resentful the next performer would be after taking the stage.
By the time she finally got off her ancient costume and changed into modern, lighter clothes and stepped out of the backstage rest room, she was greeted by an excited Luo You.
Luo You said with animation, "Jinxia, I never expected that you would perform a monodrama, and perform it so brilliantly. I was wondering why you've been greeting people with the ancient Hua Country's 'Fu Shen' gesture instead of the modern bow, so it was for this monodrama."
Luo You, who was a full ten years older than He Jinxia, rare as it was, also made wry faces at her, expressing, "You must have suffered a lot for this monodrama, haven't you? No wonder you've been keeping a low profile these past two weeks, silence then a sudden splash!"
With a slight purse of her lips, He Jinxia smiled but remained silent, letting Luo You continue to misunderstand.
The reason she had been keeping a low profile for the past half-month was simply that she was desperately getting to know this world online, afraid to betray herself should she go out.
As for the 'Fu Shen' gesture, it was a habit she had practiced so much in the past that she still hadn't gotten over it in the modern world.
Fortunately, in Hua Country, etiquette is divided into ancient and modern, and the 'Fu Shen' gesture belongs to the ancient category. Using ancient gestures for greetings was not unusual.
When Luo You asked where the play came from, she didn't hesitate to say, "I thought it up myself."
Luo You paused, "You thought it up yourself? How long did it take you?"
He Jinxia hesitated for a moment before offering a conservative estimate, "Half a month?"
Luo You's mouth twitched.
He Jinxia quickly corrected herself, "I misspoke, at least three months."
Only then did Luo You's expression return to normal, and he nodded, "That's more reasonable. A monodrama requires consideration of many elements and a high level of literary cultivation. Something churned out in half a month couldn't possibly be presentable."
His words also carried a hint of advice; Luo You was subtly reminding her that no matter how long the creation took, she should never say it was half a month.
He Jinxia nodded in agreement, then looked away and caught sight of a window opened on the wall, the outside scenery reflected by the window, the setting sun casting a picturesque scene.
If Luo You knew that she had come up with it in just one day, he might contemplate killing her.
The play was indeed conceived in a single day, or more precisely, she took a day to recall and then rehearse it.
The reason it came to her so quickly was that she had lived through it.
The character Liu Lv on stage was her former self, the one who had paid a heavy price for her unbridled defiance.
In her ears, Luo You was still prattling on, "The monodrama was impressive, and I've recorded a video of it. With this video, I can confidently start accepting roles for you. It's just that your image is a drawback; it's indeed time to lose some weight..."
"Ding-a-ling-ling—"
A ringtone sounded from her phone, and upon seeing the word "Mother" pop up on the screen, He Jinxia paused mid-step, engulfed by a wave of unfamiliar yet complex emotions, that suddenly misted her eyes with a layer of moisture.
"Jinxia, Jinxia?" In her daze, the phone stopped ringing, and when He Jinxia stood motionless, Luo You called out to her several times.
Coming back to her senses, He Jinxia told Luo You that she needed to make a call, then stepped into a practice room that was momentarily unoccupied, locked the door behind her, took a deep breath, and called back.
"Hello, Jinxia, do you have enough money recently? If you don't have enough, Mom will send you more."
A cautious voice came from the phone, reigniting the complex emotions He Jinxia had just managed to suppress; her eyes instantly turned red.
Memories of her mother swirled in her mind, clearer than ever before.
He Jinxia felt she had let her mother down.
Her father had been an honored soldier who died in the line of duty when Jinxia had just been born, so she knew him only through photographs and the stories her mother told.
Although theirs was a single-parent family, Jinxia's childhood had not been tough. Her mother took the pension and returned to her father's hometown, where she opened a small supermarket, looked after her in-laws, and gradually expanded the business.
In Jinxia's childhood memories, her grandparents always encouraged her mother to remarry, but her mother stubbornly refused. Being an orphan from a poor background with no parents of her own, she treated her in-laws as her own parents.
No one could persuade the other, and things dragged on until a few years ago when her grandparents passed away one after another, leaving just He Jinxia and her mother.
Originally, if Jinxia had just continued growing up and found a stable job, her life would have been worry-free. But unexpectedly, she aspired to be a star.
At sixteen, Jinxia enrolled in a singing program. Although she successfully made it to the top ten nationwide, the show was not popular, and the girl group started from the bottom.
Back then, each member had to provide their own costumes and shoes for every performance. Jinxia had no money and had to take from her family.
Within the group, she was the only one from a middle-class family; the others were children of the wealthy. Some members wanted to help her, but Jinxia, proud and arrogant, refused, not wanting to be looked down upon. She took more and more money from home.
Finally, the girl group made it from third-tier to second-tier, and they started to make money—but then Jinxia gained weight.
She invested all her spare cash into weight-loss products. With advanced modern technology, a plethora of new products emerged. Even a decent regimen could cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of Hua Coins a month.
The girl group, with ten members, shared their earnings. Jinxia's share wasn't much, so she began to take money from her family again. She did this for three whole years until she had nearly drained her family's reserves.
Even though the Jinxia of ancient times had experienced many human tribulations, at this thought, she couldn't help but angrily want to curse the modern Jinxia for being unfilial!
"Jinxia, Jinxia? What's wrong, why aren't you saying anything? Did something happen to you?"
Her mother's anxious voice reached her ears, bringing He Jinxia back to the present.
She took a deep breath; her voice was hoarse as she said gruffly, "Mom, I have enough money now. You don't need to send me anymore. I'll work hard to make money and take care of you."
Her mother quickly agreed, "Okay, okay, okay," clearly relieved, but then she added, "Jinxia, didn't you tell me a few days ago that there was a weight-loss package online that got good reviews but you didn't have enough money? The store's been doing well recently; we can afford it. I'll send you the money—"
"Mom, it's not necessary!" He Jinxia blinked, tears streaming down her cheeks.
She immediately tilted her head back, took a few deep breaths, and said in a muffled voice, "Really, it's not necessary. I won't use weight-loss products anymore; they're useless. I'll exercise and slim down on my own, and then earn more money to take care of you."
Her mother was silent for a moment, then spoke softly, "Jinxia, you're my child, don't I know you? You've never liked to exercise since you were little. You'd sit rather than stand, lie down rather than sit. I've urged you to slim down through exercise before, but in the end, you couldn't do it, right?"
"I understand all that. Don't listen to others talk nonsense. You're my daughter, all my money is yours. If you want to use it to lose weight, then use it. Don't feel ashamed to take money from home."
"And, didn't the internet say? This isn't 'leeching', it's Mom investing in you! Don't be embarrassed..."
Her mother's rambling filled He Jinxia's ear, warming her heart. Yet, no matter what, the tears continued to flow down her face.