Chapter 580: Encountering Rain, No Singing

"Sir, our business is picking up!" Kong Baosheng spoke excitedly, the frustration of having been blocked at the door by the two guards just days before instantly vanishing.

On the opposite staircase, Li Qingshan, who had just been woken up, also descended in a daze, completely oblivious to what was happening. After Kong Baosheng's explanation, his eyes, too, lit up.

"Brother Lin, this is great news!"

"...Perhaps."

Chen Ling's expression was incredibly odd.

In Chen Ling's original plan, performing on stage at the birthday banquet was meant to legitimize his identity as "Lin Yan." Appearing simultaneously with Heart 6 would make him entirely above suspicion and leave a deep impression on the higher-ups of Hongchen. This would make it easier to complete other tasks later under the guise of an actor, for example, using a performance invitation as an opportunity to secretly infiltrate a consortium or government.

However, he seemed to have underestimated the entertainment media of the Hongchen realm, as well as the residents' fervent pursuit of entertainment. Overnight, he was inexplicably thrust into the spotlight across Hongchen, becoming a highly sought-after star performer.

As a result, maintaining a low profile would be impossible. He wondered how many people and media outlets would be watching his every move.

"Actually, it might not be a bad thing..." Chen Ling mused, trying to comfort himself.

As the saying goes, the safest place is often the most dangerous. Now that he was a celebrated performer in the public eye, and his identity had just been legitimized, no one would suspect him or pay him undue attention in the short term. With this new status and identity, many things would become much more convenient.

Furthermore, while the police presence around the casino had been withdrawn, lingering suspicions remained. For security, it would be best to find a new base of operations for the Twilight Society. Now that he was a popular performer, bringing immense attention, Jinghong Tower could easily replace the casino as a better alternative base.

It would also be perfectly reasonable for a popular star like himself to have a "professional" management team, wouldn't it?

The problem now, however, was how to transfer the Twilight Society's base here without arousing suspicion. How could he meet up with Jian Changsheng and the others?

"What bad thing?" Kong Baosheng asked, puzzled. "Isn't it good that our opera house has more customers? Are you worried that there will be too many and the venue won't be able to accommodate them all?"

Li Qingshan mused, "That problem is actually easy to solve. We just need to control the number of available seats each day. A reservation system or an invitation-only system would be best. In my opinion, the audience's viewing experience is paramount; the opera house shouldn't be too crowded."

"Invitation-only system..."

Hearing those words, Chen Ling's eyes lit up slightly.

"Alright then," Chen Ling pondered for a moment, "today is our opera house's first day of opening. Baosheng, make some invitations and deliver them to the other shops on the street, inviting them to Jinghong Tower to see a play tonight. As for the guests outside, give them numbers in sequence, and seat as many as we can accommodate tonight."

"Inviting our neighbors for the grand opening... I think that's an excellent idea," Li Qingshan nodded. "As the saying goes, a close neighbor is better than a distant relative. For our first performance, we should definitely make it lively. Since we're all so close, we can look out for each other in the future."

"Understood! I'll go prepare the invitations right away and deliver them by hand!"

Kong Baosheng nodded firmly and turned to leave.

"Wait."

Kong Baosheng turned back to Chen Ling in confusion, watching as the latter gazed at the tightly shut opera house doors, deep in thought. After a long pause, Chen Ling spoke again.

"From now on, Jinghong Tower needs a rule."

"What rule?"

"Jinghong Tower won't have performances every day. If it rains, we won't be open for business."

"No performances on rainy days?" Kong Baosheng scratched his head. "I understand, but wouldn't that be too capricious for us? It rains every other day here."

Chen Ling smiled helplessly. "Have you forgotten that the opera house roof is broken? If it's windy and raining, even guests sitting inside will get soaked. In that case, it's better not to perform. Let's talk about rainy-day performances once I've earned enough to fix the roof."

Only then did Kong Baosheng remember that detail. While not performing on rainy days would mean a significant loss of income, there truly was no other option. He nodded and went to make the arrangements.

The leaky roof, of course, was merely Chen Ling's excuse.

While Jinghong Tower's unexpected rise to popularity was now a certainty, Chen Ling couldn't possibly perform there every single day; he always had Twilight Society matters to attend to. Frequently closing the theater wouldn't just cause public dissatisfaction; if someone with ulterior motives were to connect the periods of closure with recent major events, it could easily arouse unnecessary suspicion.

However, by pre-emptively setting the rule of "no performances on rainy days" and using the dilapidated roof as an excuse, he could frequently close the theater later without arousing suspicion.

Ultimately, whether it rained or not was simply a matter of Director Chen writing the script.

"So the performance starts tonight... I'll need to prepare thoroughly," Li Qingshan said, his brow furrowed in concentration. "By the way, Brother Lin, which play are we performing today?"

Chen Ling thought for a moment before replying:

"Let's perform... The Butterfly Lovers."

The casino.

Jian Changsheng, who hadn't seen daylight in a long time, finally pulled open the curtains and opened the window. The moment he bathed in sunlight again, he was so moved he nearly wept.

"How long has it been since I breathed the air of freedom..." Jian Changsheng couldn't help but exclaim. "Tonight, I can finally get a good night's sleep."

Diamond 10, also at the window, looked down at the casino entrance below and spoke with a hint of confusion:

"Is it because all those plainclothes officers have withdrawn? Why do I feel like there are exceptionally few customers at the casino today?"

"There are certainly far fewer," Heart 9 said thoughtfully. "Logically, with that dance hall sealed off, our foot traffic should have increased. Where have all these people gone?"

"Oh, why are there so many people over there?"

Jian Changsheng saw a large crowd gathered on a nearby street, seemingly queuing for something, blocking most of the road.

"I don't know... I remember that used to be an abandoned opera house. It must have reopened."

"No wonder..."

As they were talking, a knock came from outside the door. Jian Changsheng's expression tightened. He exchanged glances with the other three Twilight Society members and quietly moved to the door.

"What is it?"

"Manager, there's a child downstairs. He says he's from the new opera house across the street."

"A child?" Jian Changsheng paused. "What does he want?"

"He said their opera house is officially opening today and they're inviting neighbors on the street to come see a play... He even brought an invitation." As he spoke, the figure outside slipped a piece of paper through the door crack.

Jian Changsheng took it and saw that it was indeed an invitation, though the material was very rough, clearly something made in a hurry.

"...Jinghong Tower?" Jian Changsheng murmured, seeing the sender's name on the invitation.