Garden of Eden

Backstage dressing room at Skybridge Theatre.More than a dozen female extras were crowded into one room, and the huge room seemed cramped.

In four and 10 minutes, the most popular original Chinese musical in the near future will be staged on the stage - "Tess of the D'Urbervilles", adapted from the original work of the same name.

Today is the fifth show of the performance, the girls in the extras are not nervous, they are chattering, the topics are nothing more than where to go for supper after the show, they have lost a few pounds recently, and which cosmetics are on sale.

Xue Tao, one of the extras, was closing her eyes, letting the make-up artist fiddle with her face.

She has a lovely apple face, bright eyes like a pool of water, and like an untouched deer.As she blinked lightly, the fawn was jumping happily in the field.

But even such a pair of beautiful eyes will not be noticed by any audience, because she is a group performer, sometimes a peasant woman, sometimes a maid, or a passerby watching.No name, no solo, and no story.

But this shouldn't be Xue Tao's role.

Three months ago, she had just graduated from the Musical Theater Department of the Academy of Drama.As one of the few graduates who remained on the musical stage, Xue Tao felt lucky at first.

Relying on the courage of a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers, she submitted her resume to the most famous crew at the time and applied for the role of the heroine.She originally had the mentality of giving it a try, but she didn't expect that a surprise came from the sky, and she was directly selected as the heroine's B card.And this play is "Tess".

This play includes the top directors, screenwriters, composers, and creative teams in the domestic musical theater industry.And, most importantly, the A-card heroine of this drama is Tan Mengtong——

A first-line actress with both acting skills and traffic, the "iceberg beauty" sought after by the fashion circle, is a well-deserved superstar.

Xue Tao once felt that she was dreaming, and she was so excited that she wished the whole world knew the news.

During the three-month rehearsal period, she worked extremely hard, memorized her lines fluently, memorized dance steps quickly and well, and her singing skills improved rapidly because of her hard work.

But when the casting schedule was announced online before the billing, it was like a thunderbolt from the blue, which made her unable to recover for a long time.

——There are no scenes of her at all.

All her efforts were in vain, she had no chance to play, no room to struggle.Yes, just one after another sympathetic eyes.

The director told her that the film would not have been possible without Tan Mengtong, and the audience would all come to see her.The composition teacher told her that the arias in the play were written according to Tan Mengtong's vocal range and timbre.Other actors told her that Tan Mengtong's B card has always been a decoration, you don't have to work so hard.

Xue Tao's enthusiasm was extinguished by a basin of cold water, so that there was not even a spark left.She tried her best to endure it, but tears still came out of her eyes.She ran out of the rehearsal hall with a forced smile and rushed to the bathroom, but when she entered the door, she bumped into Tan Mengtong who came out of the bathroom.

At that moment, Xue Tao really wanted to ask her why, but she didn't have the courage, her voice seemed to be choked.She watched Tan Mengtong walk past her without even looking at her.

After being lost for a few days, Xue Tao finally gritted his teeth and pulled himself together.Perhaps the starring role was just a fantasy, but she didn't want to let her months of hard work go to waste. She found a director and applied to be a group performer.

Hearing her request, the director agreed to her after a moment of astonishment.So, day and night, she changed from a leading actress to a group performer.

"Xue Tao? Xue Tao!"

Xue Tao was awakened from the state of trance, and looked at the person who came blankly. "Director?" She asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"

The director's brows were furrowed, and his hair, which wasn't black at all, seemed to be turning white again.He didn't answer Xue Tao, but asked instead: "Do you remember the heroine's scene?"

"Of course." She will never forget what she has practiced thousands of times.

"You can act this time, Meng Tong had a little accident."

Xue Tao jumped up suddenly, and the eyeliner drew a long black mark on her face.

"You said let me play? Play the heroine?"

The director let out a long sigh: "Well, there is no other way. Refunds have just been opened. Let's wait and see how many people are left."

The news came so suddenly that I didn't even know if it was a surprise or not.Xue Tao's mind went blank, and when she regained consciousness, her face was already covered with another set of more delicate makeup.

Xue Tao gently stroked the costume of the heroine on her body, fearing that it would get a little dirty.This costume is more exquisite in workmanship than she imagined, and the color is even more beautiful. Every stitch and thread is purely handmade.

This was once Xue Tao's dream moment, but now, she just feels unreal.She held the hem of the skirt awkwardly, not knowing how to move her feet.

"Can I take a walk?" Her tone was almost begging.

After obtaining consent, Xue Tao walked out of the dressing room.She could feel the eyes full of emotions cast from behind, but now, she had no time to take care of so much.

She walked towards the side stage in a strange way, where she could hear the noisy voice of the audience.

Complaints, unwillingness, anger, all kinds of negative emotions are like a blowout, and they are about to overturn the theater.

Xue Tao's legs went limp suddenly, and he had to hold on to the props box to barely stand still.

Everyone came to see Tan Mengtong, no one cared about her performance.The show was doomed before it even started, and her presence on stage would only make it a joke.

Hearing the sound of the audience gradually leaving, Xue Tao was almost desperate.Pain and fear almost overwhelmed her, the stage she had been looking forward to day and night, now opened her bloody mouth to her, trying to swallow her up.The opportunity she regarded as a treasure is now dealt the most ferocious blow to her.

Suddenly, Xue Tao felt that someone was watching him.She looked over defensively, only to see Tan Mengtong sitting in a wheelchair on the other side of the stage, looking at her expressionlessly.

Her back is straight, the angle of her shoulders is as sharp as a knife, and her slender neck stands upright like a swan.She was wearing a black overcoat, and her figure seemed to merge with the darkness, but her eyes were frighteningly bright.

These audiences are all here for her, as long as she is willing to stand up and say something, no matter whether she apologizes or begs, it will not make the situation so embarrassing.

But she didn't, she just looked at Xue Tao quietly, with compassion in her eyes.Silent, like a spectator who has nothing to do with himself.But Xue Tao thought it was a kind of sympathy, so she turned around in embarrassment and walked back.

On the way back to the dressing room, Xue Tao still couldn't ignore the eyes of others, but Xue Tao was fearless instead.

Things have come to this point, no one really cares about this performance, it doesn't matter who plays it, all she has to do is to complete the performance.

The performance was delayed for 10 minutes, and the audience sparsely filled a quarter of the seats.

Maybe it has given up, or maybe it has really let go.When on stage, Xue Tao's state was amazingly relaxed, the dance moves were perfectly completed through muscle memory, and the high notes that were a little strenuous during the rehearsal were easily sung.There is not a single mistake in the lines, as smooth as if she has acted a hundred times.

At the curtain call, she got a lot of applause and cheers.The lights in the auditorium came on, and she saw surprise and approval in the eyes of the audience.

That's enough, she thought, she was easily satisfied.

Xue Tao bouncing towards the backstage, gave the director a high-five to celebrate, and accepted congratulations from a circle of other actors.There were two dimples on her apple face when she smiled, and her eyes were bent into a crescent moon.

She hummed the song from the play and walked towards the dressing room, but in the narrow corridor, a figure in a wheelchair blocked her way.

The light in the corridor was dim, and Tan Mengtong's expression was blurred, but Xue Tao could clearly hear the sarcasm in her voice.

"What are you happy about?" Tan Mengtong's voice was mature and elegant, and because of his weakness, he was hovering between his voice and his real voice, adding a bit of indescribable sexiness, which made Xue Tao's legs go limp.

"I..." She faltered.

"This is your strength? The treble has no control, and the bass has no texture. All the roaring and roaring are distorted and ugly under the amplification of the microphone."

Xue Tao was stunned by her scolding, and wanted to refute but was speechless.

"Next." Tan Mengtong raised his hand, and a black object flew towards him. Xue Tao subconsciously caught it. It was a recording pen.

"Listen carefully." Tan Mengtong left a sentence with a thin but tall figure.

The author has something to say:

A short story, finished in a few posts, welcome to eat~