Chapter 1528 - Night Talk at Bairenfort
In the other half of the dormitory room, crammed in against all expectation, stood an antique-style, exquisitely crafted grand piano.
"You have a piano?" Okamoto was surprised—he didn't recall any Yuanlao bringing a piano personally. Some had brought small instruments like accordions, but nothing of this scale.
He quickly realized it was a product of this era: a harpsichord.
"I bought this privately from Macau," Dongfang said. "Without a real piano, this will have to do."
The two sat down and poured wine in silence, facing each other, seemingly uncertain where to begin.
"Mm, thank you for the expense," Dongfang said at last. "Since there's wine, I needn't ask about tea or coffee. Bach, Mozart, or Brahms? Or perhaps you prefer Tchaikovsky?"
"Huh? What?" Okamoto was beginning to realize he couldn't keep up with this person's rhythm at all.
"Mm? Just asking what you'd like to hear. Can't eat dinner without music, can you?"
"I see..." Okamoto's astonishment was giving way to the feeling he had found exactly the right person. "Whatever you like. Bach, then."
"Fine. Goldberg Variations? Gould or Tureck?"
Okamoto was already growing accustomed to this style of conversation. "The High Priestess. Let's eat and listen slowly."
Dongfang Ke opened the cabinet and began searching for CDs, then connected the player to the speakers. Okamoto glimpsed the densely packed alphabetical index cards within the cabinet.
Clear, refined piano notes floated from the speakers. Okamoto picked up his chopsticks. "Your private collection... must be one of a kind in the Yuan Elder Court?"
"Actually no. The Executive Office and Planning Commission have more professional entertainment equipment. But among private collections, nothing surpasses my cabinet here. Before the transmigration, I couldn't bear to leave my three-star marked records behind, so I brought them. The speakers were hand-assembled by someone I commissioned." In the quiet room, Dongfang Ke's tone seemed somewhat more natural.
"What a treat. But you can only listen to these yourself—can't let the naturalized citizens see them. Bach isn't even a liquid yet at this point in history!"
"Ha, true. Even if released, no one would understand. The Yuan Elder Court's external propaganda remains simple and crude. The Army and Navy folks copy some old military music and call it done. I've even written lyrics for them."
"Speaking of which, I've done that too! If I hadn't reworked the lyrics for the Navy's Warship March, it would've been unsingable."
Catalyzed by dinner and music, the atmosphere grew much more natural. The two ranged across many topics in music appreciation.
Then, emboldened by wine, Okamoto asked the question that had been puzzling him: "Why are you still living in such a small dorm? And where's your maidservant?"
"Because it's close to the office building—no worrying about oversleeping and being late. Also, living alone, the bigger the place, the more trouble—cleaning and all that." Dongfang Ke replied casually.
"What? Alone? You mean you didn't get a maidservant either? As far as I know, among single male Yuanlao, the only ones who didn't are that Ji Xin who protects natives and that... that... Cui something..." Okamoto was so startled he stumbled over his words.
"Alright... don't doubt my orientation... I'm straight, not a two-way plug either..." Dongfang shook his head. "As for the maidservant, I randomly drew Class B. I took her since it's a subsidy anyway, but I really don't like having someone around to bother me, so I sent her to the Yuanlao villa district to look after the house for me."
This guy's tone when discussing maidservants is completely different from the typical transmigrator otaku, Okamoto thought. Could there really be someone who didn't transmigrate for endless girls?
"Then why did you transmigrate? Not for power, not for women—in a few years your speakers might break and you won't even be able to listen to lossless audio."
"The transmigration... just boredom. If not for girls, there's other stuff. The 17th century is far freer than where we came from, haha. Besides, the 21st century had nothing worth staying for." A strange smile, unlike any before, appeared on Dongfang's face. Okamoto decided not to pursue this topic and got straight to the point.
"So, about the opera troupe—any good suggestions? The preparations are proving quite difficult. Not enough people!"
"Before we enter that discussion, I have a question."
"What's your position?"
"I'm the newly appointed Director of the Arts Groups Management Office—and concurrently General Director of the Central Arts Troupe."
"So what you're discussing with me is an approved project."
"Of course. Without approval, it's just armchair strategizing." Okamoto enthusiastically laid out his plans—opera, ballet, symphony orchestra, and so on, wishing he could replicate every arts organization from the old timeline. Dongfang Ke cut him off:
"None of that has any meaning yet. What we lack most are teachers—especially professional ones. In the 1950s, China was impoverished, but at least it had the Soviets as mentors, plus a few returnees who had studied abroad. Now we ourselves represent the most advanced productive forces and social culture—there's nowhere to import from..."
"Indeed. I've reviewed the resources myself. Teachers and equipment both—we're starting from nothing."
"Probably don't even have a modern piano?"
"Actually, we do: the recreation room on the Fengcheng had an old Nie'er brand. Looks like it sat unused for thirty or forty years. But repairing it would require a tuner." Okamoto looked troubled. "I certainly don't have that skill."
"The piano isn't critical, because harpsichords and clavichords already exist in this era. The latter closely resembles modern pianos. I believe tuners can be found in Europe. If we're willing to invest more, getting a few technicians to replicate modern pianos based on samples shouldn't be too difficult."
"The Planning Commission previously asked Kuake in Europe to procure instruments and recruit musicians and craftsmen. Instrumental music should be manageable."
"For arts troupes, even Europe at this time lacks systematic bel canto training. You'll need to build relationships with Dean Wu and seek help from the Church—perhaps recruit a couple of choir members. Italian vocal music has also just begun, but at least they're slightly better off than us. And there's Mrs. Liu, currently teaching music and dance at Fangtso Di and the Maidservant School—we could ask the Executive Committee to lend her to us. I also wonder if that Italian Lando possesses any of his nation's innate talent points? As for me, I can't do bel canto at all, but I can help with piano and notation. Lyrics and plagiarism—that's routine. Commission me whenever needed."
"Wonderful! The deputy artistic director position of the future Central Arts Troupe is yours. But composition and original work still remain unsolved! I only studied voice, after all."
"No matter. Besides records, I have extensive electronic archives—several hundred gigabytes. Basically all classical and modern operas, even the revolutionary model operas, though those are folk art. The Grand Library database resources are probably measured in terabytes—surely there are score archives. We can simplify the arrangements. After all, in this timeline, the Yuan Elder Court is the source of all creativity!"
Dongfang Ke sipped his rum as he spoke. "But a symphony orchestra still isn't feasible yet. High-quality instruments can't all be purchased externally—besides violins, most Western instruments haven't appeared yet in this era. To produce them domestically requires experimentation. There are no suitable craftsmen here, so we'd have to bring them all the way from Europe. Also, we lack a conductor."
"What I truly want most is opera. I was originally worried about composition and orchestration, but seeing your private collection today, I finally have confidence! Come! A toast!" Okamoto excitedly raised his glass and drained it.
Dongfang Ke rose and changed the record—the Brindisi from the opera La Traviata. Pavarotti and Sutherland's soaring voices floated through this otherworldly night.
Years later, the published History of the Arts, Volume One (Part One): The Founding of the Central Arts Troupe recorded the "Night Talk at Bairenfort" between the Troupe's founder, the renowned conductor and playwright Yuanlao Okamoto, and amateur musician Yuanlao Dongfang Ke. The book's account, naturally, depicted the two Yuanlao envisioning the organizational structure of the opera troupe and symphony orchestra by gaslight in the simple Bairenfort dormitory. Yuanlao Dongfang had even played conceptual pieces on a primitive early piano, while Yuanlao Okamoto produced scripts accumulated over years to discuss vocal arrangement—a narrative that fully demonstrated the first generation of Yuanlao's arduous pioneering efforts during the Empire's founding, laying a solid foundation for the great achievements that followed.
Shortly after this conversation, Dongfang Ke was formally transferred out of the Finance Directorate to become Deputy Artistic Director of the Central Experimental Arts Troupe. Though his position had changed, Cheng Dong still frequently assigned him stacks of account books. Yuanlao Dongfang, cool as ever, silently accepted and continued doing work for the Finance sector. When Okamoto asked why he still took on the extra burden, Dongfang, cool as ever, replied: "Because the arts troupe has nothing to do." Okamoto nearly choked.
Though the Central Experimental Arts Troupe was now an approved project, few showed enthusiasm. While Yuanlao Dongfang continued immersing himself in HI-FI and account books, Okamoto ran everywhere securing resources. Fortunately, the Executive Office was considering how to transition the Maidservant Training Class, and Xiao Zishan saw the arts troupe as a suitable place to absorb Maidservant Academy graduates, providing ample support. Only then did the arts troupe open its doors quickly, settle into the county seat, and gather necessary resources.
Okamoto and Dongfang naturally contributed all their personal assets. The Planning Commission also allocated every stored item related to performance—odds and ends of all kinds. Pre-transmigration preparations had not prioritized the arts; apart from purchasing bugles, fifes, and military drums for army needs, other instruments had never made the procurement list. Fortunately, quite a few Yuanlao played instruments and had personally brought some along.