Chapter 1558 - Additional Equipment

Could kidnapping or killing a few True Shorthairs really serve to weaken them and ultimately bring them to heel? Zhuo Yifan began to harbor serious doubts about the purpose of this mission.

His eyes followed the three transmigrators, who now strolled through the gymnasium surrounded by guards and secretaries, pointing here and there as they talked.

Though the streets had not been cleared, noticeably more unfamiliar naturalized citizens had appeared in the gymnasium, maintaining a certain distance around the transmigrators.

"Xiao Fang," said Wen Desi—having just delivered his speech, he was still full of a leader's vigor, his mood rather ebullient—"this cultural festival of yours is shaping up to be quite a grand affair!"

Fang Fei nodded. "Indeed. As you said, Chief Wen—we're rich now. Since we have the means, why not put on a proper show to demonstrate the superiority of life under the Yuan Laoyuan?"

Though the cultural festival was under the purview of the Education Office, Fang Fei, as Director of the Mass Arts Bureau, would never miss such a major event—this was an opportunity to build his track record! As for the Education Office's transmigrators, having a powerful bureau director step up to take charge was a welcome relief; it certainly made resource allocation much easier.

Another man present was Zhang Zhixiang, principal of Fangcaodi. Principal Zhang seemed rather glum. His approach to school management was the "county middle school model"—he had little enthusiasm for activities like "school festivals." In his view, the only thing Fangcaodi students should be doing was studying—studying more.

Still, he knew this was the seventeenth century. To ensure the Yuan Laoyuan's dynasty never changed color, these future heirs to the Yuan Laoyuan's mantle had to be cultivated from childhood with modern ways of thinking and cultural tastes. So he had never opposed these activities—though every time, he silently calculated the lost class hours and found ways to make them up in subsequent semesters.

Today, for reasons unknown, the Executive Committee had suddenly taken an interest in the cultural festival. The General Office had phoned Fangcaodi to inform them that Chief Wen wanted to inspect the preparations. As principal, Zhang Zhixiang had no choice but to come and attend.

"Principal Zhang, your school has performances for this festival, I hear—several new plays have been rehearsed?"

Zhang Zhixiang had little interest in the cultural festival and had delegated everything to Yuan Ziguang. Hearing Chief Wen's inquiry, he said, "Yuan Ziguang is handling all that. He should be here today." He turned to his secretary. "Go find Chief Yuan." As the secretary turned to leave, he added, "If there are other Chiefs present, invite them over as well—tell them Chief Wen is here."

The secretary hurried off. Before long, she had gathered several transmigrators.

Wen Desi took one look at the lineup and thought: Isn't this just the Pleated Skirt Club crowd? They were probably about to indulge their peculiar tastes under the guise of public duty again.

Indulging one's peculiar tastes was, in Wen Desi's view, perfectly fine. If one couldn't satisfy a few little hobbies, what was the point of coming through the wormhole? They might as well have been Lei Feng. The key was to indulge without provoking the other transmigrators' displeasure. Despite the many members of the Yuan Laoyuan with unusual predilections, the string of "political correctness" was strung tighter here than anywhere else.

One aspect of "political correctness" was frugality. This habit, born of the material and manpower shortages that began on D-Day, had imperceptibly become a collective unconscious compulsion. Clearly, Hu Qingbai's invitation today to "take a look and offer some thoughts" was in fact a veiled request for resources and support.

"Old Yuan, Chief Wen wants to know about the preparations for the new plays you're staging at the festival," Zhang Zhixiang said.

Among those present was Okamoto Shin, director of the Central Experimental Theater Company, who might have had more authority on artistic performances. But Zhang Zhixiang, harboring private motives, ignored him and addressed Yuan Ziguang directly.

Yuan Ziguang was flushed and clearly in high spirits. Hearing that Chief Wen wanted a briefing, he spoke up with gusto: "This cultural festival will run three days. The first day is Drama Day—we're staging a theatrical adaptation of the puppet troupe's play The Trial. The second day is a short-program showcase: besides the standard items from the Propaganda Department, there are new pieces as well—skits, living-newspaper plays, plus some folk-music and opera performances. The final day is a gala and song-and-dance revue. This is the first time both the Pleated Skirt Club and the Eastern Central Experimental Art Troupe are appearing. Everyone's very enthusiastic!"

Okamoto Shin, deputy director of the Experimental Art Troupe, was not about to let Yuan monopolize the spotlight. He quickly added, "For this festival, our Central Experimental Art Troupe has not only staged The Trial but also assembled a small orchestra to cultivate professional musicians and rehearse several programs…"

Wen Desi nodded with a smile, thinking: When is the real ask coming?

Yuan Ziguang continued, "We still have some difficulties we can't solve on our own—both our club and the Experimental Art Troupe. We hope the Executive Committee can help. I've drawn up a list…" He produced a sheet of paper from his briefcase.

Wen Desi took it and glanced over it. "These are all Class-1 controlled items, aren't they? Large speakers, audio cables, microphones, colored light bulbs… Allocating all these to you would be difficult…"

Yuan Ziguang hastened to say, "We don't need an allocation—just a three-day loan. This space is so large that without sufficient amplification equipment, performances would be impossible."

Wen Desi nodded. "If it's just a loan, that's no problem. I'll speak with Old Wu when I get back. Submit a formal request as well. As for these nylon stockings…"

Here he looked troubled. The list also requested thirty-two pairs of nylon stockings—a trivial item in the old world, but now scarce to the extreme. Even female transmigrators and certain male transmigrators who had stashed away private reserves now had almost none left. Even stockings with runs or holes were still being worn. Even those too damaged to wear at all had to be turned in to the Planning Commission as strategic reserves—who knew what industrial use might be found for them later? The technology tree for nylon was rather advanced.

The Planning Commission's warehouse still held some of these fruits of modern petrochemistry only because of Lando's contribution: items retrieved from Merchant Ship A. But the quantity was minuscule; they had been sold to all transmigrators once, limited to one pair per person.

Wen Desi did not know exactly how many pairs remained, but he suspected there were not enough for even one per transmigrator—hence they had been left in the Planning Commission's warehouse, since any distribution would be criticized. They were being saved as future prizes.

This request put Wen Desi in a bind. He knew many transmigrators wanted to buy nylon stockings for their maids but had been unable to do so. If he granted Yuan Ziguang's request now, he would be criticized to death.

He glanced at Fang Fei, who wore a blank face and a sheepish smile. Wen Desi knew Fang Fei probably supported the request—after all, the cultural festival was his achievement, and stockings would certainly enhance the performances.

"Can't we use locally produced substitutes? We have knitting machines now; we've made socks before." Transmigrators currently wore knitted cotton-yarn socks. Apart from being a bit rough, they were serviceable.

"We've already tested them. The materials don't work—cotton yarn, silk, nothing has the elasticity of nylon. The effect just isn't there." Okamoto Shin looked helpless. Since becoming troupe director, he had done little actual artistic work; logistics had consumed much of his energy. The greatest difficulty was costume fabrics.

No matter how much arts enthusiasts might extol the "divine craftsmanship" of old handwork, in fabrics at least, modern synthetic textiles far surpassed anything ancient in color, pattern, and texture. Nylon stockings were just one example. When making practice wear and costumes for performers, even though the Planning Commission said that any fabrics available in this era—whether from warehouses or markets—could be procured if needed, Okamoto and Liu Shuixin had examined every potentially useful material and still found them wanting.

The finest imperial-quality silk gauze from Jiangnan, purchased at great expense, still could not match cheap synthetic chiffon when made into a dance skirt.

Okamoto Shin recalled reading the memoirs of an old ballerina, recounting how, when the Central Ballet was first founded, everything was in short supply—no stockings, no dance clothes. Cotton and silk substitutes were of poor quality and showed no effect. It was only after Premier Zhou personally approved an import license for fabrics that the problem was solved.

Now their situation was even worse. At least back then, imports from Hong Kong were possible. Where could they find such materials now?

Unfortunately, Okamoto Shin was a perfectionist. Every time he saw troupe members rehearsing in costumes made from substitutes, he felt tormented.

"Very well. I'll discuss it with Old Wu when I get back. You know supplies are limited. You should still plan around what's available." Wen Desi pocketed the list and changed the subject. "Besides students, who else is invited to watch the performances?"

Fang Fei said, "Mainly activists among the naturalized citizens—those who have received commendations from the Yuan Laoyuan or the Central State Council, and representatives from various industries, enterprises, and administrative departments. We'll also invite some native activists, including important business partners. Because the gymnasium has limited capacity, each person will only receive a ticket for one session—we want as many people as possible to attend."

"When inviting natives, pay attention to the scheduling of performances—don't frighten them," Wen Desi said. "For example, the Pleated Skirt Club's performances—don't let Liu Dalin and his kind come see those."

"Naturally. The Pleated Skirt Club's performances are mainly for naturalized citizens. Even when shown to natives, they'll be young people susceptible to new ideas," Yuan Ziguang hastened to say.

(End of Chapter)