Chapter 2817 Cultural And Entertainment Life
At this moment, all that glory remained nothing more than ink on paper. Even those closest to the Senators could not foresee the prosperity this place would one day achieve. To them, its present wealth and vibrancy already surpassed anything they had ever witnessed.
Beneath the arcade, savoring ice cream on a rare holiday—this feeling of unhurried joy would remain vivid in Zahra's memory for years to come. The sensation of that first bite lingered especially. Unlike the simple refreshment of a popsicle, this soft, unfamiliar confection carried a rich milky fragrance and dissolved instantly on her tongue. The coolness mingled with its sweet aroma, and she found herself almost immediately addicted. Her first thought was that she must bring Shanshan-jie and the children here to share in this treat. The only annoyance was the occasional drip of meltwater, forcing her to twist and dodge several times to avoid staining her clothes.
The two girls savored their first-ever ice cream while following the map, turning onto Baihui Street. According to the Senate-approved East Gate Market plan, Baihui Street was designated as a "concentrated exhibition and gathering area for new cultural arts and lifestyle." Consequently, even local residents found many things here astonishingly novel. The "Central Experimental Theater" on Baihui Street was one such marvel, standing directly opposite the new Cooperative General Society building.
As its name suggested, this was the dedicated venue for the Senate's most important professional arts troupe, the "Central Experimental Art Troupe." The building shared a kinship with the Data Center, exemplifying that distinctive "Chinese-yet-new" style designed by Mei Wancao, General Manager of Lingao Construction and Director of the Central Architectural Design Research Institute. Clear-water blue bricks filled the spaces between soaring wrought-iron framework, while the eaves adopted quite traditional flying bracket structures. Half of the architectural community derided it as "neither fish nor fowl," while the other half heaped praise upon it.
Debates aside, the theater was ultimately built. The entire structure rose four or five stories high. At the front, three consecutive seven-step staircases ascended, each landing spanning five or six meters wide, finally converging at a height roughly one and a half stories above the surrounding buildings. There, a row of wide floor-to-ceiling doors allowed audiences to enter and exit.
Unlike the Data Center's austere simplicity, the Central Experimental Theater's street-facing facade displayed four enormous colorful billboards. The first depicted an orchestra silhouette against a backdrop of flowers and moon, with bold text announcing a folk music concert called "Full Moon and Flowers" scheduled for month's end. The next advertised the twice-daily news documentary Guangdong and Guangxi Under the Morning Star alongside the once-daily "traditional opera" Overflowing Joy.
The westernmost billboard struck a somewhat unnerving note: against a forest of trees from which corpses hung, the silhouettes of a man and woman strode resolutely toward the Morning Star suspended in the sky. The text below announced that an entirely new stage adaptation of The Trial would begin weekend performances starting the following month.
Zahra had never attended a performance here. Gazing at these shows made her heart itch with longing. She hoped that someday she might have enough leisure time to come see one. After all, as maids, their entertainment mostly followed the Senators' hobbies, and the Senators' pronounced otaku tendencies meant that entertainment was either too indecent or dull as dishwater.
Since the Experimental Art Troupe encompassed folk music, symphony, drama, opera, and various other art forms, the Senators' planning called for multiple specialized theaters—quite a spectacular undertaking. However, limited by current financial and material resources, only Phase One had been completed and made operational. Beyond the necessary rehearsal rooms and functional spaces, the core facility was a medium-sized theater with fewer than six hundred seats, suitable for stage plays or instrumental performances and serving as a backup venue for Senate plenary sessions. For this purpose, the Planning Commission had generously approved the installation of a sound system brought from the old timeline.
Since the reserved land for future Phases Two and Three was quite extensive and currently covered with lush greenery, the Experimental Theater appeared to possess a large garden. Even after subsequent construction was completed and the theater officially renamed the "Imperial Theater," this remained a famous downtown garden, attracting countless tourists and audiences.
Across the road from the expansive garden, along the path where the girls walked, stood a structure with three visible floors and four actual. The front featured a portico design reminiscent of old-timeline hotels, spacious enough to accommodate two or three carriages. Through the bright glass doors, one could glimpse the full-height lobby within, its atrium extending from floor to ceiling on the third level. From a thick main beam at the third-floor ceiling hung multiple chandeliers, along with a massive painting depicting sixteen girls in plaid skirts.
A large vertical sign adorned the side of this building: "Checkered Skirt Club East Gate Theater." Indeed, this was the new headquarters of the Checkered Skirt Club gentlemen. Since quite a few Senators harbored reservations about the ACG culture it represented, the Checkered Skirt Club had ultimately lost out to the classical arts line represented by the Central Experimental Art Troupe, and its application to build a dedicated theater had been rejected by the Senate. Just as the Senators faced this difficult impasse, an unexpected benefactor appeared: Ziming House.
The so-called "Checkered Skirt Club East Gate Theater" was, in fact, the former Ziming House Lingao branch.
With the Heyuan Street entertainment district coming into operation, National Police unified planning required all businesses involving romantic services to relocate there. This regulation placed considerable pressure on the Ziming House branch originally situated on the commercial district's main road. Considering the need to maintain Bairen Town's overall image, the Commercial Department was willing to cooperate positively. They had originally considered keeping this prime location while stripping out the relevant services. But the problem remained: what would attract customers to a Ziming House shorn of its core business? Though the well-received dining and other legitimate services could continue, the appeal after removing core offerings was clearly insufficient, and such separation would greatly damage the brand.
After much deliberation, the Commercial Department decided to relocate Ziming House entirely. Just then, the Checkered Skirt Club's application was rejected. Senator Wu Ciren, as an important member of the club's Senator group and an employee of the National Police, knew of Ziming House's relocation dilemma and conceived ideas about the property. Thus, the Commercial Department seeking new growth points and the club gentlemen urgently searching for a venue found common ground. Both sides hit it off immediately, agreeing to hold joint shares and transform the vacated Ziming House into this timeline's first IDOL theater.
The specific arrangement had the original Checkered Skirt Club Senators take the lead, officially registering a commercial performance company with the Planning Commission, then jointly investing with Ziming House Entertainment Ltd. to formally establish an entertainment agency. The Checkered Skirt Club became the first performing group under this agency.
Since the original Ziming House design had already incorporated performance functions, the renovation proceeded quite smoothly. The former spa pool area was expanded into a stage, with part converted into an orchestra pit. The lobby received tiered seating custom-made by the woodworking factory, providing approximately 150 seats and 60 standing spots. The massage rooms along the surrounding gallery walkway were converted into private boxes, where patrons could watch performances while dining—not only securing prime viewing spots for the gentlemen but also available for priority use by former Ziming House members.
An amusing incident occurred during the renovation: when widening the original small stage, two pillars could not be removed due to structural limitations. The Checkered Skirt Senators were unbothered, instead viewing this as a representation of karmic fortune, just like in the old timeline. They decided to imitate that precedent by organizing a fan club called the "Pillar Society." Due to pronunciation issues, it was frequently misheard as "Pearl Society," which led to the Checkered Skirt Club's best-selling merchandise becoming bracelets strung with sixteen glass beads.
The original Ziming House design included ground-source air conditioning and ventilation, making this theater the first air-conditioned venue in this timeline—much to the gentlemen's excitement. But compared to the old timeline, stage lighting became a major challenge. The gentlemen begged high and low, promising countless favors—allegedly including certain services—and finally obtained assistance from Senators in the Mechanical and Optical departments. Using combinations of multiple electric lights and lenses, though incomparable to old-timeline LEDs and disco balls, they achieved quite stunning effects. Sonya had no idea that her master, Senator Lin, had played a major role in this design and had accepted related hospitality on multiple occasions.
The original Ziming House dining section was also adjusted. The formal dining area was removed, replaced by sales of snacks such as cold drinks, sweets, pastries, and light fare. Adjacent to the performance venue, a cafe and this timeline's first dedicated dessert shop were added. Due to the novel concept and careful preparation, these unexpectedly earned praise and recognition from various sectors and former members alike. The ice cream the girls had just enjoyed was actually a new cold drink originally developed on commission from the new dessert shop. Only when the results proved successful did it enter wider retail channels.
Meanwhile, with the continuous arrival of foreign maids, the gentlemen began conceiving ideas in this direction as well. Though the Checkered Skirt Club's audience remained limited for now, rumors suggested that an all-foreign official rival team was already in closed training. This series of developments only heightened the club's popularity, achieving the new management team's original goals. Of course, fans of Australian erotic arts need not despair. In the industrial zone near Heyuan Street, a new Ziming House flagship store would soon rise from the ground.
(End of Chapter)