Quick Travel: Destiny for Thirty Lifetimes

After lunch, the educated youth did not rest but continued to rehearse their programs with great interest. Even Qingyang's skit was almost finished. He went through it several times and changed a few places before leaving the room with a few sheets of paper.

Qu Ruixiang took Ji Yunchen to notify each household and invited the villagers to come to the open space outside the Youth League Institute to watch the performance tomorrow night. Lian Qingyang simply pulled Lin Haojun aside and told him how to perform his own situational drama.

Lin Haojun was a good student and quickly followed the movements. Lian Qingyang gave him a thumbs up after watching it. He lowered his head and smiled embarrassedly.

At that time, Ji Yunchen came in, wiping his sweat. When he saw them, he smiled and said, "You all started rehearsing! How's the rehearsal going?"

Qu Ruixiang also walked in from outside, picked up a piece of paper next to Lian Qingyang, took a look, and said casually, "The handwriting is really good. When you first wrote your name, I felt that the person and the words didn't match. Now it seems that I was wrong. The content is also good. I feel that your show should get a lot of votes when it comes."

Lian Qingyang's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he quickly asked, "What number of votes? Is it still possible to vote?"

Ji Yunchen put his hand on Lian Qingyang's shoulder and replied, "Captain Qu told me that after everyone's performances, the villagers who are in the audience will vote. They can raise their hands when the team whose performance they like is mentioned. The team with the most votes will get a reward."

Qu Ruixiang helplessly glanced at Ji Yunchen who interrupted him, and nodded to Lian Qingyang to indicate that this was the case.

"I'm so excited to see what the reward is!" Lian Qingyang took the manuscript back from Qu Ruixiang and stuffed it into Ji Yunchen's hands. "Hurry up, I'll tell you how to perform. We have to take first place!"

What made Lian Qingyang happy was that Ji Yunchen's performance was perfect, both in terms of movements and expressions. Lin Haojun was amazed by this talent, and he worked even harder to memorize the lyrics and movements, for fear that he would fall behind in the team.

The next day, the three of them found an open space to practice. After a busy morning, they finally successfully rehearsed the process. In the afternoon, there was almost no time for them to do it again, because not long after lunch, some interested villagers brought their own stools over.

Ji Yunchen pulled the man aside and shouted at him, "Grandpa Li, the time we agreed on yesterday was 5pm! You came so early and we don't have anything to show you! We haven't even set up the stage yet!"

Lian Qingyang's eyes widened as he walked over to pull Ji Yunchen away, disapprovingly saying, "Why are you yelling at Grandpa Li so loudly? He's already so old, it's normal for him to get the time wrong. You could have just let him wait here first."

"Grandpa Li is a little hard of hearing. If I don't yell louder, he won't be able to hear me!" Ji Yunchen tried his best to defend his behavior. "I guess he misheard the time, so he came so early."

Grandpa Li heard fragments of what he said, and his answer was piecemeal: "Didn't you say you'd come this afternoon? Now I'm here, where can I watch the show? I brought a stool, I did. Should I just sit here or something?"

Lin Haojun stood behind Lian Qingyang and whispered, "Grandpa Li probably can't hear what's being said on the stage, but he's so eager to come over and watch!"

Who knew that the old man would look at Lin Haojun, grinning with his few teeth showing, and said with a smile: "I am an old man, I just like to join in the fun. What show are you going to perform? I see that you are my favorite, so I will vote for you!"

Ji Yunchen opened his mouth wide, a little surprised, and habitually yelled at Grandpa Li: "Well, you little old man, I said it so loudly and you pretended not to hear, and his voice was so low that I couldn't hear it, and you still responded!"

The old man glanced at him and snorted, "Tie Niu, you're talking so loudly that I'm going to be deaf even if I'm not. If you keep yelling, I won't vote for you."

Ji Yunchen snorted and pointed at Lin Haojun, saying, "I'm with that guy you like. If you don't vote for us, who else are you going to vote for?"

Lian Qingyang came forward and squeezed Ji Yunchen aside, saying with a smile: "Grandpa Li, please come and sit here first. We need to set up the place soon before we can start."

Grandpa Li stopped fuming and glaring, and followed him obediently, saying "Okay, okay" repeatedly.

*

The villagers had their meals early that day, and the families carried their benches and headed towards the educated youth institute. When they met acquaintances on the way, they would go over to say hello, then chat and walk together, and from time to time they would call back their children who were running around.

A simple platform had been set up in front of the gate of the educated youth institute. It was not yet dark, so the small lights on the side of the platform were not turned on. The educated youth wore their neatest clothes and looked energetic.

The order of the programs was decided by drawing lots. Lian Qingyang and his friends drew the middle position, so they intensively rehearsed twice in the courtyard. During this time, there were constant applause and cheers from outside, which made Ji Yunchen feel itchy. After a quick rehearsal, he slipped out and stood by the wall to watch the performance of the educated youth on the stands. He was so engrossed that he almost forgot that he had to perform too.

"Iron Ox! It's your turn!"

"Tie Niu also has a show. Is he any good? He can't even speak clearly. He's definitely not as good as the educated youth."

"I can do this, too. I saw those people reciting poems in front of me, and I felt like I could do it, too."

"What? Tie Niu doesn't recite poetry. He's acting, a situation comedy!"

While the scenery was changing, everyone below was discussing. When everything was ready on stage, they suddenly became quiet, as if they wanted to see what kind of performance the people from their village could put on.

Everyone in the audience was familiar, and Ji Yunchen was not at all nervous. His quickly-produced Mandarin with a mixed accent made everyone laugh. It did not feel too abrupt when combined with the Mandarin of the other two people. Instead, it made the villagers more involved in the story and made them laugh along with the plot.

The whole process went extremely smoothly. When Ji Yunchen stepped down, he was still interacting with the villagers. Lin Haojun breathed a sigh of relief when he heard a voice from below: "Hey kid, I, Old Li, voted for you!"

Lin Haojun looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was Grandpa Li. He suddenly smiled and nodded at Grandpa Li.

After the three of them left the stage, they felt inexplicably relaxed and watched the show even more enthusiastically, cheering and applauding along with the audience, until the moment the votes were cast and the results were to be announced, when they slowly and quietly waited for the announcement.

Ji Yunchen patted Lian Qingyang's shoulder and comforted him, "Don't worry, I feel like most people will vote for us."

Lian Qingyang glanced at him and then looked back at the stage, then spoke calmly, "I'm not nervous at all. I'm definitely confident in the script I wrote."

Lin Haojun, his heart pounding, looked at the two of them carefully, covered his heart and dared not speak.

"The one that received the most votes is our skit, performed by Comrade Lian Qingyang, Comrade Lin Haojun and Comrade Ji Yunchen. Let us congratulate them." After getting the result, Qu Ruixiang was not vague and announced it directly, and then signaled them to come on stage with his eyes.