The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 836 - 835: Competing for the Rehearsal Room

Facing Ren Jingshu’s questioning, Dong Jiao’s attitude was rather tough, "We all belong to the same dance troupe, if you can use this rehearsal room, why can’t we?"

"Exactly, the rehearsal room isn’t labeled with your name, Ren Jingshu. Just because you’ve monopolized it for so long doesn’t mean it’s your personal property," another female dancer chimed in.

The Dreamsong Dance Troupe was located within the theatre of the Railway Art Troupe. Si Weijian, the leader of Dreamsong, was formerly the deputy leader of the Railway Art Troupe. After the Railway Art Troupe disbanded, Si Weijian rented the top two floors of the theatre and established his own dance troupe.

The top floor was chilly like an ice cellar in winter, and in the summer, it became unbearably stuffy like a steamer.

By contrast, the floor where Ren Jingshu rehearsed was much more comfortable.

In winter there was ample heating, and in summer, it was exceptionally cool with the ceiling fans on.

Because of this, Dong Jiao and a few others had always been envious and resentful of Ren Jingshu’s exclusive use of this rehearsal room.

But because Si Weijian showed favoritism, they dared not say anything.

Recently, however, Si Weijian had gone back to his hometown due to an urgent matter, and Dong Jiao, unable to restrain herself, planned to "seize" Ren Jingshu’s rehearsal room.

"Ren Jingshu, you’ve occupied this rehearsal room long enough. It’s our turn now, isn’t it? From now on, we will rehearse here, and you can use the one upstairs."

Dong Jiao was overbearing, but Ren Jingshu wasn’t someone who could be easily bullied.

"The dance troupe is not for a chorus dancer like you to call the shots. If you don’t leave, I will call the troupe leader."

"Do what you want. Anyway, we have decided to use this rehearsal room," Dong Jiao said before signaling the others to continue dancing.

Ren Jingshu, unable to deal with them, had no choice but to turn and go upstairs to rehearse.

Mother Si had suddenly fallen ill and passed away, and Si Weijian had rushed back home to manage the aftermath. Ren Jingshu did not want to bother him with these trivial matters at such a time.

"Let’s go upstairs."

Zhao Yun was unaware of the difference between the upper and lower floors, and upon hearing Ren Jingshu, obediently followed her with the flowers in his arms.

Stepping onto the hallway of the top floor, the temperature was noticeably several degrees higher than downstairs.

Entering the rehearsal room was unbearably hot.

"How can this room be so hot, how can anyone rehearse here?"

Ren Jingshu turned the two ceiling fans to the highest setting.

With the fans on, the stuffiness in the rehearsal room was slightly reduced, but it was still much hotter compared to downstairs.

"If you find it too hot, you can go wait for me in the downstairs lobby."

Ren Jingshu said this while stretching her limbs to warm up.

Holding the flowers, Zhao Yun watched her, "Those people downstairs, did they bully you?"

"It’s not really bullying, everyone just wants a better environment," she replied.

Hearing her response, Zhao Yun did not continue the conversation and turned to leave after a while.

Ren Jingshu glanced at him and continued her warm-up.

By the time Zhao Yun returned to the rehearsal room, Ren Jingshu had already started dancing to the music.

Since it was a commercial performance, the dance moves were relatively simple and the music upbeat and festive.

After Ren Jingshu finished a routine, Zhao Yun applauded enthusiastically.

Ren Jingshu sat next to him, wiping her sweat with a towel and chatting, "I thought you had gone downstairs."

"I said I’d keep you company, you danced really well."

"These kinds of dances don’t require much skill; even elementary school students can perform them."

"That might be true, but even if the moves are the same, the way you dance them is different from anyone else."

Ren Jingshu looked at him curiously, "Different how?"

Zhao Yun thought about it and said, "I don’t know how to put it, but it’s really beautiful. The moves seem to come alive."

Ren Jingshu stared at the tips of her shoes in silence.

Zhao Yun thought she didn’t believe him and hurriedly said, "I’m not kidding you, really, you dance better than others."

Suddenly, Ren Jingshu lifted her head and looked at him. "Thank you, your words just now inspired me. Whether the dance is simple or complex, it should be performed with heart and not half-heartedly."

Having said this, Ren Jingshu got up and continued to play music and start practicing her dance.

It was evident that this time, her performance was even more dedicated and immersive.

Zhao Yun watched while taking candid shots with his camera.

Before long, two familiar-looking young girls appeared at the rehearsal room window, watched Ren Jingshu for a while through the glass, and then left together.

"How is it, is she rehearsing?"

Downstairs in the rehearsal room, upon the return of the two girls, everyone eagerly inquired.

One of the girls, Xu Yuting, nodded with a suppressed giggle: "She is, sweating buckets from dancing so hard."

Dong Jiao laughed sarcastically, "She knows her place. From now on, this rehearsal room will belong to us."

"That’s great, now we can rehearse in comfort!"

Someone was curious about Zhao Yun’s identity. "That guy wouldn’t happen to be her NBA player boyfriend, would he? He’s really tall, but he looks kind of dumb."

"NBA players must be paid a lot, right? I heard those top stars easily make millions or tens of millions per year, and that’s in US dollars. Even if her boyfriend is not that good, he must have a yearly salary of tens of thousands at least, right?"

"Then converted to RMB, that’s several hundred thousand a year, isn’t it?"

"If she becomes famous later on, her income will be even more incredible."

"She’s got good looks and good luck, truly something to be envious of."

"Talking about looks and figure, our Jiao Jiao is no worse than her, and our school is much better than hers."

Hearing everyone praising herself while putting down Ren Jingshu, Dong Jiao couldn’t help but feel secretly pleased.

She believed she was no worse than Ren Jingshu in all aspects; it was just bad timing, joining the Dreamsong Dance Troupe two months later than Ren Jingshu. Otherwise, the position of the solo dancer might not have ended up with Ren Jingshu.

While everyone was chatting and laughing, a singer from the neighboring vocal group ran over excitedly.

"The troupe is getting air conditioning installed!"

In those days, air conditioning was a luxury item.

On one hand, it was expensive to purchase, and on the other, the cost of electricity and maintenance was high.

It was hard to imagine, rehearsing in a room with air conditioning in summer, how pleasant that would be.

"Really? Are you joking? Does our troupe have the money for air conditioners?"

"It’s true, the goods are in the lobby on the first floor, delivered by the people from Gome Electronics."

Hearing this, everyone rushed to the first floor.

When they got to the lobby, they indeed saw several large cardboard boxes stacked up next to the staircase entrance, each bearing the Gree Air Conditioner brand logo.

"They really are air conditioners!"

"Are they for our Dreamsong?"

The theater housed not just the Dreamsong Dance Troupe but also a youth palace and other training institutions on different floors.

"It’s for your Dreamsong, but they only bought four units. They’re probably going to install them on the top floor since that’s where it’s hottest."

Hearing the receptionist’s words, Dong Jiao and the others couldn’t help but exchange glances.

"They’re not really going to install the air conditioning on the top floor, are they?"

"Most likely, it’s unbearably hot on the top floor during summer."

"If we had known air conditioning was going to be installed, we wouldn’t have fought with Ren Jingshu for this lower space. What do we do now?"