Chapter 2213: Black Cat Opera Troupe’s Troubles
The signing of the contract went very smoothly. Mag had already prepared the contract in advance. The two of them signed, put their thumb prints on the contract, and the contract was valid.
Mag took out the banknote that he had prepared in advance and gave it to Vicki as he explained, “This is the Buffett Bank’s banknote. You can use it to exchange for cash at the Buffett Bank directly.”
“Alright. Thank you very much.” Vicki got up and bowed deeply to Mag.
Mag was the benefactor that she had met at the lowest point of her life.
“Don’t stand on ceremony. After all, I’m one of the Black Cat Opera’s shareholders. I hope the opera troupe can become better too,” Mag said smilingly and brought a package over. “There are a few clothes here. I saw that some of the actors’ clothes are rather old, so I custom-made a batch of stage costumes for them. I based most of them on Annie’s comics.”
“This is so kind of you.” Vicki opened the package and her eyes lit up when she saw all the opulent clothes.
The clothes that the actors were wearing now were almost all made by themselves.
They had no choice, as custom-making a single costume would cost at least a few thousands copper coins.
Initially, the first thing that she was going to do after receiving the money was to change costumes for the troupe members. She didn’t expect Mag to have prepared it for them so considerately.
Mag continued on. “Your dress is a little more complicated so it’s not done yet. I’ll send it to you in a few days.”
Vicki’s black lolita dress was rather old too, but since it was black and layered, it didn’t look too obvious that it was old.
“I-I’m fine…” Vicki blushed when she heard that Mag wanted to give her a dress.
“I’ll let this theater to your opera troupe for five years at the price of one copper coin and I’ll reserve the two adjacent buildings for you guys too. If you want to expand the venue, feel free to look for me.” Mag looked at his watch. “It’s almost time for your performance, so we’ll go wait outside. I guess you guys need some time to change into your costumes too.”
“Mr. Hades, thank you and your family for supporting Black Cat Opera.” Vicki stood up and bowed to Mag and his family.
Mag waved his hands and left the maestro’s office.
Vicki gathered the troupe members backstage and distributed the clothes that Mag brought to them....
Old Man Mi looked at the new opulent costume in his hands and exclaimed in surprise. “Maestro, when did you custom make new costumes for us?”
“Yes. This fabric feels so comfortable. It must be very expensive, right?”
“Woah! It fits perfectly!”
Everyone was chattering and expressing their satisfaction with the costumes.
“I didn’t custom make them for you all. It’s a gift from Mr. Hades,” Vicki said with a smile. She didn’t expect Mr. Hades to be so considerate that everyone’s costumes fitted perfectly.
“Woah! This boss is simply too nice! Not only did he provide us with a venue, he even prepared the costumes for us.”
“Yes. If it wasn’t for him, we would still be starving in that dilapidated yard.”
“But, Maestro, you didn’t sell us away as well, right?”
All of them couldn’t help asking Vicki questions while they lamented.
They had gone through a lot of hardship in the past two years, so they knew there wouldn’t be kindness that came from nothing.
“Mr. Hades has invested in our opera troupe, so he’s one of the opera troupe’s bosses. However, he won’t be interfering in the theater’s operations, so you guys don’t have to worry. I won’t increase the control of the opera troupe,” Vicki said with a comforting smile.
All of them heaved a breath of relief. After all, Maca Opera had tried to swallow them up earlier and poached a few of their members.
Now, they had one more boss, but it wouldn’t have any influence on the opera troupe. Instead, they seemed to have found a reliable supporter.
Ibaka looked at the remaining costumes and said with a complex expression, “The remaining costumes should be for Bao and the rest, right?”
All of them looked at the six or seven pieces of clothing left in the bag and thought of their former companions. They all became a little sad.
“Why are we still thinking about those ungrateful people? They are no longer one of our Black Cat Opera troupe members when they leave,” Old Man Mi said angrily.
“Don’t say that. Bao has gone through thick and thin with us too. The opera troupe was already in a desperate situation. Even if they had stayed, I had thought of bringing you all to join Maca Opera too. After all, our survival is the most important thing.” Vicki shook her head slightly. “I’m going to talk to them in a few days. I hope all of you can accept them if they’re willing to come back.”
Every troupe member was brought back by Vicki. They lived together for two years as she turned them from noobs into professional opera actors. Their relationships and the effort she put in made it hard for her to give up on any of the actors.
Now that she had money and an opera house, it was time to invite all the troupe members that were poached, back.
The opera troupe lacked manpower severely and one person had to take on two people’s jobs, which decreased the opera’s level of completion.
If she could get all the troupe members that had left, back, this situation would be greatly alleviated.
Moreover, she also needed to consider having a plan to groom opera actors in the long term. The lifespan of an opera actor was short and a professional opera troupe needed to have fresh blood constantly.
Ibaka sighed. “Yes, Four shared a bed with me on the night before he left. He tossed and turned and got up to drink water a few times. He asked me softly if we would have more food to eat if there were fewer people around.”
All of them fell silent. That period of time was indeed hard and all of them had thoughts of leaving before.
Vicki clapped her hands and said, “Alright. Let’s change and prepare to go on stage.”
***
Outside of the theater, Pascal said to the young master next to him with a flattering expression, “Young Master, I finally found out that the Black Cat Opera has moved over here.”
Bobby, who was dressed in luxurious clothes, looked at the wooden signboard that was hung up high with a frown. “Didn’t you say that they couldn’t go on for long? How did they move to Romo Street all of a sudden and have such a big opera house?”
Pascal’s expression froze. His eyeballs shifted around quickly as he said, “I guess they moved in on their own. Didn’t Romo Street become deserted for the past two years? This was once a circus and it was abandoned. They most probably moved in on their own, just like that abandoned yard previously.”
“It’s possible too.” Bobby nodded. He knew the Black Cat Opera’s situation very well. They didn’t have money for food, so they couldn’t have the money to rent such a huge venue.
“Be polite when you go in later, but you must get Vicki to join your Maca Opera.” Bobby straightened his clothes and walked into the opera house.
Pascal patted his chest and said, “Of course, of course. Don’t worry about it!”