Chapter 176 Unrequited Love
In response, the Nightingale Opera Troupe's reaction was also particularly simple and direct, printing an extra line on their flyers and making the entire font bold and enlarged:
【We have the best Olivia!】
Below this line, they attached a blurry photo of Jia Na standing in the stage lights, a simple counterattack that achieved the most surprising effect.
Even if everything those opera troupes said was true, when the Nightingale Opera Troupe played the "Jia Na-Luo Lan" card, it was as if all the criticism died down at that moment.
Even though many people felt that the song of the ocean was just trying to cash in heavily on Jia Na's current popularity, people would still buy tickets. After all, this was Jia Na's first lead role in every sense.
Just this point alone was enough to easily win over the opera fans who were passionately fond of Natasha, played by Jia Na.
Of course, "fan-oriented works" also carry significant risks. If the quality of the work isn't up to standard, then the box office will only be a flash in the pan on the first day of its release.
Once the reputation of subsequent works ferments, it will be an irreparable and severe loss for potential audiences who are taking a wait-and-see approach.
At the same time, it would also be a significant damage to the actor's brand "Jia Na-Luo Lan." Because it was a VIP channel, Vivian only queued for a short while before entering with the crowd.
After entering the theatre, Vivian found that besides the path markers on the ground, everywhere else in the theatre was dark.
If it weren't for the glowing labels on the seat numbers, Vivian might have had to rely on Mental Perception
Witchcraft to find her seat.
"What are they doing? Making it all mysterious—it's not like I haven't seen this play before."
It wasn't until Vivian was seated that she understood why the queue outside hadn't moved for so long.
It was entirely because the lighting inside was too dark, causing the audience's entry speed to be very slow, which led to everyone waiting outside for so long for no reason.
"Forget it, I'm here to see Jia Na anyway, it doesn't matter."
As one of the first audience members who had already seen the song of the ocean, Vivian didn't have any special expectations for the "new version of the plot" advertised by the Nightingale Opera Troupe.
It wasn't because the plot wasn't good, but compared to Olivia in the song of the ocean, who was solely focused on love, Vivian still preferred Natasha in the blood shadow rose, that resolute rose who always held onto the ideal of defending her home and country and refused to be a bird in a cage.
At the same time, Richard-Eva, Solo-Flame, Bell-Moonshadow, Luo - Yinhu, and Hugh-Stone also successively entered and took their seats with the VIP tickets given by David-Berg.
Coincidentally, they were also sitting in the same row as Vivian, and the distance between them was very close.
"Bell? Why are you here too? Do you usually like watching operas?"
Looking at Bell-Moonshadow walking towards her, Vivian couldn't help but frown.
"Miss Vivian, long time no see."
Seeing that Bell-Moonshadow was slow to reply, Richard-Eva, who was standing nearby, was the first to greet Vivian.
"Long time no see, Senior Li Cha."
While giving a polite reply, Vivian's gaze couldn't help but quickly sweep over the few people behind Richard-Eva.
Besides Bell-Moonshadow, Richard-Eva and Solo-Flame were relatively familiar faces because they had eaten with Vivian last time.
As for the other two, they had only met once in the Swamp Secret Realm during the Three-School Joint Examination. They were merely somewhat familiar, not even to the point of being acquainted.
"Senior Li Cha, how do you all have time to come watch an opera together today?"
"We specifically came together this time to support Jia Na."
Hearing this, Vivian's expression stiffened, and then she asked, seemingly casually:
"What a coincidence, I also came specifically to see Jia Na—by the way, were your tickets given by Jia Na too?"
"Of course not, our tickets were given by the director of this play, David-Berg—Jia Na doesn't usually give us things."
"Haha, so that's how it is."
After hearing Richard-Eva's words, the stiffness on Vivian's face suddenly relaxed. Even her attitude towards Richard-Eva and the others became much more enthusiastic.
"Jia Na is usually quite stingy. When she gave me this ticket, I was startled—"
Because tickets were scarce during the New Year, the Nightingale Opera Troupe didn't allow actors to give away tickets privately; at most, they had priority purchasing rights.
Just like the VIP tickets David-Berg gave to Richard-Eva and the others, he bought them in advance out of his own pocket. "Miss Vivian, you arrived quite early."
Vivian, who was chatting animatedly with Richard-Eva, couldn't help but turn her head when she heard a familiar voice beside her.
"I just arrived not long ago, Mr. Maluo."
Since both Vivian and Malo-Haige had tickets given by Jia Na, their seats were next to each other.
"Is this gentleman next to me—Senior Li Cha? And Senior Solo?"
Because these two were quite famous in the lower grades, Malo-Haige spotted them as soon as he sat down.
"Hello, Maluo."
Due to family reasons, Richard-Eva and Solo-Flame were also quite familiar with this "celebrity" from the Hai Ge family.
"Hello Senior Li Cha—what a coincidence today—"
"They are just like us, they came specifically to support Jia Na."
Hearing Vivian's low explanation beside him, Malo-Haige also nodded thoughtfully and looked at the string of "familiar faces" beside him.
"It seems Miss Jia Na's popularity is much better than I imagined."
"Haha, then you've really underestimated Jia Na. Besides us, there's a whole bunch of people behind us who came specifically to see Jia Na."
Hearing Richard-Eva say this, several people also turned their heads. However, due to the darkness of the theatre lights, they couldn't see very clearly.
However, Solo-Flame, who possessed the Lava Lizard bloodline, could see very clearly because he had night vision.
Just like Richard-Eva... just like himself...
"Sigh—"
Silently sighing, Solo-Flame, who hadn't spoken much since entering the theatre, was actually not in a good mood.
He couldn't quite pinpoint the reason for this unpleasantness—it was a bit like internal friction, and also a bit like the melancholy of unrequited love—