strokinit Chapter 280 The Prostitute Dancer
Chapter 280 The Prostitute Dancer
Chapter 284 The Prostitute Dancer
Autumn July 28th.
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There are still three days until the official start of the Chiffon Grand Stage competition, but Chiffon City is already bustling with excitement.
After a month of buzz, the competition had already spread throughout the North.
Contestants, vendors who came with the caravan to set up stalls, free citizens who simply wanted to watch the excitement, and managers sent by various merchant guilds to scout the area all flocked to Chiffon Territory.
Many chambers of commerce want to know just how much wealth this newly crowned viscount still has to offer.
Fortunately, there was a preliminary round to separate the participants, and since the chiffon cake was quite far away, the pressure wasn't as great as with the frozen cake.
The two thousand two-story stone houses in the outer city residential area were mostly occupied, with nearly thirty people crammed into each house.
The stalls were charged, one copper coin per person per day, not much, but some people wanted to save even that one copper coin.
Some people went to the edge of the black pine forest, picked up some dead branches and fallen leaves, spread them on the ground to use as beds, and wrapped their old cloaks around themselves to get by.
When the patrolling city guards discovered them, they didn't drive them away, but only warned them not to light fires, lest they set the entire pine forest on fire.
Meanwhile, Tina Vera, wearing an old cloak, slowly stepped into the Chiffon Inner City.
She walked and stopped, her gaze sweeping over every house, every flowerbed, and every face that passed by her.
A large crowd had gathered in front of the clothing store, with a group of women squeezed at the front, their noses almost touching the glass.
A pale purple dress hung in the shop window, its hem embroidered with small silver flowers and its neckline adorned with pearl-colored lace. The entire dress shimmered when the sunlight shone down.
"This material must feel as smooth as water, right?" a woman murmured to herself.
Someone nearby immediately chimed in, "Only fifty copper coins! By the stars! Fifty copper coins can buy a dress only noble ladies wear!"
Their voices were high-pitched and bright, attracting passersby to come and watch.
The tavern entrance was packed with people, and long tables that had been temporarily set up were covered with amber-colored ale.
A burly man downed half a glass in one gulp, smacked his lips, and loudly announced to his companion that this wine was even better than the best wine sold in the best tavern in Blackthorn Territory!
His companion, unconvinced, snatched the cup, took a sip, paused for a moment, and then silently slammed his own copper coin on the table.
A traveling merchant was enthusiastically explaining to bystanders the differences between the brewing process of this ale and that of ordinary ale.
The person next to me didn't quite understand, but still nodded and bought another cup.
There were so many people on the street that the city defense troops maintaining order had lost their voices several times.
Of course, too many people will cause trouble.
Especially for these free citizens who are setting foot in Chiffon City for the first time, many of the city's rules are completely new to them.
A free man, unable to find a public toilet and unable to hold it any longer, had just unbuckled his belt at the corner of an alley when he was caught red-handed by three patrolling soldiers.
The whip lashed out quickly and fiercely, and the free man clutched his buttocks, begging for mercy. The crowd of onlookers was packed in layers.
Hey!
The final of the King of Endurance Whip Challenge has been brought forward!
Hang in there, buddy!
Tina Vera took in everything on the street and finally stopped in front of the clothing store.
Unlike the main entrance, the side window was less bustling; there were a few plain-colored long dresses and children's jackets hanging there.
She was staring blankly at a dress when she suddenly heard a little girl's cheerful laughter beside her.
A girl of about eight or nine years old came out of the front door holding her father's hand. She was wearing a brand new, fluffy dress, and when she twirled, the hem of the dress billowed up like a trumpet flower.
"Father! Am I pretty?" The girl couldn't stop laughing.
Her father knelt down and straightened the bow on her collar, smiling sweetly. She looked so beautiful.
The girl was overjoyed, her cheeks flushed, and then she took her father's hand and skipped away.
Tina Vera stood by the side window, her head slightly lowered. She was only wearing a faded, patched, tattered linen dress.
She stared at the light blue dress reflected in the shop window, her reflection mingling with her own. After a while, she pulled her hood up again and left the inner city, feeling dejected.
After leaving the city, she arrived at the outer city and found the stone house numbered seventeen, which was a perk allocated to the participants.
Yes.
She signed up for the dance competition.
The stone house allocated to the contestants housed twenty people; apart from her, the other girls were all from formal theater troupes.
On her very first day there, the lead dancer of the Silver Sparrow Theatre recognized Tina Vera—not by who she was, but by her scent.
The back alley of the tavern smelled of cheap cosmetics mixed with the sour odor of fermented ale, which Tina Vera herself couldn't smell, but a proper dancer could tell the difference from three steps away.
That's the scent of a warbler.
The scent permeates the hair and seeps into the collar fibers, like another layer of skin growing on the body.
So the exclusion started from day one.
Tina Vera's berth was located directly below the door crack, and the early autumn night wind blowing in could make her calves shiver with cold.
The only hall that could be used for dance practice was occupied by nineteen girls who rehearsed their competition dance from morning till night, with five girls taking turns to reserve a spot.
With no other option, Tina Vera had to find an open space behind the house to practice on her own.
But none of these are the most painful things.
The participants' accommodation and meals will be arranged by the city hall, with meals provided free of charge.
Every evening, the town hall's handymen would push carts to deliver meals from building to building, each person receiving two slices of refined wheat bread, a small dish of honey and jam, and a palm-sized piece of braised meat.
Add a seasonal fruit, sometimes a bright red apple, sometimes a fist-sized blackcurrant.
The food was so luxurious that it was unbelievable. In the first few days, after receiving their meal boxes, the contestants repeatedly checked with the servants to make sure the wrong ones had been delivered.
The handymen don't chat with you. They count people by headcount, stack the pre-packaged lunchboxes on the long table by the door, and then head to the next building.
The lead dancer of the Silver Sparrow Troupe smiled as she saw the servant off, then turned around and took two lunch boxes from the table.
The girls in the troupe were sharing the braised meat that should have belonged to Tina Vera, chatting about which dance steps needed to be changed during today's rehearsal, completely ignoring her.
There was no arguing, no pushing, no harsh words; her share was simply divided up as a matter of course.
Tina Vera didn't say anything.
He simply lowered his head and walked out of the stone house, across the stone-paved road of the outer city, along the base of the city wall until he reached the temporary market outside the city gate.
This place is a gathering place for many vendors who have come from the surrounding area, selling herbs, secondhand clothes, and a few food items.
Tina Vera bought a small piece of coarse rye bread and then soaked it in the drain water to make it softer and more filling.
After finishing her meal, she stood up, brushed the dirt off her skirt, and began stretching her legs in preparation for her evening practice.
Hard work pays off, and she performed exceptionally well on the day of the qualifying round.
Although her dress was worn out, when she twirled and the hem of her skirt billowed out, she looked like a dandelion seed blown away by the wind.
Advancing to the finals!
The stone house number seventeen is now empty.
But when the servants delivered the meals in the evening, they seemed to have forgotten to count the number of people. They left twenty meal boxes at the door and then pushed the cart away.
correct.
The servant also left behind a package containing a beautiful purple dress, more exquisite than any of the dresses in the clothing stores today.
This is the reward for making it to the qualifying rounds; according to the competition rules, she needs to wear this dress to the finals.
Tina Vera, clutching her dress, stood frozen in the empty stone house for a long time before finally bursting into loud sobs.
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