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  On New Year's Eve, the city theater was golden and magnificent, with a surging crowd.

  Tian Liang had his New Year's Eve dinner with members of his "Hundred Flowers Troupe" in the small canteen of the Municipal Yue Opera House.

  After eating his fill, he slipped into the city theater alone. In fact, the troupe and the theater were just a door away. In Liu Qingqing's private lounge, he fell asleep amidst a pile of costumes.

  Luckily he was able to keep his cool, as Lian Qingqing's family had been surrounded by "bandits" and there were new developments on the side of the city theater.

  A small hand pinched Tian Liang's nose, causing him to wake up with a start and return from his dream world to the real one.

  It was Liu Qingqing's eleven-year-old darling daughter Liu Jingjing, mischievously smiling with her small hand still covering her eyes from the bright light.

  "Uncle, hiding won't work, hand over the red envelope quickly."

  "Yoh, I surrender, I surrender." Xiang Tianliang raised his hands in laughter.

  Liu Jingjing giggled and rudely climbed onto Xiang Tianliang's body, searching him and finding the red envelope he had already prepared.

  "Uncle, don't forget, tomorrow is New Year's Day, I'll come to pay you a New Year's visit, and you have to give me some lucky money too!"

  Liu Jingjing refused to get down from Xiang Tianliang's body, the girl's fragrance made him dizzy for a moment, because the little girl was sitting on his big thing, giving him a strange feeling.

  "Xiao Jingjing, are you going to make me lose everything on New Year's Day?"

  "Heh heh..."

  "Haha......"

  Laughter echoed in the rest room.

  He looked up towards the sky and saw that everyone in the house had arrived, except for his wife's family members, whom he had invited.

  Liu Qingyang, the old couple, Chen Dabao and Sun Qianxiang who just returned from their honeymoon, and Xu Hengtai, the couple who temporarily decided not to go to their son's house for the New Year.

  "Little Director Nuo, we've all arrived, so go ahead and say what's going on." Liu Qingyang stroked his long beard with a smile.

  "Two teachers, two madams, and also Da Bao and Sun Jie, tonight you not only have to watch the play but also perform it. Later on, you need to make others think that we are still watching the play in the private room."

  Xu Hengtao smiled and said: "Little Xiang, what song are you singing? Can we help you act?"

  "Teacher Xu, you're being too polite." Xiang Tianliang laughed and got up, hugging Liu Jingjing, "You and Teacher Liu are obviously old colleagues and friends, but you always put on a straight face in front of me. I really didn't notice, and I thought I owed you 800 yuan from my previous life."

  "Haha... Old Liu, it seems our true nature has been exposed."

  "Hehe, then let's hurry up and get on with it. Let's have a reversal of roles." Liu Qingyang said with a smile.

  Pointing at Sun Qiao Xian, he said to Tian Liang: "Tonight, you all listen to Sister Qiao's leadership and make sure everything goes smoothly without any mistakes."

  Xu Heng repeatedly said: "No problem, no problem. Qiao Xian was once the second-best performer after Qingqing, with superb acting skills. We'll listen to her."

  Xiang Tianliang said to Sun Qiaoxian: "Sister Qiaoxian, I'm counting on you."

  "Don't worry, we've got it covered." Chen Dabao said hastily.

  Xiang Tianliang put down Liu Jingjing and walked to the wall, opening a small door that could only accommodate one person.

  The Qinghe City Theatre is a brand new building, donated by Mr. Chen Wen-yi, an overseas Chinese from Qinghe, and was built with reference to Mr. Chen's suggestions, adopting the style of blending Eastern and Western cultures. The theatre has over 1,200 seats, and on the second floor, there are twelve private boxes on both sides.

  The door that opens to the sky leads to a private room, located at the innermost part of the stage, which was previously not open to the outside and was used for internal observation and director's use only. Even the small door of the private room is directly connected to Liu Qingqing's exclusive rest room.

  Four elderly people were accompanied by Sun Qiao Xian and Chen Da Bao, walked into the private room and sat down.

  In the rest room, there were only Xiang Tianliang and his Bai Hua Tuan members.

  There's also Liu Jingjing, this girl has been pestering him till dawn, always wanting him to teach her magic tricks.

  Li Yajuan said: "Xiao Xiang, while you were sleeping just now, a few small things happened."

  A small matter with a big name, Li Yajuan said it lightly, but Xiang Tianliang heard the key.

  "What's going on? Could it be that those guys couldn't wait any longer and have already torn down Liu sister's house?"

  "That's not it, this is the first case, Zhang Haifeng, the deputy secretary of the municipal party committee, and his family came to watch the play, sitting in the No. 7 box opposite."

  Xiang Tianliang smiled and said: "This is normal, he has been working in the West for five years and has hardly had a chance to see a live Yue Opera performance. Now it's a rare opportunity."

  "The second case is that Xie Zixuan and his family also came, including your old classmate Xie Na. They are sitting in the sixth private room on our side."

  Xiang Tianliang looked at Liu Qingqing and smiled, "Hehe, Old Xie is my sister Liu's super fan. Tonight is her performance, even if it rains knives from the sky, he will still come."

  "The third case is that Yan's husband also came."

  "What's going on? Did you see him?"

  Li Yajuan nodded, "In the theater's parking lot, sitting in the old director's car, the old director got out to watch the play, but he drove away."

  Xiang Tianliang looked at Yenan who was silent for a moment, "Yen sister, didn't you say your husband is on a mission with his troops in another place?"

  "I don't know either."

  Ye Nan slumped onto the chair, so anxious that she almost cried. She was afraid that everyone would think she was lying and had come to be a mole again.

  Li Yajuan smiled and said, "This has nothing to do with Ye Nan, I trust her 100%, just now in the parking lot, when we saw her husband, she was completely stunned, if it wasn't for everyone holding her back, she would have run over to ask him."

  After a moment's thought, Xiang Tianliang smiled and said, "This is also a normal thing, maybe his troops finished their tasks ahead of schedule, so he came back home for the New Year."

  Li Ya shook her head and said: "The problem is that I let Ye Nan call him immediately, but his husband said he was still squatting in the icy snow."

  "Maybe others want to give Ye Jie a surprise on her wedding day."

  At this time, Ye Nan raised her head, "It won't be, I think he must be helping the old director with something."

  Xiang Tianliang was silently thinking in his heart. He had already made such a judgment, but didn't want to say it out loud in front of Ye Nang. "Sister Ye, what basis do you have for saying that?"

  "He, he has always been close to the old director, coming and going frequently. Sometimes I don't even know what's going on between them, only that they've been calling each other a lot lately. I guess they're discussing something, but keeping it from me. Just now, I saw him sitting in the old director's car, and when I called him, he lied again saying he was still out of town on a mission. I'm guessing, he must have been specially invited by the old director to come to Liu Jie's house to steal things."

  Xiang Tianliang nodded, "Now what he's doing with him is not important, the more people who come, the better. The problem is, Ye Jie, what will you do? We all gathered together voluntarily, and now you can make a choice, stay or leave, we'll respect your decision."

  Yenang had obviously made up his mind long ago, without a moment's hesitation. "I've decided to stay and perform the rest of tonight's play with everyone."

  "Yeh jie, have you really thought it through?"

  "What's wrong with you, why are you being so nagging?" Ye Nang surprisingly glared at Xiang Tianliang.

  Everyone laughed, and Xiang Tianliang also smiled self-deprecatingly.

  Li Yajuan said again: "Xiao Xiang, there's another situation. Qingqing proposed that she also wants to participate in tonight's action."

  Xiang Tianliang stared at Liu Qingqing and asked, "Liu sister, didn't we agree on this? You're in charge here, holding their attention. As long as you're here, they'll think we're all still watching the show."

  Liu Qingqing smiled and said, "But I've changed my mind. Anyway, anyway, I'm going to the scene with you guys."

  Tian Liang was somewhat embarrassed, as Liu Qingqing's every request always made it difficult for him to refuse.

  Even Liu Jingjing, who was being held by Xiang Liang, woke up and shouted, "Uncle Xiang, you're not allowed to disobey my mom!" Her small fist was still pounding on his shoulder.

  "Hehe, okay okay." Xiang Tianliang smiled and asked, "So what about this side? Someone has to stay in charge, right? And aren't you still going on stage? If you leave, those old theater fans will definitely curse."

  "I have a good idea." Liu Qingqing smiled and took her daughter Liu Jingjing to the private room.

  After a while, Liu Qingqing came out.

  "I've already entrusted it to Qiao Xian, she'll take good care of things here."

  Xiang Tianliang smiled and said: "Her voice is gone, she can't replace you on stage to sing opera, can she?"

  Xiao Xiang smiled and said: "Don't worry, Qingqing has already made arrangements. Her big disciple, nicknamed Xiao Qingqing, is exactly the same as Qingqing in terms of appearance, dress, singing style, and singing skills. It's completely possible to confuse them. I saw her this afternoon and didn't even recognize her. So tonight, there will be two Liu Qingqings - fake Liu Qingqing performing here, and real Liu Qingqing watching over there. Guaranteed that neither will be neglected."

  "Oh..."

  Xiang Tian Liang rubbed his hands together and slowly wiped away his smile.

  "Listen up, everyone. This step is called 'Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell'. The goal is to create a false impression that we're just watching the play and have no idea what's happening on Happiness Street. Whatever happens there has nothing to do with us... In half an hour, the first part of the play will be over. You'll start getting into costume now, and ten minutes after the play ends, you'll put on your costumes and immediately leave the theater in the troupe's minibus. Make it look natural, don't give anything away."

  The women cheered in low voices, this action was really too stimulating.

  Li Yajuan asked: "Xiao Xiang, are you going alone?"

  "Hehe, I'll go my way, you guys go yours. I'm sure I'll arrive before you do, but there must be many people outside keeping an eye on us. I'll distract them first and scatter their attention."

  After instructing Tian Liang for a while, he left the rest room.

  This step of Golden Cicada shedding its shell seems redundant, but it's actually necessary. Only by making the other side understand that Liu Qingqing's house is an empty city plan can they enter boldly and with confidence.

  Will they go?