Though it was a last-minute celebration, the performances showed no signs of being perfunctory. Фэн Юань thought it’s likely these acts were originally prepared for National Day.
The performers’ skills were a bit rusty, but to be honest, the flower ball performance was not flawed. After all, they had practiced many times.
Watching the colorful flower balls roll on the woman’s hands and body, occasionally changing positions unexpectedly, and sometimes appearing from the tourists’ bodies, Фэн Юань couldn’t help but clap and say with a tinge of regret,
"This performance feels a bit wasted at this moment. If it was saved for National Day, it might have been more sensational. Now that it’s exposed, it won’t be as surprising later."
Dou Yanlan understood Фэн Юань’s meaning, as she could also tell that these performances were the results of meticulous practice. Even if they seemed a bit out of touch due to lack of real-world performances, the effect was still not bad.
This was obviously not something a last-minute celebration could pull off. Either these performances were prepared for the Cha Mu Specialty Town event, or they were meant for National Day.
Regardless of the reason, the sudden exposure now would impact the subsequent plans. After all, tricks like the flower ball were not undocumented. It was just that, due to various reasons, they have rarely been seen by people.
Glancing around at the students walking out of the gloom, Dou Yanlan softly said,
"Perhaps, for them, this outcome is more important than the surprise on National Day."
Hearing Dou Yanlan’s words, Фэн Юань looked around, understood her meaning, scratched his head, and said,
"Haha, seems like it."
Economically speaking, doing this indeed might affect subsequent arrangements. However, this celebration itself was not for economic considerations, and now this effect seems to better meet their needs.
Ци Чэнь didn’t think too much about it. Instead of worrying about that, he’d rather think about what to eat later.
"Speaking of which, the flower ball tricks seem to have been popular in the southern Great Xia and neighboring countries. Why did they gradually die out?"
Veronia curiously asked. She wasn’t a Little Crocodile and didn’t have the ability to skim through time-honored literature. Using data to check would be too much trouble. She figured Фэн Юань should know the answer.
Indeed, Фэн Юань did know the reason. He glanced at the woman performing the flower ball and said,
"It’s not that it died out. It’s just that there used to be fewer spirit beasts, and there weren’t enough Укротители зверей, with different living environments. You have to know, during that period, without suitable plant-type spirit beasts, it wasn’t surprising for small countries to experience famines during lean years. Compared to modern times, there were fewer Укротители зверей back then, and for survival, street performance professions naturally emerged."
Фэн Юань thought of something and said,
"Even in modern times, similar professions still exist. It’s just that since most people are Укротители зверей now, it’s a bit more sophisticated compared to ancient times."
Most of the traditional tricks require various spirit materials to achieve their effects. In modern times, everyone has spirit beasts, so there’s no need to go through the trouble. As a result, except for hobbyists, fewer people are learning these traditional tricks, and these performances are gradually disappearing from the public eye.
There’s no helping it. If it weren’t for Cha Mu Specialty Town’s ancient-style theme, they wouldn’t have arranged such performances. Although they seem fresh at first glance, they still don’t measure up to performances by spirit beasts.
After all, spirit beasts can use their own powers to achieve special visual effects that humans can only achieve with spirit materials under specific conditions, and they can do even better.
This is the reason these traditional tricks are gradually disappearing. You can’t help it; with simpler, visually better performance methods available, not many would waste spirit materials practicing tricks.
Although most people were eating in the stores, the performers of the tricks were moving through the streets. Because the Specialty Town closed off some streets, it caused the streets, except the closed areas, to be crowded with people.
Фэн Юань didn’t mind the barricaded areas and led Ци Чэнь and the group directly into a narrow alley. Watching the flow of people outside, he patted his chest and said,
"Wow, there are really a lot of people."
The staff guarding the street entrance was about to drive them away when they saw Фэн Юань showed his special credentials.
Although Cha Mu Specialty Town is a commercial area, it is under the management of Cha Mu Town. Therefore, the staff called here were familiar with the credentials in Фэн Юань’s hands.
After all, they were all official staff, and they didn’t think anyone would be foolish enough to bring fake special credentials here to cause trouble, because it would be meaningless.
The staff curiously looked at Фэн Юань and asked,
"Do you need any help?"
"No, it’s just too crowded. We’re just borrowing a place to rest."
Putting away his special credentials, Фэн Юань smiled and said. If he hadn’t felt suffocated by the crowd on the street, he wouldn’t have dragged Ци Чэнь and the others to this closed alley to rest.
Although it was a closed alley, this place was actually part of the Specialty Town’s landscaping. But because there were no shops here, and the staff maintaining order and performing needed a place to rest these days, they used barricades to close off these alleys.
Speaking of dispersing crowds, this alley, where at most three people could walk side by side, was indeed not spacious. Moreover, the alley’s design theme was tranquility, with stone benches occasionally set on both sides for people to rest. It wasn’t suitable for opening during such bustling times.
Seeing Фэн Юань and the group resting on the bench at the alley entrance, many kids curiously wanted to leave the crowd and explore, but the staff guarding the alley entrance firmly persuaded them all back.
Occasionally seeing performers enter the alley to rest, most parents understood and accepted this.
Along the way, they noticed that besides the shops, Cha Mu Specialty Town seemed to have little maneuvering space to set up temporary rest areas.
That alley was probably the place for them to rest.
Фэн Юань didn’t care about what others thought. After resting here for a while, he led everyone out of the alley. The sounds of the bustling crowd outside were faintly audible, and inside the alley, they encountered many staff coming to rest.
Though they found it strange to see tourists here, they didn’t think much of it. Every alley entrance was guarded, so appearing here must have a special reason, not to mention they were indeed tired.
Back on the main street, looking at the bustling crowd, Фэн Юань sighed and had no choice but to squeeze back in.
At noon, after having lunch, they took their packed snacks and went back to the alley to rest. While eating his snack, Long Boduo said,
"Not bad at all~ If National Day is like this, we could let them come to see it~"
Glancing at Long Boduo, Фэн Юань said,
"You better think it over by then, as there might be a lot of tourists here too. But now that we’ve had a full circuit and finished eating, where should we go next?"
Although there were still performances, even Long Boduo was merely amused by the traditional folk tricks.
Dou Yanlan saw Фэн Юань looking at her, took out her phone, and glanced at it, saying,
"Shall we go?"
"Yeah, the exhibition hall probably doesn’t have much appeal for Long Boduo, right? We’ve finished eating, and staying here longer doesn’t seem meaningful.
Город данных doesn’t seem to be open. How about going to the department store?"
Looking at the sky, Фэн Юань said, Ци Чэнь looked at Long Boduo and, thinking of something, said,
"What about Mao Mu Forest?"
"What event is happening there?"
Surprised, Фэн Юань looked at Ци Чэнь. Because there were many small and large sub-venues this time, Фэн Юань hadn’t fully checked all the venues. As for Mao Mu Forest... was that also a venue?
"Starry Night Campground, we seem unprepared."
Surprised, Dou Yanlan glanced at Ци Чэнь. For academy students like them, camping wasn’t very appealing. After all, later in their education, they would gradually participate in outdoor exploration exercises.
Camping then? They’d probably be sick of the wild.
"Hmm, are you interested?"
After a moment of hesitation, Фэн Юань turned to Long Boduo and asked. Camping didn’t appeal much to Фэн Юань, but he wasn’t sure what Long Boduo thought.

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