Dreaming With My Dragon Lover

The shop owner can see that Yuan Ge is determined to have this set of dolls, and the young man besides him also has a look of eagerness and anticipation. What's more, that man is so dazzlingly beautiful that his face is as exquisite as the dolls in his shop.

After a long silence, he finally gives in and names a price through gritted teeth, "One hundred and fifty thousand. Seven dolls, you have to take them together if you want them. I won't sell them separately."

"One hundred and fifty thousand! This a toy shop, but dolls sell for such a high price …" 

Yuan Ge knows that ball-jointed dolls are definitely not cheap, but the asking price of one hundred and fifty thousand is still far beyond his expectation.

"Director Yuan, I think you are a man who knows his stuff. Although my dolls are not a well-known brand, each one is completely handmade by me, the scenes are also designed by me personally, and all the props and costumes are absolutely unique and tailored specially for each doll. Don't you think the end result is better than those well-known creations from the big brands? Do you honestly think they are not worth the price I asked?"

Yuan Ge hesitates for a moment, scratching his head. In fact, speaking in good conscience, this price is indeed quite reasonable, but a grown man like him, who comes out shopping and ends up buying seven dolls to take home, it sounds a bit …

He glances at Rong Qiuchen by his side again, who is staring at the dolls fondly, as if he could not bear to part with them. Yuan Ge doesn't have the heart to disappoint him and is just about to speak, but Rong Qiuchen obviously sensed that the asking price of one hundred fifty thousand is a large sum of money, so he silently takes Yuan Ge's hand and says, "Gege, let's go. If you can bring me to see these dolls every now and then in the future, I will be very happy."

Hearing Rong Qiuchen's voice sound like heavenly music, and seeing that he looks like an unearthly being, the shop owner seems a little perplexed, "Excuse me, do you know how to sing Beijing Opera?"

Yuan Ge is still debating whether he should buy this set of dolls for such a large sum of money. He looked at the set again and saw that the doll in the middle of the stage, dressed as a Dan role, looks just like a miniature version of Rong Qiuchen, performing the scene of "Drunken Beauty'' in a dramatic lying fish pose. It is hard to say how many joints this doll has that can move.

Rong Qiuchen at the moment walks into the middle of the narrow aisle of the shop, and in a quick movement, he also did a lying fish pose, exactly the same as that of the doll on the mini stage. He even sings a line in his operatic voice, "Life is like a spring dream, open my heart and I shall have a few drinks."[1]

The clear, high-pitched voice lingers for a long time, making every speck of dust in the shop seems to be vibrated and stands still in time.

The shop owner looks at Rong Qiuchen without saying a word for a long time before he walks back to the counter silently, as if waking up from a dream. As he passes by them, he drops a few words grimly, "The dolls have met the right owners. My final price is one hundred thousand, including the stage and all props."

Hearing this, Rong Qiuchen gets up from the floor, his eyes full of expectation and surprise. Yuan Ge is afraid that the shop owner would change his mind and hurriedly follows him to the counter to pay with his credit card.

Feeling reluctant to part with them, the shop owner carefully wraps the entire set with multiple layers of packaging, and packs the seven dolls, their costumes, accessories and all related small props, and so on, in individual packages. Then he tells them as he hands over the large bag, "I don't want to entrust my beloved dolls to just anyone. Nowadays, I don't feel comfortable with online transactions without meeting the customer in person. Running a physical shop is expensive and I don't know how long I can keep my little shop going. With you two taking back this most precious set, I can somewhat rest easier..."

"We really admire your artisanship, sir. Thank you for your kindness in letting us have this set of dolls today. We will certainly take good care of them and believe that one day you will see them reborn and recreated through another art form."

So, Yuan Ge and Rong Qiuchen left the shop with their hands full, carrying this precious toy worth a hundred thousand yuan.

"Gege, you have spent so much money for me today. I shall certainly repay you some other day."

Yuan Ge replies emotionally, "Actually, I bought it also because I wanted to help this shop owner. There are not many people in this world who can always follow their heart. Seeing that he is so dedicated to making dolls, I really can't bear to see his shop go out of business like this. With the current cost of shop rental in this location, the one hundred thousand yuan might be able to help support him for another six months."

Seeing the deep compassion on Yuan Ge's face, Rong Qiuchen also sighs, "Believe it or not, for a moment, I thought this shop owner was my sixth brother in the Jinyu Troupe. Although he was one of the Seven Golden Flowers, he was frail and preferred to make costumes and headdresses rather than perform on stage. If there were no big shows or private engagements that he had to attend, he would stay in his room sewing costumes and mending hairpieces, just like this shop owner. Although the two of them bear no resemblance in looks, the way he concentrates on making things and is oblivious to what's going on in the world is as if my sixth brother had come alive."

"So, your sixth brother was the prop master of the Jinyu Troupe. What happened to him? Did he become a grandmaster eventually?"

"He, and all the assets and props of our Jinyu Troupe, were burned to ashes in an unexplained fire …"

When Yuan Ge sees that Rong Qiuchen has become extremely distressed again, he does not dare to ask any more questions. He takes out the business card the young shop owner gave him earlier, on which there are only three simple words:

Dollmaker Way De.

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[1] They are the lines from the classic Beijing Opera play the Drunken Concubine. The story happened in Tang Dynasty around 745-755 AD. This is one of the masterpieces by Mei Lan-Fang. It is almost a one-person show. The story is quite simple. Mei had made this play famous by his vivid performance reflecting the concubine's disappointment, her drunken charming, and her intentional show-off of her beauty.. There are many movements difficult to perform, including drinking a cup with the performer's teeth only and placing the cup on the tray by bending over backwards, also known as the lying fish pose.