Everyone in the opera troupe looked at that full money bag with disbelief. The gold coins and silver coins almost spilled out of the bag.
There were about… over 100 of them!
"M-maestro, did you sell yourself?" an actor asked with hesitation.
All the actors were looking at Vicki with a concerned gaze.
To them, it seemed to be the only possible way for the maestro to get so much money within such a short time.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so pathetic for the past two years.
"What are you talking about?" Vicki reached out to slap the head of the troupe member who spoke up earlier, and coughed lightly before seriously saying, "I earned it with my ability."
Although the actors didn't look like they believed her, they all learned their lesson and kept quiet.
"Alright, you guys have been with me for such a long time and I have never paid you a salary before. From this month on, you guys will receive from me a basic of 5,000 copper coins. If the opera troupe's ticket sales are good, you guys will get a commission too." Vicki continued on.
"We'll get a salary?"
"5,000 copper coins?!"
Everyone's eyes lit up.
They all came from a tough environment before following Vicki. She brought them away from their tough lives and gave them something called a 'dream'.
The past two years had been difficult, but it wasn't that miserable when they practiced, sang and worked toward their dream every day.
And now the maestro was going to give them a salary? And a handsome sum of 5,000 copper coins!
"This is this month's pay. I will be paying you all in advance." Vicki took the money bag and gave them 50 gold coins each.
"This is the first time that I have held so much money in my life." A young maiden had a surprised smile as she held onto the gold coins with both her hands.
"Not just you. This is also the first time that I, Old Man Mi, have held so much money in my life. The landowners in the past were stingy and it was already a big deal to be paid five copper coins." Old Man Mi also smiled brightly with tears in his eyes.
The troupe members were excited and touched as they held onto the money.
Vicki looked at all of them with heartache and guilt. She waved her hand and said, "Let's take today off. Go out to play and buy some new clothes and nice food."
"Alrightly!"
The troupe members cheered and went back to their rooms to change and go out.
They had arrived in Rodu for some time, but because they had no money, they spent most of their time in the troupe practicing. Even window shopping was an extravagant thing to do.
Ibaka only said to Vicki after everyone returned to their room, "Maestro, I don't need to spend money, so why don't you keep this money with you first? We've just settled down and there are many areas that the troupe needs to spend money on. This theater's rental is most likely not cheap."
Vicki looked at the gold coins in Ibaka's calloused hands and remembered the first time that she saw him. He was surrounded and beaten up by hooligans when he saved a small child from being trampled by their horses.
This was a simple, good man. He had never taken himself into consideration and always cared more for others.
"Mister Ibaka, keep the money. Go and buy some clothes with the others later. Your clothes already have so many holes in them. You're one of Black Cat Opera troupe's signature members, you have to take note of your temperament." Vicki pushed Ibaka's hands back smilingly.
"I know about the opera troupe's affairs best and didn't we already start the operations? The feedback is not bad. Tomorrow, we will start our operations formally. Given our standards, we will definitely have an audience."
Ibaka looked at Vicki and his tough face revealed a smile. He didn't insist and nodded. "Alright. I trust you, Maestro."
***
"Little Mala, when is that Black Cat Opera going to start its operation again?"
"Yes. I'm eager to go see what that Miss Black Cat looks like after listening to what you said for the past few days, but why is it not open yet?"
"Yes. What is opera actually? We have to see it for ourselves before we know if it is nice or not."
Under a big tree at the end of Romo Street, a big group of old men and old ladies were surrounding Mala and talking to her.
"Don't fret. The opera troupe will reopen after the maestro returns in two days time. I will get you all to watch it with me then," Mala said smilingly.
Apart from doing voice training with Mister Ibaka over the past few days, Mala had also begun to promote the Black Cat Opera House in the neighborhood.
Mala grew up on Romo Street and everyone liked her.
After her intense promotion, all the neighbors on Romo Street knew that an opera house had opened and it would perform the trendiest opera.
Moreover, it wasn't just the neighbors alone, even the Titan Tavern's customers were encouraged by Mala every now and then.
With Mala's efforts, the Black Cat Opera House, which was closed for a few days, had accumulated some popularity in the neighborhood.
"Sigh, even though the maestro and all the seniors are awesome, they didn't know how to promote themselves. It's hard to become popular like this if they're like that." Mala went around before returning to Titan Tavern. She took a look at Saipan Tavern, which was also closed for a few days and worriedly said, "Where did Master and his family go? If this goes on, everyone will forget about Saipan Tavern…"
Eiffie suddenly appeared behind Mala and smilingly said, "What are you thinking about? Even Titan Tavern can have a new lease of life again. Saipan Tavern has only been closed for a few days. There have been many people asking about it in the past few days."
"But, Miss, didn't you say Master doesn't want to operate a tavern anymore?" Mala turned around.
Eiffie was silent. She remembered Mr. Hades' suggestion that day.
He could close such a popular tavern any time he wanted to, which meant it was nothing to him.
If she didn't take it over from him, it was very possible that Saipan Tavern would really disappear.
"Mala, do you want to be a boss?" Eiffie smilingly asked.
"Me?" Mala was stunned before quickly shaking her head and said, "I don't. I just want to be a waitress."
"Useless." Eiffie smacked her head with exasperation.
***
"What a unique design, it looks very gorgeous but I wonder if we can make it in one day…" Gloria looked at the gorgeous black lolita dress on the design plan in her hands with a glow in her eyes as if she was looking at an art piece.
She had other design drawings by her side, which were also very gorgeous clothes.
These were designs that Mag handed to her after the gathering and asked her to make them.
The right to use these drawings was his repayment.
Mag needed the outfits urgently, so he only gave her one day
Fortunately, Blue Suede had gathered some of Chaos City's best tailors and trained a batch of great tailors from the citizens while they were rushing the winter gear for the soldiers previously.
"At least we have to finish some of them," Gloria mumbled to herself softly and then called Mars in.
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