Today's play is "The Murder of a Fishing Village".

  The full set of plays from Tianfenglong Keban, a renowned theatre troupe in Jinan Prefecture.

  This Fu Long has a history of nearly a hundred years, passed down from generation to generation, and has always been an active and famous troupe in the Beijing-Tianjin-Ji'nan area. After being recruited by the government in the 1950s, many famous actors in the troupe became professors at Shandong National Academy of Arts, and finally settled in Jinan.

  The academy returns to the academy, and students return to students. The rules of this department have never changed - if you want to go on stage, first go to the theater building to wait for five years! No matter whether you are a high-achieving student from which university or have been learning opera with the troupe since childhood, it's all the same!

  That's right, Tielouzi.

  It was also Cao Yun who invited guests, Li Qian and Cao Yun, Yu Bojun went to the theater together - just like those old theaters in the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China movies and TV dramas he saw in his previous life, no different. The first floor is the stage, under the stage is the audience seat, a long bench code, every time the play opens, the crowd is full, the second and third floors are VIP seats, there are tables, can be leaned against the railing - until now 95 years, this old-fashioned way of singing opera has been passed down for hundreds of years.

  Moreover, what's most particular about it is that there isn't a single amplifier in the entire theater!

  Regardless of the size of the venue or the number of people, an actor's performance relies solely on their vocal skills. The effect is absolutely different from listening to a loudspeaker - when a bright and clear old-born singer sings this high-pitched segment, you can savor it for several days, and that's what they mean by "lingering in the rafters for three days".

  So the rule of Tianfulong Keban is that you must first sing well in the small theater, and then you have the qualifications to go on stage, and only then can you become a corner actor!

  Li Qian used to be a musician, and he naturally listened to Peking Opera, but if you say how much he loved it, that's not true. At that time, his personality as a rock musician was like a volcano, how could he possibly appreciate the slow and gentle Peking Opera?

  However, he was taken by Cao Yun and Yu Bojun to a trip to the opera house. Suddenly, he became infatuated with Peking Opera.

  The songs of this era were all brand new and unheard to him; the modernity of this era was also completely unfamiliar and unseen to him; so were the movies and TV dramas. Even many Hollywood movies were ones he had never heard of in his past life.

  So, coming to this time and space, although he knew that he had the advantage of carrying an entire era on his body, but all the familiar things around him were gone. He wanted to revisit "The Godfather", but could only recall those scenes and sounds in his mind. He wanted to listen to Teresa Teng again, but could only strum a guitar and sing "Don't Pick Wildflowers by the Road" himself. He wanted to watch "Four Generations Under One Roof" again, but...

  That feeling is really unbearable.

  But now he found out that he still has Peking Opera.

  Even if it's changed in time and space, Peking Opera is still Peking Opera, with its unique Beijing accent and rhythm, cymbals, drums, and three strings, unchanged.

  Fishing and killing the family is still a heroic play, and the dragon playing with the phoenix is still Zhu Houzhao teasing the beautiful women in the folk. The Empty City Strategy, The Hegemon's Farewell to His Concubine, The Ancient City Meeting, The Fourth Son Visits His Mother, The Imperial Consort Gets Drunk, The Mount Dingjun...

  The Beijing accent and rhythm are so beautiful.

  …………

  "Last night, I got drunk and fell asleep in my clothes. The sound of the chickens on the farm woke me up from a dream about Nanke. My second brother advised me by the river to give up fishing. He told me to abandon fishing and stay at home idle. But what can I do? My family is poor and has no other means of support. Early this morning, I opened the door and heard the cawing of the crow flying back and forth, but it was just a cry of 'what's the point...'"

  The singing voice of Zhou Longcheng, the master of Tianfulong class, is floating and shaking, both high-pitched and mellow, every note reaching the board but also stopping at the right moment, even through amplifiers. It still sounds so mellow and refreshing, especially when he sings "How can I help it that my family is poor and has no way out", that heroic and desolate flavor of the end of the road, is performed by him with a single song and three sighs, like a precipice hanging pine, self-contained and elegant.

  A single board falls, and the sky is filled with colorful splendor.

  In the private room, Cao Yun and Wang Huaiyu, Li Qian were all cheering loudly. Cao Linna was shaking her head and clapping her hands. Although Cao Beiyuan's younger brother and sister may not have fully understood it yet, due to family influence, the two little ones were listening with rapt attention and also cheered loudly at this time. The childish music was quite interesting.

  Xie Bing and Chu Bingbing, who were sitting alone at the back table, couldn't blend in with the rhythm at all.

  Xie Bing had also heard of the play, although Peking Opera's audience in the south was far less than that in the north. However, Kunqu, Huangmei Diao and Yueju, among others, were equally influential in the south. Among them, Kunqu, China's oldest opera form, was known as "Northern Opera" alongside Peking Opera, while being referred to as "Southern Opera".

  This space-time, although similar in development direction to the one Li Qian had experienced before, is obviously doing better in preserving traditional culture. At least, in this space-time where old people love listening to opera and are obsessed with it, theaters are everywhere and opera schools are all over the place, the strong appeal of Peking Opera, Kunqu Opera and other major genres in the folk is something that Li Qian's previous space-time cannot match no matter how much public opinion advocates for protecting traditional culture.

  You can walk into a theater and watch a play for 30 yuan, in this era of this time and space, this is a kind of entertainment that many ordinary people especially like, and it's not just the elderly, many young people also like it!

  That's the power of inheritance!

  Xie Bing's parents were not theater enthusiasts, but as was the custom, they would occasionally go to the county town's theater to listen to a couple of acts. Xie Bing also followed them and listened to many performances of Yue Opera and Huangmei Diao, such as "The Female Marshal" from Huangmei Opera and "The Battle Drums of Jinshan" from Yue Opera, which she was very familiar with and could even sing a few lines when she thought about it.

  She has no interest in Peking Opera at all... Even for those long and short tunes, there are many places where she can't even understand the words.

  So at this time, what is called listening to opera was just dazing and daydreaming.

  After a brief moment of silence, Wang Huaiyu turned to Li Qian and said: "This southern tune and northern opera, I reckon you haven't been exposed to much of it, you should listen more, it's really beautiful! The subtlety of the southern tune reveals its true elegance, while the northern opera is bold, unrestrained, and free... truly a hundred hearings are not enough."

  Li Qian smiled and nodded, "Since ancient times, Yan Zhao's land has been full of heroic and melancholic poets!"

  Wang Huaiyu heard this and slapped his palm heavily, laughing loudly.

  Xie Bing and Chu Bingbing were only a meter or two behind, listening to the conversation between the two people. Xie Bing stared at Li Qian's back with wide eyes, while Chu Bingbing had an ambiguous smile on her face.

  Then she leaned over and whispered to Xie Bing, "Hey, you said he's a weirdo. Apart from you beautiful girls, I've never seen him or heard that he has any young friends, just hanging out with a bunch of old men all day! And they actually get along! Like our family's Old Cao, like Yu Shao, and even this Old Wang, they're all happy to hang out with him!... I'm telling you, I've never met anyone as weird as him in my life!"

  Xie Bing nodded in agreement, but then she stared at Li Qian's back for a moment before whispering: "He... is very talented! Should be a perfect match?"

  Chu Bingbing was cracking melon seeds while nodding, "It's probably something like that! You don't know because you have little contact with them, just our family's Old Cao. And this Old Wang, they're both the kind of people who are first in line to flatter the heavens and second in line to flatter me, but they all look at your family's Li Qian with great favor! In front of everyone, our family's Old Cao probably wouldn't say anything, but once he gets back home, he won't stop talking about it. These past two months, I've heard the name Li Qian so much that my ears are about to grow calluses! I met him when I was 16 and have been his little wife for almost ten years now, and I've never seen him praise anyone like that!"

  She paused for a moment and added, "Still just a little brat!"

  Xie Bing smiled and her face turned slightly red.

  The phrase "this Li Qian classmate of yours" is, of course, inappropriate. For now, it's definitely not valid, but Xie Bing's big eyes rolled around in circles, although her face was a bit red, she endured and didn't retort.

  At this time, Li Qian suddenly turned his head and nudged Wang Huaiyu with his elbow, as if he had thought of something. He said: "Brother Wang, I remember hearing Cao Ge say that you play the suona very well. How about I learn from you later?"

  Wang Huaiyu was in the play, and after hearing this, he was stunned for a moment before regaining his composure. At that time, his eyes lit up, and his voice became somewhat uncontrollable, "Great! You're willing to learn suona, I welcome you with open arms! When do you have time? Call me anytime... Ah, let's plan for next weekend when you're free, and I'll take you to the countryside to experience it firsthand! Whether it's fun or not, I won't say, but you can follow along and see for yourself. That way, you'll know what it's like! Let me tell you, suona has the joys and sorrows of Chinese people, with a deep understanding of the Chinese spirit!"

  Li Qian heard this and smiled, saying: "Alright, then it's settled. Next time I'll come find you to learn how to play the suona!"

  Wang Huaiyu said with relish: "Alright!"

  Behind them, Xie Bing and Chu Bingbing exchanged a glance, Xie Bing almost smiled, while Chu Bingbing simply rolled her eyes.

  She leaned over and whispered: "Did you hear? That's them!"

  Xie Bing heard this and smiled slightly.

  But looking at Li Qian again, the worship in his eyes was even more intense.

  Yes, worship.

  If it's said that before getting to know him, Li Qian was just a symbol, a symbol representing the power to make them popular, then jokingly saying they wanted to seduce him or even dreaming of having her write a song for Wu Xing Yu Su were all just fleeting thoughts, not meant to be taken seriously.

  But since getting to know him, since seeing with my own eyes this young and handsome guy, one after another taking out songs specially written for the five of them, since experiencing his patient and meticulous guidance, those absurd words and deeds that they had thought about and talked about before were no longer just a matter of saying and passing by.

  The real person is right in front of you!

  At the age of Xie Bing, who is still very prone to idolizing the strong and has a natural lack of sense of security, wanting to find a strong person to rely on, when she faces Li Qian, how can she not have that little bit of admiration?

  In terms of ability, Li Qian only used five songs to make a stunning debut, and suddenly brought the previously unknown Liao Liao to her current height. Moreover, according to producer Li Jindong, after the two trial listening sessions, everyone in the company began to look highly on their new album, even the company's music director Du Xiaoming personally told them that as long as they grasped Li Qian tightly, they could be popular for ten or twenty years!

  What else can be said about this ability?

  As for his appearance, he is over 1.8 meters tall, with a straight and handsome figure... It can be said that it is a face that absolutely conforms to the most orthodox aesthetic view of the Chinese nation!

  Although he seems to be a bit younger, even three or four years younger than Xie Bing, that's just physical tenderness. From his knowledge and talent, the way he treats people and things, and his speech and behavior, you can't see any hint of immaturity!

  If this is still not enough to attract a girl of Xie Bing's age, what should be done?

  What's more, Xie Bing discovered another side of him today.

  Look, isn't he a master of lyrics and melody? After making Liao Liao famous with one hand, even the Heavenly Queen He Runying of the sweet song level would take the initiative to ask for songs through friends. Even the boss of Hua Ge Chang Pian had to ask them to bring messages over. As long as Li Qian went to Shun Tian Fu, he would invite Li Qian to drink wine, wouldn't he? What does this mean? Isn't it that as long as Li Qian is willing, they will always be waiting for him with open arms, welcoming him to join at any time?

  So, for someone like Li Qian, if he wants to make money and become famous, isn't it easy?

  If this were to happen to a normal person, wouldn't they seize the opportunity to sign a big contract, rush to write more songs, sell more songs, and even release their own album, go on commercial performances, and gain both fame and fortune?

  Even if it weren't so, Li Qian wouldn't even need to leave Ji'nan Prefecture. All he'd have to do is say that he's just written a new song and those producers and singers waving checks in their hands would flock to his place immediately, blocking the whole house?

  But what is he doing?

  He was drinking tea and chatting with a group of old men...

  He likes listening to Peking Opera and when he hears the exciting part, he will follow along singing and shaking his head.

  He recently said he wants to learn how to play the suona...

  He also rides a bicycle to and from school every day, saying he's preparing for the college entrance exam...

  In short... if you haven't come into contact with them before, you can't even imagine that there are actually people like this in the world!

  There is such a unique, bizarre and unorthodox music genius!

  …………

  Xie Bing stared at Li Qian's back with unblinking eyes, and Chu Bing's eyes staring at her face also followed suit.

  Suddenly, Chu Bingbing burst out laughing.

  Xie Bing suddenly came back to her senses, seemingly with a subconscious sense of guilt, and her first reaction was to blush bright red and lower her head.

  Chu Bingbing laughed and leaned in, saying: "It's all over, it's all over! Little sister, I think you've completely fallen into the pit!"

  ***

  40,000 words!