1979 Golden Age

Liu Bei's father is a director and her mother is a drama actress.

Her parents divorced when she was very young and she was raised by her grandmother. It was her own idea to apply for the opera school. Her mother cried and shouted to stop her from taking the exam, but it was useless. Because this kind of school is closed, it takes eight years to go to school, and there is definitely a job after graduation, so there is nothing to worry about.

It may be this kind of growing environment that made her independent and opinionated since she was a child.

The next day, morning.

The six little actors, led by a teacher, took the bus to the Qianmen Arrow Tower.

It was agreed that they didn't need to put on makeup or wear costumes, just sing a few simple passages, and no one thought about the remuneration. They were satisfied with the food.

Now opera actors also have units. The unit organizes performances and sells tickets, but it has nothing to do with them. They get paid every month. If anyone takes jobs privately and accepts money from others, it can be a big or small problem...

Huang Zhanying knew that several children were coming and was very enthusiastic.

"Have you had breakfast?"

"We cooked eggs specially, come and have a meal first!"

"I don't know what your rules are, can you drink tea? If not, I'll boil some water for you!"

There were not many customers in the morning, Huang Zhanying ran to the stall, and his loud voice came in handy: "Take a look, please stop if you are passing by. Today we invited students from the opera school to perform, one is to give back to everyone, and the other is to make it lively.

We have been selling tea for so many days, and we can only persist thanks to your support. Thank you first!"

After shouting like this, several layers of people surrounded it in an instant.

In this simple venue, noisy environment, under the arrow tower that is hundreds of years old, an eighteen or nineteen-year-old actor came up, opened his mouth with a little nervousness, and sang a piece of "Mu Guiying Takes Command".

In the early years, plays about emperors, generals, talented men and beautiful women were not allowed to be performed, but now they have been gradually restored, forming a situation where model operas and traditional operas are carried out simultaneously.

"Suddenly I heard the sound of drums and horns, which aroused my lofty ambition to break through the gate of heaven. I thought of the peach blossoms on the horse, which were majestic and majestic, and the blood of the enemies splashed on my pomegranate skirt... I can stop millions of soldiers with one sword!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

The singing was naturally immature, not to mention the nervousness, but the crowd applauded thunderously, which was very respectful.

Lack of entertainment!

From the late 1970s to the late 1980s, it was the last glory of traditional opera.

Simply put, the market was good, and opera actors had the same status and popularity as movie stars. Opera was not a niche, but a mass entertainment.

It was not good in later generations. It became a niche, and only in some regions did it retain its flames, such as Henan Opera. It is said that Henan Opera is the only opera that can support itself without government funding.

Yu Jiajia took pictures and recorded every moment, which were the bricks and stones for stepping on the ladder of a big reporter.

And she was suddenly stunned and quickly patted Chen Qi.

"Hey, there's a foreigner!"

"Where is he?"

"Over there!"

Chen Qi looked and saw a blonde woman with great interest squeezing in.

"You deserve your luck, you ran into a foreigner!"

…………

On January 1 this year, China and the United States officially established diplomatic relations.

When the Chinese leader visited the United States, the good man Carter arranged a cultural performance. The last show was 100 American children of different skin colors singing "I Love BJ Tiananmen" in Chinese, which became a good story.

Afterwards, the United States also sent a congressional delegation to visit, and Lao Bi Deng was in it. He was a senator at the time and visited the Great Wall. This was his first time to China. Who would have thought that 40 years later, he would become a rare American?

China has opened visas to Americans, and some art groups, reporters, photographers, and a small number of tourists have come one after another.

They took a lot of photos and brought them back to American newspapers. After all, our country is too mysterious now, and the whole world wants to know about it.

Eve Arnold is one of them.

She is a contracted photographer for an American photo agency. When she knew she could come to China, she couldn't wait to submit an application.

It was approved soon, and she also received a special treatment: the validity of her visa was extended for 6 months, and she could go anywhere she wanted as a tourist, arranged by the National Tourism Administration.

It was still winter when she came. She took pictures of passengers in the train station, the Ming Tombs in the snow, and female workers in the factory. After that, she went south and visited the Qingdao Beer Factory and went to Shanghai.

She just came back after a long tour.

Eve planned to take pictures of the alleys in Beijing in the next few days, and then return to the United States, so she saw the scene in front of her.

"I remember when I first came, there was no such stall here?"

"No, it may have opened recently."

"Ha, I'm going to ask!"

The accompanying translator had no choice but to squeeze in. The country allowed these foreigners to come in to let them see China after reform and opening up. They are certainly interested in big scenes, but they prefer to take pictures of small things.

Then, a golden-haired man was running around in the crowd, and everyone was stunned. Wow, a foreigner!

The young actor who was singing looked over and saw that there were foreign guests!

He became even more excited.

Eve arrived at the tea stall and looked at everything curiously. Huang Zhanying and others suddenly became nervous and exchanged glances with each other: My God, a foreigner! Are we going to beat her down?

"Hello, what are you doing?"

She asked, and the translator translated it into Chinese and introduced: "This is an American reporter. Don't be nervous, just speak normally."

"We, what are we talking about?"

Huang Zhanying still lacks experience and is a bit confused. Chen Qi had no choice but to come over, smile and wave his hand: "Hello!"

"Do you know English?" Eve asked.

"Self-taught, a little bit."

"Wow, you are already very powerful. Are you selling water?"

Chen Qi really wanted to talk in English, but it was too much, so he had to pretend not to understand and chat through a translator.

"This kind of tea is called Big Bowl Tea. Although it is simple, it has a history of 400 years. In the Ming Dynasty, there were 132 businesses. Selling Big Bowl Tea was a steaming business. In the Qing Dynasty, there was a man named Pu Songling. In order to collect stories, a tea stall was set up at the entrance of the village..."

"Simple! Simple! How do you want me to translate?"

The translator glared at him and said, "And don't talk nonsense. Why didn't I know that Big Bowl of Tea was so awesome?"

"International friends are here, do I dare to lie? Just because you don't know, doesn't it mean you don't?"

Chen Qi transformed into the big brother who had always been a fan of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and he dealt with everything.

"We just started last month... Labor is a very honorable thing for us, and now that the environment is open, we are happy to try new things and have already made some achievements.

We are doing a small activity today. They are all students. Do you want to listen to traditional Chinese opera? "

"Okay!" Eve nodded.

"Hurry up!"

Chen Qi quickly waved his hand and said, "This is a rare opportunity to sing a piece for this silly foreigner."

The young actor who appeared first came over and sang a few words even more nervously. Eve didn't understand and didn't care. She was just curious about everything about this country.

But how could Chen Qi let it go? Of course he had to take advantage of such a good opportunity. He pushed Huang Zhanying up and said, "Give her a bowl of tea!"

"Do you like drinking?"

"You don't care if she likes to drink or not, get up there quickly!"

Huang Zhanying had no choice but to pour a bowl of tea.

"Thanks!"

Eve responded in simple Chinese, took the big bowl, looked at it, took a sip, suddenly made a bitter look on her face, shook her head and said: "This tastes very strange, thank you for your hospitality, can I take some photos for you?" ?”

"sure!"

After taking the photo, the translator breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there was no accident.

He pulled Eve away, not forgetting to look back and glare at Chen Qi, this is an international friend!

"I'm taking pictures too!"

Yu Jiajia ran over and said: "The scene where she drinks tea will definitely be completed!"

"What title do you want?" Chen Qi asked.

“American friends prefer big bowls of tea?”

"Your foreign-related manuscripts must be specially reviewed, right? Then write them like this."

In fact, it's too mediocre. If possible, he thinks it should be called "Old BJ's Traditional Big Bowl of Tea Conquers Americans, Two Mouths of a Big Bowl"!

This kind of title is very familiar. There are many on the Internet in later generations, such as "The Chinese roast duck was so fragrant that the German father-in-law couldn't stop eating one." "The American brother-in-law ate Chinese steamed buns for the first time. He ate five in one go and was completely conquered."

The traffic is very sufficient.

"Originally I just wanted to gain popularity through singing, but who knew I was so lucky that a stupid foreigner fell from the sky? Now I don't have to worry..."

Chen Qi looked to the west side of the Arrow Tower. The tea stalls there were also set up. There were almost no people around, and the customers were all here.

It's not easy for others either. He doesn't want to use dirty methods, he just wants to make himself popular. When they can't do business, he will absorb them to increase his strength.

From 13 people to 33 people, we can offer some better conditions.

He discussed the manuscript with Yu Jiajia. Yu Jiajia still had some conscience at this time and said, "I think it's a bit deviating from the truth."

"Let me ask you, are the young actors here to perform?"

"coming!"

"Is it voluntary?"

"yes!"

"There are also foreigners, right?"

"have!"

"You had a lot of fun, didn't you?"

"yes!"

"So, you just chose part of the content, and it's all true when you write it. What's wrong?"

He shrugged, "It's called journalism!"

(No more...)