Almighty painter

Chapter 345 Rewards
The gentleman shook his head and said otherwise.

According to the old rules of Lingxing, the most valuable characters on the stage were somersaults. Usually they were new martial arts students who were new to the stage. They had little experience and could not speak well, so they started with somersaults to get familiar with the audience. .

The flowers are beautifully turned out, full of enthusiasm, but not chewy. On the stage, it is just a lively performance.

If you want to see martial arts, you can go to Dashilan, Beijing. If you want to see acrobatics, it's better to go to Cangzhou Wuqiao.

There are many people playing tricks, embroidering their legs, holding bowls on their foreheads, and crushing large rocks on their chests. You can spend a few copper coins to watch them all day long.

The gentleman took out two silver coins from his wallet, knocked them lightly, made a soft sound, and placed them on the table in front of him.

"Those sixteen somersaults, the hard work of working hard, is worth two oceans, but it is just that hard work. If you want to win a good reputation, you have to endure it."

At that time, Cao Xuan didn't know much about the theater.

But he was also intrigued by the teacher's words.

Liyuan, like calligraphy and painting, is also an incredible industry with a huge income gap between the rich and the poor.

He had vaguely seen similar descriptions in newspapers, and the teacher's metaphor of two oceans went a bit too far.

This kind of little martial artist who does somersaults can survive until he can become famous and sing in operas.

Often you can only get half an ocean a month, which is no more than an ocean salary, which is worse than the last luthier waiting to play the piano.

That's it, I also want to thank those pillars in the opera garden.

Because this piece of work, half a piece of ocean work, is given to you by the seniors to eat, not earned by you. You have to rely on you to sell tickets, so everyone in the team drank the northwest wind and starved to death.

As for the great master Mei Lanfangmei, the theater company offered him a sky-high salary of 20 yuan as early as 2000 years ago.

note.

It's 2000 pieces of silver every month, not every year.

Boss Mei even once won the title of "Mei Half City" in the newspaper.

This time the Southern Painting School held a commemorative exhibition and invited Tongxinshe, who happened to be performing in Shanghai, to perform.
For a performance, it was only the troupe appearance fee, not counting rewards. The Southern Calligraphy and Painting Association scattered thousands of dollars like water in the ocean, and it was Yang Xiaolou who gave me face to be willing to perform.

The difference in treatment between famous actors and ordinary actors is like a chasm between heaven and earth.

"Even if he doesn't do somersaults well. But Yang Xiaolou just walks a few steps without blushing, panting, or sweating, and yet he can make hundreds of times the income of an ordinary child. With those few steps, he is really like no one else. A somersault several hundred times that good?"

Young Cao Xuan looked sideways at the people on the stage, his tone still teasing.

Snapped!
"Why do you call him Yang Xiaolou! He is uneducated and calls him Boss Yang, Mr. Yang."

He was hit on the forehead unceremoniously by the gentleman again with a folding fan.

"Why are you dissatisfied? Let this full house of distinguished guests sell a painting and write a calligraphy. The down-and-out scholar at Panjiayuan Liulichang who sells calligraphy and painting, writes letters for others, and ghostwrites couplets pays dozens of dollars for retouching. Times, hundreds of times, why don’t we allow people to work hard to practice their voices since childhood, sing operas steadily, become famous as singers, stand out, and make a lot of money?”

The gentleman still looked at Cao Xuan with a smile, but the old man's tone also had a hint of teasing and sarcasm.

"Xiao Xuan, this isn't quite right. Why didn't I know that you had dog eyes?"

"Uh... different."

Cao Xuan still looked a little arrogant.

He probably knew that if he said it, he would have to be hit on the head with a fan, so he suppressed the argument that "one is an aristocratic scholar and the other is an opera singer" that had reached his throat.

"What's the difference? Your heart can't sink when you watch the show, so you can't understand how good Boss Yang is."

The gentleman pointed two fingers on the tea table, as if drawing a little man walking.

"The Overlord of Chu, played by Yang Xiaolou, walked around from behind the screen to the center of the stage, with a distance of two feet, three feet and three inches. His left foot took a step forward, and his right foot took a step forward. In the past, this play was traditionally performed The singing method, the distance of two feet, three feet and three, is just enough for ordinary people to walk in eight steps."

"Boss Yang thought that Xiang Yu was such a powerful and powerful hero that the eight steps were too small and dense to show the momentum of the overlord of Western Chu, so he pioneered the idea of ​​simplifying the steps from eight steps to six steps. The pace is calm, the tiger is powerful in every step, the footwork is majestic, and one looks heroic."

On the tea table, Mr. Yang demonstrated the square steps with two fingers and explained: "Later, Boss Yang performed the performance for two years and studied it again. After all, King Xiang was trapped in Gaixia, and the battle situation was gradually declining. Although his heroism was not diminished, in the end It lives up to its former glory of conquering the world, so I added half a step to it, making it six and a half steps on the stage today."

"With the short distance of two feet, three feet and three feet, and the increase and decrease of the steps, the whole character is absorbed into the soul. No one who has watched it can say that this play is well acted, and the acting is lively. The performance is like that of Xu, the overlord of Western Chu. Xuru in person? Not allowed to cheer loudly and from the bottom of your heart?"

Learn skills in the capital, become famous in Jinmen, and make money in Shanghai.

This is the lingo of the pear garden.

At the feet of the emperor in the capital, there are many kings and ministers, as well as many officials and nobles, so there are many theater troupes.

Peking Opera, Peking Opera, since the Hui Troupe came to Beijing in the 55th year of Qianlong's reign, the capital has been the foundation and ancestral home of Peking Opera actors all over the world.Tan, Yang, Mei and others all learned the art in the capital.

It became famous in Jinmen because the people in Tianjinwei were so lively.

The audience is the most knowledgable, with many enthusiasts and art lovers.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Jinmen became famous for numerous famous drama actors, cross talk masters and drum music kings.Being famous there means that even the most picky senior audience in the world cannot find fault with you.

The play has been performed with great proficiency and is extremely addictive.

Making money in Shanghai is because there have been many wealthy merchants in the south since ancient times, and many of them have long-standing scholarly families.The Magic City is a metropolis where internal and external exchanges occur. It is the most prosperous pearl in the entire Eastern Xia and even in Asia.If you want to carry sacks and boxes of them back to earn silver dollars, you can only do so in the Magic City.

Audiences in Beijing and Tianjin love to hear this jargon.

Only the people in Shanghai did not like what they heard, and felt that it was a bit mocking that they were old haters who only understood money and did not understand drama.

Why are the audiences in the South not as knowledgeable as the audiences in Tianjin?

People fight for breath.

Therefore, when listening to a play in Shanghai, everyone listens attentively and watches carefully.

Young Cao Xuan burst into applause when he saw the somersaulter.

Seeing Yang Xiaolou's exquisite footwork but not being able to appreciate it, it's just like a layman who doesn't understand the drama in the stereotype.

He happened to be sitting next to his husband, a senior theater fan, and only then was he stared at with curious and playful eyes.

After hearing the teacher explain it clearly, Cao Xuan finally understood some of the key points and looked at the stage intently.

But at that time, Hu Qin was mournful, and it had already reached the stage where King Xiang was sitting and watching Yu Ji dance her sword.

He could no longer go back and figure out what the teacher had said.

"But watching a play is like watching a painting. People who need to break it down to understand why are not destined to be together after all. Xiaoxuan, you still have something to think about the difference between somersaults and walking steps... I don't know. You can figure it out and understand it."

"It's such a waste for you to watch this good show with such impatience."

The gentleman looked a little lonely, shook his head slightly and sighed.

that time.

The teacher didn't hit him with the fan. Cao Xuan saw the teacher's melancholy expression, but it made him feel more depressed than the not-so-painful feeling of the fan bone hitting his forehead.

Time flows like water.Cao Xuan has already become famous and has become a master and leader of the painting world who is admired by countless people.

From the bottom of his heart, he still didn't fall in love with opera, but he always remembered his teacher's teachings.

these years.

He doesn't often attend plays, but as long as he walks into the auditorium, he can watch, whether it's a professional performance at the National Center for the Performing Arts, a group performance by some overseas amateurs in a small theater, or even a record played at home.

Whenever Cao Xuan heard the opera mixed with the beats of Huqin and drums, he would always listen attentively, and he would always think of his husband, who was humming with his folding fan slowly harmonizing with the lyrics on the stage.

The electric light on the stage shone on his wrinkled face. At that time, he always looked like a statue carved from stone.

"Sir. Later I figured out what you meant."

Mr. Cao sighed slightly, tears dripping down his cheeks, dripping on this precious old photo.

The hidden meaning in my teacher’s words that day——

The six and a half steps that Boss Yang buried on the stage, one subtracting and one increasing, are similar to the paintings of the masters of traditional Chinese painting. They are all about the word "fastidious".

If you have a thousand silver dollars, only buy them with care.

There's enough flavor in here.

The teacher had actually told himself what he should say long ago in his own unique way, but it was only many years later that he figured it out.

Gu Weijing painted such a "finished" painting early on.

Cao Xuan did not let his teacher wait until he handed over the awakening answer.

at this point……

"It's really enviable. I'm far worse than that guy Gu."

Cao Xuan said slowly.

That's when they left after a tea break after the play.

Cao Xuan's teacher took out a jade Ruyi that he played with personally and gave it to the steward of the theater. He said that he was watching the theater today, which made him sad and hearty. It was a worthwhile trip.

Thanks to Tongxinshe for such a wonderful performance, the sword is given to the hero. This Fang Yuruyi is specially given to Boss Yang of Yang Xiaolou as a thank you gift.

This square jade Ruyi belongs to the teacher's collection. It is of excellent quality and not too old.

It's not the kind of particularly precious Qin jade and Han jade, it's Ruyi from the late Ming Dynasty.But what is rare is that it is a jade handed down from ancient times, not the kind of jade unearthed from tombs. It is moist and clear throughout, without any trace of earthy smell.

When I was young, I spent more than 800 taels of silver to buy this square jade, which was considered a big bargain.

Cao Xuan has been coveting the teacher's Fang Yu for a long time.

When he saw this scene from the side, he was in the same mood as when Tang Ning heard that Mr. Cao might take on another apprentice and send away the family's big treasure that might belong to her. She almost pouted to the sky. .

I was just shocked by the teacher's majestic gaze and the folding fan in his hand, so I didn't dare to express my opinion.

The steward was also a very knowledgeable person, and he knew it was not cheap just by looking at the luster, so he bowed and thanked me for the great reward.

The husband shook his head and corrected himself. This is not a reward. Today on the stage, he experienced the elegance of the living overlord. This is a gift of thanks.

The steward asked again, why don't you go backstage to have a cup of tea with Boss Yang and Boss Mei?They also want to meet you great painters.

The gentleman shook his head again and replied that the friendship between gentlemen is like water.

On the stage, I met the overlord Yu Ji, and if I chatted more in the audience, it would be tacky and tacky.

Times are not easy these days and things are difficult.

Play is like life. He has heard the generous and tragic meaning in the play and admires it endlessly. However, he is not in the mood to paint anymore, so he gives her a jade pendant as a gift.

"After this farewell, we will cherish each other and see you again when we are destined."

When a gentleman sees him as an old friend, he will give him a thousand pieces of gold as a gift.

And this farewell.

The mountains and rivers are broken, and it becomes an eternal farewell.

Two years later, the Japanese invasion of China broke out. On July 1937, 7, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident began.

On July 7, the capital fell.

On November 11 of the same year, the Battle of Songhu ended, and the Magic City area was officially declared occupied.

Huadan Mei Lanfang, a great master of the generation, went to Hong Kong to escape the harassment of the Japanese invaders. Later, she grew a beard and vowed not to act for the Japanese.

It was rumored that before leaving the capital, he had urged Yang Xiaolou to go south and seek refuge. "You are not in good health. If the Japanese come, you will not be able to stay in the capital."

Yang Xiaolou replied, "People praise me and call me Zhao Yun, living overlord. The overlord of Western Chu can die, but has he ever escaped?"

In that dark cloud-covered, long winter with almost no end in sight.

Yang Xiaolou died at No. 36, Zizhu Hutong, Hepingli, Beijing. Hundreds of celebrities, including Ma Lianliang, went to express their condolences, and the cries continued for three days.

In Director Chen's "Farewell My Concubine", Duan Xiaolou, played by Zhang Fengyi, said a classic line to Leslie Cheung's brother: "I am the fake Overlord, you are the real Concubine", which has become one of the most classic on-screen lines in Chinese movies.

Yang Xiaolou, who is rumored in history, is undoubtedly synonymous with the true overlord on the stage.

same year.

The old gentleman, who was also unwilling to stay away from his hometown to avoid trouble, died of illness in Suzhou and Hangzhou. The painting world was shocked. In accordance with the teacher's last wishes, the disciples were responsible for handling the teacher's funeral affairs and inheriting most of the collection of books and art collections. The candidates were not Those older apprentices who are already somewhat famous are not their married daughters.

It was Cao Xuan, who was the youngest and underage at the time.

The older generation of masters, Cao Xuan's gentlemen, whether in painting or life, have used their lives to practice their artistic philosophy of preferring to bend rather than bend.

"The Han soldiers have captured the territory, and they are besieged on all sides. The king's loyalty is gone, and how can I live with my concubines?"

"Yeah! Concubine, you can't..."

In the quiet study room in Hamburg, there are only babbling records, which still faithfully restore the voices of their owners many years ago.

The overlord has committed suicide and his spirits are as good as before.

"Smoothing."

Cao Xuan opened his eyes and looked at the dull assistant Lao Yang: "Bring me a pen and paper."

After listening to an exquisite play, the husband gave him a jade worth thousands of gold as a wishful gift.

After receiving such an exquisite painting from Gu Xiaozi as a congratulatory gift, Cao Xuan suddenly had the long-lost idea of ​​writing.

(End of this chapter)