Chapter 82
Just as Fu Wenyu tried to open his eyes, a table of scholars was sitting not far from the same theater.
They were of different ages, the youngest was in his twenties or thirties, the oldest was over forty, and the oldest was a gray-robed old man in his fifties. They were obviously regulars at the theater. The men and women on the stage were singing, and the people below were tapping their thighs and shaking their heads. Occasionally, someone would start to sing along, with an expression of being intoxicated.
When the song was over, the middle-aged man in his forties, Yang Shusheng, a Liuzhou tabloid who Fu Wenyu had seen and frightened, said to a man in his thirties wearing a blue robe and a small mustache next to him: "Brother Sun, your lyrics are very good, and they are full of charm."
Others either perfunctorily or sincerely agreed.
"That's right."
"You are worthy of being Brother Sun. Only Brother Sun can write such lyrics."
"I heard that Brother Sun spent several months to carefully revise the script of "The Story of the Green Hairpin", and the Shouxi Troupe rehearsed for two months? Brother Sun's talent is admirable."
The man called 'Brother Sun' is Sun Xiucai, who wrote "The Story of the Green Hairpin".
At this time, he looked very proud.
Because he had misjudged the potential of "The Story of the Green Hairpin" before, not only could most of the hardcover editions not be sold, but he also lost a lot of money. So he planned to return to what he was good at, that is, opera.
So Sun Xiucai found the Shouxi Troupe who was willing to cooperate, and spent a lot of effort to arrange this play.
Now it is only the third day of the official opening, but it can attract so many guests, and the seats are almost full. In time, not only can the lost money be earned back, but also a profit can be made.
So at this time, his face was full of rosy glow and he was full of ambition.
The most important thing is...
He looked at the head of the table, there was an old man who looked over fifty years old, with gray hair and beard. But no one dared to look down on him, not only did they not look down on him, but they also had a hint of flattery.
Because the other party was one of the only two juren in Liuzhou City, Mr. Xie.
Compared with Mr. Liu, who was more than ten years younger and still obsessed with the imperial examination, Mr. Xie, who was fifty-nine years old this year, had given up the pursuit of fame, so his life was very leisurely.
Today he accepted the invitation from Mr. Sun and came to listen to the opera.
So now that he noticed Mr. Sun's gaze, he nodded slightly, "The lyrics are well written."
Mr. Sun was delighted, and just as he was about to say a few words to make friends with the other party, he heard a sudden sound of gongs and drums on the stage in front. It was the people of Changxi Troupe who were about to go on stage, and they specially reminded the audience.
With the noise, the people who only bought tickets for "The Story of the Green Hairpin" went out, while many people who only bought tickets for the Changxi Troupe came in with their families.
Then there were voices, greetings, noises, etc. everywhere.
This was obviously not a good time to talk, so Sun Xiucai had to shut up.
But they didn't leave either.
Although he invited people to listen to "The Story of the Green Hairpin", Sun Xiucai was not stupid enough to only give tickets for the Shouxi Troupe, so that his guests would go out in disgrace after watching "The Story of the Green Hairpin" like some of the current guests. So although he hadn't watched it, he also gave tickets for "The Story of Zhen Niang".
At this time, he was still thinking in his heart that he had heard the plays of the Changxi Troupe before, and they were far worse than those of the Shouxi Troupe. The voice of the Changxi Troupe's Ru Niang was not as good as that of the Shouxi Troupe's Qiao Niang, and her appearance and figure were much inferior. When the show started later, Mr. Xie would definitely feel bored, so he took the opportunity to talk to him.
After watching this play "The Story of Zhenniang", it would be even better if we could invite Mr. Xie to have dinner with us. Maybe we could also bring Qiaoniang and others from the Shouxi Troupe with us.
Sun Xiucai, who was calculating in his mind, did not notice that more and more people were around him. Soon all the seats were full, and even the aisles were filled with people standing in groups of three or two.
Moreover, among the people who came in, there were not only men but also women.
Before he could think about it, the voice of a middle-aged woman rang out.
"There is a girl named Zhenniang, fifteen years old——"
At this time, two women and one man appeared on the stage. One of the men and one woman was obviously the parents of the remaining girl. Not only did they dress old-fashioned, but they also praised their daughter from time to time.
They said she was 'beautiful and intelligent', 'well-educated and well-mannered', and 'gentle in temperament' and 'filial to the elders'.
In short, after the man and woman introduced quickly, everyone knew that the girl's name was 'Zhenniang'. She was fifteen years old this year, and her parents wanted to choose a husband for her. As for the future son-in-law, it would be best if he had a good reputation, and his family didn’t need to be very well-off, because they would give their daughter a very generous dowry.
On the stage, Zhenniang blushed and was shy. Even from a distance, she looked like an innocent girl.
Sun Xiucai immediately became interested.
Then, several suitors came on stage one after another.
Suit 1, Suit 2…
When the first few suitors came on stage, the audience had no reaction. No matter whether it was the first time or the nth time, everyone’s eyes were focused on the stage.
But when a man dressed in cloth and very handsome appeared, some of the audience suddenly began to whisper. When he sang "If I marry Zhenniang, I must cherish her and love her and accompany her for the rest of my life", someone even shouted excitedly, "He is a liar, don’t marry Zhenniang to him."
However, the plot on the stage was not subject to the will of the audience. In the end, Zhenniang's parents still chose the man who called himself "Bu Shiren" as their son-in-law, and Zhenniang's expression and movements were also very satisfied.
Then the stage was divided into two parts.
One part was mainly composed of screens and movable wooden walls, and the tables and chairs were moved up to form a wedding hall. The red "囍" character on it was absolutely unmistakable. The other half was decorated like a boudoir. Zhenniang, wearing a red wedding dress, was sitting in front of the dressing table, talking to the maid nervously and nervously.
At this time, a younger scholar next to Sun Xiucai said: "Hey, this is interesting."
"Look, the one above is the wedding hall, used for worship and marriage. And the one next to it is Zhenniang's boudoir, they have decorated the stage to look like a wedding."
"It's clear at a glance, it's clear at a glance."
"Interesting, really interesting."
The words of this scholar were also said in other places in the theater.
Fu Wenyu heard a man next to him say: "No wonder you said you must come to see this play, it is really different from other plays. Not only can you hear it clearly and not fall asleep, but there is also such a novelty to watch."
"Hey, so this is what the boudoir of a wealthy family looks like!"
"And this story, it seems to be happening in front of me."
"I really came to the right place today."
Similar words rang out in various places in the teahouse, and then, in addition to praising the stage scenery, the audience also praised the clear, concise and easy-to-understand lines, and the emotions also changed with the fate of Zhenniang.
When the stage was divided into two parts again, on one side, Zhenniang, who was wearing tattered clothes, was digging wild vegetables with hope, and on the other side, Bu Shiren, who was dressed in a brocade robe, was gentle with the noble lady under the moonlight.
The audience was immediately angry.
Because of the special way this play is performed, the audience follows ‘Zhen Niang’, watching her happily get married, watching her and Bu Shiren get along well, watching her being bullied by Bu Mu, Bu Xiaomei and others…
It’s like watching a little girl from the neighbor’s house.
So those with bad tempers have already started to curse angrily.
“Bu Shiren is such a heartless guy!”
“If it weren’t for Zhen Niang, how could he be here today?”
When they saw Bu Shiren write a divorce letter and his ‘niece’ came to reveal the truth, they could no longer suppress their voices.
"What, Zhenniang can't have children, and it's their fault?!"
"That old man dared to treat Zhenniang like this, how dare she say that Zhenniang can't have children? Just to make Zhenniang unable to have children and better control this daughter-in-law, she actually did such a thing!"
"And Bu Shiren is not a good guy either!"
"He has long thought about marrying a noble lady in the future, so he supported his mother to poison Zhenniang in order to defraud Zhenniang's dowry and her family's support. In order not to affect his future marriage, it would be better if Zhenniang couldn't have children, so that when the noble lady entered the house, she would still give birth to the eldest son and daughter."
"It's terrible, Bu Shiren is really crazy!"
The voices of condemnation came one after another, and Fu Wenyu, who had seen it several times, was shocked.
Fortunately, the owner of the Changxi troupe quickly came out to calm the audience's emotions, so that the curtain that had been pulled down could be pulled back again, and the last scene was played, and the tragic ending of Bu Shiren was played.
When this scene was over, the audience cheered loudly.
"Good, a good death!"
"Bu Shiren deserved it."
"Well done, Zhenniang!"
The youngest scholar at Sun Xiucai's table, when he saw Zhenniang's revenge, couldn't hide his excitement and shouted loudly: "Good, Bu Shiren died well!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately realized something was wrong.
Because Sun Xiucai opposite was looking at him with dissatisfaction, and others also cast interesting glances.
He suddenly remembered that he was invited here today to support Sun Xiucai, and the "Zhenniang Biography" that had just finished was obviously not the play that Sun Xiucai wanted him to praise.
But what was the name of Sun Xiucai's play?
-- "The Story of the Green Hairpin"?
Before he could think of a word to solve the dilemma at hand, he heard Mr. Xie also cheering.
"Not bad, not bad, this play makes people feel refreshed."
"Hahahaha..."
When Mr. Xie laughed, the young scholar immediately felt that his dilemma had been solved, and quickly agreed: "Yes, yes, Mr. Xie, you are right, I think so too."
Then the table was full of praise.
Even Yang Shusheng, who wanted to say a few words for Mr. Sun, followed suit and praised.
So on this day, although Mr. Sun got what he wanted and invited Mr. Xie to the Fugui Restaurant for dinner after coming out of the theater, the topic discussed at the dinner table was not what he liked.
Everyone was attracted by "The Story of Zhenniang". They discussed the layout inside, saying that it was more interesting to watch the play this way, and also discussed Zhenniang's experience, saying that Bu Shiren deserved this end. In the end, because it was Mr. Sun who paid, he politely praised "The Story of the Green Hairpin".
But someone said "The Story of the Green Hairpin" as "The Story of the Green Hairpin"!
Sun Xiucai secretly hated him.
Fu Wenyu didn't know that he had attracted Sun Xiucai's hatred.
After watching "The Story of Zhenniang", he found the owner of Changxi Troupe, first congratulated him on the success of "The Story of Zhenniang", and then discussed with him about borrowing their venue to perform a drama in a few days.
The owner of Changxi Troupe agreed without hesitation.
During the rehearsal period, not only did Fu Wenyu secretly learn from his two cousins, but the troupe owner and the Changxi troupe also learned a lot of useful things from Fu Wenyu.
Now there is still a chance to learn more, why not agree?
So the two hit it off.
Before leaving, Fu Wenyu thought of what Zhang, the shopkeeper, had mentioned before, saying that when "The Story of Zhenniang" was performed, he wanted to take his daughter to watch it, so he asked the troupe owner to buy a few more tickets and prepare to take them back to share with people around him. The troupe owner of Changxi troupe said, "Mr. Fu's guests are my guests, so there is no need to pay for them." He stuffed a handful of tickets in his hand and sent him out enthusiastically.
Fu Wenyu couldn't refuse, so he had to accept it.
In the next few days, he still went out early and came back late, staying in the city most of the time.
But one day, he was only half an hour late when he left, and someone came to visit him. The visitor claimed to be the owner and shopkeeper of Rongsheng Bookstore, the largest bookstore in Liuzhou City, and his surname was Xu.
The shopkeeper Xu said: "Mr. Fu, you should know that your "Biography of Zhenniang" can't be published in the Liuzhou tabloid. This is all because of the incompetence of Shopkeeper Zhang of Kaiyuan Bookstore."
"If you give the book to us, I guarantee that your book will be printed in the Liuzhou tabloid within half a month."
"What do you think, Mr. Fu?"
Fu Wenyu was at a loss: "...Ah?"