Costumes.The colorful theater costumes are crowded in the narrow and dark room, exuding an ambiguous atmosphere of unknown age - the old powder and cold fragrance mixed with overlapping dusty smells, it is an inexplicable entanglement. Although it is just a piece of clothing, it is different when it has a human body, blood, and a story.Most likely there is no chance to appear in the sun, but the ups and downs of the stage in the theater are beautiful for a moment. Looking back, there is always a bit of ambiguous lingering. This is a story about costumes. It happened in the 21st century, in a theater troupe in Beijing—oh no, it should be called—a troupe.

The courtyard of the theater troupe is an old-style garden. I don’t know the former site of a downcast prince’s house. Although the details have disappeared, the frame is still there. There are moon-hole doors of various shapes, hanging flower doors, green brick paving, hand-painted verandahs, and tall and thick walls.Outside the wall is busy traffic, high-rise buildings, the subway has been repaired to the door, McDonald's and KFC stand opposite each other, and the noise and prosperity of the beginning of the century are everywhere. But inside the walls... The time inside the wall is still, and the stories and characters of more than a hundred years are gathered together, and the true and false have been confused. How can we distinguish between the past and the present?

I only know that it is July 14th, the lunar calendar, and there is rain in the air, but it has not fallen; people are crowded in the clothing room hall with brocade screens, asking out the old suitcases from half a century ago, waiting curiously and impatiently. . Waiting is a ritual, just like unpacking is a ritual, the rule passed down by the actors in the old life-everyone who uses the costumes of the deceased famous actress can only open the box to get the clothes after offering incense and saluting, isn’t it? Take, yes please. The costumes of dragon suits are called suits, and the costumes of famous actors are called outfits. They are all dedicated and attended to by special personnel.They disdain to share a set of appearances with unknown actors, and the costumes and crowns they bring are the capital to show off, their wealth, and their worth.Whoever has the most prestigious, the best, and the most complete clothing will be the biggest brand. Gold hairpins, silver bracelets, jade phoenixes and emerald carps are beyond the reach of ordinary ladies.That's panache.When an actor loses his style, he also loses his aura, energy, momentum, and life would be worse than death.

The old owner of the suitcase invited here is Ruo Meiying, a famous Peking opera actor in the 1930s and 1940s, Tsing Yi, the headliner of the "Qunyinghui", and Gai Jiaotian and Mei Lanfang, who have performed on the same stage, and became popular in both Beijing and Shanghai. Xie Yi, who asked her to show off, was equivalent to half a year's chewing for an ordinary family of three.After liberation, he was depressed for a while. It is said that he left with a Guangdong warlord. Some also said that he was taken in by the government because of smoking opium. Later, he died during the "Cultural Revolution". It is said that he committed suicide by falling from a building. No one knows the details.

The matter of the actor is not clear inside and outside the play, let alone in that unclear era? Who will pursue it?However, after dinner and tea, it is used as an anecdote to relieve boredom, and it is arbitrarily derived, and after a long time, it loses its true form. The incense was lit, the suitcase was enshrined on the table, and the accountant walked around three times holding the incense, muttering something in her mouth, and several elderly artists echoed in unison: "Go, go, you have nothing to do here Son. Let's go, let's go, this is not your place." Huber, a blind luthier sitting in the corner, played the erhu intermittently, and there was always a thread in the throat of the person, which could not be pulled out or swallowed.

The door was open, and the hot and humid wind blew in, but it was not refreshing at all. The room was full of people, which made it even more stuffy. Xiaowan was a little impatient, and complained in a low voice: "Ugly people often do mischief, can this be considered music?" The accountant mother "hush": "This is a requiem song to comfort the ghosts, little people, don't talk nonsense, today is Ghost Festival, be careful of causing trouble." Looking outside the door in annoyance, she muttered: "It's also strange. In previous years, it rarely rains on July 14th. It's so cloudy that people get rashes in their hearts."

In fact, Xiaowan is nineteen years old this year, so she is not considered a child, but because three generations of grandparents and grandchildren have worked in the troupe, all the aunts and uncles have almost watched her grow up, and are used to treating her as a nephew. As a senior, the tone of talking to her has always been like teaching a child, mixed with love and intimidation. Xiao Wan was very helpless at this kind of "disrespectful" intimidation, which was an insult to her age and mind.However, apart from silence, there seems to be no other way to show resistance.After all, those are her uncles and aunts who have been knocked on the back of the head and called "tomboys" since she was a child backstage, how can she seriously vomit?Sometimes when they got excited, they would even tease out the embarrassing things about her wearing crotch pants, and that would be really embarrassing.

It's not that I haven't thought about changing my workplace, but my major in college is fashion design. Unless I become famous overnight and open my own design company, what better place to go than the costume department of a theater troupe?Anyway, it can be considered a literary and artistic unit.Besides, her fondness for colorful clothes is her childhood knot. Being able to design costumes for many historical figures living in real life is really a romantic and challenging job. It is simply not a job, but a game. Enjoyment is entertainment—so, I can only endure that my aunts and uncles often scare her with old jokes like "fairy tiger dog".

The clouds were densely pressing down, and the mountain rain was about to come and the wind filled the building, like a silent urging. Everyone was speechless. The pythons, peepers, pleats, and pleats in the room are also silent. Only the accountant's ambiguous prayers were accompanied by the weak and unceasing sound of the huqin intermittently: "Don't come, don't come, it's none of your business here, go away, go away..." Madam Zhao is in her fifties this year, and her hair is already half bald, but she still hangs her braid meticulously on the back of her head with a last stuffed inside, so it looks plump from the outside.Whenever she turned around, the braids would follow her head and head as if they were alive.

After an unknown amount of time, the braid suddenly twitched, and Mother Zhao turned around and motioned to Xiaowan, "Let's go." Xiaowan walked forward with a smile, feeling quite nervous.Ruo Meiying's story, she has heard a little since she was a child, that she is the famous actress with the most abundant collection in Beijing, and that she smokes and airs every costume three times before putting it in the box, and every time she goes to the body And she will wrap it with petals overnight to get rid of the bad smell, saying that all the gold and silver threads on her clothes are woven with real gold and silver, and a piece of clothes is six taels of gold, so beautiful and expensive...

However, according to the rules of the play, the suitcases of actors who died unexpectedly are usually no longer used, and are only used as cultural relics collections. Unless there are compelling reasons, they will never be opened.Therefore, some employees have worked in the theater for half their lives, and have never had the privilege of seeing the famous "Mei Ying suitcase". Until the recent theater repertoire reform, the once-lost ancient drama "A Chinese Girl's Departure Soul" was put on stage again, and Xiao Wan's father and deputy director Shui Rong personally wrote the screenplay - because the old script is a Southern opera, Beijing opera is rarely involved , predecessors have also tried to perform, but the script has not been preserved, so the singing and lyrics must be carefully measured.It's just that no one can describe the costumes of the dan roles in the play. Only an old theater fan swears that Ruo Meiying has acted in the Peking Opera "A Chinese Girl's Departure Soul" before and designed a complete set of costumes.Xiaowan tried to check the costume records of the theater, and found that there were still some Meiying treasures in the catalog—that’s why I opened the box today. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Xiao Wan gently brushed off the dust on the surface of the leather suitcase, and the flying ash scattered, revealing the delicate pattern of branding. The dragon and tiger tattoos are lifelike. Although the front of the person cannot be seen, the masculine and domineering masculinity has already been broken out; the woman's fragrant shoulders are half-naked, the red dress has just faded, and she is bowing her head in a shy ribbon.Not taking it off is more tempting than taking it off. Xiao Wan looked at it with interest for a moment, and then used the pliers to break the chain lock—the key had already been lost—and lifted the lid of the box vigorously with both hands—— A strange fragrance hit her face, Xiaowan felt a chill all over her body, and the lid of the box closed automatically again.The crowd couldn't help themselves, and let out a small cry in unison. Xiao Wan glanced at Mother Zhao in puzzlement, smiled and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't lift it steadily." Gathering your mind, you opened the box again, and you can see a dazzling array of dazzling flowers. Layers of brocade clothes and embroidered jackets lie quietly at the bottom of the box, not fading because of the age. Tears welled up in Xiao Wan's eyes immediately, as always, every time she sees an overly delicate and gorgeous costume, she will be moved from the bottom of her heart, as if she just watched a tear-jerking sensational movie.Her life credo is: there is nothing more dazzling than costumes.It is not just color, but also needlework, satin, tailoring, style, charm, music and stories. Drunk in Shaxiang Luoying, she will lose herself unconsciously, become sensitive and sad, and look like a different person from usual.Rather than saying that this is an artist's talent, it is more considerate to say that it is a girlish sentimentality. Everyone couldn't help rushing forward, wanting to see more clearly.Xiao Wan picked up the top sleeve and unfolded it casually. Suddenly a gust of wind passed by, and with a bang, the blind luthier's hu string broke. Xiao Wan turned her head back in astonishment, met the blind man's cloudy eyes, stared straight at her, and asked in surprise, "What did you see?" "I didn't see anything." Xiao Wan replied. The blind man tilted his ears in disbelief, and asked again, "You really didn't see it?" Xiaowan smiled: "I didn't see it, so could it be that you 'saw' something?" Unexpectedly, without saying a word, the blind man suddenly kicked over the stool to stand up, turned around and left with the erhu in his arms, as if he had seen something terrible. Shocked and suspicious, Xiaowan asked people around, "Did you see it? Did you see anything?" Before the words were finished, there was a loud thunder explosion on the roof, and the rain that had accumulated for a whole morning suddenly poured down. The room suddenly cooled down, and everyone looked at each other, feeling their hearts sinking and their bodies feeling cold. After a long while, Mother Zhao stammered: "Could it be Mei..." Before she could say anything, she was already silenced by the panic in everyone's eyes, looking around vigilantly, as if she was looking for someone in the corner.If you say you saw something, you really didn't see anything; if you said you didn't see it, you clearly felt that something happened.It is said that blind people know best in their hearts. The erhu master is a prudent old man, and he will not coax people for no reason.He said that what he saw, he must have seen. Xiao Wan still asked herself: "Mei? Is it Mei Ying? Did you really see a ghost? Did you see Ruo Meiying?" As if responding to her question, there was another burst of thunder rolling across the eaves. Mother Zhao couldn't help it anymore, and with an "Ah", she turned around and ran after the blind man's hind feet, her big braid forcefully slashing in the air. A strange curved arc disappeared outside the gate in an instant. The rest of the people also rushed away, leaving Xiaowan standing in front of the opened suitcase, drunk in a box of powder and dust, feeling unspeakable. It is a new-style "Yuntai clothing" that combines the characteristics of "women's belt" and "ancient costume". It is crepe satin, double breasted, with a light green jacket on the top, a light yellow waist skirt on the bottom, and a straight large collar and cloud shoulders on the outside. Wind belt, edging wide sleeves with water sleeves, and flat gold thorns covering the moon pattern all over the body—also different from the ordinary "branch flower" pattern, the patterns on both sides of the front are not symmetrical, but integrated into one, The exquisite workmanship and the agility of the mind can be described as ingenious workmanship. Next to it is a small box containing hair and noodles. When it is opened, there are hair flowers, noodles, dot emeralds, rhinestones, silver bubbles, earrings, beads, hairpins... everything is available.The pearls have turned slightly yellow, and the silver jewelry is no longer shining, only the diamonds still have the same charm as before, shining proudly. Xiao Wan nodded in admiration, obviously, this set of outfits is from an exclusive design, rather than inheriting from the old one.At that time, famous actors in the capital liked to create their own style in some costume drama outfits, to be unconventional and to compete with each other.Among them, the "Dancing Clothes" and "Xibo Clothes" of "Luo Shen" created by Mei Lanfang, the "Dancing Pan Clothes" and "Li Palace Clothes" of "Taizhen Gaiden", and the "Picking Flowers" of "Chang'e Flying to the Moon" Clothes", "Mulan Jia" in "Mulan Joining the Army" is the most praised by the world.This is also the earliest clothing design.It's a pity, I don't know what the original name of this set of "Departing Soul Clothes" should be?And why didn't anyone imitate it later, so it was lost? While watching, she unconsciously put the whole suit on her upper body in three layers, adjusted the silk sash slightly, and lightly dusted the brocade robe. Suddenly, she couldn't control herself. Sing up: "He is a young man with a straight hat and light gown, and I am a woman with embroidered and fragrant clothes, Chu Chuchu, who is exactly the same in talent and appearance. On the way to my mother's balcony, I built a wall of rain clouds." It is the story of "A Chinese Girl Leaving Soul": Zhang Qiannv, a courtier lady, and Wang Wenju, a scholar, have been engaged since childhood. Go after Wang Sheng. "From now on, I will only write about plantains when I am separated and hated, and I will not claim yarrow in my dreams. I will be surrounded by pearls and greens. My true feelings and souls are indistinguishable. After he left, I never left the front and back. I followed Sima Tiqiao together, I don't expect four horses and high chariots to show glory. Don't fight to abandon Qiongji, and wait until Pan Zigao arrives, I have already failed the peach blossoms and the phoenix." Gradually singing and dancing, gradually getting into the play, Xiaowan just felt that she couldn't help herself, her feet became more and more swaying, her figure became more and more erratic and agile, and she sang the part of "A Chinese Girl Leaving Her Soul Chasing Her Lang Under the Moon" in a low-pitched way. , soul-stirring.The sound of wind and rain is her chorus accompaniment, it's not noisy, it's just to add to the fun—— "Tread on the sand embankment, the sedge is slippery with dew. Sweeping the emerald yarn of the Hunan skirt, how much moss and dew are worth the cold Lingbo socks. Watching the river come at night to paint, playing with a kettle, the sky is shining, like a piece of jasper flawless. You Look at the solitary ducks and sunsets in Yuanpu, the withered vines and old trees and the crows. Where does the sound of the flute come out? Slowly turning around, looking back lightly, throwing the sleeves long, only to hear "Oops", but the sleeves hit a young man walking towards him. Xiaowan still didn't realize it, her eyes moved slightly, she folded her hands on her waist and lower body to make a blessing, still pinching her voice, Yingying Yanyan said: "Wu, the sound of the piano on the bow of the boat, dare it be Wang Sheng?" The young man was also clever, and immediately hit the snake with the stick, bowed his hands back, and replied: "Xiaosheng's surname is not Wang, but Zhang. It's the name, it's the name of the person, it's the same as the reporter of the newspaper." Zhang Zhiye?Newspaper reporter?Xiaowan was taken aback, why didn't it match the lines? lines?I was stunned again, when did I memorize the lines and vocals of "A Chinese Girl Leaving Soul", but pretend to be flirting with a strange boy?What's more, the young man was actually holding a camera in his hand and was actively taking pictures. Surprised, the whole person came to his senses, and couldn't help but flushed with shame. The villain complained first: "So what about the reporter? Can the reporter just quietly peep and take pictures? How rude!" The young man pushed out the door and closed the door with a "bang", his heart jumped wildly, startled and suspicious, hey, why did he suddenly know how to sing?Even the steps are self-taught.Is it true that "reading all three hundred Tang poems, you can chant even if you don't know how to write poems"? After a while, I sneaked a peek outside, only to see that the young man was still standing in the rain, soaked like a rat, but he didn't know how to avoid it.Xiao Wan couldn't bear to get up, only to find that the man's umbrella was still standing by the door, she couldn't help smiling—opened the door, and handed it over: "Hey, your umbrella." The young man was overjoyed and refused to take the umbrella, but walked in the door in a blink of an eye, and said with a smile on his face, "It's raining heavily, can you let me take shelter?" "Okay, why not? But, who are you? Why did you come to our troupe? Didn't the concierge stop you?" The young man took out his ID and said again: "I am Zhang Zhiye. This is my press card. I am here to do an interview. Hey, don't just interrogate me. You haven't told me what your name is." Woolen cloth?" "Shui Xiaowan." Seeing Zhang Zhiye twitching his lips, he immediately rushed to say, "You can hear me clearly, it's not a bowl of a water tank, but a Wan that looks like a swimming dragon." "Shui Xiaowan, a good name." "It's fine if you don't care about me." Xiao Wan smiled, "You are a reporter, who are you interviewing in our theater?" "Zhao Zi and Nanny." "Accountant?" Xiao Wan was very curious, "Why do you interview the accountant? Is she a hero or a celebrity?" "Neither. She is the only self-combing girl in Beijing." "Self-combing girl? What is a self-combing girl?" "You are from this troupe, don't you know that Mammy is a self-combed girl?" "I don't know." Xiaowan smiled embarrassedly: "No one told me." Zhang Zhi also smiled, deeply fascinated by the pretty and lively girl in front of him.As soon as he entered the gate just now, he had already heard the sound of singing as thin as gossamer, and couldn't help following the sound, and saw a young girl in costume singing and dancing, her body and expression were totally different from today's people, At that time, I was stunned, and for a while, I didn't know where I was.Later, he was hit in the face by the sleeve, and confronted with the girl's jokes, just felt it was funny, the girl suddenly changed her face, and pushed him out of the door, she couldn't help but felt a sense of loss in her heart.Just when he was disappointed, the girl turned back to Yanyan and asked him to take shelter from the rain, which made him feel even more rare—even though it was only a few minutes, many twists and turns had already happened, which made him feel fond of this girl. This kind of indescribable curiosity and touch, I just want to stay with her for a while and chat a few more words.Seeing her asking about the self-comb girl, he immediately told all of what he knew without reservation—— "Self-combing women are a special group in Guangdong and the Pearl River Delta before liberation. Most of them come from poor families, or women who have suffered setbacks on the road to marriage. In order to show that they will never marry for life, they tie up their hair and go through a certain ceremony in public. Declare that I have become a self-comb girl. If I become a self-comb girl, no man can take advantage of them, or the world will be ashamed. The phenomenon of self-comb girl has gradually disappeared after liberation, and only a few areas in the Pearl River Delta still have one. A small number of them existed, such as Zhaoqing Guanyin Hall. Before liberation, there were hundreds of self-combing women living in this place alone. After liberation, the government respected their personal choices, and they continued to live in the hall and live a fasting life. The days of worshiping Buddha and self-reliance. In other words, there are several important characteristics of being a self-combed girl: not getting married, being a vegetarian, and having braids.” Xiaowan raised her head to think about it, and then laughed. In this way, the accountant is really a standard "self-combing girl".It's just that since I met her as a child, I have always seen her with a long gray and white braid, and I know that she has never been married, but I never thought about asking why.Most things in the world are like this. After seeing an unreasonable thing or an abnormal person for a long time, it is commonplace and regarded as normal, and I never think of asking what happened.If it wasn't for the fact that everyone mentioned it, she really didn't think there was anything strange about Zhao Nanny. "However, Mammy is only in her fifties, so it's impossible for her to become a monk before liberation?" Zhang Zhi also laughed: "The self-combing girl is not a nun, so that's not called a monk." "It's pretty much the same anyway." "It's much worse. Nuns have to shave their heads, but self-combed women have to keep a big braid, and they can work in the society without returning to the vulgar, and don't have to stay in the nunnery." Zhang Zhi also said, "Before you come here , we have done some basic research on Zhao Zihe's life experience, and learned that she was an abandoned baby. She was adopted by a mother-in-law who combed herself in the early days of liberation, and grew up in Guanyintang. Comb girl." "Is that so?" Xiao Wan lowered her head, "It turns out that Nanny's background is so pitiful. I never thought that such a legendary story would happen around me." "Do you still lack stories around you? On and off stage, on and off the stage, everywhere. What's more, the life of a beautiful girl has always been colorful." Xiao Wan blushed, and gave a hard look: "It's a reporter after all, with a glib tongue!" There was a burst of thunder, as if it was chasing something, vowing to chop it under the knife before resigning.Xiao Wan hugged her shoulders and suddenly shuddered.Zhang Zhi also immediately asked: "Are you cold?" "One thing..." Xiao Wan suddenly stopped in the middle of speaking, and found that she was still wearing that costume, colorful clothes and embroidered skirts, layered on several layers, and it was midsummer again, although it was raining, it was still cold. It's too hypocritical, it's like acting like a baby. Zhang Zhi also scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed.Usually in this case, if the heroine admits to being cold, then the hero's next action should be to undress and give it away.But he only has a shirt on, and it's still wet, take it off?please! For a while the two of them were speechless, only the sound of opera was dripping in the rain. "I am most concerned about ghosts and illnesses, like a drunkard who sleeps in spring. Around Qingxue Yanghuamo, taking advantage of the east wind and swallowing the west of the building. Throwing and killing my young man, I have failed this beautiful day. It is long ago that the sorrow of parting is added to the lingering system, and it is even more so The scenery is in disarray. A bird sings out of worry, and fate takes advantage of the spring, and the fragrance soul flies one by one..." Xiao Wan listened intently for a while, and praised: "It's really a good song, beautiful lyrics, beautiful music, and beautiful costumes." Zhang Zhi was also taken aback for a moment: "You said the song you sang just now?" "How can I be so immodest?" Xiao Wan smiled, and gestured to the door with her chin, "Listen, I don't know which group is playing the recording. This is the opera of "A Chinese Ghost Story", the third episode, Zhang Qiannv is ill Recite the festival of Wang Sheng." "Really? Why can't I hear you?" "You can't even hear such a loud voice?" Xiao Wan was about to make fun of it when Zhang Zhiye's cell phone rang. Although he couldn't hear the other party's voice, Zhang Zhiye's expression and tone revealed that it was clearly a woman, or his daughter. friend. Xiaowan stood up to avoid suspicion and walked to the door, and found that the rain was much lighter. She opened her hand to catch a few drops of rain, and said to the sky: "This is like this in summer. There is more thunder and less rain. It stopped so quickly." Zhang Zhi also closed the line, and when he heard Xiaowan's tone of urging, he could only say, "Thank you for lending me the roof to shelter me from the rain. I have to go and interview Zhao Zihe." Xiaowan replied lightly: "Go." She walked over and took off her clothes and put them in the box.No wonder, the rain had just stopped, and the sun hadn't come out again, so I didn't feel cold anymore.