Chapter 10 rest

Ever since he became an apprentice at Taifeng Building, Meng Xiaodong no longer went to Yang's house to see his master, but went directly to the master's door, accompanied by Master Yu's two daughters, Huiwen and Huiqing.Sometimes, Li Shaochun also listened to the lectures.At that time, Yu Huiqing was a high school student at Chunming Girls' High School, and she loved Peking opera. However, Yu Shuyan never advocated that her daughters go to sea, but did not object to them learning opera. Meng Xiaodong is very good at being a person, she looks like a big sister in front of Huiwen and Huiqing, every time she goes to Yufu, she always brings some gifts for her two "sisters", either high-quality clothing or high-end accessories.Of course, she never forgets to give gifts to her master and wife (Yu Shuyan later married Yao Shi).At this time, she has rarely appeared on stage, and it should be said that the economic situation will not be too good.If you don't go on stage for a day of singing, you will lose a day of acting.However, she still spends money.The Yu family didn't know that her financial backer was Du Yuesheng.

Yu Huiwen and Yu Huiqing like Meng Xiaodong very much.When Meng Xiaodong asked them about the precautions when learning opera, they confessed everything.For example, when the master begins to speak, the apprentice must stand; when learning to sing, the master does not say to sit, but the apprentice must not sit;Yu Shuyan was overjoyed when he found out that this female apprentice became more and more aware of the rules.Because he couldn't use notes, Meng Xiaodong couldn't memorize the singing taught by Quan Yu Shuyan in many cases.Yu Huiqing helped from the side, first wrote it down with numbered notation, and asked Xiaodong to review it against the numbered notation after class to help recall.Meng Xiaodong was naturally very grateful to Huiqing and Huiwen.Later, when Yu Huiwen got married, she gave the whole hall Western-style furniture; when Yu Huiqing got married, she gave all the dowry.

This is true for Huiwen and Huiqing, and she also takes good care of Yu Shuyan and Yao's daughter Huiling.At this time, Huiling was just a baby.Every time she goes to Yufu, she has to give this little sister a hug.Many times, Huiling threw up on her, who was very particular about her appearance, and even grabbed her hair.Although she felt a little uncomfortable, she still kept her mouth shut.All this made Yu Shuyan very satisfied with her, so he worked harder to teach her. The first play that Yu Shuyan taught Meng Xiaodong was "Hongyang Cave". One day in December 1938, Meng Xiaodong performed this play at the Xinxin Theater.On this day, she went backstage very early to act.After a while, Yu Shuyan also came backstage, either to help her prepare her emotions, or to personally guide her in makeup.With a master in charge, Meng Xiaodong's first performance after paying homage to Yu Yu was very sensational and successful.

From the official apprenticeship in 1938 to Yu Shuyan's death in 1943, Meng Xiaodong followed Yu Shuyan for five years.In the past five years, Yu Shuyan's health has developed from ups and downs to serious illnesses.In the last few years, he was tortured by cancer and suffered from pain all day long.Even so, he still resisted to get up from the sick bed and demonstrated one move at a time.Often, he was panting and sweating profusely but still insisted on letting Meng Xiaodong support him, singing and doing.At this moment, Meng Xiaodong burst into tears.After studying drama, she changed her identity from apprentice to nurse, taking care of her master's sick body carefully and thoughtfully.The depth of the master-student friendship can be seen.

Under such circumstances, Meng Xiaodong learned the entire plays of nearly ten plays, in addition to "Hongyang Cave", there are also "Catch and Release Cao", "Missing the Sky", "Two Entering the Palace", "The Story of the Wupen" ", "Royal Stele Pavilion", "Wujiapo", "Zhulian Village", "Search the Orphan and Rescue the Orphan" and so on.When Yu Shuyan taught Li Shaochun, Meng Xiaodong listened to "Battle of Peace" and "Dingjun Mountain".Yu Shuyan taught her some excerpts or excerpts of other operas, such as "Ten Dao Ben", "Exchanging Sons in the Fachang", and "Farewell at the Sand Bridge".There are also plays, such as "Eight Hammers", "Li Lingbei", "Lianying Village", "Nanyang Pass" and other plays, he also gave pointers.

In this way, a rough calculation shows that Meng Xiaodong has studied more than 30 operas in the Yu family for several years, and has won the essence of the Yu school.Yu Shuyan once warned Meng Xiaodong: "Every accent and every word I taught you has been tempered thousands of times, and it is also the crystallization of my brainchild. You must not change it without authorization." Meng Xiaodong kept it in his heart and never dared to tamper with it.Although compared with Li Shaochun, she is less vigorous, but she has more charm.Yu Shuyan summed up the academic performance of this female disciple, and thought that she scored seven points in singing and three points in reciting.This is the highest score among the remaining disciples.So later, people regarded her as a "living specimen" of the Yu School and a "living channel" to appreciate the Yu School.

Apart from Yu Shuyan's careful teaching of Meng Xiaodong's school, there is another person who also contributed a lot. He is the luthier Wang Ruizhi.He was originally Yan Jupeng's luthier, but he also has a deep study of Yu School.Meng Xiaodong once worshiped Yan, and later worshiped Yu, and Wang Ruizhi also changed from Yan School to Yu School.Every afternoon at three or four o'clock, he would come to Meng's house on time, sing and play for Xiaodong, and help her review what she had learned the day before.Later, Yu Shuyan also admired his piano skills and asked him to work as a part-time piano teacher.

In the past few years in the Amateur School, Meng Xiaodong seldom performed on stage. First, it was the period of the Anti-Japanese War, and the entertainment industry was depressed; second, she had no financial pressure.Sometimes, she is just invited to some church services.For example, in July 1941, she went to Tianjin and sang "Missing Empty Slash" at a meeting at Chen's family in the British Concession.Most of the time, accompanied by Wang Ruizhi, she devoted herself to studying with Yu Shuyan. That is to say, in the past few years when Meng Xiaodong was in Lixue Yumen, Yu Shuyan's health went from bad to worse. In 1941, he was diagnosed with bladder cancer and underwent surgery in a German hospital.In the second year, the cancer spread, and he was admitted to the American Union Medical College Hospital.At this time, the United States and Japan had just fought, and the Union Hospital was closed by the Japanese. The Americans withdrew from the hospital and Beiping, while most of the Chinese medical experts went to the rear.Yu Shuyan refused to be diagnosed and treated by a Japanese doctor, and his condition became more and more serious.Even so, Meng Xiaodong and the qin master Wang Ruizhi often went to Yufu. When Yu Shuyan was in low spirits, they even went to visit and take care of Master Yu;

Once, Meng and Wang went to Yufu again.As soon as he sat down, Mrs. Yu came to inject nutrition into Yu Shuyan.Just after the needle was inserted, when a visitor arrived, Yao turned around to greet him, but he didn't want Yu Shuyan's arm to bleed from the injection.Yu Shuyan was furious, and pushed Yao Shi away, and asked Yao Shi to hand over the syringe to Meng Xiaodong, and asked her to help him pierce it.Meng Xiaodong was very embarrassed, but he didn't dare to disobey his teacher's order, so he had to obey.Yao shi didn't like Meng Xiaodong in the first place, but now he became even more angry with her.

After 1942, 1943 came.Yu Shuyan became ill more frequently. On May 16, he fell into a coma several times.In addition to his relatives, his wife, daughter, etc., Meng Xiaodong, Dou Gongying, etc. were all accompanying him.The doctor also came, but was exhausted.Three days later, on May 19, he finally passed away. On June 9, the Liyuan community held a public sacrifice for Yu Shuyan at Yuantian Temple in Beiping.Mei Lanfang entrusted people to send an elegiac couplet: Established friendship with the third generation, the same rope is far away, the hall is brightly lit, and the yellow banner is full of praise and joy;

After a seven-year absence, I went to the book to report suddenly. The wind and smoke of the old palace, the new voice actually lost Li Guinian. Yu Clan's most proud disciple, Meng Xiaodong also sent an elegiac couplet: The Qing Dynasty inherited the world's industry, and Shangyuan was famous. Since the decline of art, who can hear and eat can transmit the rhyme of music; The weak quality is drifting away, Cheng's family is stubborn, but he regrets that the salary has not been passed on, and there is no way to repay the teacher's kindness in grief. Meng Xiaodong even went to Yuantian Temple to participate in the public sacrifice.She kowtowed sincerely in front of the master's portrait, burned incense devoutly in front of the incense burner, and then threw tinfoil into the cauldron with tears in her eyes.At this moment, Yao Shi came crying.What she threw into the cauldron was not tinfoil, but the "Yu faction secret book" handed down by Yumen's ancestors, including the ancestral playbook, the handwritten playbook revised by Yu Shuyan himself, the Gongchi music score book, the notes of listening to Tan opera, and There are photos, costumes, etc.When Yu Shuyan had just passed away, there were people asking around for the whereabouts of these extremely precious secret books.They intentionally bought them from Yao Shi and handed them over to Meng Xiaodong.In the eyes of most people, only Meng Xiaodong is the most qualified to inherit this batch of materials from other schools. Seeing these secret books being thrown into the fire by Yao Shi, Meng Xiaodong instinctively wanted to rush to get chestnuts from the fire, but was stopped by Yao Shi's nanny.She was in so much pain that she wanted to cry but had no tears.Then, the host shouted: "Get up!" According to prior arrangement, Yu Shuyan's two disciples, Meng Xiaodong and Li Shaochun, Yu Shuyan's former brother-in-law Chen Shaolin, and Yu Shuyan's nephew and son-in-law Cheng Yanqiu carried the spirit out of the temple.At this point, Meng Xiaodong ended her after-school experience. Throughout the Anti-Japanese War period, Meng Xiaodong focused on his studies and seldom appeared on stage.As for Mei Lanfang, since he went to Hong Kong in 1938, he has completely left the stage.For eight years, his life can be divided into two parts. In the first half, he lived in Hong Kong, and in the second half, he lived in seclusion in Shanghai. When he was in Hong Kong, he studied English, drew, played badminton, collected stamps, talked about anecdotes with friends, listened to the radio, and occasionally went out to watch movies.On the surface, although his life is simple, it is very fulfilling, and there are no surprises or dangers.However, for a person like him who regards the stage as the center of his entire life and even regards art as his life, not being able to perform or create is tantamount to wasting life.For this, he was in great pain.Most of the time, in the dead of night, he would close all the doors and windows tightly, draw the specially made thick curtains, brush off the ash on the huqin, and quietly play and sing to himself. During the Japanese siege of Hong Kong, Mei Lanfang's apartment near the Japanese Consulate in Hong Kong became a good place for many of his friends to take refuge, but it was not absolutely safe.When they woke up one morning, they found a cannonball piercing through the wall in the maid's room. Fortunately, Mei Lanfang arranged for everyone to live in a bulletproof room with three brick walls. to avoid suffering. Mei Lanfang not only has to ensure the safety of everyone, but also has to worry about the three meals for a dozen people.Under the situation of continuous artillery fire, he can no longer go down the mountain to buy food. He can only use the food stored at home and some canned food, but he can't predict how long Hong Kong will be besieged, and the limited food and canned food will always be used up one day.Therefore, at this time, Mei Lanfang concealed the open-mindedness and generosity of the artist, and was a little more "calculating" and "stingy". He carefully planned the distribution of everyone's rations, and stipulated that each person had only one bowl of rice for each meal. No more additions are allowed, only one can is opened for each meal, and he distributes one chopstick per person, and sometimes a small piece of salted fish is fried, and each person can only get a tiny bit. After 18 days of hard work, Hong Kong finally fell. The Japanese army completely occupied Hong Kong, and all food and water were cut off. At this time, the food and canned food in the family were almost exhausted, and the family of more than a dozen people faced the threat of starvation.After Mei Lanfang thought for a long time, she resolutely disguised her two sons and sent them down the mountain to smuggle grain. Mei Lanfang can endure the difficulties in life, and he can also face the ubiquitous dangers in life, but it is difficult for him to suppress the mental anguish, and he also knows that it is difficult to resist the constant harassment that is coming, so he uses Too many excuses for rejection have become unsustainable, and he wants to redesign a new reason, which is "growing a beard".Sakai, the cunning and cunning commander of the Japanese Garrison in Hong Kong, saw through Mei Lanfang's purpose of growing a beard at a glance, but facing such a world-class cultural celebrity, such an artist loved by the Japanese people, he was really helpless. It is also reasonable for Fang to refuse to take the stage on the grounds that "I am a female singer, I am old, my appearance is not good-looking, and my voice is broken". However, "growing a beard" is not once and for all.When he returned to Shanghai from Hong Kong, the Japanese and traitors came to the door again and again, or said, "You can shave off the mustache", or "It's okay not to go on stage when you are too old. Come out and say something, which is similar to being old and bearded." It doesn't matter."And so on, Mei Lanfang insisted on growing his beard on the one hand, but on the other hand he did not hesitate to injure himself.In order to refuse the invitation of the Japanese puppets, he asked his private doctor to give him a typhoid injection, which caused him to have a high fever for days and almost lost his life. When living in seclusion in Shanghai, Mei Lanfang's life became more and more difficult because he did not appear on stage for a long time.Although the family still has a little savings, his burden is also heavy. Not only does he have to support a large family, but he also needs to help some of the theater troupe's struggling staff.As a last resort, he relied on bank overdraft.Through a friend's relationship, Shanghai Xinhua Bank agreed to set up a credit overdraft account for him, but this "free food" behavior made Mei Lanfang quite uncomfortable.Once, when he had to write a check to buy rice, he shook his head and said, "What a joke! I don't have any savings in the bank, and the checks are written out one by one. What kind of trick is this? This kind of money is really used. Sad." Therefore, he tried not to write or write less checks, and began to sell or pawn the antiques in his home and all other things that could be pawned, including ancient ink, old fans, calligraphy and painting, porcelain and so on.One New Year's Eve, Fu Zhifang's mother, who lived with Mei Lanfang's family, searched all over for an ancient porcelain bowl that she would take out for use during the New Year. Ma'am, don't look for it, I've already exchanged it for rice!" The old lady couldn't help but smile bitterly. After learning about Mei Lanfang's financial difficulties, the owners of major theaters in Shanghai thought it was a great opportunity to invite him to "come out of the mountain", so they came to them one after another. Hundreds of gold bars will be delivered to your home immediately." The manager of the China Grand Theater persuaded in every possible way: "We are very concerned about your financial situation. The audience in Shanghai have been waiting for you for several years. Why don't you come out and perform a commercial show? You don’t need to worry about the troupe’s expenses, but for personal remuneration, please tell us, and we will definitely do it. After singing one episode, it will last for a year or so, why sell this place and sell that place to suffer for yourself?” No matter how you say it, Mei Lanfang remains unmoved.He thought of another way: selling paintings. In the spring of 1945, the art exhibition jointly organized by Mei Lanfang and Ye Yuhu at the Capital Hotel on Fuzhou Road in Shanghai officially opened.Mei Lanfang's works include Buddha statues, ladies, flowers, feathers, pine trees, plum blossoms, and some plum and bamboo works with Ye Yuhu, "Three Friends in the Cold Season" with Wu Hufan and Ye Yuhu, and some imitations, totaling more than 170 pieces.After the exhibition, most of them were sold.If the paintings that have been re-determined are included, it can be said that all the paintings have been sold.Among them, Qixiang's "Double Red Bean Picture" was copied, and someone reordered 5 pictures on the spot; "The Heavenly Girl Scattering Flowers" is also a hot item.This exhibition greatly improved his financial situation. After eight years of hard work, I finally hoped that Japan would surrender.To celebrate the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Beiping's radio station specially held a celebration program of a cappella for Chinese operas. Meng Xiaodong was invited to sing "Wujiapo" with Cheng Yanqiu, one of the four famous actors.Even though it was only singing a cappella on the radio, even though Meng Xiaodong only sang one line [Guide] "A Horse Leaving the Xiliang Realm" due to illness and exhaustion, but because of the long absence and the special mood after the victory, so, Fans are still enjoying it. Afterwards, the Peking Opera circle in Peking held a Peking Opera gala for Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, who had just arrived in Peiping, at Huairen Hall.According to the "Chinese Peking Opera History" records: "In December 1945, when Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Peiping, the authorities once called a group of famous Peking opera actors to perform a welcome play in Huairen Hall. Cheng Yanqiu, Meng Xiaodong, Li Shifang, Tan Fuying, Ma Lianliang and others perform on stage, which is the only one seen in Peking for many years. The repertoire includes "Empty City Strategy" by Tan Fuying; "Wujiapo" by Meng Xiaodong and Li Shifang; "Red Fu Biography" by Cheng Yanqiu; Along with Chiang Kai-shek, Song Meiling, other officials of the Kuomintang and hundreds of people from the 'Allied Forces' watched the performance together." The news of victory in the war of resistance against Japan is exciting.On that day, a roomful of people gathered in the Mei family in Shanghai, including relatives and even friends. When they met, they congratulated and hugged each other as if they were Chinese New Year.After chatting and laughing, they realized that the master was not in the living room. Just as they were wondering, they suddenly saw Mei Lanfang appearing at the stairs on the second floor.I saw him wearing a straight gray suit, a crisp white shirt, a crimson tie neatly tied, and a pair of shiny black leather shoes on his feet.Nobody could see his face because he blocked it with a folding fan.With his face half covered, he walked down the stairs slowly with the light steps of an old-fashioned young lady that did not match his age.Walking in front of everyone, he took down the folding fan suddenly, with a clean face.At first, everyone didn't know what to do.After a while, they discovered that the beard that had grown on his lips for more than 3 years was gone!what does this mean?Self-explanatory. From the day of victory, Mei Lanfang has rejuvenated his artistic life, and he must seize the time to get back on the stage as soon as possible and regain the loss of eight years.So, at the age of 51, his daily life is tense and fulfilling. He gets up early in the morning, practices in the yard, hangs his voice in the afternoon, and reads scripts in the evening. He is like a well-dressed soldier, waiting for the order to start at any time.Two months later, he officially returned. Strictly speaking, Mei Lanfang's two-day performance on the 10th and 11th cannot be regarded as a comeback performance, but only a preview.Because they are only obligatory, the repertoire is "Thorn Tiger".The venue of the performance is the Lyceum Theater in Shanghai.During the day, many Chinese and foreign journalists gathered in Mei’s house. They gathered around him and asked him about the performance that night, about the Anti-Japanese War, and even about the future.Surrounded by reporters, he hardly ever stopped talking.After asking the questions, the reporters were busy taking photos and newsreels for him, and he was dragged to the east and west, standing and sitting for a while, and he was busy for a whole day.In the evening, he ate something quickly and rushed to the theater. After all, it has been eight years since he left the stage, and Mei Lanfang, who has been "running" on the stage for forty years, is also a little strange to the stage at this time.When he was putting on makeup, he clearly felt that his hands were not flexible enough, and he didn't like the makeup when he looked left and right. He asked a few friends who had been with him all the time: "Do you think I look like it? I don’t have a score in my hand.” Everyone thought that although it was not impressive, it was indeed not up to the standards of the year.However, they couldn't tell him the truth, fearing that he would lose his confidence, so they said in unison that they were doing well. Mei Lanfang himself realized that his performance today was not what it used to be. After returning home, he criticized himself: "Today's performance is too unsightly. The voice, expression, movements and parts on the stage all look stiff. Of course it’s because I’ve been busy all day and didn’t sleep, but the most important thing is that I haven’t sung for eight years.” However, he didn’t get caught in self-blame and frown, he was still in high spirits, talking and laughing with everyone while having supper In the wind, I ate a lot and drank a lot.Although the play is not of a high standard, it has never failed. The key is that this performance marks his official return to the stage. After the celebration performance ended, all the theaters asked Mei Lanfang to resume performances as soon as possible, and the audience eagerly waited to re-watch the "Plum Opera" that had been separated from them for too long. Of course, Mei Lanfang also wanted to satisfy the audience's wishes.However, although the Anti-Japanese War had been won at that time, the north-south transportation had not yet resumed, and the troupe members were far away in Beijing and could not reach Shanghai for a while.Without a troupe, what would he do?When he was in trouble, someone suggested: Jiang Miaoxiang, Yu Zhenfei, several actors from the "Xianni Society" and the Kunqu opera scene are all in Shanghai. If you can't sing Beijing opera, why not sing Kunqu opera instead?As soon as Mei Lanfang heard that it was a good idea, she actively prepared to perform Kunqu Opera. At this time, his voice hadn't fully recovered yet, so he asked Yu Zhenfei to hang it for him every day.Soon, he performed Kunqu Opera at the Majestic Grand Theater. The repertoire included "Broken Bridge", "Odd Shuanghui", "Si Fan" with Yu Zhenfei, "Thorn Tiger" with Cheng Shaoyu, and "Si Fan" ". Before the performance, Mei Lanfang was still a little worried about whether the seats would be sold out. She never thought that as soon as the poster was put on the wall, countless audiences would flock to buy tickets.The tickets for the three days were snapped up in a short period of time, and finally the doors and windows of the Majestic Theater were smashed.In fact, what the audience wanted to see was Mei Lanfang, and it didn't matter what kind of play he acted in.Therefore, every performance, the entrance of the theater is crowded, and many people come here from other places.In those days, the name Mei Lanfang could be heard everywhere in the streets and alleys. People talked about Mei Lanfang, not only delighted that he was on stage again, but also praised his noble character with a beard and clear ambition. At that time" I admired it unceasingly. On the third day of singing, Wu Shaoshu, who was then the deputy mayor of Shanghai, came to inform everyone that "Chairman Jiang, Mrs. Jiang, and Mrs. Sun will come to the theater that night, and they will also meet and talk with Mr. Mei."That night, Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Meiling, and Soong Ching Ling arrived at the theater on time, and the five boxes above the theater were filled with plainclothes detective teams.After Mei Lanfang sang "Thorn Tiger", he changed into a suit and wiped his wife Fu Zhifang, sons and daughters Mei Baojiu and Mei Baoyue to meet Chiang Kai-shek and his wife in the upstairs lounge.Song Meiling said to Mei Lanfang: "You can insist on not acting for the enemy, let the whole world know that there is an actor in China who is not afraid of bayonets, and it has given the Chinese people aspirations." After performing Kunqu Opera for a period of time, Mei Lanfang was actively preparing to resume performing Peking Opera.In order to resume performing Peking Opera, he reorganized the class in April 1946, and cooperated with Wang Qinsheng for the first time to perform "Lotus Lantern", "Fenhe Bay", "Fishing and Killing Home", "Royal Stele Pavilion", "The Exploration of Silang" "Mother", "Wujiapo", "Da Dengdian", "Anti-Golden Soldiers", etc., performed at Nanjing Grand Theater in Shanghai. After that, they moved to the Queen's Theater on Tibet Road to continue their performances.During the performance, the entrance of the Queen's Theater was as busy as the Nanjing Grand Theater, and it was difficult to get tickets. Some hooligans became dissatisfied because they couldn't get tickets.Once "Fenhe Bay" was staged, Mei Lanfang was concentrating on acting on the stage, when suddenly there was a commotion in the audience. It turned out that someone dropped a small bomb from the second floor, but the small bomb did not explode.Mei Lanfang was very calm and did not panic at all.His attitude not only infected other actors, but also stabilized the emotions of the audience.Soon, the play continued and everything became calm. Soon, Mei Lanfang performed at the China Grand Theater. In order to prevent the entrance of the theater from being crowded every time there was a performance, the manager of the China Grand Theater came up with a way to make a sign with neon lights, which read "Guest "full" and hang it high so that people from far away can see it. Especially at night, these two big characters are particularly eye-catching under the reflection of neon lights. When people see these two characters, they don't have to crowd at the door .This method has been used since then, and it has become another pioneering work in the history of Mei Lanfang's performing arts. After Mei Lanfang resumed his performance, every show sold well. The audience loved him as much as they did 8 years ago, and they even respected him even more because of his beard and clear ambition. Just when Mei Lanfang regained her spirits and ran around in various theaters in Shanghai with great interest, Meng Xiaodong went south and came to Shanghai.However, she went to Shanghai this time not to be on stage, but to answer Du Yuesheng's call.Du Yuesheng and Yao Yulan also returned to Chongqing from Hong Kong after the outbreak of the Pacific War.Just after the end of the Anti-Japanese War, he returned to Shanghai alone and impatiently, while Yao Yulan remained in Chongqing.Therefore, after Meng Xiaodong arrived in Shanghai, he naturally lived in the Du mansion.Since then, their relationship has been made public. On the surface, Mei Lanfang and Meng Xiaodong have completely cut off contact with each other since they broke up, especially Meng Xiaodong, who has resentment in his heart, and is even less willing to have anything to do with Mei Lanfang.In fact, she still paid close attention to Mei Lanfang secretly.After Mei Lanfang came back in Shanghai, and after Meng Xiaodong went south to Shanghai, she was not indifferent to Mei Lanfang's every move.There are such legends in the outside world that it was precisely because Meng Xiaodong inadvertently contributed to the second confrontation between Mei Lanfang and Cheng Yanqiu in Shanghai in 1946. The legend goes like this: After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Cheng Yanqiu also came to Shanghai and lived in the home of Zhang Jiarui, the younger sister of the banker Zhang Jiaao.Zhang Jiarui is a typical fan of Cheng school drama. She and her husband Zhu Wenxiong live in a small western-style building between the famous "thirteen-story building" and "eighteen-story building" on Maoming Road. Residential. It was Du Yuesheng and Meng Xiaodong who lived in the "eighteen-story building", and their home was separated from Zhang Jiarui's home by a window. At that time, Cheng Yanqiu was preparing for the full resumption of singing.Meng Xiaodong heard that Mei Lanfang has organized a strong lineup and will perform grandly in the Chinese Grand Theater.Once, when she was chatting with Zhang Jiarui, she intentionally or unintentionally told about Mei Lanfang's situation.After Zhang Jiarui heard about it, she was extremely anxious, for Cheng Yanqiu.Because she is a fan of Cheng, she wholeheartedly hopes that Cheng Pai will surpass Mei Pai, and also hopes that Cheng Yanqiu's reputation will surpass Mei Lanfang.So, she hurriedly told Cheng Yanqiu what she heard from Meng Xiaodong, and asked him: "What are you going to do?" Cheng Yanqiu was at a loss, not to mention that he never had the idea of ​​finding a chance to fight against Mei Lanfang, even if he had this idea at this moment, it would be difficult for him to realize it.Because he has been away from the stage for many years, he has long since lost his own club.And because of his lonely personality, he seldom interacts with people in the Liyuan circle.For a while, where should he go to organize the troops?In such haste, how could he fight against Mei Lanfang? Zhang Jiarui seemed to be more anxious than Cheng Yanqiu. Seeing that the fire was imminent, Cheng Yanqiu was still in a hurry, even more anxious.She asked: "Could it be that you just look at the vigor and vitality on the other side, and you are silent here?" Cheng Yanqiu was asked anxiously, and also a little frustrated: "Then what else can I do? I haven't sung for so many years." Zhang Jiarui insisted: "Then do you still want to sing?" "Of course." Cheng Yanqiu's answer was straightforward. "Just sing if you want." Zhang Jiarui is a social activist after all, she made a decisive decision and said, "I'll take you to meet someone!" The person Zhang Jiarui took Cheng Yanqiu to meet was Du Yuesheng.She asked Du Yuesheng to help, and immediately organized a team for Cheng Yanqiu.Du Yuesheng had a deep friendship with the Zhang family, so naturally he did not dare to neglect Zhang Jiarui's request, and he readily agreed. From Cheng Yanqiu's heart, he was extremely reluctant to "beg" Du Yuesheng.He has always disdain dealing with hooligans, tycoons, merchants, and dignitaries.He had known Zhang Jiaao, a big banker, for a long time, but he never took advantage of this relationship and asked Zhang to be his financial backing.When he came out of Du Yuesheng's house, his expression was very lonely, and he didn't look happy at all.After walking for a while, he actually let out a long sigh and said to Zhang Jiarui: "I went to Liangshan today!" Zhang Jiarui and Cheng Yanqiu have been friends for many years, how can they not know his complicated mood at this time, so they comforted him: "If you want to eat this bowl of rice, you have to do this!" Du Yuesheng was still quite trustworthy, and quickly called Tan Fuying and Ye Shenglan by using the connections he could.It was in this situation that Cheng Yanqiu organized his team extremely quickly, and at the request of the "Da Lai Company" of the Tianchan Stage, he started on the Tianchan Stage.At this time, Mei Lanfang also appeared in the "Chinese Grand Theater" as scheduled. There are several facts in this legend that are incorrect: First, Cheng Yanqiu was not alone at the time, without a team member. He reorganized his troupe "Qiusheng Club" shortly after the end of the Anti-Japanese War, and when he went to perform in Shanghai, The show has resumed at the Chang'an Theater in Beiping; second, he went to Shanghai twice this year and indeed stayed at Zhang Jiarui's house, but he was not actively preparing to reappear in Shanghai.In the first half of the year, he and Mei Lanfang were invited by the Soong Ching Ling Children's Welfare Foundation to lead a troupe to perform respectively. In the second half of the year, they were invited by the China Grand Theater and the Tianchan Stage to perform business plays in Shanghai; According to Cheng Yanqiu's old partner Wu Fuqin, it was Wang Zhunchen, the stage manager of Tianchan, who invited Tan Fuying to cooperate with Cheng Yanqiu. However, we can't seem to say that Cheng and Mei's confrontation in Shanghai this time was completely accidental.Although Cheng Yanqiu didn't do it deliberately, he couldn't have arranged it in advance, because he didn't necessarily know that Tianchan Stage invited him to Shanghai at this time.However, deep in his heart, it is not without this idea.Because he has resentment and anger in his heart, this resentment is not directed at Mei Lanfang personally, but the power that supports Mei Lanfang. In the first half of the year, Cheng Yanqiu was invited by the Soong Ching Ling Children's Welfare Foundation to perform in Shanghai.It has been agreed before that the travel expenses when going there will be borne by the foundation, and the return travel expenses will be borne by the China Grand Theater where the performance will be performed.The two famous actors of Dan Xing both performed in the China Grand Theater, but Wu Kaixian, director of the Shanghai Social Bureau, didn't know whether it was because he looked down on Cheng Yanqiu or deliberately provoked the relationship between Mei and Cheng. When he insisted on asking Mei Lanfang to perform, the ticket price was two yuan; Cheng Yanqiu During the performance, the ticket price must be lower than that of Mei Lanfang, which is 1.8 yuan. This request annoyed Cheng Yanqiu.He is not concerned about the difference of 0.2 yuan, but dissatisfied with the differential treatment.In his view, all people are equal and cannot be artificially divided into grades.Moreover, ticket prices for performances are determined by the market and cannot be rigidly specified by so-called officials.If the market decides that Mei Lanfang's fare is 2 yuan, but Cheng Yanqiu's fare is only 1.8 yuan, he has nothing to say.The most important thing is that this performance is not a commercial performance, and the ticket price can be high or low.They were all invited by the foundation to perform, so they should be equal. Cheng Yanqiu's upright character determined that he had a strong resistance to this request, and he insisted on not singing unless the ticket price was two yuan.On the one hand, the Great China Theater did not want to offend Wu Kaixian, and on the other hand, it also did not want to annoy Cheng Yanqiu, so it proposed that Cheng Yanqiu go to Du Yuesheng, in fact, it was asking him to pay homage to Du Yuesheng, so that Du could come forward to settle the matter.Cheng Yanqiu said simply: "No!" After a long stalemate, Cheng Yanqiu finally won the same ticket price of 2 yuan as Mei Lanfang for himself, but the Chinese Theater refused to pay for his return travel expenses on this ground. .Cheng Yanqiu wrote to his wife without asking or begging for anyone.He returned to Peiping only after receiving the travel expenses wired by his wife. This incident left a knot in Cheng Yanqiu's heart. The 0.2 yuan ticket price difference actually means that he is lower than Mei Lanfang in the eyes of outsiders, which makes him very uncomfortable.So, with a sigh of relief in his heart, he was also waiting for a chance to prove himself. What is certain is that this time, Cheng Yanqiu is on the Tianchan stage, and Mei Lanfang is at the China Grand Theater.The behind-the-scenes boss of these two theaters is Wu Xingzai.As a businessman, he is of course very happy to see the situation where master and apprentice confront each other, because it will bring him great popularity and huge profits; for Cheng fans and Mei fans, they also hope that they Against Taiwan, because they have been competing with each other all the time, and they all want to use this opportunity to compete; the media has always been afraid that the world will not be chaotic, and when such a thing happens, they are even more excited and excited, and they are ready to play it up.Thus, a master-student confrontation, in the anticipation of everyone, and driven by Cheng Yanqiu's complex psychology, officially started the battle. Compared with the confrontation with Taiwan in 1936, there are significantly more people worried about Mei Lanfang this time.The reason is that, relatively speaking, Cheng Yanqiu's performance this time seems to be better than Mei Lanfang's. In addition to Tan Fuying and Ye Shenglan, Cheng Yanqiu's team also includes Yuan Shihai with a beautiful face; Sanxing, Liang Cishan, Ci Shaoquan, etc.; Laosheng Wang Shaolou, Zhang Chunyan; Xiaosheng Chu Jinpeng, etc.It is said that such a strong lineup can only be seen in church or compulsory dramas. Secondly, from the perspective of age, Mei Lanfang was already 50 at this time, while Cheng Yanqiu had just turned 40 and was in his prime, so his physical strength was naturally superior.However, Cheng Yanqiu at this time also has a fatal disadvantage. He has gained a lot of weight because he has been away from the stage for several years.In his memoir "Stage Review", Gu Zhengqiu, a Taiwanese actor in Tsing Yi, mentioned that when Mei and Cheng faced each other this time, he wrote: At that time, "Cheng was already very fat, and in terms of body, it can be said that it was not enough. Danjiao requirements." However, she added, "His sleeves are good, his leg skills, and the use of his figure completely cover up his clumsy appearance." In terms of performance repertoire, Mei Lanfang had only two new plays during the War of Resistance Against the Golden Army and Life and Death, while Cheng Yanqiu’s new plays included Tears in the Barren Mountain, Dream of a Girl in Spring, Mirror of Death from Shu, "Locked Sac", "Daughter's Heart".Obviously, Cheng Pai Opera has more advantages. Although Cheng Yanqiu made it clear that he wanted to fight against his master, in his heart, he still felt sorry for his master.He is very conflicted. On the one hand, in order to return to the stage, he has to take advantage of this opportunity. On the other hand, he is really unwilling to fight against the master.Besides, the situation seemed to be in his favour, so he felt even more sorry.After struggling for a long time, he decided to apologize to the master himself.On that day, he specially went to Mei's house and had a good communication with Mei Lanfang. Mei Lanfang is an extremely gentle person, he is generous and tolerant.He loves Cheng Yanqiu as a disciple.Even though Yanqiu came from behind and was ranked among the top four stars with him, almost on an equal footing with him, which made him feel a strong sense of crisis for a while, but he didn't hold any grudges against Yanqiu because of it.When it was widely rumored that Yan Qiu was disrespectful to him because he was fighting against him, he didn't take it seriously.In his view, blue comes out of blue and is better than blue, and it is a natural law that the waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead.Now, faced with Yanqiu's sincere apology, he comforted him and said, "Don't worry about acting, eliminate external interference and perform as much as possible." Hearing what the master said, Cheng Yanqiu's hanging heart finally let go.He had no worries at all, and devoted himself wholeheartedly to the upcoming duel. 虽然梅兰芳并不介意弟子的挑战，但他身边的人还是很为他担心的。正式对台后的每天早晨起床后，冯幼伟总是要打个电话给梅兰芳，报告天气情况，如天气晴朗，他就说：“今天好天气，一定能卖满堂。”如果是阴雨天，他就会给梅兰芳打气说：“下雨没关系，反正戏码硬。” 此次对台，程砚秋的戏码以新戏为主，老戏只有一出《玉堂春》，这也是他的拿手戏；梅兰芳则正好相反，以老戏为主，新戏只有一出《抗金兵》。从戏码来说，他俩各有所长，并不能分出高低。程砚秋所在的天蟾舞台，太大，能容纳4千观众，而梅兰芳所在的中国大戏院观众席只有天蟾的一半。因此，表面上看，程砚秋的戏，每每不能满座，而梅兰芳的戏，则常常爆满，但从售票数来算，他俩是差不多的。 一个月的对台下来，外界的评价是：不分上下，打成平局。但也有人说，平局只是表面上的，实际上，程砚秋作为梅兰芳的弟子，不延袭梅兰芳的老路，勇于创新，新戏不断，从这个角度上说，他其实是这场对台的胜者。 梅兰芳和弟子的对台戏打完了，孟小冬也要走了，回北平。她为什么要走？是因为姚玉兰从重庆回来了。她和姚玉兰是结拜姐妹，虽然同是杜月笙的女人，但是，姚玉兰尽管只是一个妾，好歹有名有份，而她孟小冬无名无份。既然如此，她如何和姚玉兰平起平坐？何况她知道，杜月笙肯定更偏爱她，这符合男人喜新厌旧的本性，相对而言，姚玉兰是旧人，她是新人。那样的话，姚玉兰会不吃醋，会不恨她？与其将来彼此撕破脸，还不如趁早退出。 杜月笙自然十分不舍，姚玉兰对他而言，是旧爱，孟小冬则是新欢，他怎么能守着旧爱舍弃新欢？不过，孟小冬去意已决，姚玉兰似乎看出端倪，也没有强留。杜月笙无奈，只好将孟小冬送走。临走，他送给孟小冬一万美元，并许诺他会另给一笔钱让她在北平重新买个好房子。 不到一年，孟小冬再一次南下上海，还是为了杜月笙。 1947年8月30日，是杜月笙60大寿。按惯例，他又要举办盛况空前的堂会作为庆寿。不过，因为战事正紧，他担心在这个时候过于奢华遭人嫉恨。想来想去，他将祝寿堂会改为“祝寿赈灾京剧义演”。此前，许多地区遭遇了水灾。相比1931年杜家祠堂建成后的那场豪华堂会，此次杜家祝寿堂会的规模要小一些，但也动用了千辆汽车，参加人数达数千，连政府高层，如宋子文、汤恩伯、吴国桢等都到场祝贺。蒋介石不但派了代表，还特地让儿子蒋纬国夫妇前往庆寿现场，当场拜寿。 有人认为在这个非常时期，将南北京剧名角儿集合在一起，实属不易，要求在原定5天的基础上增加5天，票价分为七等，从5万到50万不等，黑市价被炒到百万。当时的米价是30多万一石。 说是义演，杜月笙也声言一分不要，将义演所得悉数捐出。但是，还是有人早就看穿其中真假。杜月笙的祝寿赈灾，真的是为了赈灾吗？在这个物价一日涨过一日的非常时期，今天的祝寿赈灾所得，到明天，又值多少钱呢？这场赈灾义演又有多少实际意义呢？最终，还不都是为杜月笙忙活一场。事实上的确如此，祝寿义演结束后，收到义款20多亿元，都随收随存于银行。当杜月笙将这笔钱取出捐出去时，大米早就由30万一石涨到了50多万一石。于是，这20多亿义款缩水了近一半。 早在5月初，杜月笙就写信到北平盛邀孟小冬，恳请她一定要来参加庆寿。不仅如此，他还特别嘱咐姚玉兰也给孟小冬亲笔去信。他是担心孟小冬顾忌到姚玉兰，而找借口不来。姚玉兰没有理由拒绝，照办了。于是，孟小冬来了，入住位于华格臬路（今宁海西路）的杜公馆。 7月，杜月笙的几个门徒陆京士、徐采丞、顾嘉棠等组织成立了“庆祝杜月笙先生60寿辰委员会筹备处”，遍邀散布在全国各地的名伶。正在上海的梅兰芳，当然更不能错过。梅、孟又有了一次同台演出的机会，甚至有人翘首期盼两人能够再度合作《四郎探母》。他们以为，两人已经分手16年，早已事过境迁，应该能够不计前嫌忘却过去，而重新走到一起。可是，事与愿违。 杜月笙在和戏提调金廷荪商量演出安排时，故意将梅、孟分开，不但坚决不让他们合作，甚至连同台、见面的机会都“剥夺”了。有人猜测，这其实是孟小冬特意要求的。况且，此时的孟小冬已经是杜月笙的人了，杜月笙又怎么可能让他的女人和前夫见面呢？ 演出从9月3日开始，持续到9月12日，整整十天。 在这十天里，梅兰芳演了8次大轴，分别是9月3、5、10日和李少春、谭富英、马连良、袁世海、叶盛兰、周信芳等合作《龙凤呈祥》；9月4、6日和马连良、马富禄、袁世海等合作《打渔杀家》；9月9日和小翠花等合作《樊江关》；9月11、12日和李少春、姜妙香、叶盛长、谭富英、马连良等合作《四郎探母》。 在这十天里，孟小冬演了2次大轴，分别是9月7、8日和赵培鑫、裘盛戎、魏莲芳等合作《搜孤救孤》。 也就是说，梅兰芳演两头，分别演了四天，孟小冬只演了中间两天。尽管小报纷纷惴测二人将同台，将见面，甚至杜撰同台、见面的具体时间和地点，以及合作的戏目等，但他俩始终没有给他们看笑话的机会，甚至没有留下一丝一毫的“把柄”。有梅兰芳参加演出的那8天，孟小冬根本不去戏院，借口身体不适，而且当天也没有她的戏；有孟小冬参加演出的那2天，梅兰芳也没有去戏院。最后一天，杜月笙和全体演员合影，梅兰芳参加了，没有孟小冬。不要说杜月笙刻意将他俩分开，就连他们自己，都避免见面。虽然事过境迁，但留在他们心里的阴影，始终没有消散。 孟小冬初到上海时，确定的戏码是《失空斩》和《搜孤救孤》，一天演一出。当时，她的琴师仍是王瑞芝。由王瑞芝介绍，人称“鼓界三杰”之一的魏希云司鼓。戏码定好，又有了琴师和司鼓，她便开始排练了。在排练过程中，她发现她的身体已经无法承担《失空斩》这样的大戏了。不得已，她放弃了这出戏，重新确定只演《搜孤救孤》，连演两天。 这出戏取自于《史记•赵世家》和《列国演义》第57回，一直以来都是余叔岩的拿手戏。孟小冬选择这个时候唱这出戏，正如她自己所说，一为宣传余派艺术，二为怀念去世了的老师。 两天的演出，似乎不足以用盛况空前来形容。首先是一票难求，票价连翻了好几个跟头，就连马连良也无法买到票，只得央求戏院前台经理在过道里加张凳子，和别人挤坐在一起。演出开始，除了戏迷挤满戏院，参加祝寿演出的角儿们都齐齐地站在后台，侧耳聆听。余叔岩在台湾的挚友孙养农特地坐飞机赶到上海观看孟小冬的演出。据说，梅兰芳虽然没有在现场观看，但他也没有错过——他在家里通过电台收听实况转播。 演出结束后，余派名家刘叔诒评论道：“这戏真给冬皇唱绝了，不但唱腔白口，身段眼神，活脱赛如余老板，尤其是连扮相都酷肖余老板。咱们的祖师爷赐福给孟爷的，真是太厚了。” 然而，谁也没有料到，这两场《搜孤救孤》，竟是孟小冬最后的绝唱。从此，她完全谢绝了舞台。从她5、6岁开始跟着父亲跑码头，从她9岁正式登台，到她唱完这两场祝寿义演，除却她和梅兰芳结合的那四年，她在舞台上度过了近三十个春秋。可以说，她将青春献给了梅兰芳，更献给了舞台。 义演结束后第二天，孟小冬借口离家数月惦念老母而匆匆辞别杜月笙和姚玉兰。杜月笙还是舍不得，但也无奈，只得赠以名贵金银首饰以表心意。孟小冬只收下了一块刻有杜月笙名字的金表，笑言留作纪念，然后推辞了其他财物。显然，她已经做好了告别舞台的准备，因为她将演出《搜孤救孤》里程婴穿的一件褶子留了下来，也说是留作纪念，其他的戏衣，她全部送了人。 这年，她40岁。梅兰芳一直唱到66岁，而孟小冬只唱到40岁，只因为他们一个是男人一个是女人吗？似乎不完全是。很多人对此很惋惜。孟小冬也十分无奈。她退出，只因为她的身体吃不消。她曾对人这样说：“一戏之耗费精力太多，非体能所胜也。”