Chapter 23 Chapter Twenty Two

Zhou Ligong sat on the edge of the table, looking at the table absently.Whether happy or sad, Zhou Ligong would go to Huanglongyuan to calm himself down.Below the plateau is the Qinchuan Road, which can't be seen at a glance. The crops in the channel are flourishing, rising like a flood, and a part of Huanglongyuan is submerged.Such a good growth indicates a good harvest in summer, and the farmers' hard work for a year should be rewarded richly. But this scene made Zhou Ligong very uncomfortable.He has been busy for almost a year, where is his harvest?It’s really ashamed to say that, apart from running night schools to teach everyone to read and write, other projects in the rural reconstruction plan, such as health care, organizing cooperatives, changing customs, etc., all of these involve sharing money and things or changing old habits. , cannot be implemented at all.As for the matter of literacy at night school, his father has ruined it now, and he has lost completely.

Closing the night school was a big blow to Zhou Ligong.He was sad not only because of the failure of the evening school, but also because of his own incompetence.He can't help his father!A person who is determined to transform the old village can't even transform his own father, who else can you transform?Who else can believe your propaganda?If his father is blind, illiterate, ignorant, uneducated, unable to understand any reasoning, then that's fine.But his father is not. The old man is the most learned scholar in a hundred miles around, and also a fair man respected by the whole village. The county and township priests ask him to write sacrificial articles, and ask him to resolve any disputes in the village.For such a knowledgeable and reasonable person, but I can't convince him, what is this but incompetence?

If he can't convince his father, there may be two situations.One is that he didn’t fully explain the truth himself, which requires patience. He believes that as long as the beef is cooked until it rots, as long as he repeatedly grinds it with his father, there will always be a time when he grinds it down, just like last year when he abandoned the big cigarettes to plant cotton, his father finally got it. listened to him.What Zhou Ligong was most afraid of was another situation. He had explained everything, but he couldn't tell his father.Just like the matter of independent marriage, his father objected to it with a set of rhetoric, not only citing scriptures, but also showing local examples in front of him, so that he was at a loss for words, and he could only deal with it with great principles, and it seemed that he was not an opponent.Whenever this happens, Zhou Ligong can't help hesitating. Are my principles wrong, or are these principles too far away from the reality of the countryside?But this kind of hesitation is just a flash of thought, he cannot and will not allow himself to have such doubts.These principles are what he has pursued for many years, and with the support of the teacher's successful example in Xian County, Hebei, there is absolutely no problem.This is his spiritual pillar.If he wavered on this point, his spiritual world would collapse, and he would not have the confidence and strength to stay in the country at all!

If there is nothing wrong with the principle, then the one who is wrong can only be himself. In the final analysis, his ability is not good enough. Alas - Zhou Ligong sighed heavily. Don't worry, there is no obstacle you can't get past!Zhou Ligong suddenly heard someone talking behind him, he turned his head and saw that it was Yinwa.She squatted behind her, holding a pair of shoes in her hand.Yinwa said to him, lift your buttocks and put this mat on it, the tide is underground, and you will catch cold if you sit for a long time. Seeing Yinwa's bare feet, Zhou Ligong hurriedly said, put on your shoes, be careful not to puncture your feet.Yinwa smiled and said, my feet are iron feet, which have been worn hard for a long time. Not to mention grass thorns, even an awl can't penetrate them.

Zhou Ligong asked her when she came to the top of the plateau, Yinwa said, I have been up for a while, and I came to the plateau to cut pigweed. Zhou Ligong looked at the looped cage she carried, there was not a blade of grass in it except a sickle.I thought, after all, it is still my tail. It was like this when I was a child, and it is still like this now. It can always find opportunities to keep up with me.Yinwa said, I haven't had time to cut yet, and I saw you sitting on the edge of the cliff in a daze, and I was afraid that there was something you couldn't think about, so I was right behind you to keep you company.

Zhou Ligong was indeed in a daze, and he was so dazed that he didn't realize that someone was protecting him.Seeing Zhou Ligong's concentration, Yinwa didn't know what big things he was thinking about, and didn't dare to disturb him, but just foolishly held the shoes in her hands, waiting for Zhou Ligong to move her buttocks and wait for the opportunity to stuff them under his buttocks.Peasants in Guanzhong have this custom. When sitting on the ground, they often take off their shoes and put them under their buttocks, which can prevent moisture and cool.But Zhou Ligong sat too firmly, he was as motionless as a clay sculpture, Yinwa had to disturb him, if he sat for a long time, he might really get sick.

Don't sit any longer, let's cool down.Yinwa said. Zhou Ligong looked at Yinwa who was squatting barefoot on the ground, and was moved in his heart.He quickly stood up from the ground, but his legs were numb after being bent for too long, and he couldn't stand up all at once.Yinwa took off her shoes and came over to pull Zhou Ligong, pulling him up. Yinwa asked Zhou Ligong, second brother, what's the matter, sighing? Zhou Ligong told her about his father closing the night school, saying that the old stubborn locked the door of the ancestral hall and took the key away, so we have no place to run the night school.

Yinwa said, don't worry, let's find a way. What can be done?My dad has a very bad temper.Zhou Ligong said in frustration. Yinwa said, it is the uncle who has a stubborn temper and wants to save face, so you can't talk to him. Then you tell me to admit my mistake to him?Zhou Ligong said, we are absolutely right. We are right, but speaking softly does not mean admitting mistakes.Yinwa said, sometimes you have to speak soft words if you want to do things, not to mention that you are talking to your uncle, and you are not an outsider, so you don't lose face.Let's coax the uncle away first, and open the door of the ancestral hall, nothing else to say.

What else can I say?Zhou Ligong asked. Yinwa said, shall we continue to run night school? Zhou Ligong shook his head and said, my father is not stupid, can you coax him?If you run an evening school again, he will come to attend the lectures. As soon as you promote new ideas, he will shut you down again immediately! Then do you insist on spreading your new thought?The baby is puzzled.She only knows that it is fun to run a night school, a group of young people get together to have fun, and it is also good to learn a few words by the way, but she doesn't care what the night school should teach.

Zhou Ligong couldn't laugh or cry at the words of introducing the baby.First of all, she referred to publicity as rumors. Although this is a word difference, the meaning is completely reversed.Lian Chuan is a Guanzhong dialect, which means chatting. How can propaganda be Lian Chuan?The second is that she didn't understand the significance of his work. I'm afraid he just regarded him as the king of dolls. The night school was organized purely for fun.Yinwa is his most proud student, she knows him this way, let alone others.This made Zhou Ligong feel cold, and it confirmed his previous feeling: his hard work here is a waste of time!But even so, Zhou Ligong still refused to give up. He knew that it was very difficult to open up the wisdom of the people. China’s feudal society has existed for thousands of years, and the countryside is where the most foolish people are. When he left Beijing and returned to his hometown, his mentor Yan Yangchu warned him to do things. be patient.Compared with the experiences of his mentor and the others being beaten away by farmers several times in Hebei, he feels that his current situation is not too bad, at least the villagers can accommodate him.Maybe if he persisted for a while, the situation would change. If he gave up now, all his previous work would be for nothing!

But these things he did can't be explained clearly to Yinwa in one or two sentences, so he can only answer her simply, yes, the purpose of running the night school is to promote new ideas.He especially emphasized the pronunciation of the word propaganda. Although Yinwa didn't fully understand Zhou Ligong, she believed in a dead truth, that is: as long as her brother Ligong did it, it must be right, and she should support him unconditionally.She thought for a while and said, let's spread the word in a different way, so that the old man won't get hold of it. Zhou Ligong couldn't take it anymore, he corrected Yinwa and said that it was propaganda, not rumors.Tell me, what kind of propaganda can you change? Yinwa said, don't worry, the two of us think together. After thinking for a while, Yinwa still spoke first.She said, I have an idea, can you see it?Let's sing. Singing?Zhou Ligong felt baffled. Yes, singing.Yinwa said that singing operas is to explain the truth to people, and we farmers learn the truth from the opera.For example, this marriage is independent, there are chanting in Qin Opera, such as "Wudianpo". Yes indeed!Zhou Ligong felt that it made sense.He remembered that when he was a child, his father took him to the theater, watching "The Storm Pavilion" made him learn from Yue Fei to be a loyal minister, and watching "Three Niangs Teaching the Son" made him remember the kindness of his parents' upbringing.Later, when he grew up and left the village, he forgot the enlightenment effect of opera on the lower classes.He said to Yinwa, good girl, you have a good idea! Is it a good girl or a good idea?Yingwa asked deliberately. All good, all good!Zhou Ligong said with a smile, sweeping away the sadness just now. Not only is the idea good, but the timing is also good!Yinwa was praised by Zhou Ligong, and she said more proudly, seeing the Dragon Boat Festival, let's say that the rehearsal for the Dragon Boat Festival will use the ancestral hall as the venue, and the uncle will definitely agree. Is there really going to be an opera on the Dragon Boat Festival?Zhou Ligong asked, why have I only seen Shehuo before, but not singing? Yinwa said, the Dragon Boat Festival is a big festival, and all other villages sing operas. No one in our village used to sing, so we haven't sung. Zhou Ligong slapped his thigh and said, okay, let's do it like this.My father is the head of the clan, and this acting is for the benefit of the whole village, and it is also related to the face of the Zhou family village, so he has no reason to stop it. Uncle is also a movie fan, so he definitely supports it.Yinwa said. Zhou Ligong said, but if we want to sing, we can sing new operas. After all, old operas have feudal dross, and singing will harm people. What is the new play?The baby is puzzled. Zhou Ligong said, civilized drama! What is a civilized play?Yinwa was even more confused. Zhou Ligong said that a civilized drama is just a drama, you only talk but don't sing, and you will know it when you rehearse. If you don't sing, is it still called a play?Yinwa muttered. As soon as Zhou Ligong said this to his father, Zhou Kewen really agreed. Not only did he agree, but he also reminded him that he must rehearse well, and when the time comes, he will be pulled out to sing against other villages, so as to grow the prestige of our Zhou family village. With the venue, Zhou Ligong immediately began to prepare the repertoire.He had joined the drama club in college, he thought about the plays he had participated in, and finally chose Tian Han's "The Night of the Tiger".This play is about things in the countryside and criticizes arranged marriages, so it fits the reality of the Zhou family village.However, the name of this play needs to be changed, it is too literary and too awkward for uneducated people to understand. It is better to call it "Xianguling" because the story in the play takes place in Xianguling. As soon as I heard that there was going to be a rehearsal in the village, all the big guys cheered and rushed to the ancestral hall. This was a lively event.The country people are too lonely, there is nothing to do all year round, and at night there is nothing else to do except blowing the lamp to sleep.Married people are better off, at least they have the fun of being under the covers, while single people can only hold back until they get dizzy, drowsy, and fall asleep.So many people got into the ancestral hall, it was too crowded to turn around.Zhou Ligong singled out the students from the night school, and the rest drove out.Everyone quit, those inside did not go out, and those outside crowded in. Old people and children did not dare to squeeze into the crowd. They stood aside anxiously, and simply knocked on the door and windows vigorously, clamoring for a show.Zhou Ligong was both happy and annoyed when he saw the scene. He was happy because there were so many people who liked to watch the show, but he was not worried that the play would not educate people. What was annoyed was that the play hadn't been rehearsed yet, and these people were just making trouble. Even if these people mess up Zhou Ligong, there is nothing he can do.He can't lose his temper, he's afraid that if he offends everyone, they won't watch his play anymore, so he can only patiently explain to everyone, saying that it's just a rehearsal for the show now, no pretense, no guy, it's boring to watch, and he will act right away after the rehearsal Everyone look.After listening to Zhou Ligong's persuasion, some people went home, but some people stayed at the door and said that they had nothing to do at night anyway, and watching the rehearsal was a relief.Finally Zhou Kewen came, he yelled a few times, and those people reluctantly went home. Everyone left but Zhou Kewen didn't. He thought he was an expert in opera and wanted to guide these young children.He didn't dare to rehearse if he didn't go to Zhou Ligong, he was afraid that his father would find out that this play was to promote the independence of marriage, wouldn't he be showing his feet! Still attracts the baby to be clever.She struck up a conversation with Zhou Kewen first, saying ouch, uncle is here, you old man is a famous actor, we were so frightened that we didn't know what to do when you came, are we all melon eggs in operas?The words of attracting the baby are obviously flattering the old man, but secretly it is an order to expel the old man. Zhou Kewen is a smart person, he can understand the meaning of Yinwa's words, but he is willing to accept such an order to expel the guest.He listened to what the baby said, and he really regarded himself as a role player.Back when Jiangzhang Town organized a self-music troupe of Qin Opera to participate in the Xifu Opera Contest, he was the number one face, and everyone in a radius of tens of miles told him to break his head.If it wasn't for his father's distaste for singing opera and making troubles with him, he really wanted to let go of his airs as a scholar and go to the world with the opera troupe.He knew that with his status as an old famous actor, these plush dolls who had never sung before didn't dare to open their mouths in front of him, it would really scare them.In order to let the dolls relax, he'd better go home. But people who love to sing are just like people who love to drink. When it comes to the scene, they feel itchy. .Since Zhou Kewen came, he wanted to sing a few times, firstly to satisfy his hunger, and secondly to set an example for these young people.As soon as this idea came up, Zhou Kewen put up a posture, but as soon as he put up the posture, Zhou Kewen discovered the problem.He felt strange and asked, what about civil and military scenes?The gongs and drums don't have anything?There is no banhu and erhu? Yinwa smiled and said, Uncle, we are acting in a drama. What?Zhou Kewen felt strange, what is a drama? At this time it was Zhou Ligong's turn to speak, and he explained to his father what drama was. Zhou Kewen said, can it be called a play without singing a word? Zhou Ligong said that this is a new play, and it is being performed in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi'an, and it is very fashionable. But here we are in the country, my baby.Zhou Kewen said dissatisfied. Zhou Ligong said, aren't we going to play against Waicun?If we want to win against them, we must have new tricks. They sing Qin opera and we also sing Qin opera. It is not easy to tell the difference.Others sing operas and we perform dramas. People have never seen this kind of new drama. Even if they watch the excitement, they can attract the audience. Zhou Kewen felt that this made some sense, although he was reluctant, but for the honor of the Zhou family village, he agreed to give it a try.Since it was acting in a drama, he had no way to show his ability, so he had to leave.But before leaving, Zhou Kewen was still not reconciled, and said that if he changed to Qin opera again, he must remember to save a role for me! Yinwa said with a smile, that's for sure, without my uncle, this show would not be able to last.As she spoke, she closed the gate of the ancestral hall behind Zhou Kewen. After seeing off his father, Zhou Ligong breathed a sigh of relief, now he can rehearse the play with confidence.He first told everyone about the play, which is the first step in rehearsal. Zhou Ligong briefly introduced the story in the play, saying that it was about a tragedy of love.Young farmer Huang Dasha's parents died early, and his family was in decline. He lived in his uncle's house since he was a child. His uncle Wei Fusheng was a hunter with a wealthy family.Huang Dasha and his cousin Liangu were childhood sweethearts and had a love affair, but Wei Fusheng disliked the poor and loved the rich, so he forbade his daughter to fall in love with Huang Dasha, kicked him out of the house, and betrothed his daughter to the landlord Chen's family.Huang Dasha was very sad when he heard the news that Aunt Lian was going to get married.Because I missed Lian Gu, I couldn't see her during the day, so at night I went to the mountains near Wei's house to look at the lights in Lian Gu's room.Unexpectedly, that night Wei Fusheng set up a tiger hunting gun on the mountain to hunt tigers as a dowry for his daughter. Huang Dasha mistakenly picked up the gun, was seriously injured, and was carried to Wei's house.Seeing this, Lian Gu was very sad and asked to take care of her cousin that night, but her father firmly disagreed, saying that Lian Gu was already a member of the Chen family, and doing so violated etiquette.The conflict between Lian Gu and her father intensified. Huang Dasha saw that his marriage with Lian Gu was hopeless, and finally committed suicide with a hunting knife. After listening to Zhou Ligong's introduction, everyone sighed and sighed, Yinwa's eyes were wet, and she almost shed tears.I just introduced the plot, and everyone was so shocked. Needless to say, the effect of this play will be performed in the future.Zhou Ligong really thanked Yingwa for giving him this idea.He had underestimated this girl before, she was a little dazed and heartless on the surface, but in fact she was quite a city. Zhou Ligong asked everyone to declare their roles, saying that this drama is much easier to perform than Qin Opera, as long as they can speak, they can perform, unlike singing, not only must they be able to speak, but also have a good voice, drama is not so particular. With Zhou Ligong's encouragement, the applicants were really enthusiastic.Heichou said that he played the Orion Wei Fusheng. Is this Aunt Lian's father?As soon as he finished speaking, Mao Wa's daughter-in-law signed up and said, I will play Aunt Lian's mother-in-law, and Heichou calls me mother.Everyone roared with laughter, even Zhou Ligong laughed.Heichou touched the woman's chest, and said, "Okay, Mom, let the baby have a mouthful of milk."Everyone laughed again. Zhou Ligong stopped these frolics and said that he would continue to sign up, and there were still no roles to be played.After that, everyone signed up one after another, and even the Wei family's long-term workers who had almost no lines were confirmed, but only the two main characters in the play, Lian Gu and Huang Dasha, were not accepted. This is strange. Zhou Ligong asked, Gu Lian, who will play Gu Lian?This is the number one character in the play.According to his experience, the number one role is usually vying for the role, just like the drama club in their school, when they rehearsed "The Night of the Tiger", several actresses competed for the role of Lian Gu. Feeling hurt, Zhao Danna finally snatched it because her father was willing to provide a full set of costumes for the play.It was in this play that Zhou Ligong met Zhao Danna from the Department of Foreign Languages.Similarly, he won the role of Huang Dasha after several rounds of competition. Although Zhou Ligong glanced at this and that, the female students below did not respond.What are you afraid of?Zhou Ligong encouraged and said that it doesn't matter if the performance is not good, we are not rehearsing.In fact, these women are not afraid of acting badly, they are afraid of being scolded.Through the introduction just now, they knew who this Aunt Lian was. If she didn't listen to her parents and found a man by herself, she would be scolded as disobedient and disrespectful!Whoever plays this is looking for scolding. Seeing that no one else was outstanding, Zhou Ligong finally set his sights on Yinwa.He felt that Yingwa was a little abnormal today, and it stands to reason that she should have stood up long ago.In fact, Yingwa wanted to stand up, but she kept holding back.She doesn't have the worries of those women, so she's not afraid of others chewing her tongue.She has another worry, she has to see which man plays Huang Dasha, and only when that man is confirmed can she decide for herself, so she never signed up.Now that Zhou Ligong covered her with his eyes, she had nowhere to hide. Yinwa said, I will act. Everyone applauded in unison and applauded Yinwa.In fact, they didn't think that Yingwa must be good at acting, but they felt that they had finally overcome a difficult problem, and finally someone played the scolded role. But Yinwa added another sentence, she said, I have one condition, that Huang Dasha must be the actor himself. The play head is the shopkeeper of the theater troupe, of course it refers to Zhou Ligong here.Everyone applauded Zhou Ligong again, this time Zhou Ligong was overwhelmed, he had no way to shirk it, so he had to say, okay! It seems that this result was forced, but in fact Zhou Ligong felt that this combination was the most appropriate.He has played Huang Dasha before, and he is familiar with the road. Lian Gu's character is bold and pungent, which only Yingwa can do. After the assignment of roles, Zhou Ligong was very satisfied. He announced that tomorrow night we will formally rehearse!