Chapter 15 fifteen

The smog season in Chongqing is coming again, and people are rebuilding their homes with the sound of clanging and hammering everywhere.The work was done quickly, and in just a few months the war wounds were barely visible.At least, on the main street, the signs of destruction no longer exist.There are only secluded places, and there are black ruins caused by bombs, and the situation is bleak.The face of the city has changed.The houses were changed from three floors to two floors, and they were all framed with strips and slats, which made the city look more open, and the whole city looked like a vast shanty town.

Baoqing is busy helping the landlord of the bookstore to renovate the house.He recruited workers, carried the materials himself, and repaired the roof with the hands he had finally recruited.The library is finally usable again.It's not decent, but it's a bookstore after all, and it will open again soon. On the night of the gong opening, the Anti-Japanese War drum was performed.Xiulian sang her part first, while Baoqing sat on the side of the stage and watched. *Looking at Kiss Flutter* I find it very interesting.This time, he noticed that she had learned a new skill.Her singing is still the same, but there are subtle changes.She understood the libretto, and there was fire and tears in her voice, and every word was clear and pleasing to the ear.He froze for a moment, and then suddenly realized.Of course, this is because she read the book.For the first time in her life, the girl understood what she was singing about.Meng Liang told her the Gu Ci word by word, explaining each sentence clearly.He compiled the stories she wanted to rap into a set of comic strips rich in literature and pictures, and asked her to learn from them, and finally created a miracle.She sang with her whole body and mind.

The audience also felt the change.They appreciate the new drum and are also happy for the girl's progress.As soon as she finished singing, there was thunderous applause.Xiulian had never been so sensational.She ran backstage, dancing with her braids, and almost bumped into Bao Qing. "Dad," she cried, "I really don't know what's going on. When I went on stage, I didn't seem to remember a word, but suddenly, the drum lyrics came out of my heart again, and I sang in an orderly manner." , not a single word is wrong." Her young face flushed, "Why didn't Mr. Meng come? I wish he could come and listen."

Baoqing was also surprised.Meng Liang never showed up.When Xiulian chattered, he was already thinking about it.She told him that things would be much easier if she knew what she was singing, and what Mr. Meng taught her really worked. Qin Zhu came over.Her face was tense, her brow furrowed.She originally planned to congratulate Xiulian, but changed her mind and just stood aside, listening to what they had to say.She has never been jealous of Xiulian, thinking that she is not her opponent at all.This time, she was worried.It's so fresh, just for a new word, it's worth applauding such a hairy kid!She has to do whatever it takes to outsmart her.If Xiulian got ahead, she would pull over the richest men who came to support her.

She bit her thick lower lip and stayed there for a while.Then shook his head, turned and left. When it was her turn, she sang a little yellow tune.But the patriotic enthusiasm of the audience was high, and no matter how much she flirted, the dirty ditty still couldn't be enjoyed.For Qinzhu, this was a failure, the audience was so indifferent to her for the first time.With a drooping face, she walked into Xiulian's room, fell down on the couch, and asked in a hoarse voice, "How do you do, learned lady! Where did you get your new drum lyrics? Who taught it? Is it his?" ... Otherwise, why would you sing so emotionally?"

Xiulian turned around quickly, her face flushed red.Before she could speak, Dafeng rushed in. "Qin Zhu, what do you mean by that?" Qin Zhu grinned nonchalantly. "What did I say? I don't like to hear it. Plug your ears." Dafeng was so angry that he wanted to cry. "If you say this again, I'll tell Mom." She said angrily, and stood up.Seeing this situation, Qin Zhu walked out, turned around and said a dirty word before leaving. Xiulian looked at Dafeng helplessly. "Why do you like to swear? You see, Mom likes to say that too." Dafeng shook his head. "Whatever," she said honestly, "that's what it is!"

Xiulian was ashamed and annoyed, and felt hot all over.She looked in the mirror and said a few dirty words to herself.so what?Just ask for a bargain?Why do some people swear so much?Mr. Meng would not say such things, and neither should she.She adores Mr. Meng.He can untie the knot in her heart, and with him, she never feels inferior. Baoqing also sang new words.The audience was very supportive, but some people later said that they came to the theater to escape the reality of war, and it was better to listen to some old sayings.Baoqing only smiled and said, "Sometimes, one has to try to do something new." Xiulian told her father what Qinzhu had said.Baoqing smiled, and then said: "She is lazy, unwilling to learn new things, and jealous." Xiulian asked her father why Qinzhu was like her mother when she spoke dirty words.Baoqing was speechless.

Baoqing went upstairs and returned to his room, thinking that today is a good day.Xiulian has now become a playable role.If the Tang family comes to make trouble again, tell them to take that bitch away.What a joy! Business has been booming for about a month.While the flowers were in bloom, Baoqing and Xiulian also performed voluntarily for the anti-Japanese groups, raising donations for the wounded soldiers in front.Newspapers quickly published the news of the charity performance.Their names are in the newspapers every day.Bao Qing felt that he had really become famous, became a respected figure, and could be on an equal footing with actors in new dramas.

One night, he took Xiulian down to the restaurant, and told her how he became popular recently.He specifically mentioned, "Last year at this time, you were nothing. Now you have become a famous actor, much higher than Qin Zhu, you should be happy." She didn't answer right away. "How?" he asked again, "What do you think?" She forced a smile. "Do you think that if I continue to learn new drum lyrics, I can be respected like those actors?" She was eager to improve her social status, and she no longer knelt down in front of Mrs. Sell ​​it to someone else to be a concubine.

"Of course," Baoqing said, "the more knowledgeable you are, the more people will respect you." After finishing speaking, he felt that he shouldn't have said that.He was very worried, lest reading and writing would destroy her who was between adult and child. They said nothing more.When they got home, Xiulian went to bed without saying a word, which made Baoqing very unhappy.These days, she has always been taciturn and preoccupied. Early the next morning, Fourth Master Tang came, still so spooky.When Baoqing saw his appearance, he knew something was wrong. "Baoqing," Fourth Master Tang said, "I'm here to ask you for a long vacation on behalf of my daughter." Baoqing laughed. "Is there another high school job?"

Tang Siye was beaming with joy, dancing with hands and feet. "Yeah, I've got my own crew. Got some girls who can sing, and I'm thinking of hiring them." Baoqing was so happy that he wanted to jump up.Recently, many singers have come from Shanghai and Nanjing.Every day, one or two people come to grind him, wanting to take his class.He doesn't like it.Because most of them are prostitutes, even if they sing as beautifully as fairies, he is not willing to ask such people to come on stage with him.Let fourth master Tang ask them to go, and let Qin Zhu roll too. "Congratulations," he said, "Gong Xi Fa Cai." Fourth Master Tang's tone was quite magnanimous. "Good Baoqing," he said, "when we first arrived in Chongqing, I will never forget what you did for us. You knew me, and I am the most lenient. You are grateful and owe others I have to repay the love. I told my wife that no matter what you do, the first thing to do is to our good friend Boss Fang and his family. So, I plan to do this.” He paused, the little rabbit’s teeth bared When he came out, a pair of small black eyes stared at Baoqing. "We invite you and Xiulian to perform on the same stage with us. How about it? Of course, you are the number one male actor, and Xiulian—well, she has a softer voice, so she should be the fourth." Such audacity!Baoqing just wanted to put on a smiling face, but he couldn't. "That won't work," he said hastily, "I have my team, and you have yours." Fourth Master Tang raised his eyebrows. "But you have to understand, good brother, from now on, Xiao Liu will not be able to play strings for you. My own team needs him." Baoqing really wanted to beat Fourth Master Tang, slap him, kick him.old turtle!Scoundrel! "Fourth Master," although his hands were itchy and he wanted to beat him up immediately, he still held his temper and said firmly, "You are wasting your time. Our stuff is different from yours. Besides, It's not too hard to find someone to play the strings." Fourth Master Tang drooped his eyelids, blinked slowly, and then slipped away. Then, the fourth grandma walked in waddlingly, and Baoqing knew that there was going to be another aggressive fight.With a flattering smile all over her face, she giggled and greeted everyone, and walked into Xiulian's room.In her hand she held a handful of wilted flowers, picked up in a dustbin.She handed the flowers to Xiulian, and started nagging, "Good Xiulian, I came here in a hurry, please help me. You must help me with this, you are a very kind girl." Baoqing is not weak either.He greeted the fourth grandma, congratulated her warmly, and kept clasping his hands, as if he was holding a celebrity. "Fourth sister-in-law, congratulations! I will definitely send you a wedding curtain with high-quality silk. Today is really a good day for the big guys." Grandma Fourth burst into laughter suddenly, as if a big firecracker was ringing in her stomach. "I'm so happy that you can do this. The good things are yet to come! Do you want it? Qin Zhu and Xiao Liu are going to have a wedding. Of course, it's time. This tied him up, didn't we? Artists, this is the most important thing." She giggled like a hen, shaking her fat face at Baoqing.As for Baoqing, he looked like a man who had lost his fortune and suddenly picked up another dollar. "Great," he forced out a rigid smile, "Double happiness! When the time comes, our whole family will definitely go to congratulate you." After the old hag left, Baoqing's affairs were not over yet.There is another one at Second Grandma's place.Second Mistress has her own opinion on how to run the team.She scolded Baoqing, now they are done.It's all his fault.He shouldn't have learned those new drum words at all.Besides, why didn't he hire all the singing girls so that the Tang family couldn't get them?What a lack of thought! Baoqing went out angrily, looking for Xiao Liu.When Bao Qing congratulated him, Xiao Liu's face was as red as a boiled prawn. "I'm so sorry, brother," he muttered ruefully, "I'm so sorry." "What's your apology?" Baoqing asked sweetly, "We are brothers who have worshiped heaven and earth, and we will work together for a lifetime. Your marriage to Qinzhu will not hinder our art work." Xiao Liu looked embarrassed. "But I promise the Tang family that after the wedding, I won't play the strings for you anymore. That's what it says in the marriage letter, brother." Baoqing really wanted to spit in his face, but he still forced a smile, "Okay Come on, little brother. I don't blame you, don't feel bad about it." Bao Qingfei also returned to Nanquan Hot Spring as if there were a group of ghosts chasing after him.He found the wimp. "Come on, brother," said the wimp, "I got two new paragraphs. It was written by Mr. Meng. Come and listen!" "Don't worry about those new words," Bao Qing said, "we're going to finish this time." He told the wimp what happened, and when he was done, he asked, "What should we do, brother? You have to help us Do it with the Tang family." "It's still a thing," replied the wimp.He could see that he might have to work in the future.He suddenly felt cold. "What," Bao Qing said angrily, "how often have I treated them badly? Even Xiao Liu, for being a bitch, doesn't care about us. This little bitch! Let him be a bastard for the rest of his life Go." Seeing the wimp trying to pretend nothing happened, he said sternly, "I've been supporting you for so many years, you must give me a good word. Don't just stand there and say nothing!" The wimp sighed.Tears rolled in his eyes.He shook his head and said, "Don't worry, Baoqing, I'll just follow you. Am I not your brother? If I play for you, can I still be better than that little bastard? But you have to give me a special card." The sign says: Mr. Fang Baosen, special luthier. I don’t want to be a luthier to earn money.” Baoqing agreed, and burst into tears with excitement.He loves his big brother and knows that the wimp did make sacrifices for him. "Brother," he said with a choked voice, "you are really my own brother. People call you a wimp, and you are really wronged. Whenever I am in trouble, I owe it to you to save me. You and I are the ones who work together the most." The wimp told him that Mr. Meng wanted him to follow him into the city.He immediately took out the money and asked to buy a ticket.Mr. Meng is his lucky star, isn't he?On the way back, Baoqing sat in the bus, calculating his gains and losses: Qinzhu, the turtle, Xiaoliu, who got away with a secret door;In exchange, the elder brother came to be the luthier, and Xiulian became a famous actress. Of course, there was face.Now he also has face.He sang happily, making up lyrics while singing, "Brother plays, brother sings, get up, little Xiulian, get up, get up, get up." The other passengers looked at him curiously and said nothing.They thought, these "Xiajiang people" are really special! Xiulian was overjoyed when she heard the news.The next hurdle is how to tell Baoqing to his wife.He intends to imitate Meng Liang's move.He sent Dafeng to buy wine, make dumplings and bring noodles with fried sauce. The next night, someone came to find Baoqing.It was Xiao Liu who took the lead, and bumped into it with a stunned head. He stood aside, trembling, and didn't speak.Tang Siye followed behind, dejected, like a bereaved dog.Neither of them spoke. "What's the matter?" Bao Qing asked. Fourth Master Tang almost shouted. "Come on, you must help. Only you can help." Baoqing raised his eyebrows. "What happened? I don't understand at all. How can I help?" After thinking for a while, he quickly added, "I don't have any money." With a sharp voice, Xiao Liu told the whole story. "Qinzhu was taken away by someone." He twisted his hands back and forth, beads of sweat dripping from his pale face. "Arrested," Bao Qing asked casually, "Why?" The two looked at each other, neither could speak.In the end, Fourth Master Tang said sadly: "This child is too careless. She is in a hotel, and some friends get together to smoke big cigarettes. Of course she doesn't smoke, but someone else does. She is really too careless .” Bao Qing wished he could laugh out loud, or spit in their faces.The turtle!I can't go to the street to pimp anymore, but ask him for help! ...After thinking about it, he restrained himself again.Don't take pleasure in others' misfortunes and take advantage of others' dangers.Don't fall in with them, but don't be too harsh on them either. "What do you want me to do?" "Please tell your high-ranking friends to let her out. We will start tomorrow night. The top card is gone, but what can I do? If you can't get her out, you and Xiulian will have to come and let her go." We hold the door." "I can't do this." Bao Qing replied resolutely, "I don't have time to spare. If there is a way, I can help you find a way." Fourth Master Tang continued to beg: "You and Xiulian must come and support us. Make sure she won't get mixed up with other girls. Please come and visit me." Bao Qing nodded.I don't understand why I don't have the courage to say that if I want to go, Xiulian must be the top card.No matter how you say it, this top card must be taken.He finds it funny.On the opening night of the Tang family class, Xiulian took the lead!If he was asked to write a poster, he would do it. Xiulian was so happy that she didn't know what to do.This is her first time on the top card. After the show ended the next day, she tightly held on to the share given to her by Fourth Master Tang, and decided to hand over the money to her mother to please her.She is now the top card.After earning money, give the money to my mother to see if she is still so indifferent.With the money in her hand, she ran upstairs quickly, calling, "Mom, here you are. I'll buy you wine with the money I earned." Second Grandma laughed.As usual, she never praised Xiulian.But it's always a pleasure to have money to buy wine and drink. "Come," she said, "I'll let you taste my wine." She dipped her chopsticks into the wine glass, and dropped a drop of wine on Xiulian's tongue.Xiulian happily returned to her room singing.She loosened her braids and tied her hair in a bun behind her head like a grown woman, looking proudly in the mirror, feeling that she had grown up.isn't it?Even my mother was happy.She undressed and looked in the mirror.When Dafeng entered the room, she was sitting on the edge of the bed.Dafeng saw her bun and smiled grinningly. "Crazy, what are you doing?" she asked.