pick up jade

Chapter 13

The end of the year was getting closer, and Qin Meixiang finally couldn't lie down at home anymore.At the end of the year, there will be a box-sealing play, and at the beginning of the new year, there will be a stage play.Especially the opening play on the first day of the Lunar New Year, unless you leave this line of work, even an old and frail actor who seldom appears on stage will not miss this play.Artists deeply believe that this is the fate of the year, even if they go up the mountain of swords and down into the sea of ​​fire, they have to be on stage on this day.

He went to Wufu class.Leader Cao was leading the rehearsal for a new play, and was surprised when he saw Qin Meixiang coming.Several senior colleagues came to ask him about his health, and they were very concerned.He has always acted in the Wufu class, and has a good relationship with everyone; and because he is the proud disciple of Cao Xiaoxiang and Yang Qinghan, he often helps teach the younger juniors in the class.When he came this day, the chattering Xiaodans suddenly fell silent.The younger brother Cao Huixiang in the middle had a strange look of shock and sadness on his face.

Qin Meixiang felt a little strange, and was about to talk to him, but saw the child lowered his head and walked away silently.At this moment, Leader Cao coughed lightly: "It's cold outside, let's go inside to warm up."

As soon as he entered, Cao Qingfu closed the door.Qin Meixiang hesitated and said, "The class leader..."

Cao Qingfu looked at the fox fur cloak on his body, and sighed lightly: "Mei Xiang, I know why you are here. But... there is something, I'm afraid I won't let you down."

Qin Meixiang shook her head: "The class leader has been kind to me, why don't you say sorry." He said earnestly: "If you have any difficulties, you might as well speak up. As long as Meixiang can do her best, she will never be stingy. "

When Cao Qingfu saw what he said, the expression on his face was even more ashamed.He said with difficulty: "...for next year's drama, I'm afraid I can only wrong you to play some supporting roles."

Qin Meixiang knew that she missed the show because of illness, which caught Cao's class off guard and lost the pillar.There are many theater troupes in the city, and the famous troupes compete fiercely with each other.For the sake of the livelihood of the class, the class leader who chooses the class, even if he has a good reputation, does not dare to slack off in the slightest.This was his fault, and he could only find ways to make up for it in the future.But since Cao Qingfu mentioned that he was a supporting role, he presumably got rid of him from the beginning, and didn't even hang up the third card.

He pondered for a while, and understood everything: "Junior Brother Hui Xiang has graduated from the department, right?"

Cao Qingfu nodded: "It was not long after you got sick. Firstly, he was old, and secondly... there was really a lack of roles in the class at that time. Although Qinghan and Xiaoxiang were well-known, but Qinghan was already in his fifties. His voice is already flawed. Although Xiaoxiang is only in his early forties, he has aged very much these years. When he comes on stage, people call him Fat Xiaoxiang... Once the singer gets old, alas... no matter how popular he is, They are two old guys after all."

Cao Huixiang is the son of Cao Xiaoxiang and the grandnephew of Cao Qingfu.In the Liyuan family, not every descendant can afford the job of the family.Cao Qingfu's own children and grandchildren can't do it. Fortunately, one of his nephews is Cao Xiaoxiang.When it came to Huixiang's generation, they also repeated the previous steps.The seven or eight children of the Cao family's generation had very ordinary aptitudes, and only one, Huixiang, had obtained his father's aura.

The old generation is already old, and there is only one Qin Meixiang in the new generation.And because Cao Qingfu wanted to take Qin Meixiang out of Hongshun's class by force, the head of Hongshun's class felt resentful and put forward several very harsh conditions.Including that Qin Meixiang was not allowed to choose a class to be the class leader for life, and was not allowed to sign a contract to enter other classes for life.This is to break his way of singing in the future.Because Qin Meixiang hadn't yet graduated from the department at that time, if she couldn't sign a contract to enter other courses, she would hardly have any hope of earning a living by singing.No major class would want a child who is unknown, has not yet learned, and cannot be controlled by the troupe.Children who learn opera are not wanted, and they have no opera and singing, so they are cut off from their livelihood.If Qin Meixiang is lucky enough to be supported by others and make herself famous, she can only be a role with people everywhere, and she will never have her own team.Without a team, there will be no power, no matter how popular it is, it will not be able to form a foundation in Liyuan.Although it may not be impossible to open apprenticeships in the future, at least it will be decades later.The class leader thought that he blocked all of Qin Meixiang's roads tightly, which can be said to be so bad.

But Qin Meixiang became popular after all.Here, although there is the insightful eye of Master Yu Qiqi, it is even more inseparable from Cao Qingfu's chivalrous heart.Qin Meixiang could not give her fingerprints on those insidious conditions under the witness.But class leader Cao, because he cherishes his talents, is willing to take the shame of Liyuan and enroll him in the Wufu class without signing a contract.

But over time, although Qin Meixiang's fame grew, the Cao family gradually developed a hidden worry.There is no contract, and you can leave if you say you can leave.Qin Meixiang knew it very well, so even though there were other troupes who came to invite him, he pushed all the ones he could.If you can't push it away, you have to come and talk to the class leader, and ask the class leader to make a decision.This is the meaning of showing respect and not forgetting the original.Cao Qingfu never felt sorry for him. On the contrary, he taught him many principles of walking in the pear garden.After a long time, everyone knew that he was a member of the Wufu class, and gradually fewer people opened their mouths to him.

It is very common for the Cao family to want to make one of their own children popular, both emotionally and rationally.But the difficulty is that with Qin Meixiang and Zhuyu in front of her class, it is really difficult for Cao Huixiang to stand out.Sometimes it’s like this, it’s not that you are bad, it’s that you are compared with whom.If Hui Xiang had been in a small team, she would have been the head of the family long ago.He was discharged from the hospital due to Qin Meixiang's illness. Firstly, he did fill in the vacancy, and secondly, he saw this vacancy as an opportunity to become popular.Although compared to his senior brother, he is still quite a bit behind, but he is a newcomer, and Cao's class is supporting him with all his strength.Movie fans always like to watch new ones, and his plays are really good.During this period of time, she had accumulated some popularity, and she was expecting to become popular all at once, but Qin Meixiang came back at this time.

With the spirit of a young man, how could he face his senior brother calmly.

If Qin Meixiang still plays the leading role, she must act as Huixiang.If it was Yang Qinghan who played the supporting role, then the senior would be willing to be a green leaf and support the younger generation; if it was Qin Meixiang, it would be a waste of money and bullying too much.Cao Jiaban and Cao Huixiang are going to be scolded.So there is no other way.

So such a thing, although unexpected, is also reasonable.Qin Meixiang looked at Cao Qingfu's frosty temples, feeling a little lost.Leader Cao still took him lightly. He had received so much favor from the Cao family, and he should support the descendants of the Cao family.He smiled calmly: "The class leader is worrying too much. Huixiang is just such an important time, and we all should pay more attention to him. I can't be on the stage immediately. The first stage of the first day of junior high school must be lively and lively."

Seeing his humility and tolerance, Cao Qingfu finally became more natural: "That's natural. On the first day of the new year, there must be no one in the team. As long as you have a breath, I will drag you to the stage." .”

With that said, both of them laughed.So we chatted lightly for a while.Seeing that they were busy, Qin Meixiang didn't sit down too much, and left after drinking a cup of tea.

When he opened the door, he saw Hui Xiang who had no time to run away.

Qin Meixiang smiled at him: "I haven't seen you in the past few months, I seem to have gained weight."

Leader Cao looked at Huixiang with a little affection: "Send off your senior brother."

Cao Huixiang lowered her head and went outside with Qin Meixiang.The courtyard of the Cao family is very large. It turned out to be the private residence of an official family in the old dynasty, and there are four entrances.When she reached the veranda, Qin Meixiang slowed down, staring at the garden in a trance.Counting nine cold days, the children who have not yet graduated are practicing in the garden, next to piles of snow.Mr. Xi sat on a chair with a charcoal brazier under his feet.

Cao Huixiang spoke suddenly, with a nasal sound in her voice: "Senior brother..."

"Don't say anything." Qin Meixiang lowered her eyes and looked back at him with a soft expression: "Hui Xiang, don't think about anything, just sing well. The Cao family will still count on you in the future."

But Huixiang cried: "I'm afraid. I know I'm not as good as senior brother. You are sick. I was worried for you, but I... think about being on stage, so I can't care about anything. I don't want to I deliberately snatched it from you. It’s empty there, and I really want to stand there. At first I thought, I’ll just stand there for more than ten days, and I’ll have a good time. As soon as you come back, I’ll go back to my original place... But the days After a long time, I... don't want to come down. I want everyone to look at me and look at me. When you come back today, I suddenly feel that you have loved me for nothing all these years. You are me Brother...but I also know...I..."

Qin Meixiang raised her hand and gently wiped away the tears in his eyes.But there is too much dripping, and it can't be wiped clean.Hui Xiang stared at him blankly, forgetting to speak for a moment.Qin Meixiang sighed, and withdrew her hand: "Wipe yourself, it's so cold, don't slap your face. It won't be easy to put on makeup tomorrow."

Huixiang raised the cuff of her jacket and rubbed it hard on her face a few times.

Qin Meixiang looked at the children in the garden: "When I was your age... I didn't even have the chance to speak on stage. Later, when I made my first formal appearance on stage, it was Master Yang who beat me out..." He kind of missed it: "At that time, I was very timid... always stage fright. Because of this, I don't know how many times I was scolded by the master." He smiled: "On this point, you are much better than me. It is a good thing to have a willingness to fight. Only by fighting for skills can you enter the country. You are only fifteen, and there is still a long way to go."

They stood on the porch for a long time, and one of the children recognized Qin Meixiang, poking the little friend beside him to look up.Once distracted, the posture on the body is not right.Mr. Xi got up immediately, took a bamboo stick and started beating people.

Qin Meixiang turned her head: "Let's go."

At this moment, Ge Chengtai, who sang the little face, walked towards him carrying a basket of charcoal.Seeing Qin Meixiang, she was taken aback for a moment, and then ran away like flying, as if she had seen a ghost.He is the son of master Xiaoluo from Cao's family class. When his father, Lao Ge, was struggling because of opium smoking, he borrowed small money from Qin Meixiang several times.But Lao Ge is an honest person, and he always repays what he borrows.So it's not always possible to run away when you see people.

Qin Meixiang felt strange: "What's the matter? I have a third eye on my face?"

Cao Huixiang poohed: "He did something wrong to you, he knew how to run away, at least he still..." The rest of the sentence was gone.

Qin Meixiang looked back at him and saw that he was very annoyed.

"What's the matter? Have something to hide from me?"

"No..." After all, Cao Huixiang is still young, so she doesn't know how to tell lies. She cast her eyes on the ground: "No..."

Qin Meixiang looked at him without saying a word.He gritted his teeth, unable to collapse: "Then don't say I said it."

"I won't tell anyone."

"He has no money to smoke opium. When he saw that you were sick, he had a wrong idea. He lied to the steward at the Yong'an Grand Theater that he would pick up your clothes for you, and stole the hair from the theater box over there..." Seeing Qin Mei Xiang's face became paler and paler, and she hurriedly said: "I didn't steal a lot! I just moved... more than a dozen things. Seventh master and uncle found out later that they had already found someone to make up for it. Uncle punished him. I want him to pay... But his family really can't afford the money. It's freezing cold, if they kick out their father and son at this time, it will kill them... Everyone won't let you talk about it, let's talk about it for a few days It will be completed. Brother, really, it will be completed in two days. There will be no delay, don't be angry..."

Qin Meixiang took a deep breath and sighed again: "Let's go."

Cao Huixiang knew that she had made a slip of the tongue, and her voice was a little timid: "Also... Master Yang said, if you come here, go to him."

Qin Meixiang patted him on the shoulder: "It's okay, I'm not angry."

When they passed through the hanging flower door, they heard voices in the front yard.

A disheveled woman was holding a five or six-year-old boy, and she was dragging Guanshi Cao and begging: "... If you are so kind, please give us a deed. We don't expect to learn opera to get ahead, as long as we have something to eat. ah……"

Cao Guanshi was a little angry: "It's not that I'm hard-hearted. We can't take this child. Look at this, this mouth is a big tongue! The voice is as quiet as a mosquito...how can we take it. Our place is not Puyutang..."

The woman knelt down and kowtowed in the snow, and Guanshi Cao sighed: "Even if you kowtow to death here, we can't take you... The opera troupe can't afford idlers! I'm going to kick you off today, and I'll catch you tomorrow. If you want to send it to us, we won’t be able to help you!” Then he winked at the porter and drove him out.

A shrill cry came over.

Cao Huixiang said in a low voice: "It's every day in the winter, several a day... Father said I can't care about it."

Walking out, I heard Cao Huixiang say very confidently: "Brother... New Year's Eve... Remember to come. Mother has been talking about it."

Qin Meixiang nodded: "I have to go every year. You go back, it's cold outside, don't catch a cold and hurt your throat. After the show, eat less for supper, your little stomach is getting up."

Cao Huixiang blushed: "I didn't eat much... I'm hungry after singing."

Qin Meixiang patted him on the shoulder: "Let's go."

The rickshaw was still waiting outside.The woman was holding the baby, sobbing as she walked in the snow.Qin Meixiang took out a few oceans and handed them over: "Buy some warm food for the child, don't freeze it."

The woman knelt down to kowtow to him.Qin Meixiang turned her head and got into the cart: "Let's go."

The coachman ran.He closes his eyes.Don't dare to look back, can't bear to look back.

The snow fell one after another, and the sky and the earth were white.People are so small.