Zha Gong's evolutionary path

"Look, look, why is there a dirty beggar over there, squatting behind the stage, what is he trying to do!"

"When I came here a few days ago, I also saw him squatting there, silent like a ghost. I almost stepped on him when I was giving money, which scared me to death."

"He has to come to the theater to beg for food, why doesn't everyone in Yaoqi's class drive him away..."

"Shh, An Hansheng is on stage, don't worry about it being a joke."

After the sound of Uncle Ranunculus' gongs and drums, the whispers subsided.The eyes that were originally curious and hesitant moved to the stage in twos and threes, and briefly forgot about the scene of disharmony around the colorful stage.

After waiting for a while, the person holding the wooden sword saluted the audience. When Shi Shiran went down from the side of the stage, people's eyes followed the handsome and tall figure. They saw that he was not in a hurry to go back to the ruined temple to remove his makeup after he stepped down from the stage. , but walked slowly to the beggar who was squatting behind the stage, leaned down and whispered something to him.

The beggar's long messy hair hung over his body, his clothes were ragged, and squatting at his feet was a civet cat about one year old. The cat was as bored as he was, licking its paws idly.

The beggar didn't talk much, and he didn't see his lips move a few times during the whole process. From a distance, at most, he answered "um" or "yes" casually, like an unprecedented miser, even stinging his own saliva.

On the contrary, the leader of Yao Qi's class, who was amazing on stage, kept talking to him, with a faint smile on his lips, speaking softly.

By the stage, there were quite a few young girls who were full of youth, biting their champagne one after another, and casting envious and jealous eyes at the down-and-out and dirty beggar.

An Hansheng actually didn't have many important things to say to Lin Gongru, he leaned beside him, and what he said was nothing more than "Qiu Niang is making stewed pigeon tonight, why don't you come and eat with us?" Such trivial daily routines.

Lin Gongru: "No need."

"She bought a lot in the market, and specially prepared yours."

"You eat."

"Xiao Wu bought five jars of wine from the wine shop."

"..." Lin Gongru finally raised his head, and met An Hansheng's smiling eyes, "The same trick will get tired after a long time."

"It's fine if it works." The man said happily.

Lin Gongru patted the dust off his buttocks, stood up, An Hansheng originally bent down to talk to him, but also stood up straight with him.

Two people stood side by side, one was neatly dressed, with red lips and white teeth, eyes like a bright moon, and a warm smile of spring breeze on his fair skin; There is also a stray cat clinging to him hanging on the bed.No matter how uncoordinated it looks, the painting style is completely different.

Lin Gongru said: "I haven't seen those gray-clothed people doing anything these days, and there are no other external forces making trouble here. I..."

He wanted to say that the meaning of my guarding the platform for you doesn't seem to be very big, but An Hansheng jumped to the conclusion with a smile before he could say the words of "Pu Tiaozi": "It must be because you are guarding all directions here." Only those with malicious intentions dare not attack rashly! Yaoqi’s class has such a peaceful and peaceful life, it is really thanks to the blessing of brother Taiwan!!”

"..."

Lin Gongru was speechless, he stretched out his hand without slapping the smiling face, could it be that he was serious about such a trivial matter?

An Hansheng happily said: "Counting the days, we have been in Yancheng for nearly two months, and we have a lot more money than when Fang came here. In a few days, it will be the Qiqiao Festival. After singing during the day, everyone will discuss it at night. Let’s go for a walk in the city together. You come too, and your expenses will be paid from my money.”

Lin Gongru refused without even thinking about it: "I'm just begging for a coincidence—"

An Hansheng immediately said: "You just go for a stroll with me, other people won't follow." He blinked and smiled, "Otherwise I'll be haunting Qiqiao City by myself, if I'm caught by the little gangsters, wouldn't it be a waste of money?" Do you want to trouble your brother to take care of me?"

Lin Gongru began to feel that in the temple that day, the ghost agreed to give him the platform, and sold herself for a jar of sweet-scented osmanthus brewing, she was really out of her mind.This person can always seize the slightest chance to steer the situation to his side. Although every sentence is open-eyed and nonsense, there is always some truth to it.

He had no choice but to say: "Let's see when the day comes."

An Hansheng was not in a hurry to force him, and chattered with him a few more times while smiling, and then turned around and entered the ruined temple in a good mood.

Qiuniang was waiting for him in front of the dressing table, and saw her class leader walk in with a smug smile like a sneaky cat, and looked behind him, the unknown beggar was leaning on the porch, arms still folded. Chest watched the excerpts of Girl Qi, Xiao Wu, and Xiao Qi on the stage, looking lazy and unmotivated.

If it wasn't for Lin Gongru's sudden rescue from the sky when someone smashed the field before, just looking at his sloppy appearance waiting to die, Qiuniang would have every reason to suspect that he was just here to cheat—although in a sense However, their team leader has been enthusiastically filling them with food and drink.

She didn't know why An Hansheng looked up to that beggar so much, but since he took over Yao Qi's class from the old class leader, he has never looked past anyone.Probably that beggar has something strange about him, Qiuniang thought, at least recently, when the host is in a good mood, he even takes less medicine.

"Master Han, here is a greeting card. It was sent by a family surnamed Lu just now." She took off An Hansheng's bun, combed his hair, and put it on the dressing table. A gold-colored greeting card nodded.

An Hansheng picked it up casually, and seeing the inscription at the bottom of the greeting card: "Greetings from Lu Mingyi", he felt that the name looked familiar.

When he read the name, Qiuniang suddenly said: "Lu Mingyi, is that the famous cloth shop owner in Yancheng? I heard the little ladies who came to the theater say that the silk and satin cloth of the Lu family is the best in the city. He The family monopolizes all the fabrics transported from the water and dry roads of the outer city. Whoever does not take a few feet of cloth from his family for weddings and ceremonies will feel ashamed of his ancestors." She said pleasantly, "The Lu family came to ask for a post. We, is it because the reputation of our Yaoqi class has finally come out?"

An Hansheng laughed: "I'm afraid it's not because of our reputation. It's because I asked Luomei to send greeting cards to the wealthy businessmen in the city one by one. Finally, one family was polite and gave me an echo."

He took out the greeting card to look at it, and let out a surprise, "The old man is celebrating his birthday, and he intends to invite us to go."

Qiuniang was even more pleasantly surprised. Even though she could not read, she couldn't help but look at the invitation post again and again, and she was overjoyed and said: "The reward from the Lu family must be more than what we earn from singing in the Town God's Temple for ten days and a half months." , Master Han, we are starting to get lucky!"

An Hansheng held the greeting card, but there was no obvious joy on his face. He thought for a while, and said: "The meeting will be over later, let's call everyone to discuss it."

Qiuniang said anxiously: "What are you discussing? Lord Han, you make the decision. Let Luomei go back to her family. If you miss this opportunity, you will have to wait."

An Hansheng said with a smile: "I'm used to the hard life, I can afford to wait for a day or two. Besides," he tapped the greeting card lightly with his knuckles, "The old man's birthday is still ten days away , we have plenty of time to prepare.”

He asked Luomei to send greeting cards to the wealthy families in the city, and he didn't expect to be favored by those wealthy businessmen. First of all, they were just a small theater troupe living in the rivers and lakes, and they were in short supply. Second, any well-known family, family members who like to watch operas, will always have their own preferred theater or role, and even some actors who spend a lot of money in the garden will play the role of the master according to their preferences. Ladies' favourite.He asked Luomei to send the greeting card, but it was just a polite way to show that he was passing through the precious land and borrowed the land to earn some money.

Since this family named Lu is in control of the entire city's cloth trade and has a wealth of wealth, and has never seen them appear in front of the Town God's Temple to support him, could it be that he dared to invite them to the old lady's birthday banquet just because of the word-of-mouth praise from the common people in the market? Can't make it to the show?

An Hansheng wanted to save money for Yaoqi's class, and also wanted to make the team more famous and attract more spectators, but he didn't want to smash the signboard for no reason.

Qiuniang didn't know that there were so many twists and turns in his heart, but she just felt that Master Han's behavior was really unpredictable at times, and he was still hesitating about such a chance of falling in the sky, what if someone else took it? ?

Thinking of this, she turned her back and secretly told Luomei about it.

The man who was always preoccupied, when he heard that there was such a good opportunity to make a fortune, his eyes lit up: "What did Master Han say?"

"Master Han said that we need to discuss it with everyone. I looked at him as if he was reluctant to agree."

Luo Mei asked urgently: "Does this still need to be discussed? Isn't this a great opportunity to come to your door? I have been to the mansion surnamed Lu. It is a big courtyard, very grand, and there are decent guards at the door. Take a look. It’s just an air of riches and grandeur. Even if they pull out their roots, they are still thicker than our waists! Such a big family invites us to sing an opera, or to celebrate the old man’s birthday. If we don’t work hard enough to play, what else can we say?”

Qiu Niang sighed: "Yes, but Master Han has always been very measured in his words and actions, and we have to listen to his opinions. I am worried that if Master Han can't figure it out and rejects him, it would be a pity."

Luomei fidgeted for a while, and said decisively: "Master Han is just thinking too much, what's the problem with this, I went to reply to the letter first, and said that Yaoqi's class has taken over."

Although Qiuniang agreed with him in her heart, she was still a little uneasy: "Luomei, we all know that you want to save up your wife's capital and marry a daughter-in-law as soon as possible, but... Is this matter, we have to wait until Master Han has made up his mind." -"

"It's okay, I'm not going to talk to death, I'm just going to give the family surnamed Lu a little sweetness, and don't let them go to other theater troupes." As if she was afraid that Qiuniang would stop her, Luomei finished speaking and left directly behind the temple.

When everyone had dinner in the evening, Luomei hadn't come back yet.Qiuniang covers for him, saying that he has gone out to do some private affairs.

Because Luomei was old and didn't have a caring woman by her side, and she often disappeared to have some fun along the way, everyone in Yaoqi's class didn't take this matter too seriously.

An Hansheng took the invitation letter from the Lu family and briefed everyone about the matter.

Everyone's reaction was basically expected. Qi Yatou, Xiao Wu, and Xiao Qi are newborn calves who are not afraid of tigers, and they can pull out hundreds of tricks with a platform. They responded enthusiastically and strongly hoped to show their skills; Sheng said that if you want to go, you must choose a good playbook, and the frequency of Lord Han's performance should not exceed twice a day. He also emphasized that the sword dance can only be done once a day.Uncle Ranunculus is older, thinks more carefully, and only says what is good is good, but he must not make a mess at someone's birthday banquet. This kind of ugliness is absolutely unacceptable, and it will also affect future business.

An Hansheng chattered a lot after listening, and finally set his eyes on Lin Gongru who was in the corner.

Ask him politely, "What do you think?"

Lin Gongru was holding a bowl of pigeon soup in his hand, and was about to pass it to his lips, when the eyes of several people suddenly focused on him, and his hand holding the soup had to stand still in the air in embarrassment.

——Where do you go to sing opera, who do you sing for, what kind of opera do you sing, what does it have to do with me?Why are you asking for my opinion?

He hadn't dealt with people seriously for too long, and he couldn't get used to the fiery expectant gazes of these people, so he swallowed all the words that came out of his mouth.

The smell of stewed pigeons was still lingering on the tip of his nose. After all, he had a short mouth, so he said sullenly, "It's up to you."

An Hansheng continued to look at him eagerly, Lin Gongru had no choice but to add another sentence: "I will accompany you."

The cunning class leader smiled, as if he had taken a huge advantage.He smiled with crooked eyebrows and said: "I know everyone's position on this matter, press it for now, and in a few days I will reply to Lu's family in person on behalf of Yao Qiban."