The entertainment tycoon of the Republic of China

In the afternoon, at the teahouse, those who have spare money and love to listen to books in Hankou City have arrived one after another, calling the waiters to serve tea and snacks.

The original storyteller of the teahouse, Wang Luozi, was a first-class storyteller in Hankou, and the story of the Three Kingdoms was superb, which attracted everyone to run to the teahouse every day after lunch.

However, these past few days, the old man was unwell and replaced by Mr. Shun as a storyteller. Although he was doing a good job, he was always almost meaningless. The readers who listened to books were not very happy, but listening to books every afternoon has become a habit. I can't find anything else to do for a while, so most of them still come to sit for a while.

But today's Yunlai Teahouse seems to be different from the past.

The water sign on the left side of the entrance of the teahouse is the place where the purpose of the day's storytelling is written, so that everyone can decide whether to listen or not.

For example, Wu Hui, who wrote popular characters such as "Three Great Soldiers Breaking the Pass and Fighting Lu Bu" and "Zhao Zilong Riding Alone to Rescue Adou", the teahouse can be full early, and some even bring their own small stools to pay for extra seats; He wrote boring articles such as "Lost Runan Liu Bei voted for Liu Biao", so not many people came to listen.

But today, on the water sign brought to the teahouse, it is not written on the title of chapters of the Three Kingdoms.

The beautiful and powerful thin gold body is written on the red paper, with two lines of characters "Western women lost their fathers and fell into the Yangtze River, and the old boatman caught the girl Chanjuan in the middle of the night", and a horizontal row of "Hankou Qi edge".

"Excuse me, can you help me find out, are you talking about Master Guan today?" At the entrance of the teahouse, a man with a coarse sweat towel around his waist asked a person.

Yunlai Tea House tells stories every day, but not everyone has spare money to go in and sit down to listen to them every day. Those who love to listen to books but don’t have a lot of money have thought of a way. When Tongban entered the teahouse, he asked for a bowl of scented tea and listened slowly. If he didn't want to listen very much, he just squatted at the door of the teahouse and rubbed it for a while.

Doing business pays attention to harmony and wealth. Most of these people squatting outside the door are potential customers of the teahouse, so shopkeeper Liu doesn't care about these things. Sometimes the weather is too cold and he will ask the guys to bring some hot water to the people at the door.

This is the case of the man brought to the door of the teahouse at this time. His name is He Tianfu, and he is a boatman who moves goods at the Yangtze River Wharf. Books are a hobby.

He Tianfu has worked in the dock for three years, and he likes to listen to Guan Yunchang of the Three Kingdoms the most. The original storyteller Wang Luozi brought to the teahouse is his favorite, but the old gentleman has not come these days, and a new Mr. Shun, He Tianfu He didn't like to listen to his Three Kingdoms, so he simply decided to ask clearly, if it wasn't about Master Guan, he wouldn't go in and listen.

The person caught by him was a pawnshop shopkeeper, and he was not annoyed when he saw this, he folded his hands in his arms and said with a smile, "Today this teahouse is not about the Three Kingdoms, but a book I have never heard of."

Not Three Kingdoms?He Tianfu was not very happy when he heard the words. If it wasn't about the Three Kingdoms, why did he make this trip today?Yunlai Tea House has been talking about the Three Kingdoms for more than half a year, why did it change today!

"What did they say today, not even Master Guan and Uncle Liu Huang?"

"Let me read it to you. This book is called Hankou Qiyuan. The title is ordinary, but the name is a bit strange in retrospect. It's called a Western girl who lost her father and fell into the Yangtze River. The old boatman happened to catch the girl Chanjuan in the middle of the night."

Western girl?Also fell into the Yangtze River?What happened to the old boatman?He Tianfu was going to leave, but he was stunned when he heard this.

Although he has never read a book and is illiterate, he can still understand these partial topics after listening to too many books.

That Western girl is naturally a foreigner, how could a foreigner fall into trouble, and how could he fall into the Yangtze River?The old boatman in the second sentence is probably a dock worker like him. Could it be that the female Chanjuan is a foreigner in the previous sentence?But what is he doing with foreigners?

He Tianfu was at a loss, thinking that he didn't need to spend money anyway, so he simply squatted at the door of the teahouse, intending to hear what the book was about.

There are many people who think the same as him. They are familiar with Chinese operas and Chinese operas. During the period of the Republic of China, people’s entertainment life was still very simple. Although most of them came for the Three Kingdoms, they saw new books that they had never heard before. There are also foreigners, who stayed with curiosity and planned to hear what was going on.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Xiao Wenliu stepped down from the stage, and Mr. Shun straightened his coat, picked up a fan and took a seat on the stage.

"The teahouse is full of people today. There are new book seats and some old acquaintances. Boss Xiong and Boss Zhu. How are you two?" The big spender said hello, "You guys are the ones who praised me for coming here to listen to the books. I think everyone has read the water sign and knows that we are not talking about the Three Kingdoms today."

"To tell you the truth, I'm not a native of Hankou. I came from Shanghai a few days ago. I'm still a storyteller. Both Shanghai and Hankou are on the banks of the Yangtze River..."

Holding a fan, Mr. Shun vividly talked about the similarities and differences between Hankou and Shanghai. Combining his own experience, from food to dialect to shipping, he added a joke or two from time to time, which caught everyone's attention unconsciously. come over.

These words are not nonsense, there is a proper term in the storyteller industry called "Xianbai".Before opening the book, let’s talk about a certain fact, or stories, popular science, or ghosts, all kinds of things, so as to draw all the attention of the audience, and then naturally transfer to the book.

A storyteller's real kung fu is mostly reflected in his idle words. After all, you can know the plot of the story after listening to the book once. What everyone listens to is mainly the gentleman's own opinions.

In the old days, a capable storyteller could speak idle words, and he could learn from what other people in his profession said. A cook could learn cooking by listening to books, and a carpenter could learn carpentry by listening to books... This is the master's ability.Therefore, young people can sing and act, and can talk about cross talk, but they can't be storytellers because they don't have that experience.

Mr. Shun has worked as a storyteller for so many years, so he can easily come up with free speech, and he talked for twenty minutes in one breath without repetition, and everyone listened with great interest.

"The unlucky friend who asked for marriage I just mentioned, he just followed the way of this foreigner, you know, otherwise, why would you say that he is free and free to go to the concession at night? Isn't this just trying to make other girls dislike him!" Mr. Shun made a sad face and ended his "friend"'s unlucky story, "Anyway, I can tell myself, I must be a warning, don't be like him, especially Hankou and Shanghai are a bunch of concessions, although I married He has a wife, but he is a good-looking man, who would want a girl to stare at him!"

The audience roared with laughter, and Mr. Shun also laughed, and he continued after everyone finished laughing, "But although I have never been to the concession in Hankou, I know that there is such a strange thing in the concession, and it is inconvenient to disclose my real name and surname. , everyone, listen to it as a story."

When Mr. Shun said this, he slapped the eye-catching at hand heavily, and suddenly read it quickly.

"People's hearts are full of twists and turns, and the roads of the world overlap with mountains.

There have been many changes from ancient times to modern times, and there is a cycle of good, good, and evil.

Western women are hard-working people, and old boatmen are destined to have children and grandchildren.

Good deeds have to be done by good people, how can a mortal be a god!"

"Okay!" The opening poem fell, and there was a burst of applause in the teahouse.

Mr. Shun gave Xingmu a light meal, "Our story today starts from the British Concession in Hankou."

……

Xie Yan was holding a teapot in his hand, and while shuttled between the tea customers to refill water, he was distracted by Mr. Shun's storytelling on the stage.

I have to say that Mr. Shun can rely on storytelling for a living. He really has a few brushes. When he talked about Xianbai just now, he aroused Xie Yan’s interest. Still listening with gusto.

"The little Aisha we mentioned just now lost her father at the age of seven or eight. Alas, it's pitiful. Fortunately, the family has hundreds of acres of land, a large manor, and some hereditary titles, loyal old man. There are also a few servants, but it is not difficult to live on."

"But everyone, don't forget, she also has a stepmother! You said that the stepmother is young and the man died, so she might give the family's money to a daughter who was not born by herself!"

Although what Mr. Shun talked about was about foreigners, he used foreigners and foreign names, but his language was very down-to-earth. He also talked about the stories of three aunts and six wives that everyone has seen every day. Therefore, people who listened to the book did not feel uncomfortable, but expressed themselves. the opinion of.

"Let me tell you, Aisha's stepmother didn't even have a child, and she doesn't have any brothers, so the money should go to her uncle, who can back up a generous dowry when she gets married in the future."

"Didn't you listen to what Mr. Shun said just now? This British woman can inherit the family business. Now the queen is sitting on the throne. Why can't Aisha inherit the family business?"

"According to what you say, Aisha's stepmother can also share the money, isn't she also a woman?"

"Daughter is flesh and blood anyway, how can a woman who has never given birth get money!"

"This is really strange in Britain, giving women so much real power."

……

Mr. Shun did not stop a few loud arguments, but stopped and waited for them to discuss. One of the great characteristics of the traditional Chinese entertainment industry is that it pays attention to the interaction between artists and audiences, and emphasizes the sense of participation of the audience. All belong to this point.

After several people finished talking, he opened the fan with a swish, "This stepmother wants to take the money to make her lover happy, so she wonders, the daughter is the most important in Aisha's father's will, so what method can she use to monopolize all the inheritance? ?”

"Thinking about it, ah, she really thought about it!"

"The old servant in the English manor kept a close eye on her, waiting for her to find a way to trick Aisha to go to China, and kill her in a foreign country without anyone noticing, and then go back and say that Aisha had an accident, and she couldn't find out from so far away. Wouldn't she be able to monopolize the inheritance!"

When it came to the ending, Mr. Shun slapped Xingmu hard, and there was a lot of discussion in the audience.Xie Yan walked among the teahouses, and could clearly hear abuse such as "the heart of the most poisonous woman" and "the heart of a snake and scorpion".

"This stepmother made up her mind, so she went upstairs to find Aisha." Mr. Shun ignored the commotion in the audience, he cleared his throat, made a charming gesture, and suddenly spoke in a straight voice.

"Oh! My dear daughter! Why don't we go to China on the other side of the ocean, your old father will be very happy to know!"

"..." There was no sound in the lobby.

Xie Yan was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and tried his best to hold back the twitching shoulders in the next second—he just casually suggested in the morning that he could use the famous "translated accent" to express the expression of foreigners when he speaks. Who knew that Mr. Shun was so talented and learned so well vivid!