The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

On the stage, Gao Lishi and Pei Lishi finished their chanting, and six court ladies came out holding amulets.

Concubine Yang Guifei played by Mei Lanfang, before anyone arrives, the voice comes first: "Show me!"

Wearing a phoenix crown, Mei Lanfang walked like a lotus, her figure and appearance were extremely enchanting, she couldn't tell she was a man at all.

The two court ladies followed behind Mei Lanfang holding screen fans, and stood still behind the stage, but Mei Lanfang walked to the front of the stage with his sleeves thrown up. Jade Rabbit, seeing the Jade Rabbit rising to the east again. The ice wheel is away from the island, and the universe is extremely bright. The bright moon is in the sky, just like Chang'e leaving the Moon Palace, slaves are like Chang'e leaving the Moon Palace."

"good!"

The Chinese audience at the scene cheered in unison.

Although the foreign audience didn't know the theater tradition of "applauding", they still clapped vigorously. Many foreign devils looked at the stage obsessively.

Under the influence of Meng Xiaodong and several friends, Zhou Hexuan has gradually learned to appreciate the beauty of Peking Opera. He was also impressed by Mei Lanfang's superb skills, his eyes, his expression, his singing voice, and his figure all carried a kind of seductive charm, which could turn straight men into bends on the spot.

The only thing Zhou Hexuan wanted to complain about was that because he was afraid that gringos would not understand, someone at the scene held up a sign with an English translation: "A full moon rising on the island, ah, I saw the bright moon rising in the east again. The full moon jumped from the sea. , the sky and the earth are extraordinarily bright. The bright moon hangs in the sky, as if the moon god left the palace of the moon, and I also look like the moon god left the palace."

Those manual English translations had small fonts, and Zhou Hexuan estimated that the audience in the back row would not be able to read them clearly.

But as the performance continued, both Chinese and foreigners fell into a frenzy for art. Those gringos were very interesting. At first they just applauded, but soon they followed the example of the Chinese and applauded together.

"Consumption!"

After all, there are more foreigners, and the voices of the Chinese audience are completely suppressed, and they keep shouting "wasting".

For Westerners, Beijing Opera is really amazing.

Traditional opera only has singing without dialogue; while traditional drama only has dialogue without singing.

Chinese Peking Opera is actually recited and sung, with subtle physical performances. Coupled with the exquisite and gorgeous costumes and strange props, everything makes Westerners feel so fresh and wonderful.

The American audience, in particular, was fascinated by it.

Although the United States is very powerful today, it is regarded as a desert of culture and art. The top Western artists are all in Europe, and they are basically not seen in the United States. Even if the second-rate European artists perform in the United States, they will be treated as masters by the Americans.

A bunch of ignorant bumpkins!

U.S. Secretary of State Stimson was stunned at this moment, with an incredible expression on his face.

Mei Lanfang finished "The Drunken Concubine" and then performed "A Dream in the Garden", and the whole performance came to an end.

"Crack clap clap!"

The audience gave a standing ovation.

All the actors returned to the backstage to remove their make-up, and returned to the stage in modern attire. The embassy translator was responsible for introducing their names and the roles they played in the play just now.

When he heard that a man was playing Concubine Yang, Stimson couldn't help exclaiming: "I'm sorry, I can't believe it!"

Mei Lanfang was on fire.

Officials from the US State Department and envoys from various countries lined up to shake hands with Mei Lanfang, full of praise.

In the morning of the next day, several newspapers in Washington reported on the grand occasion of the performance, calling Peking Opera "a perfect art from the Far East".

Although Mei Lanfang was invited to perform on Broadway, she didn't know much about the operation in the United States.

It happened that Professor Zhang Pengchun from Nankai University was giving lectures in the United States, and the two were old friends.

Mei Lanfang approached Zhang Pengchun to make a plan, and the latter helped him with two ideas: first, to publicize in newspapers before commercial performances; second, to hire an agent who is familiar with the American entertainment industry.

Mei Lanfang is really rich, and the publicity fee is very simple. Before the Mei Opera Troupe set off, the newspapers in New York had already begun to report overwhelmingly, and popularized the knowledge of Peking Opera to the American people in the articles.

When Mei Lanfang stepped on the train to New York, the headline of the "New York Times" read: "Mei Lanfang, a great artist popular with 50 million people, is coming to New York!"

Zhou Hexuan set off earlier than Mei Lanfang, but before leaving Washington, he had a conversation with Situ Juncong in the hotel.

Zhou Hexuan asked in the first sentence: "What is your relationship with Mr. Situ Meitang?"

Situ Juncong smiled and said, "It's just a fellow villager with the same name."

Zhou Hexuan didn't believe it, because Situ Juncong was too young, and his position was very delicate.

Let's make it clear that there is a difference between China Zhigong Party and Hongmen.

The first leader of the China Zhi Gong Party was Chen Jiongming, and the second leader was Li Jishen. The main place of activity is in mainland China.

Situ Meitang leads Wuzhou Hongmen Zhigong General Church, headquartered in San Francisco, USA.

Although the two belonged to the same organization in name and eventually merged, the management and operation of the two organizations are now separated.

As for Situ Juncong, he is actually a member of the Zhigong Party of China, and the only member of the Zhigong Party accepted by Wuzhou Hongmen. He now has two identities, one is responsible for the propaganda work of the China Zhi Gong Party, and the other is responsible for the liaison work between Wuzhou Hongmen and the mainland.

Such a key and sensitive identity, coupled with his surname Situ, how can it not make people think too much?

Even if they are not direct descendants of Situ Meitang, they are at least members of the tribe.

Situ Juncong didn't play around, and said directly: "Mr. Zhou, I'm afraid he's not from the Hong family, is he?"

"Why do you say that?" Zhou Hexuan laughed.

Situ Juncong explained: "I have been traveling in San Francisco, Hong Kong and Guangzhou all year round. I have heard of Mr. Zhou's name for a long time. I also learned from the Qing Gang that Mr. Zhou calls himself a Hongmen brother. I immediately went to San Francisco and told Mr. Situ Meitang inquired about the facts. Mr. Situ Meitang took this very seriously and investigated all Hongmentangs in the United States, but there was no Mr. Zhou."

"Hahahahaha," Zhou Hexuan couldn't stop laughing, and said honestly, "Brother Situ, to tell the truth, the Tianjin Youth Gang wanted to recruit me to join the gang at that time. When there was no way to evade it, I had to say that I was a member of the Hongmen. If you haven't thought about it, I hope Brother Situ will tell Mr. Situ Meitang the truth."

"I see." Situ Juncong couldn't laugh or cry.

You know, Zhou Hexuan has made a great reputation in Europe and the United States, and the Hongmen in the United States also attaches great importance to it. When they heard that Zhou Hexuan was also a disciple of the Hongmen, they spent a lot of time and manpower on the investigation for more than a year, and finally came to the conclusion: there is no such person!

Situ Juncong chatted with Zhou Hexuan for a while, and tentatively asked: "Would Mr. Zhou be willing to join the Zhigong Party?"

Zhou Hexuan asked: "Is it the China Zhigong Party, or the Wuzhou Hongmen Zhigong General Hall?"

"Both can join, the two do not conflict, we have planned to gradually merge into one." Situ Juncong said.

The China Zhigong Party has too deep ties with the country. Zhou Hexuan thought carefully and said, "I'd better join Wuzhou Hongmen."

Situ Juncong asked: "Then let's set a time first."

Zhou Hexuan said: "I'm going to New York next, after I finish my work, I will go to San Francisco to apologize to Mr. Situ Meitang."

"I don't dare to apologize," Situ Juncong clasped his fists and said, "I'm waiting for Brother Zhou to drive me!"