PLT | Chapter 18

Xiaqing Yuan

Liao Feng Pavillion Quyi Society uses two theaters in the capital as its home base, Xiaqing Yuan and Dongning Yuan, located respectively in the east and west of the city.

Several of the old gentlemen of the Mao generation are already quite renowned figures in the quyi world. They basically only appear at large-scale performances and television programs now, so naturally they no longer perform xiangsheng in the small theaters.

That means the small theaters are basically the young people’s domain. There are performances every night, and the ticket prices are not expensive. For the little performers who have not yet become established stars, on the one hand this is how they make a living, and on the other hand they slowly hone their skills in the small theaters while waiting for the chance to break out of their cocoons and become butterflies.

In the earlier years, when Zhou Chenyu was seventeen or eighteen, he also performed xiangsheng in the theater every night. Back then, Xiaqing Yuan did not have any famous jiao’ers, and business was terribly bleak, nowhere near as good as neighboring Dongning Yuan.

But he still forced open a bloody path with that handsome face of his, attracting a small group of mama fans and jiejie fans who came every week on a fixed schedule to watch him perform xiangsheng.

“Then later, Lao He had just gotten a bit of popularity, and to help out a friend, he went off to film a movie. Who could’ve guessed that once he started filming, it would drag on for half a year,” Zhou Chenyu explained to Yan Chao in the passenger seat while driving. “In our xiangsheng world, when the dougen is always going out to take other jobs, the penggen has nothing to eat. That’s what’s called widow unemployment. Naturally, his partner wasn’t happy about it. One thing led to another, and the two of them fell out, and his partner ran off to Dong Yuan. Once those two jiao’ers made a fuss like that, business at our Xia Yuan got even worse.”

At last hearing this jianghu legend about Liao Feng Pavillion’s old history from Zhou Chenyu’s own mouth, Yan Chao still felt a little emotional, even though this version was not that different from the gossip spread online.

He thought about it, then asked, “Isn’t splitting a partnership pretty taboo in your xiangsheng world? Didn’t your shifu punish him?”

“Don’t even mention it,” Zhou Chenyu sighed. “My shifu was such a good-tempered person, but even he was furious at the time. But there was no stopping Dong Yuan from favoring him. In the blink of an eye, he went over to join my shibo’s side.”

It was also because of this whole episode that from then on, the relationship between Dongning Yuan and Xiaqing Yuan became somewhat delicate. On top of that, the two theaters normally had exactly the same business hours, so it was hard to avoid a feeling of quietly competing in the dark.

Yan Chao asked, “What do you think about them splitting up?”

Zhou Chenyu said, “When I was little, I thought he was too disloyal. But now that I look back on it, it was really only human nature. After all, back then the two of them had only just gotten popular, and they still hadn’t planted their feet firmly yet. If it were anyone else, who could’ve stayed calm?”

Yan Chao thought to himself, Zhou Chenyu could.

Back then, after He Chenfeng split from his partner, there was no one who could properly support him. Counting it all up, only Zhou Chenyu had grown up in the Zhou family with him and built up that tacit understanding from childhood, so he could barely partner with him.

At the time, Zhou Chenyu had originally been the dougen, and he was already on the verge of becoming a young jiao’er. Yet because of that incident, without a second word, he went to become He Chenfeng’s penggen.

At that time, no one could have imagined that He Chenfeng would become explosively famous because of that movie. There was not the slightest other benefit for Zhou Chenyu in supporting him. But even at that young age, he had still been willing to go act as his shige’s foil, all for nothing more than a surge of brotherly loyalty.

Yan Chao could not help sighing with emotion. “Who would’ve thought your shige would become famous right after finishing a movie. Fate really makes fools of people.”

Zhou Chenyu said, “The moment I partnered with him, he got famous. What does that prove? It proves I bring prosperity to husbands. Just wait and see. After our variety show finishes airing, you’re immediately going to become the top traffic in the hosting world.”

Yan Chao: “……Look at you.”

He cleared his throat, then asked, “Then now that your partner has so much work outside, how are you so willing to widow-unemployment yourself?”

Zhou Chenyu laughed. “A young lady is easy to be, but a widow is hard to be. So here I am, a red apricot climbing over the wall.”

As he said that, he did not forget to throw Yan Chao a flirtatious glance.

Yan Chao: “……Focus on driving.”

A joke was a joke, but now that He Chenfeng was developing a sideline career in the film and television world, his work really was busy. Apart from their fixed commercial performances and special shows, they basically no longer did small performances.

And there is an unwritten rule in the xiangsheng world. Once a pair of performers has already become established jiao’ers, then unless there are special circumstances, the penggen cannot casually be lent out to support someone else. Because of that, Zhou Chenyu also had not properly performed xiangsheng in the small theaters for quite a few years now.

Since he did not often perform xiangsheng in the theater, and usually had nothing much to do when idle, Zhou Maoqin simply handed him the task of managing Xiaqing Yuan and let their younger generation make as much noise with it as they pleased.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Chenyu had actually run the theater quite impressively. Over the course of several years, Xiaqing Yuan not only expanded in scale, it also built up a fixed audience, trained several promising young little jiao’ers, and saw its business flourish more and more.

Even Dongning Yuan, which had once covered the sky with one hand, now found it hard even to glimpse its back. One could imagine there was no shortage of envy and jealousy over there.

The car drove into the bustling main street, and from far away they could already see the striking plaque up ahead on the street. Black background, red characters, brush calligraphy, written by Old Mister Zhou Yinchun’s own hand.

The three characters “Xiaqing Yuan” were vigorous in bearing and antique in elegance, as though proclaiming the decades of wind, frost, rain, and snow it had endured.

Yan Chao murmured, “Xiaqing Yuan, Dongning Yuan.”

Zhou Chenyu raised a brow. “My shiye named them. Nice, right?”

Yan Chao said, “Xia dian qing xi zhou bu mu, dong gang ning xi ye he chang?”

This pair of names was taken from Biefu. The meaning behind them was inexhaustible, almost as though it reflected the real world itself. It was truly exquisite beyond words.

Zhou Chenyu looked at him in some surprise. “You can even recite that? As expected of a Peking University top student.”

As he spoke, he skillfully parked the car in the underground garage, then brought Yan Chao straight up to the second floor of the theater through the back entrance.

Although the interior had the structure of an ordinary theater, the overall décor was completely different from the modernist style of a Western playhouse.

The ceiling lights had been made into elegant lantern shapes. The lofted pavilions and terraces were all done with hollowed carved patterns. There was nothing but Eight Immortals tables and redwood chairs throughout. Straight ahead was a curtained box-style stage, and above it hung a plaque bearing the words “Xia dian qing xi.”

For a moment, one could not help feeling as though one had stepped into a theater venue from a hundred years ago.

“See that? This is all territory won by zhen himself.” Zhou Chenyu said proudly. “We only renovated it the year before last, and added a bit over a hundred seats. It’s a lot roomier than before.”

As he spoke, Zhou Chenyu led Yan Chao into a semi-private box directly facing the stage on the second floor. “This spot right here is the best diaopiao viewing angle in the whole place. Every day when tickets go on sale, it’s gone in less than a second.”

Yan Chao teased him, “Fans have such a hard time scrambling for tickets, and here you are abusing your authority like this.”

Zhou Chenyu replied with complete confidence, “The troupe master furen has honored us with her grand presence. What’s wrong with abusing a little authority?”

Yan Chao took a second to react before realizing who exactly this “troupe master furen” paying a grand visit was supposed to mean. By now he was already used to Zhou Chenyu acting like this, so right now he only shot him a helpless glance and could not even be bothered to argue.

The two of them had only just sat down when a voice cried out from below, “Yo, the troupe master personally making the rounds? Rare.”

A smiling young woman came up the stairs with quick little tapping footsteps. Zhou Chenyu introduced her to Yan Chao. “This is the supervisor of our service department, Jiang Lili.”

Then he said to Jiang Lili, “I’ve been recording a program lately, so I invited Xiao Yan-laoshi to come sit in our theater for a while.”

When Jiang Lili saw Yan Chao, she said excitedly, “Aiya, Xiao Yan-laoshi, I really like you! I just watched your program. You two have such strong CP vibes!”

“Right? I think so too,” Zhou Chenyu said. “ChenyuLuoyan is…”

“Fake,” Yan Chao said to Jiang Lili with a slight smile. “Ignore him.”

Jiang Lili laughed so hard she swayed like a flowering branch. She placed the tea set she was carrying onto the table, then said to Zhou Chenyu, “Ticket checking is about to start, so I’ll trouble you to handle things yourself.”

Zhou Chenyu nodded. “Alright, thanks for the hard work.”

Jiang Lili turned and went downstairs. By the entrance, there were already many audience members lined up waiting to have their tickets checked.

On the tea table sat a small Yixing clay teapot and two cups. After scalding the pot and warming the cups with hot water, Zhou Chenyu picked out some tea leaves from the chahe and said, “Fresh Jin Junmei from the new harvest.”

Yan Chao did not understand tea art, but he had at least drunk a few pots of tea in his life. At this moment, as soon as he saw Zhou Chenyu’s movements, he could tell the man was an expert, and he could not help being a little surprised. “You even understand the tea ceremony?”

Zhou Chenyu lifted his eyes and smiled. “Ge knows a lot more than that.”

As he spoke, he put the dry tea into the warmed gongfu gaiwan, covered it, and gave it two little shakes. When he opened it again, the heat from the inner walls of the gaiwan had already brought out the fragrance of the Jin Junmei, and in an instant a clearly perceptible floral-honey scent drifted out.

Zhou Chenyu said, “This is called waking the tea.”

After putting the tea leaves into the pot, he poured water into the teapot from top to bottom. A few seconds later, he quickly poured the tea liquor into the cup, where it already gleamed with a clear, brilliant golden color.

The whole set of movements flowed like clouds and running water, leaving Yan Chao unable to help marveling in admiration.

“With top-grade Jin Junmei, you can drink the first infusion.” Zhou Chenyu handed the tray to Yan Chao. “The first pot of tea you drink at Xiaqing Yuan is brewed by the troupe master himself. How’s that for treatment?”

Yan Chao then politely extended his hand to accept it. “Many thanks, troupe master.”

Zhou Chenyu raised a brow. “No need to be polite, furen.”

Yan Chao: “……”

He took a sip of tea, then said seriously, “I think that whole bit of you brewing tea just now was pretty interesting. It would fit well in the program. Next time we record, we can try adding it in.”

“Just this?” Zhou Chenyu sounded surprised. “Variety shows are all about laughing and having fun, just for a bit of amusement. Who’s going to watch you brew tea?”

But Yan Chao shook his head. “How do you know nobody will watch? This kind of subtle influence, who knows, maybe some viewers really will fall in love with tea culture because of it.”

As they spoke, audience members gradually entered the theater after ticket check. Before long, several hundred people had come in and filled both floors to the brim.

The place where the two of them sat was a semi-private box. The other three sides were all covered by curtains, and only the side facing the stage was exposed. At this point, the lights over the audience were dim too, so there was no need to worry about being recognized.

Yan Chao looked at the lively rows of seats below. There were audience members of all ages and genders, but the most eye-catching of all were still those stylishly dressed, exquisitely made-up pretty girls.

Zhou Chenyu smiled. “True enough. Back then, I never thought there’d be so many young girls falling in love with xiangsheng.”

Before coming, Yan Chao had not had time to look at the program list. But seeing the scene in front of him now, he could already guess that there was definitely a popular performer on tonight’s program.

He asked, “Who did they come to support tonight?”

Zhou Chenyu smiled, his eyes full of pride as he glanced in the direction of backstage. “They came to support the jiao’er.”

Author’s Note:

Note: “Liao Feng Pavillion” comes from Dream of the Red Chamber. “Xia dian qing xi zhou bu mu, dong gang ning xi ye he chang” comes from Biefu. Fifty thousand words already! This xiangsheng novel has finally gotten to the xiangsheng! This little couple really has way too much nonsense to say, seriously! [1]

Footnotes:

[1] The author’s final line is playful and exaggerated. “这小两口儿” means “this little couple,” teasing the leads as if they are already married, and “废话未免太多了” jokingly complains that they talk way too much. The trailing punctuation in the source is a cute, exaggerated internet-style flourish.