PLT | Chapter 12

Thinking Only of Wang Baochuan

Receiving that sudden flirtatious wink from him head-on, Yan Chao not only did not feel disgusted, he actually froze. For no reason at all, he felt his mind go faintly blank for an instant.

Everyone else reacted more or less the same way as Yan Chao. After all, opera was not as accessible as xiangsheng. Insiders watched for the craft, while outsiders could only watch the excitement. At that moment, everyone simply looked at Zhou Chenyu in a whole new light and burst into applause in perfect unison.

The director probably also felt that this was an unexpected bonus, so he had Zhou Chenyu continue and talk a little more about this opera. After all, content like Peking opera culture appearing in a slow-paced travel variety show was quite a fresh and unusual highlight. What was more, the one representing and promoting traditional culture was such a handsome and talented young man.

As for the legendary story of Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan, everyone had more or less heard of it before, so Zhou Chenyu gave a brief introduction to the opera.

Red-Maned Steed tells the story of Wang Baochuan, the daughter of the prime minister, and Xue Pinggui, a lowly beggar boy, falling in love. Naturally, they are opposed by her family. Left with no other choice, she “strikes three palms” with her father to sever their father-daughter bond, then follows Xue Pinggui to the cold kiln, where she endures those bitter days. Later, Xue Pinggui earns merit and is granted rank, then marches off to war against Xiliang, bidding Wang Baochuan farewell.

After pacifying Xiliang, Xue Pinggui is forced to marry Princess Daizhan, then later inherits the throne as well. During those eighteen years, Wang Baochuan keeps watch over the cold kiln in chaste fidelity, tasting every hardship.

One day, Xue Pinggui receives a blood letter from Wang Baochuan. Overwhelmed with longing for his wife, he gets Princess Daizhan drunk, then secretly slips back through the three passes and returns to his homeland. The two happen to meet again at Wujiapo, and after testing her, Xue Pinggui learns that Wang Baochuan has remained steadfast in her fidelity all along. Deeply moved, he is finally reunited with his wife.

Zhou Chenyu truly lived up to being a xiangsheng performer. In just a few short lines, he made an entire opera clear, concise, and vividly engaging.

Xu Jing commented, “If you look at it through modern values, Xue Pinggui is a complete scumbag.”

Chen Shuo asked in confusion, “How so?”

Xu Jing said bluntly, “Even if I might get flamed for judging a classic character like this, from the relationship angle, whether he was forced into it or half-persuaded into it, the point is that Xue Pinggui clearly knew Wang Baochuan was suffering at home and waiting for him, yet he was still being all lovey-dovey with Princess Daizhan, that’s one. Then he made Wang Baochuan wait in bitterness for eighteen years before returning home, and the very first thing he did when he saw her was test whether she had remained chaste and faithful, that’s two. If that’s not scummy, then what is?”

Zhou Chenyu smiled. “What you said is all pretty true. But in that era, it was still a patriarchal society after all, and women were all expected to follow the three obediences and four virtues. The operas of that time were basically like today’s TV dramas and films, most of them carried a certain educational meaning. A chaste and virtuous woman like Wang Baochuan was the model for women back then, while an ending like Xue Pinggui’s, gaining success and fame, then bringing honor to wife and children, was the lifelong pursuit of all men in that time. A lot of things in opera, when placed in a specific historical context, really did fit the mainstream values of that era. Looking at them now, though, they inevitably seem a bit like feudal dregs.”

What he said was indeed fair and reasonable, and everyone present agreed with it very much. Unexpectedly, Zhou Shuangshuang suddenly said, “I don’t think this counts as feudal dregs. Everyone says what Wang Baochuan was guarding was her chastity, but I think what she was guarding was that feeling. Who says being devoted to one person from beginning to end must necessarily be some moral obligation? Loving only one person for your whole life, from youth to white hair, how romantic is that?”

Who would have thought that inside this Korean-wave girl idol, currently blazing with popularity, there lived a Wang Baochuan so deeply in love.

After hearing her say that, and connecting it with some of his earlier suspicions about her, Yan Chao could not help feeling a little strange inside.

Suppose she really did have a somewhat different kind of feeling toward her gege…

Before he could finish the thought, Zhou Chenyu suddenly, of all times, hummed, “The most romantic thing I can think of, is growing old together with you~”

Yan Chao: ……

He was certain Zhou Chenyu had absolutely not noticed that little bit of oddness in his little sister.

Naturally, the others had not noticed either. They only felt that this line from the song fit the moment perfectly. Only Yan Chao noticed the unusual flicker that flashed through the girl idol’s eyes for an instant, eyes that normally had perfect expression management.

Xu Jing said, “In the future, when Shuangshuang gets married, we absolutely have to show this video to her husband, so he knows how lucky he is.”

Zhou Chenyu laughed. “Who would dare ask my little sister to stay devoted to one person from beginning to end?”

As he spoke, he turned to Zhou Shuangshuang again. “You’re absolutely not allowed to be like Wang Baochuan in the future. If your boyfriend dares treat you badly, dump him immediately. Ge will introduce you to loads and loads of handsome guys.”

As he said this, he patted Yan Chao on the shoulder with a grin. “Like Xiao Yan-gege here.”

Yan Chao: ……

With a swish, the spark in little sister’s eyes went out.

With a thump, two huge words popped into Yan Chao’s mind: fucking idiot.

Since this kind of on-the-spot matchmaking scene was just too awkward, Gu Xin, who had not spoken for quite a while, suddenly opened her mouth and invisibly dissolved the undercurrent-charged atmosphere. “Everyone always feels sorry for Wang Baochuan, but I actually think Princess Daizhan is pretty pitiful too.”

Zhou Shuangshuang seemed as if a breath had gotten stuck in her chest, and gave a huff. “What’s so pitiful about her? Put in modern terms, she’d be the mistress.”

Gu Xin said, “When she married Xue Pinggui, she didn’t know that Xue Pinggui had already taken a wife in the Central Plains. Only after they had lived as a loving couple for eighteen years did she suddenly learn that she had actually ‘been made into the other woman.’”

Yan Chao had originally been listening to her intently, but the moment he suddenly heard that phrase, his expression changed abruptly. Still, he quickly forced himself back to normal.

Gu Xin continued, “In the end, Princess Daizhan still chose to let them be together out of her love for Xue Pinggui. Luckily, in ancient times, two women could serve one husband together. If this happened today, how would it even count?”

Xu Jing laughed. “If it happened today, then it’d be one cry, two scenes, three threats to hang herself, using death to force his hand.”

Chen Shuo said in surprise, “No way, right? You’d make a suicide scene over some scumbag?”

Xu Jing said, “Of course not real suicide, just making a scene, that’s all. I definitely wouldn’t want a scumbag like that anymore, but I absolutely wouldn’t let him off easily either. At the very least, I’d make sure his reputation was utterly ruined.”

As they spoke, Yan Chao’s face gradually began turning pale beyond his control, but everyone was passionately engrossed in the discussion, and for the moment, no one noticed him.

Zhou Chenyu glanced at him, then in the next instant smiled at everyone and said, “Jiejies, even though I’ve never touched a Marxism textbook, I still know that theory about social existence determining social consciousness. If you take a story from over a thousand years ago and drag it into the present for discussion, that’s going against historical materialism.”

Everyone knew that Zhou Chenyu had gone home and stopped studying after finishing middle school. Most quyi performers who trained from childhood were like that, and onstage, people often used education level as something to dougen with. So the moment Zhou Chenyu said that, everyone naturally laughed.

Only then did Yan Chao come back to himself from that unexpected moment just now. He quickly adjusted his expression and deliberately pretended to be calm as he teased Zhou Chenyu, “So you even know Mayuan? Too bad, historical materialism is already taught in high school politics class.”

Everyone burst into laughter again, and Zhou Chenyu could be seen pouting in dissatisfaction. “I was a science-track student, okay?”

As he said that, he seemed to think of something else, then grinned and joked, “Ah, no, that won’t do. I can’t choose science, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to sit at the same desk as Xiao Yan-gege from the liberal arts class.”

Author’s Note:

There won’t be angst. It’s just two people with stories healing each other, and in the end, every story is fundamentally in service of romance.