” Qi Shejiang immediately showed an expression of speechlessness, and a wave of laughter erupted from the audience. This song was actually a new release from a group formed by his colleagues in previous performances, which was currently being promoted everywhere. Qi Shejiang looked embarrassed and annoyed, deliberately pausing for a while before saying, “I can’t sing that!” With his tone and the pause, it was clear that it wasn’t that he couldn’t, but that he didn’t want to. Meng Jingyuan laughed heartily, “You just said you’re good at pop songs, and this one is so popular right now, and you can’t sing it?” Zeng Wen nodded as well, “Oh, come on… didn’t you perform with the original singer before? Didn’t they teach you?” With this remark, even some of the audience who were clueless realized that this was a jab at Qi Shejiang, and they chuckled knowingly. Qi Shejiang looked as if he had been poked at a sore spot, “I just can’t sing it; you guys change the song.” The two discussed for a moment and chose another song, which had a certain level of popularity. Qi Shejiang looked at the ceiling and thought for a moment before decisively stating, “I can’t sing this either!” “I have to criticize you for this; you can’t even sing this song,” Zeng Wen said seriously. Qi Shejiang quickly replied, “Wait, Teacher Zeng, there’s still one more chance.”
We agreed on three segments; I can definitely sing the last one!” As soon as he finished speaking, Meng Jingyuan tilted his head and said, “You sing ‘Autumn Water.'” Qi Shejiang: “…………” They picked a hit song by the Guanshan Band. Most of the audience were fans who knew about their past enmities and burst into laughter, instantly getting excited and starting to clap, “Sing one! Sing one!” Qi Shejiang felt a mix of sadness and indignation, “Aren’t you bullying me? I’m done talking; I’m not being a young crosstalk actor anymore!” He flung his hand and turned to leave. “Hahahahahaha, you’ve made him anxious!” Unexpectedly, they mentioned Zhang Yue again. Seeing Qi Shejiang’s reaction, the fans were laughing so hard their voices were cracking, while muttering, “His sulking look is so cute!” “Wait!” Zeng Wen rushed up and grabbed Qi Shejiang, starting to pull at his clothes. Qi Shejiang also fought back, and the two began tussling on stage, eliciting enthusiastic reactions from the audience. During their struggle, Qi Shejiang ended up on the stage floor, his coat half undone.
The atmosphere became even livelier; what a mesmerizing scene this was! After Zeng Wen and Qi Shejiang had their tussle, Meng Jingyuan stepped in to stop them. “I’m telling you, if you want to leave, you need to take off that coat,” Zeng Wen pointed at the coat Qi Shejiang was wearing, “That coat is mine!” This program is called “Take Off the Coat,” and of course, the coat is the most important clue. Everything said earlier was to set up for this moment. Qi Shejiang and the others were following the old script. They were worried about unforeseen incidents, so they changed the material and instead had the two of them test Qi Shejiang on pop songs. Qi Shejiang just didn’t want to sing anymore, thus preventing potentially extreme situations that could affect the performance. As a result, the atmosphere in the venue became even more explosive. Old viewers nodded in approval; they realized he could perform well too.
…… Qi Shejiang explained aggrievedly to Meng Jingyuan that the coat was borrowed from Zeng Wen’s house to look good for today’s performance. “But I’m not wearing this coat for nothing. The other day, when I went to Teacher Zeng’s house, he wasn’t there; only Auntie was home. She said to me, ‘Jesse…'” “Wait! This definitely isn’t about my wife,” Zeng Wen interrupted firmly. “My wife doesn’t speak English!” “Alright, she said, ‘Jesse.'” Qi Shejiang wore an expression of ‘are you satisfied now?’ and continued, “Old Zeng always talks in a roundabout way and loves to brag; whenever he talks, people get stumped. You’re performing with him now; if he gets stumped again next time, you just help him wrap it up smoothly. Tell me, isn’t my coat worth wearing?” Meng Jingyuan nodded slightly, “That makes sense; your outfit is helping you.” Zeng Wen scoffed coldly, “Helping me? Why would I need him to help? Have I ever been stumped by someone? Just take yesterday for example, I observed the sky and said it would be windy, and it really got windy.” Meng Jingyuan thought for a moment. “Yes, it was windy.” Zeng Wen shrugged casually.
In my yard, there’s a well, and within one night, it got blown out to the wall side!” Meng Jingyuan looked incredulous; can the wind really blow a well somewhere else? “Don’t believe me? Ask him!” Zeng Wen pointed at Qi Shejiang. Meng Jingyuan grabbed Qi Shejiang and asked, “Is this true? That the wind was so strong it blew the well outside the wall?” Qi Shejiang sized him up, “Meng Laoshi, did you come on stage without waking up? A well can’t be blown outside the wall? I’ve never heard of it!” At that moment, Zeng Wen rushed over and started tugging at Qi Shejiang’s clothes. “My well got blown outside; how can you say you’ve never heard of it?” Zeng Wen said, panic evident in his expression. Qi Shejiang was dumbfounded, stammering, “Yes, it’s your well… Right, right, I remembered, it did happen!” Meng Jingyuan chuckled, “You’ve really heard of it? Then tell me, how did it get blown outside the wall?” Qi Shejiang wiped his cold sweat with his sleeve, looking guilty, “This… It should be like this…” Under Meng Jingyuan’s persistent questioning, Qi Shejiang managed to concoct a muddled explanation, “…The wall was a fence wall, it was old, and after being blown by the wind and sun, it rotted at the bottom. When the wind blew, the fence wall bulged in a circle, and Teacher Zeng, with poor eyesight, looked and said, ‘How did my well get blown outside?'”
At this point, they had already entered the most crucial part of the performance, the storytelling. The lead-up was explosive, and the storytelling was stable; this performance was impressive! “The core of ‘Bama Gua’ is the fabrication of lies. The entire story structure involves the lead performer playing a blabbermouth role, boasting and lying to the utmost exaggeration. The support performer digs deep to break apart the lies. The side performer, borrowing the lead performer’s coat, has to wrack their brains to patch up the lie, thus sealing the gap. Once a lie is patched up, another lie soon follows. Through this back-and-forth, the exaggeration builds, providing endless laughs, showcasing skill as well.
“Tell me, could something like this happen? A cricket the size of this room, with twelve rows of high-speed train carriages in length, and two whiskers like telephone poles, with eyes as bright as searchlights.” Meng Jingyuan pulled Qi Shejiang closer, asking the final lie. After hearing this, the audience was already chuckling; this lie seems too difficult to patch up! Qi Shejiang retorted firmly, “Nonsense!” Meng Jingyuan replied, “But that’s what Teacher Zeng said.” Zeng Wen interjected, “Hey, I said that.” “That doesn’t matter.” “What do you mean?” “This coat… I don’t want it anymore!
With the last punchline delivered, the three of them bowed together and left the stage. The applause from the audience was thunderous; not only were the captivated fans cheering, but even the long-time spectators who were used to the comedic duo of Zeng and Meng joined in enthusiastically. Based on their years of experience in listening to comedy, the talents and appearances of these young performers were perfectly proportional; this act was fantastic!
