“Is your leg injury really serious?” Zhang Yue asked while driving. “No, no injury,” Qi Shejiang replied. “Remember I told you about practicing the step-on technique? Since Xiao Yinyue is an expert, the director wanted me to learn it too; it just feels swollen and sore after practicing, but resting it will be fine.” Zhang Yue looked at him doubtfully and said, “Tang Shuangqin is just full of himself!” He paused and added, “What a pity, I’ll soon be like you, suffering from him.” Qi Shejiang: “Huh?”
Zhang Yue found out that Tang Shuangqin had already been pondering over the film’s music. The “Lovebirds buckle” will feature quite a few segments of traditional performance arts, along with original lyrics that need to be set to music. It must embody the characteristics of that era while somewhat appealing to modern tastes, striking a subtle balance.
Tang Shuangqin went through everything and finally thought of Zhang Yue, intending to have him handle the theme song, insert songs, and background music all in one. “When he invited me to chat, he played for me the recording of the excerpt we sang together from the Child’s Classics, the revised version. He was very satisfied after listening to it. So—” Zhang Yue looked at Qi Shejiang, “You still need to authorize its use.”
What do you think?”
Qi Shejiang’s eyes widened, pleasantly surprised, “…I think you should just go ahead and use it.”
The Child’s Classics is a traditional performance art that has no copyright anymore, but since they both made changes to it, they still needed to discuss this part.
Qi Shejiang now understood Tang Shuangqin’s status; so many people would watch his film. If Zhang Yue indeed sampled and adapted the Child’s Classics, selecting it as background music or even an insert song, wouldn’t that be the very intention of adapting it—to revive the Child’s Classics and bring it back to an audience?
Zhang Yue glanced at Qi Shejiang in the rearview mirror, seeing him extremely pleased, and felt quite proud.
“I’ll copy the script for you, very soon.” Qi Shejiang was incredibly grateful for the photocopier; otherwise, he would have had to write it all out by hand, which would take an eternity. “If you need the sanxian, just call me!”
“It’s alright, no rush.”
My work hasn’t officially started yet.” Zhang Yue reassured him when he saw that Qi Shejiang looked like he wanted to dig out all the material immediately. They had just reached their destination, and he stepped on the brake and pulled over.
“Yeah. That’s great.” Qi Shejiang murmured, clasping his fists and bowing to Zhang Yue, “Thank you.”
Zhang Yue: “…”
Zhang Yue: “What are you doing?”
Qi Shejiang looked at his own hands, “My master taught me this. Thank you.”
He got a little carried away and instinctively performed a bow.
“…Let’s not do that anymore.” Zhang Yue put an arm around Qi Shejiang and hugged him.
Qi Shejiang paused for a moment, resting his arms over Zhang Yue’s back, leaning in, his chin just resting on Zhang Yue’s shoulder.
Zhang Yue: “…………”
Um… this…
With Qi Shejiang leaning on his shoulder, unsure how long the embrace should last, Zhang Yue drifted off into thought, and the two silently hugged for three minutes. The first thirty seconds were filled with gratitude and surprise, but from the sixtieth second onwards, the atmosphere started to feel off.
Even Qi Shejiang, no matter how foolish he was, knew there wasn’t a protocol for this long, yet both fell into a mysterious silence.
Qi Shejiang: “…”
Zhang Yue: “…”
Until Zhang Yue slowly released his grip, Qi Shejiang also pulled back a little.
Qi Shejiang vaguely sensed something and held back the words he was about to say.
Fortunately, a ringtone rescued the two of them from the moment; the caller ID showed it was Teacher Zeng Wen. Qi Shejiang showed Zhang Yue the screen, and Zhang Yue understood. He got out of the car to answer the call.
With some space between them, Zhang Yue finally felt relieved.
Qi Shejiang answered, “Teacher Zeng Wen?”
“Jesse, you’re not busy, are you?” Zeng Wen’s tone was cheerful, “Guess what I’m about to tell you.”
“It sounds like good news.” Qi Shejiang thought to himself what day it was, yet another piece of good news.
Zeng Wen laughed heartily, “You guessed right. I’m here to tell you good news! Didn’t you submit a lot of materials and scripts? Your Uncle Meng has been keeping an eye on that matter. Thankfully, it coincided with this batch; it’s roughly been finalized…”
As the New Year approached, various events needed to be prepared.
The variety show on the performance arts channel is generally considered one of the least anticipated among the various TV stations, as their audience group is quite small.
In previous years, netizens would discuss the program lists of other TV stations back and forth, but this year, surprisingly, the program preview for the performance arts channel actually topped the real-time search rankings.
The reason was simple; this program list included Qi Shejiang.
Qi Shejiang wasn’t new to the performance arts channel; he had been introduced before as a “young crosstalk actor.”
This time, the performance arts channel’s small New Year’s Eve Gala featured a program titled “Gathering of Heroes” among a large array of opera segments. The performers in this program are all renowned figures. They’re representatives of different performance art genres, coming together for a joint performance.
However, among this celestial lineup, there was a “Qi Shejiang” inserted in. Although he was placed at the end, he was still included. Once discovered, it spread widely, and everyone was quite astonished. On that joint performance list, it was clear he was not there to perform crosstalk but to sing.
Qi Shejiang sings well; that goes without saying. However, in comparison to other renowned figures and representatives, he simply didn’t have enough weight. It would even be better to let him sing a solo segment.
It’s unclear whether it would be Peking Opera, Bian Opera, or da gu. Whether it’s singing Jingju or Bianxi, or even Dagu, it’s quite marvelous, right? You guys don’t need to react this strongly. Jesse just sings well. Adding to the amazingness, I think it wouldn’t have been controversial to arrange a separate program for him; just being listed alongside others… Look for yourselves, these are all representative figures of each genre. That seems unlikely, right? It must have been through relationships that Tang Shuangqin secured this; this director knows Tang Shuangqin. What is Qi Shejiang’s level in Jingju?
There are various opinions, but no unified conclusion has emerged despite thorough discussions. Ultimately, the two most recognized theories are: One is that the Variety Arts Station wants to promote traditional culture, so they innovated in programming this year by inviting the rising star Qi Shejiang, who is also a new member of the variety arts scene—seems to have had a good effect, and everyone’s discussing it. The second is that Tang Shuangqin is paving the way for a film, leveraging his relationship with the producer to push Qi Shejiang to the Variety Arts Station’s Spring Festival Gala. Follow-up news may even see similar arrangements for a male or female lead role.
While the outside world is in an uproar, Qi Shejiang himself is in closed training and not accepting interviews. The media is inquiring everywhere, and when they asked Meng Jingyuan, he inexplicably said, “If I could push someone, why wouldn’t I push the Meng family’s disciples first?” True, although Meng Jingyuan clearly expressed his admiration for Qi Shejiang, it doesn’t reach that level. Some reporters creatively harassed Lin Yang, hoping for his insights.
