But when it came to specifics, he felt that his skin was not as thick as Qi Shejiang’s. The media and the public were still unaware, but within their own crew, they knew that the musical score had already been set with Zhang Yue. Zhang Yue glanced at Qi Shejiang several times. Today, Qi Shejiang didn’t need to wear costumes; he was dressed in formal attire of that era. Qi Shejiang stood there with his hands behind his back, surrounded by passing technicians and cameramen, as well as actors playing with their phones. However, Zhang Yue felt that Qi Shejiang was uniquely out of place among others, shrouded in a kind of sadness that even he himself was unaware of. “Hello, Shibo! Happy New Year!” The next moment, a loud greeting from Mo Sheng and Qi Leyang rang out from behind.
Zhang Yue suddenly came to his senses and awoke from that illusion, pulling out two red envelopes from his pocket. It wasn’t even the festival yet, but juniors had to give red envelopes to convey New Year’s wishes. “Thank you, Shibo, we are grateful to you day and night!” Mo Sheng, after receiving the envelope, wanted to say something cheeky. “Go to hell,” Zhang Yue kicked at him, completely unceremonious with Qi Shejiang’s disciple. At this moment, they had nothing to do, so they accompanied Zhang Yue to wander around, just like Tang Shuangqin said, to interact with the artists. There were several performers of the big drum at the set; big drum performances were quite popular at that time. When there were no scenes to act in, they would sit together and sing a few songs. Zhang Yue noticed that Qi Shejiang could also introduce them to him. If they were to talk about the early years of big drum artists’ circumstances, he understood better than those genuine big drum performers, having come from that period.
” Qi Shejiang paused and said, “There’s also this in our xiangsheng’s Taiping lyrics.” “Yes, yes, there is!” Mo Sheng chimed in. “Do you know this too?” After Qi Shejiang finished speaking, he pursed his lips. Just like in ‘Lu Ya Jue Gong Ming’, it should belong to a unique genre, so how much other work had been borrowed when he wasn’t aware? “Master, how about you perform a segment? We’ve heard you sing Taiping lyrics live before,” said Qi Leyang. Mo Sheng promptly took out the jade board used for accompanying Taiping lyrics. Qi Shejiang might not have brought it, but since they were xiangsheng performers here, such props were always carried with them. Qi Shejiang took the bamboo board and casually tapped a rhythm, creating a lively sound. “To all the passing stage brothers and script sisters, if you have nothing to do, let me sing a segment for you…” Some idle onlookers chuckled and stopped to watch the live performance. . . Old Master Meng had not been out for a long time. Today, accompanied by the doctor, Meng Jingyuan, and Luo Xia, he emerged from the courtyard. He had recently been recovering well, which allowed him to come out. But to be safe, the doctor accompanied him. The producer personally came to pick up Old Master Meng, knowing he was going to the set. “
“Old Master, take it slow getting into the car.” The producer helped him into the vehicle and exchanged polite words with Meng Jingyuan and the others before everyone got in, with the doctor and Meng Jingyuan riding with Old Master Meng.
“Grandpa seems to be in good spirits today.” Meng Jingyuan felt that ever since they had that talk, his grandpa’s condition seemed to have greatly improved, and he appeared more animated.
Old Master Meng touched his collar. “Yes, I’ve got strength now. It feels comfortable to come out for a walk; otherwise, I’d feel like I’m lying in a coffin all the time.”
“Don’t say such things; you still have to watch over the younger generations and help them succeed,” Meng Jingyuan said.
He took out his phone. “Didn’t you say last time that you wanted to hear Jesse sing? I have a clip of his performance at a variety show. Shall I play it for you?”
Old Master Meng nodded. “Go ahead, play it louder. Your screen is too small; I’ll just listen.”
Meng Jingyuan clumsily opened the video, but he wasn’t too familiar with dragging the progress bar. At first, two segments of other performances came up before finally Qi Shejiang took the stage.
“But I only saw on the left side of the tent a horse with horns, scales beneath its belly, standing eight feet tall with a back length of twelve feet, a red hare that gallops a thousand miles a day; on the right side of the tent a heavy nine hundred pounds divided into three sections, a fine iron dragon with a wide open mouth, holding pearls in its maw and clanging on golden rings while red tassels sway…” Old Master Meng raised his chin and listened intently, and even after the video finished, he remained lost in thought for quite a while. “Grandpa?” Meng Jingyuan gently called out. Old Master Meng blinked, his eyes already moist. “This is it, a children’s book. This is ‘Ten Questions and Answers’, right? But the tune sounds different from what I’ve heard before; is it a different style?” Meng Jingyuan hurriedly replied, “Young people have adjusted some of the singing styles to better suit the current aesthetic.” “The adjustments are quite good. It has a bit of the flavor of the quick percussion, but it’s faster, sharper, and more lively and fresh,” Old Master Meng had a good grasp of the nuances, and he immediately caught the essence. Meng Jingyuan nodded repeatedly.
In ‘Zha Mei An’, there’s a segment, “The prince comes to observe closely,” which is a quick tempo of the painted face. There are even faster ones, like in ‘Si Lang Tan Mu’ when in the palace they sing, “You and I have deep mutual affection,” or “Couples sit and talk deep feelings” in ‘Duan Mi Jian’, all of which are popular quick tempos.
Upon arriving at the film crew, Tang Shuangqin had already received the news and came out to greet them, accompanied by a cameraman, as Meng Laoyezi had come, and it was certain that the entire process would be recorded. “Hello, Laoyezi, how’s your health?” Tang Shuangqin excitedly greeted Meng Laoyezi, “I was looking forward to your arrival but also worried about disturbing your rest.” “I’m doing well, just following Luo Yatou to enjoy your film shoot. I’ve seen your movies…” Meng Laoyezi appeared in good spirits and spoke a bit more. While speaking, Tang Shuangqin guided him forward to meet the actors. When they reached the open area where the crew members were resting, they saw a circle of people gathered around, with sounds of bamboo clappers coming from the center as someone was dressing up and singing Tai Ping lyrics.
