Standing on such shoes, jumping high, and landing steadily on the narrow wooden railing is not an easy task for Qi Shejiang, yet it had to be captured in one take. This was already the third take. Considering Qi Shejiang had another chance, the real Xiao Yinyue doesn’t have any chance for retakes on stage. It must be said that after practicing diligently for many days, he was indeed rewarded; this time, Qi Shejiang landed exactly right. Once he landed accurately, he couldn’t stop; he executed a sword flourish while walking on stilts on the railing, stabbing with the long sword as the soldiers staggered back, injured. “Good! Beautiful!” The audience below applauded and cheered loudly. The crew outside let out a sigh of relief; it worked. Just then, Tang Shuangqin shouted, “Cut,” marking the end of Qi Shejiang’s scenes! The applause continued, this time it was a collective cheer. Qi Shejiang bowed to everyone and took off the stilts. “Take it easy,” Tang Shuangqin came forward to support Qi Shejiang, “Good job, good job.” “There’s no choice; this is also Xiao Yinyue’s last scene in this theater, matching your mindset!” Qi Shejiang smiled and shook his head lightly. “Alright, go remove your makeup.”
Tang Shuangqin looked at him with satisfaction, “Wait, let’s take a group photo. I hope we have a chance to collaborate in the future.” Qi Shejiang also said, “If you plan to shoot a comedy-themed project one day, remember to invite me.” …… In the dressing room. “Master, how’s the matchmaking going?” Qi Leyang asked Qi Shejiang, who was removing his makeup. Qi Shejiang paused and glared at him, “What nonsense are you spouting?” “Hey, the media said they’re choosing a consort!” Mo Sheng also chimed in, “Isn’t this like matchmaking? I think you’re more serious than in an actual matchmaking scenario.” Qi Shejiang couldn’t help but laugh; he had no way to rebut. “It’s just that Uncle Zhang is kind of upset…” Qi Leyang muttered, “Master, you’ve officially wrapped; it’s been tough. Did all this come from what your mentor taught you?” Ever since Qi Shejiang’s mentorship was clear, everyone understood why he portrayed Xiao Yinyue so well; his “master” was a soulmate of Xiao Yinyue. Qi Shejiang smiled and casually nodded, “Yes.” “Master, didn’t the mentor share any untold stories about the Xiao Yinyue master?” Mo Sheng asked, squinting playfully.
“Qi Shejiang was just saying this when he suddenly remembered something. There was an incident years ago when a commander from the provincial government invited Xiao Yinyue to sing at his banquet for three consecutive days. As a result, news spread that his house was haunted, and for many years after that, no one dared to live there. In reality, it was just Xiao Yinyue, seeing how he bullied his servants, dressed as a ghost from a play, sneaking around to scare people.”
After he finished speaking, he watched the expressions of Mo Sheng and Qi Leyang.
Mo Sheng even took out his phone, tapped a few times, and said, “Master, not to mention his wife, even my mom knows about this. They’ve even made a TV show about it!”
He showed Qi Shejiang the search page.
Qi Shejiang said with regret, “Then there’s really nothing that remains unknown.”
Well, all those incidents from back then had been turned into drama and published online.
Now that Qi Shejiang’s filming had wrapped up, work immediately came pouring in.
After weighing his options, Li Jing offered him a music interview program to promote Qi Shejiang’s discipleship. There were other programs that offered more money and had higher popularity, but Li Jing had specifically chosen this one for him.
The program was called “Shui Diao Ge Tou,” named after a traditional poetic form, but mostly featured pop music, focusing on sharing musical works, experiences, background stories, and the singer’s journey, with several performances interspersed.
This time, having Qi Shejiang on was to promote traditional art, particularly because the related topics received a lot of public attention during the Spring Festival Gala.
During the discussions, the other party mentioned they would invite a surprise guest and would inform him in advance.
Without needing to say a name, Li Jing knew it would definitely be Zhang Yue, who was a significant figure related to the adaptation of the discipleship.
Qi Shejiang discussed it with Li Jing and decided to bring Mo Sheng along.
He was currently teaching two disciples about discipleship, and while Qi Leyang lacked Mo Sheng’s singing talent and hadn’t yet developed much, bringing Mo Sheng along would give him a chance to make an appearance.
This wasn’t difficult at all; Li Jing communicated with the production team, and it was all agreed upon.
Mo Sheng was very touched and couldn’t stop expressing his excitement. He and Qi Leyang had actually chosen to study under Qi Shejiang somewhat apprehensive about being judged. However, Qi Shejiang went so far as to tell them, “You two are not in a position to be picky; of course I’d take you along.”
Both of them didn’t come from the best backgrounds. Coming out of the quyi school, they likely would have ended up living from hand to mouth, following the usual path. With an opportunity right in front of them, they felt there was no need to be pretentious any longer.
Especially Qi Leyang thought that the two of them were actually quite close to their teacher. If they didn’t work hard and capitalized on his popularity, but ended up achieving nothing and still not making a name for themselves at their age, it would be truly embarrassing.
So, Mo Sheng went on the program while he continued to practice hard at home.
After finishing filming, Qi Shejiang took a three to five-day break before heading to record “Shui Diao Ge Tou.”
Because of the program’s nature, the live audience was mostly Qi Shejiang’s fans.
When Qi Shejiang arrived at the television station, fans were already waiting for him.
The fans were quite concerned about him.
Qi Shejiang couldn’t help but smile; this was already the second time someone had asked him about his “blind date” outcomes. He smirked and replied, “There’s a lead.”
The fans cheered loudly.
“Zhang Guifei? Are you talking about Zhang Yue?” Qi Shejiang asked.
The fans fell silent for a moment before answering in unison, “That’s him!”
Qi Shejiang mused, “When did he get promoted? I didn’t even know.”
He then walked inside.
…
Qi Shejiang and the host went over the script, took a short break, and the program was ready to begin recording.
Amidst the enthusiastic applause of the live audience, the host introduced Qi Shejiang, “Today, the musician we are presenting is different from the past; he performs traditional quyi and specifically, the discipleship, a genre that had been lost for over a hundred years. Please welcome the national intangible cultural heritage inheritor and xiangsheng performer, Qi Shejiang.”
As Qi Shejiang stepped onto the stage, he bowed to the audience before shaking hands with the host and taking a seat.
To start off the discussion about the discipleship, Qi Shejiang performed a segment of “Ten Questions and Ten Answers,” which he had sung during the Spring Festival Gala.
Listening live was a completely different experience compared to watching it on video.
At the start, some fans tried to sing along, showing their support for their idol. Qi Shejiang started to sing faster and the host laughed, saying, “Alright, you all can’t keep up!”
The fans laughed as well; it was clear that Qi Shejiang was doing this intentionally.
Qi Shejiang also had his disciples showcase a more relaxed segment from the discipleship and took the opportunity to promote Teacher Cen Wen’s xiangsheng school, as he would be teaching there.
Then they continued discussing the origins of the discipleship, how it was developed, almost lost, and finally absorbed by Gaoqu.
