“After eighty years, the faces of my master and senior brother are still etched in my mind; I have never forgotten,” Old Master Meng said. “Senior brother, even if you’ve changed your appearance, you are still you; your spirit, your demeanor…”
How could there truly be two identical leaves in the world? Even as master and disciple, or parent and child, how could they be alike to such an extent? They had been together day and night, and Old Master Meng found the answer hard to believe; still, it was the only explanation.
Today’s performance of “The Slaying of the Azure Dragon” had convinced him completely.
I’m old; now when I look at people, I see their essence. Senior brother, you haven’t changed.” Qi Shejiang revealed a bitter smile upon hearing this. He indeed hadn’t changed; for him, eighty years passed in an instant, and in that moment, his time folded in on itself. “I almost wouldn’t have recognized you.”
“Getting older, more wrinkles, huh?” Old Master Meng tightly squeezed Qi Shejiang’s hand. “Heaven still looks after me, allowing us to reunite. It’s wonderful!” This was a reunion after decades gone by with layers of misunderstandings, and all they could do was thank the heavens for at least a sliver of favor. “Yes, it’s good.” Qi Shejiang’s heart was filled with complex emotions that finally turned into a warm flow. To achieve a moment of completeness is good enough. . . When Qi Shejiang stepped out of the room, he saw a crowd gathered outside. Li Jing let out a sigh of relief and pushed Xu Siyu, “Quick, go notify Jessie.” He felt that Qi Shejiang’s eyes seemed a bit red and hesitated, looking back inside, wondering if the old gentleman was alright. “Nothing, I’m just preparing,” Qi Shejiang said as he wiped his face with a wet tissue.
Old Master Meng also slowly came out, looking somewhat composed, and mentioned, “I’m a bit sleepy, I’ll take a nap, wake me up when it’s time to perform.” Liu Quanhai quickly said, “You should rest at this time anyway, take a short nap. When Jingyuan comes down to take you home, they’ll still need to go on stage, surely late into the night.” Old Master Meng and Qi Shejiang exchanged glances, not saying anything further. Others looked at each other, all feeling that this old and young pair had talked about something extraordinary, it was just a feeling, no one really knew what was so extraordinary. … On the stage over there, Meng Jingyuan and Zeng Wenyu glanced at Xu Siyu signaling and both sighed in relief, wrapping up this segment. Amidst the applause, they bowed and left the stage. Before they could reach the edge of the stage, Xu Siyu had already come out, passing by the two and clasping hands in greeting, calling out, “Senior brother.” Xu Siyu stood in the spot next to the table meant for the humorous assistant, but there was no host to announce. The audience, seeing him come out so early, basically guessed what the program arrangement was.
Because, even though I look young, I’m actually of the same generation as them. Going back to my grandfather’s time, we are of the same generation with their ancestors, and we’ve worked together, all of us know each other. “My family has been doing this for several generations, telling crosstalk. Since I was five, famous actors in their thirties called me ‘Shiye.’ “I’m not bragging, but in the Huaxia crosstalk community, my generation basically walks everywhere with this level! “The crosstalk lineage starts from the founder to now and is ranked to…” Xu Siyu gesticulated animatedly, educating everyone on the generational issues in crosstalk, while casually bragging about how high his generation was. At this time, the audience’s continuous light laughter suddenly turned into enthusiastic cheers, “Oh, oh, oh—” Xu Siyu turned around in confusion and just then noticed Qi Shejiang had somehow made his way onto the stage, breaking into an awkward smile. He promptly swept aside his coat, knelt on one knee, clasped his fist, and loudly shouted, “Shishu!” The audience burst into laughter. How did the slapstick come so quickly? This routine they were pulling off was simply perfect; no one else could pull off this effect. One was young with a high generation ranking, the other was also young but from an even higher generation.
Qi Shejiang moved to the front, and Xu Siyu stood up, stepping back into position at the table. Qi Shejiang asked, “What were you chatting about earlier? Saying your generation is big?” “Hahahahaha!” Amidst the audience’s laughter, Xu Siyu repeatedly waved his hands, saying, “No, no, no, I’m not of a higher generation than you!” He got timid, and laughter surged again. “It’s fine, don’t be scared,” Qi Shejiang feigned nonchalance to the audience, “my partner here, aside from everywhere else, is just not much of a thinker when he talks.” His gaze fell to the audience, only to see the empty seat left for Xia Yiwei had been filled by someone. Wearing a mask with long curly hair, it was indeed Xia Yiwei who had hurried over. Xia Yiwei caught Qi Shejiang’s gaze and awkwardly nodded. Qi Shejiang felt warm in his heart; after all, Xia Yiwei showed up. This was the third thing that made him happy today—first was hosting the special performance, second was recognizing his junior brother. Xu Siyu exclaimed, “You picked me, so let’s skip the useless talk.” Qi Shejiang looked up, saying, “Still a bit unwilling, though. The selection of the concubine was rather hasty; I just settled for something similar, mainly because my family was pushing me too hard.” The audience responded with laughter. Laughter and teasing filled the air. They loved hearing this topic.
Xu Siyu turned to the audience and complained, “Do you really think there’s a throne to inherit at home?” Qi Shejiang added, “Cough, I’ve been single for quite a while, with no partner. At that time, my shishu said he would find me a humorous assistant. I didn’t really want it; I said what’s the use of having a humorous assistant if they’re just splitting my money? Can’t I just do a solo act?” Xu Siyu replied, “Solo acts are too competitive; now there are so many stand-up comedians.” Qi Shejiang shot him a glance, “That’s exactly why I started looking for a partner. My shishu held an open audition within the crosstalk community, and the humorous assistants who came to audition formed a line with their name tags.” Xu Siyu replied ambiguously, “You sure know how to have fun.” Qi Shejiang huffed, “This guy is number 23333.” “Whoa,” Xu Siyu counted on his fingers, “A five-digit number? Are there that many humorous assistants in all of Huaxia? Didn’t you check if some fans slipped in?” Qi Shejiang thought for a moment, “Now that you mention it, there were a few that looked like girls…” Some female fans chimed in, calling out, “Pick me!” “I can’t choose you; I only choose men,” Qi Shejiang responded. Xu Siyu leaned on the table and repeated, “Oh, you only choose men.” This subtle tone guided the audience, implying that Qi Shejiang liked men, which triggered a burst of laughter.
