“The aria was not sung correctly.” 

The smile on Mr. Xue’s face suddenly froze, and Xue Ling who was bowing on stage also froze.

Chu Mei Bo ignored Shen Huai’s gesture and stood up directly.

A lot of fans were discussing enthusiastically, but unexpectedly someone came to smash the stage. When they saw that it was a teenage girl, someone immediately mocked, “How old are you, little girl? Can you understand the performance? Stop fooling around!” 

Chu Mei Bo was not angry and said with a smile, “When you are young, you can’t understand the opera play?” 

“It’s not what I said, you…”

Xue Ling had a very high talent and since her performance in primary school, all she ever heard was praise. Especially for this song “Beating The Drum To Curse Cao” which she sang best. No one ever said her singing was wrong so rudely.

Her face flushed, and she couldn’t help but ask, “Then tell me, where on earth did I sing wrong?”

Turning her head, Chu Mei Bo raised her eyebrows and said, “This song is about Kong Rong recommending Mi Heng to Cao Cao. Cao Cao summoned Mi Heng but despised him, and ordered him to be a drummer in order to humiliate him. So Mi Heng beat the drum and scolded Cao Cao at the banquet. This play has been sung by various schools for many years. The performance of Yun Chuo Yi, who was a teacher at Yu School, is famous for its rich voice and pure charm, but its elegance does not lose its vigor.” 

When people heard her talking, they really understood the opera. They gradually lost their voices and continued to listen to her.

“Your singing and figure do resemble Yun Chuo Yi’s. It can be seen that you have studied hard, but you have lost your own spirit by learning her form. Yet you have not learned her essence at all.” 

Xue Ling said in a hurry, “You… You’re talking nonsense! “

Chu Mei Bo said with a smile, “For example, in this play, Mi Heng balances the arrogance of talent, there is madness and pride. He is a scholar who vents his anger to show that he values his name but neglects the matter of his life and death. This aria is wild and angry, he doesn’t want others to ignore his talent. He sings with the determination to die, so he is uninhibited, sharp and poisonous, and lets people hear it.” 

Chu Mei Bo paused, and seemed to say reluctantly, “After Yun Chuo Yi finished singing, although it was a cold day in September, all the people in the theater felt their blood boiling and applauded in unison, so she just remained standing. You sang too rigid and too gentle and lacked the scholar’s pride and heroism. If this can be called ‘Little Yun Chuo Yi’, Yun Chuo Yi is probably so angry that she has to jump out of her tomb.” 

Xue Ling flushed with anger, but she had nothing to refute her.

And the fans were also whispering under the stage. It was obvious that Chu Mei Bo really knew the ropes. More importantly, there were several senior fans who nodded frequently as she spoke, obviously thinking that she was right.

When Chu Mei Bo saw Xue Ling’s appearance, she could not help but feel disappointed and said lightly, “Yun Chuo Yi was the first female student at that time. She cannot have been unchallenged. If she had a temper like yours, she wouldn’t have become an opera singer, and I’m afraid she would have been driven out if she stood on the stage.”

Xue Ling couldn’t stand it any longer. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she directly went backstage.

Shen Huai sighed helplessly, holding his forehead.

Chu Mei Bo behaved very innocently, showing that it wasn’t her that went too far, but that it was just the little girl’s mental state that was too poor. 

Shen Huai said, “I really want you to act, but I didn’t bring you here to get angry with others. After she finishes singing, there is a small theater that also allows the audience to go onstage to sing. After the drama audition, I was going to let you have a try. Who would have thought you … “

Chu Mei Bo: “Then why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Shen Huai: “…”

How would he know that Sister Mei was so hearty that she would directly smash the stage on other people’s territory? Fine, the performance was one thing, but he also expected revenge now.

Shen Huai rubbed his forehead and thought that he could imagine how angry Mr. Xue would be upstairs. Even if Director Yu cherished talent, he would not ruin his many years of friendship for this. 

Shen Huai felt that this opportunity was blown off and was ready to leave with Chu Mei Bo. 

But when he saw a head sticking up upstairs, Yu Chen said with a smile, “Would you like to come up for a cup of tea, little girl?” 

Chu Mei Bo and Shen Huai looked at each other with surprise and went upstairs together. 

Some of the people sitting next to Mr. Xue and Director Yu, she had seen their photos before, so she recognized them at a glance.

Although Yu Chen called them up, he did not speak to them for a while.

Instead, Mr. Xue said, “Little girl, have you learned opera before?”

Chu Mei Bo hesitated a little and said vaguely, “I have learned a little.”

Mr. Xue shook his head solemnly, “You can recognize these things. You haven’t learned just a little bit. Don’t be modest at a time like this.”

Chu Mei Bo didn’t speak. If they knew that once she had the same master as Yun Chuo Yi, they would be scared to death.

Mr. Xue didn’t care, and he slowly said, “You are right. I always thought that I was immersed in Beijing opera over the years. No one knows Beijing opera better than me, but I didn’t expect that I could be seen so thoroughly by a little girl like you.”

Before that, Shen Huai had also let Chu Mei Bo know that Mr. Xue has been promoting Beijing opera all these years. Even at his advanced age, he was still working hard for it, which was worthy of admiration.

Chu Mei Bo always held a respectful attitude towards these old artists, even though she may be older than this old gentleman, but his spirit was enough for her to respect him.

When Mr. Xue finished talking with her, he sat down to think.

Yu Chen just asked, “Your name is Chu Mei Bo, isn’t it?”

Chu Mei Bo nodded.

Yu Chen said with a smile, “I thought my itinerary was confidential, and I didn’t expect it to be known so easily.”

Shen Huai just opened his mouth and took the responsibility himself.

He acknowledged it readily and apologized, so Yu Chen could not hold on it any longer. After all, his trip here had not been kept secret, and many people knew about it.

Yu Chen looked at Chu Mei Bo and said, “You seem to have done a lot of research on Yun Chuo Yi.”

Chu Mei Bo nodded, from everyone at the scene, she was afraid no one knew that woman better than her.

Yu Chen asked several questions about the early deeds of Yun Chuo Yi, which Chu Mei Bo was able to answer one by one. These sources were not easy to find. If he hadn’t researched Yun Chuo Yi a lot, even he himself might not have known. What Chu Mei Bo knew was about the early days of Yun Chuo Yi. If he had asked about her later days, even Chu Mei Bo would have been confused.

Yu Chen was very satisfied and let Chu Mei Bo sing a song on the spot.

In singing, Chu Mei Bo was naturally not comparable to Xue Ling, but her momentum was far ahead of Xue Ling’s.

On a whim, Yu Chen directly took out the screenplay for the audition. It was about Yun Chuo Yi’s experience when she decided to go to the north to study opera. She abandoned her existing reputation and started from scratch for the sake of art, this kind of momentum and pursuit of artistic fanaticism. Yu Chen could see it in Chu Mei Bo’s performance.

Now, Yu Chen is also entangled. 

He really wanted to give this role to his friend’s little daughter, but Chu Mei Bo’s performance was so good that he could not help hesitating.

Mr. Xue seemed to read his mind and said seriously, “You don’t have to worry about me. You can use whoever is the best.”

Xue Ling had just taken off her makeup and came in at this time. When she heard him say this, her eyes became red again, “Dad!” 

When Yu Chen saw that Mr. Xue was not offended, he nodded, “Mr. Xue, I’m sorry.”

When he finished, he called his assistant, “Tell the little girl from the troupe, she doesn’t need to come to the audition.”

He reached out his hand to Chu Mei Bo and said “Congratulations, I hope you can do so well next time too. Don’t let me down.”

Chu Mei Bo gently held the other’s hand and smiled, “I will live up to your expectations.” 

Mr. Xue also seriously said to Chu Mei Bo, “You are very talented, and I can see that you have some skills, but it should be that you haven’t practiced for many years, and become a little rusty.” 

This made Chu Mei Bo a little embarrassed, she really had not practiced for “many years”. 

Mr. Xue: “If you can, I hope you can come to Mujiang often in the future. If you want to learn opera, I will teach you. Don’t waste your talent.” 

Xue Ling was indignant at first, but hearing Mr. Xue’s words, she hurriedly said, “Dad!”

Mr. Xue patted her on the back of her hand and said sincerely to Chu Mei Bo, “Your acting skills are very good. I believe that in time, you will become a very good actress. I believe you will also like Beijing opera. If you can, I hope you can promote Beijing opera. I thank you on behalf of the people of Liyuan.” 

After he spoke, he unexpectedly stood up and bowed seriously to Chu Mei Bo.

A few people nearby were shocked. Chu Mei Bo and Shen Huai hurriedly helped him up.

Chu Mei Bo felt some pain in her heart. She watched Beijing opera from the most prosperous time to this point. This kind of the vicissitudes of life made her feel very sad. 

She also earnestly assured Mr. Xue, “You can rest assured, I will work hard for this.”

Mr. Xue smiled with relief.

Yu Chen also felt very emotional. He was not the kind of director who only pursued fame and fortune. He still had some feelings in his Heart. At the beginning he was willing to take over such a variety show because he hoped to see the traditional culture and history of the Chinese nation accepted by the young people, to let them understand history, know its rise and fall, understand honor and disgrace. 

However, he didn’t want to see the atmosphere become so dignified, so he played a joke with Shi Ren and sang a song to make the atmosphere relaxed again.

After that, he told Chu Mei Bo about the shooting time, and asked the assistant to contact Shen Huai. Then they separated.

Although Xue Ling has accepted the reality, she is full of resentment, unwilling to put up with it.

When Chu Mei Bo was leaving, she took a hateful look at her. “If you dare not act well, I will not let you go.” 

Chu Mei Bo: “…”

She said that she had a grudge against all the people and things related to Yun Chuo Yi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDII4wzH5HY – Beating The Drum To Curse Cao song

Edited by : Mochi Rabbit

Proofreader: Taalia

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