Erquan Yingyue (short story) Zhang Baotong

Ah Bing lived in the spiked shoes of Yang Lao Qi for three or five days, and then came to the door of the Wu family with the erhu, but as soon as he sat in front of the house and pulled up the erhu, the laundry maid came out, and when he saw that there was no one around, he said to Ah Bing, "This brother, the fourth aunt and the master have lived in Shanghai, and I don't know when I will come back." Don't wait any longer. Ah Bing was stunned when he heard this, because he knew that after a long time, people's hearts would slowly change. However, Ah Hong was not there, and he had no choice but to go back with a sad and disappointed mood.

Ah Bing returned to the town, packed his clothes, and without stopping for a moment, he came to the dock and took a boat to Yangzhou. However, when he arrived in Yangzhou, the troupe had already left two days ago, and he didn't know where he went. Ah Bing couldn't, so he had to take a boat back again.

lost Ah Hong and left the troupe, which suddenly put Ah Bing in a predicament. In order to vent the anguish in his heart, he sat alone on the edge of the canal for several days, constantly pulling the erhu, expressing the cynical agitation and sorrow in his heart. Because this is the most important support for his life and life.

Ah Bing continued to bring the erhu, pipa and bamboo flute into the Meiyuan Tea House to play. But without Ah Hong's singing, the content of performing arts and singing has been reduced a lot. Therefore, the people who come to listen to music and watch plays at night are far less than they used to be. When there were fewer people listening to the music, the business of the tea house was affected. The owner of the tea house could not stop thinking of other ways to attract business.

That afternoon, Ah Bing was playing chess with Yang Laoqi, and the owner of the tea house sent someone to inform Ah Bing, saying that a singing and commenting troupe from Suzhou was going to perform in the tea house, so that he didn't have to go to the tea house to perform at night.

When he doesn't play in the Meiyuan Tea House, Ah Bing goes to play in other small teahouses. However, due to the popularity of the opera troupe of the Plum Garden Tea House, people all went to the Plum Garden, and few people came to this kind of small teahouse with light business. As a result, Ah Bing's performance was very affected, and sometimes he barely earned much for several nights in a row.

That day, Ah Bing went to the Meiyuan Tea House to watch other people's opera troupes sing. The drama troupe is not a serious drama troupe, and the level of acting is not very high, but the rapping tunes and singing dramas can cater to the audience very well. Especially those women who sing are not only young and beautiful, but also laugh and laugh when dealing with the unreasonable troubles of the bastards, and they are very calm and generous. Because there are many people who go to the Meiyuan Tea House at night, sometimes they can't even occupy a seat when they go late. Ah Bing realized that in fact, people don't come here to enjoy opera music, but just to have fun.

On the night of mid-autumn, the rich family likes to be elegant, fiddling with some style and elegance, setting up a large square table in their own courtyard, putting some exquisite moon cakes and refreshments, the family sits around the table, listening to songs and music, watching a full moon rise into the night sky, feeling the poetry and romance of the mid-autumn night. Therefore, at this time, the artists who sing the violin are invited to help the fun.

Ah Bing was invited to a wealthy merchant in the salt business. After dinner at the house, it was already dark. When Ah Bing arrived at the edge of the rockery in the backyard with the erhu, pipa and bamboo flute, there were already some male and female servants sitting on benches waiting to listen to the music. So, Ah Ping sat down on a chair set up for him, began to tune the piano and test the strings, and then began to practice some tunes.

After a while, the old man was surrounded by a group of aunts and wives and walked from the small building. Everyone hurriedly stood up and greeted each other respectfully. The old man was about fifty years old, fat, staggered when he walked, and with a crutch, he walked to the table and laboriously sat down on the Taishi's chair, and said, "Everyone sit." So the six or seven aunts who followed sat down on either side of the old man in order.

When everyone sat down, the old man said to Ah Bing, "I heard that you are known as the little heavenly master among the singing artists, so today you will brighten up all the tunes you are good at, let me listen to them." Ah Bing nodded, and began to play "Autumn Moon on the Peaceful Lake" with a bamboo flute. However, before the song was finished, the young and delicate aunt who was clinging to the old man's side waved her hand very impatiently to Ah Bing, and said, "Stop, stop, what kind of tune is playing, it's so boring." ”

Ah Ping doesn't just see playing as a way to earn money and make a living, but at the same time, he feels that playing music itself is a kind of spiritual healing and emotional enjoyment. Therefore, he always puts his heart and soul into playing each piece of music, and strives to dedicate the most beautiful music to the audience. Therefore, the last thing he can tolerate is to be interrupted by others, so that he feels like a servant who is called by others. But he knew that he was invited by the family, and he couldn't help but listen to what they said, although he was unhappy, he still took the flute away from his mouth and waited for someone to speak.

The little aunt stood up and pointed at Ah Bing and said, "You to sing that song "Waiting for the Wrongdoer" Ah Bing has heard others sing this song in the past, but he is not impressed, and he also feels that playing this kind of song is a kind of debasement of his personality, so he shirked it and said, "I am not familiar with this song, I can't." But the aunt said, "You're still acting, and you don't even know this kind of music." Come, let me teach you. I'll sing it first, and you follow the accompaniment. As he spoke, he began to sing, "But when the enemy says a word, it will either hurt me or hurt her." If you want to hurt me, you should say a word of confidant, and if you want to hurt her, let's throw it away as soon as possible. Pat your conscience and weigh your own house, why is a intestine hanging in two times? ”

But when she finished singing, seeing that Ah Bing didn't react, she said to Ah Bing in a tone of self-satisfaction and lesson, "Let me tell you, I also sang and bought art in the past, if you mention my name Yang Xiaojuan in Yangzhou City, no one will know." I heard that you are also a famous artist in Wuxi City, why don't you even know what kind of music others like to listen to, and what kind of music they don't like to listen to. ”

said, and sang again, "In the fifth watch, the sky will be bright, and the people on the street are noisy." Calling the lover to get up quickly, outsiders can't hear it. Don't panic, don't be busy, don't wear slave clothes by mistake. The slave's clothes were red and embroidered, and the sleeves of his brother's clothes were long. Hugh wants to panic, Hugh wants to be busy, hand in hand to send the lover. Send Lang to the river, and tell the lover with tears in his eyes. Beat you today, scold you tomorrow. Beating slaves and scolding slaves are all for you, and you can't give up your skin and flesh. Send Lang to the edge of the imperial garden, and take out two strings of money from his waist. One shew with thee to hire a donkey to ride, and the other with thee to entangle. Send Lang to the head of the jade bridge, holding the railing and looking at the water. The water flows to the sea, and the dew husband and wife do not end. Send Lang to the cross slope, and it will not be much more than a few miles. If someone interrogates him on the way, he will say that his sister will send his brother. When will the two of us meet again? The two will meet again in mid-February of the following year. ”

As soon as the aunt finished singing, the old man said, "Ah Bing, I didn't say you, your tunes are old-fashioned, and no one likes to listen to them." Why don't you be smarter, learn to be smart, sing some sour songs, and make money easily. But Ah Bing said, "I don't like that kind of song." The old man said, "It doesn't matter if you like it or not, the important thing is that others like it." What's the use of just liking yourself, you can only earn money if others like you. ”

The aunt also said, "Selling art is the same as doing business, whatever you can buy for money is good." You still don't understand this? I won't tell you the truth, I used to be in Yangzhou, when I didn't earn two or three yuan a day? This money just made some people unable to earn a month. ”

When the old man saw that Ah Bing was silent, he said to Ah Bing, "Okay, okay, don't say anything, you continue to play for everyone." Stop fiddling with the old stuff, though. Ah Bing said, "That's not an old-fashioned thing, it's a swan song for the ages, an art treasure." But the old man still waved his hand and said, "What is the art treasure of the eternal swan song, I say that it is old-fashioned." ”

As soon as the master said this, those ancient music classics that Ah Bing regarded as treasures seemed to have become worthless and old-fashioned, while those vulgar and low-level songs that he regarded as male thieves and female prostitutes stealing chickens and dogs have become a fashion after tea and dinner, which is simply a mockery and desecration of art. However, he still endured the humiliation and played the Jiangnan minor tune "Jasmine" with an erhu. As soon as the song ended, the old man was really impatient, and said to Ah Bing, "Ah Bing, don't you really know how to play some happy and interesting tunes at all? I'm afraid that even ordinary townsfolk sisters can sing a few of these songs. You can give us a few more pieces of these songs. ”

Ah Bing was already annoyed that the people of the master's family interrupted and instructed him casually, but he held back no matter what he said, and now that the master insisted that he play those tunes that he didn't like at all, he felt that he was being called around like a servant hired by someone, so he felt that his pride had been greatly hurt. He immediately got up from his chair and said to the old man in an angry tone, "I don't know any of the tunes you say, and I don't like them. Ask someone else to go. As he spoke, he picked up the pipa and bamboo flute beside him, and didn't want any money, so he swaggered towards the door. Behind him, I heard the old man scolding angrily, "You don't know how to lift." ”