There are several major districts in Beiping City, and each city district has a Japanese military police station, and it is the military police headquarters that asked Liyuan to take Xi'er to perform.

Master Long is well-known for resisting Japanese devils in the industry of old artists in Beiping, and he often tells others, ** We ordinary people can't help much in the war, but the feelings in our hearts must be kept, and we can't lose our Chinese's face for eating a bowl of rice.

So in the past, when the Japanese asked Master Long to take his apprentices to perform, Master Long either pretended to be sick, or let the corner of the apprentice hide. In order not to act for the Japanese, he even dismantled the stage in the Liyuan Courtyard, sealed the box and boycotted the performance before the New Year, and did not open the box until the last day of March 18 after the New Year.

It was not easy to have a skill in mixing food in those years, and I couldn't just give up my skills that I had practiced for many years in order to resist the enemy. The proud apprentices in the pear orchard all went out, and the remaining savings were not enough to support the closed disciples under their hands for a lifetime, so they simply recruited some more closed disciples and cultivated a generation of successors, not to mention, the pear orchard is the birthplace and main hall of Peking Opera, if no one supports the pear orchard, and the future comes to the underworld, the ancestor should also be blamed.

Master Long didn't want his closed disciples to show up too early, these years, the trees are high and easy to break, he thought that the pear orchard could last a few more years, and when the apprentices grew up, maybe the Japanese would be beaten away. At that time, it will be the time when the new class of Liyuan will come out of the mountain, and the entire Beiping City and even the opera industry will be shocked, and the last batch of apprentices he trained will be enough to shine in history.

Xi'er's talent and talent make Master Long extremely proud, and at a young age, there are many spectators who are sought after by the audience, and the reward given is no less than that of the famous Jiao'er, but he didn't expect Xi'er to be targeted by the Japanese so soon.

Master Long was stunned for a moment when he received a message from the Japanese military police headquarters, and before he could think of a countermeasure, a car drove to the door in the afternoon.

Three green cars were blocked at the entrance of the pear orchard, and Master Long and the pear orchard housekeeper glanced at each other, watching the children being brought to the car one by one, and they couldn't hide if they wanted to.

The people who picked up the Liyuan opera troupe were Japanese soldiers from the Qiantang Town Military Police, and they received the notice from above to drive to Liyuan, and after picking up the people, they had to go back to the local garrison headquarters and the leaders of the gendarmerie to say hello.

At that time, his father, who was working in the gendarmerie, watched the green car pass by the construction site and thought that another group of laborers had been arrested, but when he heard the child's cry, he looked inside the car and saw Jiang Sheng holding his hands in the car, looking at him expressionlessly.

"Jiang Sheng, why are you here, what's going on?" The father hurriedly put down the work in his hand and ran out of the construction site.

The Japanese soldier in charge of guarding the detention pointed a gun at his father, who raised his hands and asked, "That's my son, Imperial Army, why are you still arresting the child when this happened?" ”

My father read the newspaper almost every day to learn about the situation in the country, and he had read a report about the Japanese army's human experiments, and he was afraid that Jiang Sheng would never return.

After Master Long, the Liyuan housekeeper and a group of Liyuan disciples were sent to the Japanese military police headquarters, two Japanese soldiers were first searched for fear that they had sharp weapons and guns hidden on their bodies, and then they were allowed to enter.

Master Long came out to greet Master Long was a middle-aged man in a Japanese military uniform, leading a child about eleven or twelve years old in his hand.

"Father, these are the Shina you want to invite to sing?" The child asked.

The middle-aged man did not take care of the child, but stepped forward and said in fluent Chinese: "Master Long, in Shimoda Nakawu, I have heard Master Long's name for a long time, like thunder, I am fortunate to see it today, I am not welcomed, please inside." ”

"Dazuo is polite." Master Long smiled embarrassedly, he had long heard that Takeshi Tanaka was a person who loved to listen to opera, and the corners of several theater buildings stationed in Beiping had also been invited to perform in the gendarmerie.

"Who is this gentleman?" Takeshi Tanaka asked, pointing to the pear orchard housekeeper next to Master Long.

Master Long said: "The housekeeper of our pear orchard, Master Guan, is with me to take the apprentice." ”

Master Guan held his glasses, his forehead was scared into a layer of sweat, and he smiled at Takekan Tanaka.

Takeshi Tanaka nodded and said, "That must also be an old artist who knows how to play, please inside." ”

Master Long and Master Guan were invited into the hall, and the light inside was slightly dim, and the scent of sandalwood faintly came from it.

Two handmaidens in kimonos removed the wooden door and bowed their heads, while Takeshi Tanaka led the children to invite Master Long and Master Guan in, while the disciples of Liyuan were blocked from the door.

Takeshi Tanaka said: "This time I mainly want to ask Master Long about some doubts about Peking Opera, I think Master Long's apprentice should be able to take charge of himself alone, don't you have to look at the face painting?" ”

"That's not it, Tanaka Daisa, you take a seat." Master Long said, taking advantage of Takeshi Tanaka turning around, he looked back at Hu Xiaomeng, Hu Xiaomeng nodded, and a group of Liyuan disciples were led into the locker room by two Japanese soldiers.

After a while, some important personnel of the Japanese gendarmerie entered the hall one after another, and the two maids served tea to the people present one by one, Master Long and Master Guan were both people who had seen the world, not to mention characters like Uncle Qin in Tangkou, even the down-and-out prince Baylor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, or the pear garden master like Mei Lanfang, and when I was a child, I saw the senior brothers of the pear garden sacrifice their voices for Cixi Lafayette.

Singers are most afraid of stage fright, not to mention that he is a master who teaches singing, Master Long is not cowardly, he is afraid that his apprentices will have problems.

Master Long taught how many generations of Liyuan disciples, used to be famous for his violent temper, more than ten years ago he killed a little apprentice by mistake, and he has been thinking about remorse, he was beaten much heavier when he was a child than the child is beaten now, and if he is not beaten hard, he will not become a talent, and then there is a little apprentice in front of him who scolded him for being cold and inhumane, so angry that he wanted to hang the apprentice on a tree and cut it, and wiped his neck in the blink of an eye when he ran to the kitchen.

Since the beating, Master Long has punished his apprentices a lot more lightly, especially in the generation of Xi'er and Jiang Sheng, since the pear orchard was opened, there has been no one who has not been beaten.

"It's still light." Master Long lamented in his heart, he was afraid that which apprentice didn't know the rules, and now he would come, and he didn't have time to say a few words, just begging not to lose face, let alone cause trouble.

Takeshi Tanaka sat on the upper seat of the hall, he looked at Master Long with the celadon teacup in his hand and said: "The tea ceremony has always been one of the essences of Chinese culture. ”

Master Long picked up the teacup in front of him and said, "I usually drink some hairy tips, but I never study them." ”

Master Long said this sentence is to be soft, you can't go to other people's territory and press people down with your three-inch incorruptible tongue, and it is also offending people to reluctantly suppress it, and people will think of other troubles.

"Hmph, China will only sit in the well and watch the sky, and its own culture is not thoroughly understood, but it is studied thoroughly in my Great Japanese Empire, which is more than a hundred times better than you." Said a Japanese officer on the other side.

Master Long said: "I'm just a teacher of singing, and the imperial army prefers me to say that tea really can't say anything, tea is tea, and if you talk about it more, it won't change the taste, but it will add to the snake." ”

"Master Long seems to be an interesting person, unlike those pear garden masters invited before, who speak like the Tao." Takeshi Tanaka said with a smile. "It seems that Liyuan Peking Opera is the most authentic only here with Master Long."

"Don't dare, now I'm sixty years old, and these apprentices haven't opened their voices yet, I don't know what kind of drama Tanaka Osa wants to listen to, I'm afraid that my apprentices won't be familiar with singing and make jokes." Master Long said.

Takeshi Tanaka said: "The repertoire I want to listen to has been listed, presumably Master Long's senior apprentices are also ready to go on stage, let's wait for a while." ”

So Master Long and Master Guan chatted with Takeshi Tanaka, and after a while, someone came to inform that the troupe was ready to go on stage.

The first to come on stage was Hu Xiaomeng, who painted a martial arts face, and sang "Lin Chong Running at Night".

Master Guan secretly said badly, and whispered: "Men are afraid of running at night, women are afraid of Sifan, why did they come to such a difficult place first?" ”

"Look and say, you can't say no, the jar should know how to do it." Master Long replied.

Although Hu Xiaomeng is a martial artist, Lin Chong is a martial arts drama from the traditional Kunqu Opera, and the test of singing skills is great, and the figure and expression are extremely complex.

Because it is not a special stage, and the accompaniment is only a drum master, it is a great test for Hu Xiaomeng, who is singing on stage for the first time, but under normal circumstances, he sings sonorously and vigorously, and dances well.

After the play, Takeshi Tanaka clapped his hands and praised, and said: "Wusheng Lin Chong, vivid, Master Long, in my opinion, this apprentice of yours sings more quintessentially than those famous horns before, I think he is older among your closed disciples, presumably your eldest apprentice?" ”

Master Long nodded and said, "It's Long's eldest apprentice." ”

"In this way, I am looking forward to the child named Xi'er even more, they all say that he is a natural little drama bone, everyone praises him, and he must not disappoint me." Takeshi Tanaka said, looked at Hu Xiaomeng, and said, "Xiaolin Chong, since he is Master Long's big apprentice, it is better to sit down and enjoy tea and play together."

Hu Xiaomeng was so tired that he was sweating, so he answered and stood aside.

"Dazuo is asking you to sit down." An officer glared at Hu Xiaomeng and scolded.

So Hu Xiaomeng sat next to Master Guan on the ground, and the officer said: "Are you blind, can't see how others sit?" ”

The Japanese etiquette sitting posture is to sit on the knees, Hu Xiaomeng glanced at the sitting posture of everyone, and said: "I can't bend my knees, I'm used to sitting flat, and I can't kneel." ”

"Then let me teach you!" As he spoke, the Japanese officer stood up and drew his katana from his waist.

Takeshi Tanaka looked at the officer, motioned for him to sit down, and then smiled at Master Long and said, "Master Long, your apprentice can't bend his knees, it seems that someone has to help him." ”

Master Long and Master Guan were both scared and sweaty, Master Guan pulled Hu Xiaomeng's trouser legs, and Master Long said: "It's not wrong to learn other people's etiquette and culture, don't ask me to give you color outside." ”

When Hu Xiaomeng heard this, he had to learn to sit on his knees, and Takeshi Tanaka was satisfied, so that the performance continued at the door.

The second one to come on stage was Xi'er, and he sang "The Drunken Concubine".

Master Long and Master Guan both breathed a sigh of relief, this song is one of Xi'er's best Beijing opera, not to mention vivid, at least it can be sung freely, Xi'er sang tactfully and frustratedly, every movement and expression was just right, everyone couldn't help but admire, when he finished singing a song and retreated to everyone, the child who had been sitting next to Takeshi Tanaka said: "This young lady sings really well, but I don't know why she has to paint her face like everyone else?" ”

Takeshi Tanaka said: "Xiongchuan, Peking Opera face is an important component of Peking Opera, didn't I tell you? Moreover, the people who sing Peking opera are all men, and this Xi'er is the rumored little drama bone in Beiping, and he will become the most famous actor in Beiping in a few years. ”

"It turns out that the young lady is a boy, and she actually deceived me, no." Yukawa Tanaka said and got up and walked to Xi'er. "I'm going to see what he really looks like, how he can be a boy."

Tanaka Yukawa grabbed Xi'er and walked out as he spoke, Xi'er was frightened, called out to the senior brother, and was pulled out of the hall by Tanaka Yukawa.

"Xiongchuan is my son, and his curiosity is heavier, so he just took Na Xi'er to wash his face, and we continued to listen to the play." Takeshi Tanaka said.

So the house continued to sing, and now Master Long, Master Guan and Hu Xiaomeng were not beside the half-grown children, Master Guan rubbed his hands, and Master Long also pinched a cold sweat, for fear that something would go wrong.

Whatever you are afraid of, the new disciple on stage has only finished singing halfway through when there is a burst of scolding outside, accompanied by the cry of a child.

Takeshi Tanaka heard that it was Yukawa Tanaka's voice and asked the soldiers at the door to go over to take a look, and then Yukawa Tanaka walked in with his face covered and cried.

"Father, that Xi'er beat me!"