Soon after Tang Ning entered the theater, the performance officially began, because Mei Lanfang's performance was the finale, so there was no change for the time being, so Tang Ning sent Dashan to bring people into the backstage to control several Taiwanese spies who planned to make trouble, and finally the whole performance was carried out smoothly.

However, in the interview after the performance, Master Mei Lanfang publicly said that he knew that there were many people who did not want to see him perform in Japan this time, some people threatened him in private, and some people planned to make trouble at the venue, but no matter what, he would not succumb to these coercion and temptations, and would definitely complete the tasks assigned by the party and promote friendly exchanges between the Chinese and Japanese peoples.

That night, Mei Lanfang personally went to the Songtian Group to invite Tang Ning to have dinner, so as to thank him for his help today, Tang Ning felt that this was a rare good opportunity to contact China, so he gladly accepted.

After the dinner began, Mei Lanfang took the lead in picking up a glass of wine and said gratefully to Tang Ning: "Today's incident is really thanks to Mr. Tony Downing's help, otherwise the result is really unimaginable......

Tang Ning also hurriedly raised his glass in return: "Master Mei is serious, with your identity, they don't dare to go too far, I just happened to be at the meeting and helped a little, I really don't deserve Mr. Mei to be like this." ”

Yoshiko Matsuda muttered on the side, "Boss, what are you talking about?" Why didn't I understand? ”

Tang Ning reacted at this time, he was taken away by Mei Lanfang's half-white words, and just wanted to explain, but Mei Lanfang clasped his fists and said: "I didn't expect Mr. Tang Ning's understanding of Chinese culture to be so deep, which really makes Mei admire." Mei Lanfang said the truth, he thought that Tang Ning came to the play just to join in the fun, and he could say hello like other foreigners, then he dared to claim to be a China expert. I didn't expect him to not only pronounce the standard, but also with a bit of archaic meaning in his words, you know, Chinese is known as the most difficult language in the world to learn, just from being able to master Chinese that has little to do with him so well, it can be seen that this Tony Downing is definitely not a simple person.

At this time, Tang Ning also knew that he had acted a little too much. So he rolled his eyes, thought about it, and deliberately exaggeratedly said: "I am very interested in Chinese culture, and I am not afraid of Mr. Mei's jokes, I can also sing Peking Opera." ”

As soon as these words came out, the rest of the people naturally coaxed Tang Ning to sing a paragraph, and Tang Ning was not polite, drank saliva, and moistened his throat. put on the shelf and sang: "The master of the horse looked closely, and it was written that Qin Xianglian was thirty-two years old, and she sued the court when she was a concubine, and he deceived the king and concealed the emperor, and the repentant man recruited the east bed to force Han Qi to kill his wife and son in the temple, and his conscience was mourned, and he pressed the paper to the lobby, and gritted his teeth, which one are you for!" ”

After Tang Ning sang this paragraph, people who didn't understand Peking Opera applauded desperately, because Tang Ning's big flower face just now was quite imposing, both in posture and singing, but everyone in the Peking Opera Troupe, including Mei Lanfang, had a little strange face, and they were a little reluctant to applaud.

Tang Ning naturally knew what the problem was, but he also deliberately asked Mei Lanfang: "Mr. Mei, how do you look at my big flower face?" ”

Mei Lanfang replied with an embarrassed face: "Mr. Tang Ning's Qin Xianglian sings accurately and with full momentum. But. However, you're singing a commentary. ”

Tang Ning naturally knew that what he was singing just now was not Peking Opera at all. Instead, he commented on Bao Gong's singing segment in the drama "Qin Xianglian", but he still pretended to be surprised and said: "Oh, is it? I always thought that this was Peking Opera, but today this is really ugly and ugly in front of Mr. Mei. (This song is rhythmic and full of momentum, even people who don't know opera can listen to it, I recommend you have time to listen to it.) ）

Downing did this to disguise his previous knowledge of Chinese culture. This is very abnormal, so deliberately showing off the ugliness will relieve everyone's suspicions.

At this time, Mei Lanfang also figured it out, and comforted: "Mr. Tang Ning is already very powerful, in fact, don't talk about you." It is that many Chinese sometimes can't tell the difference between Ping Opera and Peking Opera, and it is not easy for Mr. Tang Ning to sing correctly and fully in the middle of this Qin Xianglian's speech speed at such a fast speed. (The simple difference is that Peking Opera uses erhu, and Pingju uses banhu, and other laymen like me can't tell the difference)

Tang Ning continued to pretend to be stupid and said: "To be honest, Mr. Mei, don't care, in fact, my favorite in Chinese opera is this kind of excerpt that sings with a very fast rhythm and is particularly vigorous, I feel that it is very enjoyable to sing, but Mr. Mei, you sing one word for a long time, which is really unbearable." ”

This kind of remark is obviously setting off the atmosphere, everyone knows that Tang Ning is joking, so the audience burst into laughter, Mei Lanfang also said with a smile: "If Mr. Tang Ning is interested in this type of excerpt, it just so happens that Mr. Li Shaochun, who came this time, is a famous Bao Gong master, and you can ask for more advice when you have time." ”

With the good atmosphere at the beginning, the whole meal was enjoyed by the guests and hosts, although Mei Lanfang already roughly knew through friends that this Tony Downing was not entirely to save himself this time, but that he needed one thing to establish his authority when he was recovering from his injury, so as to save others from ignoring him, but through tonight's contact, his impression of Tangning was good, not to mention anything else, at least he really had a good foundation in Chinese culture, and he was smart enough, so he invited Tangning to have a chance to go to China before the end of the meal.

And Tang Ning is also more satisfied with today's situation, although he will never step into the country half a step before the reform and opening up, but through today's incident, especially tonight's dinner, he can barely be regarded as having a relationship with the country, in case there is really a day to return to China to invest, it can be regarded as an excuse.

After this incident, Downing believed that the embassy should strengthen the protection of the Peking Opera Troupe, so he left Tokyo and went to Ogura, although he had long known Higashino's thoughts, but he was confident that as long as he was still in the day, Higashino would not dare to move, because he had seen through this person, although talented, but resourceful and indecisive, not a person who did big things at all, so after inspecting a circle, he left Ogura and came to Guam.

PS: Continue to shamelessly canvass for the new book "The Great Banker of the Republic of China" here, asking for collections, rewards and recommendation tickets, and at the same time asking for subscriptions and monthly passes for 1946! (To be continued......)