Chapter 118 I Want to Act

Ren Limeng's initial idea was simple. She wanted to get close to Director Liu of the Fanhua Troupe, and then show off her basic Huangmei Opera skills. She successfully got a small role as a waiter, which allowed her to cope with the afternoon live broadcast and satisfy her acting addiction.

In the remaining time, she can introduce the Fanhua Troupe and the daily backstage life of Huangmei Opera in the live broadcast.

As a host, it would be too easy to point the live camera at other people. Ren Limeng knew clearly that her popularity was not enough to support a live broadcast room with 30 guests recording at the same time, so she decided to find another way.

Huangmei Opera is her forte, and facing the camera is a familiar part of her daily work. She is confident that she can leverage Huangmei Opera's strengths and weaknesses, and even allow more audiences to see the A and B sides of Huangmei Opera. Like Meixiang Theatre, Ren Limeng also wants to do her best to contribute to the dissemination and inheritance of Huangmei Opera.

Apart from deliberately creating hot topics to attract traffic, Ren Limeng believes that she and Huangmei Opera are enough to stand out. Her professional qualities and the opera culture that has been passed down for thousands of years are enough to cope with any situation.

But Ren Limeng never imagined that Captain Liu, whose face was filled with shock the previous second, would roll his eyes and blurt out directly the next second, "Since you have learned Huangmei Opera, then it's great, you can be the leading actor!"

"Liu Tuan, are you kidding me?"

Ren Limeng's smile froze slightly. If she hadn't gotten to know Captain Liu well enough along the way, she would even have reasonably suspected that Captain Liu had quietly mastered the challenge and drama that variety shows needed most.

Apart from her debut performance in "Mountains and Seas" combined with Peking Opera's "Yu Tang Chun", she hasn't been on the opera stage for many years, let alone a professional Huangmei Opera performance?

"How many years have you studied Huangmei Opera? Your movements are quite stylish!"

"I practiced for almost fifteen years when I was a kid, but that was more than a decade ago. Liu Tuan, my current job is a host."

Ren Limeng's smile was a little complicated. She emphasized her profession, her bright eyes looking at the red gun in her hand, and slowly put it back into the mottled and old prop box.

"Well, we're still farming now. This is all for our own amusement. You can do it without any problem!"

Captain Liu waved his hand nonchalantly, but when he heard the word "fifteen years", his eyes lit up. He looked carefully at Ren Limeng, who was tall and graceful in front of him. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that his idea was brilliant!

The three famous troupes, Fanhua Troupe and Meixiang Theater, were trying to make a fool of themselves. The so-called program recording even changed the audience for the sake of fairness and justice. Their actors, stages, props and even makeup were not at the same level as Meixiang Theater. Instead of losing badly in the afternoon, they might as well choose the recording guest in front of them.

He is also a Peking opera actor who has practiced since childhood. Many people in his troupe may not be able to persist for ten years!

The more Captain Liu looked, the more satisfied he became. His face was almost overflowing with amiability, which was completely different from the hint of impatience he had at the beginning of the reception. Ren Limeng felt that Captain Liu was deliberately speaking in a softer voice.

"How old are you, little girl? I thought you were only twenty. You look so young! You see, most of the actors in our troupe are already in their forties or fifties. They should learn from young people like you!"

"Thirty-two, Liu Tuan."

Could she say that she would be 40 in a few years... Captain Liu even said such fake and polite words. Ren Limeng realized that even if he was just speaking on impulse, he was serious at this moment.

Can she do it?

Ren Limeng couldn't help but ask herself. Apart from her first reaction of rejection, Ren Limeng couldn't deny the slight restlessness in her heart at the moment.

This is Fan County, Meishi. She has familiar friends and teachers in all directions of the ancient city, as well as... her mother. Standing in such a special place, playing the leading role in a Huangmei Opera is something Ren Li couldn't even imagine. It's too exciting!

But it's too tempting!

Apart from the imaginable program effect, Ren Limeng had to admit that for the huge benefit of attracting fans, Captain Liu's slightly hasty suggestion was like a mysterious and tempting jadeite, constantly knocking on the depths of her memory that she thought she had long forgotten, and an impulse of desire surged again and again.

She wanted to act.

Ren Limeng clenched her hands unconsciously and looked at the mottled and rusty red tasseled spear not far away. The tassel was broken, the shaft was worn, and it felt rough and clumsy in her hand, but it could still be used on stage and become an indispensable prop for actors.

Why can't she do that?

Even though she is already 32, she is not sure about her performance in front of live cameras. She doesn't know if she can perform the splendor of her youth, but she wants to give it a try!

She is not even in her seventies or eighties, why is she so cautious?

She has put so much thought into so many things, but for this one, Ren Limeng only cares about herself and all the feelings at the moment, just to live up to the basic skills that she has persisted in for so many years even though she knew it was useless.

Behind her first stage performance, which took less than 48 hours, was more than ten years of secret practice that she had never given up, and the path she had come from that she could not let go of.

Ren Limeng had long been clear that she now only wanted to be an excellent host. She and her mother had argued countless times over her giving up Huangmei Opera, and she had never made a single argument.

But only Ren Limeng herself knows that she has never given up Huangmei Opera.

She chose to change her career and is now doing what her heart desires, but she loves and persists in more than one thing.

In addition to hosting, she has spent almost all of her free time practicing acting over the years. She hasn't performed on stage for many years, but over the years, she has never lowered the standards of her practice.

She always comforted herself that as a host and with her talent for singing opera, she would surely be able to bring more surprises to the audience. However, only when it was late at night and everyone was asleep could she silently admit that she just couldn't let go of Huangmei Opera.

Especially after she grew up and divorced Shen Xingzhi, she inexplicably found that she could fall asleep peacefully by listening to music when she suffered from insomnia, as if she had returned to the beginning of everything.

Just like now, she obviously had many ways to refuse Captain Liu with a clear conscience, such as the first half of the live broadcast had to be filmed in the training room for performance practice, and she had no time to put on makeup, but Ren Limeng finally asked only some light and polite words.

Rather than saying she was sincerely refusing, it would be more accurate to say that she subconsciously just wanted to pave the way in front of the camera. After quickly questioning herself, Ren Limeng's eyes finally became firm. She looked at the dull red tasseled spear in the prop box, and suddenly a bright smile appeared in her eyes.

Perhaps she had waited too long for this stage without realizing it.

Ren Limeng didn't want to tell her parents or old friends that she didn't "hurt Zhongyong", or anything else. She just wanted to put on a show, singing in a long-lost accent in a familiar place... just as a greeting to her young, troubled and confused self.

Tell your past self that she is doing well now and will be even better in the future.

"Oh, how can you be so burdened at such a young age? Just act! Now, let's go to the venue. Which play are you familiar with? Our troupe can handle all the classic plays. We're not all professionals, so don't feel pressured!"

Captain Liu patted Ren Limeng's shoulder gently, spoke earnestly, and then made the final decision on the matter. He took Ren Limeng back to the actor training ground.

This time, Ren Limeng was not only a recorder of the troupe, but also a participant on the stage. She clearly felt the blood in her body boiling for the first time in a long time.

She had practiced the classic Huangmei Opera repertoires hundreds of times. It was just a play, but Ren Limeng believed that she could perform her role well!

Captain Liu's sudden idea completely disrupted the program team's plan. When Dong Zhu hurried to Xishi, Ren Limeng had already finalized the play with the actors in the troupe.

"Then let's go with 'The Female Prime Minister'! This play is very famous and always has the largest audience. We should choose a well-known play for the competition. We'll listen to Xiao Ren!"

After Captain Liu finished speaking decisively, he casually arranged the roles. The seemingly disorganized troupe of actors immediately took action. Their incredibly efficient action made Ren Limeng secretly raise an eyebrow... It was indeed completely different from the performance process of Meixiang Theater!

But she likes it very much!

She must not let down!

Ren Limeng took out her cell phone, searched for the familiar sheet music of "The Female Prime Minister", and was about to go through it carefully when she suddenly heard Dong Zhu's voice.

"Captain Liu, I heard you're going to let Li Meng play the leading role? That's too risky! This afternoon's live broadcast, all footage will be directly in front of the audience, so we have to be cautious and responsible! Li Meng is the host, even if she learned Huangmei Opera years ago, I'm afraid she's forgotten everything. You can't joke with the reputation of the troupe!"

Dong Zhu didn't dare to joke about the reputation of the program. She hoped that the guests could come up with new ideas, but she couldn't afford for Ren Limeng to cause a live broadcast accident.

After listening to the report from the headset staff, Dong Zhu's eyes went dark, and he immediately rushed over from the stage of the Qianfang Troupe in Dongshi where Shen Xingzhi was, with a forced smile in his words.

"It's no problem! We all went through this when we were young. There was no time to prepare. We just went for it! I just tested Xiao Ren, and her basic skills are much more solid than ours back then. She'll be fine!"

Captain Liu waved his hand nonchalantly, his mouth almost grinning to the point of dancing with joy. He turned to look at Ren Limeng, "Xiao Ren, are you really changing your career now? What a pity! I think I've found a treasure this time!"

"Captain Liu, please reconsider. Li Meng... was very impressive back then, but the competition is a competition between the four major troupes. Isn't it inappropriate for Li Meng to participate? Director Dong is also worried about the controversy after the show airs. He's thinking about you!"

Li Chuyue also came with Dong Zhu. Li Chuyue and Han Tai participated in the recording of Qianfang Troupe and Yunsheng Troupe respectively. Under the arrangement of Meixiang Theater, they will also play important roles in the afternoon performance, but the protagonists of the three major troupes are all national first-class actors of their respective countries.

Li Chuyue happened to be passing by at that time. She was so shocked to hear that Ren Limeng would be the leading actress that she almost dropped her jaw. She couldn't help but take the initiative to ask to go with Dong Zhu from Qianfang Troupe to Fanhua Troupe.