Chapter 509 Variety Show: The Audience is Also an Actor

The next morning, I was woken up by the ringing of my cell phone. I thought, did I oversleep? Is it urging me to get up?

I sat up and picked up the phone, but it was Dongzi's voice that came:

"I'm bothering you so early in the morning. Why don't you leave in the morning?"

"Yes, let's go after breakfast."

"I have to go to work, and I'm afraid I won't have time after work. I have two bags of rice to give to you. Can you come out and meet me at the Xiangyi intersection?"

"Rice? You buy rice to eat too, why are you giving me rice?"

"This is an experimental variety produced by Xiaomei's institute, called Black Rice No. 1. She insisted that I give it to you."

As soon as I heard it, I felt that Liang Xiaomei had listened to it last night. I must take this rice.

"Then wait for me at the intersection. I'll be there in ten minutes."

I immediately got up, washed, and dressed, then walked to the living room where I ran into the nanny. She asked in surprise, "You're up so early?"

"I have something to do outside."

She called me and said, "Hey, breakfast is being prepared. Don't eat outside."

As I walked away, I said, "I'll come back to eat."

I was afraid that Dongzi would be late, so I ran all the way. When I got to the Xiangyi intersection, I saw Dongzi standing by the curb, looking around.

I drove over and stopped. He came over with a bag in each hand and I took the rice from him.

He said, "Let's not talk any more. I have a meeting this morning." Then he turned around and went back to the car, hit the rear hazard twice, and drove away.

I put the rice in the trunk and examined the packaging. It was a type of rice not yet on the market. It had rice ears printed around the edges, with "Wuxiang Agricultural Science Institute Experimental Variety" printed underneath and "Black Rice No. 1" printed in the middle.

The rest of the bag is transparent, and you can see that the rice grains are smaller than usual and shiny black.

After getting in the car, I sent a WeChat message to Dongzi:

"Thank you and Xiaomei. I'll leave one bag for Master's family. If you have time, you can come visit Master's family. He still remembers you and talked about you yesterday. He knows you work at the city government."

After sending the WeChat message, I drove to my master's house. I parked the car, picked up a bag of black rice, and walked into the backyard, where I ran into my master.

I smiled and said, "This is Dongzi I mentioned yesterday. He called me early this morning and asked me to go get some rice. One bag for you and one for my parents."

The master was taken aback and said, "Oh, thank him for me."

I accompanied Master for a walk outside on the grounds. After a while, I heard Master's wife calling us back for breakfast at the door.

After breakfast, I was about to go back. Master and his wife walked me to the gate. His wife said:

"You should come here more often. Sometimes, while sitting here, your master would suddenly say, 'I wonder what Shanhong is doing now.'"

I said, "I haven't done enough. I haven't made enough calls."

"Don't call. It would be great if you suddenly appeared in the study like yesterday."

I nodded and said, "Please stay, I'll come visit you another day."

After getting in the car, I rolled down the window and waved to them. They waved back at me.

I left the yard, took the ring road, and then the highway. It took less than two hours to reach Shangzhou. I drove into the city until I reached Zhuangyuan Street and found a place to park.

After buying a few boxes of gifts, I took out the "mobile toilet" from the trunk and walked towards Shu's hometown.

Walking into his yard, Mrs. Shu was tending to the flowers and plants. I called out. She straightened her back and said in surprise, "Shanhong?"

"Mr. Shu should be at home."

"Yes, come in." She dusted off her hands, walked in quickly, and called out, "Lao Shu, Shanhong is here."

Mr. Shu was sitting in the living room. He stood up and said with a smile, "What brings you here?"

"I was shopping at the supermarket and found a household item. I bought two and I'll give you one as a gift."

Mrs. Shu washed her hands, made a cup of tea, and asked, "What utensils are needed?"

I laughed out loud: "It's not suitable for display in formal places. Take it to your room and open it to have a look." After that, I handed her the two plastic bags.

Mrs. Shu left. Mr. Shu said, "Sit down."

The two sat down, and Elder Shu said, "My cousin just left and said you made a suggestion for her son, asking him to learn acupuncture with me."

I smiled and said, "Yes, yes, yes. You teach him, and I will take him to the Philippines later."

"The Philippines? I was just about to ask you about that."

I told Mr. Deng about my investment in a hospital in the Philippines.

Mr. Shu was very satisfied: "This is great. It will allow traditional medical skills to go abroad."

"Liu Jinning's hands were born for acupuncture, or perhaps he inherited the bloodline from your maternal grandparents."

Mr. Shu was even happier. Then Mrs. Shu came in and said to Mr. Shu, "Guess what Shanhong bought?"

Mr. Shu shook his head.

Mrs. Shu said, "Things are becoming more and more scientific these days. They're very practical. In an old courtyard like ours, there's no sanitation. Sitting on that thing keeps you warm in the winter, and it's easy to clean."

Mr. Shu guessed what it was and said, "Shanhong, you are so attentive."

Mrs. Shu said, "Come here for lunch at noon. Xiaoting will be back soon."

I thought about it and said, "Okay. I haven't seen her in a while."

Mrs. Shu went to the market, and I chatted with Mr. Shu. About half an hour later, Shu Xiaoting came back and saw me. She was surprised and said, "Teacher Wan..."

Mr. Shu was unhappy and said, "Teacher Wan, Teacher Wan, just call me brother. Do you think he is an outsider? He is more attentive to us than you are."

Shu Xiaoting smiled and said, "Dad, your advice is good. Brother Wan, what bribe did you give my dad? It made him unhappy with me."

I smiled and said, "No."

Mr. Shu asked, "What are you doing here today?"

Shu Xiaoting said: "Plan a program and go to the Media College to select fans."

I asked, “Choosing fans?”

Shu Xiaoting said, "Yes. I'm not a reporter anymore. I'm a planner. The program recordings require a live audience."

I nodded.

"A lot of people want to go to the event, but most people can't get in. We have regular organizers, who are college students. They organize the audience, and they're also students. I have to check and approve it."

"What's the point of this? You're in college now, so you should be able to follow the rules."

Shu Xiaoting laughed: "Brother Wan, you are a completely different person. There is so much to learn here."

Mr. Shu stood up and said, "You guys chat, I'll go for a walk outside."

I nodded to Mr. Shu, then asked Shu Xiaoting, "Then can you tell me about the art of being an audience member?"

Shu Xiaoting counted on her fingers and said, "Television is a beautiful art, right? The audience can't be too ugly."

"Oh, first of all, you have to choose your appearance."

"There are two levels of appearance. The beautiful, photogenic ones sit in the front row so the photographers can get closer shots. The less attractive ones sit in the middle and back."

“No wonder when you watch TV, not only are the people on stage beautiful, but there are often stunning faces in the audience.”

"Secondly, we still have to choose actors with acting talent. When the actors are performing, the audience laughs. In this case, we should choose audience members who are beautiful and have bright smiles, and give them some close-ups."

"Oh, I understand now. No wonder I didn't laugh when watching the show, but the audience laughed so happily. It turns out it was all directed by the director."

Shu Xiaoting stood up and added water to my teacup, then said:

"You don't understand it all yet. Smiling is okay, I might be able to capture it in one go. But filming crying is the hardest."

"cry?"

"Yes. For example, a celebrity might say on stage that she hasn't spent New Year's Eve with her mother in five years in order to perform on the Spring Festival Gala. When she wipes away tears, she might be genuinely sad, and someone in the audience needs to be moved too."

"She hasn't spent New Year's Eve with her parents for five years. Is it for fame and fortune? She wants the audience to be moved and cry with her?"

"Yes. The audience in the audience should have chosen in advance the type with the lowest tear point. As soon as the star on stage wipes away tears, there will be audience members in the audience who are moved to tears, like pear blossoms with tears."

I said, "Wait a minute, let me smoke a cigarette and calm down."

I pulled out a cigarette, flicked the lighter, and took a deep drag. Then I exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "There are some laughing and some crying, but nothing else, right?"

"Also, there must be applause."

"Leading applause?"

"Yes, for example, when it comes to applauding, you can't just applaud whenever you want. It can't be sporadic. It has to be enthusiastic. There are people who lead the applause, and only when they applaud can you applaud."

I burst out laughing. "I was thinking of going there to experience it firsthand. But after hearing your introduction, I'm not going anymore."

"Is there more to it than that?"

"Any further requests?"

Shu Xiaoting took a sip of tea and said, "The show is only presented to the audience for a little over an hour, but the live audience may spend three or four hours rehearsing. Even going to the bathroom has requirements."

I said, "I understand. If a few people go out to the bathroom every now and then, the whole place will look unsightly. It must be full."

"Yes. You can only go to the bathroom at the same time. Repeat the shot until the director is satisfied."

I sighed, "So the audience is also an actor."

"By the way, we can't always have the same old faces. We need to constantly mix in new people. This isn't fakery; it's about letting the audience see our best side."

"I understand. No wonder when I watch TV, all I hear is good news and all I see is beauty and sweetness."

She laughed so hard that she started to laugh.

After she finished laughing, she suddenly slapped her thigh and said, "How can it be so good?"

I don't understand.

Then she told me something and asked me to be her advisor.