"Sister Shaoyao, do you think Mr. Night Watchman will really come?"
"I saw your photo in the newspaper! You don't look very old."
"Although he's a little ugly...but my mother said that it's safer for men to be ugly."
"Sister Bai, have you seen Mr. Night Watchman? Does he really look like the one in the newspaper photo?"
"Hey! Look, is my makeup smudged?"
Bai Shaoyao looked at the chattering sisters with a smile, and did not expose their little thoughts. They were just joking, after all, everyone here knew that it was impossible. They were just a bunch of fallen women, and Mr. Night Watchman deserved better.
When she thought about meeting the night watchman whom she had admired for a long time, her thoughts drifted away. It is no exaggeration to say that the reply letter from the night watchman changed her life. From the letter, she rekindled the spirit that had disappeared for a long time.
She was not a complete bitch. There were still people in this world who would not despise her, who were willing to listen to her patiently and tell her some truth from the bottom of their hearts. For her, who had lived in men's lies since she was a child, the truth was a scarce commodity. So she also cherished the advice given to her by the night watchman - he asked her to learn to read and write from the prostitutes, and she did so.
Maybe there was a god who heard her prayers. She finally got lucky. She met Xue Dashuai at a banquet. Maybe it was because it was too rare for a prostitute who liked to study, or maybe it was because of a whim, but no matter what, Xue Dashuai redeemed her and she became his third concubine. She tried her best to please him and finally won Xue Dashuai's favor.
The sisters all envied her good luck, but she was not so optimistic. As the saying goes, beauty fades before age, and who knows how long Marshal Xue will love her? That's why she had to seize this rare opportunity, study hard, and enrich herself with knowledge. In this way, even if Marshal Xue got tired of her one day, she could still support herself with her own ability.
Adapting Mr. Night Watchman's "Memoirs of a Famous Courtesan" into a play was her most daring attempt. When she first heard the story of "Memoirs of a Famous Courtesan", she had an urge to turn it into a play. This is a story about prostitutes, and she wanted to let this story be staged and seen by more people.
So she boldly sent the letter to Mr. Night Watchman. For many writers, having a prostitute act in a play adapted from their novel was a great shame, but she somehow felt that Mr. Night Watchman would not care.
As expected, the master didn't care. Not only did he readily agree to this in the letter, he also required all the actors to be prostitutes! This incident caused a sensation among the sisters in the Eight Great Hutongs, and countless people came to apply for roles. However, because their freedom of life was still limited by the brothel, most of the actors Bai Shaoyao chose were prostitutes who had already turned over a new leaf. Although they all knew that this play would bring a lot of trouble to the actors, they still chose to participate without hesitation.
Because prostitutes have collectively lost their voices for thousands of years in Chinese history, this drama is a rare channel for them to speak out, and it is of great significance to them!
"Madam, Mr. Li is here." The servant's voice came from outside the door. The originally noisy backstage dressing room suddenly became quiet. A few seconds later, there was a burst of screams and chaos.
Bai Shaoyao's thoughts were interrupted. For a moment, she couldn't help but nervously tug at her skirt and looked at herself in the mirror.
Mr. Li had no choice but to decline the Marshal's invitation that day due to his illness. She knew that Mr. Li was in poor health and had suffered a lot in prison this time, so she naturally hoped that he would take good care of his health and did not dare to bother him with matters related to the drama.
Therefore, the teacher had never reviewed their play even once during the rehearsal. Although she had sent the script to the teacher before and he had given it a high evaluation, she was still unsure because the original author had never seen it in person.
Today is the premiere day of the play Memoirs of a Prostitute. She had naturally sent the tickets to her husband long ago, but she had always been worried that he would not be able to come due to health reasons. Now that she heard that he was really coming, not only her, but all the actors were excited.
They must give their best performance to the gentleman!
…
Led by their attendants, Le Jing and Li Shuran passed through the surging crowd and sat down in the first row.
If he hadn't received a free ticket as the original author, he really wouldn't have been able to buy a ticket this time.
The premiere of Memoirs of a Famous Courtesan was particularly popular. Firstly, the gimmick of the all-prostitute cast made this play popular before it was even performed, and it caused a sensation in the city of Beiping. Secondly, it was the golden signboard of Marshal Xue. It was said that this play was adapted by one of the Marshal's concubines, and this concubine also played the leading role! Such a rare event naturally had many people wanting to watch the excitement. So the theater was crowded with people in the early morning.
Le Jing sighed in her heart that Xue Dashuai was really the Republic of China version of a domineering president. In this era, there are so many men who hate women to go out and show their faces, and most prostitutes hide their previous identities after they become good women, for fear of being embarrassed if they get out. Xue Dashuai not only supported Bai Shaoyao and her sisters in performing a drama, but also let her be the female lead. Xue Dashuai's love for Bai Shaoyao can really be described as true love.
Le Jing didn't have to wait long before the stage lights dimmed, the announcer came on stage, the curtain slowly opened, and the play finally began. He also withdrew his thoughts and began to immerse himself in the performance.
It was a wonderful experience to watch my own work being performed on stage in the form of a drama. Even with the critical eyes of the original author, Le Jing had to admit that they performed the work very well. If they did not have a deeper understanding of the original work, they would not be able to perform to such an effect. Perhaps because the novel is about the lives of prostitutes, these girls brought the story to life!
What kind of story does "Memoirs of a Famous Courtesan" tell?
Since it is called a memoir, the article naturally begins with the memories of a famous prostitute.
The story begins on an evening with a magnificent sunset. The former famous prostitute Bai Moli is too ill to receive customers, so she is carried to a mass grave by the brothel madam and the guys in the brothel, who plan to dig a hole and bury her alive.
It was under such circumstances that Bai Moli recalled the first twenty-three years of her life.
Bai Moli came from a wealthy family when she was young. During one of her outings, she was abducted by human traffickers and sold to a brothel.
Girls like them were treated as rare treasures by the madams because of their outstanding looks. They were brought up as ladies from noble families, and were proficient in all arts, such as music, chess, calligraphy and painting. They were the top singing girls in the first-class brothels. Bai Moli was lively and cheerful, spoke fluently, and was very popular. However, her innocence ended when she was 13 years old. Since then, her life took a sharp turn and rushed towards the depths of hell.
Every Qingyin class has to hold a ceremony to break their virginity at the age of 13, and auction their virginity. Bai Moli began to experience many men. Because she is cheerful and optimistic, she is good at finding joy in adversity, and Le Jing also wrote many humorous paragraphs in it.
For example, the man who took her virginity was a playboy who promised to redeem her in the future. Bai Moli agreed happily on the surface, but secretly rolled her eyes and thought, "The beauty of learning is that it confuses people; the beauty of poetry is that it incites men and women to cheat; the beauty of women is that they are stupid without regrets; the beauty of men is that they can lie even in broad daylight. If I really believe your lies, then I would be the stupidest woman in the world."
Bai Shaoyao, who played Bai Moli, performed this psychological activity in a monologue, and the audience immediately burst into laughter. Le Jing heard a lady sitting next to him laughing with her best friend: "You see, it is true that men's words are deceiving. So don't agree to Mr. Zhao's pursuit so easily, you should test him a few more times."
His companions nodded repeatedly in agreement.
An old scholar behind Le Jing scolded, "What nonsense! It's all fallacy!"
"Dad, you're laughing until tears come out, so stop pretending."
Another audience member said: "I have only seen Night Watchman's "Rat Eyes Look Down on People" before. The writing style and meaning are very profound. I didn't expect that his jokes can be so funny. He can even do crosstalk directly."
"Huh? Was this play written by the Night Watchman?"
"It's adapted from the novel of the same name. My friend works in the printing office and he said the novel Memoirs of a Famous Courtesan will be published in a few days!"
"Oh, then I'll have to buy a copy to read."
The audience burst into laughter, but the story on stage continued.
The fact was just as Bai Moli expected. The young master soon got tired of her and fell in love with another Qingyin girl again. That girl even came to show off to her. Bai Moli couldn't help but say to her sister earnestly, "A few days ago, Master Wang's father said he wanted to redeem me as a concubine. I guess it won't be long before I become Master Wang's stepmother. Since you are now with Master Wang, Chunhong, come and call me 'Mom'."
As soon as these words were spoken, the audience burst into laughter again.
Le Jing didn't smile.
He just suddenly remembered a sentence said by a famous writer who committed suicide by jumping into a lake: "I want to write the saddest tragedy, full of shameless laughter."
Memoirs of a Courtesan is a tragedy told in a comic style. The core of comedy is tragedy.
Amid the audience's laughter, the drama on stage continued in an orderly manner.
Among the prostitutes, Bai Moli was undoubtedly a peculiar one. She did not complain about herself, nor did she bother to engage in intrigues. She had a generous and cheerful personality. When she was not receiving customers, she would read, write, play the piano, and paint. Although she was the most humble prostitute in the world, she was free and easy like a hermit in the mountains.
Such a sunny, optimistic and indifferent woman, but fate has never been kind to her.
She didn't believe what men said, but only believed in her own efforts, so she worked hard to save money to redeem herself and have a free life. But if a prostitute wanted to make more money, she could only accept more customers. In order to make more money, she was not picky about customers, as long as she paid enough money, she would accept any customer.
She soon contracted syphilis and fell from the top Qingyin class to a second-class teahouse, and finally to the dirtiest and cheapest brothel where she paid only one dime for a night's sleep. Even some of her sisters who knew her well called her a slut and a whore, saying that she would sleep with anyone for money and that her current situation was just what she had brought upon herself.
Sadly, even though Bai Moli worked so hard to earn money, she still didn't save much. The madam and her servants stole her belongings many times. When her hometown was hit by a serious flood, she actively donated money and materials. Because a beggar looked like her sister in her memory, she spent money to support her to go to school...
So even though she worked hard to take on clients and make money, she was still very poor and her freedom was nowhere in sight.
Gradually, the laughter from the audience died down. Even though Bai Moli was speaking wittily, not many people laughed this time. Some people even cried softly.
Then comes the sunset at the beginning of the story, which is also the end of the story.
Bai Moli lay in the dirty mud, ending her long memories. She looked up at the beautiful sunset in the sky with great effort, and heard the cold conversation of the madam and the waiter. She suddenly remembered that when she was young and her family was still well-off, she also had great ambitions and dreamed of becoming a wonderful woman like Qiu Jin. But fate was unfortunate, and she and they were all floating duckweed, unable to control themselves. So at least let her choose the way to die in the end.
She used up her last bit of strength to get up, feeling that she had never run so fast in her life, and then she jumped into the moat in the setting sun, laughing amid the angry curses of the procuress.
The play itself strictly follows the plot of the novel, with only some minor changes. For example, Bai Moli has an extra monologue before jumping into the river. She turns around and laughs at the brothel owner and the waiter who are chasing her: "You lose! I am free! I have suffered all the hardships in this life. In the next life, I will be happier than all of you!"
Then the narrator softly read out the last sentence of the original novel: "Look at the gorgeous sunset and the clear lake, how much it resembles the peaceful present world."
For a moment, the theater was so quiet that only low sobbing could be heard.
The so-called tragedy is to tear beautiful things into pieces and show them to people.
Such beautiful white jasmine cannot survive in this filthy world.
As happily as the audience laughed before, they are now as angry and... ashamed.
Everyone watched in silence as the heavy curtain fell and never rose again.
I don’t know how long it took, maybe a dozen seconds, maybe a minute, when suddenly a loud curse came from behind: “What a fucking society!”
Then, sporadic applause sounded from Le Jing's side, and soon spread to the entire theater. The audience stood up and turned their anger into thunderous applause, as if they wanted to lift the roof of the theater and turn into nine-day divine thunder to kill all the evil in the world and restore China's true peace and stability.
The author has something to say:
What Bai Moli said about the beauty of poetry came from an internet joke, and the source is no longer traceable.
Lao She: I want to write the saddest tragedy, filled with shameless laughter.
Lu Xun: Tragedy is to tear beautiful things into pieces and show them to people.
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