Chapter 35: Sounds at Midnight
It's no wonder that even a god-level figure like Lu Shaolong couldn't handle this kind of brain-dead fan who dares to sacrifice himself.
Thinking of this, Su Yun looked at his master who had suffered so much with heartache.
Lu Shaolong didn't notice anything and was still urging everyone to eat and drink more, saying that it was a rare happy night and it would be best not to get drunk. The drunkard look of that group of people made Su Yun frown.
She was too young to drink alcohol, and she had been in the crew for so long that everyone treated her as one of their own. Even if she asked to drink, those rough men who at least had a little bit of refinement in them would not let her drink. Most of the Dragon and Tiger martial artists came from opera troupes, and naturally there would be a few senior sisters and junior sisters in the troupe, so they were accustomed to taking care of their senior sisters and junior sisters when they went out since they were young.
Therefore, at the table, the following extreme situation will basically occur when people are asked to drink: Oh? You want me to drink a bottle? Okay, I will risk my life to accompany you! (In fact, most people just want to drink and just go along with it...)
However, if someone else was the one who was persuading me to drink—what?! You persuaded my senior sister/younger sister to have a drink?! Do you think all these brothers and sisters here are dead?!
Traditional thinking is that righteousness comes first. If someone dares to tease a fellow apprentice who is like a sister to one's family, not only will the entire troupe rise up to demand justice for their own people, but people in the underworld will also criticize them.
Besides, the female disciples in those opera troupes also practiced martial arts. Just the target of this one's teasing was enough to make these brainless guys drink a bottle of wine.
Su Yun, who could only eat silently at the table, was bored for a while. When he saw the names of the people on the program list, his eyes suddenly lit up: "Master, I have two friends performing here tonight. I'm going to the backstage to visit them!"
Lu Shaolong was busy entertaining people with various drinks, so he just waved his hand in response.
So Su Yun strolled into the backstage and soon found the Mei sisters who were talking to a tall girl among a group of well-dressed people.
The three girls were all wearing the same clothes, probably to be the backup singer and dancer for the famous singer Xu Yanmeng.
Su Yun went up to say hello, and learned from the Mei sisters that the tall girl was called Guan Quqing. Because of her mature appearance and voice, she was nicknamed "Big Doll", which means a big doll.
Su Yun nodded: As for this person, people who often watch TBB TV series know her - she is the singer of the theme song of the "Heart of Greed" series, and also the actress who plays the role of Aunt Sa in the drama.
However, this time she sneaked into the backstage, not only wanted to visit the Mei sisters, but also wanted to take a closer look at the legendary Xu Mengmeng.
There are two legendary female singers in Hong Kong and Taiwan. If Teresa Teng is the representative of Taiwan, then Xu Yanmeng is the representative of Hong Kong. Su Yun has watched the video of the two of them singing on the same stage many times.
Seeing Su Yun staring at a stack of autographed photos in a basket beside her, the Mei sisters explained, "These are gifts that Sister Meng Meng will give to the audience after she finishes singing."
Su Yun hummed, and was looking forward to going back to the stage to grab autographed photos when a man in a host suit suddenly exclaimed, "Sister Meng Meng, what's wrong with you?!"
Su Yun looked over and saw Xu Yanmeng, who looked very slender and charming in a black fishtail skirt, sitting on a chair in the corner with a look of pain on her face. She waved her hands towards the host with difficulty: "It just became like this suddenly..."
Although Xu Yanmeng is famous for her "red bean paste throat", her voice has always been thick and low-pitched since her debut, but it is so hoarse that there must be something wrong with her throat.
“Go make some voice-enhancing tea!” The host, who was used to seeing singers “losing their voices” due to various reasons, hurriedly asked the handyman to get some medicine, and then shouted, “Send the next performer to replace Zhao Yinyin!”
It takes at least ten minutes to boil the medicine, and another ten minutes for it to take effect after drinking it, so they have to hold on for at least half an hour!
Just when the Kaisheng tea was about to be brewed, Zhao Yinyin and several other singing and dancing performers hurried into the backstage: "There are a lot of people outside clamoring for Sister Yanmeng to come out, and they are saying that if Sister Yanmeng doesn't come out, they will make a scene because our restaurant is fake!"
Upon hearing the news, the restaurant owner who had been standing by Xu Yanmeng's side and asking about her well-being stomped his feet in anger: Xu Yanmeng was particularly popular, and he had finally defeated a group of competitors to invite her to perform in his restaurant, and he even put up a big sign saying that Miss Xu Yanmeng would sing a new song tonight. Because Xu Yanmeng was so popular, many restaurants or nightclubs that clearly had not invited her would always use her name to solicit business, and after the performance that night, they would say something like "Miss Xu Yanmeng had something urgent to do and was unable to attend" and pass the show by.
The fans who followed him were fooled so many times that they gradually formed an unwritten agreement to make a scene when they found out they were fooled: Who let the boss fool them first?!
However, if fans cause trouble tonight, it’s not a big deal, at most we’ll just have to pay some money…
"No, Sister Yanmeng can't come on stage now. You should delay it as much as possible. Who are the backup singers and dancers? Come out quickly!" the hotel owner shouted.
"Boss, Brother Le and Brother Hao are watching up there tonight, and the three girls can't handle it!" A voice came from the crowd.
"Why don't you go for them?!" The restaurant owner glared at the person who spoke.
The man shrank back angrily.
Su Yun glanced at the helpless Guan Quqing and the Mei sisters, and then glanced at the most luxurious private room upstairs: ICAC will be established next year, and these two haven't run away yet?!
But now is not the time to think about this. Seeing that there are only about fifteen minutes left, I can only think quickly in my mind.
"I'll go with them. Lend me these photos!" Afraid that the Mei sisters and Guan Quqing would not be able to handle it, Su Yun quickly picked up the basket and ran out without waiting for the hotel owner to reply.
When she jumped onto the stage, the audience had already raised flower cards. Perhaps they had seen the backup dancers come out so they thought Xu Yanmeng would come out soon, and they were cheering excitedly.
Ignoring the confused looks of the people at Lu Shaolong's tables, Su Yun stood on tiptoe to hold the microphone to a suitable height, cleared her throat and announced: "Have you been waiting for Sister Mengmeng for a long time?!"
"yes!"
"Do you like Sister Mengmeng singing?"
"Zhong Yi!"
"Sister Yanmeng is very grateful for everyone's support, so before she comes on stage, she arranged a small game--" Ignoring the people in the audience calling for Xu Yanmeng to come out again, Su Yun raised the basket, "The prize is a signed photo of Sister Yanmeng, do you want it?!"
Wow, this is a rare thing. The noisy scene suddenly became quiet for a moment, and then everyone shouted in unison: "I want it!"
"Then let's start playing the game - the rules of the game are very simple, the three backup singers beside me will hum the melodies of some songs one after another, and if you guess the song title correctly, you can get a signed photo of Sister Meng!"
"Of course, some of these songs are Yan Meng's songs, so now is the time to test who among you is Yan Meng's loyal fan!"
Confirming that her words had aroused the competitive spirit of many people in the audience, Su Yun smiled secretly in her heart: the competition between fans has always been fierce, and everyone thinks that they are the most loyal fan of their idol. Once this game is released, it will at least last for a while.
Of course, in order to avoid excited fans from clamoring for the answer, when someone answered the song title correctly, Su Yun personally carried a basket and delivered the reward.
When it was sent to Lu Shaolong's table, a group of men were at a loss for words: "Why did you suddenly do this?"
"It's hard to find food, please give me some face." Su Yun sounded like a young adult, taking out a photo and stuffing it into Lin Jingying's hand.
"Hey, sister, give me a few!" Hong Kong people are the most forgetful. Su Yun has been busy learning Kung Fu from Lu Shaolong in the past few months, and people have already forgotten this once popular child star.
As the people at the table were talking, they wanted to reach out.
However, before he put his hand to the basket, Lu Shaolong and several dragon and tiger martial artists and staff at the tables around him had already cast unfriendly glances at him.
When Su Yun, who was protected by a group of bigwigs, finished distributing autographed photos safely and slowly, Xu Yanmeng, who had temporarily recovered, also walked onto the stage with a forced smile.
As soon as he opened his mouth, he aroused applause from the audience.
Seeing Xu Yanmeng playfully making a gesture of praise to the audience, the applause and cheers became even more intense: "Does my idol think that I applaud well? Good, clap louder to show my love!"
Su Yun, knowing that Xu Yanmeng was thanking her, looked up at the stage and smiled faintly, keeping her achievements and fame to herself.
After Xu Yanmeng finished singing, the crowd gradually began to prepare to leave, so the group of people on Su Yun's side who had eaten and drunk their fill also stood up and prepared to go home.
Su Yun went backstage to get the last autographed photo of Xu Yanmeng, and after saying goodbye to the Mei sisters, Guan Quqing and Zhao Yinyin, who all looked relieved, she also planned to go out and catch a ride back to Su's house.
However, when Su Yun was about to catch a ride, Lu Shaolong called her first.
"Real kung fu requires not only practice, but also actual combat." Lu Shaolong explained, and then took Su Yun into a dark alley where fights often took place.
While waiting boredly for her prey in a high place, Su Yun couldn't help but start gossiping to Lu Shaolong about why Lian Da knew Kung Fu.
"She was my college classmate and once learned Kung Fu from me," Lu Shaolong explained, and continued with this topic. "At that time, foreigners actually had more or less discrimination against people of color. Her mother didn't like me very much, but we still firmly walked together, and her mother accepted me."
"I am a person who is fascinated by all martial arts that I can encounter. So in 1969, I was doing a fitness exercise that is now proven to be wrong, which caused damage to the spinal nerves. I was almost at risk of paralysis and had to stay in bed for a long time..."
"Was it Lian Da who was taking care of you at that time?" Lu Shaolong always carried large and small bags on the set, which were filled with a variety of Chinese and Western medicines, vitamins and a bunch of other things. Su Yun originally thought that he carried "supplies" with him because of the high-intensity training and work, but she didn't expect that it was also because of an old injury.
"Yes, Renda had never worked before, but she still worked hard to find a job as a telephone operator. She took care of me, treated my injuries, and took care of our two children." Lu Shaolong recalled the time we shared hardships and smiled faintly. "I recovered half a year later, but I still couldn't get many normal roles in Hollywood because the producers thought I was too 'Chinese'."
"So Renda and the children followed me back to Hong Kong, back to my hometown, so that I could really stand on the screen with my own skills." Those people ignored him at first, but now they are flattering him and asking him to make a movie to be released in American theaters - to be honest, he feels a little happy in his heart.
Su Yun nodded: With such a deep feeling of walking hand in hand and supporting each other in their youth, it is no wonder that Lu Shaolong was once so frustrated after experiencing so much hardships.
There are many kinds of temptations in the entertainment industry, especially for someone as successful as him. Even if he has no such intention, there will still be many obsessed or calculating people who approach him intentionally or unintentionally.
Especially in Hong Kong, which only abolished the concubine system in the old laws two years ago and strictly enforced monogamy.
Before this, no matter whether one was from a wealthy class or an ordinary class, they all had one big room, two small rooms, and multiple rooms. The whole family was noisy, the house was closed, and there was no peace at home.
This has led to the formation of a deformed society in which the poor are single and the rich have many wives and concubines. Don't say that having multiple concubines is a blessing for men. In fact, monogamy is what protects the rights of most men and women.
After all, in this materialistic age, many people cannot change their mindset. They believe that parents are the gods and cannot be defeated. So when marrying off a daughter, they talk about money instead of feelings. As long as the family is wealthy, it doesn’t matter if the daughter becomes a concubine…
In Cantonese pornographic movies, there are often plots where unscrupulous parents force their daughters to marry off to rich men to have dozens of concubines, rather than letting two young people who truly love each other be together. This is not a cliché story, but a true reflection of social trends.
This chaos has also led to chaos in the entertainment industry. Many artists say one thing in public and another in private. It is common to have one person at home and several outside.
People like Lu Shaolong, who has a wife and children, and whose scandals with his movie actresses are mostly fabricated by the media but without any actual evidence, are extremely rare in the entertainment industry.
After all, the Hong Kong media is notoriously difficult to deal with but also very good at digging up information. Their professional quality may not be as good as that of spies, but their methods, actions and results are far better than those of all the famous detectives.
Just like after the release of "The Perfect Match", the male and female protagonists of the movie, Xu Gujie and Deng Niyun, were written about by newspapers and magazines for a long time, saying that they admired each other, and they seemed to ignore the fact that Xu Gujie was already married. This is the social atmosphere. A man and a woman work together to make a movie, and the media can fill you in with all the scandals and marriages...
Su Yun made the joke at the time, firstly to remind Xu Guwen and Xu Gujie to be careful not to let reporters write nonsense again; secondly, because everyone knew it was fake, so they brought it up on stage to make fun of it.
Even her godmother Lin Bao was helpless about the media's imaginary drama: if it was revealed that she actually liked Teresa Teng's singing and was looking forward to being a guest at each other's concerts, I guess the next day there would be newspapers and magazines writing that Xu Gujie was enjoying the best of both worlds...
So Su Yun really envied the two couples. The men could stand the test and the women were sensible - only in this way could they go on for a long time.
If the trust and feelings of one party are not up to par, they will be destroyed by the media sooner or later.
After listening to the gossip and eating the dog food, Su Yun finally caught sight of a group of people with awkward postures who were obviously not good people.
He even held a knife to threaten others to give him money.
"Master, I found a dozen people who were alone over there!" Su Yun walked over and said.
Seeing her smug look, Lu Shaolong nodded amusedly and started to jump down to the hiding place with her.
After making sure that he had completely crushed the mob on the other side without any suspense, Su Yun spoke first: "Don't move, I have surrounded all of you!"