Chapter 97: The Evil Stepmother in the Republic of China (Thirty-Two)
Foreigners such as Bayer read Marco Polo's travel notes when they were young.
They were full of yearning for the mysterious oriental country covered with gold as described in the book.
However, when they actually arrived in the country, they were disappointed.
Not to mention the gold everywhere, they actually made a fortune.
However, the country they saw and the people they came into contact with were completely different from what they had imagined.
The country is indeed very large, but very weak.
Although the men here have cut off their braids, they are still ignorant.
They are either pitifully self-deprecating or ridiculously arrogant.
As for the women, they were hunched over, timid, and the most terrifying thing was that they had bound feet.
Oh my God, this is so cruel and barbaric.
They could never imagine that in the 20th century, the dreamland once praised so highly by Marco Polo would be like this.
As for China's traditional art, Bayer and others did not feel its beauty and magic.
Because in the music performances they watched, the performers had solemn expressions while plucking the strings of the guitar or playing the flute.
The music may be nice, but as foreigners, they simply cannot resonate with it.
What made Bayer and other foreigners most depressed was that the people performing on the stage were often actors, performers or poor people.
There are no such things as ladies or young masters from wealthy families.
Later they found out that in China, so-called ladies from wealthy families were not allowed to show their faces in public.
They had their feet bound and were locked up at home.
It is said that some people have never left their home in their entire lives.
This is so unbelievably horrible.
Disappointment! Extremely disappointed! The beautiful dream of childhood was shattered, and the foreigners' impression of China plummeted.
Some people have compassion in their hearts;
Some people, however, are doubly arrogant and bully innocent people who dare not resist.
However, Gu Qingcheng's "Millennium Feast" brought Bayer and others into a dreamy and wonderful world.
Here, they felt the charm and heritage of an ancient country with a thousand-year-old cultural heritage in Gu Qingcheng.
"Ms. Gu is truly amazing. When she is quiet, she seems like a real lady; when she is beating the drum, she is like the warm sun!"
Felix was a doctor and was able to reach out to people from all walks of life.
When he was in Country D, he had met those noble ladies.
There are differences in etiquette between the East and the West, but the pride and self-confidence in their bones are the same.
He felt that kind of "dignity" from Gu Qingcheng.
"Yes! I never thought that China was so brilliant a thousand years ago."
Bayer's eyes were also full of amazement.
He simply couldn't imagine that Ms. Gu could play so many different things with just a drum.
Instead of sitting and playing the guqin in a dull manner, he rotated and jumped between several big drums.
The sleeves of the clothes fluttered, the skirts flew, and the drum sounds combined with those strange instruments played a beautiful melody.
Bayer and others still didn't understand, but they could feel the powerful force and majestic momentum from it.
"I heard that thousands of years ago, when their armies were at war, they would beat drums to boost morale."
William, a person who could not study the history of his own country, was quite knowledgeable about the history of other countries.
However, he was not yet an expert in growing flowers. Otherwise, after seeing Gu Qingcheng's performance today, he would have said in a very literary way: "Quiet as a virgin, swift as a rabbit!"
There were also foreigners like Bach who came to join in the fun, and they were all impressed by the novelty, magnificence, and grandeur of the Millennium Banquet.
What they liked most were Gu Qingcheng's unrestrained, passionate and cheerful performances.
No bound feet, no dullness, just the enjoyment of music and dance.
Of course, Gu Qingcheng’s peerless beauty also played a significant role in their “appreciation”.
Don't say that something has a biased aesthetic.
In fact, the world's mainstream aesthetic has always been unified: a real beauty should have big eyes, a high nose bridge, three-dimensional facial features, delicate skin, and a well-proportioned figure.
Beautiful things can stimulate the senses and bring pleasure to the body and mind.
Foreigners do not understand China's traditional culture, but they can still enjoy the "beauty" of those costumes, those music, and those performances.
Although they are both traditional cultures, foreigners seem to have no interest in the guzheng, guqin and the like, but they have great respect for opera and Mr. Mei.
It’s not that they suddenly like opera, but that they feel the beauty in this art form.
Gu Qingcheng showed these foreigners another, brand new traditional Chinese culture.
"Good! Good!"
"Biu Tefo!"
These people ate the novel and interesting food suspended in the water, listened to the magnificent drum music, and watched the unique and unrestrained dance performances, and all of them couldn't help but give a thumbs up.
Gu Qingcheng: ...Luckily, this body is not foot-bound, so I can perform the Hu Xuan dance without any hindrance.
"Great, Ms. Gu! Can I, can I try it too?"
Mr. Bach came from a military family and was very interested in majestic and powerful drum music.
He was also wearing Ming Guang armor and came to several drums.
"sure!"
Gu Qingcheng handed the drumstick to Bach and told him some drumming tips and rhythms.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bach was wearing retro armor and swinging the drumsticks vigorously.
The drumbeats gradually picked up a rhythm, and Bach secretly followed the rhythm of a march, keeping time with the beat.
You know what, it’s not weird at all.
"Haha, Bach, I'm coming with you!"
Infected by the atmosphere, Felix also stood up, took the drumsticks and played with Bach.
Boom! Boom! Drum duet.
The atmosphere became increasingly heated, and the foreigners who had drunk some wine became more and more excited.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
They just had a great time.
Beat the drums, hit the chimes, or simply wear retro clothes and twist around in the open space in the garden, imitating Gu Qingcheng's Hu Xuan dance.
When it comes to this scene, people with high emotional intelligence would say it's singing and dancing.
People with low emotional intelligence would probably secretly say "a group of demons dancing wildly".
But no matter what adjective is used, the foreigners enjoyed this feast very much.
They did not despise China's traditional culture, but instead respected and appreciated it immensely.
This left the Chinese guests attending the banquet stunned.
"The foreigners didn't dislike it?"
"It's really strange. Last time when I invited Mr. Felix, I specially invited the top performer of Baihualou to play the pipa. That is the signature program of Baihualou, but Mr. Felix didn't like it at all."
"Yes! I have invited Mr. Bach before. He is a well-known serious person and difficult to approach!"
And at this moment, this man was actually shouting slogans and beating the drums to his heart's content.
This scene really overturned his understanding of Mr. Bach.
Oh no, it's not just Bach, but these foreigners seem to be different from what they remember.
"Humph, I've said it before, our ancestors' stuff is great, look, foreigners like it just as much!"
"That's right. They are all those people who have forgotten their roots. They actually despise them and call them feudal dregs! Foreigners like dregs?"
"China has hope! Woohoo, I knew that our Chinese things would be accepted by the world sooner or later!"
There were also a few people who seemed to be old-fashioned people. At this moment, they no longer thought that Gu Qingcheng's dancing was inappropriate.
Instead, he was in tears and looked proud.
“Crack! “Crack! Crack!”
Amid the discussions of the guests, there was also the flashing of spotlights and the unique sounds of cameras.
"Huh? Why are these reporters here too?"
"I don't remember inviting them. Could it be Ms. Gu's preparation?"
The happiest person in the entire banquet was the "host" Ma Yong.
He was a little nervous at the beginning.
But when Bayer and others put on Ming Guang Armor and gave a thumbs up to the stage, he knew: It's settled!
As expected of Ms. Gu, the thousand-year feast she prepared stunned all the foreigners.
The subsequent “riot of demons”, oh no, “everyone having fun”, made Ma Yong even more delighted.
The banquet at his house not only gave the foreigners a good meal and a good time, but also made them shine in front of the important figures in the provincial capital.
From now on, if anyone laughs at him for being an illiterate old man, Ma Yong can just bring up today's feast and make a fuss about it -
"I am a vulgar and rough man? Humph, my family's thousand-year-old feast is praised by foreigners when they come."
"You, on the other hand, may be from a scholarly family, but foreigners don't even show up to your family gatherings."
This is probably the sadness of this era.
It actually takes a group of foreigners to evaluate whether our own products are good or not.
However, this is the trend of the moment.
It's good to get the approval of foreigners.
And if you have such good things, you will be "superior to others".
Ma Yong was proud and proud. Even when he saw the governor and deputy governor with constipated faces in the crowd, his good mood was not ruined at all.
Warlord: ... Ma is so bold, where did you get this "Ms. Gu" from? She even fooled the foreigners! It's just wearing a "costume", beating a drum, and turning a circle. I can find some actors from the troupe and learn for a few days, and I can do it! When the Millennium Feast was being prepared, the foreigners in the provincial capital such as Bayer "heard the news and made a big fuss".
The governor also heard about it.
After sending someone to inquire carefully, the governor found out that it was actually Ma Dabing who hired an "expert" to create such an eye-catching thing.
The warlord instinctively disdains.
However, the warlord felt a little uneasy because all the foreigners wanted to participate.
He simply brought his son in and secretly instigated many celebrities and elders in the provincial capital, hoping to find fault with them.
As long as there is something wrong with Ma Dare's banquet, such as being too servile to foreigners, or deliberately belittling one's own culture and praising Western culture.
Although these are the norm in this era, there are some things that can be done but cannot be pointed out.
In order to leave "evidence", the warlord also specially invited reporters from several newspapers...
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(End of this chapter)
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