Chapter 106: The Dragon and the Phoenix
Charity galas in Hong Kong usually feature Cantonese opera stars, celebrities, or social elites singing familiar classic Cantonese tunes, such as "The Princess Changping's Fragrant Death," "The Parting Swallows," "The Unfinished Love and Hatred in the Phoenix Pavilion," and "The Purple Hairpin: The Sword and the Hairpin Reunited," which are enduring classics.
Compared to the poignant and melancholic tone of "The Sword and the Hairpin," "The Dragon and the Phoenix" is undoubtedly much more joyful.
The story of "The Dragon and the Phoenix" is based on a folk tale about Emperor Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty traveling incognito. It is said that Emperor Zhengde traveled incognito to Meilong Town in Jiangnan and heard that there was a restaurant called "Dragon and Phoenix Shop" there, which was run by a brother and sister surnamed Li. The food and wine in the restaurant were said to be the best in the world. So Emperor Zhengde went there incognito, but the elder brother of the Li family was out on business, leaving only the younger sister, Li Fengjie, to entertain the guests.
Emperor Zhengde was captivated by Li Fengjie's beauty and began to have frivolous thoughts. His real intention was not to get close to Li Fengjie while drinking, but to tease and flirt with her, which made Li Fengjie angry and embarrassed, adding to her charm.
In the Cantonese opera version of "The Dragon and the Phoenix," after the duet where the two sing their own lyrics, the infatuated Emperor Zhengde reveals his identity as the Son of Heaven and his longing for Li Fengjie. He finally wins the heart of the beauty, brings her back to the palace, and bestows upon her the title of Empress. A dish with the same name as this story, "The Dragon and the Phoenix," has also been passed down.
The passage they are about to sing is the one where Emperor Zhengde, after learning of Li Fengjie's name, composed a tune called "Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake" to flirt with her. It is one of the most famous flirtatious excerpts in Cantonese opera.
If the person is not familiar with the conversation, it is easy to lose the flirtatious and knowing smile that makes people smile, and it becomes flat and bland.
Therefore, the performers in the "Dragon and Phoenix Tour" segment are either experienced Cantonese opera stars, male and female artists whose scandals are known to the public, or even officially announced couples. For the latter two, their singing style, posture, and movements are no longer a matter of demanding anything; it's purely using the official name to give sweet moments to audiences who like to enjoy romantic scenes...
It must be said that although Pei Yansang had his own selfish motives in using the large sunflower fan to tie the red thread, he did indeed go to great lengths.
It's obvious they want Shang Hanyou to emulate Emperor Zhengde in "The Emperor and the Phoenix," to flirt with Li Sishi, this "modern-day Sister Feng," and try to achieve a happy ending like in the story...
Li Sishi was naturally unaware of Pei Yansang's "good intentions," and even if Shang Hanyou knew, he wouldn't say it. The two walked to the prop shelf and took something from it.
After receiving the standard paper fan and silk scarf, the intense practice began.
"Sweet, sweet, sweet, what's your name, Sister Feng? You really are sweet..."
Although Shang Hanyou tried his best to make his pop singing style closer to Cantonese opera, the first thing he said was the typical flirtatious words of a lecherous man who used the name of a beautiful woman to tease her. Coupled with his silly and cute expression that revealed his comedic face, the contrast was so cute that it was impossible not to laugh.
In contrast, Li Sishi, who has been cramming on Cantonese opera with Le Yun recently, sang much more naturally. The veteran Cantonese opera teacher who was teaching her immediately praised her voice as suitable for singing Cantonese opera and even suggested that she could develop in this direction further.
The Cantonese music and film industries both originated from Cantonese opera troupes, and there is a deep connection between them. Young people like Li Sishi, who are talented and dedicated to learning and practicing, are what make these veteran Cantonese opera performers feel gratified.
"However, the only problem is that you seem a little reserved for now." The teacher's tone shifted abruptly, turning the gentle breeze into autumn rain, and in just a few words pointed out the only point where Li Sishi lost to Shang Hanyou: insufficient emotional investment.
This point, however, far surpasses all other skills, directly lowering Li Sishi's level to a level far below Shang Hanyou's.
With Guanghua's charity event just around the corner, Li Sishi suddenly discovered that she had such a big flaw. In a panic, she watched and imitated the performances of many predecessors to understand their performance style.
Along with Shang Hanyou, who "loyally accompanied her during practice, he also watched countless versions of 'The Emperor and the Phoenix' in just a few days. Not to mention this short segment, he almost memorized the entire lyrics..."
"I think it's about time." Just then, Zhuang Menghua and Lu Yiting went to watch a "set visit" together. Li Sishi suddenly closed the notebook in her hand and looked eagerly at the chorus next to her.
Shang Hanyou didn't say anything, but extended his hand and smiled slightly. The two of them were already able to tacitly pick up their silk scarves and paper fans and put on a vivid performance.
After the song ended, Li Sishi's face darkened. She gently patted Shang Hanyou, who looked worried, and then forced a smile: "Go practice the song you're going to perform. I'll be back in a bit."
"I'm really fine. Miss Zhuang is very kind to me. Maybe she called me over to give me some pointers." Li Sishi smiled again, which finally coaxed Shang Hanyou, who kept turning back to look at her, to go to the other side to practice singing his song "Love Sparks."
Twisting the silk scarf in her hand into a ball, taking a deep breath, Li Sishi followed Lu Yiting's steps to Zhuang Menghua.
before.
"Do you know why I called you over?" Zhuang Menghua asked calmly as Li Sishi walked over.
“I know Miss Zhuang,” Li Sishi replied honestly, bowing her head.
Zhuang Menghua was a popular female singer in Southeast Asia when she was young, so she must have noticed the flaws in her performance just now.
"Since you know, that's for the best." Just when Li Sishi thought Zhuang Menghua was about to reprimand her for knowing her mistake but not correcting it, Zhuang Menghua waved her hand towards Lu Yiting, signaling her to continue speaking.
“Recently, Miss Zhuang has been very concerned about your… ‘growth’.” Lu Yiting chimed in, bringing up a topic that Li Sishi had never expected.
Listening attentively to Lu Yiting, Zhuang Menghua believed that as Lu Yiting grew up, she would inevitably encounter relationship problems.
Therefore, Zhuang Menghua decided to learn from Huang Qianyan's past experience and try her best to control her "personal feelings" without making her feel resentful.
To put it simply, she would pick a few of her good friends whom she liked and got along with to create rumors and hype up a perfect couple – if it happened to solve Li Sishi's relationship problems, that would be the best outcome; if not, this kind of hype, if done well, could be more than the sum of its parts and could also boost her career.
“I didn’t want to explain things to you so quickly, but during this visit to the set, I discovered a very fatal flaw in you.” Zhuang Menghua stared at the somewhat guilty Li Sishi and spoke again, “I think I’m not the only one who noticed it.”
I don't know what's wrong with Li Sishi, this young girl, who can play a role like a resentful woman or a stubborn and beautiful woman who is self-centered, and she has a style that is beyond her age; but when it comes to the kind of "sweet love" that young female artists can most easily portray, she carries an inexplicable defensiveness.
However, considering Li Sishi's family background—children who have experienced a scumbag father abandoning his wife and daughters and running away are easily hurt by the damage inflicted by their original family, making them afraid to try to touch romantic relationships even when they grow up.
Because they are afraid of getting hurt again, they would rather shrink into their own shell like a snail than respond to other people's overtures.
After automatically filling in the blanks about why Li Sishi's acting talent took an unconventional turn, Zhuang Menghua sighed: "In that case, it's urgent for Li Sishi to have some sweet and romantic relationships as soon as possible."
After all, the unconventional, resentful woman style is a box office flop that's easy to lose money on; while the energetic young woman who longs for and loves love is the best choice for raking in the profits.
The reason why most of the TV dramas produced by their TV station have happy endings is because that's the kind of thing the public likes the most.
Occasionally indulging in melodramatic romances can give viewers a change of pace. The most profitable and popular shows are always those that, regardless of the process, always have a happy ending.
"No matter who it is, you first need to try to invest in genuine feelings and experience that mysterious feeling before you can change your subconscious that always instinctively protects itself." Compared to Huang Qianyan, who was rushing headlong down the road of no return in matters of the heart, Zhuang Menghua had more faith in Li Sishi, her seemingly more delicate and younger protégé.
5.
It is possible to correctly recognize its advantages and disadvantages.
Of course, the most crucial factor that made her decide to do this was Li Sishi's current age and family background—as long as she didn't go too far, people would only think that the other side made the first move, and the explanation that "someone must be trying to climb into a wealthy family and avoid decades of hard work" would be enough to sweep away all opposition...
In this way, Li Sishi's quality of needing others to push her to touch emotions, but always maintaining a sense of self-protection, makes her the most rare and promising leading actress in the world.
After returning from Zhuang Menghua's place, Li Sishi silently looked at Shang Hanyou, who was rehearsing a song and dance on the other side. He had already seen her return, but unfortunately, he was stuck in rehearsal and could not get away. So, he could only try to smile at Li Sishi during the breaks between singing and dancing to express the only comfort he could offer at the moment.
Looking at his exceptionally expressive features when he smiled, Li Sishi vaguely recalled her previous advice: "Hanyou is the complete opposite of you. You can take advantage of this opportunity to observe and learn from his acting style..."
"If you can't get into character right away, you can try to develop feelings for the character first..."
In fact, her dating experience was very limited; she had few suitors, and they were always just flirting around, but none of them ever really caught her eye or even crossed paths with her. Her only "marriage" experience in her previous life was an extremely unsuccessful and unequal relationship that bordered on being manipulated.
She never wants to get involved in a relationship so quickly and at such a young age again. Besides feeling that dating would inevitably affect her career, she also has a hidden self-protective mentality, as she has been hurt before and subconsciously wants to stay away from danger.
But since she gradually began to face her past self honestly and stopped choosing to escape and forget, she has gained a new understanding of her former "ambition" of focusing on her career while keeping her heart locked away from love.
Zhuang Menghua previously
Her heart-to-heart talk further brought out the mistakes she had made recently.
Whether you want to become a real actor or an excellent singer, the first thing you must do is not to reject the touch of emotions for fear of getting hurt.
Otherwise, no matter how perfect the performance, in the end all you can get are extremely beautiful fake flowers, and you can never feel the vibrant life of real flowers.
Since she hasn't fallen into the "grave" of marriage, at the prime of her youth, while admiring someone's handsome appearance, she also admires another's interesting personality...
Can you call this trash?
No, it's like going shopping and finding yourself liking both this dress and that shirt – a woman with multiple choices is the most fickle person in the world.
While minimizing disruption to her work, she could selectively engage with all her suitors – wasn't that the freedom that a first-generation rich and beautiful woman like her deserved?
"What are you thinking about?" Shang Hanyou, who had just finished rehearsing the song and dance, walked over. Seeing her silent appearance, he assumed she had been criticized by Zhuang Menghua and Lu Yiting, so his already gentle tone became even gentler, almost as if he were comforting a baby who was about to cry. "Are you alright?"
"It's nothing. Miss Zhuang noticed my problem and gave me some solutions." Coming to her senses, Li Sishi quickly shook her head. "So I was just thinking about whether I should do this later..."
Upon hearing Li Sishi mention that she wanted to add more physical interaction to increase the level of engagement, Shang Hanyou nodded in agreement: "Your idea is good. Besides their different singing styles, those veteran Cantonese opera singers also use various facial expressions and gestures to add interest..."
Therefore, even though they are not wearing costumes and are only in casual clothes, their every move makes them seem like characters in a play.
Without further ado, the two found a slightly secluded corner and began a new round of practice.
As expected of someone who shone brightly with her "beast-like acting skills" and became a recognized top-notch supporting actor in the industry, the moment she proposed her new idea, Shang Hanyou, who was originally rather reserved, immediately turned into a drama queen. He waved his paper fan and circled around her, singing as he did so while looking her up and down. Combined with his current drab construction worker attire that would make him impossible to spot if thrown into the ground, he truly portrayed the image of a lecherous rogue...
Perhaps she truly was the kind of combat-oriented fighter who grew stronger with each battle; faced with Shang Hanyou's dramatic outburst, Li Sishi was instantly unfazed.
In the virtual world, the two entered a state of immersion, their back-and-forth movements mirroring the tangled emotions of both the characters and the audience, a silk scarf pulling and intertwining in a chaotic mess.
As the Emperor Zhengde, thoroughly annoyed by Li Fengjie's questions about ordering food, finally decided to flirt with the beauty and, fanning himself, launched into a loud song: "I don't want your dragon intestines or phoenix wings—I only want Fengjie to offer you her heart..."
As he leaned closer to Li Sishi and sang this line, he also gave her a particularly forceful bump with his shoulder, his playful and flirtatious manner evident in his expression.
If there were spectators around, they would probably cheer for this.
But the corner where the two were located was quite secluded, and their duet was less eye-catching than a large group's singing and dancing. This stroke of genius was reserved only for Li Sishi, who was caught off guard and stumbled when he bumped into her...
Realizing that he might have lost control of his impulse, Shang Hanyou quickly reached out and pulled Li Sishi, who was falling to one side, back to her feet.
Before Li Sishi could react, the drama queen holding her, mimicking theatrical lines, lightly tapped her back with her paper fan while saying in a teasing tone, "Oh, Sister Feng, although you've already been conquered by my dashing charm, you don't need to offer so much all at once..."
Li Sishi, her face still bearing faint red marks from the zipper, lifted her head from his embrace and slapped a large red silk handkerchief onto his face: "Offer you my foot! Addicted to playing the emperor, huh? I'll let you experience what it's like to conquer a bank!"
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