Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 143: The Flower Blooms and the Capital Moves

In a hurry, April is coming to an end.

Last month, the news reports about the National Excellent Short Story Award made Lin Chaoyang a sensation in the domestic literary world. In this month, he received many letters inviting him to write for the magazine.

He had received some in the past, but not as frequently as this time.

Lin Chaoyang wrote letters to politely decline each of these publications' requests for articles, as he was really too busy.

He has to work during the week, write novels in his spare time, and occasionally find time to attend correspondence courses in the library department. Recently, he even stopped attending classes in the Chinese department.

He has been writing the script that he promised Xie Jin. Although he wants to finish it as soon as possible, the prerequisite is to ensure the quality.

Before May Day, Su Shizhi called Lin Chaoyang and told him that the People's Art Theatre version of "The World's No. 5 Restaurant" would premiere on May 15, and that someone would send him a few tickets for the premiere in two days.

As the screenwriter of "The World's Number One Restaurant", Lin Chaoyang is the soul of the drama, so it was natural for him to attend the premiere.

After waiting for several months, the People's Art Theatre version of "The World's Number One Restaurant" is finally here.

A few days before the premiere of the drama, the People's Art Theatre sent four tickets.

Two of them are naturally for Lin Chaoyang and his wife, and the other two are naturally to honor Tao's father and mother.

Tao Yumo was very dissatisfied with this. She had been living in the Overseas Chinese Apartment recently and didn't want to leave. Of course, she also worked hard.

Even if there is no credit, there is still hard work, and even if there is no hard work, there is still fatigue. As a result, no good things come to you at all.

On the evening of the 15th, Lin Chaoyang and his wife met up with Tao's father and mother and headed for the city. It was just after : when they arrived at the entrance of the Capital Theatre.

The plays of the National Theatre of China have always been popular, not to mention that today is the premiere of a new play. With nearly an hour to go before the performance, quite a few people have already gathered in front of the entrance of the Capital Theatre.

As early as last winter, the fame of "The World's Number One Restaurant" had spread throughout the Yenching Normal University literary and art circles due to the wonderful performance of students from Yenching Normal University.

Later, news came out that the National Theatre of China had obtained the script, causing the drama to attract widespread attention in the theater industry during its rehearsal stage.

Last month, Lin Chaoyang became a hot topic again thanks to a report in People's Daily. Naturally, his first drama work as a popular young writer was highly anticipated by readers.

For the drama "The World's Number One Restaurant", the National People's Art Theatre assembled a first-class creative team. The director is Xia Chun, one of the founding directors of the theatre, and the actors are also some of the most skilled people in the theatre today.

During the rehearsal, the crew carefully studied the script and polished the characters in detail, striving to vividly present Lin Chaoyang's "Fujude" and the turmoil and changes of the Republic of China on the stage.

"The World's Number One Restaurant" is the People's Art Theatre's key play this year, and a lot of effort was put into publicity before the premiere. The People's Art Theatre contacted several media outlets in Yanjing for coverage.

A week before the premiere of the play, the people of Yanjing knew from media reports that the People's Art Theatre was about to stage a play that would show the social changes during the Republic of China period.

The drama market has been booming in recent years, and many audiences who love drama have great enthusiasm for the premiere of "The World's Number One Restaurant", which has made "The World's Number One Restaurant" a hot topic among the public in Yanjing City before its premiere.

The Capital Theatre is the permanent theatre of the People's Art Theatre and has become a holy place in the hearts of Yenching drama lovers over the years.

This was not the first time that Lin Chaoyang came here. He entered the theater with his family. When he approached his seats, he saw Su Zhi talking to a wealthy old man.

"Dean, this is Comrade Chaoyang, the screenwriter of The World's No. 1 Restaurant."

There was only one person in the National Theatre of China who could be called the dean by Yi Shizhi, and that was Cao Yu.

Cao Yu had a plump, fair, and amiable face, and wore a pair of square-framed gold-rimmed glasses. After listening to Shi Zhi's introduction, he stretched out his hand to Lin Chaoyang with a smile on his face.

"Hello, Comrade Chaoyang."

"Hello!"

"I have read your script several times, it is very well written!" After shaking hands, Cao Yu said to Lin Chaoyang again.

He was immediately flattered and spoke modestly.

"A good script is good, don't be so modest."

The two chatted for a few sentences, and then Zhi introduced the other old men sitting next to him to Lin Chaoyang one by one.

Sitting in this row, in addition to several leaders of the National People's Art Theatre, are guests invited by the National People's Art Theatre and heavyweights in the Yenching literary and art circles.

Playwright Wu Zuguang, writer and translator Xiao Qian, senior director Cheng Yin of Yanying Film Studio...

After exchanging greetings with everyone, the play was about to begin.

As the opening bell rang, the whole audience quickly fell silent.

Before the curtain opened, a familiar narration sounded.

"In the summer of 1917, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, under the call of his people that 'the imperial system must be maintained and the people want their old master back', was escorted by the pigtailed general Zhang Xun and took the throne again..."

The curtain opened as the narration continued.

Compared with the level of props and scene arrangement made by Yanshi college students, the stage level of the People's Art Theatre is undoubtedly more sophisticated.

But what is even more impressive is the performance of the actors. Various characters appear on the stage, including Luo Datou, Chang Gui, Wang Zixi, Ke Wu, Xiu Dingxin...

In the first act, the absolute protagonist of the play, Lu Mengshi, has not yet appeared on the stage, but just the appearance of a group of supporting characters with different characteristics has already caught the audience's attention and made them fully immersed in the play.

On the stage, the old shopkeeper Tang Deyuan was so angry at his unfilial son that his eyes widened and he was speechless. Suddenly he felt nauseous, screamed, and bent over to vomit.

The two sons screamed in panic.

Everyone on the stage came on, some were patting his back, some were pinching his philtrum, but the old shopkeeper was still vomiting and gradually he could not hold on any longer. Everyone was panicking and rushing to call a doctor.

Tang Deyuan struggled to get up and called the second shopkeeper Wang Zixi's name, "Zixi, I don't want a doctor. Go, go, go and get Lu Mengshi..."

"Lu Mengshi? The one who sings the male lead?"

The curtain falls.

During the scene change, Wu Zuguang, who was sitting next to Cao Yu, whispered to him: "This script is very solid!"

"I read the script several times, it's really good."

"No wonder people say this script is like Teahouse." Cao Yu couldn't hide his pride after hearing Wu Zuguang's praise. "There is only one Teahouse, but it is rare for a young person to write such a good script."

Today is the premiere of "The World's Number One Restaurant". Many people from the Yanjing literary and art circles came. During the short period of time when the scene was changing, many people were discussing the play that had just ended.

In the eyes of experts, it is easy to tell whether a play is good or bad. The quality of "The World's Number One Restaurant" is in no way inferior to any previous classic work of the People's Art Theatre.

The curtain opened again, and it was already three years later on the stage.

The actors brought the characters to life, vividly interpreting their personalities and destinies, and also revealing the social turmoil of the great era.

Inspired by the actors, the audience in the audience immersed themselves fully in this theatrical journey across time and space.

An hour and a half passed in a flash, and by the last scene of the drama, the show was over and the audience had dispersed, leaving only a couplet on the stage.

"What a dangerous building, who is the host and who is the guest; only three old houses, sometimes suitable for the bright moon and sometimes suitable for the wind."

After all the actors left the stage, the huge theater fell into silence, and all the audience were still immersed in the play, reminiscing and being moved.

After a long while, I don't know who started it, but in an instant, the theater was filled with thunderous applause, like a tsunami, reaching the sky.

The curtain opened again, and the actors came on stage one by one to take their bows. The applause from the audience became louder, longer and more enthusiastic.

Cheers and shouts filled the theater. The audience expressed their excitement and joy in this way. They stood up and applauded the actors on the stage, expressing their recognition and love for "The World's Number One Restaurant".

Screenwriter Lin Chaoyang and director Xia Chun were invited to the stage by the actors, which was different from the last time when they were invited to the stage by students from Yanshi University.

The stage of Yanshi University is full of youth and enthusiasm, but standing on the stage of the People's Art Theatre, Lin Chaoyang can feel the audience's heartfelt love for drama. Their love is not crazy, but it is rational, but it is precisely because of this rationality that the love is lasting and endless.

There is no doubt that the premiere of "The World's No. 1 Restaurant" was a huge success.

The day after the premiere, many Yanjing media reported the grand premiere of "The World's No. 1 Restaurant".

At the entrance of the Capital Theatre that day, a long queue formed outside the ticket booth, which stretched as far as the eye could see. They were all audiences who came to watch the show.

Later, Shi Zhi told Lin Chaoyang that the ticket booth was almost collapsed by the crowds rushing to get tickets that day.

In the following days, the literary and art circles, especially the theater circles, quickly came up with their evaluations of "The World's Number One Restaurant".

The successful premiere of "The World's No. 1 Restaurant" not only won the hearts of ordinary audiences, but also received high praise from drama critics and peers.

Xiao Qian wrote an article in the Yanjing Evening News to comment on "The No. 1 Restaurant in the World": It is a genre painting with color, fragrance and taste.

Cao Yu accepted an interview with the media and publicly stated that he had read the script of "The World's No. 1 Restaurant" three times and watched the performance of the drama five times in a row.

Many people also praised "The World's Number One Restaurant" for inheriting the depth of "Tea House" in script creation, and the People's Art Theatre has created another classic drama.

For a while, many famous figures in the Yenching literary and art circles expressed their opinions on "The World's No. 1 Restaurant", and this seemed to have become a trend.

In just a few days, "The World's No. 1 Restaurant" became famous in Yanjing!
That evening, Tao's father was reading a newspaper when he suddenly became inspired to write a poem: "Only the peony is the true national beauty, and the capital is moved when it blooms!"

As Tao's father recited the poem, he shook his head and was obviously very proud.

It was rare for him to do such a rash thing, which immediately attracted the interest of Tao's mother, who came closer to take a look at the newspaper.

I found that the newspaper that Tao's father was reading contained an article by playwright Huang Zongjiang commenting on "The World's No. 1 Restaurant".

Tao's mother took a quick glance and was deeply impressed by one of the sentences: The elegant and beautiful words can compare with Chekhov's.

"Look how beautiful you are!" she said sarcastically to her husband.

Mr. Tao did not hide his pride at all, "Your son-in-law's work has received such high praise from experts, aren't you happy?"

"There are so many people praising me, can I still be happy for each one of them?"

Father Tao shook his head as he looked at his wife's performance. She was so stubborn!
As the couple was talking, Zhu Guangqian came to the house. He hadn't been to the house much recently. He walked into the house and looked around, but there was no sign of Lin Chaoyang.

"Where's your son-in-law?"

"We're moving to a bigger house!" said Father Tao in a relaxed tone.

"Moving?" Zhu Guangqian was surprised when he heard this. "Did the school assign him an apartment?"

"No, I bought it myself, at the Overseas Chinese Apartment."

"Buy a house for yourself?" Zhu Guangqian seemed to have heard something out of the ordinary. His expression was three parts surprised and seven parts puzzled. "Does he have money to burn?"

"Now that the couple has the means, they naturally want to live in a better place. Chaoyang also needs a quiet creative environment." Tao's father explained on behalf of his daughter and son-in-law.

"They already have their own house, and the company can allocate a house to them in the future? This is a huge loss!"

"We can't control young people's affairs. Why do you worry about them?"

"Am I worried about him? I'm scolding that kid for not being in his right mind."

Comrade Lao Zhu was very unhappy. Now that Lin Chaoyang was gone, who would he go to play with in the future?
Tao's father knew that he was so irritable because he had lost his chess friend, so he called him, "Come on, I'll play a game of chess with you!"

"Your chess is too stinky!"

Zhu Guangqian left the Tao family after saying this, leaving Tao's father in a disheveled state.

Am I bad at chess?

Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself? Not only are you bad at chess, but your chess ethics are also poor!
Even Mr. Tao, who has good intentions to play chess with others, still gets insulted. He can't stand it.

After Zhu Guang left, dinner was ready. While the family was eating, Tao Yucheng talked about the recent popularity of "The World's Number One Restaurant" in the Yanjing theater and literary circles. His face was flushed and he looked very proud.

Before going to bed at night, Tao's father put down the book he was reading and found that his wife was reading a newspaper.

Looking closely, isn't that the one I flipped across in the evening?

He quietly observed his wife's expression, and the words popped up in his mind again:
What a tough mouth!
(End of this chapter)