The birth of an actor

Chapter 19 Meeting Again

Chapter 19 Meeting Again
The girl was wearing a white T-shirt, blue wide-leg jeans, and a pair of Li-Ning sneakers that were a luxury item in this day and age but looked a bit worn.

She completely squandered her youthful and beautiful advantages.

However, she wasn't standing in the same spot as yesterday; she was standing on the other side of the gate.

Anxin nodded and greeted him. As soon as he parked his motorcycle on the curb, Old Liu suddenly appeared out of nowhere and jogged over.

Obviously, the elderly don't rely on their physical strength, unless they're collecting parking fees.

Anxin was sensible and handed over her gift. The old man nodded in satisfaction, then used a mist concealment technique to disappear once more.

It's absolutely outrageous and terrifying.

Upon reaching Fan Bing's side, he heard the girl's first words:

"Isn't Grandpa Qiaoqiao amazing?"

"Who?"

"Grandpa Qiaoqiao".

The girl repeated it, then pointed in the direction he had come from:
"That old man who collects parking fees. His nickname is 'Quiet Old Man,' which means he hides quietly, but as soon as you park your car here, he'll pop out of nowhere and ask you for parking fees."

"..."

Anxin had already witnessed the old man's abilities and felt that he deserved the title.

He said, amused:
"Can't he just stand here openly and honestly?"

“No, you can’t. Look, once you cross that tree with the billboard, it’s no longer his jurisdiction. And…”

At this point, she lowered her voice:

"Let me tell you, people here love to take advantage of small things. As soon as they see a parking fee, many would rather walk a few extra steps to save a few cents. I guess that's how Grandpa Qiaoqiao got into that style. I was quite shocked the first time I saw him like that..."

As she spoke, she picked up the backpack next to her and handed it to Anxin:
"Give."

Anxin casually caught it, but the weight immediately caused him to stumble.

"What is this thing? It's so heavy!"

"script."

"?"

Anxin was stunned:
"What?"

He quickly opened his schoolbag, which contained a thick stack of A4 paper.

Goodness, that thickness... it's as thick as the Xinhua Dictionary.

Given the large size of an A4 sheet of paper, its weight is almost enough to make it a bulletproof vest.

Seeing An Xin's absurd expression, Fan Bing recounted the story as if it were a familiar tale:
"Thunderstorm, Oppression, Newsboy, Teahouse, Returning Home on a Snowy Night, Under the Eaves of Shanghai, Qu Yuan... There are so many of these, all distributed by our school. They're quite heavy, but our acting teacher said these are some of the most classic plays in our country, and actors absolutely must have seen them. It would be even better if they could have performed in them..."

Have you acted in all of them?

"Uh……"

Meeting An Xin's curious gaze, Fan Bing hesitated for a moment before nodding:

"I've acted in a few."

An Xin didn't press the issue by asking which roles she had played. Instead, she weighed the thick stack of scripts in her hand and asked:

"So you've seen them all?"

"……Um!"

Upon hearing this, Anxinxin said, "You see, it really is true that different professions are like different worlds."

Being an actor is really not easy. Just look at this number of reads... It would be fine for an adult, but for a fifteen-year-old girl, it's already this thick.

Tsk tsk.

"Then I'll take them home and look at them... Did you fax these over?"

"Ah."

"How much? I'll pay you."

"Need not."

Fan Bing waved her hand in a very magnanimous manner:

"It didn't cost any money. My senior's boyfriend works at a company. He was on the night shift yesterday, so I went to see him. It was free."

"Haha, thanks."

Anxin slung her backpack over her shoulder, stood still, glanced at the Beijing Film Studio where people kept going in, and asked:
"When people are going to work, they walk this way, and you're standing here facing them directly. Right?"

"The enemy."

The girl smiled and answered, then asked:

What are you planning to do later?

"Hmm, I'll go back and look at this. When are you coming? Didn't you say you were going to teach me movement techniques or something?"

"Hehe~"

Upon hearing this, Fan Bing revealed a sly look:
"That depends on your sincerity."

After saying that, she seemed to remember something, suddenly swallowed, and pursed her lips.

Instant peace of mind:

"Ha, so... do you want to eat that medicinal dish from yesterday, or stewed? Mushroom stewed with chicken... have you ever had that? Hazel mushrooms, wild ones."

"I've never eaten it before. But..."

Fan Bing's eyes lit up.

To be honest, she had never tasted such delicious chicken soup in her entire life.

And afterwards, you feel warm all over.

She had an indescribable feeling of boundless energy. Last night, after finishing her script, she walked home close to midnight, and after washing up, it was past midnight, but she still felt like she had inexhaustible energy.

so comfy.

Besides, braised chicken with mushrooms seems to be a fairly famous dish in Northeast China. She overheard some directors chatting about it when she went to Chifeng this time.

A director who had been to Northeast China said that he had eaten local chicken stew with mushrooms at the Liaoning Film Studio once, and the taste was so good that he couldn't stop eating it.

Although she didn't understand why Anxin would say mushrooms and chicks in reverse, she was indeed a little craving meat, as she hadn't had a proper meal in a long time.

But I couldn't bear to part with that warm feeling.

I hesitated for a moment.

After thinking for a moment, she tentatively said:

"Could you... leave a few pieces of chicken, and use the ginseng we had left over from yesterday to make some soup... and stew some mushrooms?"

"Hahaha~"

Seeing her cautious manner, Anxin smiled happily.

I thought to myself, "Girl, you're looking down on me a bit."

In Northeast China, if someone comes to your home, you'll be treated to the best food and drink.

If the guests want something to eat, we'll cook it if we have it at home. If not? We'll go buy it from outside!
When guests come to your home, you must make them feel at home.

So he nodded in agreement:

"No problem. Will you come at noon?"

"……Um!"

The girl's face instantly brightened.

"I'll go there after I get off work at noon!"

Okay. I'll go back and get it done now.

"Uh-huh……"

She agreed, and seeing that Anxin was about to leave, she quickly followed.

Anxin asked, puzzled:
"What are you doing?"

"Let's go, I'll tell Grandpa Qiaoqiao."

She accompanied Anxin all the way to the motorcycle, looked around, muttered "Where is it hidden?", and called out:

"Grandpa, grandpa!"

No one answered.

"……parking!"

With a "whoosh," Grandpa Qiaoqiao stood up between the two cars.

Anxin was speechless.

Is this person a spy?

Meeting the old man's questioning gaze, Fan Bing said directly:
"Sir, my friend only parked for less than two minutes. He's going home now and might not be coming back today. If he comes tomorrow, we won't pay the parking fee!"

Grandpa Qiaoqiao seemed somewhat dissatisfied.

But he seemed to recognize Fan Bingbing, and after glancing back and forth between the two of them, he said:

"Just this once! Next time you need to stop temporarily, just park on the side of the road."

"Got it." Fan Bing raised an eyebrow at An Xin triumphantly.

I felt relieved and happy.

This girl... is so interesting.

……

On my way to Jishuitan Hospital, I passed by a place that sells IC phone cards and bought a 30-yuan phone card to make a call home.

Unfortunately, Grandpa wasn't home; he must have gone hiking again.

He left a message for the village chief, asking his grandfather to get him some wild thunder vine. He also mentioned that he had arrived safely in Beijing... He was inexplicably busy yesterday and forgot about it.

After carrying the bag full of scripts home, he didn't rush to read them. Instead, he moved the tin stove from the house to the yard.

It's so hot that cooking indoors is obviously not an option.

Unfortunately, there was no firewood here, only a few honeycomb briquettes piled up in the corner.

This is definitely not as good as stewed with firewood, but it'll do.

After checking the seasonings in the pot, he walked out of the house and went to the front. He told Sui Xi, who was sitting behind the counter, that he would be stewing chicken for lunch and invited her to come and eat with him.

Sui Xi shook her head regretfully.
"I don't eat meat, I'm a vegetarian."

"...?"

Anxin was taken aback:
"You won't eat any meat at all?"

"Okay, you don't need to worry about me."

"This... okay."

Without asking whether Sister Sui was a Buddhist, he returned to the backyard and began to busy himself.

Boil water, soak the wild hazel mushrooms I brought, thaw the chicken, and start the stove...

While waiting for the fire to rise, he took out the thick stack of scripts. Upon inspection, he discovered that the girl had carefully separated them into individual sections and stapled them together.

The first play was called "Teahouse".

Anxin had indeed seen a clipping of the script. He remembered that there were a few old men scattering paper money in a teahouse and shouting something like "The right path to the West".

But that didn't leave a deeper impression.

So let's look at the content directly.

[Time: 1898, half a day earlier than the failure of the Kang-Liang Reform Movement]

Location: Yanjing Yutai Teahouse
Wang Lifu: Mr. Tang, why don't you take a stroll outside?
Tang Tiezui (laughs): Manager Wang, please do me the honor of having a bowl of tea. I'll offer you a fortune reading and palm reading, free of charge. (Without further ado, he takes Wang Lifu's hand.) This year is the 24th year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign, the year of Wuxu. How old are you...?

Is this the script?
Anxin, who was encountering this literary structure for the first time, found it somewhat novel.

It's not what I expected.

Why is it all dialogue? Or some actions?
There's no environmental description, no scene description? Not even a background?

If this is the script, then the director will film it this way? How are the actors supposed to act?

Unconsciously, he began to construct two fictional characters in his mind based on the content of the script.

One of them was one of the three old men I'd seen in a short video clip, and the other was a fortune teller whose face I couldn't see.

The two were right at the door... Emperor Guangxu... the Qing Dynasty... they should all have long braids, right?
Shopkeeper Wang wouldn't let the fortune teller in, but the fortune teller wanted to go in... At that moment, the other party's eyes were probably full of pleading; he just wanted to come in and have a bowl of tea...

He watched and pondered.

Gradually, the characters in my mind came to life...

Soon, half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

After watching the first scene, which was about an old eunuch buying a maid, I smacked my lips in relief.

I must say... this story is quite interesting.

All aspects of life converge in this small teahouse.

Looking at the late Qing Dynasty from the perspective of a teahouse.

This angle... no wonder it's a classic.

He sighed, got up, and walked outside.

The chicken is almost cooked through, time to cook. We have guests coming over for lunch.

……

"...What does it smell like? It smells so good."

As noon approached, pedestrians passing through the alley subconsciously sniffed.

chicken?
Ribs?

beef?

I can't tell the difference.

This is the taste...it smells amazing.

Whose cooking skills are so good?
The pedestrians were curious.

Ye Dingzhang, carrying several plastic bags and walking back, twitched his nose and showed a look of surprise.

What kind of food is this?

Why does it smell so good?

The old man was pondering this when he suddenly heard the door open. Turning around, he saw the child he had met that morning, the one who had helped him get wild Tripterygium wilfordii, come out of the door.

He was taken aback, and An Xin was also taken aback.

But... just as the door opened, Ye Dingzhang saw in the middle of the small courtyard, which was piled with some miscellaneous items, a small pot with a lid on a tin stove, and steam was bubbling up inside the pot.

With just one glance, the old man immediately knew that the rich aroma was coming from this pot.

"What a coincidence, what brings you here..."

Upon seeing the old man, Anxin greeted him with a smile.

Upon hearing this, the old man's nose twitched again, and he couldn't help but say:
"Young master, what kind of meat are you stewing at home? It smells so good!"

An Xin was taken aback. Seeing that he was staring intently at the courtyard, she turned her head and glanced at him before smiling:
"Chicken stew with mushrooms."

"Oh?"

The old man's eyes lit up, but he immediately narrowed them, sniffed again, and asked:
"This tastes...it's not quite the same as what I've had in Northeast China. Wild hazel mushrooms?"

Anxin thought to herself, "This old man has quite a good appetite," and nodded.
"Yes. My family picked them ourselves."

"This chicken tastes a bit different..."

He took a few more deep breaths.

The more I smelled it, the more fragrant it became.

It would have been better if he hadn't said it... But now that he's said it, it has a completely different meaning to Anxin's family.

So he said, half-politely and half-invitingly:

"Have you eaten yet? If you don't mind, why don't you come here for lunch?"

"Yo?"

The old man was taken aback at first, then laughed.

But instead of refusing, she nodded:
"Okay."

As he spoke, he lifted the plastic bag in his hand:
"That's great, I won't just eat your food for free. Do you know what's in this bottle?"

"do not know."

"Haha, Wang Shixiang's fermented rice wine sauce. I just brought it back. It's just the two of us at noon, right? I also have a bottle of fine lotus root..."

"Don't."

Anxin quickly shook her head:

"Sir, I'm allergic to alcohol."

"This……"

"I'll call you when the stew is ready, then you can come. I'm going out now to buy a couple of cold dishes..."

"Hi, no need."

The old man waved his hand:

"I'll prepare the other dishes."

With that, he left.
"Just call me in a bit."

"……it is good."

Anxin didn't take it seriously, but she vaguely felt that the name Wang Shixiang sounded familiar.

I just don't remember it.