After being dumped by the diva, I was picked up by her arch-enemy.

The black sedan stopped at the entrance of an alley in the western suburbs of Beijing.

Jiang Yichen got off the car with Gong Changge.

The autumn wind carried a chill, swirling up a few withered yellow leaves from the ground.

The two walked along the alley paved with blue bricks.

We stopped in front of a grand courtyard house.

Gong Changge stepped forward and knocked on the door knocker.

A short while later, the door opened from the inside.

A middle-aged nanny welcomed the two inside.

There are two sturdy ginkgo trees in the yard, their branches covered in golden leaves.

Li Guochun was sitting in a rattan chair under a tree.

He was wearing a dark gray coarse cloth gown and was holding two round, patina-covered walnuts in his hands.

A purple clay teapot sits on the small square table next to it.

The radio was playing excerpts from Peking Opera.

"teacher."

Gong Changge stepped forward and greeted him respectfully.

Li Guochun opened his eyes, his gaze passing directly past Gong Changge and landing on Jiang Yichen.

The old man had very sharp eyes as he looked Jiang Yichen up and down.

Jiang Yichen did not flinch, but met his master's gaze calmly.

He bowed slightly.

"Greetings, Grandmaster. I am Jiang Yichen."

Li Guochun stopped eating walnuts and pointed to the stone bench next to him.

"Please sit down."

The old man's voice was loud and clear, full of confidence.

Jiang Yichen sat down as instructed, his back ramrod straight.

"Thank you for speaking up for me online before."

"Hmph," Li Guochun snorted coldly. "They deserve to be scolded. They have no right to point fingers at my apprentices."

The old man's extremely protective nature was on full display.

Gong Changge chimed in from the side.

"Teacher, Yichen not only sings well now, but he has also helped to support the Qilin Opera Troupe in Nancheng."

"Now that theater is packed every day, full of young people going to see the plays."

Li Guochun raised an eyebrow, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes.

"Oh? This is the first time I've heard of this."

"These days, it's not easy to get young people to voluntarily go to the theater."

He looked at Jiang Yichen, his tone much gentler.

"What have you been up to lately?"

Jiang Yichen placed his hands on his knees and answered truthfully.

"In addition to the theater troupe's regular performances, we recently filmed a short drama."

Li Guochun became interested.

"A short drama? What kind of show is it?"

Gong Changge also came over.

"Are you done filming? Take it out and let's take a look."

Jiang Yichen took out his phone.

He was actually a little apprehensive.

The novel "ENEMY" incorporates a large number of modern online elements such as infinite flow, zombies, and dungeons.

This trendy narrative style will appeal to young people.

But these two are the most orthodox and old-fashioned figures in the world of Chinese opera.

Can they accept this kind of unconventional and imaginative approach to expression?

Jiang Yichen was even worried that his grandmaster would throw his phone away as soon as he saw those strangely dressed zombies at the beginning.

But he still opened the photo album and pulled up the video Chen Hao had sent.

He turned the phone screen horizontally and handed it to Li Guochun.

Gong Changge also moved a small stool and moved closer to Li Guochun to watch together.

The video has started playing.

A pale blue background light illuminates the eerie old opera house.

Jiang Yichen and Meng Lingyu stood back to back, fighting against the horde of zombies.

Li Guochun frowned slightly.

He looked at the menacing monsters on the screen, then at Jiang Yichen's agile movements.

The old man didn't speak, he just stared at the screen.

Gong Changge was also full of doubt.

What kind of nonsense is this?

Jiang Yichen explained softly from the side.

"Grandmaster, teacher, this is called an infinite flow dungeon, which is a game setting for clearing levels."

"Young people these days like to watch this."

Li Guochun waved his hand, signaling him to keep quiet.

The video continues to move forward.

Transition.

The scene then shifts to Nanjing in 1937.

Japanese bayonets, a dilapidated stage.

Li Guochun's actions of playing with the walnuts came to a complete stop.

He leaned forward slightly, getting closer to the screen.

When they saw Jiang Yichen and Meng Lingyu put on masks and pick up the poisoned wine.

When they saw the fire blazing, the two stood firm amidst the flames.

"Now, the two of us will establish this platform to cast our spell!"

That poignant and sorrowful chorus pierced through the screen and struck straight to the heart.

The flames engulfed the stage, and the two men became loyal souls who guarded the place for centuries.

The video ends.

The screen went dark.

The courtyard was quiet.

The only sound was the rustling of the wind through the ginkgo leaves.

Jiang Yichen put his phone away and swallowed.

"Grandmaster, this filming technique might be a bit exaggerated, but it's just to cater to the current market..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

Li Guochun slapped his thigh suddenly.

Slap it.

This startled Gong Changge, who was standing next to him.

"Great!" Li Guochun shouted. "That was a good shot!"

Jiang Yichen was stunned.

He had imagined many possible reactions, but he never expected his master to be so excited.

Li Guochun took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"What dungeon, what monster, this old man really doesn't understand."

"But I can see the integrity in this actor!"

"I understand this patriotic spirit of 'rather die than live in dishonor'!"

The old man's voice was filled with both vicissitudes and strength.

"During the War of Resistance against Japan, our Peking Opera community produced many martyrs!"

"Mr. Cheng, who grew a beard to show his resolve; Mr. Mei, who disfigured himself and refused to perform."

"Those were all real battles fought against the invaders!"

"Your short drama has truly captured the backbone of us opera performers!"

Gong Changge nodded repeatedly from the side.

Li Guochun picked up the walnuts again and vigorously rubbed them a couple of times.

"Good lad, go ahead and do it!"

"From now on, in this industry, if anyone dares to use the rules to pressure you, just say the name of Li Guochun!"

Jiang Yichen felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

This old man has a fiery temper, but he's also incredibly protective of his own.

He spent time with the two elders in the courtyard, drinking tea and chatting, until evening before leaving.

As dusk settles, the city lights begin to twinkle.

The night in Beijing had a somewhat hazy feel to it.

Jiang Yichen took a taxi back to Nancheng Hutong.

Pushing open the gate of the Qilin Opera Troupe, the courtyard was quiet.

My fellow apprentices don't have any evening performances today; they've all gone back to their rooms to rest.

Jiang Yichen went straight back to his room.

Pull out a chair and sit down.

Turn on your computer and log in to the Douhai web version.

He transferred the ultra-high-definition video files from his phone to his computer.

Open the release page.

I first logged into my personal account, Jiang Yichen.

Drag the video into the upload box.

Watch the progress bar slowly load.

He typed a few lines in the caption box.

"The original Chinese-style short drama 'ENEMY' is now available for its first release."

"This film is dedicated to the most principled Peking Opera predecessors of that era."

Click to jointly publish.

Enter the account ID of Qilin Opera Club.

Check the box to confirm.

Move the mouse to the publish button in the bottom right corner.

Clicked Publish!