Returning to the county opera troupe in 77

Fortunately, there wasn't much work to do during the day, and after Liu Dezhu forced me to drink a whole bowl of millet porridge, the churning discomfort in my stomach finally subsided a lot.

Watching Chen Xiangdong finish his porridge, Liu Dezhu said with an air of knowing what he was doing, "Hey, that's right. Your stomach's been empty from vomiting, so some millet porridge will soothe it."

Chen Xiangdong shook his head, stood up, and then noticed a thin, small figure crouching behind Liu Dezhu. He recognized the girl at a glance, but pretended not to know and asked:

"Master Liu, is this your daughter?"

Liu Dezhu glared at him: "What nonsense are you talking about! I've never been married, where would I get a daughter? This is my niece, her name is Li Zhangqing."

As he spoke, he turned around and said to Li Zhangqing, who was hiding timidly behind him like a kitten, "This is the stage manager of our troupe. Call him uncle."

Li Zhangqing's face was long and thin, so long that, in the local parlance, it was smaller than the palm of her hand. She just sniffed, glanced timidly at Chen Xiangdong, and didn't greet him.

Chen Xiangdong waved his hand and said, "Why call me Uncle? I'm only fourteen, not more than two years older than her. Just call me Brother Dong from now on."

Liu Dezhu chuckled and didn't press the matter further. He ruffled his niece's messy hair and said, "This girl is shy and has a thin skin. She'll be fine after a few days."

Chen Xiangdong squatted down, looked Li Zhangqing straight in the eye, and said with a smile, "Have you had breakfast? If not, I'll take you to the master's house to get a bowl of braised pork."

Li Zhangqing nodded first, then his big eyes suddenly lit up, he swallowed hard, and then shook his head frantically.

"She ate, she ate. She drank three bowls of millet porridge this morning," Liu Dezhu quickly answered for her, then jokingly scolded Chen Xiangdong, "You shameless coward, you just made a connection with the master and you're already thinking about begging for meat. You've got some nerve!"

"What's the big deal? How about I see if there are any big bones on the stove? I'll get you a couple." Chen Xiangdong grinned, lowered his voice, and winked at Li Zhangqing.

Li Zhangqing kept his head down and didn't say a word, but his ears turned red.

Liu Dezhu looked over in surprise: "You've only been in the troupe for three days, right? That stingy guy Qin, you actually managed to get a dog bone from his mouth?"

"I'm popular, you know. Chef Qin and I hit it off immediately, it's just a little thing."

"Just bragging."

Although Liu Dezhu said that, the way he looked at Chen Xiangdong was different.

The people in the kitchen are usually very arrogant and don't allow outsiders to enter at all.

Especially Fatty Qin, who has worked in the kitchen for over ten years, while the second chef and assistant chef have come and gone, he has remained steadily in his position.

But the night before last, Liu Dezhu saw with his own eyes that Fatty Qin called Chen Xiangdong in for special treatment. In all these years, this was the first time he had ever seen the fat man be so enthusiastic towards a newcomer.

Seeing that Liu Dezhu didn't quite believe him, Chen Xiangdong didn't explain further and turned to walk towards the kitchen. After taking a few steps, he turned back and winked at Li Zhangqing: "Wait for me, brother."

Li Zhangqing bit her lip, her eyes sparkling, and remained silent, just watching quietly.

Chen Xiangdong walked to the stove and chatted with Fatty Qin, who was sitting on a small stool tidying up large pieces of meat, for a few words with a grin.

No one knows what he said, but the fat man immediately grinned from ear to ear, bent down, picked up a large bowl, and filled it with several pieces of large bones that hadn't been cleaned of meat.

Liu Dezhu and his son watched from afar, utterly dumbfounded: "Wow, wow, wow!"

While he was still in a daze, Chen Xiangdong walked over with a big bowl full of meat, and handed it to Liu Dezhu with a grin: "This is for my sister. Eat it while it's hot. There's plenty of meat on the bones."

Liu Dezhu took the bowl, glanced down, and saw a huge, greasy pile of bones, the aroma of meat filling his nostrils. He swallowed hard, then looked up at Chen Xiangdong with a changed expression: "You... what did you say to that fat guy?"

Chen Xiangdong, however, leaned closer mysteriously: "Want to know?"

Liu Dezhu nodded hurriedly: "Go ahead and say it."

"I can tell you, but you have to promise me one thing first."

"Okay, okay, I promise."

Seeing Liu Dezhu readily agree, Chen Xiangdong's eyes lit up, and he lowered his voice: "Before I came to our troupe, I read an old cookbook. What I was talking to Fatty Qin about just now was the recipe for Changwu Crispy Pork."

Upon hearing this, Liu Dezhu was immediately stunned.

Unlike later generations, in those days, the skills of both cooks and drummers were taught by their masters step by step. Even if there were recipes or drum manuals, they were closely guarded secrets within the master's school and could not be easily shown to outsiders.

And where did Chen Xiangdong get the recipes? Those are a chef's lifeline!

"Master Liu?"

"Um?"

Liu Dezhu snapped out of his daze and saw Chen Xiangdong grinning and saying, "We've got a deal, you can't go back on your word."

Liu Dezhu had a feeling this kid was up to something, so he subconsciously shrank back: "What is it? Tell me."

Chen Xiangdong suddenly stopped smiling and became serious: "I want to learn to play the drums."

Liu Dezhu was taken aback, looked Chen Xiangdong up and down, and his expression changed from surprise to bewilderment: "What? You want to learn to play the drums?"

"Yes." Chen Xiangdong nodded repeatedly. "I really want to learn, Teacher Liu."

Liu Dezhu didn't say anything, squinting at him for a while before finally speaking slowly: "What are you doing, you stagehand, trying to play the drums?"

Chen Xiangdong spread his hands, his tone sincere: "I don't want to be a stagehand for the rest of my life either. This is just a temporary job, and I might be fired at any time. If I could learn a skill to make a living, like Master Liu, with such a good skill, no matter where I go, theater troupes and opera companies would be eager to hire me."

Upon hearing this, Liu Dezhu's expression relaxed slightly, and he couldn't help but feel pleased. He squinted at Chen Xiangdong: "You're quite the schemer."

Chen Xiangdong chuckled: "Teacher Liu, I genuinely want to learn, it's not just a passing fancy."

Liu Dezhu didn't say anything, and after a while he spoke: "Let me think about it. Learning to play the drum isn't something you can just talk about; you need talent. Take that coward Lin Datou, for example. He's been playing the drum for over ten years, and he's still not even a second-rate drummer."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiangdong realized there was potential and quickly said, "You can only know about talent by practicing and trying it out."

Liu Dezhu glanced at him but didn't reply. Seeing this, Chen Xiangdong quickly added, "Master Liu, why don't you teach me something simple first? I'll practice for a couple of days and see if it works for me. Then you can decide."

Liu Dezhu raised his head, stared at Chen Xiangdong for a long while, and finally his lips twitched: "You're quite good at taking advantage of situations."

Chen Xiangdong chuckled and didn't deny it.

Liu Dezhu thought for a moment, stood up, dusted off his trousers, and walked towards the drum and music troupe. After taking a couple of steps, he turned back and said, "When the performance is tonight, come to the tent and stand next to me."

"Alright, Master!" Chen Xiangdong's eyes lit up.

Liu Dezhu paused, turned around and glared at him: "What are you calling me master for! We don't even know if you're cut out for this job yet. Let's see how you practice for a few days."

After saying that, he put his hands behind his back, trying to project an air of superiority, and slowly walked away.

"Snap!"

A soft sound interrupted Chen Xiangdong's silly laughter. He turned his head and saw Li Zhangqing, whose mouth was full of oil, staring in astonishment with his mouth agape. He then spat out a tooth from his palm.

Chen Xiangdong's lips twitched. What bad luck! He even knocked out a tooth while gnawing on a meat bone.

Before she could even speak, the little girl glanced at the tooth in her hand, quickly put the bowl down, looked around, picked up a twig from the side, and squatted down to start digging.

Chen Xiangdong was stunned by this: "What are you doing?"

Li Zhangqing, who had been silent all along, pointed to his mouth and said seriously, "The teeth that fell out on top need to be buried."

Chen Xiangdong: "..."