Returning to the county opera troupe in 77

When the curtain reopened, Liu Dezhu sat in front of the drum stand and nodded to the people around him: "This play relies entirely on the drumbeats, cymbals, flutes, and gongs. Da Tou, your chance to shine has arrived."

Lin Datou pursed his lips, glanced down at the set of brass cymbals in his hand, and muttered, "Opportunity? It's still just cymbals!"

Liu Dezhu rolled his eyes at him: "Look at you, you coward! Hurry up and get to work!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the drumstick in his hand fell and struck the drumhead.

"beep--"

After a low, muffled thud, the small gong's fragmented notes, "tai, tai, tai," broke into a crisp, rapid series of footsteps, exploding in the quiet night.

At the same instant, a dark shadow drifted out from the side curtain.

Han Zhengkui, wearing a soft bonnet, thin-soled boots, and a black tight-fitting short night outfit, took to the stage!

He tiptoed, his body low to the ground, like a cat gliding along the ground, and silently arrived at the center of the stage.

The small gong beats continued to follow his steps, ringing out "tai tai tai," as dense as raindrops falling on tiles, both light and rapid, just enough to cover the gaps between each of his steps.

The old men in the first row below the stage subconsciously held their breath, their pipes held to their lips but forgotten to smoke, the firelight flickering in the night.

After "Shi Qian" stood still, he slightly raised his chin. His eyes, painted with oil paint and clearly defined in black and white, flashed under the light, sweeping over the dark mass of people below the stage. His gaze was short and bright.

Immediately, some people in the audience involuntarily shrank back, as if they were genuinely afraid of being targeted by this "thief" on stage.

On one side of the stage, Chen Xiangdong, Feng Zhengxiao, and Fang Zhengsheng all had tense expressions, their eyes fixed on Han Zhengkui's every move, secretly holding their breath.

Hu Xiaolian chuckled softly, "What's there to be afraid of? Old Han is starring in 'The Thief of Armor,' isn't that a sure thing?"

As he spoke, he carefully scanned the stage scenery before finally feeling relieved.

The backdrop, black tile walls, roof outlines, and other scenery were all perfectly placed and sized, and thankfully they didn't drag the performance down.

In the shadows beside the stage, Han Wenxue frowned and complained to Zhu Zheng: "Secretary Zhu, this is an old play! Who dares to perform a traditional play so openly these days? To put it bluntly, if the higher-ups blame us, who will be held responsible?"

"It's on me!"

Zhu Zheng patted his chest, then turned his gaze from the stage to Han Wenxue: "Vice Troupe Leader Han, time waits for no one! If you ask me, some traditional plays will definitely be unbanned next year and will be able to return to the stage. Although there's no official word from above, the atmosphere is already loosening. If our troupe doesn't seize this opportunity now, we'll regret it if we miss it."

He pointed to the front of the stage, to the area filled with applause and cheers: "Did you hear the applause from the audience? Whether a play is good or not, the audience's reaction doesn't lie."

Han Wenxue was speechless for several seconds after being choked by his words. He subconsciously turned his head to look at the stage and saw Han Zhengkui walking on the stage with his body bent low. His center of gravity was extremely low, and the audience's eyes seemed to be hooked, following him in unison.

He also wanted the troupe to thrive. Sometimes when he couldn't sleep late at night, he would lie in bed and close his eyes, and he would think back to ten years ago when the troupe was so popular.

A large red banner hangs at the theater entrance every day, and the ticket windows are crowded from morning till night. Tickets are snapped up as soon as they are put out, and even standing room tickets are in high demand.

Not only were there many old opera fans from Dongping County, but also many people who came from the provincial capital or even other provinces. The county's guesthouses were full, and they didn't want to leave even after watching the opera for three days.

He was young then, running around with the troupe, but every time he heard the cheers from the audience that could almost lift the roof off, he felt that his spine was straight.

Han Wenxue couldn't help but glance at the stage again. Han Zhengkui was climbing the beam like a nimble monkey, his movements swift and agile, showing no signs of old age.

Han Wenxue's eyes glazed over for a moment, as if he were seeing Han Zhengkui, the martial arts clown who was famous throughout northern Shaanxi ten years ago.

He let out a long sigh of relief: "Hopefully, we can get off to a good start today."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhengkuo, who was standing next to him, turned around and looked at him in surprise, then smiled and nodded: "Don't worry."

The figure of "Shi Qian" on the beam flipped and rolled, leaping from the vertical beam to the horizontal beam with a "whoosh." He hooked his hands onto the edge of the beam and swung his body in mid-air.

"oops!"

A gasp rippled through the audience as everyone's attention was drawn to the figure on the beam.

The drumbeats suddenly intensified, like a torrential downpour pounding on tiles, "da da da da" pounding on everyone's eardrums.

Xiao Luo followed up with a detailed "tai tai tai" sound. Just as the drumbeats reached their densest point, Han Zhengkui suddenly leaped into the air, delivering a clean and crisp flying kick over his head. His toes brushed past the halo of the gas lamp, and his body twisted into a full arc in mid-air before landing steadily on the crossbeam.

In the distance from the audience, all the cadres, big and small, of the Red Star Commune stared in disbelief. The Revolutionary Committee director was so astonished he couldn't close his mouth, muttering, "Incredible!"

The air below the stage seemed to freeze, pressing down on everyone's chest.

Everyone held their breath, hundreds of eyes fixed on the figure on the beam, afraid that if they made the slightest noise, the person on the beam would be alerted like a real thief and escape under the cover of night.

The old man forgot to smoke his pipe, and the child forgot to struggle even with his mouth covered by an adult. At that moment, it seemed that the only thing still moving in the world was the thief on the beam!

The next moment, under countless tense gazes, Han Zhengkui hooked his feet on the edge of the beam and his whole body was "whooshed" upside down.

Head down, feet hanging from the beam, arms outstretched, like a bat hanging upside down under the eaves.

There was a loud "whoosh" from the audience, like a ladle of water being poured into boiling oil.

"My goodness!"

A woman wrapped in a gray headscarf suddenly leaned back, clutching her chest, as if her heart was about to leap out of her chest from the shock of the scene.

The young woman sitting next to her nervously gripped her sleeve, her mouth agape and her eyes wide open.

Several old men in the back row stood up at the same time, craning their necks to look ahead, as if trying to see clearly how the thief's foot got hooked on the beam.

"My God! What kind of kung fu is that?!" A young man slapped his thigh excitedly, his eyes shining. "That's incredible! That's incredible! That skill is truly amazing!"

The trainees were all stunned. They had never known that acting could be done like this! Li Zhangqing and the others all stared with their mouths agape, wondering: Will we be able to do this someday?

The people in the audience went absolutely wild!

But those behind the scenes remained silent.

He Jianshe, Qiao Haizhu, Lu Meiyin, and Pan Lanxiang stared blankly through the curtain of the dressing room at Han Zhengkui, who was hanging upside down on the roof beam, causing gasps from the entire audience. They felt a mix of emotions.

Han Zhengkui was suspended in the air, his arms outstretched, bending over to untie the "treasure armor" on the beam.

The moment the "treasure armor" was in hand, the drumbeats shifted from dense to deep, and with a "thud," it was like a heavy hammer striking everyone's chest.

He lost his footing and tumbled off the roof beam, performing a beautiful "cloud somersault" in mid-air, his clothes billowing in the wind, like a black cloud being swept away by the wind.

Then, touching the ground with his toes, he crouched down on the spot without making a single extra sound on the stage floor.

Shi Qian smoothly withdrew from his stance, stood up and stood still, holding the precious armor in his hands. The sly smile on his lips was just right, perfectly portraying the image of a petty thief who had successfully stolen something!

"good!"

Someone in the audience shouted, and immediately the entire open space in front of the stage seemed to be set ablaze with cheers of "Good! Good! Good!"

In the shadows beside the stage, Chen Xiangdong, Feng Zhengxiao, Fang Zhengsheng, and Hu Xiaolian exchanged surprised glances. Fang Zhengsheng clenched his fists, his eyes red-rimmed, and his voice trembled slightly.

"It's done! It's done!"

—————————————————Due to something urgent this afternoon, the second chapter is being posted ahead of schedule. Typing is hard work for someone with clumsy fingers; it was all typed by hand using the 26-key pinyin on my phone. I checked for typos again and again, but there are still quite a few o(╯□╰)o I'm posting this directly without any saved drafts; it's really a matter of writing and posting one chapter at a time…

I'll practice my typing speed and try to write more in the future. Please, dear readers, shower me with your votes!