Chapter 74 The Opera Master

"From China?" Li Zitao sat up straight away, grabbed the ticket and looked carefully.

"Metropolis of New York, a Peking Opera master from China, a great artist popular with 50 million people, Mei Lanfang's special session!!"

When he said the last name, Li Zitao's voice was like a rooster whose throat was pinched, and his pitch was raised eight notes in an instant.

"Charlie, how about the consulting fee?" Seeing his surprise, Lawrence said proudly.

"It's great." Li Zitao stared at the movie ticket with a complex expression, as if feeling that what he just said was not enough to express his excitement, he said again: "It's great!"

"Ha, what are you waiting for, let's start now." Lawrence shouted with a wave of his arms.

Sitting on the plane to New York, Li Zitao still felt like he was in a dream. Mei Lanfang, this familiar name, no one in China would ever forget.

The first of the four famous actors, the king of the acting world, and the originator of the Mei School, it is he who has raised the art of Peking Opera to an unprecedented height with his graceful performances and smooth singing.

It was he who spread the art of Peking Opera to the whole world and created a frenzy called "Mei Xuanfeng" all over the world.

Even in the 21st century in the previous life, the legend about this Peking Opera master has been passed down for a long time, and his love with Donghuang is even more regrettable.

Unexpectedly, in another strange world, he was lucky enough to meet this legendary figure and watch his performance.

"A little bit excited." Li Zitao murmured while pressing his beating heart.

He is not a drama fan, but he still has a feeling of admiration, admiration, and respect for an artist like Mei Lanfang.

It is with the dedication and hard work of these people that the traditional culture of Huaguo can go abroad and show the splendor and heritage of an ancient country with thousands of years of cultural heritage to the world.

What made his mood even more complicated was that the big event related to the three eastern provinces in the future, the Manchurian Incident recorded in the history of his previous life,

Because of the young marshal's misjudgment and slightly weak character, the 400,000 Eastern Garrison Army watched helplessly as the little devil devoured the three eastern provinces under their noses.

Li Zitao has been telling himself that this kind of thing is not for him to intervene, and the current little devil is a great power that can challenge the Soviet Union.

Although there are many reasons for this, I have to admit that the little devils in this period are powerful, and even the United States must face up to its status.

Li Zitao didn't think he had the strength to resist a country, let alone the lofty consciousness of being a savior, but at this time fate gave him the opportunity to meet Mei Lanfang.

This made him ask himself in his heart: "Should I do something?"

When he got in the car and arrived at the Metropolitan Theater in New York, Li Zitao was still struggling.

"Sir, do you want a ticket? A great artist from Huaguo only needs $15." Just as he got out of the car, two white scalpers approached him and looked at him enthusiastically.

There is no shortage of scalpers in the United States, especially for this high-profile performance. The tickets in the hands of the ticket sellers have increased from the initial price of 7 dollars to 10 dollars, and then to 15 dollars before the show today. Resist people's enthusiasm.

"We already have it." Seeing Li Zitao's absent-minded look, Lawrence waved the ticket in his hand and said.

The two scalpers didn't care, they turned and walked towards another Chinese, "Sir, do you need a ticket? A great artist from China..."

"How much?" asked the plainly dressed man.

"$15." The scalper took out the ticket with a smile, and saw the other party hesitate and shake the ticket and said: "The great artist only has one show in New York, if you miss it, you won't be able to see it."

"Yes, but I only have $10." The man said a little aggrieved.

"13 dollars, sir, the show will start soon." Seeing that his expression didn't look fake, the scalper said something tentatively.

"I bought it.

Li Zitao stood up, took out two 10 dollars and handed them to the other party.

"Thank you, sir. I don't know how to address him?" Looking at the movie ticket Li Zitao handed over, Zhao Yaozhong clasped his fists in embarrassment and gratitude.

"Li Zitao, what about you?" Li Zitao smiled.

"Zhao Yaozhong." Zhao Yaozhong said a little shyly, his face was a little thin, his eyes were gentle, and his hairstyle was combed shiny.

"Come on, let's talk when we go in, the performance is about to start." Li Zitao greeted enthusiastically.

"Sigh." Zhao Yaozhong nodded, and said with some emotion; "I didn't expect Master Mei to be so popular in the United States, and the ticket price of 5 dollars is almost tripled."

"Art knows no borders." Li Zitao said casually.

Zhao Yaozhong was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "That's right, art knows no borders, but artists have nationalities."

"Oh, just meet a compatriot and make out the golden sentence. This friend is not easy!" Li Zitao thought dumbfoundingly.

"Charlie, is this your friend?" Lawrence was waiting at the entrance of the theater, and when he saw Li Zitao coming with another strange Chinese, he asked in surprise.

"Lawrence, my friend." Li Zitao introduced, "This is Zhao Yaozhong, my compatriot."

"Hey, buddy, you look too thin." Lawrence joked with his fist on Zhao Yaozhong's chest very familiarly.

"Hey." Zhao Yaozhong scratched the back of his head, and said shyly, "I always forget to eat when I'm studying, and when I think about it, the canteen is closed, so I can only make a living."

"Oh, another good student." Lawrence exaggerated, spreading his hands.

"The performance is about to begin." Li Zitao took the lead and walked inward.

"Lawrence, can we sit together?" After finally meeting an interesting compatriot, Li Zitao wanted to chat with him for a while.

"I'll arrange it." Lawrence nodded and walked towards the small door next to him.

With Rockefeller's golden signature, their seats were transferred from the ordinary seats to the private room on the third floor in the middle on the right, which is one of the best viewing angles to watch the stage.

"Brother Zhao is still in school?" After admiring the magnificence of the Metropolitan Opera House, the three sat down and chatted casually, waiting for the performance to start.

"Yes, I'm studying for a Ph.D. at Caltech, completing my final experimental project."

Zhao Yaozhong pointed to the stage below and said with a smile; "It's not that I heard that Master Mei is here, and I want to see him before leaving, and I don't know if I can see him."

Doctor, doctoral students studying abroad in this era are proper academic masters!

"I'll definitely see you. I heard that Master Mei is very kind. He will shake hands with the audience in front of the stage every time after the show. As long as the audience doesn't leave, he won't leave."

These are all from the memory of the previous life. Li Zitao had specifically researched the love story between King Ling and Emperor Dong back then, and there happened to be such records in it.

"That's really great. I have loved drama since I was a child. When I was young, I always listened to dramas with my grandma. At that time, I still wanted to be a dramatist in the future!" Zhao Yaozhong laughed.

"It's a good thing you didn't do this, otherwise it must be a loss to the physics world." Li Zitao laughed, and he was already thinking about how to 'hook up' this top student.

"Oh, I remembered, a genius from Huaguo, Zhao." Lawrence suddenly shouted: "The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published information and papers about you, called, called..."

"Hard gamma ray absorption coefficient measurement." Zhao Yaozhong smiled kindly.

"That's right, my father said you were a genius." Lawrence clapped his hands.

"..." Li Zitao's head was watered when he heard it, "hard Y" or "ray", but he was very good at grasping the key points.

Genius, what he lacks right now is genius, "A fellow genius sent to your door!"

"It's the beginning." Zhao Yaozhong pointed to the stage and said with bright eyes.

Seeing that the stage curtain was opened, Li Zitao could only suppress his excitement, and planned to wait until the performance was over before chatting with him alone.

If Li Zitao knew what kind of achievements this shy young man beside him would have in the future, he would probably kidnap him immediately.

In the first performance of "Fenhe Bay", when Mei Lanfang in costume appeared on the stage, the entire opera house fell silent.

He was born to belong to the stage, as long as he stands there, people's eyes are involuntarily attracted by him, as if even the soul is involved.

The pink cheeks that are gorgeous but not flirtatious, including the affectionate eyes that seem to be able to talk, and the frown and smile are graceful and magnificent. No one who sees it can believe that this alluring posture is actually a man.

A sad, a happy, a shaking sleeve, a kneeling, a prostration, a kowtow, a frown, a smile and a look back, a moment of rest for a lifetime.

The sword dance in the Red Line Pirate Box amazed the dance masters of the United States.

The loyal court lady in the thorn tiger, the tenderness when she was false and submissive, and the righteousness when she finally died to show her ambition and generously died for the country, made many Hollywood stars cry.

The long-sleeved solo dance in Luoshen, the double-sword dance in Farewell My Concubine, and the flower sickle dance in Chang'e Flying to the Moon, the audience was stunned, "So there are so many forms of dance."

Scene after scene, play after play, when the stage curtain was completely closed and the lights were turned on, the entire opera house audience stood up.

They couldn't restrain the excitement in their hearts, clapped their hands red, and shouted amid thunderous applause: "China Mei, Chin Mei..."

The audience's reaction was so enthusiastic that Mei Lanfang didn't even have time to remove her makeup, so she hurriedly led her team to stand on the stage, and shook hands with every audience in a humble and kind manner to express her gratitude.

"Master Mei, your performance is so wonderful." Little fan Zhao Yaozhong lined up in front of the stage, clasped Mei Lanfang's hand tightly with excitement, and pressed down hard.

"Thank you for the honor. If you are not in a hurry, you can wait in the background first. We Chinese compatriots are all here." Mei Lanfang was also a little excited.

Being able to start the first shot of opera in the United States and seeing so many compatriots made him equally enthusiastic, and he could not calm down the fluctuations in his heart for a long time.

"Okay, okay." Zhao Yaozhong naturally wouldn't refuse.

After Li Zitao shook hands with Mei Lanfang, he gave him a meaningful look, and followed him to the backstage. Lawrence, a beggar, wanted to join in the fun.

"What are you doing here? This is a Chinese gathering." Li Zitao said speechlessly.

"Hey, Charlie, I'm your friend." Lawrence said dissatisfied.

"But here are all Chinese." Zhao Yaozhong sneered, Lawrence gave him a very different feeling, without the arrogance of other white people facing the Chinese.

His words and deeds are humorous and unpretentious, warm and generous, it is difficult to make people feel disgusted with him.