The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

The business model of Tianjin Department Store is very advanced. The lower floors are for selling goods, the fifth floor is a theater, the sixth floor is a cinema, and the seventh floor is a roof garden for tourists. The entertainment venues on the fifth, sixth, and seventh floors, collectively referred to as Zhongyuan Amusement Park, have just opened recently.

"Mr. Zhou, please take a seat!" The theater manager Lin Binlai greeted Zhou Hexuan graciously.

Zhou Hexuan walked to the front seat and sat down, and the old guy next to him snorted coldly when he saw him. Judging by his appearance, he must be an old man from the former Qing Dynasty, and he doesn't like Zhou Hexuan.

At the edge of the stage in the theater, the sound recording crew was already guarding the machine and preparing for the live recording of Peking Opera.

To be honest, the recording equipment in the 1920s was very primitive, coupled with the noisy theater environment, all kinds of noise were recorded, and the sound quality was seriously distorted.

But there is no way, Zhou Hexuan can't pay for it, and invite the theater troupe to record alone, the cost is too high.

For the recording of this scene right now, not only did Zhou Hexuan not have to pay, the Central Plains Amusement Park paid instead.

Just two days ago, Zhou Hexuan's China Radio Station broadcast two Beijing operas in Quanyechang, Tianjin, and it was performed by Mei Lanfang. Although the sound quality is relatively poor, it has won the praise of many listeners. After all, not everyone has the time and money to listen to Mei Lanfang's opera.

The Zhongyuan Amusement Park has just opened, and Tianjin Quanyechang is regarded as its biggest competitor, so naturally it will not miss the new play of the radio station. They invested 200 yuan and asked Zhou Hexuan to play their entertainment scene on the show for a week.

Not only that, Zhou Hexuan also had another request, that is, the Central Plains Amusement Park must invite Meng Xiaodong's troupe to sing eight plays every month.

The two sides hit it off immediately, the Central Plains Amusement Park needs a famous actor like Meng Xiaodong to gather popularity, and Meng Xiaodong also needs a large theater like the Central Plains Amusement Park to make money.

The first performance was not Peking Opera, but magic.

Before the performance started, the old man next to Zhou Hexuan said angrily, "Are you that gentle scum Zhou Hexuan?"

Zhou Hexuan smiled instead of anger: "Exactly, I wonder who you are, this old man?"

The old man clasped his hands to the north, and replied: "Old man Zheng Xiaoxu is the master of the emperor!"

Hey, it turned out to be Puyi's teacher, no wonder he talked so aggressively with Zhou Hexuan.

Zheng Xiaoxu was Xie Yuan in the eighth year of Guangxu, and served as Li Hongzhang's staff. After the Revolution of 1911, he regarded himself as an old man. In two months, this person will go to Japan to help Puyi plan the restoration activities, and later he will be the Prime Minister of the Puppet Manchukuo.

However, Zheng Xiaoxu's prime minister only served for one year before he was kicked out of office by the Japanese with deducted wages. The reason was that the Japanese wanted to eliminate Puyi's followers so that it would be easier for them to control the puppet emperor.

As for why Zheng Xiaoxu appeared in the Zhongyuan amusement park today, just look at the couplet at the gate of the amusement park. The couplet was written by Zheng Xiaoxu, and the content is: less wind and clouds, more love for children, life and talents are empty of past events;

On the surface, the couplet is writing about the stage of drama, but secretly it is Zheng Xiaoxu's lament, saying that he is full of talents and has nothing to do, and it is hard to find a friend who has both loyalty and filial piety.

Zhou Hexuan didn't want to talk to this guy, but the other party was relentless and reprimanded him: "Mr. Zhou, you are also a talent, how can you encourage the emperor and the imperial concubine to divorce? Doing such an unethical thing!"

"Hey, don't pour me dirty water, which eye of yours saw me instigating Concubine Dao to divorce?" Zhou Hexuan categorically denied it.

Zheng Xiaoxu said angrily: "I am not stupid! When Concubine Shu divorced, you published a statement in "Ta Kung Pao". After Concubine Shu divorced, she joined your Hope Education Foundation. How could it have nothing to do with you?"

"Even if I instigated it, what's the matter?" Zhou Hexuan asked with a smile.

Zheng Xiaoxu stood up angrily, pointed at Zhou Hexuan and cursed: "You are shameless, you are a monster!"

The battle was too big, and the audience in the back row all looked at them, not knowing what was going on.

Lin Binlai, the manager of the theater, rushed over to persuade him: "Mr. Zheng, Mr. Zhou, both of you are distinguished guests, so you have something to say."

"Such a gentle scum, ashamed to sit next to him, I bid farewell!" Zheng Xiaoxu left with a flick of his sleeves.

Zhou Hexuan looked helpless, he really never messed with this old man.

The magic show on the stage finally started. According to the announcement, the performer came from North Korea.

There were two actors, a man and a woman. The woman was fat and fat. She was tied tightly with a rope and kept calling for help. The man flaunted his power, pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the fat woman with a few shots, blood spattered and flowed.

Immediately afterwards, the staff put the "corpse" of the fat woman into the wooden box, and the male performer drew out a long knife, pointed it at the "female corpse" and stabbed it down, and then shot a few more times, all kinds of blood sprayed wildly.

"ah!"

Countless spectators screamed in horror, couldn't bear to witness it, and the timid ones even fainted directly.

So realistic!

The male performer suddenly lifted the lid of the wooden box, and the inside was empty. At this time, the "dead" fat woman also ran out from the backstage, alive and well without any wounds.

"Crack clap clap!"

There was warm applause from the audience.

After the magic show, it was the Peking Opera performance by Meng Xiaodong's troupe.

When Meng Xiaodong made his final appearance, the audience applauded so loudly that the ceiling almost burst through.

Zhou Hexuan suddenly shouted: "Winter Emperor! Winter Emperor!"

"The Winter Emperor!"

"The Winter Emperor!"

The entire audience immediately shouted together, even the elderly people who were elderly, the fanatical energy was simply frightening.

After the Peking Opera performance ended, Zhou Hexuan got up and left, standing at the elevator entrance and waiting for Meng Xiaodong to come out.

A moment later, Meng Xiaodong appeared with his younger brother Meng Keke, while the rest of the troupe were still packing their things in the background.

"Brother-in-law, can you take me to Brother Zheng? I want to learn how to use a gun from him." Meng Ke said with his head raised.

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said, "Okay, I can take you there. But whether Big Brother Zheng will teach you or not depends on what he wants."

Meng Xiaodong patted his younger brother on the head and said, "It's enough for you to practice flower guns. What can you do with murderous marksmanship?"

"I don't care, Brother Zheng is good at marksmanship anyway, I just want to learn from him." Meng Keke insisted.

Everyone talked and laughed and took the elevator downstairs. When they passed a cleaning counter, Zhou Hexuan turned to Sun Yonghao and said, "Yonghao, don't you want to come to propose a marriage? Buy some decent jewelry, and I will lend you if you don't have enough money."

When Sun Yonghao asked the price, he shook his head in fright: "It's too expensive, I can't afford it."

Zhou Hexuan chose a pair of bracelets, asked the clerk to wrap them up, and said with a smile, "I'll give it to my siblings."

"I can't ask for it, it's too expensive." Sun Yonghao shook his head again and again.

Sun Yongzhen had already returned from visiting relatives in his hometown, and he said, "Take it away, treat it as a wedding present from my husband."

Sun Yongzhen's idea is very simple, he gave his younger brother a gift, just to help Zhou Hexuan work hard, don't care about those little belongings.

Sun Yonghao happily put away the bracelet, and within a few steps, he heard gunshots and shouts from outside. He subconsciously stood in front of Zhou Hexuan, while Sun Yongzhen also blocked Meng Xiaodong.

After waiting for a while, the front finally became a little quieter.

Zhou Hexuan and others walked over cautiously, only to see that all the containers over there were smashed, and several department store clerks fell to the ground injured. A group of Chinese patrolmen stood at the door, bragging and saying, "We wear this uniform to represent the Emperor of Japan! Taking your things is because you think highly of you, and you want me to give you money? Hey, I don't know how to flatter you!"