Chapter 405 401. The miserable Han Diao
"Does Guoguo Opera also have puppet shows?" Luo Yihang asked curiously.

Director Zhang replied: "Yes. The opera is divided into big opera and small opera. Big opera is performed by real people, while small opera uses puppets and people dubbing behind the scenes."

"Oh, that's how it is."

Luo Yihang has already confirmed that Uncle Gou Gou must be related to Gou Gou opera, and he was most likely an opera singer in the past.

"Then Captain Zhang, do you have any audio or video materials here? I plan to take them back to show my elders at home." Luo Yihang made a request.

Director Zhang was very generous, "I'll let them perform for you, and you can just shoot it."

"Huh?" Why go through all the trouble of putting on a show just to transfer a file?
"That's not necessary. It's too much trouble for you."

"No trouble, no trouble."

Captain Zhang was very enthusiastic and led Luo Yihang and the others directly to the small theater in front.

Arranged after taking seats in the first row.

He hurried upstairs again.

After a few minutes.

A group of little girls in training clothes came down.

Captain Zhang was the last one to come, and he leaned over to talk to a spirited old lady, leaning forward.

The old lady looked unhappy.

When the two men also walked downstairs, the old lady stood at the edge of the stage and looked around.

His gaze deliberately lingered on Luo Yihang and his group for a while.

He clapped his hands and shouted to the girls, "Everyone go backstage and get ready. The new play is about Han Xin paying homage to the general. Change into your costumes and don't put on makeup. Hurry up and finish the performance and practice your skills."

The sound is loud and pleasant, with strong penetrating power.

The sound condition is good.

Besides, the old lady had a very bad temper. She didn't even give the team leader any face and pointed it out directly, causing her to act out on the spur of the moment and delay her practice.

The embarrassment on Captain Zhang's face flashed across his face.

With a smile on his face, he led the old lady to the front row.

Introducing: "This is our troupe's mainstay, Teacher Xu Xinping, who was known as the Queen of the Opera. Now she is mainly responsible for teaching."

"This is Secretary Cao of the Municipal Party Committee, Mr. Luo from the city, and Xiao Wu from the Cultural Center."

Luo Yihang stood up and said politely: "Just call me Xiao Luo."

Old Mrs. Xu hummed as a greeting, then sat down at the edge and started the show.

Director Zhang smiled awkwardly and said, "Don't mind me. Teacher Xu is not good at speaking and is devoted to acting and teaching. She has been working diligently and conscientiously since she joined the troupe in 1951. She never cares about personal gains and losses. She still rents a house in the county town, an old house of more than square meters. It's on the sixth floor and there's no elevator."

Luo Yihang thought to himself that there was something behind his words, I'm not here to inspect.

Then he waved his hand to indicate that it was okay.

Chatted for a while.

Two clapper sounds were heard from behind the stage, and the show began.

Luo Yihang also saw the Handiao Gugu, a local intangible cultural heritage of Tianhan, for the first time.

Xiao Wu from the Cultural Center consciously raised his mobile phone to record the video.

To Luo Yihang, the melody of this Han tune is very simple, the singing is soft, and the male and female characters sing in the same voice and tune, which is very fresh.

Zhang, the head of the troupe, said that this is called "a thousand plays with one tune, plain water and clear soup."

Making clear soup requires a lot of skill.

After hearing this, Luo Yihang could slowly feel the charm.

There is a mother-daughter duet in "Han Xin Becomes a General" that has this flavor in particular.

Hanayone's mood is cheerful, while Kuyin's mood is clear and sad. They have the same melody and rhythm, but have completely opposite meanings. That's good.

Only one act was performed, which lasted less than half an hour.

Old Mrs. Xu nodded in the direction of Director Zhang as a greeting, then went upstairs with the actors.

Luo Yihang also said goodbye and left.

Director Zhang accompanied them all the way back to the Cultural Center, and then returned to the troupe, looking back every few steps.

In the cultural center.

While uploading the video, Xiao Wu said to Luo Yihang: "Mr. Luo, please don't mind. Captain Zhang is a good man, and he is also worried."

"It's difficult for the Guoguo Theatre Company. We have no people, no money, no hope, and we rely entirely on the government to support us."

"The ones who performed for you just now were all little kids. In fact, they are the only ones left in the entire troupe."

"The older generation is basically gone. In 86, we recruited a group of actors, more than of them, but now there are only a few left. There is no money, so they have all left."

"Before 09, actors only made 480 yuan a month, which was not enough for anything."

"In 09, the salary increased to 1500, and in 11 it was adjusted to 3000. Only then did we recruit a group of young students in 13, the group you see today. When they were recruited, they were only ten or twelve years old. Now there are less than people still learning opera."

"Since 13, the province has allocated 18 yuan per year, the city has allocated another yuan, and the rest is covered by Nanzheng County. But a troupe of to people needs more than million yuan in annual salaries, which Nanzheng County cannot afford."

"You saw the four shops when you went there. The shops were built by the county, and the land also belongs to the county. The rent collected every year is used to supplement the theater troupe."

"But for a theatre troupe, it's not enough to just have salaries. Costumes, props, water, electricity, and transportation are all needed. If you get hurt or sick during practice, all you need is money."

"It's just a drop in the bucket to rely on a small theater with a ticket price of just a few dozen yuan and few people coming to the theater for a show."

"So, in the five years since Captain Zhang took office, his only concern has been making money. He just wants to keep this ancient drama alive. Just to keep it alive."

"Even with such difficulties, the Gugu Opera Troupe was able to stage two new plays and is still exploring lost traditional repertoires."

Xiao Wu from the cultural center grabbed Luo Yihang and talked a lot, talking about whatever he thought of.

The implicit meaning of the words was to help Captain Zhang improve his performance today, and to ask the big boss Luo Yihang to loosen up.

Luo Yihang never minded Captain Zhang's materialism.

He even has a bit of a literary air and a sense of dignity, which is far inferior to that of a businessman.

As for you, you can relax and offer some sponsorship.

But it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. Luo Yihang plans to think carefully about how to make the troupe self-sustaining.

But that’s a story for another day.
-
After Luo Yihang got the video, he sent Secretary Cao back first.

Then he returned to Ping'angou, and instead of going home, he went straight to find Grandpa Gougou.

Originally, Grandpa Gougou was sitting under a big tree at the entrance of the village, basking in the afternoon sun and bragging loudly with other old men.

They were competing with each other in speaking louder and louder, and they were still talking about the past.

So-and-so was lazy in carrying soil during the production period.

So-and-so treated a big truck as an iron ox and fed grass to the truck.

The truck was leaking water, but people insisted that it was the ox's pee.

blah blah blah.

Luo Yihang stopped the car, walked over, and greeted the grandfathers one by one with a smile.

Just said: "Mr. Gonggong, I was looking for you."

But then Uncle Gougou covered his ears, stood up and turned away.

Walking fast.

Luo Yihang hurriedly chased after him, but was rejected again with a bang.

I knocked on the door but it didn't open.

Hehe, this time we have weapons, I don’t believe you won’t open the door.

Luo Yihang then took out his cell phone from his pocket and turned the volume up to maximum.

Click to play, raise it over the wall, and point the speaker towards the courtyard.

Someone started singing on the phone.

It hasn't been ten minutes yet.

The gate of the courtyard opened with a bang.

Grandpa Gonggong jumped out angrily and shouted at Luo Yihang: "Who told you to sing like that!"

(End of this chapter)