Qiong Yin lingers

Chapter 1 Declining
In [-], Xia.

Dongfang County, the westernmost part of Hainan, is a rice farm in Sigeng Village Commune.

The setting sun uses heaven and earth as paper and light as ink, splashing colorful oil paintings, weaving beautiful landscapes one after another, covering the entire rice field of the commune. The scattered scenery on the stage is mottled and jumping in the light and shadow.In an instant, darkness covered the whole world with black veil in the name of night, and the curtain of the first scene of "Poetry on Red Leaves" slowly opened on the dimly lit Qiongju Opera stage.The pink, ink, ethereal, simple and freehand stage complement each other. Although there are no flowers and trees, you can see the changes of the four seasons, and you can see the rivers, lakes and seas without waves;The curtain opens, and the shadows of the flowers move. The 27-year-old Huang Simei, wearing a pink dress and golden hairpin, has a voice that is as melodious as the sound of nature.The fairy posture is slim and the appearance is like a jade pistil, just like a beauty walking out of a painting.I saw her swaying every step, every word tactfully.The rice field of the commune is several miles away, and the melodious Yedao Qiongyin echoes in an instant.

"The heavy door is locked and the curtain hangs down. Spring dawn and swallows fly together in the painting hall. Unlimited sorrows can't be arranged, so let's move out of the boudoir for the time being. Hundreds of flowers spit out fragrance, and the shadows of flowers at sunrise are long. The gentle wind blows and the spring waves are green, and the willows are bowed to welcome people. Unknowingly, I came to the east gate and saw the red apricot sneaking out of the wall. The peonies are delicate and the peonies are fragrant, and the pink butterflies fly over the roses. The flowers are colorful, red and green, and the birds are singing in the spring. The peach blossoms are heartbreaking. ..."

Huang Simei's three-point performance is like ink painting, vertical and horizontal, "where there is no painting, there is a wonderland", elegant and gentle, like a famous lady walking on the historical canvas.What's more amazing is that after she opened her mouth, she sounded like an oriole, beautiful and sweet. She played the melancholy "Jiang Yurui" in the deep boudoir vividly, making the audience feel as if they had returned to the Shangshu Mansion on the West Lake in the late Southern Song Dynasty, and felt her sorrow. , Immersed in her boudoir loneliness.It's a pity that on the huge commune's rice field, there are only a few gray-haired old ladies sitting sporadically, and two children chasing and playing around--a five-year-old boy Zhang Wenxuan is Huang Simei's eldest son, and a three-year-old The girl Zhang Wenqian is her youngest daughter.

When the scene of "Garden Party" was sung, the old ladies in the audience were already nodding like garlic, and some even lay directly on the bench, snoring like thunder.There were only two children who had too much energy and ran to the stage to play with the curtains after they had finished making trouble offstage.When it came to the last scene "Martyrdom in Love", both Huang Simimei and Zhang Shennian couldn't help feeling sad, and the Kuban singing was full of sorrow: I don't know if it's lamenting that Wen Donghe and Jiang Yurui were born at an untimely time, and that they couldn't love each other; I still feel that the Qiongju opera handed down by the ancestors has gradually declined and is no longer the same.

The old ancestors said, "The opera has already started, and people come to listen from all directions. One side is humans, three sides are ghosts, and four sides are gods. As long as you open your voice, no matter whether there are people in the audience or not, you must finish singing. If ordinary people don't listen, it doesn't mean that ghosts and gods don't listen." Even The audience was empty, but the Dongfang Qiong Opera Troupe insisted on finishing the whole play.

After the curtain call, Huang Simimei still had tears on her cheeks. After the group leader led the group members to put the musical instruments, clothing and headgear back into the box, Zhang Shennian rubbed his swollen head and shouted tiredly: ran the commune tour of eight villages in a row , he already felt a little overwhelmed.Of course, the point is that there are not many people who have the leisure to listen to Qiongju opera now. He doesn't know how long the Dongfang Qiongju Opera Troupe will last for free.Huang Simi greeted her son and daughter, and at the same time handed him a cup of Kuding tea: "Thanks for your hard work!" Seeing her husband Sanya and Dongfang running on both sides, she felt very sorry, but after so many years of practicing basic skills, Zhang Shennian never cried out for being tired , It’s only been two years since I set up a stall in the sea, and I feel that the basic skills are not as good as before. She couldn’t help but warn people with tea: “It’s just that we are actors in Qiong Opera, just like this Kuding tea, we have to be bitter first and then sweet. You , you can’t be soaked in the sugar juice of the market economy to lose your muscles and bones!”

Zhang Shennian took a big mouthful of Kudingcha, Kudingcha, the tea is as its name suggests, but it has a secret inside: it is bitter in the mouth and sweet in the aftertaste.Now that the tide of the market economy is turbulent, he changed his career and went into the sea for two years, and finally touched a little way.After returning from this trip, he pondered, he had to think of a way to persuade his old mother to look at the outside world, and not to sit and watch the sky all the time, guarding the troupe and not letting go.

After Comrade Deng Xiaoping gave a speech on the southern tour, in order to support the daily expenses of the Dongfang Qiong Opera Troupe, the husband and wife became active.After a lot of hard work, the husband and wife finally found a way to set up a stall, but the mother-in-law Meng Huaxiang only let Zhang Shennian go into business temporarily, and the daughter-in-law is determined to keep the theater company.Not only that, Meng Huaxiang also asked Zhang Shennian not to fall behind in basic skills, but also to participate in the Qiongju opera tour in ten miles and eight towns every month.Zhang Shennian complained a lot about this, but Huang Simi looked at it openly: the market economy is certainly good, but the treasures passed down from the ancestors cannot be let go.Thinking back to those days, which tour of the Dongfang Qiong Opera Troupe was not crowded with thousands of people and unprecedentedly grand?Now that you have enjoyed the brilliance of famous actors and actresses, you must endure the persistence of lonely time and space.So she took the initiative to stay and take over Zhang Shennian's position as head of the troupe. She led the Dongfang Qiong Opera Troupe, passed on the group training, and vowed to spread the good things of her ancestors.

Looking at the crowded movie theater opposite, Zhang Chennian's eyes dimmed, and he let out a long sigh after a long time.In recent years, he often thinks of the tours in Thailand and Singapore. During the performances at that time, the Dongfang Qiong Opera Troupe’s money reward was higher than the curtain. It was really like a dream.Unfortunately, times have changed!Now people don’t listen to operas, but listen to popular songs and watch movies. Teresa Teng, Long Piaopiao, Feng Feifei, and even the Beatles and John Denver from abroad, all of them sing "Sweet Honey", who still sings "Old Ancestor" The passed down Joan drama?The treasure left by the ancestors has its own magnificence and essence, but the pop songs have come rushing in.

The husband and wife were chatting gossip while keeping the cage.Zhang Wenqian rushed over with her short legs, cheering childishly, asking her father to "ride a horse" on her neck.Zhang Shennian drove his daughter up to his neck and ran wildly on the rice field: "Drive! Drive! Drive!" Zhang Wenqian's silver bell-like laughter instantly filled the rice field.Silently put all the cages into the car, Huang Simei asked softly: "Grandma, will Erxianling perform tomorrow night?" Meng Huaxiang snorted heavily, with a serious expression on his face.She guessed that it must be her son who encouraged her daughter-in-law to engage in a market economy!But if the Qiongju opera handed down by three generations of the old Zhang family was broken in her own hands, what face would she have to go to Huangquan to see them?
Zhang Shennian laughed and brought the baby, and went up to hug his mother with a smile: "**** taught us: 'Little world, how many flies hit the wall?' Without anyone, the earth will still rotate. Even if we Dongfang Qiong Opera Troupe If there is no performance, there are still Ding'an Qiong Opera Troupe, Haikou Qiong Opera Troupe, Wenchang Qiong Theater Troupe... Where will it be broken? Anyway, you have to guard it, and you guard it yourself. This time, I must take Simei away! You are old, want to open Order it!" Meng Huaxiang raised his eyebrows, took out a prop whip from the box, chased Zhang Shennian and whipped it: "What a monkey grandson! I will kill you! The treasure passed down by the ancestors, I don't want to carry it forward. Talking all day long about reform and opening up, market economy, and setting up street stalls are more noble than singing operas, isn't it?..." My son Meng Huaxiang knows best that Zhang Shennian has ideas. Once he makes a decision, nine cows will pull If she didn't come back, the reason why she became angry from embarrassment was that her son would abduct her daughter-in-law and go to the sea to set up a stall as a traitor.

The two little dolls didn't know what was going on, they just acted like grandma and dad were playing around, clapping their little hands and shouting, "What a monkey grandson! My ass is blooming!" Huang Simei didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and turned around to greet the uncles in the theater troupe to get on the bus and prepare to go back to Russia. Xian Ling, continue to tour.Every ten-mile and eight-country tour relies on this jingling pickup truck, and more than a dozen boxes are filled with stage sets, props, costumes and headgear.Everyone in the troupe sat on the cages, amidst the loud noise of the chug truck, chatting at the top of their voices without saying a word. The topics were nothing more than whose wife gave birth to a fat boy, who sow gave birth Little Piggy and Whose Sweet Potatoes are selling well this year.

When the Dongfang Qiong Opera Troupe arrived at Erxianling Commune, it was already midnight. Meng Huaxiang commanded to build two simple sheds, put bedding and quilts on them, and men and women slept separately.In recent years, after the troupe changed to a private contracting system, they couldn’t sleep through the night when they went to the countryside to perform: they arrived in the dark, fell asleep, and then got up to hang their voices and practice basic skills when the cock crowed.In the early years, when people ate public meals, everyone went to the countryside not only to receive receptions, but also to pay a lot of money. Now the troupe cannot even guarantee basic living income.Erniang Jiufeng Mountain, with verdant forests on the mountain and blooming flowers at the foot of the mountain, makes people linger and forget to return.The winding path of Erxian Cave leads to seclusion, and the waves beat the cliffs of the cave, which is a special taste.I don't know if it's because the air in Erxian Village is good, or because he has a sense of belonging after returning home, Zhang Shennian feels refreshed when he comes back, sweeping away the tiredness from spinning around before.Just lying down, his enthusiasm was once again greatly traumatized: the people on the stage sang a sad farewell song, and the lingering sound echoed at the foot of the mountain;

The liveliness on the stage and the coldness off the stage complement each other to reflect a different kind of desolation: Huang Simei's bitterness, heartbroken; Zhang Shennian's crying, all internal organs are burned.

"It's hard to get what you want in the amphibious world, and you can only repay Nandan with one death... The younger sister is in trouble in this life, and the elder brother has a long way to go. Although he was relegated to Qiongnan, he advised his heart to be patient and safe. How can dark clouds last forever? The sun and the phoenix rise to the sun. Husband and wife, white head alliance, unswerving ambitions, strong vows. National hatred and family hatred are hard to spread. How can you live alone? It’s better to go to the underworld with both weeping blood, leaving grief and anger in the world forever. Han, I hope that life and death will not be in peace; I will take you to the West Lake and turn into Xu Chao's blood-like pill!"

After the curtain closed, Meng Huaxiang rewarded Zhang Shennian with a big yell and scolded him severely. The reason was that the two of them got into the drama too deeply when they sang the part of dying for love. The liver and gallbladder are broken.In the past, they had to have such a level of performance, and Meng Huaxiang praised them in various ways, but today they cursed and scolded. Zhang Shennian didn't know whether he should admit that he had indeed brought about the decline of Qiongju opera, or he should argue that it was better to just empathize. .

After being scolded, Zhang Shennian still put away his hippie smile, and seriously calculated an account for his mother: since he set up a stall, he has paid two or three hundred yuan to the troupe every month.Just look at this month's ten-mile and eight-country tour—no income from tickets, no rewards; but the expenses for truck fuel, venue rent, and troupe food and drink have cost a full hundred yuan.Overwhelmed and unable to see a way out.Meng Huaxiang wiped the shiny erhu in his hand, silent.She knows that the times have changed, but she is reluctant to part with the treasures passed down from her ancestors, and she always believes that Qiongju will always turn the clouds to see the sun and reappear its glory.

"Brother with legs, this blanket is for you!" A crisp voice sounded, and Zhang Shennian followed the prestige. Hainanese explained that she watched "Zhang Wenxiu" by Dongfang Qiong Opera Troupe in the rice field of the commune half a year ago, and thought that Zhang Shennian's performance was very good, so she wove this blanket for Zhang Wenxiu and the third sister, and came here tonight as a gift. he.

After finishing speaking, the elder sister threw the blanket on Zhang Shennian, turned around and ran away.Zhang Shennian hurried to catch up but he didn't catch up, he was in a dilemma holding the blanket like a brazier.Meng Huaxiang took the blanket and whirled softly, feeling as if her heart was stuffed with a ball of cotton. She was quite sad like a rabbit dying or a fox hurting something: the Li brocade in her hand could take at least three to five months to weave. The handwork is exquisite and the double-sided embroidery is lifelike. , People who know how to do it will regard it as a treasure.It's a pity that there are fewer and fewer people wearing Li brocade now, and there are naturally fewer people who know how to cherish it.

Li Jin is like this, and Qiongju is also like this. The mother and son looked at each other, and they both saw a trace of helplessness and sadness in each other's eyes.

As the night fell and the galaxy twinkled, there was only silence surrounding the Oriental Theater Troupe.On the way home, everyone in the troupe was unusually silent, leaving only the loud noise of the pickup truck echoing in the air.In the most remote southwest corner of Erxian Village, the Oriental Theater Troupe covers an area of ​​several acres, surrounded by wooden fences. The bright red Bougainvillea blooms in the wind, red, green and yellow, adding a retro and gentle atmosphere to the whole theater troupe. color.Next to the troupe, a two-story bungalow is the home of Zhang Shennian and his three generations.

After the meal, Huang Simi turned on the Peony brand TV set at home. Color TV sets are rare in Dongfang County. The slogan "Although the peony is good, it needs to be liked by the lover".On the TV, the announcer of CCTV broadcasted in a straight voice: "The responsibility system based on household joint production contract and the two-tier management system combining centralization and decentralization are a basic system of my country's rural economy. To be stable for a long time, And continue to improve; the Third Plenary Session of the 7675th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held, and the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Issues Concerning the Establishment of a Socialist Market Economic System" was passed, which outlined the basic framework of a socialist market economic system; the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge in Jiangxi was completed, and the length of the railway bridge 900 meters, 216 meters longer than the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, with a pier span of 3 meters, ranking third among similar bridges in the world..."

Watching the news broadcast, Zhang Shennian couldn't help sighing: "The development of today's era is really fast! In the blink of an eye, it seems like a thousand years!" Huang Simei nodded thoughtfully: "If our Qiong Opera can also catch up On the express train of this era, it would be nice to develop at a faster rate! It's a pity that things are always going to disappear..."

　Keep a love and write a legend.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)