If you want to say, what is the most special thing about the theater in Hankou, it is the Queen of Han Opera!
When Han Opera emerged, Peking Opera had not yet become popular, and Huagu Opera had not been allowed to enter the city. In addition, the film trend had not yet spread from coastal cities, so Han Opera was able to defeat Ping Opera, Chu Opera, and New Opera, becoming popular in Jianghan City, and became the most prosperous. At that time, nearly twenty of the twenty-five theaters and entertainment venues in Jianghan were the "territory" of Han opera. There were no opera types or professions that could compete with Han opera for the limelight or competition.
With so many venues and such a great reputation, Han Opera has of course also spawned a large number of actors who are engaged in Han Opera. In addition to actors who perform on stage and sing, Han Opera has gathered a large number of businessmen, waiters, apprentices, theater newspaper commentators, and gossip reporters. , literati, tailors, noodle craftsmen, etc. It can be said that although Han opera is just an entertainment industry, it does indeed support tens of thousands of people.
When the Han Opera Guild was established, there were nearly 7,000 to 8,000 registered Han Opera actors and actresses from all walks of life. The most glorious one was of course the Han Opera Queen!
Every time when it comes time to choose a Han Opera Queen, the pre-heating process has already begun after a month. Each theater troupe invites popular actors and actresses to perform well and entertain all the spectators. The Han Opera pictorials outside the building are colorful and dazzling.
On the day of queen selection, the audience will sit in the venue, and the organizer will count the votes. The person with the highest number of votes will be the queen of Han drama. At the same time, to encourage participation, the second queen of Han drama will be selected, just like the glory of the queen of Han drama.
The selection of the queen of the Han drama was so popular and topical that some gossip newspapers ridiculed that the election of the leader of the Political Yuan in the Republic of China was not as good as the selection of the queen of the Han drama.
Yue Guanchao and the others came to the front of Fuu Tower while chatting and laughing.
This Fuu Tower is located at the head of Jianghan Road. It is a theater that has been converted into separate buildings. It has regular squares, red bricks and white walls, simple lines, and a courtyard surrounded by four walls. It has an antique and western feeling.
In front of the gatehouse, the huge arched window is clear and bright, with the Queen of Han Opera's Selection Kun corner. The pictures everywhere are rich in color, and the beauties are beautiful. On the door, the neon light tube flashes, and the plaque of "Fuyu Tower Theater" is curved, and the lights can be seen. , colored silk stacks.
The roadside edges on both sides are already filled with all kinds of rickshaws, horse-drawn carriages, rickshaws, and carts. The surrounding foyer is bustling with people watching, and if you look to the opposite side, you can see the Yangbu diagonally opposite. At the entrance to the street, there are many modern high-rise buildings, and the Shili Foreign Market adds a modern atmosphere.
It can be said that the most prosperous place outside Jianghan Road is the area adjacent to the foreign port boundary. All the buildings are mostly distributed in a straight line along Jianghan Road, with shops and halls on the street and residential buildings in the lanes, with a square grid as the basic unit. , spread out flatly from Jianghan Road to the distance.
As mentioned earlier, this kind of layout is actually a combination of Western-style buildings and the local courtyard style. When Hankou first opened as a port, this layout was only along Jianghan Road.
It was not until more than ten years after the opening of the port that land prices soared and business prospered. Many local wealthy gentry purchased houses directly in the foreign port area. Even though the wealthier families were unable to enter the port area, they were still willing to go to Jianghan Street and Hanzheng Street where business was flourishing. Settled nearby.
Businessmen saw huge business opportunities and began to frequently buy land, and built a large number of such zoning buildings outside Jianghan Road and Hanzheng Street outside the Yangbu boundary.
Not mentioning the past, just looking at today, they walked into the Furou Grand Theater. The waiter, wearing an apron and a towel, trotted towards them with a smile on his face: "Your Majesty, what's your seat?"
"Are we here to find someone?"
Yue Guanchao looked at the furnishings of Fuyu Tower. They were extravagant, elegant and expensive. It was probably a theater with a high price tag.
The waiter saw that he was not here to listen to the opera, and he still smiled brightly and explained: "Hey, distinguished guest, our Fuyu Tower is the venue for this year's selection of the queen of Chinese opera. There are people coming and going every day. Who are you looking for? You have to tell us clearly, otherwise, which one of us will call you?"
"He is a half-blind man wearing a leather mask. His head is a bit bald and full of white hair."
Yue Guanchao recalled that the most distinctive thing about Sun Daqiao was his semi-blind eyes and thinning hair.
"Are you talking about Sun Banxian'er?" the waiter guessed as he recalled the person he met.
"Yes, his surname is Sun, and his name is Sun Daqiao." Yue Guanchao gave some more information.
"Then you guys, come with me. Mr. Sun is our boss's distinguished guest."
The waiter's words made people around him curious. It was the first time for them and Sun Daqiao to come to Jianghan. They didn't know any acquaintances right away. If they did know anyone, they were probably old friends from the past.
"Is it true that your boss is still an old friend of Sun Daqiao?" Yue Guanchao asked tentatively.
"You can all guess this. We have never seen this person before. He is probably an old friend who shared hardships with our boss in the past."
The waiter took them to the second floor, stopped in the corridor, opened the box door and walked in. As expected, Sun Daqiao was sitting in the box. In addition, there was a slightly rich middle-aged man who was chatting enthusiastically with Sun Daqiao.
"Sun Daqiao, it's not fair for you to come here alone to listen to a one-man show."
When Sun Daqiao saw it was them, he looked happy and asked them to come in.
"Shopkeeper Sun, who are these?" The middle-aged man's eyes became curious.
Sun Daqiao explained: "These are the youngest son and nephew of the second head of the Yu family. As for the other two people, they are also friends."
"You all should sit down. The man in front of you has a great reputation."
Sun Daqiao continued to explain: "Tan Yanqiu, the owner of the Furui Grand Theater and the president of the Han Opera Guild, has not seen him for decades. Back then, he was one of the four pillars of the Golden Rat Guild."
Yue Guanchao looked at Boss Tan in front of him. Tan Yanqiu had been the chairman of the association for several years and was also the owner of the Furui Grand Theatre. He had long since shed his gangsterism and became an official, elegant and carefree man. He was wearing a date-brown coat and an autumn robe. , there is still a pocket watch hanging on his chest, and when he wears gold-rimmed glasses, he looks like the agarwood and ebony. The older he gets, the richer and thicker the smell, and he is very calm and romantic.
With a smile on his face, Boss Tan cupped his hands and said with a sneer: "It's all a false name, it's all a false name. It's just a profit-seeking person. It can't be compared to one-tenth of the people in the Golden Rat Society. That's the real chivalry. Jie The rich help the poor.”
Yue Guanchao listened carefully to Boss Tan's words. He was shrewd and elegant, and he was really good at talking. With a few words, he demoted himself and promoted himself to the Golden Rat Club. This also complimented Yue Qingshan and Sun Daqiao. It was like removing his social connections and returning to The status of the Golden Rat Club is ranked.
In fact, in terms of success and fame, Tan Yanqiu is much more powerful than Sun Daqiao and Yue Ershu. He is just a businessman, and he can also be the president of the Han Drama Guild. He has half a foot in the Jianghan Political Yuan, even if the guild is just Private guilds have such great influence, and the benefits are definitely not small.
A person who can run the largest theater and move around in the government can be regarded as a capable person. His second uncle is just a peasant in the mountains. As for Sun Daqiao, he is a low-level lowly that ordinary people can't look down on. Of course, if the two of them didn't have this relationship with the Metal Rat, it would be rare for anyone to say hello to you on the street.
When Yue Guanchao thought of this, he felt more and more that Boss Tan had other agendas. If he was just reminiscing about old times, why bother belittling himself and exalting Sun Daqiao and his second uncle? Thinking about it, he probably wanted something from each other.
After Yue Guanchao and a few others sat down, he continued: "According to the law, we have to call you Uncle Tan. My second uncle is a dull gourd and didn't even tell us that there are capable people like you in Jianghan City. Otherwise, We came to visit early."
"Sun Daqiao, you do everything secretly, and you don't tell us when you meet acquaintances. We thought you had done something bad."
Yue Erpao's words made Sun Daqiao blush: "Hey, I just found out that brother Tan left the incision twister for me. I don't know what happened. Besides, brother Yue was not here, so he didn't call you."
The knot, as mentioned before, is an incision left by Jianghu people for communication. If it is the knot left by Boss Tan, it means that he is looking for his colleagues in the Golden Rat Society. Based on this guess, Tan Yanqiu probably has a purpose.
"Then, what's going on?" Yue Guanchao asked.
"This? Can you tell these juniors?" Boss Tan hesitated.
"After all, the second brother and I combined are not as capable as this kid."
Boss Tan got Sun Daqiao's consent, took out the letter in his arms, and explained: "A letter came from Shennongjia, saying that there are many white-haired and golden-crested animals near Nongshen Village."
"White-haired Golden Dome?"
After listening to Boss Tan's words, Yue Guanchao immediately became suspicious. The last time they saw the white-haired and golden-crested animal was on Suiye Island. However, at that time, it was just a deception and it was not real. They just didn't know what Boss Tan's letter was about. Is what he said is a cover-up or there is another hidden reason.
"yes!"
Sun Daqiao picked up the tea and took a sip: "What do you think of this?"
Song Siyuan guessed: "It can't be another deception. I remember the white-haired mice on Xuanwu Island. Isn't it Luo Shiniang's deception? These animals are probably the same."
Boss Tan shook his head: "No, these white-haired animals existed decades ago. It's just that in the past six months, there seem to be more and more white-haired animals. Some farmers even hunted a lot of them. After skinning them, they were indeed It’s white hair, there’s no way to hide it.”
As he spoke, Boss Tan walked to the high table behind him and picked up a box that was one meter long and half an arm wide. After opening it, he found a completely peeled white fox skin, with a tuft of golden hair growing out of the top of his head like a flame. It was really amazing to see. Fake, Yue Guanchao became curious.
"Then, how did Boss Tan get the news about Shennongjia when he was in Hankou?" Yue Guanchao was quite curious about this.
"Oh, it's related to an old incident from back then. When we robbed tombs from the south of the Yangtze River, we once robbed the tombs of Chu nobles. There are many tombs of Chu nobles in Shennongjia..."
