According to the custom of old Beijing, the lower class were not allowed to live in the North City (that is, the Inner City, within the Nine Gates). They could only live in the South City, or the Outer City, which is south of Qianmen Street.
Li Yu and Carlos took two rickshaws out of the inner city from Chongwen Gate and rushed all the way to Jingzhong Temple.
Jingzhong Temple is dedicated to Yue Fei, and outside the temple stands a kneeling iron statue of Qin Yi and his wife. Every year in the first month, nearby people make clay sculptures of Qin Yi and his wife, and then burn them with fire. Every time, they attract a lot of viewers and keep applauding.
Not far from Jingzhong Temple, there is the Xi Temple, which is the god enshrined by Liyuanxing. Liyuanxing people established the Liyuan Guild nearby.
When Li Yu and Carlos arrived in a rickshaw, they saw Jia Honglin and Yang Xiaolou practicing with the troupe.
Li Yu jumped out of the car, raised his hands to Jia Honglin and said, "Boss Jia."
When Jia Honglin saw it was Li Yu, he immediately pulled Yang Xiaolou towards him and said, "Why are you here in person, little brother? Just say something and our troupe will be here at any time."
Li Yu said: "There are so many of you, so it wouldn't be too troublesome to go all the way there. It would be much more convenient for me to be alone."
"It's really helpful, brother. Are you here this time to let us perform operas for foreigners?"
"No……"
Just as Li Yu was about to speak, he was interrupted by Yang Xiaolou:
"Brother, if you want to go, you can go by yourself. I will never go!"
After he was about to leave, Jia Honglin quickly stopped him: "Xiaolou! Why did your master forget what he told you yesterday?"
Yang Xiaolou's master is Yu Jusheng, who is now the head of the Jingzhong Temple and the president of the Liyuan Guild. The Ministry of Internal Affairs awarded him a four-grade top rank, which is equivalent to half an official.
Yang Xiaolou still snorted coldly: "I won't sing even if I go!"
Jia Honglin said angrily: "Why are you so stubborn?"
Li Yu coughed quickly: "I'm telling you, I haven't finished speaking yet. I'm not asking you to sing for foreigners. Didn't I say it before? I'm just asking foreigners to help record records and then listen to the Queen Mother."
"Recording what?" Yang Xiaolou asked.
Li Yu took a vinyl record from Carlos's hand and said, "I will record your singing voice on this record and then play it back on the gramophone."
Jia Honglin and Yang Xiaolou looked confused, then looked at Li Yu like a fool: "What are you talking about?"
Li Yu smiled awkwardly and gestured with his hands: "The gramophone is about this big and can be placed in your bedroom. If you want to listen to opera, you only need to put the record on it and the recorded opera can be played.
"
Can it still be like this? Jia Honglin and Yang Xiaolou still had questions on their faces, and the air seemed to fall into silence. Jia Honglin pretended to laugh twice to break the embarrassment: "Haha, I understand, it's like a magic trick!"
"No, No, No!" Carlos behind him couldn't listen anymore, "This is a technology, a technology for storing and playing sound, not a magic trick."
Yang Xiaolou said dissatisfied: "You foreigner..."
Jia Honglin immediately covered his mouth and said with a smile: "Xiaolou met Yang... Mr. Yang didn't get used to it. I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Li Yu said quickly: "I forgot to introduce you. This is Mr. Carlos, not a soldier. He is just a record company manager. He specializes in recording Peking opera for you and then listening to it for the Queen Mother." Li Yu used his persuasive method and continued
Said: "Think about it, the Queen Mother is so busy! But she also loves to listen to operas, what should I do?"
"My adoptive father said they have a stage there!" Yang Xiaolou said.
"Um..." Li Yu raised his forehead. He didn't expect that he would really make trouble, so he had to say, "What if the Queen Mother is tired in the palace at night? She can't listen to the play anymore. The phonograph will start at this time.
It worked.”
Jia Honglin and Yang Xiaolou were finally persuaded: "So that's what happened, and you didn't tell me earlier! Well, since we have brother Li Yu as a guarantee, we still act for the Queen Mother, and we will cooperate with you."
"The second boss is Gao Yi!"
Li Yu thought to himself: If only it had been like this...
Then he explained the recording location to them: "You take the troupe and go to Mr. Carlos's company together. It's not far away, just four miles away in Dongjiaomin Lane in the inner city."
Jia Honglin immediately said: "Okay, I'll let the troupe take care of things now."
"It doesn't have to be so troublesome. We only record the voice, costumes, and makeup and don't need them." Li Yu said.
"That's it, it's really much easier!" Jia Honglin pushed Yang Xiaolou, "Stop looking so reluctant and hurry up and get the troupe ready to go!"
While they were packing their things, Li Yu gave Carlos another big brag: "Today, Mr. Purland said that I am a new star in the scientific world, which is completely ridiculous. But these people in front of me are indeed Liyuan."
Dana, look at that guy named Yang Xiaolou, he will definitely be a martial arts master in the future. If he records a few more records now, there will be a lot of room for appreciation in the future."
"Nice!" Carlos nodded in praise, "Top singers, coupled with our top equipment, your Queen Mother will definitely like it."
In his mind, Peking opera was completely compared to Broadway opera. Li Yu didn't bother to explain it to him anymore. He went to find Yang Xiaolou in the house, looked at the spears all over the wall and said, "Boss Yang cares about the common people. I really admire him."
Yang Xiaolou sighed softly: "I'm just an actor, so what can I do?"
"I have a few words that I want to give to Boss Yang."
Yang Xiaolou asked in confusion: "What word?"
Li Yu didn't know how to play drama, so he read him part of the lyrics of "Chi Ling". He felt that it was quite suitable for Yang Xiaolou.
The general story of Chi Ling is that Japanese soldiers invaded a mountain village in Jiangxi and forced Pei Yanzhi to perform "The Peach Blossom Fan" for them. Pei Yanzhi agreed, and as soon as the performance started on the stage, he ordered the villagers to block the courtyard, pour oil on it, and then play
He started a fire and died with them in the lyrics.
Yang Xiaolou murmured: "I am so humble that I dare not forget my country, even if no one knows about me...she needs to be reconciled with blood..."
"Good words! I'll accept it, thank you Brother Li!"
Yang Xiaolou felt relieved in his heart. He picked up his spear and said to Li Yu, "Let's go."
Li Yusheng was afraid that he would do something stupid: "There is no need to perform, we just need to record the sound."
Yang Xiaolou laughed loudly: "If you don't have body skills, how can you sing?"
Dongjiaomin Lane.
The equipment in Carlos' company is very complete, and there are also several flat disc phonographs. He has configured the record recording equipment and said to the celebrating class in front: "Let's get started."
Jia Honglin and Yang Xiaolou acted very hard and even raised their voices to ensure a clear recording.
After recording seven or eight tracks in a row, Carlos said to everyone who was still interested: "It's ready."
"Is this the end?"
Jia Honglin and the others usually perform in one day, and only a few hours are considered short. I didn't expect to finish the recording so quickly, and it felt like it was over as soon as it started.
Li Yu had no choice but to explain to them again: "A record can only be recorded for about three or four minutes, which is close to the time of one stick of incense."
Yang Xiaolou muttered: "This is too short, even foreigners' stuff won't work!"