Seeing Li Qingshan Again
Seeing this face, a rare look of astonishment appeared on Chen Ling's face.
"Li Qingshan??"
Changing faces had always been Chen Ling's strong suit. He had already seen the shocked looks of countless people under this silky smooth "face-tearing transformation". He didn't expect that today, he would also become the one being shocked. A similar skill, the exact same technique, Chen Ling suddenly felt like he was looking in a mirror.
"Brother Lin, you really didn't pull your punches..." Li Qingshan felt the oppressive feeling brought by the pitch-black gun barrel and spoke helplessly.
"Why are you here? No... How did you recognize me?"
Chen Ling suddenly remembered that when he met Li Qingshan before, he used "Chen Ling's" face, and now he had changed it to "Lin Yan". Logically speaking, even if Li Qingshan was here, he shouldn't be able to recognize him. He instantly became a little vigilant in his heart.
"I didn't recognize you at first either, but when we were in Willow Town, I noticed there was a small blue flower on the hem of your Theatrical Robe." Li Qingshan told the truth, "My Theatrical Robes are also basically made by myself, and I used this method to mend them when they tore before, so I remember these details very clearly... Although your face doesn't match the previous one, the Theatrical Robe is definitely yours. So I thought, you most likely changed your face as well...
However, before I could go find you to confirm, you turned around and put a gun to my head."
"Brother Lin, your anti-reconnaissance ability is truly somewhat abnormal."
Chen Ling froze for a long while before accepting the fact that the person in front of him was really Li Qingshan.
"It's really you?" Chen Ling lowered the gun in his hand, speaking in astonishment, "But... but why are you here?"
"It's a long story." Li Qingshan leaned against the wall, a look of reminiscence surfacing in his eyes,
"The last time we met should be in Willow Town? Right, at that time, I remember getting Nameless Actor's Invitation Card, and then I went to listen to a song of 'Deflecting the Chariots'. But as I listened, I seemed to feel a vermilion star calling me, and then I didn't remember anything at all...
After I woke up, the stage was gone, the chairs were gone, and I was just sitting on the Stone Stool, as if I had been sitting there for a long time... Later, I wanted to find you, but I couldn't find you even after searching the entire Willow Town, so I thought you had probably left."
At this moment, Chen Ling also recalled the scene where his senior brothers directly emptied the stage and left him alone in the barren mountains and wild forests while Li Qingshan was still unconscious. His expression instantly became somewhat awkward.
"So in the end, you successfully embarked on the Path of the Actor?"
"Mm... I saw a Divine Pathway extending from the vermilion star to under my feet, so I stepped onto it, and then I learned some things." Li Qingshan pointed to his face and smiled slightly,
"Brother Lin, now I can do the same things as you."
Chen Ling raised his brows, "...That might not be true."
"Anyway, I kept looking for you later. And then the Flower Capital Consortium contacted me to sign a contract, wanting to send me into the Main City to develop."
Chen Ling remembered now. Li Qingshan had told him about this back then. After he had overturned the Flower Capital Consortium's first "audition," Zong Wen specially sent a dedicated evaluation team from the Main City. Both Li Qingshan and Liu Qingyan ultimately passed. However, when he entered the Flower Capital Consortium as a Special Envoy of the Golden Society, he only saw Liu Qingyan and found no trace of Li Qingshan.
"And then what?"
"And then I signed... You know, I've always wanted to enter the Main City to study opera and sing opera, otherwise I wouldn't have continuously gone to participate in the selections for so many years." Li Qingshan's expression gradually became complex, "I always heard before that a hundred flowers bloom in the Main City, and quite a few senior Famous Actors are here. But after coming, I found that things were not what I thought...
Most of those seniors have stopped taking in disciples. Moreover, even if I wanted to learn, the Flower Capital Consortium's contract constantly restricted me, scheduling countless performances for me every day. At that time, I had to sing for seven or eight hours a day, singing from morning to night until my voice was hoarse. I felt like I had completely become their tool for making money.
Furthermore, there are fewer and fewer people in the Main City who like to listen to opera. No matter how much I sing, I can't earn much money, not to mention that all this money ends up in the Flower Capital Consortium's pockets. In the end, I almost couldn't even afford to eat."
Chen Ling had witnessed the Flower Capital Consortium's exploitative methods, and could imagine how miserable Li Qingshan's life was back then...
Although Liu Qingyan was also burdened with a contract, her appearance and dancing could be accepted by the public of the Red Dust Main City, forming a trend, but Li Qingshan didn't have this advantage. If the Liu Qingyan of that time represented the top tier of Red Dust entertainment, Li Qingshan was undoubtedly the bottom tier. Without fame or wealth, he could only become a performance tool ruthlessly squeezed by capital.
"I wasn't the only one being exploited. Seventy to eighty percent of the entertainers under the Flower Capital Consortium were in the same situation as me... I also made a few friends inside, and we mostly supported each other through those difficult times.
Later, the Flower Capital Consortium fell. I was lucky and caught the eye of the Huang Consortium, signed a new contract with them, and life finally got a little better.
But a large portion of those friends of mine were deceived and signed away by the Beidou Consortium. This Beidou Consortium is even more outrageous. Before signing, they spoke very nicely about high revenue shares and such. As a result, the share ratio was indeed higher after going over, but they also set quotas. You could only get a share if you earned enough of a certain amount. If you failed to earn enough money, according to the contract, you would even owe the consortium money in reverse...
Over the past half a year, not only have they not earned any money, but the debt on them has grown more and more, even forcing them to sell the ancestral homes in their respective hometowns. Some of them also appealed to relevant departments, but the people in those departments had long colluded with Mu Chunsheng and didn't care about their lives at all."
A rare look of anger climbed into Li Qingshan's eyes, and he said in a deep voice,
"Although this matter has nothing to do with me, I really can't bear to see them suffer like this... They are just like me, only liking opera or performance. They came to realize their dreams, they shouldn't be treated like this...
So, I want to do something for them."
Hearing this, Chen Ling finally understood the cause and effect of the matter.
Li Qingshan was a warm-hearted person to begin with and had his own set of principles for doing things. Back then, when Chen Ling lost all his skills and fainted in the mountain forest, Li Qingshan, who had never met him, rescued him without hesitation, took him home, cooked for him, and made room for him to stay... If such a person were in ancient times, he could absolutely bear the title of "gentleman."
With his friends in deep water and scorching fire, Li Qingshan ultimately still chose to go Taking a Desperate Risk himself, looking for a possibility to get them out of trouble.
"So you sneaked into the Beidou Consortium..."
Li Qingshan opened his mouth, his tone unconsciously lowering, seemingly a little embarrassed,
"I... I know doing this isn't very good, but I want to find those contracts of the Beidou Consortium and then burn them all in one fire."