Teaching Opera?
"The birthday banquet has already started, hasn't Chairman Mu arrived yet?"
"I don't know... Could he be delayed by something?"
"He might still be changing clothes. After all, it's his birthday banquet, he has to prepare a bit more meticulously."
"That's true..."
"I heard Chairman Mu invited a few stars to perform today, maybe he wants to make a finale appearance?"
"..."
Several guests conversed privately. At this moment, everyone's attention was basically on the Stage. Only a very few people noticed a red-clothed figure carrying an Oiled Paper Umbrella slowly walking this way.
Kong Baosheng, who was focusing on eating small cakes by the table, saw Chen Ling coming, stuffed the remaining cake into his mouth in one bite, and ran over quickly.
Chen Ling smiled slightly, "Nothing happened while I was away, right?"
Kong Baosheng thought seriously, "Yes."
"What is it?"
"Several very pretty female stars came to strike up a conversation with me, they were all asking about Mister. They seemed to really want to make friends with Mister..." Kong Baosheng blinked, "Just as I said, Mister, you are much better looking than those top male stars!"
"...Did you answer them?"
"No, I told them if they want to get to know you, they should come find you themselves." Kong Baosheng thought for a moment, "Right, a few of them seem to have to perform on Stage later, I'll point them out to you in a bit! They are all super pretty."
Chen Ling breathed a slight sigh of relief.
After the host on the Stage warmed up the crowd, a male singer stepped onto the Stage. As the speakers on both sides of the Stage began to play music, melodious singing began to echo above the venue.
At the same time, bursts of excited screams rang out faintly from outside the manor. It seemed many people were calling the singer's name outside.
Mu Chunsheng's birthday banquet was originally a grand affair, and the lineup of some invited guests had been announced long ago. Although the die-hard fans of some stars weren't qualified to enter, there were not a few people cheering from afar outside the manor. Even if they couldn't see the person, just hearing the sound was good enough.
And the Beidou Consortium's security didn't deliberately drive them away. After all, this also demonstrated the Beidou Consortium's influence to some extent, livening up the atmosphere while not disturbing the socializing of the VIPs inside the manor.
Chen Ling stood outside the crowd, casually taking a glass of wine from a passing waiter, looking as relaxed and lazy as a guest who really came to attend the banquet.
And not far from him, Chief Wang Jincheng was standing there stiffly, his gaze sweeping vigilantly across the surroundings, seemingly still looking for traces of Li Ruohong, occasionally looking up at the sky...
He didn't know if it was Chen Ling's misconception, but it seemed that since just now, the daylight had been dimming little by little, as if dark clouds were silently gathering in the sky.
"Hello, I'm Lu Aizhen. I don't think I've seen you before?" Just as Chen Ling was leisurely watching the performance, a woman in a gorgeous long dress walked to his side, her slightly raised lips as passionate as fire.
Seeing her, Kong Baosheng silently nudged Chen Ling, indicating that this was one of the people who came to ask him earlier.
"Jinghong Theater Thespian, Lin Yan." Chen Ling responded politely, "I just entered the Main City not long ago."
"Jinghong Theater... Never heard of it, have you signed with a company?"
"Signed with the Huang Consortium."
"The Huang Consortium has a good eye." Lu Aizhen looked at that nearly perfect face, unable to tear her eyes away for a moment, taking the initiative to hand a Note to Chen Ling, "This is my private address. If you have time, you're welcome to come over for afternoon tea."
"Thank you."
Chen Ling symbolically accepted the Note and continued to watch the performance, cold and aloof like an iceberg.
Seeing this, Lu Aizhen pursed her lips in slight boredom and turned to leave... She was, after all, a well-known female star in the Main City, and naturally wouldn't ask for a snub.
After Lu Aizhen left, several other figures successively came to converse with Chen Ling. Even when a few female stars went on Stage to perform, their gazes could hardly tear away from that touch of red in the crowd. The unknown Chen Ling instantly attracted the attention of quite a few people.
Of course, under Chen Ling's cold-face offensive, no one could chat with him for more than five sentences before leaving with waning interest.
In the crowd, an old man also wearing a Theatrical Robe saw this and snorted coldly.
"Young man, where are you from?"
Chen Ling shifted his gaze to him, a look of confusion flashing in his eyes. At the same time, Kong Baosheng seemed to recognize him and whispered in Chen Ling's ear: "He's Li Hanxiang, one of the most senior Famous Actors in the Main City... In the early years when my Grandmother opened the Jinghong Theater, he was also a Thespian in the theater. It's said he was lukewarm at the time, and was later poached by a large consortium, gradually becoming popular by hyping up scandals with female stars... But now that he's older, and with fewer and fewer people singing opera, his seniority has also gotten higher and higher."
Chen Ling's brows rose slightly. He had heard Kong Baosheng say earlier that the Jinghong Theater had produced quite a few Famous Actors in its early years. It seemed this Li Hanxiang was also one of them... It was just that the means of becoming famous were not honorable.
"My hometown is a small town outside the Main City. I just entered the Main City this year." Chen Ling answered politely.
The old man sized him up and down, the disdain in his eyes growing stronger. He put his hands behind his back and spoke unhurriedly:
"Oh, so you're from the countryside... Then who is your master?"
Chen Ling thought for a moment, "I was apprenticed to a Nameless Thespian."
"Nameless Thespian?" The old man sneered, "I see the Huang Consortium is getting poorer and poorer. Where did this wild Thespian come from, insisting on being pushed onto the table?"
"Wild Thespian? You're the wild Thespian!" Kong Baosheng naturally didn't have any good feelings towards this traitor of the Jinghong Theater. Hearing him dare to scold Chen Ling, he instantly became anxious, pointing at his nose and about to scold back.
This scolding instantly attracted the attention of several guests around them. The female stars who had conversed with Chen Ling just now saw this scene and roughly guessed what had happened, their gazes towards Li Hanxiang full of disdain and disgust.
Almost no one in the circle didn't know what kind of character this Li Hanxiang was. Not to mention hyping up scandals in the early years, basically everyone sitting here had done it. After becoming famous, he even privately set up routines for those young female leads who hadn't become famous yet. His reputation was almost rotten to the core.
Chen Ling raised his hand to stop him, his eyes looking calmly at Li Hanxiang, and said slowly:
"This senior, what guidance do you have?"
"Young man, listen to my advice. Opera isn't something just anyone can sing... Don't think that just because you have a good skin bag, you can do well in this line of work. How many songs have you learned, how many years of foundation have you practiced? Do you know how to write the four words 'Singing', 'Speaking', 'Acting', and 'Fighting'?" The old man seemed to really enjoy this feeling of lecturing a junior, putting his hands behind his back and saying like an old master.
Chen Ling raised his brows, still not saying much, but nodded with a smile and perfunctorily:
"Mm, what senior said is right."
Li Hanxiang glanced at the Stage. At this moment, a dance performance had just ended, and the host slowly walked onto the Stage, announcing the next opera performance.
Li Hanxiang stroked the sleeves of his gorgeous Theatrical Robe, straightened his back, put on a posture, and slowly walked towards the Stage.
"Young man, let me teach you... what 'opera' really is."