godfather

Let's talk about Meng Xiaojing coming to Beijing for an interview.The exams at the Academy of Drama dragged on for a long time. From the confirmation of registration to the subsequent interviews, Meng Xiaojing stayed in Beijing for nearly a month and never returned to Xi'an.

Meng Xiaojing stayed in Beijing for a month, and Nie Hui came back and forth three times. When she was out of school, she accompanied Meng Xiaojing to take the exam.

During my sister-in-law's hospitalization, Grandma Meng kept nagging, "It's troublesome to rush things. The eldest grandson just left, and the second grandson came again. Jing Jing came to live at home. I still have to greet him, don't I? I have to wash him." Clothes, cooking, serving him, how difficult it is for the child to come all the way to take the exam... I hope he will pass the exam anyway!"

The old lady was disgusted with her mouth and diligent in her hands. She took the time to go home and tidy up the hut. The sheets were changed and washed, and a pair of new embroidered pillowcases were put on. She was afraid that her second grandson would think that her old lady's house was not high-end and western.A slow-cooked fish was cooked in the pot, and there were big steamed buns with noodles in the cage, waiting for Meng Xiaojing to come to live at home.

As a result, when Meng Xiaojing came to Beijing, he didn't intend to live in his grandma's house.

Meng Xiaojing brought his girlfriend here.Nie Hui stood at the door and greeted her in a tepid manner, calling her grandpa and grandma.Nie Hui is a tall and fair beauty. She is really beautiful. Standing at the door, everyone's eyes are brightened, and the whole family feels radiant!A beautiful woman will shine in the crowd.The old lady was stunned at the time, the poor and lowly common people had never seen anything like this.A simple, dilapidated and ordinary family is really not worthy of other girls.

The two stood at the door without saying a few words, and left immediately.

This incident really made the old lady angry.At that time, there was a sense of frustration on the face and self-esteem, like being slapped in the face by someone! "I packed up the bed at home and prepared a meal for him. He came empty-handed, didn't even enter the house, called grandma, and then he turned around and left, taking that woman to a hotel! The two of them went The hotel where you live?!"

"A young child and not married, how could the two of them be like that, go to a hotel to open a room, isn't that a hooligan! Our family is this kind of dishonest?"

The daughter of the provincial leader's family is still an only child.

Meng Xiaojing is really capable, how did he know, how did he get such a family?

Grandma Meng couldn't even hold the basket for sifting the cornmeal in her hand, so she tossed the batter all over the floor, feeling very worried.It's not difficult to understand the complicated mood of being an elder. As the head of the family, Grandma Meng is very careful about everything in the family. Even if she doesn't want to see Meng Xiaojing anymore, she still treats Jingjing as her grandson, a child from other places. When you come to Beijing, you definitely want to take refuge with me, an elder. We are reluctant to cover you and help you out of kindness.However, Meng Xiaojing stepped over the old lady in one step.There was someone behind him, arrogant, and just put his grandma aside.

Of course, when Nie Hui came to Beijing, she would not stay at the old lady's house. Instead, she would live in a hotel run by the provincial government in Beijing based on her relationship. She would pay for it and let Meng Xiaojing stay with her.

Immediately, relatives like the seven aunts and eight aunts in Beijing knew that Meng Xiaojing had befriended a rich girl, everyone had a mouth, and it was inevitable that they would talk about it in private.

At that time, Meng Xiaojing was equivalent to pushing himself onto the road of Huashan.He also has no way out, if he goes to Beijing this time to apply for the Chinese opera exam and fails the exam, and returns home with a feather, he will never come here again, and he will have no face to see his relatives in Beijing.

I heard later that there were thousands of candidates applying for the performance department, but the performance department only recruited 20.Many of these candidates are art college students who already have a solid foundation.According to the calculation of three art technical secondary schools in each province, and each technical secondary school has 1800 graduates each year, there are [-] art majors in [-] provinces across the country.This does not include the dance and music high schools in various provinces. These students have received at least three years of professional training, and they are all selected handsome men and beautiful women.Who doesn't want to enter the Chinese opera Nortel and realize their star dream in one step?However, on the road to a higher threshold, the supply of talents is obviously greater than the demand, and there are too many monks and too few groceries.

Dongcheng Mianmian Hutong, outside the school gate, there are many candidates waiting to read the test results, wandering on the fork in life, everyone has a strong desire for good luck written on their faces.The people in the hotel and guest house at the entrance of the alley were going back and forth, holding up signs to solicit customers.Some people are distributing small advertisements for pre-examination training courses. The prices of the training courses are high, and parents of students flock to them.

How many people hit the wall and broke their heads, and the latecomers are still going forward.

Meng Xiaobei asked Nie Hui on the phone, how did she pass the test?Their performance department has the largest number of applicants, and the competition is more fierce and cruel than CAFA, with an annual admission rate of less than 1%.In the process of the first test, 4000 people received a number on the paper, queued up to enter the examination room, and each had a 6-minute opportunity to show quickly.After two days, more than half of them were passed, and there were only 1000 people left, and they entered the second test.

The first try is optional recitation and impromptu talent show.Whether to advance or not, the examiner will quickly make a judgment within a few minutes, all based on the first impression.

Many candidates, who have dreamed about it for several years, have attended countless training classes, only wear their card numbers for an hour, walk around the examination room, and are quickly eliminated.There was a girl squatting in the corridor, crying loudly, refusing to leave, insisting that the examiner take another look at her.The examiners are well-informed and have rich experience. Basically, at the first sight, as soon as they meet each other and the candidate speaks, he can tell whether the child has acting potential in the future by looking at his appearance, conversation and spirit. Never give you a second look.

Meng Xiaojing pinned a four-digit number in front of him. He was already the 2000th person who came in. The chief examiner was yawning and drinking tea with his head down, anxious to close the booth and go to dinner.

For reciting the passage, most of the candidates in front like to choose the book that is full of emotion, majestic and tear-jerking. The main theme is to promote patriotism or national self-reliance, to sing love and family affection, and to look forward to moving people with love.Listening to thousands of recitations a day, the examiners get tired of hearing it long ago. The girls and boys on the stage recite passionately, with tears in their eyes. A row of examiners are expressionless, staring at the students from bottom to top. Turning the ballpoint pen inside, watching the students cry and read their lines one by one, then crossed them cruelly, and brushed them away...Meng Xiaojing's self-selected recitation passages are not new, they did not include famous works, but read a section of their drama vividly The script that the theater had lined up seemed to be called "Two Hei Marriage". A couple of young men and women fell in love with each other in the ridges of cornfields, quarreled and fought, and there was a misunderstanding, and they finally reunited and rolled into the bridal chamber. It was a folk comedy.

He opened his mouth, "Erhei ran into his beloved woman on the mountain ridge that day, and Cuihua came to him in front of him wearing a flowered jacket and carrying a basket of eggs."A certain examiner was drinking tea, and he spat out a mouthful of tea, and a row of teachers looked up at the same time!

Meng Xiaojing picked a local romantic comedy that was scumbag, the language was plain and humorous, but it was touching. The examiner was poked by him at that time, and a smile appeared on his lips.

Moreover, Meng Xiaojing himself is handsome, not a rustic country youth.

He is the kind of sunny and handsome guy who doesn't look like a pussy, poor or weak, which is in line with the aesthetics of boys in the showbiz back then.

When you try it, the first thing you look at is the appearance. If the appearance is not pleasing, it will be screened out first.A sunny and handsome guy who can put down his body to act in the folk comedy of Xia Liba has a strong personal characteristic, which makes a room full of examiners have endless aftertaste.

In the next talent show, Meng Xiaojing improvised a storytelling from northern Shaanxi, and even played an allegro himself, which was very funny.This is the craft he learned from his master in the Xi'an Drama Theatre.

There was a teacher who knew Shaanxi dialect in the audience, and he kept translating for the people around him with great interest. Everyone felt that it was fresh and talented.In this way, Meng Xiaojing killed thousands of troops and passed the test.

Meng Xiaobei said on the phone: "Meng Xiaojing is really good at it, I think he is very funny this time!"

Nie Hui couldn't hide her excitement and anxiety, as if she was the one rushing for the exam: "There are still 1000 people in the second test, and 300 people will be eliminated, and there will be [-] people left in the end. He is at school these two days, talking with other students. Candidates are preparing the skit together, and they are almost dizzy! And they are co-acting with others, whoever catches up with him will be the one, no matter how good our Meng Xiaojing performance is, we can't stop a group of cats and dogs in the group!..."

In the second test, I can no longer speak Shaanxi dialect in Allegro, and the selection of Chinese opera materials is not a sketch in the Spring Festival Gala.The second test examines the basic skills of acting. There are six or seven candidates, a mixed group of men and women of various types, self-written and performed, and propositional sketches.

Meng Xiaobei asked: "What's the topic of the sketch, is it settled?"

Nie Hui said: "It's settled. We'll be discussing sketches all day long, and we'll have a lot of quarrels. The topic is to let them play "The Great Earthquake in Tangshan"..."

Meng Xiaojing came out of the bathroom at this time, with his upper body naked and cotton pajama pants, his hair was dripping wet and wrapped in a big towel.Meng Xiaojing raised his eyes and asked, "Who are you calling?"

Nie Hui subconsciously covered the microphone, and whispered: "Ah, that... well, let's do this first..."

Nie Hui said, "I just called Meng Xiaobei. He hasn't left in Beijing yet. I'll tell him about your exam."

Meng Xiaojing was taken aback for a moment, with a slightly awkward expression on his face: "What did you tell him?"

Nie Hui smiled and said, "What's the matter?... Isn't Meng Xiaobei your brother? Can't you tell me?"

Meng Xiaojing frowned: "I haven't passed the exam yet, and I haven't even written a word!...I don't want to tell my family these things. If I don't pass the exam, I will be embarrassed and make people laugh at me."

Nie Hui said: "I also know that you are under a lot of pressure. I want to help you! Meng Xiaobei has a lot of ideas. I just want to ask him what he thinks about the Tangshan earthquake and what inspirations he has. He can give you an idea!"

Meng Xiaojing put on a T-shirt, her hair was messed up, and her eyes were irritated: "Can you not ask him?!... I don't need his advice."

Nie Hui asked: "Do you have conflicts with your brother?"

The corner of Meng Xiaojing's mouth shrugged: "No, I really have no conflict with him."

"We have been separated since we were young, and we didn't grow up together before we reached the age of puberty when we are prone to conflicts and fights. We live our own lives, and when we meet, we just nod and don't know what to say. How could I talk to Meng Xiao?" Is there a conflict in the North?"

Meng Xiaojing's expression was calm, and there seemed to be a plain sadness in the words, which made Nie Hui feel sorry for her boyfriend again.

Meng Xiaojing was indeed under too much mental pressure, and the difficulty for him to pass the exam was even greater than that of his brother.He heard that Meng Xiaobei did well in the exam, and he didn't want to lose his name. The college entrance examination will be abolished this year. All these years of dreams and efforts have been wasted, and he will not be able to hold his head high in front of his family in the future.He didn't want to be said that he fell in love with a rich man and found a rich girl to go to Beijing ambitiously.The man's self-esteem also made him hesitate to ask his family members for help, losing to the other 99 candidates was equivalent to losing to Meng Xiaobei, the two brothers were still quite concerned.

After a while, the hotel room phone rang again.

This time it was Xiaobei who called on his own initiative, which surprised Meng Xiaojing.

That night, Meng Xiaobei turned on Qi Liang's phone on speakerphone, and a group of people gathered around the phone, chattering and thinking about how to perform this sketch.

Meng Xiaojing said: "There are a lot of people in the group, two of them are fellow villagers, and they dominate the hero and heroine, stealing the scene and stealing the scene. I play alone, and I can't get the lines. The group show depends on who is dazzling and who has more words. So I feel... I have nothing to do in the second try."

Meng Xiaobei said: "Meng Xiaojing, are you pessimistic before the exam? If a person wants to be eye-catching in life, it doesn't depend on how much he talks. One sentence can shock the audience!"

Meng Xiaobei stretched out his thumb and poked the people around him arrogantly: "For example, my little dad, Shaotang, do you think he usually talks a lot? No matter what the occasion, whoever he faces, where he sits, is his aura enough? Break, can you calm down a group of people?!"

"Nonsense." Meng Xiaojing was embarrassed to say, Meng Xiaobei, you are a big nympho: "Can I compare with your godfather!"

Nie Hui said: "None of us have experienced the Tangshan earthquake. I was only seven years old when the earthquake happened. I didn't even feel the earthquake in Xi'an. How can candidates who have no real life practice perform?"

Meng Xiaojing said: "Actually, I have experienced it, that is... I was too young to remember it at all, and Beijing did not collapse, and no one died."

Meng Xiaobei: "Actually, Shaotang and I also experienced it, although we stayed in Xigou at that time."

Shaotang's voice was steady, and he commented from the side: "The teacher gives you this kind of question, it's not about whether the students have experienced it. What about acting, whether it's playing anti-Japanese martyrs, landlords and warlords, or thieves and rogue prisoners in prisons, don't you? Have you done it yourself? What the teacher is testing is your child's imagination, the ability to imitate such a scene, right?"

Meng Xiaojing said: "Uncle Shaotang, you are quite right."

He Shaotang said: "Then let me tell you something. When you and your father returned to Beijing, it was just in time for the Tangshan earthquake. Those of us who stayed in Xigou had no news at all. We didn't know the life and death of our parents and relatives in Beijing. How did you survive those days?"

"It was heard on the radio that Tangshan was razed to the ground, like a hell on earth, a cemetery, hundreds of thousands of souls were buried in the ruins, and the ghost town was crying... At that time, the workers in the factory were in chaos. Everyone surrounded the factory and the trade union. With sticks and pliers in hand, the men shouted and the women cried, at that time they were going to drive hundreds of large trucks in the factory, and thousands of people went to Beijing to dig and plan people."

"At that time, our army maintained order in the factory all night, wearing steel helmets, holding guns to block the rioting workers, and shining bright bulbs with more than 100 watts on poles. Your mother and brother were also standing in the crowd. At that time I really don't know if you two can come back."

Shaotang smoked a cigarette with a calm voice, recalling the storms that the two families had gone through more than ten years ago.

Meng Xiaojing fell silent on the other end of the phone, listening carefully.

"The factory leader said, have you seen Meng Jianmin's wife? Meng Jianmin's wife and children are still in our Xigou! Meng Jianmin will definitely come back, let's wait for Meng Jianmin to bring his second child back! Some people say that your father was buried in Beijing. , You two won’t be able to come back!...Xiao Bei, what did you return back then?”

Shaotang turned to look at Meng Xiaobei.

"Me?" Meng Xiaobei shrugged and said, "I don't even remember."

Meng Xiaojing anxiously asked on the other end of the phone: "What did Meng Xiaobei say?!"

Shaotang said: "Xiaobei didn't cry or make a fuss at that time, he didn't shed a single tear, but his face was full of anger, stubbornness, and strength."

"You yelled at those old men who are considered to be your father's generation, your father was buried! Thief, who said that my father will not come back, my father will definitely come back! My dear Dad!!!...Xiaobei, you seem to be yelling like that?"

Everyone on both ends of the phone was happy.Meng Xiaobei slapped his legs and laughed loudly, saying, "Your Grandpa Bei is the most awesome at the critical moment"!

Qi Liang said: "Meng Xiaobei, you are a big crab that walks sideways since you were a child, no one should mess with you!"

Shaotang said with a smile, "Xiaobei was very strong at that time, and he was very proud of his father. He was stronger than your mother and me. I saw your mother standing in the crowd and wiped away tears quietly."

Qi Liang also recalled, "At that time our whole family lived in the No. [-] factory. I can't remember anything else. I just remember that my parents ran out holding me in the middle of the night. The whole building rushed out. When someone went downstairs, they were squeezed. Fall, fall. I remember that Qi Jiandong was barebacked, had a beer belly, and was wearing sloppy underpants. He picked me up and stood in the crowd..."

"That month I slept on the street, in the earthquake shed. Although it was hard, my parents hadn't divorced at that time, and I still had a complete family."

Qi Liang's eyes flickered, he turned around and asked, "Who is inside, what were you doing at that time?"

Teacher Xiao looked at Liangliang: "I was studying at university in Beijing that year, and it just happened to catch up with the earthquake. My dormitory was on the fourth floor, and a male student jumped out of the window in a hurry and broke his leg. I wore I ran downstairs with a sheet, and stood wrapped in the sheet for half the night. The other boys didn’t even have a sheet, and they all wore underwear. A girl in the next building had no clothes to wear, so I lent her half a sheet and stood wrapped in half a sheet. ..."

The two looked at each other twice more, and there was lingering in the eyes, and the meaning was still unfinished.Xiao Yi quietly grabbed Qi Liang's wrist under the coffee table, and Qi Liang rolled his beautiful eyelids: "Hmph, why didn't I know you earlier? You were pretty when you were young, and I peeked at you in your bedside table Photos from college."

Meng Xiaojing listened on the phone, and said after a while: "I understand how to act."

Meng Xiaobei said: "With so many people, inspiration comes quickly. Meng Xiaojing, please do your best! Our Xigou support team is waiting for your good news!"

Meng Xiaojing: "...Thank you very much."

A few days later, Meng Xiaojing participated in the second test of Chinese opera.The content of the second test is more demanding than that of the first test, which is optional recitation, vocal music performance, and group sketches with propositions.

Many students performed the Tangshan Earthquake, and as soon as they came on stage, they cried and cried, trying their best to express the pain of bereavement.In the large classroom of the examination room, the wailing sounded one after another, overwhelming.Many people pretended to be lying on the ground full of corpses, and there was a huge mountain of corpses in front of them, so they rushed forward with their hair loose, digging through the imaginary pile of corpses with both hands, digging for gold, and crying so hard that they couldn't help themselves.Actors really need to be able to cry anytime, anywhere.

A row of examiners, twirling ballpoint pens, watched indifferently as the candidates crawled all over the floor crying.

Meng Xiaojing didn't cry, he had a handsome face, his hair was slightly disheveled, and the makeup on his face showed the fatigue of staying up all night.He walked alone on the city streets, separated from the crowd, his face was pale, his eyebrows were dark, his beautiful eyes were blank but empty, and the collar of his white shirt was torn open, revealing half of his thin shoulders, like a ray of lonely soul floating into the examination room—— - Still a beautiful lonely soul.

Meng Xiaojing slowly knelt down on the ground, groping in the soil with his lips pursed.

He suddenly touched something, as if grabbing a hand out of the soil!He took out a crystal bracelet from the palm of that hand, suddenly realized something, trembling almost crazily, opened his neckline, and took out his necklace from his chest.

The necklace and bracelet shone with the same luster of light.

Meng Xiaojing trembled all over with his mouth open, his chest was in convulsions, his throat couldn't make a sound, he grasped the virtual "hand" in vain, lowered his head deeply, and kissed the person buried in the ruins... Meng Xiaojing didn't cry from the beginning to the end, Almost no lines were used, and no tears were shed.

Among the row of examiners, there was a female teacher who looked at him deeply, and some teachers applauded him a few times.

In this way, Meng Xiaojing passed the second test and entered the final list of 300 people.

Several leading actors in their group rushed into the camera and cried loudly, all of them were brushed off.

During the more than half a month of staying in Beijing, Meng Xiaojing and Nie Hui went to many places they had never been to before, including going to the Beijing Zoo and visiting an electronic playground.Nie Hui heard that the incense in Lama Temple is the most effective, so she insisted on dragging Meng Xiaojing to burn incense and kowtow.

Meng Xiaojing walked to the gate of Lama Temple and said, "It's useless, wasting time and money, let's go back."

Nie Hui glared at Zhuzhu: "Don't talk nonsense and be heard by the Buddha! It will work, I will help you!"

Nie Hui wears a crystal necklace around her neck.That crystal bracelet was made by her and given to Meng Xiaojing.

Nie Hui bought a pair of red joss sticks, knocking down every temple and worshiping the Buddha. She rushed forward in the line of aunts and aunts, knelt down on the flannel cushions, and devoutly kowtowed the incense, thinking of two things First, Meng Xiaojing's dream can come true, and second, she can get what she wants.

The two also visited Wangfujing Department Store together, and Nie Hui bought her boyfriend an expensive denim jacket.Meng Xiaojing looked at the label and frowned: "Two hundred and eighty a pair of pants, isn't it too expensive? You really can spend money."

Nie Hui pursed her lips and said indifferently: "Isn't it good to see it? I don't look at the price when I buy things. Tell the truth, do you like it or not?"

Meng Xiaojing glanced at the girl: "I like you, but you are too expensive."

... On the day of the third test, every candidate stepped into the gate of the Chinese Opera School, surrounded by a group of family, relatives and friends behind him, cheering.Meng Xiaojing and Nie Hui bought two rougamo from a roadside stall, held them in plastic bags, and ate them while standing in the wind.

Meng Xiaojing stood in the queue for verification, still looking back.

Nie Hui is wearing a cashmere cape-style jacket, the fashionable style of black and white houndstooth, which looks tall and chic on the streets in winter, and looks good.The lower body is knitted socks and boots.A teacher came out of the school gate, who was a head teacher in their acting department. He saw Nie Hui from a distance and stared at her for a long time.

The teacher came over and asked, "Student, are you here for the third test?"

Nie Hui said, "I came with someone else."

The teacher stared at her with interest: "This kind of thing often happened in the past. The person who applied for the exam failed, but the one who accompanied the exam failed and was selected by us."

Nie Hui said: "Don't say that, I still hope my boyfriend can pass the exam."

The teacher said: "I think you have potential as an actor, and you are very photogenic. Do you want to come in and try? We will give you a chance to try again."

Nie Hui was stunned for a moment, and finally declined: "...I don't take the exam, I have no interest in becoming an actor at all."

Standing beside the monotonous and obscure street in the cold winter, Nie Hui is beautiful and upright, a dazzling sight on the street.She frowned slightly, her expression was slightly melancholy, and the complicated emotions were more tangled than her brows.She came to accompany the exam, and accompanied Meng Xiaojing all the way. If Meng Xiaojing really passed the exam, he would get a good reputation and take root in Beijing.Such a well-known art school is full of big stars, and eight out of ten can enter Renyi.Meng Xiaojing may never return to Xi'an in the future, and she will gradually drift away... Can she not keep Meng Xiaojing's striding steps forward, and can she keep the boy's heart?

Meng Xiaojing said something to the guard, turned back suddenly, and crossed the small road with noisy vehicles, with a hurried look on his face.

Meng Xiaojing strode over, on the side of the road, suddenly stretched out his hands to hold Nie Hui's head, turned his head and kissed her.Lip to lip kissed hard for a few seconds before letting go. Meng Xiaojing took a deep look, turned his head and ran back.

Nie Hui stood alone in the wind, looking at the alley entrances on the left and right.At the end of the road, cars were coming and going, and the morning fog was overlapping, as if the future of the two was uncertain. At that moment, tears flowed down.