sovbooks Chapter 26 The Fairy Couple
Chapter 26 The Fairy Couple
A classroom at the far end of the third floor of the School of Chinese Opera teaching building at Beijing Film Academy.
When Lin Hao arrived at the address Li Hao had given him, the classroom door was open and there were already people inside.
Huang Shengyi sat in the first row of chairs, legs crossed, holding a bottle of mineral water, swinging her legs listlessly.
When she saw Lin Hao walk in, her eyes lit up instantly, and she jumped up from her chair.
"Junior! We meet again!"
Her tone was as enthusiastic as if she were "reuniting with an old friend," making it impossible to tell that the two had only known each other for less than a day.
Lin Hao was slightly taken aback by her enthusiasm, but he quickly adapted.
"Hello, senior." He nodded and casually placed his backpack on the chair next to him.
"Don't call me senior, it sounds too formal." Huang Shengyi waved her hand, then suddenly seemed to remember something, leaned closer and lowered her voice, "Hey, let me tell you, I was originally going to go to another program, the schedule was all set, but I was transferred here at the last minute."
"Transfer it?"
"Yeah, right." Huang Shengyi's eyes became meaningful. "Tell me, what kind of spell did you cast on Teacher Li? 'The Fairy Couple' is a duet; two people on stage are definitely more likely to be noticed than someone trying to squeeze into a crowd. Why did he think of me for such a good opportunity?"
Lin Hao was certain that this had nothing to do with him; it was most likely Li Hao's own arrangement.
But there's no need to explain this too much.
"I didn't try to sweet-talk you. Maybe Teacher Li just thought you had a good image and were suitable for the role of the Seventh Fairy," he said casually, then steered the conversation to the main topic, "But there's something I wanted to ask you. Do you know anything about Huangmei Opera? Have you ever performed it?"
Huang Shengyi's expression instantly switched from meaningful to blank.
"Huangmei Opera?" she repeated, as if to make sure she hadn't misheard. "You're asking if I can sing Huangmei Opera?"
"right."
"No." She shook her head decisively. "Not only do I not know it, I've hardly ever even heard of it. I know 'Birds on the tree are in pairs,' but that's because my mom used to play it every day when she was young. If you asked me to sing it, I couldn't even hum the tune correctly."
After she finished speaking, she turned around and looked nervously at Lin Hao.
"You haven't already learned this, have you?"
"If I had already learned it, would I need to come to Teacher Li?" Lin Hao retorted.
Huang Shengyi instantly breathed a sigh of relief, her whole body relaxed, and a relieved smile even appeared on her face. "That's great, that's great, it's good that we're both beginners. If you already knew it, and I was the only one singing off-key, how embarrassing would that be?"
"Your mindset is quite unique."
"Of course, 'It's not that I'm bad, it's that I'm afraid of having strong teammates!'" Huang Shengyi's smile remained unchanged.
Lin Hao was speechless.
As the two were chatting, footsteps sounded outside the classroom door.
Li Hao walked in.
He was much the same as he was in class last time: a lean old man with gray hair, but full of energy.
He walks with a confident stride, clearly someone who has honed his skills on stage for most of his life.
"Everyone's here? Okay, have a seat."
Li Hao stood in front of the podium and got straight to the point.
"Time is tight and the task is heavy, so I won't waste time with small talk. You'll be on stage in ten days, and there's not enough time to teach you from scratch. I'll just teach you the most essential things. Learn as much as you can."
Lin Hao and Huang Shengyi sat up straight at the same time.
"The two most essential elements of traditional Chinese opera performance are singing style and physical movements."
Li Hao stretched out two fingers and pressed them down one by one.
"Let's start with the singing style. Huangmei Opera has a rich singing system, including several types such as flowery tunes, colorful tunes, plain tunes, antiphonal tunes, fairy tunes, and underworld tunes. Each type has a different melody, breath control, and emotional expression."
He looked at Lin Hao.
"The character Dong Yong's singing style is mainly 'Pingci'. Pingci is the main singing style of Huangmei Opera's main plays. It is characterized by its simplicity, fluency, strong narrative, and suitability for expressing the character's delicate inner emotions. You should focus on practicing Pingci and master the three aspects of Pingci: intonation, breathing, and pronunciation. Then you won't look too bad on stage."
Lin Hao nodded.
Plain words.
It is simple, fluent, and has a strong narrative.
This description does fit Dong Yong's character quite well.
"Let's talk about body movements." Li Hao turned around and wrote four keywords on the blackboard: "Finger techniques, body movements, footwork, and water sleeves. These four are the basic skills of opera body movements, and each one could take a year to learn in detail. But time is limited, and how much you can learn depends on your own comprehension."
Then he looked at Huang Shengyi.
"Shengyi, the singing style of the Seven Fairies is much more complex. There are plain tunes, colorful tunes, fairy tunes, and underworld tunes. Different scenes use different tunes, and the emotional transitions are much more frequent than those of Dong Yong. If you can learn one or two of them to the point where you can perform on stage within ten days, that would already be very good."
Huang Shengyi's expression gradually became complicated.
What are Pingci, Caiqiang, Xianqiang...?
She had never heard of any of these terms before, and now it sounded like she was reciting gibberish.
After explaining the basic theory, Li Hao asked, "Did you understand?"
Huang Shengyi looked at Lin Hao with a blank expression.
Lin Hao looked at Huang Shengyi calmly.
The two looked into each other's eyes and simultaneously read the same message: they didn't understand it at all.
Li Hao had probably guessed this outcome, so without saying anything unnecessary, he went straight into the practical phase.
Come on, sing with me.
He stood in the open space in front of the classroom, cleared his throat, and first demonstrated a section of Dong Yong's Pingci singing.
The moment he opened his mouth, the atmosphere in the entire classroom changed.
Li Hao, after all, has a proper background in traditional opera, so his singing skills are genuine.
That voice, full of energy and with a smooth tone, was so precise that every word, every breath, and every rise and fall of the melody seemed to be an instinct etched into the bones.
"Listen carefully to my breath control." Li Hao paused after singing a line. "The breathing in Huangmei Opera is different from that in pop songs. It emphasizes 'breathing from the dantian and sound from the head.' The breath should be deep, but the sound should be light and not muffled in the throat..."
He taught her word by word and demonstrated each movement one by one.
Lin Hao and Huang Shengyi practiced like this for an hour.
The system's support played a subtle role in this process.
Although there are subsidies for performances at the Capital Theatre, the "fees" of two or three hundred yuan correspond to the lowest level of acting skills.
The effect of the blessing was very limited; it was more like giving him a small boost to his existing understanding. The direction was given, but he had to walk the path himself.
Fortunately, Lin Hao had ten years of acting experience in his previous life, giving him a solid foundation in body control and voice usage.
Although the boost from the system was slight, combined with his own foundation and intensive practice, the effect would gradually accumulate over time.
simply put.
The system has a small cheat code, and he has to rely on time and hard work to maximize its effect.
An hour later, Li Hao checked his watch.
"I have class next period, you two practice on your own first, I will check your practice when you come back."
After saying that, he picked up his water cup and left.
There were only two people left in the classroom.
Huang Shengyi stopped immediately, walked over and patted Lin Hao on the shoulder.
"Junior, this opera is so difficult! I feel like my throat is about to burst into flames, and I can't even bear to listen to what I'm singing." Her expression was full of frustration. "And you? Have you mastered what the teacher taught you?"
Lin Hao did indeed gain something in that hour.
The system's slight boost, combined with his comprehension, gave him a general feel for the intonation of the lyrics. Although his singing was still rough, he was on the right track.
But I can't say that now.
If you tell a partner who's just starting out and is still figuring things out, "I've already got the basics down," you're just asking for trouble.
"Listening to the teacher's words is like receiving a lecture," Lin Hao said without changing his expression. "Do I look like I understand?"
Huang Shengyi looked at him carefully and made sure that there was no smug look on his face that said, "I have secretly learned it," before she felt a little relieved.
"That's good, let's eat together."
"But—" she changed the subject, her voice trembling with worry, "What will I do when I go on stage? If I sing like this, won't the audience boo me off?"
"Instead of worrying, let's practice more." Lin Hao walked to the open space in front of the classroom. "Come on, let's practice a few more times while the teacher is away. He'll check when he comes back later."
After saying that, he started practicing on his own.
Starting from the first line of the lyrics, sing it line by line, and practice each movement one by one.
If you sing it wrong, start over; if your movements aren't right, keep practicing.
There was no slacking off, no perfunctory work; each time was more serious than the last.
Huang Shengyi stood by and watched for a while.
She noticed that Lin Hao's demeanor during practice was completely different from when they were chatting earlier.
Just a moment ago they were chatting and laughing, being a bit witty, and seemed very relaxed.
Now, once I enter a practice state, I exude a calm and focused aura.
He would stop and correct every mistake repeatedly, leaving no detail overlooked.
Huang Shengyi had seen this kind of seriousness many times at the Beijing Film Academy, but it was truly rare to see it in a high school student who hadn't even been admitted to university yet.
She suddenly realized that with these qualities, what couldn't someone accomplish?
Forget it, I'm not spacing out anymore.
She also went to the open space and started practicing.
Two hours later, Li Hao returned.
"How's your practice going? Come on, let me check."