Arriving at the entrance of the courtyard of Gu Ran's residence, Zhou Jun looked inside the door and found that there were many people gathered in the courtyard, all of whom were prostitutes from the market.
There were two unfamiliar maidservants standing in the gatehouse. One of them, seeing Zhou Jun dressed in official robes, first said a blessing, and then said: "Jiedu knows that there is something going on today, so he has closed the backyard. Mr. Lang, please come back another day."
"
Before Zhou Jun opened his mouth, another maid in the concierge looked at the former's face, carefully distinguished it for a while, and quickly asked: "I dare to ask you, sir, are you Zhou Jun?"
Zhou Jun nodded in agreement.
The first maid who politely refused the guest was surprised when she heard this. She stared at Zhou Jun and asked, "Is Mr. Lang the original writer of The Romance of the West Chamber?"
Zhou Jun quickly waved his hand and said: "I just told a story, there is another person who is the chief writer of Romance of the West Chamber."
The two maids looked at each other and smiled, one on the left and one on the right, pulling Zhou Jun's sleeves and pulling him into the courtyard.
The prostitutes in the courtyard were surprised at first when they saw a man coming in at the courtyard door. Then they inquired about it and heard that it was Zhou Erlang, so they all gathered around.
Listening to the quarrels among the women around him, Zhou Jun felt dizzy and had no idea what these people were talking about.
I heard a cold shout from the hall door: "What's the noise about?!"
Zhou Jun followed the sound and saw Qin standing at the door with an expressionless face.
When the prostitutes heard this, they quickly stopped talking, bowed and stepped back.
Jie Qin looked at Zhou Jun, his face softened slightly, and he said, "Come in, Zhou Lingshi."
Zhou Jun arched his hands, carefully passed by the prostitutes, and entered the hall.
Entering the central hall, Zhou Jun saw a group of women gathered there, each holding a playbook in their hands.
Ruo'e was sitting in the front seat. When she saw Zhou Jun coming in, she just nodded and said to the group of women: "Let's play the seventh chapter again."
I saw a beautiful woman holding a playbook and reciting emotionally: "Looking up at the moon with tearful eyes, heaven and earth are the same."
Another girl, who was still weak, coughed and said, "Madam, what is the sound?"
Zhou Jun watched for a while and understood.
What Xie Qin and Ruo'e are doing here is similar to casting before a play is staged.
Women who want to be on stage should take a script and perform, and the best ones will get the role.
Soon, the play was finished.
Xie Qin frowned and asked Ruo'e, "What do you think?"
Ruo'e thought for a while and said: "Let's use this grandson to live in the matchmaker's corner."
"She is young, has nimble movements and expressive eyes. She is the most like a matchmaker."
Xie Qin nodded.
Ruo'e looked at the gorgeous woman again, shook her head and said, "She has a coquettish appearance, but her movements are too earthly."
"Cui Yingying is the daughter of a wealthy family. She should be well-educated, dignified and decent. You are not suitable."
The beautiful woman was angry when she heard this and was about to say a few words.
Jie Qin turned to look at her and said softly: "Go."
The woman looked at Jie Qin, hesitated for a while, and finally swallowed her words, bowed, and left the hall.
Ruo'e looked up at Zhou Jun, put down the playbook and said to Jie Qin: "Since the early morning test until now, we are exhausted, why not take a rest?"
Xie Qin nodded in agreement.
Ruo'e clapped her hands and said to the maid beside her: "Go out and let me know, and tell me to wait a moment."
Jie Qin took a piece of paper, placed it in front of Zhou Jun, and said: "Zhou Lingshi, please take a look. There are ten and seven characters in Romance of the West Chamber. Now, most of them have been settled."
Zhou Jun picked up the paper and looked at it, and saw that most of the characters had names behind them. These people must be Beili prostitutes who came to audition for the role.
After reading it, Zhou Jun asked: "How come there are so many people outside the door? How did they know about The West Chamber?"
Ruo'e said: "Thank you very much for Jie Douzhi's arrangement."
Xie Qin said with a smile: "I made a booklet of the first three folds of The Romance of the West Chamber, and sent it to the sisters who are familiar with each other in the song."
"In the appendix of the volume, The West Chamber is planned to be put on the stage, but there is currently a shortage of actors. Those who are interested can come to Gu Ran's house to try out the play."
Ruo'e added: "The first three folds of the play were only given out in about ten volumes."
"Unexpectedly, the person who took the script found it interesting, copied a lot of it, and incorporated it into other songs."
"After coming and going, there are so many people coming to audition today."
After hearing this, Zhou Jun finally understood and just sighed: "I didn't expect that Romance of the West Chamber would be so popular."
Ruo'e: "Which of the victims of Beili Sanqu is not a weirdo?"
"This Romance of the West Chamber is an unprecedented masterpiece, no matter the play style, plot, or poetry and singing."
"When those people see it, they naturally flock to it."
After hearing this, Zhou Jun nodded first, and then asked: "After reading this list, it seems that there are still some roles that no one can play?"
Xie Qin: "There are still five actors, but we haven't found suitable candidates yet. The most difficult one among them is Cui Yingying."
Zhou Jun asked: "There are so many people outside the door, no one can play Cui Yingying?"
Ruo'e said: "Cui Yingying has three talents: one is appearance, the other is learning, and the third is love."
"This appearance is quite simple. Most of the people outside the door can match it."
"This scholar, to put it more vulgarly, has a scholarly spirit. Although there are few who match it, there is still something to be said for it."
"As for this talent, it is the most difficult to choose."
"Cui Yingying attaches great importance to love, and her love for Zhang Sheng remains unchanged until death."
"But the women here in the north are waiting for guests, and they are in a dusty world. It is rare to find such a talented person."
Zhou Jun muttered: "Talent in appearance, talent in learning, and talent in emotion. He must not only have a beautiful appearance, but also be knowledgeable, and he must also be affectionate and righteous... Such a person..."
Zhou Jun's heart suddenly brightened and he raised his head, only to see Jie Qin looking over with a smile on his face.
He then said to Na Ruo'e: "The best candidate to play Cui Yingying should be you."
Ruo'e was stunned and asked: "Me?"
Zhou Jun pointed his fingers and said: "In terms of appearance, you are one of the best; in terms of talent and learning, you are good at poetry, lyrics and songs. Even the lines and singing in The Romance of the West Chamber were written by you; and in terms of love and talent, Hanxiao Jushi Kuhou
The matter of having a lover, doesn’t it exactly correspond to the word of attaching great importance to love?"
After hearing this, Ruo'e turned her head and glared at Jie Qin, as if she was blaming the latter for talking too much.
Xie Qin couldn't stop having fun there. She leaned over the desk and said with a smile: "Ruo'e, I've wanted to say this for a long time. This role of Cui Yingying seems to be tailor-made for you. If you don't play it, I'm afraid no one can play it.
"
Ruo'e shook her head and said: "I have never been on stage, how can I act?"
Zhou Jun said: "This type of drama in The West Chamber has never happened in the past. Didn't it also have to be written?"
Ruo'e was still waiting to refuse, so Xie Qin said seriously: "This is the story of the West Chamber, but you stayed up late at night and wrote it word for word, and worked hard to write it."
"You once told me that my favorite character in this play is Cui Yingying."
"If you don't play Cui Yingying, you can only choose someone from Beili to take the stage."
"When the show actually starts, can you bear to watch Cui Yingying being miscast?"
Ruo'e froze there and said nothing for a long time.
After a while, Ruo'e gritted her teeth and softly said two words: "I will act."
Zhou Jun and Xie Qin looked at each other and laughed at the same time.