The business model of Tianjin Department Store is very advanced. The lower floors are for selling things, the fifth floor is a theater, the sixth floor is a cinema, and the seventh floor is a rooftop garden for sightseeing. The fifth, sixth, and seventh floors are entertainment venues.
Collectively known as Zhongyuan Amusement Park, it just opened recently.
"Mr. Zhou, please take a seat quickly!" Theater manager Lin Binlai greeted Zhou Hexuan diligently.
Zhou Hexuan walked to the front and sat down. The old guy next to him snorted coldly when he saw him. Judging from his appearance, he was probably an old man from the Qing Dynasty, and he didn't like Zhou Hexuan very much.
At the edge of the stage in the theater, the recording staff was already guarding the machine and preparing for the on-site recording of Peking Opera.
To be honest, the recording equipment in the 20s was very primitive. Coupled with the noisy theater environment, all kinds of noises were recorded, and the sound quality was severely distorted.
But there is no way. Zhou Hexuan can't pay for it and hire a theater troupe to record it separately. The cost is too high.
Not only did Zhou Hexuan not need to pay for the recording of this scene, Zhongyuan Entertainment Center actually subsidized it.
Just two days ago, Zhou Hexuan's China Radio Station broadcast two consecutive Peking Operas from Tianjin Quanyechang, and they were performed by Mei Lanfang. Although the sound quality was relatively poor, it won the praise of many listeners. After all, it was not anyone
I have time and money to go and listen to Mei Lanfang's opera.
Zhongyuan Amusement Park had just opened, and they regarded Tianjin Amusement Park as their biggest competitor, so they naturally would not miss the new radio station. They invested 200 yuan and asked Zhou Hexuan to broadcast their amusement park's games in the program for a week.
Not only that, Zhou Hexuan also had another request, that is, Zhongyuan Entertainment Center must invite Meng Xiaodong's troupe to sing eight plays every month.
The two sides hit it off immediately. Zhongyuan Entertainment Center needs famous actors like Meng Xiaodong to gain popularity, and Meng Xiaodong also needs large-scale theaters like Zhongyuan Entertainment Center to appear and make money.
The first performance was not Peking Opera, but magic.
Before the performance started, the old man next to Zhou Hexuan said angrily: "Are you that polite scumbag Zhou Hexuan?"
Zhou Hexuan was not angry but smiled and said: "Exactly, I wonder who you are, old man?"
The old man raised his hands to the north and replied: "I, Zheng Xiaoxu, is the contemporary emperor's master!"
Oh, it turned out to be Pu Yi's teacher, no wonder he spoke so rudely to Zhou Hexuan.
Zheng Xiaoxu was the emperor in the eighth year of Guangxu's reign. He served as Li Hongzhang's staff. After the Revolution of 1911, he regarded himself as an old man. In two months, this man would go to Japan to help Puyi plan restoration activities. Later, he served as the state affairs official of the puppet Manchuria.
Prime Minister.
However, Zheng Xiaoxu's prime minister only served for one year before he was ousted by the Japanese who withheld his salary. The reason was that the Japanese wanted to eliminate Puyi's party members and make it easier for them to control the puppet emperor.
As for why Zheng Xiaoxu appeared in the Zhongyuan amusement park today, you will know just by looking at the couplet on the gate of the amusement park. The couplet was written by Zheng Xiaoxu, and the content is: There is little turmoil, but much love between children, and the talent of the world is empty of the past; loyalty, filial piety, hard work,
Fame destroys one's nature, but sad songs are generous and have close friends.
On the surface, the couplet is written about the stage of drama, but secretly it is Zheng Xiaoxu's lament, saying that he is full of talents and has nowhere to use, and it is difficult to find someone who knows both loyalty and filial piety.
Zhou Hexuan didn't want to pay attention to this guy, but the other party refused and scolded: "Mr. Zhou, you are also a talented person, how can you encourage the emperor and the imperial concubine to divorce? Doing such a thing is against normal ethics!"
"Hey, you are throwing dirty water on me. Which of your eyes saw that I encouraged Concubine Dao to get a divorce?" Zhou Hexuan denied it.
Zheng Xiaoxu said angrily: "I am not stupid! When Concubine Shu got divorced, she published a statement in your Ta Kung Pao. After the divorce, Concubine Shu joined your Hope Education Foundation. How could it have nothing to do with you?"
"Even if I instigated it, what's going on?" Zhou Hexuan asked with a smile.
Zheng Xiaoxu stood up angrily, pointed at Zhou Hexuan and cursed: "He is shameless and a monster!"
The battle was so big that all the spectators in the back row looked at them, wondering what was going on.
Theater manager Lin Binlai hurriedly ran over to persuade: "Mr. Zheng and Mr. Zhou, both of you are distinguished guests and you have something to say."
"I am ashamed to sit next to such a polite scum. I take my leave!" Zheng Xiaoxu walked away with a puff of his sleeves.
Zhou Hexuan looked helpless. He had never offended this old man before.
The magic show on the stage finally started. According to the introduction, the performer was actually from North Korea.
There were two actors, a man and a woman. The woman was fat and tied tightly with a rope, and kept calling for help. The man showed off his power, pulled out a pistol, pointed it at the fat woman, and fired several shots, causing blood.
Flowers splash and blood flows.
Immediately afterwards, the staff put the fat woman's "corpse" into the wooden box. The male performer pulled out a long knife, pointed it at the "female corpse" and pierced it, and then fired several more shots, causing all kinds of blood to flow wildly.
"ah!"
Countless spectators screamed and couldn't bear to witness it, and the timid ones even fainted.
So realistic!
The male performer suddenly opened the lid of the wooden box and found it was empty. At this time, the "dead" fat woman also ran out from the backstage, alive and kicking without any wounds.
"Snap, snap, snap!"
The audience burst into warm applause.
After the magic show, there was a Peking Opera performance by Meng Xiaodong's troupe.
When Meng Xiaodong made his final appearance, the audience cheered all day long, almost breaking the ceiling.
The entire audience immediately shouted along, even the elderly people, and the fervent enthusiasm was simply frightening.
After the Peking Opera performance ended, Zhou Hexuan stood up and left, standing at the elevator entrance waiting for Meng Xiaodong to come out.
A moment later, Meng Xiaodong appeared with his younger brother Meng Keke, while other members of the troupe were still packing their things backstage.
"Brother-in-law, can you take me to Brother Zheng? I want to learn how to use a gun from him." Meng Keke said, raising his head.
Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "Okay, I can take you there. But whether Brother Zheng will teach you or not depends on his will."
Meng Xiaodong patted his younger brother on the head and said, "You can just practice flower guns. What are you doing practicing killing marksmanship?"
"I don't care. Anyway, Brother Zheng is very good at marksmanship, so I just want to learn from him." Meng Keke insisted.
Everyone was chatting and laughing as they took the elevator downstairs. When they passed a cleaning counter, Zhou Hexuan turned to Sun Yonghao and said, "Yonghao, aren't you coming to propose marriage? Buy some decent jewelry. If you don't have enough money, I'll lend it to you."
When Sun Yonghao asked about the price, he shook his head in shock: "It's too expensive, I can't afford it."
Zhou Hexuan chose a pair of bracelets, asked the clerk to wrap them up, and said with a smile, "I'll give them to my younger siblings."
"Well, I can't take it, it's too expensive." Sun Yonghao shook his head repeatedly.
Sun Yongzhen had already returned from visiting relatives in his hometown. He said, "Take it as a wedding gift from your husband."
Sun Yongzhen's idea was very simple. He asked his brother to give him gifts just to help Zhou Hexuan work hard, without worrying about the small amount of money.
Sun Yonghao happily put away the bracelet, but after walking a few steps, he heard gunshots and shouts coming from outside. He subconsciously protected Zhou Hexuan, while Sun Yongzhen also blocked Meng Xiaodong.
After waiting for a while, it finally became a little quiet ahead.
Zhou Hexuan and others walked over cautiously, only to see that all the containers over there were smashed, and several department store clerks were injured and fell to the ground. A group of Chinese police officers stood at the door and said arrogantly: "We wear these uniforms to represent Japan."
It belongs to the Emperor! I take your things because I think highly of you, and you still want me to give you money? Hey, you don’t know how to flatter me!" 8
