Chapter 125 - Farewell My Concubine
"Good lord! You really think you're somebody! Want to give me a good beating?! I'll make you cry any day!"
Yuan Ge took out a Blu-ray disc from the built-in disc rack, pull down the 150-inch curved, acoustically transparent screen and projected the film onto it with a 4k HD projector. The lights in the room gradually dimmed. Nearly 1,000 small-diameter spotlights on the black ceiling make this luxurious private cinema feel like it's in the middle of the night, and you can even feel the twinkling stars.
Rong Qiuchen watched the light and shadow flicker on the screen as the two Peking Opera actors appeared.
Yuan Ge asked the little robot to bring all kinds of snacks and drinks. When he saw Qiuchen staring intently at the screen like a silly boy, he tore open a large bag of crisps and handed it to him, "Little Potato, have you ever tried crisps? Come on, have some while you watch. It's a long film."
So, with the clanging of gongs and drums and the high, shrill, penetrating sound of the Peking Opera instruments, the film started.
When Rong Qiuchen heard the sound of the instruments he was so familiar with, he instinctively looked around the room, but could not find the place the instruments were making their sounds.
"Apart from the horn speakers, I've made them all to be built-in, taking into account the acoustic lens principle. Where you're sitting is the emperor's seat, the best acoustic position in the room."
Rong Qiuchen did not fully understand the technical things that Yuan Ge said, but he was completely moved by the film he chose. Seeing the story of a group of children growing up in an opera troupe and the price they pay to become actors was so familiar, so close to heart and so empathetic that he could not help but tear up.
Although Yuan Ge said he wanted to make him cry, when he actually saw the crystal teardrops on Qiuchen's cheeks, he felt indescribable compassion. Sitting beside him, he said softly, "Have you not heard of this film? It's a masterpiece in Chinese film history."
"Farewell My Concubine..."
Qiuchen recited the title of the film softly, as if he was muttering to himself.
"When I was an apprentice, the training was even more painful than shown in this movie. The strictness of the two masters of the Jinyu Troupe was second to none in the capital. The Seven Golden Flowers on stage had all the fame and glory, but who had ever heard of those brothers who didn't make it through the rigorous training..."
Rong Qiu Chen couldn't help but comment softly as he watched the story unfold. When he saw the banner behind Dieyi, "Absolute Beauty", who had finally become a famous actor, he said wistfully, "How similar to when I was awarded the Flower of the Opera Stage..."
"Ah, you're going into a delusion again. Well, I'm really curious though. I wonder who was more famous, Rong Qing of his time or Dieyi in the movie?"
"I had more ostentation and extravagance than he had."
"Yes, yes, you had a bigger swagger, 'cause Empress Dowager Cixi was sitting down there watching, right? I say, my little loony Chenchen, you are good at everything, but you're as thick-skinned as a city wall. With such a handsome face, saying such shameless things, don't you think it's very incongruous?"
"I have never told lies to you. Gege asked me many times, yet disbelieved me each time. I do not know how to prove myself."
Yuan Ge paused the film, turned to him and asked seriously, "What do you want me to believe? Believe that you are the famous Qing Dynasty actor Rong Qiuchen? Then let me ask you - are you a ghost who has lived in the world for more than 160 years, or are you a phantom who came out of my dream? How about waiting for me to get a blood pressure monitor and test whether your blood pressure and heartbeat are normal?"
"Don't!"
Rong Qiuchen cried out in horror, looking indescribably aggrieved.. Tears trembled in his eyes and the corners of his mouth were pursed, but in the end, he could not find the right words and hung his head without saying a word.