Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 205 Creating Animals, A Song to Encourage Goodness
The long-awaited traditional Chinese robe has made its long-awaited appearance.

Many celebrities in the audience were momentarily stunned when they saw Chen Shouzhe, who was wearing a traditional Chinese robe, taking the stage.

The person in front of me recently went up to the Golden Globe Awards to accept an award, and now he's actually walking on the stage of a crosstalk performance.

It is precisely because he still identifies himself as a crosstalk performer that those who want to criticize him have found a way to attack him.

In their eyes, crosstalk performers are still considered low-class, no matter what era it is now; they only want to say things that are useful to them.

It's like a woman telling you she's very traditional, and then you ask her if she's a virgin.
She would tell you that it was feudal dross.

Their parents worked so hard to give them a civilized life, yet they want to be reborn as pigs, believing that everyone who goes back can become a nobleman or the protagonist of the era.

Chen Shouzhe didn't care what others said about him. He had studied crosstalk for more than ten years, and he couldn't forget that he was a person just because he was making movies.

During the opening chorus, Chen Shouzhe didn't go up to sing, but Lao Guo sang backstage. Zhang Yunlei also miraculously survived and is now able to go on stage. After calculating that it had been four months, Shaobing wiped away tears while supporting him, marveling at how he had survived.

After the opening song ended, the actors left the stage, and Zhang Yunlei was slowly helped down.

When they arrived backstage, there was a huge crowd. Hou Zhen went on stage to introduce the program, and Zhang Helun started the show.

"You've survived, but how come you've become handsome?" Chen Shouzhe said to Zhang Yunlei with a smile.

"Brother, please stop laughing at me," Zhang Yunlei said, sitting in his wheelchair.

"Then you must live well. It would be great if you could survive this ordeal!"

Chen Shouzhe had visited him before, and the fact that he was able to stand up after several surgeries was a miracle in medical history.

Someone fell to their death while changing a light bulb on a bench, but he survived a fall from a platform more than ten meters high. Even the doctor said he was incredibly lucky.

While performing on stage, people kept coming up to greet them backstage. Deyun Society is growing bigger and bigger, and its influence is getting better and better. As for the level of crosstalk, it is also keeping up with the times and integrating with the times instead of remaining unchanged.

In Guo Degang's words, it's like putting old wine in new bottles; all you need to do is change the timeline behind it, but it's still basically the same old jokes.

After the previous couples finished performing, and after Guo Qilin and Yan Hexiang finished, Hou Zhen went on stage to announce the next act.

"Next, please enjoy the storytelling performance, 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio,' by Chen Shouzhe."

"it is good!!!"

Chen Shouzhe slowly walked onto the stage wearing a long gown. Seeing Chen Shouzhe's clean and neat appearance, many celebrities in the audience felt a little uncomfortable, feeling that Chen Shouzhe only dressed up a few times a year, and the rest of the time he was very sloppy.

"The most difficult and mysterious thing is the elixir of immortality. Do not take it lightly. Without encountering a wise man to impart the secret, empty words will only leave your mouth weary and your tongue dry."

It's still the opening poem from Journey to the West. I'm very happy to be standing on this stage. It's been a long time since I've performed crosstalk, and of course, I don't dare to anymore. There are just too many people criticizing me. I'm just a widow without a partner, what can I do? Today, I'm bringing you another story from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. Everyone knows Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. Painted Skin and A Chinese Ghost Story both come from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. A Chinese Ghost Story's original name was Nie Xiaoqian.

Today's story isn't about those two. The stories in *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio* are quite short, though there are hundreds of stories, and several volumes have already been published. Today's story is called "Creating Animals." "Creating" is the "making" part, and "animal" is the "animal." The story goes that in Yangzhou there was a family…

The story of the creation of animals is very short; it simply says that someone used witchcraft to turn a person into an animal, and then sold them.

However, Chen Shou embellished the story, saying that there was a family with five children, but none of them supported their mother, causing her to starve to death. Before her death, the mother, filled with resentment, begged a sorcerer who knew witchcraft. The sorcerer, lamenting the coldness of the world, performed a ritual that transformed her five children into beasts. Because they were worse than beasts, they were eventually captured by the family's wicked and selfish wife who wanted to eat meat.

The story is terrifying, but its content teaches people to prioritize filial piety, to be decent human beings, and to care for their parents in their old age and see them off in their final days.

"Snapped!"

I snapped a quick photo, and the short story, less than thirty minutes long, was finished. In the end, it didn't say what happened to the five beasts, but when they fell into the hands of their wives, some were greedy for food and wouldn't give their mothers-in-law any; some were greedy for clothes and wouldn't give their mothers-in-law any; some were greedy for money and stole their mothers-in-law's money; some wanted meat and only gave their mothers-in-law vegetables; and some were greedy for land and seized their mothers-in-law's land.

The glutton got a chicken, and the chicken was delicious. The one who wanted clothes got a sheep, and the wool and sheepskin could be made into clothes. The one who wanted money got a pig, and the pig could be sold for money. The one who wanted to eat meat also got a pig, and especially liked to eat cured meat. The one who wanted land got a cow, and spent his whole life plowing the land.

"The story is just a story, for everyone's amusement. The story is meant to encourage everyone to be filial. If you treat your parents the way you treat them today, it might happen to you in the future. Thank you."

Chen bowed and stepped off the stage, receiving a round of applause from the audience. His time was limited, and keeping it within thirty minutes was just right.

Next, Yue Yunpeng and Sun Yue went on stage, followed by Gao and Luan, and finally Guo Yu.

It was past midnight when the closing performance ended, and those who were still backstage came up for a final encore.

"Come, come, our biggest unofficial member, Chen Shouzhe. Although he's not my disciple, he's my godson, and he's a Golden Globe Award-winning director," Old Guo said proudly.

Yu Qian was also laughing on the side. Because it was his apprentice, the other crosstalk performers could only envy him. Who wouldn't want to have such an apprentice?

"These years have been tough for my son. He's come through thick and thin. Although I've made a lot of bad movies, my son can make films and has helped me make a lot of money through investments. Do you have any projects for next year?" Lao Guo said with a smile.

"Yes, there is a movie going to be released on the first day of the Lunar New Year."

"That's right, it's the movie 'Hello Mr. Billionaire' on the first day of the Lunar New Year, starring Shen Teng and Ma Li. I asked him if I wanted to make a cameo appearance, but he refused."

The audience burst into laughter. As Guo Degang said earlier, a movie with him in it is bound to be a bad movie.

"You're too busy, you're on a world tour," Chen Shou said with a smile.

"Oh, I see. Next time you find a suitable role, remember me. I'd love to make a good movie and win a Golden Globe for Best Actor, or even an Oscar..."

"I will try my best."

"Isn't Teacher Yu going to say something?"

"You've told me what I meant."

The elderly couple's every word on stage was hilarious; they were truly skilled actors.

"Can you still sing now? It's almost over, can you perform a song for everyone?" Lao Guo asked Chen Shou.

"I'm a bit lacking now, let's bring a few more along. We just had a rehearsal backstage," Chen Shou said to the people behind him. Zhang Helun, Yue Yunpeng, Meng Hetang, Yan Yunda and the others came up.

"My fellow disciples and I rehearsed a bit, and we're going to present you with this song of encouragement to do good."

(End of this chapter)