The birth of an actor

Chapter 20 Generation
Amidst the sputtering of the motorcycle, An Xin looked at Fan Bing's embarrassed expression and shook her head helplessly.

"Aren't you being stubborn? Didn't you take the bus yourself?"

"……hey-hey."

Fan Bing gave a dry laugh and quickly stepped onto the back seat of the motorcycle.

To be honest, it's quite hot. But thankfully I'm wearing jeans today, so my butt isn't burning hot.

Then she skillfully pinched Anxin's waist and urged:

"Hurry, hurry, I'm starving!"

"...Does that mean I can drive fast now?"

"Ah! No!... Slow down, slow down."

His words startled the girl so much that she immediately wrapped her arms around his lower back.

They even forgot the awkwardness between men and women, giving off a sense of fear rekindling.

An Xin could naturally sense the change in her, and dared not say anything more, so she said directly:

"Then I'll ride slowly, don't hold me too tightly, I'm afraid you'll take advantage of me."

The girl was stunned for a moment, then speechlessly pinched his waist:
"How can you be such a scoundrel!"

"Hiss~It hurts~"

"Humph."

Fan Bing then let him go, but still gave him a word of advice out of concern:
"I finally overcame my fear, so please don't scare me."

"know."

Anxin responded and led her toward Jishuitan Hospital.

In the middle of the day, on the back seat of a motorcycle, the girl squinted her eyes contentedly, enjoying the cool breeze, and lazily yawned.

"Is there any work this morning?"

"What did you say? Speak louder, I can't hear you."

"Hey! Do you have any work this morning?!"

"No!! A few people came to pick extras this morning, but they weren't looking for my type."

"I'm at home! I bought a few bottles of Beibingyang soda and half a watermelon!"

"Did you put it in the refrigerator?"

"Release them!"

"Hey hey hey..."

The thought of enjoying cool watermelon and soda soon brought a smile back to her face.

The ponytail danced in the air, tracing lines of joy.

And so, the motorcycle sputtered all the way back to her doorstep, and as soon as Fan Bing got off, she smelled that incomparable fragrance.

"Wow...it smells so good."

"Then eat more later."

After safely parking the motorcycle under the porch, he said:

"Go inside and cool off first. The watermelon and drinks are in the freezer. I'll go next door and call someone."

"Who are you calling for?"

"I just met an old man who lives next door. A close neighbor is worse than a distant relative, so I invited him to come over for a meal."

"Oh...you're quite enthusiastic."

As Fan Bing praised it, she walked over to the tin stove.

He didn't pay any attention to such things, but instead put his head close to the pot and smelled it before lifting the lid.

Call ~
A plume of white smoke billowed out.

"Cuckoo..."

Her stomach started growling uncontrollably.

This smells so good!

Can't stop.

I wish I could dip my head into a pot right now and rinse it in the broth, so my hair would be coated with the aroma.

As she thought about it, she put the pot lid on and went into the house, intending to help get the bowls and chopsticks. But when she entered the house, she found that the small table had already been set up, and bowls and chopsticks were already on it.

At that moment, she heard a sound coming from outside:
"Fan Bing, Fan Bing!"

"Hey, here we come."

She ran out quickly, only to find that there was no one in the yard at all.
Where are they?

"Hey neighbor, come get your stuff!"

"Oh, good!"

The girl quickly left the courtyard and walked to the half-open gate of the neighboring courtyard. As soon as she entered, she saw a grape trellis covered with green vines and two deck chairs under the trellis. On the other side of the courtyard, vegetables were planted. The courtyard had a somewhat antique feel, with a shadow under the porch and a birdcage hanging on a wooden frame.

Suddenly, the feeling of life hit you.

Just then, a reassuring voice came from the small kitchen next door:

"This is too much..."

"Hey, this is nothing! Three stir-fries and two stews make a pot, and I'm still one pot short. Five dishes, plus chicken stew with mushrooms, that's six. A mixed bag... are you sure you don't want some?"

She lifted the curtain at the sound and saw an old man with a receding hairline talking to Anxin.

On the table next to him were several plates, and the old man was facing a gas stove, whisking eggs in his hands.

“I don’t want to drink… Uncle Ye, this is my friend Fan Bing. Fan Bing, you can just call me Uncle Ye.”

"Hello, Uncle Ye."

"Yo?"

The old man's eyes lit up, and he looked the girl up and down before suddenly laughing:

Haha, you two are dating, right?

"..."

"..."

An Xin's lips twitched, while Fan Bing was speechless.

Her impression of this old man was that he was just an ordinary person, like... a normal junior and senior.

As a result of that one sentence, she felt that this old man... no, this old man was a bit improper.

Anxin really didn't expect this old man to be so cheeky.

Quickly waved his hands:

"No, no, there's nothing between us, we're just friends."

"……real?"

The old man was clearly somewhat skeptical, but he didn't take it to heart and instead smiled:

"Miss, please carry the plate. Young master, please get your own stool. I'll fry these eggs and then come over."

"Okay, let's take these over first."

An Xin responded and took two wooden stools from under the dining table, while Fan Bing carried a plate of braised pig's head and a plate of tomatoes with sugar from the table and led the way out.

After leaving the old man's house, Fan Bing asked speechlessly:
How did you two meet?

Anxin explained the general situation, and she was even more speechless:
"Let's not even talk about whether we're dating or not. Shouldn't the older generation be against early relationships? ...Hey? How old is he?"

"do not know."

Anxin smiled and shook her head, then put the stool in her room and gestured with her lip:

"You go get it, I'll scoop out the chicks. Oh, right, here."

He lifted the lid of the electric cooker, and Fan Bing immediately saw that it contained a pot of yesterday's chicken soup, and her face lit up with a smile.

"Then I'm going to have a big meal today!"

"Go ahead and eat, there's rice in the rice cooker."

"Ah."

A moment later, just as he finished serving the chicken, the old man and she came in with their plates.

"Wow, it's better when you get closer; the flavor is even more intense when you're closer."

"Then please eat more later."

"Ha, definitely."

"Come in, come in quickly."

Anxin invited the two people into the house.

On the dinner table, apart from the pot of chicken, the remaining five dishes were all prepared by the old man himself. Fried peanuts, scrambled eggs, persimmons with white sugar, pig's head meat, and the last one... looked like home-style tofu.

"Sir, could you tell me which cup to use? I've already rinsed them all."

Anxin pointed to several glasses of different sizes on the desk; these were all found in the room.

"Alright. Miss Fan..."

"You can just call me Bingbing." "Haha, okay, Bingbing, do you want some?"

"I can not drink."

As soon as Fan Bing finished speaking, An Xin shook her head:

"Uncle Ye, she's only fifteen this year."

"..."

For the first time, the old man looked at the girl with a fixed gaze.

He looked at it and laughed:

"I was wondering why you didn't seem to have fully blossomed. Wait two more years, and wow, I doubt anyone in the whole country will be as pretty as you."

"Huh?...Hehehe."

In an instant, the girl's original impression of him as "an old rascal" changed to "this old man is really kind".

The transition was so natural.

As the old man walked to the table and was choosing a cup, he also noticed the stack of scripts on the table.

When he saw the title "Teahouse," he paused, a hint of bewilderment flashing in his eyes.

Old Chun-ge...

"Uncle Ye?"

The old man snapped out of his daze, turned his head, glanced at the two children in front of him, and casually picked up a glass.

That lingering sentiment vanished without a trace.

……

Ok?
hiss.

Not right.

Nine out of ten something is wrong.

After putting down his chopsticks, the old man picked up a chicken bone he had just finished sucking on and examined it.

"Master."

"what?"

"What...what exactly is this thing?"

An Xin was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said:

"Chicken."

"Stop it."

The old man rolled his eyes:
"Uncle, I've eaten at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, chickens in my life. Qingyuan chicken from Guangdong, Huizhou bearded chicken, Wenchang chicken from Hainan, Sanhuang chicken from Guangxi, Yanjing oil chicken, Shouguang chicken from Shandong, Gushi chicken from Henan, Wuding chicken, Yaying chicken... I've tasted every kind you've ever heard of or eaten, and even those you haven't. This... is definitely not chicken. Chicken doesn't taste like this... It tastes a bit like pigeon, doesn't it? Pigeons aren't this big..."

"..."

Anxin's lips twitched.

To be honest, judging from the chicken breeds he mentioned, he only knew about Qingyuan chicken, Wenchang chicken, and Sanhuang chicken. He had never heard of any other chicken breeds.

Is this old man really that picky?

Fan Bing, who was enjoying gnawing on a chicken bone, didn't think much of it and blurted out:
Anxin said that these were free-range chickens from the mountains in his hometown.

"...?"

The old man was stunned again.

He subconsciously glanced at Anxin beside him.

First look, then glance, and then... as if realizing something, his eyes suddenly widened.

Anxin quickly waved her hand:

"It's a free-range chicken, one that roams the mountains..."

"..."

The old man was stunned again.

Now he truly understood, and his eyes widened even more.

Fan Bing looked bewildered.

Anxin quickly shook her head:
"It's just a free-range chicken. Sir, come on, let me offer you a toast."

"..."

Looking at the drink cup handed to him, the old man blinked, then suddenly chuckled:
"Haha~"

Clink~ The two glasses met, and after downing a sip of wine, he unconsciously sighed:
"Hey, I should have invited Wang Shixiang today too. No wonder this tasted so familiar... Oh dear, the last time I had this was before the founding of the People's Republic of China. Tsk tsk~"

For some inexplicable reason, with this feeling in his heart, he placed his cup on the table, clapped his hands together, and a perfectly timed lyric spontaneously came to mind:

"Ahem! Today, let's drink to celebrate our victory! Our ambitions remain unfulfilled, we swear we won't rest! There's plenty of time to show our skills! We'll gladly shed our blood to write our own history! Oh oh... Oh oh..."

"..."

"..."

The sudden noise that floated up in the room attracted An Xin and Fan Bing's attention.

Let alone men, even Fan Bingbing thought this old man's voice was really loud when she heard these few lines of singing.

I couldn't help but ask:
"Sir, are you a Peking Opera actor?"

"Hmm... Haha."

The old man chuckled and asked the girl in return:
Do you listen to Peking Opera?

"I don't want to listen... I feel like I can't understand it."

"Then I won't tell you. Just know one thing: you know, among Peking Opera actors, the older generation has to call me brother. The younger generation, on the other hand, has to call me ancestor."

The old man didn't look proud when he said this; instead, he smiled and said it as if it were just a trivial matter.

But upon hearing this, Fan Bing instinctively blurted out:
"And what about Mei Lanfang? You... know Mei Lanfang?"

"I asked him to call me Third Brother. But if we were to really talk about who should call me, I should call him Third Uncle."

"Oh? How old are you this year... no, how old are you?"

"I was born in 21. You can figure out how old I am~"

As soon as these words were spoken, Fan Bing was still calculating, but An Xin realized what was going on.

This old man... no, this old man is seventy-five years old this year?
A look of surprise appeared in his eyes.

Does it look like it?

It doesn't resemble it at all.

From the way he walks to the energy and spirit he exudes... this old man really doesn't look like someone who's almost eighty.

Especially those expressive eyes; you could easily mistake him for someone in his early sixties.

After Fan Bing finally figured out the math, her eyes widened in surprise:

"Seventy-five?"

"Haha, doesn't it look like it?"

"No, not at all. You look to be in your early sixties at most... you look remarkably young."

"Hahaha~"

The old man was even happier.

He picked up his glass, took a satisfied sip, and looked at An Xin:

"I see acting books and scripts on your desk, young master. Do you want to be an actor?"

An Xin was taken aback, then smiled and shook her head slightly:

"I wouldn't say whether I wanted to or not, but I thought this industry was quite interesting. So I wanted to give it a try... Here, this is my teacher, a professional actor."

"Oh?"

The old man's gaze then fell on the girl who looked as if she had seen a master.

He glanced at Fan Bing, then at An Xin, and smiled:
"Ha, so I'm sitting at the same table as two future superstars?"

"Hey hey hey hey..."

Fan Bing burst out laughing instantly.

Clearly, she liked hearing that.

He even had a somewhat goofy laugh.

Her smile made the old man even happier.

He picked up his chopsticks and pointed to the plate of tofu on the table:

"Don't just eat meat, try this tofu. Let me tell you, this is fermented rice wine sauce from Wang Shixiang's house. Try it, when it comes to making this fermented rice wine tofu, I'm the best in all of Beijing!"

As he spoke, he picked up a piece of tofu and put it in his mouth.

He smacked his hands twice, then turned and reached for the bowl of free-range chicken with his chopsticks.

Hi.

With this mushroom stewed with grouse, who would eat tofu?
(End of this chapter)