Entertainment: The Path to Best Actor for Talented Actors

Shenyang Road was my country's first antique market, but it has declined in popularity, with most of the merchants moving to the vicinity of the Drum Tower in Tianjin.

They came to Gulou today.

"Wow, there are so many people! It's almost like a year-end market!" he muttered unconsciously.

"It's Thursday, and this area is full of street vendors!"

"Wednesday evenings on Puji River, Thursdays at Gulou and Tianjie, Fridays at Yangliuqing, and other times on Baoji Road, all have scheduled times."

Zeng Lai fluently recited a series of rules governing the street vending in this area.

Zhang Ze carried his son, with Zeng Lai beside him, and the family of three walked inside.

Two assistants followed behind, carrying their bags and pushing the stroller.

Both of them were wearing masks and were not recognized by the people around them.

"There used to be some good stuff in Shenyang Road, but now this market has almost become a secondhand market!" Zeng Lai said as he walked beside him.

"These things don't look very old! They must be from after the liberation!"

"Yes, most of them are secondhand goods, and there are also many counterfeit handicrafts."

The two walked inside while talking.

This is a large square, and next to it is the antique-style Drum Tower.

The square was filled with thousands of stalls, arranged in several rows, which was quite a sight.

Further along, another street was lined with stalls, and the street was bustling with people.

Further ahead, there are stalls selling used books, jade, and antiques.

What amused Zhang Ze was that there were even stalls selling water bottles and shoes.

These street stalls are incredibly diverse, selling everything imaginable.

As he walked, Zhang Ze saw a small stall selling folding fans.

He became interested. He didn't know much about other antiques and porcelain, but he figured he could at least buy a fan to play with.

Seeing Zhang Ze standing in front of the stall, Zeng Lai also stopped.

All I saw at the stall in front of me was a small table with a row of wooden boxes on it, each compartment holding a neatly arranged folding fan.

"Which one do you like? Shall I take it out for you to see?"

The stall owner was a middle-aged man in his forties.

"Let me take a look at this one!" Zhang Ze said, pointing to a folding fan with a perforated surface.

"Sir, you have a good eye. This is the same model as the famous fan made by Mr. Liu Yu of Sangengyuan, a master of the Northern School of Fan Making."

Zhang Ze held the fan in his hand; the tactile feel was quite nice, and the weight was comfortable.

"Is this wood Phoebe zhennan?" he asked Zeng Lai, turning his head.

He's not as knowledgeable about antiques as his wife.

Zeng Lai squinted his slightly nearsighted eyes, took a look, nodded, and said, "This is agarwood made of Phoebe zhennan, and the fan ribs inside are made of old chicken wing wood!"

"This lady is a discerning person; what she said is absolutely right!" the other person praised Zeng Lai in a Tianjin accent.

Tianjin truly lives up to its reputation as the "City of Humor"; even a fan seller can speak like a comedian.

"How much is this?" Zhang Ze asked.

"2000, feel free to take it if you like!"

"2000? You're kidding me! I'll sell it for 100 or not!" Zhang Ze glared at him.

"Are you kidding me? This is an intangible cultural heritage piece, worth at least 1900."

"Haha, I'm not kidding anymore! How about 1300 for the deal? If not, I'm leaving! This is just a replica; the wood is the only thing worth anything!"

Zhang Ze smiled and opened the folding fan, fanning himself in front of him.

"Young man, could you add a little more for the labor cost? This traditional craft is not easy to come by. A young man entrusted me to buy it for him."

The middle-aged man spoke quite sincerely.

Zhang Ze considered for a moment, then said, "Since you put it that way, let's go with 1500!"

"Alright, I'll pack it up for you right away! You seem like a very generous person!"

"No need to pretend, I'll take it!" Zhang Ze said with a smile after transferring the money to the other party.

Leaving the stall, Zeng Lai picked up the folding fan book and looked at it; he quite liked it.

"I didn't realize you had such poor taste! This fan is quite beautiful."

"Haha, I only care about appearances, I don't know anything else! Let's indulge in a bit of culture for once, it'll be nice to fan ourselves when we go to listen to the crosstalk later."

The two walked forward, stopping to take a look at anything they liked.

Soon Zeng Lai saw something he liked.

This is a tea strainer made from a gourd, split in half, much like the water ladle from my childhood home.

A hole was cut in the middle and a filter was inserted.

"This is quite interesting. You can use it to filter tea when you drink it. It has an antique style and matches my Yixing teapot quite well." She looked at it with shining eyes.

"Boss, how much is this?"

After some haggling, I finally got it for 20 yuan.

Soon the two arrived at the place that sells valuable timber.

There were many precious pieces of wood on the ground, and next to them were piles of old furniture parts, such as table legs and door frames.

"The boss can choose whatever wood he likes, and we can make bracelets on the spot!"

This is the timber section, and there are dozens of shops around here selling precious woods.

Zeng Lai knew more about wood than Zhang Ze.

She can easily tell what kind of wood is placed on it.

Zeng Lai held up a square piece of wood about the size of a table leg and asked, "Boss, do you have any large pieces of small-leaf sandalwood?"

"This part of the woman's breasts is quite large; even this small part costs over 3 yuan!"

"I want it thicker!"

Upon hearing this, the boss carried up a round log, about the size of a bowl and only about twenty centimeters tall, from a hidden spot.

"Beautiful lady, are you satisfied with this piece of material?" the shopkeeper asked with a smile.

Zeng Lai took the wood in his hand and smelled it.

"Boss, lend me your lighter!" Zeng Lai said calmly.

"This beautiful lady looks like an expert! Here you go!"

Zeng Lai took the lighter, heated the outside of the wood, and smelled it.

"Boss, where did you get this material? Something doesn't feel right!"

"You got it from an old man in the countryside, something feels off about it?"

The boss asked with some confusion.

The wood collecting is different from antique porcelain collecting; the wood used is real and authentic.

Unlike antiques, where if you spot a fake, you can't just say you don't know how to tell.

The wood is either real or fake.

"Take another closer look! I think the smell is off; it has a plastic smell! You might have bought compressed material." Zeng Lai clapped his hands to give the boss a hint.

Upon hearing this, several other colleagues gathered around.

Upon hearing this, several other colleagues gathered around.

"Brother Niu, can you take a look at this piece of material?" the boss said to a man in his fifties standing next to him.

The other party took it, carefully examined the pattern, smelled it, and scraped the surface a few times with a blade.

Some sawdust fell off, and after burning the sawdust with a lighter, the other party confirmed that the wood was indeed not rosewood.

"This is compressed blood sandalwood! Third brother, you misjudged it this time!"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding business owners all looked at Zeng Lai in surprise.

"I never expected this beautiful woman to know so much about wood! Even we seasoned wood enthusiasts were fooled!"

"This girl is really amazing!"

The bosses all gave Zeng Lai a thumbs up.

Zeng Lai chuckled and said, "I only figured it out by sheer luck; you professionals can't compare."

Zhang Ze stood aside and watched his wife's actions, which allowed her to distinguish the authenticity of the wood, and he felt quite impressed.

He felt incredibly proud when he heard these professional bosses praising Zeng Lai.

"Hey, this is my wife!"

After this little incident, the bosses looked at Zeng Lai with new respect.

They all brought out their treasured best materials and let her choose.

Zeng Lai picked out one piece of golden nanmu and one piece of small-leaf sandalwood and had the shopkeeper turn them into beads.

Zhang Ze selected a large piece of small-leaf sandalwood, intending to take it home and give it to his father so that he could carve it into an ornament for their home.

Zhang Ze's father is a carpenter who knows some wood carving.

If others knew that he spent over 20 yuan to buy such a large piece of rosewood, and then handed it over to a rural carpenter to carve, they would definitely exclaim that it was a waste of a precious resource.

He didn't feel the slightest bit sorry for himself; that's what it means to be rich and willful.

The two waited for more than 20 minutes at the timber stall, but the owners still hadn't finished turning the beads.

Zeng Lai walked over and sat down next to a flower bed.

"Ouch, I need to rest for a bit. My legs are sore from standing for so long."

She sat there cross-legged, gently massaging her calves with her hands.

Today, Zeng Lai wore a dress that just went past her knees. She wasn't wearing stockings, and her smooth, fair legs were long and slender. The rhinestone-studded stilettos she wore looked very beautiful on her feet.

She sat there rubbing her calves with graceful movements, attracting the attention of many people around her.

Perhaps feeling tired, she stretched her arms out to the sky and yawned, her slender waist captivating and mesmerizing.

About twenty minutes later, the two strings of beads were strung together.

Zeng Lai took it and handed it to Zhang Ze.

He took it and examined it. It was jet black and glossy with gold threads on it, and it felt heavy in his hand. He praised it.

"The material for this instrument is excellent; the quality is very good!"

"Of course, look who chose the material," Zeng Lai said with some pride.

After strolling around the market for a while, the family found a restaurant.

Zhang Zheli, that little guy, is already asleep.

They put him in a handcart and pushed him around.

At this time, Deyun Club has not yet opened a branch in Tianjin; they are just touring here.

As for why Zhang Ze didn't listen to the performance at the Deyun Society theater in Beijing, but instead traveled all the way to Tianjin, that's a different story.

It's because the audience in Tianjin is so professional that the crosstalk performers will definitely give it their all.

There's a saying that goes something like this: in other places, crosstalk performers call it a performance, but in Tianjin, it's called a work report.

A joke circulating online that seems like a joke is actually based on a true story.

The story goes that there was a young crosstalk comedian who fluently recited the menu on stage.

After he finally finished speaking, covered in sweat,

An elderly man sitting in the audience remarked, "They forgot to announce two dishes!"

Do you think the actor must have suffered a lot of psychological trauma back then?

At 6 p.m., the group went through security and entered the People's Gymnasium.

They bought the front-row VIP tickets.

After finding the location, I discovered it was right below the stage.

Zhang Zheli is staying with her mother right now, and she's not making a fuss at all; she's very well-behaved.

Two large, bright eyes scanned the surrounding crowd.

Soon, someone came up to warm up the crowd. Zhang Ze glanced at them and recognized one of them as Yang Jiulang.

In the past two years, he has become close to Yu Qian, and he can recognize some of the famous young crosstalk performers in Deyun Society.

Soon the official performance began, starting with Deyun Club's very distinctive opening act – the "Door Willow".

To the accompaniment of distinctive classical music, the three of them emerged from behind the scenes as a group.

After bowing deeply to the audience, they stood on either side of the stage and waited.

Next up is another group!

Soon everyone went on stage, and amidst applause, Guo Degang and Yu Qian came out last, smiling and greeting the audience.

The audience erupted in cheers, demonstrating the immense popularity of the two.

Guo Degang began by saying, "Thank you to our providers; there are quite a few people here today!"

Yu Qian chimed in with a flattering "Yes."

The master and his apprentices sang a song called "The West Chamber" together.

"Listen to a little tune and tell the story slowly."

Describe the appearance of love in that part of The Romance of the Western Chamber.

Young Master Zhang Sheng and Miss Cui Yingying

They finally became a couple; though the letter is short, their love is deep.

Guo Degang's voice is really beautiful, and his singing has a unique charm.

That voice is a gift from God!

The door-to-door performance ended quickly, and the formal performance began.

The first program is called the opening act, and it is usually arranged for someone who is not very popular but still has some fame and ability to take on this important role.

The host, Hou Zhen, announced into the microphone, "Next, please enjoy the crosstalk performance 'Old Man's Wedding'."

Performers: Zhang Helun and Lang Heyan

Soon, two people came up from backstage. One walked with a slightly awkward gait and had a smug expression on his face. The other was a bald man who wasn't very tall.

The two hosts handled the situation quite well and were very stable. They first interacted with the audience to make them feel involved.

I don't know which lady was down there, but she yelled at the top of her lungs, "Zhang Helun, I want to have your baby!"

Soon another man joined in with a shout.

Zhang Helun was startled. "Brother, are you telling the truth?"

Why don't you two just become a couple?

His words amused the audience.

Someone in the audience shouted, "Lang Heyan, I like you!"

"What? You like him!"

Zhang Helun pointed at Lang Heyan with a sympathetic expression on his face.

"Has something happened at home?"

The audience erupted in laughter.

A dozen minutes later, the two had completely warmed up the crowd, and the performance ended.

After the two, two more people came on stage, Zhang Yunlei and Yang Jiulang, and their appearance immediately excited many female fans.

Zhang Ze had only ever seen that kind of fervor in idol actors.

During a break in his crosstalk performance, Zhang Yunlei sang a section of "Exploring the Clear River," and his voice was indeed very pure.

"The tip of the peach leaf is sharp"

The willow leaves covered the sky

This Ming Agong in that position…”

Listening to the little tune, Zhang Ze couldn't help but sing along softly.

He was holding a folding fan and fanning himself, looking quite content.

After the two performers left the stage, Hou Zhen came up with a microphone to announce the program:

"Next, please enjoy the crosstalk performance, 'You from the Hospital Ward.' Performed by Yue Yunpeng and Sun Yue!"

After Hou Zhen finished announcing the start of the show, Yue Yunpeng and Sun Yue walked up from backstage with big smiles.

"Whoa!!!!"

"Little Yueyue, I like you!!"

"Ah~ the Fifth Ring Road~"

"Xiao Yueyue hasn't performed much lately."

"He went out to film a variety show!"

The audience below the stage was very enthusiastic, with various discussions and shouts.