Returning to the county opera troupe in 77

In the last practice room of the troupe's compound, the students' wailing and howling could be heard by almost everyone in the compound.

Liu Dezhu was squatting by the pool, using a towel to wet the water and carefully wiping his pair of artificial leather shoes, commonly known as "poor man's beauty".

After wiping the dirt off the toes of his shoes, he didn't forget to use his sleeve to wipe the water stains off. He was so meticulous, even more attentive than when he washed his own face.

Chen Xiangdong, who was scrubbing the wooden props by the pool, joked, "Stop scrubbing, Master. Your shoes are so shiny they're reflecting light, brighter than a mirror."

Graphic designer Guo Jufu chuckled, "Mr. Liu, you've polished your shoes so brightly, are you planning to go on a blind date?"

As he spoke, he turned his head and glanced towards the practice room: "Then you'd better sneak around, don't let Sister Meiyin see you, otherwise she'll get jealous and our troupe will be in trouble again."

"Get out! Get out! Get out!"

Liu Dezhu, focused on wiping his shiny leather shoes, didn't even lift his eyelids before cursing, "Always spouting nonsense. Even if I go on a blind date, it's all aboveboard. Why would I need to sneak around? So what if Lu Meiyin sees me? Do you think I'm afraid of a mere woman like her?"

Guo Jufu chuckled: "What? Who's Master Liu getting involved with this time?"

Liu Dezhu raised an eyebrow and started bragging again: "I'm not bragging, but with my looks and skills, I can pick any girl in the county town I want. It's just that none of them are my type. Otherwise, I could have a whole football team of kids by now."

After chatting for a while, Liu Dezhu, listening to the increasingly pitiful howls in the courtyard, gestured towards the training room with his lip: "Judging from this noise, that coward Qiao Haizhu is probably going to use brute force."

Guo Jufu nodded, a look of reminiscence on his face: "I guess he was practicing splits. In the opera industry, legwork is the most grueling skill. Before I learned to paint scenery, I also practiced basic skills with He Jianshe for a while. Oh, that was torture..."

Chen Xiangdong asked, "And then?"

Guo Jufu glanced at him, then patted the wet prop board: "Didn't you switch to graphic design later?"

Liu Dezhu draped the towel over his shoulder, patted his trouser legs, and stood up: "Alright, I'm not going to chat with you guys anymore. I need to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy a box of shoe polish so I can give my 'shiny leather shoes' a good polish and take good care of them."

After saying that, he picked up his leather shoes and went back to his dormitory.

"Brother Fu, there aren't many prop boards left. They're almost all used up. I'll go check the training room."

Chen Xiangdong squatted for a while, and his legs were a little numb. He stood up and kicked his legs a couple of times.

Guo Jufu smiled and said, "Okay, thanks to your help today, otherwise, I would have spent the whole morning cleaning these boards."

Chen Xiangdong waved his hand: "Don't be so polite, it was just a small favor."

After saying that, he shook the water off his hands and walked towards the practice room.

Although the doors and windows of the training room were closed, the screams of the trainees crying for their parents could still be heard from afar.

Chen Xiangdong crouched quietly by the back window, craning his neck to peer inside.

"Press down further! Your crotch needs to be on the ground for you to really open your hamstrings."

Qiao Haizhu was seen walking around among the students practicing the splits, holding a rattan cane. He wasn't really hitting them hard, but occasionally he would lightly tap someone's buttocks or poke someone's thigh, cursing, "So you think you're the only one with a perky butt? Who are you trying to scare by sticking your butt out like that!"

In the practice room, male and female students sat in pairs, facing each other, with their legs straight, toes touching, and bodies leaning forward.

"Keep your body close to your legs and press down hard!"

Learning to bend over backwards and do the splits is a very painful process. Out of forty students, only a few can grit their teeth and endure the pain without uttering a sound.

Wu Xiaolian was one of them. The girl's face turned bright red, and the veins on her forehead and neck bulged, but she didn't utter a sound. Li Zhangqing and Fu Xiaoyue could also endure it. It wasn't that they didn't feel pain, but that they could bear it. Even when tears welled up in their eyes from the pain, they clenched their teeth tightly and refused to cry out.

Han Nongyue cried the most, whimpering and her tears never dried. She kept wiping away her tears while trying to hold them back.

Besides these four girls, Lou Jingru and Guan Linlin, the girls on the other side, also cried non-stop, but managed to persevere.

On the boys' side, Song Linfeng and Xue Wei were taller than the others, and with longer legs, they felt more pain. Although they were grimacing and hissing in pain, neither of them made a sound.

As for the remaining trainees, they were a completely different story, howling like pigs being slaughtered. Especially Liu Guoqi, that coward, who was screaming in pain with his mouth agape:

"No, no, my legs are going to break!"

"Mom, my crotch is numb, boohoo... I don't want to practice anymore!"

Chen Xiangdong, looking out the window, couldn't help but shudder. "My God," he thought, "this is almost like a pig slaughterhouse."

He shrank back, about to leave, when he saw that Lou Jingru had somehow discovered him and was staring at him with wide eyes.

Both of them were clearly stunned for a moment, and then they saw Chen Xiangdong winking at her, his mouth shoving to one side like a donkey's tether.

Lou Jingru subconsciously turned her head and saw Qiao Haizhu carrying a rattan cane, walking briskly towards them.

"What, you want to try doing the splits too?"

"No, I won't practice!" Chen Xiangdong was so frightened that he quickly waved his hands like willow leaves.

"Then get the hell out of here!"

Chen Xiangdong shrank his neck, turned around and ran away.

"Watermelon rind!"

Qiao Haizhu cursed and went to inspect the other trainees with his hands behind his back.

Watching Chen Xiangdong flee in a disheveled state, Lou Jingru couldn't help but curl her lips into a smirk, inwardly cursing, "What an idiot..."

Chen Xiangdong hadn't run far when he bumped into Feng Zhengxiao, who was strolling leisurely in the yard. The two almost collided head-on.

Feng Zhengxiao glared at him, annoyed. "Did you steal someone's chicken? Why are you running so fast? Are there wolves chasing you?"

"Blackie?"

Chen Xiangdong chuckled sheepishly, "No, no, I was just watching the trainees practice when that coward Qiao Haizhu chased me away."

"Practicing martial arts?"

Feng Zhengxiao craned his neck and glanced towards the training room. Through the window, he saw the students being forced by Qiao Haizhu to press their legs down.

Then he shook his head, turned around, and looked Chen Xiangdong up and down meaningfully: "How old are you this year?"

Chen Xiangdong was taken aback by the question, and immediately replied, "Fourteen."

Feng Zhengxiao nodded, muttering to himself, "He's a bit too old... but he's not unteachable."

Chen Xiangdong didn't hear him clearly and asked, "What did you say, Blackie?"

"There are methods and techniques to practicing basic skills; practicing like this is far too slow to show results..."

Feng Zhengxiao seemed to have suddenly become a different person, showing him a kind and friendly smile, contrary to his usual behavior.

But that smile, in Chen Xiangdong's eyes, looked like that of a weasel about to steal a chicken: "Dongwazi, do you want to learn a quick way to do the splits?"

Chen Xiangdong subconsciously took half a step back: "What...do you mean?"

Feng Zhengxiao didn't answer, but his smile grew even brighter: "Look at you, so cowardly! What are you afraid of? Come on, let's go back to the theater."