Returning to the county opera troupe in 77

Before dawn, Chen Xiangdong's dormitory door was knocked on by Niu Laohei from the production crew.

"Dongwa, are you up yet? Help me load the cart."

Chen Xiangdong rubbed his eyelids and opened the door, only to see Niu Laohei peeking into the house and clicking his tongue, saying, "If I hadn't gone to the countryside today, I wouldn't have known you moved into the new dormitory. And let me tell you, this newly painted house is really bright."

"Oh, I just moved in yesterday too." Chen Xiangdong yawned. "Are you leaving already?"

After waking Chen Xiangdong, Niu Laohei looked a little embarrassed and said with a smile, "The troupe hasn't recruited a new temporary stagehand yet. Once someone takes over, we won't need your help anymore."

Chen Xiangdong turned around, closed and locked the door, and waved to him: "It's okay. Anyway, the troupe hasn't assigned me any new work. I'm just free now. If the production crew has any work and they're too busy, just call me."

The two chatted and laughed until they reached the front yard. The props and sets had been bundled up and packed up by the production crew the night before, and were just piled up in the open at the base of the yard wall.

Before the tractor arrived, Chen Xiangdong took advantage of the lull in work to help Fatty Qin and Li Qiufen carry the stove and cooking utensils out of the kitchen.

It wasn't until six o'clock that the tractor finally chugged into the courtyard. A group of people hurriedly loaded things onto the tractor, and it took another half hour to get everything sorted out.

Today was the first time the trainees had gone out for observation and learning. Both boys and girls had washed up early and excitedly gathered in the front yard, chattering away.

Lou Jingru fiddled with her ponytail: "Guan Linlin, can you check if the hair clip at the back of my head is crooked?"

"It's not crooked, it's fine."

Guan Linlin tilted her head and glanced around, then looked expectantly towards the gate: "What time is it? Why haven't we left yet?"

The other trainees were mostly the same; some kept tying their shoelaces tightly, afraid they would come undone halfway, while others tiptoed and kept looking at the sidecar of the tractor.

Han Nongyue tugged at the hem of her practice clothes again and again: "It's my first time going out with the troupe, I was so excited I didn't sleep a wink last night."

Li Zhangqing clenched his sweaty palms tightly, saying nothing, just smiling as he listened. In fact, he didn't hear a word; his mind was entirely on the tractor, afraid that if he was too slow, he wouldn't be able to squeeze onto it.

He Jianshe stood with his hands behind his back, shouting, "When we get to Xiqiaopo, you all better be alert. Don't just look around like you've never seen the world before. You're just embarrassing our troupe."

This time, there were forty more trainees accompanying the group. Although they were all teenagers, they still took up a lot of space. Han Wenxue had already considered this, so five tractors came today.

Chen Xiangdong and Fatty Qin were sitting in the truck carrying props and cooking utensils. Han Wenxue counted the number of people and was about to leave when Zhu Zhengwei came running from the backyard, buttoning his clothes and carrying a neatly tied set of brand-new bedding: "Wait for me, I'm going to the countryside too."

Chen Xiangdong raised his hand to greet Zhu Zhengkuo: "Secretary Zhu, you're going too?"

Zhu Zheng climbed into the sidecar of the car in front, waved his hand and laughed, "How could I not come along for such a big event as our troupe's performance?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiangdong, Han Wenxue, and Qin Pangzi exchanged bewildered glances.

When performing in rural areas, Han Wenxue always leads the team, and Jia Dafang rarely participates unless there are important leaders involved, in which case he will lead the team.

It seems that Zhu Zhengkuo is planning to take a populist approach and go all the way down to the grassroots.

Xiqiaopo Commune is located at the westernmost part of Dongping County. Apart from the gravel road that was repaired just two years ago, the rest of the roads are all bumpy dirt roads. Five tractors bumped along like this until noon when they finally saw the old archway outside Xiqiaopo Commune.

Two people stood under the archway: an old man in a Zhongshan suit and a middle-aged man with a red armband that read "Militia Company Commander".

"Oh, Deputy Regiment Commander Han, you've finally arrived! We've been waiting here all morning."

The old man in the Zhongshan suit was Ma Kexue, the head of the Xiqiaopo Cultural Station. In the past, when the county troupe came to Xiqiaopo to perform, he was the one who represented the commune in charge of the reception.

Han Wenxue stretched his aching back, shook hands with Ma Kexue, and introduced him with a smile: "Today, our leader is Secretary Zhu."

Ma Kexue was taken aback when he saw Zhu Zhengguo standing next to Han Wenxue. He then stepped forward and shook hands with him, saying, "Hello, Secretary Zhu."

"Station Chief Ma, is it? Our troupe's trip to Xiqiaopo has caused you trouble." Zhu Zhengguo was quick-witted and always knew how to save face for others.

Ma Kexue waved his hand and laughed, "This is no trouble at all. We should thank you for coming to perform for the people of Xiqiaopo."

After exchanging a few compliments, Ma Kexue led the way on his bicycle, guiding the tractor into Xiqiaopo Primary School.

Tonight's performance stage is set up in the elementary school playground. The place is spacious enough that it can accommodate even half the people of the commune who come to watch the play.

A dozen or so classrooms were used as temporary accommodations. The desks and chairs from the elementary school classes were put together to make beds, which saved a lot of trouble.

While the leaders were busy boasting and chatting, the production crew was working feverishly. Although they no longer needed to set up a rest tent, the stage had to be set up as soon as possible.

Chen Xiangdong and Niu Laohei, along with the others, got out of the car and quickly started unloading. After a busy hour or so, they finally managed to erect the stage frame. Just as they were catching their breath, Qin Pangzi's voice came from afar:

"Dinner's ready! Dinner's ready!"

Fatty Qin pounded a large ladle against the edge of the pot, making a loud clanging sound, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "The commune gave us some sour soup and fermented vegetable broth, plus a big piece of pork. We're having fermented vegetable broth and shredded pork noodles for lunch!"

When it came to eating, the top-tier trainees were the most enthusiastic, quickly lining up with their bowls. Li Zhangqing followed behind Wu Xiaolian, and when it was her turn, she saw Fatty Qin scoop up a large bowl full of soup and noodles with one spoon. Before finishing, he used his chopsticks to drizzle a small pinch of bright red chili oil into the bowl.

Li Zhangqing smiled at Fatty Qin, revealing a chipped tooth: "Thank you, Master Qin."

Fatty Qin nodded: "If there's not enough to eat, come back for more later. There are too many people eating, so we have to cook the noodles one pot at a time."

Li Zhangqing grunted in agreement, picked up the bowl, placed it on the pool table propped up by a cement slab, blew on it to cool it down, and then slurped up the noodles with Wu Xiaolian and the others.

The sour soup was refreshing, and every two chopsticks could pick up several thinly sliced ​​pieces of meat. The girls ate with great satisfaction.

After setting up the stage frame, Chen Xiangdong ran to the stream near the school gate to wash his hands. The stream water was crystal clear, and every now and then a few two-finger-long fish would leap out of the water, splashing up sprays of water.

"Wow, there are quite a few fish in this stream!"

Chen Xiangdong's eyes lit up, and he quickly stood up and walked a few steps along the stream. Sure enough, the upstream ditch was wider and the water was clearer. In addition to some crucian carp and silver carp about an inch wide, there were also many small shrimp darting in and out of the crevices of the rocks.

Following the stream and looking into the distance, you can see a large river ahead, and this stream is a tributary of that river.

Chen Xiangdong laughed and said, "There must be plenty of fish in the river. After the stage is set up this afternoon, I'll go find some fish traps to put by the river. We can have fish for dinner tomorrow."

As he was talking to himself, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of several people sneaking around and peering towards the school from behind the trees across the stream in the distance.

At first, he didn't pay much attention, assuming it was just some young people in the neighborhood who were having budding romance and wanted to peek at the pretty actresses in the theater troupe.

But the next moment, the people opposite seemed to notice Chen Xiangdong's gaze, and then they all turned around and ran into the woods.

Among the group, a short man with a splayed leg and a waddling gait caught Chen Xiangdong's attention.

"That's..." Staring at the staggering figure fleeing away, Chen Xiangdong's eyes widened suddenly, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Lin Gouwa?"