Li Mu had already memorized the script of 《Transforming into a Butterfly》 with the help of the Clear Mind Technique. Liu Hanyan asked him to come to the theater to rehearse when he was free.
One minute on stage was ten years of practice off stage. Before officially going on stage, everyone had to memorize the script thoroughly and rehearse it in advance without any mistakes. Only then could they walk from behind the scenes to the front of the stage.
When Shopkeeper Huang saw Li Mu, he ran over eagerly and said, "Young Master, you're here. Please change into your costume first. We'll start rehearsing in a while …"
Li Mu needed the audience to feel sad for him. Naturally, the more miserable the character he played, the better. Who else could he choose to play Liang Shan Bo?
However, in fact, he wasn't very sure if he could collect sadness in this way. If he couldn't, he would let Li Qing break his legs and pretend to be a beggar. He would beg at the city gate …
A man should be more ruthless to himself. Survival was always the first priority. Dignity and other things could be abandoned in the face of life.
Because it was just a rehearsal, Li Mu changed into his costume and didn't put on makeup. He sat backstage. After a while, he saw Shopkeeper Huang coming over with another handsome scholar in costume.
Li Mu looked at the handsome scholar's face. No matter how he looked at it, it was familiar. However, he couldn't remember where he had seen it before.
The handsome scholar crossed his arms and asked, "What's wrong? You don't recognize me?"
Li Mu looked at Liu Hanyan and said in surprise, "Why are you dressed like this?"
"Because I'm acting in a heroic stage." Liu Hanyan looked at him proudly and asked, "How is it? Do I look like you?"
Needless to say, Liu Hanyan was beautiful. After dressing up as a man, she immediately became a heroic young man. If she walked on the street, she would probably attract a lot of ignorant girls.
"That sounds like it," Li Mu nodded, then he thought of something and asked, "Wait, do you know how to act?"
As the female lead of Liangzhu, Zhu Yingtai had a lot of scenes and lines in the drama. If she screwed up, she would just lose a few customers. However, to Li Mu, he would lose a bunch of leeks. No, he would lose the hope of condensing the Sparrow Shade and becoming a real man. This was not something for her to play with.
Liu Hanyan glanced at him and said, "If you don't believe me, I can arrange for someone else to act in Yingtai. Although Auntie Wang is in her fifties, her basic skills are solid. Acting as a young woman in her twenties shouldn't be a problem …"
Li Mu said without hesitation, "Of course I believe you."
Liangzhu was a couple in the drama. Although there weren't any restricted scenes, it was inevitable for them to hold hands and hug. If he had to choose between Auntie Wang and Liu Hanyan, Li Mu would still choose her.
The only thing he was worried about was that Zhu Yingtai was going to dress up as a man. If he let Li Qing act, she wouldn't need any props and would just wear a loose costume. No one would be able to tell.
However, Liu Hanyan was different. Unless the audience was blind, they would be able to tell at a glance.
Li Mu subconsciously looked at her and noticed that her originally bulging chest had become flat. After being stunned for a moment, he couldn't help but ask, "Don't you feel uncomfortable from being strangled?"
Liu Hanyan lowered her head and said in embarrassment, "It's none of your business!"
Li Mu was also worried that she would hurt herself. It wouldn't be good if she hurt her body in order to satisfy her desire for acting.
However, since Liu Hanyan didn't care, he couldn't say anything more. He said, "Since you're ready, let's start rehearsing."
While the two were rehearsing, on the other side of the theater, several actors gathered there and looked at the two figures not far away.
One of them was puzzled and said, "'Transforming into Butterflies' is such a good script. Why did you find a newcomer to act as the lead? Isn't this messing around?"
The person next to him looked at him and said, "Yeah, I thought you would act as Liang Shanbo. This is a rare opportunity to show your face. I don't know what you're thinking …"
That person listened to Li Mu's clumsy lines and sighed. He said, "I'm really not convinced. How am I not better than him …"
…
Liu Hanyan was a professional. Not only was she proficient in musical instruments, but she was also good at singing. Li Mu was completely a layman. After the two of them rehearsed their lines, Liu Hanyan shook her head and said, "You can't go on stage directly like this. A real actor knows how to arouse the emotions of the guests. When they act as the bad guys, they can make the guests hate them so much that they even forget that this is acting and rush to the stage to curse. When they act as the good guys, they can gain the sympathy of the guests and make the guests cry for them. Your acting is too stiff. Even if you act as Liang Shanbo, you can't move the guests and get their grief."
Grief was a very important thing. Li Mu also became serious and said, "I'll think about it carefully."
Liu Hanyan shook her head and said, "A good actor takes ten years to become a beginner, twenty years to become an actor, and thirty to fifty years to become a master. In this line, without the guidance of a master, it's difficult to understand anything."
Li Mu asked, "Is there any quick way?"
"There's no quick way to improve your acting skills. You can only practice hard." Liu Hanyan thought for a moment and said, "Come to my room tonight. We'll rehearse our lines as many times as possible …"
On the other side of the theater building, the young man just now lowered his head and said, "I'm convinced …"
…
Li Mu thought that he could gain the grief of the guests by acting as Liang Shanbo. After he really understood the line of actors, he found that he was too naive.
Outstanding actors and excellent performances could indeed move the hearts of the guests and control their emotions. However, all of these people had more than ten years of acting experience. Acting was not a matter of wearing a costume and reciting lines at all …
Not to mention the expression and movements, just the foundation of the lines was a hurdle that Li Mu could not cross in a short time.
It was late at night. Li Mu leaned against Liu Hanyan's bed and sighed, "It's so difficult."
Liu Hanyan covered her mouth and yawned. She said, "Every line is not easy. It's impossible to reach the level of the masters without ten years of hard work."
"I'm sorry for making you practice with me so late." Li Mu stood up and said, "You should rest early. I'm going back."
Liu Hanyan nodded and asked, "If the acting doesn't work, what are you going to do next?"
"What else can I do?" Li Mu sighed and said, "I can only break my legs and go outside to beg for sympathy."
Liu Hanyan was stunned and asked, "Are you so cruel to yourself?"
Li Mu said helplessly, "If I'm not cruel to myself, I'll lose my life."
"Humans have seven souls, and two souls are born from love and lust …" Liu Hanyan seemed to have thought of something and continued to ask, "What are you going to do about love? You can't go and harm so many girls, right?"
Li Mu didn't even have the chance to collect grief, let alone love. He could only say, "This, we'll talk about it in the future …"
Liu Hanyan continued to ask, "Love is fine, but what about lust?"
Li Mu lowered his head and looked at his own body, then looked at Liu Hanyan and shook his head. "This … we'll talk about it in the future."
After another night of studying the lines, Li Mu remembered that he hadn't visited Su He in a few days. He personally cooked a few dishes and went to Clearwater Bay.
As Su He ate, she said, "Next time, remember to bring me a jar of wine. Is the wine shop in the east of the city still there? I really like their Autumn Dew wine. I haven't drunk it in twenty years …"
As she spoke, she saw Li Mu's absent-minded appearance and asked, "What's wrong? Is there something on your mind? Is there another difficult case in the yamen?"
Li Mu shook his head and told her about the problems he'd encountered in the past two days.
Su He glanced at him and smiled. "That's normal. It's the same no matter what line of work you do. You don't want to use your three to five days of interest to compete with someone who's been eating for decades, do you?"
Li Mu sighed and said, "If there's really no other way, I'll just have to go to the city gates and beg …"
"That's not necessary." Su He put down her chopsticks and said, "A good actor can act like a character in a play, but in the end, it's just acting. They can't act out the full charm. If you're a character in a play, why do you need to act?"
Li Mu was confused. "I'm a character in a play … What do you mean?"
"You can hypnotize yourself to forget Li Mu, forget your identity as a bailiff, and think that you're a character in a play. Once you've really deceived yourself, you'll really be a character in a play," Su He explained. She looked at Li Mu and asked, "This is a type of illusion technique. Do you want to learn it?"
Li Mu swallowed his saliva and said, "Yes."
Su He crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Call me sister and I'll teach you."
It was just calling her sister. As long as he could gather grief and condense the Sparrow Yin, Li Mu would agree without hesitation even if he called her wife, let alone sister.
He was secretly delighted. Looking at Su He, he blurted out, "Wife …"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
