Going out for fun on paid vacation is probably the happiest thing for office workers.

If you want to ask what is happier than this, it might be Liu Lan who is paid overtime allowance and goes out to play.

Although the play only started in the afternoon, Jiang Qi and the others set off in the morning, and they still took Liu Lan's mother's car.

Jiang Qi, Liu Lan, Qin Can, and Feng Ling were stunned and couldn't find a driver's license. Among them, Liu Lan, Qin Can, and Feng Ling had never even touched the steering wheel. Jiang Qi was slightly better, he at least had touched it.

Steering wheel, after all, I had passed the driver's license test back then, but I just didn't pass it.

Since no one knows how to drive, they will naturally have to ask for help outside the venue.

Jiang Qi originally wanted to ask Jiang Bing to borrow a driver while borrowing a car. Jiang Bing's B&B business is now booming. In order to arrange the pick-up and drop-off of guests, Jiang Bing's B&B already has many temporary drivers. The money is calculated according to the order and he recruits her to borrow one.

It's not difficult for the driver.

Before Jiang Qi could call Jiang Bing, Liu Lan's mother heard that the four of them couldn't find a driver, so she volunteered to drive Jiang Qi and the four of them to Liu Lan's grandpa's house. She was familiar with the road anyway.

We set off in the morning, have a meal at Liu Lan's grandpa's house at noon, and then drive back after dinner in the evening. The day's itinerary is clearly arranged.

At ten o'clock in the morning, Jiang Qi and his party waited for Liu Lan's mother's car at the entrance of the amusement park parking lot.

The red car stopped steadily in front of Jiang Qi. Liu Lan's mother waved to Jiang Qi from the car window downstairs: "Boss Xiao Jiang, here. You sit in the passenger seat. The passenger seat is more spacious and comfortable."

Because Jiang Qi was still in the script store before, and when he was sitting at the front desk every day guarding the store, Liu Lan's mother would occasionally come to the store to deliver fruits and milk to Liu Lan, and ask her to get the keys. Jiang Qi knew Liu Lan's mother.

But he is not very familiar with her. Jiang Qi only knows that Liu Lan’s mother was a model when she was young, so she was very good at dressing up.

The only thing that impressed Jiang Qi about Liu Lan's mother was that this lady liked to wear dark red lipstick, which made her complexion very white and beautiful. Wang Xinghua later followed suit and bought a lipstick of the same style.

Today, Liu Lan's mother is wearing her dark red lipstick as always, she is dressed beautifully, with curly chestnut hair, a black turtleneck sweater, a khaki coat, thin eyebrows with tattoos, and light makeup on her face. In terms of sophistication, she is actually

Better than Liu Lan, Qin Can and Feng Ling.

After waving to Jiang Qi, Liu Lan's mother glanced at the big plastic bag in Liu Lan's hand. The full bag looked quite heavy, and the black plastic bag made it hard to tell what was inside.

"Lanlan, what are you bringing here?"

Liu Lan happily ran to the trunk of the car, put the plastic bag in the trunk, then got in the car and said: "Jiang Qi gave me an extra batch of braised meat! A total of 50 kilograms, saying it was today's thank you gift! I kept it for myself.

5 kilograms, and the remaining 45 kilograms will be taken to grandpa and uncle."

Liu Lan's mother looked surprised and a little embarrassed: "Hey, Boss Xiao Jiang, it's just a way of saying that I just happened to go back early to see Grandpa Liu Lan, so you don't have to be so polite."

"Yes, I am really bothering you and Grandpa Lanlan this time." Jiang Qi said with a smile.

The three people in the back row were all seated, with Liu Lan sitting in the middle, Feng Ling and Qin Can, one on the left and one on the right.

Drive and set off.

Liu Lan's mother cut the music into a light ditty and hummed softly while driving. Seeing that Jiang Qi and the others were silent, she thought they were too reserved, so she took the initiative to start a conversation.

"Boss Xiao Jiang, have you listened to the show before?"

Jiang Qi shook his head: "I haven't heard of it, but I heard the employees at the amusement park sing a few lines."

Wang Xinghua is performing on the stage, but she can sing a few lines casually. After all, she is an opera lover, and she still has some basic skills. However, this lover has recently been affected by movies, TV series and animations, and has betrayed opera. Anyway, Jiang Qi usually

I've only seen Wang Xinghua watching movies, TV series and anime, but never seen her watching plays.

"Mom, Feng Ling can sing!" Liu Lan said, "Feng Ling has been singing since she was a child, and has been studying for more than ten years."

"Oh, Xiao Feng, what type of opera are you studying?" Liu Lan's mother asked with interest.

Then the two of them started chatting like this, asking questions and answering questions like "four legs up and four legs down". Everyone could understand each word, but they couldn't understand it when they were connected together.

It was exactly 11:20 when the car drove to the village where Grandpa Liu Lan lived.

It was noon, and there was a rare bit of sunshine, which made people feel warm. After getting off the car, everyone couldn't help but stretch themselves towards the sky, so that the sunshine could evenly shine on their bodies.

There are not many other things at the entrance to the New Year village but there are many cars. They are all coming back to celebrate the New Year. They park wherever there is space. Jiang Qi even saw a prop car converted from a small truck.

"Is that the troupe's prop truck?" Jiang Qi asked Liu Lan, pointing to the truck.

Liu Lan squinted his eyes for a while and was not very sure: "It should be so. I just remember that they changed clothes and put on makeup in the car, one by one. When I saw it for the first time when I was a child, I thought their clothes were pretty.

I am clamoring for my mother to buy it for me."

"This troupe has been singing since you were a child?" Jiang Qi was a little surprised.

Liu Lan:?

"I'm only 19. Wasn't it ten years ago when I was a child? This troupe has been singing in our area for many years!"

"I don't know if there were any replacements in the middle. Anyway, during the Chinese New Year, the village in our area sings operas. There are several opera troupes nearby, but this one is said to be the best and the most expensive. Otherwise, how could I put this one

What would you recommend?"

"If you're not sure, go and have a look. If they come, they will definitely be setting up a stage now. Every time at this time, there will be many children watching."

"Forget it, let's go to your grandpa's house for dinner first, and come over to see him after dinner." Jiang Qi chose to eat first.

Liu Lan's grandpa's house is just at the entrance of the village, just two steps away. The house is quite big, a standard old country house. It's a bit cold. There is a brazier in the house. There is a sweet potato buried in the brazier, and rice cakes are placed on it.

, it can be said that there is no waste at all.

Uncle Liu Lan's two grandsons were squatting by the brazier, eagerly waiting for the rice cakes to be baked.

Liu Lan felt that her two little nephews were really miserable, so she took out a piece of duck neck and gave each of them a small piece. The duck neck was stewed in a spicy pot and was too spicy for the children to eat too much. Just bite a piece to taste it.

Then the two children gnawed on the duck neck and squatted by the brazier waiting for the rice cakes.

Liu Lan's grandfather expressed a warm welcome to the arrival of Jiang Qi and others. He cooked a large table of sumptuous dishes that were as sumptuous as a New Year's Eve dinner, including chicken, duck and fish. It was said that the chickens and ducks were all raised by his own family and were slaughtered this morning.

Yes, Liu Lan watched the chickens and ducks in the video on WeChat and killed which one he liked.

Liu Lan's grandfather, whose surname is Pei, is 87 years old this year. He is a theater fan. He does not drink, smoke, or play cards on weekdays. He just likes to listen to operas. When there is no year or festival and there is no opera to listen to, he takes his mobile phone and sits in the rocking chair.

Listen, use your phone as a radio.

This time when Liu Lan brought Jiang Qi and others over, he didn't say that Jiang Qi was his boss. He just said that his friends and colleagues heard that there were opera singers in the countryside and were very interested. They happened to have a vacation, so they came to listen to the opera together.

When Liu Lan's grandfather heard that there were young people who loved opera as much as he did, he was so happy that he was willing to come all the way. Not only did he help Jiang Qi and the others get good seats, he also said that he would take them to join the opera troupe.

Chat with the class teacher, who is his friend.

This was what Jiang Qi wanted, so he did not refuse and happily followed Grandpa Liu Lan, who led everyone to see the stage.

"Old man Pei, are you taking your granddaughter and grandson for a walk after dinner? Hey, is that your grandson? Why don't I look like him? I've become younger now that I'm married." Others in the village saw Grandpa Liu Lan taking his grandson for a walk.

A lot of young people joked.

"I think you are older than me and your eyesight is dim. You should wear a pair of reading glasses. Presbyopic eyes are not enough. You also need to go to the hospital to see if your memory has declined. I only have one granddaughter in total. Can these three girls all be my granddaughters?"

Grandpa Liu Lan laughed and scolded, "My granddaughter's friends heard that there was an opera in the village today and came all the way from the city to listen to the opera."

"Hey." The joker was really shocked now. He looked at Jiang Qi and the others carefully, "Oh, it's really rare. Nowadays, young people in the village are not rare to listen to operas. We are the only ones who sing big operas every year.

Listen to Old Bones the most actively, and you have to find a good position for the young people so that they don't miss it."

"What do you mean? What is the relationship between me and Xiao Feng? My position has been decided before the stage is even set up. It must be the best. Xiao Jiang, Xiao Feng, Xiao Qin, go to the left."

Liu Lan was a little curious and trotted over to her grandfather: "Grandpa, what is your relationship with the leader of this theater troupe?"

"What does it have to do with it? I heard it when his father was singing opera, and I also heard it when he was singing opera. It's just the relationship between singing opera and listening to opera." Grandpa Liu Lan said with a loud voice, talking and talking.

He made a joke about himself, and laughed so loudly that he felt full of energy.

"Grandpa Pei, are they regular members who take jobs around here?" Jiang Qi also approached and asked.

Grandpa Liu Lan waved his hand: "That was the pattern many years ago. Don't look at them. A singing performance costs thousands, but it is only a few hundred if it is spread equally on everyone's head. This means more life during the Chinese New Year.

On weekdays, I would starve to death just relying on this. There are no fixed members, so Xiao Feng, the so-called leader, is fixed. Whoever is free comes."

"So they all work part-time, but they actually have other jobs, right?"

Grandpa Liu Lan was a bit deaf, so he heard about other jobs without hearing the first half of Jiang Qi's sentence: "I have other jobs. Xiao Feng seems to have opened an opera training class. It is said that few students have closed. He is still working in the city troupe.

It’s a meal without a staff. I heard that theater troupes in this city are in a downturn, and they’re not as good as a symphony orchestra.”

"Those in the symphony orchestra who are not staffed can get more than 1,000 a month, but it is not certain whether their theater troupe can get this number."

Grandpa Liu Lan was talking vigorously when a middle-aged man with a fat, fair face and a cheerful appearance walked quickly from the direction of the stage. Before anyone arrived, he laughed first, and his laughter was very penetrating.

"I heard you arranging me behind my back, Mr. Pei, from far away. Next time you arranging me, can you stay a little further away and lower your voice so that I don't hear you."

As soon as these words came out, Jiang Qi knew that this fat, fair, middle-aged man was the nominal leader of the theater troupe, leader Feng.

Seeing Grandpa Liu Lan bringing four young people over, class leader Feng also smiled and joked: "Mr. Pei, you are really flattering me this year. There were not many young people in the audience last year, but this year you actually brought all your juniors."

, no wonder you called me so late last night and said that you would save 5 good seats in the front row for you."

"You are my junior, this one is my granddaughter." Liu Lan's grandpa pointed at Liu Lan, "The rest are his friends. The young people wanted to go to the theater and drove over an hour from the city."

"Thank you very much, everyone." Leader Feng said with surprise on his face, "I will tell them to perform well today and not let you down. Come and come with me to see how we put on makeup. You young people haven't seen how we put on makeup."

Right? Things here haven’t been completely set up yet, it’s a bit messy, so be careful.”

The backstage was indeed very messy as Leader Feng said. It must have not been sorted out. Various props and sundries were piled on the boxes and on the floor waiting to be sorted. However, the clothes were placed in the prop car, maybe because they were afraid of getting dirty.

There are so many things.

There are several types of musical instruments, including the erhu, suona, pipa, big drum and small drum, and there is also an instrument that Jiang Qi doesn't recognize that looks very similar to the erhu but is different.

"There are some good performances today, you usually listen..." Leader Feng enthusiastically explained the content of today's performance, making strokes and pointing, looking like he wanted to pick up the stick and play with it.
To be continued...