Chapter 47 Chance Encounter
After taking this whole set today, I feel so refreshed. No wonder people in Beijing love taking baths.
Wang Deming and Old Man Chang continued to wrap their bath towels around their waists and walked out of the barber shop. Just as they returned to the entrance of Guantang Room No. 40 on the second floor, they saw a middle-aged man in his s wearing a gray Zhongshan suit, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, a fair and clean face, and a vigorous figure. He followed the waiter to open the door of the Guantang room next to it.

"Hey, Mr. Tan!"

Old Man Chang was immediately delighted, and quickly clasped his hands and said, "I was just wondering, will you come here to warm up your voice before your performance tonight?"

"I didn't expect to run into you!"

Tan Fuying also hurriedly bowed in return and said, "Oh, Master Chang, what a coincidence!"

"The first scene I performed when I came back from Tianjin was where I met the young master."

"I didn't expect to meet you again today."

"Who is this?" Tan Fuying looked at Wang Deming next to him. The young man had a tall and straight figure, with smooth lines on his exposed upper body, bright eyebrows and eyes, and a faint smile on the corners of his mouth, but he looked very unfamiliar.

"Haha, come here, let me introduce you. This is my daughter-in-law's younger brother, Wang Deming."

"I'm going to take him to your play tonight."

"Deming, this is the Tan Fuying I've been telling you about for a while today. Mr. Tan is a master at singing Peking Opera old male roles! You'll be haunted by his voice for three days after listening to him!"

Wang Deming had also been observing Tan Fuying sitting opposite him. He was not tall and was rather thin, with short hair neatly combed back and no sideburns. What made him most memorable was his eyes, which were bright and shining when they opened and closed.

Listening to Old Man Chang's introduction, Wang Deming, as a junior, quickly leaned forward slightly, clasped his hands and said, "Hello, Mr. Tan."

"Good friend Deming."

Tan Fuying was very polite and gentle. He did not act like an elder or a famous Peking Opera artist at all. He also bowed slightly to return the greeting.

"Master Chang, should I ask the theater to reserve two front-seat tickets for you?"

"Haha, thank you for your trouble. When I learned about your theater tonight, I quickly asked my clerk to help buy two front-seat tickets for you."

"Master Chang, thank you for your support!"

"Well, we are old friends, you don't have to be so polite. I know your rules. I will order you some crystal braised pork from Wufangzhai later. Please don't delay."

"Thank you for your expense."

"Haha, you're welcome. I won't delay your bath. Please go ahead."

"You are welcome."

It is said that Old Man Chang does favors and Wang Deming pays the bill.

After returning to Room No. 2, Wang Deming first called to order takeout from Wufangzhai, and then gave one dollar and 2 cents to the waiter, one dollar for the takeout and cents for the tip.

"Thank you for the 2000 yuan reward!"

After putting on clean clothes and feeling refreshed, Wang Deming and Old Man Chang left the Tsinghua Garden Bathhouse carrying their bag of dirty clothes and strolled to Dong'an Market (the predecessor of Dongfeng Market).

It was almost evening, the sun was setting, people were hurrying along the road, bicycles, rickshaws, and human-powered tricycles kept passing by the two of them.

There were two theaters in front of Dong'an Market. One was the Jixiang Theater in the east of the market, which is where we are going today; and the other was the Dangui Tea Garden in the west of the market. However, in order to avoid going to Nanjing to be the president, Yuan Shikai allowed his soldiers to riot, and the rioters set fire to half of the Dong'an Market, and the Dangui Tea Garden was burned down.

"In our area, the only theater left for opera is the Jixiang Theater. Otherwise, we have to go to the corner of Qianmen."

As Old Man Chang walked, he lamented that the glory of Peking Opera was gone.

"The Zhenguang Cinema on Donghuamen Street has now been converted into the China Children's Theater. It used to be the place where Mr. Mei Lanfang performed operas.

"There was also the Jingtai Tea Garden on Longfu Temple Street and the Ronghua Theater next to Longfu Temple. Now Longfu Temple is being transformed into the Dongsi People's Shopping Mall, but it's not finished yet and the theater is gone too. I don't know if it will still be there in the future." The setting sun stretched the shadows of the two people very long. After passing Shuaifu Hutong, this is the South Gate of Dong'an Market. Going north along Wangfujing Street, you will reach Jinyu Hutong. Turn right and not far away is the North Gate of Dong'an Market.

Because the Wufangzhai restaurant where we were going to eat in the evening was near the North Gate, and so was the Jixiang Theater; if we entered from the South Gate, we would have to walk around a long circle inside, and there would be a lot of people squeezing in at this time.

It is dinner time now, and Goldfish Alley is particularly lively, with people selling stinky tofu, fresh fish and water vegetables, puppet shows, and windmills.
From time to time, you can see a few half-buried large jars on the roadside, with large jar lids on top. This is a type of wine shop in Beijing, called: Big Wine Jar. There are no tables, so customers sit next to the jars and use the jar lids as tables.
There are also various snacks to go with the wine, a handful of broad beans, a few peanuts, a small dish of pickles,
As soon as you enter the north gate of Dong'an Market, there is a small shop "Yu Kangdong" on the left. The shop front is very small, just one room, but the interior is very long. The owner's surname is Liu.

There are two reasons why Wang Deming was impressed by this store: the owner Liu Zhenyuan was very thin, while his wife and son were both fat.

His wife is very kind and always sits at the door on a stool. When she sees regular customers coming to Dong'an Market, she will greet them warmly even if they are not going to buy anything from him.
His son Liu Fengming was busy in the store, with a big round face that seemed to be smiling all the time, but no matter whether he was wearing a jacket or a Mao suit, the buttons on his collar and belly seemed to be about to burst.
There is another reason, this store actually sells a lot of imported cigarettes!
For example: Red Light and Camel from the United States; barrels of Sanwu and Sanjiu; in addition, there are imported cigars, pipes and foreign tobacco.
Wang Deming's brother-in-law bought his Camel cigarettes from this store. In the past, Wang Deming would occasionally ride his bicycle around the corner to help buy them after school.

"Student Deming, have you eaten yet?"

The proprietress of Yu Kangdong waved her chubby hand with a Henan accent.

"Not yet, let's go to Wufangzhai and have a bowl of noodles."

"Wow, Wufangzhai's pork chop noodles are really delicious!"

"It's not"

On the right side of the north gate is a four-story building, which is the tallest street-facing building in Dong'an Market.

The first floor downstairs is called "Daoxiangchun (not Daoxiangcun)", which sells southern-style cakes and food, from candied fruits to meat, all kinds of southern snacks, such as: Guangdong's Yifu noodles, dragon lice (soaked in oil), Pinghu's fermented eggs, Fujian's meat floss, Jiangnan's water-milled rice cakes
The upstairs is Senlong Restaurant, the second floor is the Western food department, which is very exquisite, and there are several large cowhide sofas in the lounge; the third floor is the Chinese food department, which also has Jiangnan style. However, the Western food is really bad.
Both Daoxiangchun and Senlong Restaurant have the same owner, Zhang Senlong.

Going eastward along the Toudao Street in Dong'an Market, you will see a row of restaurants. The first one is the halal restaurant "Donglaishun", followed by the Hunan restaurant "Qizhenge", the Cantonese restaurant "Dongyalou", and then the Huaiyang restaurant "Wufangzhai".

Wufangzhai sells all kinds of noodles downstairs: eel noodles, shrimp noodles, pork chop noodles, pork intestine noodles, vegetarian noodles and all kinds of cakes and dumplings. Upstairs they sell authentic Huaiyang stir-fried dishes.

Wang Deming and Old Man Chang each ordered a bowl of vegetarian noodles on the bustling first floor. After eating, they went out and walked a short distance north, which was the Jixiang Theater.

"Dangdang! Ahaha! On a sunny day in March, the cattle are herded to the edge of the village, and the wild flowers are red and beautiful." The performance that livened up the audience was "The Little Cowherd" by Ma Lianliang's nephew Ma Chongnian.

A shepherd boy was herding cattle when a little girl from a neighboring village passed by. The two met, sang and danced together, expressed their love for each other, and then said goodbye.

Then it was Tan Fuying's turn to perform a piece of "Catch and Release Cao Cao" which won a great applause.
Other Peking Opera actors performed in between, and the last play was "Silang Visits His Mother", which was the climax of the entire night.

It was just that when the scene changed, Old Man Chang smacked his lips, feeling melancholy: "What a pity it's not the scene with Xue Yanqin."

Wang Deming could tell that there was something behind Old Man Chang's words, so he immediately handed over the ladder and asked, "Oh, Uncle Chang, what do you mean?"

"That was the 20th year of the Republic of China, oh, 1931 according to the Gregorian calendar. Tan Fuying and Xue Yanqin, one was a top-notch old male actor, and the other was a top female actor."

"We co-produced a Chinese opera film together, called 'Silang Visits His Mother'."

"It was great. When it was shown at the Jixiang Theater, every show was packed."

"It's a pity that I can no longer understand Xue Yanqin's play"

"What's going on?" Just as I asked the beginning, the latest act "Sitting in the Palace" came on stage.

When Tan Fuying called out:
When it was sung, Wang Deming, who was sitting in the first row of seats, was startled. Damn, this tune is much higher than "Pointing to the Moon with the Left Hand", okay?

"stop!"

"Don't move!"

Wang Deming was startled.
(End of this chapter)