"From China?" Li Zitao sat up directly, grabbed the ticket and looked at it carefully.

"Metropolitan New York, a Peking Opera master from China, a great artist popular with 50 million people, Mei Lanfang's special performance!!"

When he read the last name, Li Zitao's voice was like a cock being pinched by the throat, and his pitch instantly rose eight notes.

"Charlie, how about the consulting fee?" Seeing his surprise, Lawrence said proudly.

"It's great." Li Zitao stared at the theater ticket with a complex expression, as if he felt that what he just said was not enough to express his excitement, and said again: "It's great!"

"Ha, what are you waiting for? Let's go now." Lawrence waved his arms and shouted.

Sitting on the plane to New York, Li Zitao still felt like he was in a dream. Mei Lanfang, this familiar name, no Chinese will forget.

The first of the four famous Dan actors, the king of the Ling world, and the founder of the Mei School, he raised the art of Peking Opera to an unprecedented height with his graceful performances and flowing singing.

It was he who spread the art of Peking Opera to the world, creating a craze called "Plum Whirlwind" all over the world.

Even in the 21st century, the legend about this Peking Opera master is still circulating for a long time, and his love affair with the Winter Emperor is even more regrettable.

Unexpectedly, in another strange world, he would be lucky enough to meet this legendary figure and watch his performance.

"A little excited." Li Zitao murmured while pressing his beating heart.

He is not a drama fan, but he still has a feeling of admiration, worship and respect for artistic masters like Mei Lanfang.

It is precisely because of the dedication and efforts of these people that Chinese traditional culture can go abroad and show the world the splendor and heritage of an ancient country with thousands of years of cultural heritage.

What made him feel even more complicated was the major event in the future involving the three eastern provinces, the Manchuria Incident recorded in the history of his previous life.

Because of the young commander's wrong judgment and slightly weak character, the 400,000 Eastern garrison troops watched helplessly as the little Japanese invaded the three eastern provinces under their noses.

Li Zitao has been telling himself that this kind of thing is not something he can interfere with. The current little devil is a great power that can challenge the Soviet Union.

Although there are many reasons for this, we have to admit that the little devils during this period were powerful, and even the United States must face up to its status.

Li Zitao did not think that he had the power to fight against a country, nor did he have the noble consciousness of being a savior, but at this time, fate gave him the opportunity to meet Mei Lanfang.

This made him ask himself: "Should I do something?"

When he got in the car and arrived at the Metropolitan Theater in New York, Li Zitao was still in a dilemma.

"Sir, do you want a ticket? It's only 15 US dollars for a great artist from China." As soon as he got off the car, two white scalpers came over and looked at him enthusiastically.

There is no shortage of scalpers in the United States, and this is especially true for this high-profile performance. The tickets in the hands of ticket sellers have increased from the initial $7 to $10, and then to $15 before the show started today. Even so, there is no way

Resist people's enthusiasm.

"We already have it." Seeing Li Zitao's distracted look, Lawrence waved the ticket in his hand and said.

The two scalpers didn't care, and turned around and walked towards the other Chinese, "Sir, do you need a ticket? A great artist from China..."

"How much?" asked the plainly dressed man.

"15 dollars." The scalper smiled and took out the ticket. Seeing that the other party was hesitant, he shook the ticket and said, "That great artist only has one performance in New York. If you miss it, you won't be able to see it."

"Yes, but I only have 10 dollars." The man said a little frustrated.

"$13, sir, the show is about to start." Seeing that his expression didn't look like he was faking it, the scalper said tentatively.

"I bought it." Li Zitao stood up, took out two 10-dollar knives and handed them to the other party.

"Thank you sir, I don't know what to call him?" Looking at the theater tickets handed over by Li Zitao, Zhao Yaozhong clasped his fists in embarrassment and gratitude.

"Li Zitao, what about you?" Li Zitao smiled.

"Zhao Yaozhong." Zhao Yaozhong said a little shyly, his face was a little thin, his eyes were gentle, and his three-quarter hair style was combed to a shiny finish.

"Come on, let's go inside. The show will start soon." Li Zitao greeted enthusiastically.

"Sigh." Zhao Yaozhong nodded and said with some emotion; "I didn't expect Master Mei to be so popular in the United States. The ticket price of $5 is tripled."

"Art knows no borders." Li Zitao said casually.

Zhao Yaozhong was stunned, then burst into laughter and said: "Yes, art knows no borders, but artists have nationalities."

"Oh, I just met a compatriot and he came up with a golden sentence. This friend is not simple!" Li Zitao thought, dumbfounded.

"Charlie, is this your friend?" Lawrence was waiting at the entrance of the theater. When he saw Li Zitao coming with another unfamiliar Chinese, he asked with some surprise.

"Lawrence, my friend." Li Zitao introduced: "This is Zhao Yaozhong, my compatriot."

"Hey, man, you look too thin." Lawrence joked with a familiar fist on Zhao Yaozhong's chest.

"Hehe." Zhao Yaozhong scratched the back of his head and said shyly: "I always forget to eat when I am studying. When I think about it, the canteen is closed, so I can only make do."

"Oh, another good student." Lawrence exaggerated, spreading his hands.

"The performance is about to begin." Li Zitao took the lead and walked inside.

"Lawrence, can you let us sit together?" After finally meeting an interesting compatriot, Li Zitao wanted to chat with him for a while.

"I'll make the arrangements." Lawrence nodded and walked towards the small door next to him.

Relying on Rockefeller's golden signature, their seats were moved from ordinary seats to a private room on the third floor in the middle on the right side. This is one of the best views of the stage.

"Brother Zhao, are you still in school now?" After praising the magnificence of the Metropolitan Opera House, the three of them sat down and chatted casually, waiting for the performance to start.

"Yes, I am studying for a PhD at Caltech and completing the final experimental project."

Zhao Yaozhong pointed to the stage below and said with a smile, "I heard that Master Mei is coming, and I want to meet him before he leaves. I don't know if I can."

Doctor, the doctoral students studying abroad in this era are truly top academics!

"I'm sure I'll meet you. I heard that Master Mei is very kind. After every performance, he shakes hands with the audience in front of the stage. As long as the audience doesn't leave, he won't leave."

These all come from memories of past lives. Li Zitao had specifically looked up the love story of King Ling and Emperor Dong, and there happened to be records of this in it.

"That's great. I have loved drama since I was a child. I always listened to dramas with my grandma when I was a child. At that time, I even thought about becoming a dramatist in the future!" Zhao Yaozhong said with a smile.

"Fortunately you didn't do this, otherwise it would have been a loss for the physics community." Li Zitao said with a smile, already thinking about how to 'seduce' this top student.

"Oh, I remembered, the genius from China, Zhao." Lawrence suddenly shouted: "The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published information and papers about you, called, called..."

"Measurement of hard gamma ray absorption coefficient." Zhao Yaozhong smiled kindly.

"Yes, my father said you are a genius." Lawrence clapped his hands and said.

"..." Li Zitao was confused when he heard what he said about 'hard-y' and 'ray', but he was very good at grasping the key points.

Genius, what he lacks now is genius, "A fellow genius who came to my door!"

"It's begun." Zhao Yaozhong pointed at the stage and said with bright eyes.

Seeing the stage curtain open, Li Zitao could only suppress his excitement and planned to wait until the performance was over before chatting with him alone.

If Li Zitao knew what achievements this shy young man next to him would have in the future, he would probably kidnap him away immediately.

In the first performance of "Fenhe Bend", when Mei Lanfang appeared in costume, the entire opera house was completely silent.

He was born to belong to the stage. As long as he stood there, people's eyes would be involuntarily attracted to him, as if even their souls were drawn into it.

Yan'er's cheeks are not charming, her eyes are so affectionate that they can speak, and her smile is graceful and gorgeous. No one who sees her can believe that this world-famous figure is actually a man.

One is sad, one is happy, one is shaking one's sleeves, one is kneeling, one is bowing, one is kowtowing, one is frowning, one is smiling, one is looking back, all one life is one moment.

The sword dance in the Red Line Robbery Box amazes American dance masters.

The loyal palace maid in "The Thorn of the Tiger", her tenderness when she pretends to be a slave, and her righteousness when she finally clarifies her will through death and generously sacrifices her life for her country, have made many Hollywood stars shed tears.

The long-sleeved solo dance in Luo Shen, the double sword dance in Farewell My Concubine, and the flower sickle dance in Chang'e Flying to the Moon left the audience stunned and said, "It turns out there are so many forms of dance."

One play after another, one play after another, when the stage curtain was completely closed and the lights came on, the entire audience in the opera house stood up.

They could not suppress their excitement, their hands turned red, and they shouted loudly in the thunderous applause: "China plum, chin plum..."

The audience's response was so enthusiastic that Mei Lanfang didn't even have time to take off her makeup, so she hurriedly stood on the stage with her team, shaking hands with every audience member who came on stage in a humble and kind manner and thanking them.

"Master Mei, your performance is so wonderful." Zhao Yaozhong, a young fan, lined up in front of the stage, squeezed Mei Lanfang's hand with excitement, and pressed down hard.

"Thank you for the honor. If you are not in a hurry, you can wait backstage for a while. We Chinese compatriots are all here." Mei Lanfang was also a little excited.

Being able to make his first opera debut in the United States and meeting so many compatriots made him equally passionate, and he could not calm down the fluctuations in his heart for a long time.

"Okay, okay." Zhao Yaozhong naturally would not refuse.

After Li Zitao shook hands with Mei Lanfang, he gave him a meaningful look and followed him to the backstage. Lawrence was even more desperate to join in the fun.

"What are you doing here? This is a Chinese gathering." Li Zitao said speechlessly.

"Hey, Charlie, I'm your friend." Lawrence said dissatisfied.

"But they are all Chinese here." Zhao Yaozhong snickered. Lawrence gave him a very different feeling. He didn't have the condescending arrogance that other white people had when facing Chinese people.
Chapter completed!