"Master Mei, you've invited too many people. We don't have room to entertain them here!" Lao Zhao, who was almost dying of sadness backstage, saw him coming back and hurriedly stepped forward to pull him aside.

"This..." Mei Lanfang looked at the crowded backstage and found that there were quite a lot of people here.

When I was on stage before, the audience at the opera house had gathered around me. The number of my compatriots seemed to be only a small handful, but now it was only a handful.

Oops, there are a hundred or so numbers.

Seeing Mei Lanfang step down from the stage and chatting non-stop with Lao Zhao, who had greeted them earlier, with a bitter look on his face, Li Zitao quietly came up.

"Master Mei, is there any trouble?"

"It's not a big deal." Looking at Lao Zhao, Mei Lanfang said apologetically: "I didn't expect our compatriots to be so enthusiastic, and we didn't prepare a place to greet so many people."

"How about we just catch up on old times here and get together in batches another day?" Lao Zhao suggested: "Anyway, you still have two weeks of performances here, so don't be in a hurry."

When he heard that Mei Lanfang would perform in New York for another two weeks, Li Zitao couldn't help but cursed in his mind, "Scalpers are really unreliable and have dark hearts."

"I'll make the arrangements." Before the two of them could discuss it, Li Zitao interjected: "Lawrence, call Ritz and ask if anyone is using the banquet hall tonight?"

"Charlie, I'm not your secretary." Lawrence raised his hands in protest, but still went to make the phone call obediently.

"Charlie, Liz said the decoration can be completed within 15 minutes." Within 2 minutes, Lawrence brought back good news.

"If you walk over, the time will be just right." Li Zitao took out his pocket watch and looked at it, then handed the decision to Mei Lanfang.

After all, he is the protagonist today, and Li Zitao has no intention of taking over the spotlight.

"Thank you so much, sir. What's your surname?" Lao Zhao politely bowed with his fists clasped.

"My surname is Li, please call me Charlie. We are abroad, so let's do as the locals do." Li Zitao leaned forward slightly and clasped his fists.

"Then I'll go make arrangements first while you guys chat." Lao Zhao said goodbye and invited everyone to go to the Ritz Hotel together.

"Thank you very much for today, Mr. Li. I will ask Lao Zhao to settle the expenses later." Mei Lanfang is good at making friends and spends money generously.

Even though he always pretends to be a woman on stage and acts like a gentleman when interacting with others, he still has a heroic chivalrous spirit in his heart.

If not, how could he insist on growing a beard when the Japs invaded China and would rather die than perform on stage?

"You're welcome, I have some properties in the United States." Li Zitao said modestly.

Because the two of them were communicating in Chinese, Lawrence could only stand by and worry. In the end, Zhao Yaozhong couldn't stand it anymore and helped him translate.

"That's right, you don't have to be polite to him, Charlie is a billionaire." Lawrence said naturally when he learned what Zhao Yaozhong said from his mouth.

"What?" He answered naturally, and Zhao Yaozhong naturally couldn't get up.

Billionaire???

Friend, are you talking about money or paper?

Looking back at Li Zitao with an innocent face, Zhao Yaozhong suddenly felt a heavy pressure, which was rushing towards him invisibly.

"Brother Zhao, what is this?" Mei Lanfang didn't understand what Lawrence meant.

"Lawrence said that Mr. Li is a billionaire." After swallowing hard, Zhao Yaozhong finally woke up from the shock.

"..." It was Mei Lanfang's turn to be dumbfounded. Billionaire, is this a script?

"Money is nothing more than external possessions, it's just a coincidence, haha..." Li Zitao smiled a little awkwardly. He was caught off guard, and he was a little unwilling to pretend.

However, Mei Lanfang was also very nice and quickly woke up. The performance of the two of them, especially Zhao Yaozhong, made Li Zitao admire but also a little worried.

Li Zitao still wanted to win over this genius, but judging from his performance, money alone might not be enough to impress him.

Even if this happened in his previous life in the 21st century, he would have met a billionaire and talked about mountains together, and he would have been so excited that he couldn't sleep.

"I didn't expect that among the Chinese like us, there are still people who can achieve such achievements in the United States." Mei Lanfang said with some emotion, looking at Li Zitao with a little more recognition.

From an artistic point of view, Mei Lanfang's achievements today are no less than those of Li Zitao, a master of opera art and a pioneer in promoting and shaping the quintessence of the Chinese nation.

It's just that Li Zitao feels inferior to the latter. Sometimes, there are always some things that cannot be measured with money.

"Mr. Mei, there is no need to be humble. Your achievements today are not much worse than Brother Li's, but I have accomplished nothing, ha..." Zhao Yaozhong lowered his head in self-mockery.

"Brother Zhao, you don't have to be like this. As long as a man has faith in his heart, he will be able to achieve great things. I heard from Brother Li that you are studying for a doctorate.

He Ming is also well-known in the American physics community. He Ming's knowledge is shallow and he is as knowledgeable as a mountain. Although he doesn't understand the inside story, it's not easy to understand."

Strictly speaking, Mei Lanfang is his stage name, and Heming is his alias, with the courtesy name Wanhua.

"I'm going to remove my makeup first, can you please wait a moment." Mei Lanfang clasped her fists and backed away, came to the dressing table and began to remove her makeup. It seemed that her movements were orderly, but in fact she finished her makeup very quickly.

"I wonder what kind of belief supports Mr. Mei till now?" Li Zitao was still thinking about the previous topic as he walked out of the Opera House and on his way to the Ritz Hotel.

"Does Li Sheng know that your husband is the son of a prince?" Mei Lanfang asked with a smile.

"I don't know." Li Zitao shook his head and said.

"In the past thousands of years of history, actors have been at the lowest level of society. Xianggong Tangzi put it bluntly, it is a school for cultivating opera people,

The hall is a place where everyone can gather together to keep warm, and it is also a vanity fair where people can drink and laugh after fame and fortune. As the saying goes, an actor is ruthless and a pool is unjust."

When Mei Lanfang said this, his face was magnanimous and his eyes were clear. He just calmly talked about the dirty scenes he had seen in the Xianggong's hall.

"Thanks to the care of my brother-in-law, cousin, and seniors, Heming can be as vigorous as he is today." Mei Lanfang recalled with eyes.

"Back then, a senior brother was forced to leave Yunhetang. He left a message before leaving." Mei Lanfang's eyes became brighter and brighter, and the brilliant light seemed to tear apart the night.

"In the future, if someone sings well and becomes famous, remember to give the singer some status... It doesn't have to be too much, just be able to stand upright."

The plain tone shocked Li Zitao and Zhao Yaozhong who were present.

From Mei Lanfang's brief description, it is not difficult to guess what kind of blow the senior brother who was forced to leave suffered, and how sad, angry and helpless he felt in his heart.

"He Ming never dared to forget these parting words along the way...

Fighting for some status for opera singers is my biggest wish in this life, and it is also the belief that allows me to do this today." Mei Lanfang said in a straight tone.

Li Zitao had mixed feelings in his heart. He didn't know what was going on in his mind for a moment. He just had an indescribable sense of depression. His scalp was numb and his throat was dry. He stood there in a daze.

The same was true for Zhao Yaozhong, who was shocked by Mei Lanfang's simple and pure belief, but at the same time a fire ignited in his heart, making his blood boil.

Isn’t the purpose of his coming to the United States a simple and pure belief?

"Learn advanced foreign knowledge and technology to lay the foundation for the rise of China. I hope to see the prosperous scenery of the motherland's take-off in my lifetime."

The heavy atmosphere infected Lawrence. Although he didn't understand what they were talking about before, Lawrence had a feeling that all this must be related to honor and belief.

Just when the atmosphere was getting more and more solemn, Mei Lanfang suddenly looked across the road, narrowed his eyes and strode towards the opposite side.

In the trash can next to the street across the street, a ragged homeless man dragging a rag bag was rummaging through the trash can for useful things.

Mei Lanfang walked up to the other party, said a few words patiently, then took out a few American knives from his pocket and stuffed them directly into the other party's dirty hands covered with black stains.

The homeless man who took the money did not understand what he was saying, but this did not prevent him from feeling the kindness of the other party. Eyes are the windows to the soul, and Mei Lanfang's eyes were full of sincerity and kindness.

Obviously one does not understand English and the other does not understand Chinese, but both of them clearly understand what the other person wants to express!

Mei Lanfang wanted to tell him that the hardships would eventually go away and the future would still be full of hope.

In addition to wanting to express his gratitude, the homeless man also confessed to "God" and felt ashamed of his verbal criticism and hostility towards the Chinese.

"In this world, the most miserable people are always the common people." Mei Lanfang said with emotion as he saw the grateful homeless man standing there, waving his hands for a long time and unwilling to leave.

By the time Li Zitao and the others arrived at the Ritz Hotel, the banquet hall had already been arranged, and the compatriots who had arrived first were chatting in small groups.

At the same time, everyone is also curious, who is the 'Mr. Li' mentioned by Zhao?

A single phone call allows the Ritz Hotel to arrange everything properly in such a short period of time. This is not something that can only be done with money.

"He Ming is here for the first time, and I'm really frightened and grateful to have everyone come to support me..." Mei Lanfang's voice was not loud, but it was extremely clear.

Li Zitao couldn't calm down down there for a long time, and his mind kept recalling the scene when he communicated with the homeless man before.

His elegant demeanor and his revealing character in words and deeds are truly admirable.

"Finally, I would like to thank the organizer of this banquet, Li Sheng." Mei Lanfang pointed to Li Zitao with a smile and said, "Thank you Li Sheng for the arrangement."

Li Zitao was dazed, but Zhao Yaozhong pulled him back, and then he came back to his senses and hugged his fists around him with a smile on his face.

"Does this gentleman look familiar?" Someone looked at him and said.

"Isn't this the Charlie Lee in the newspaper? The one who was shot!" Someone recognized his identity.

"Shh, please speak softer, can you say that?"

"I read in the newspaper that this person's net worth is estimated to be hundreds of millions of dollars, and he has more than 2,000 subordinates, all armed with guns. White people don't dare to mess with him. That's it." The person who spoke raised his thumb, expressing admiration and approval.

Said enviously.
Chapter completed!