Rant Show: I Angrily Criticized a Million Parents

Chapter 537 Even a second's difference doesn't mean a lifetime!

Xiao Si lacks self-awareness and values, no longer respects his master and traditional culture, and ultimately leaves Cheng Dieyi to steal the role of his master.

Having overcome numerous difficulties, he longed to share the stage with his former companions. However, his former companions were no longer Yu Ji, who was by his side.

Xiao Si did not stop causing trouble; he plotted to frame Duan Xiaolou and Cheng Dieyi, plunging the two artists into a quagmire.

"Very well! You can choose to frame Cheng Dieyi, or you can choose not to, but you must witness Yuan Shiqing's fate!" Xiao Si threatened, filled with a desire for revenge.

Soon, anger surged in the streets, and many famous actors were exposed, with signs hanging around their necks that read "Qingguo Peking Opera Bully! Duan Xiaolou!"

"We need to have unique art! This is the art of the Qing Kingdom, not the art of the Sui Dynasty!"

As the shouts rang out, angry and resentful people gathered, and the streets instantly erupted in chaos.

Amidst the chaos, Cheng Dieyi silently touches up Duan Xiaolou's makeup, seemingly having lost the motivation to continue the performance.

They were tied up and pushed into the street. Juxian's eyes flashed with anxiety as she called out loudly, "Xiaolou!"

As a virtuous wife, her only thought was of her husband.

The crowd shouted angrily, "Replace Duan Xiaolou! He's dishonest! Speak! Speak!"

The leader of the group grabbed Duan Xiaolou by the collar and forced him to speak: "Speak!"

Duan Xiaolou gave in. He was never a kind person to begin with, and loudly proclaimed, "I'll say it! He's a theater fanatic! A theater fanatic! A theater madman!"

"Who is it? Speak louder!" The command was shrill and piercing.

Duan Xiaolou remained detached, focusing only on himself. "Cheng Dieyi! He only cared about playing the role! He completely disregarded the audience and the stage! He performed to the extreme!"

In the firelight, Cheng Dieyi's expression was hard to discern, but those people wouldn't let him go easily!

"You're evading the truth, you're disloyal!"

"If Duan Xiaolou is not convinced, then let him perish!!"

To protect himself, Duan Xiaolou hesitated but resolutely said, "He...he doesn't cherish art, he's just going through the motions. He should exile himself from his fans!"

Cheng Dieyi was still being restrained. He was expressionless, but a hint of forbearance was in his eyes. In the blink of an eye, his gaze fell on Duan Xiaolou.

Duan Xiaolou's words were becoming increasingly extreme. Although he had already spoken them, there was no way to back down now.

He pointed at Cheng Dieyi and said in a loud voice, "He once acted for fools, acted for pigs, performed for his neighbor Lao Wang, and acted for Lao Xu, defiling this precious art of Peking Opera!"

"Replace Cheng Dieyi!"

The crowd was furious. How could they let him perform for fools? Wasn't that a waste of resources? They were filled with a mixture of longing and frustration at being unable to hear his performance!
"Is there anything else? What else?"

Duan Xiaolou continued his denunciation: "He is addicted to opium! He disregards the danger to his life! He has devoured the blood and sweat of countless ordinary families!"

The mere mention of smoking provokes even greater outrage, as it is a behavior that everyone deeply abhors!
"To curry favor with Yuan Shiqing, a powerful figure in the theater world, he... do you know that?" Duan Xiaolou questioned Cheng Dieyi, who felt bewildered, as if his own romantic history had become absurd and laughable.

"He did... for Yuan Shiqing..."

Juxian hurriedly called out, "Xiaolou!" trying to stop him from continuing to speak.

"Do you know? You... once..."

Cheng Dieyi turned to look at him, his eyes filled with resentment and deep sorrow. Duan Xiaolou had stabbed him in the heart. Duan Xiaolou seemed to think that wasn't enough, so he threw his performance props into the fire and burned them. This was a lifetime of accumulation, which Duan Xiaolou destroyed with his own hands at this moment.

Juxian rushed over to pick up the sword, but was restrained. Cheng Dieyi saw Juxian and was furious.

Cheng Dieyi seemed to collapse, saying in despair, "You have all deceived me."

Suddenly remembering something, tears welled in his eyes. He stood up and shouted, "I'm angry too! Enraged beyond my grief! I denounce these crumbling walls!"

With a sob in her voice and her throat hoarse, Cheng Dieyi pointed at Duan Xiaolou and angrily denounced him: "Duan Xiaolou, you...you are despicable and shameless! Your heart is like that of a wild beast! You're just a thin layer of skin left?!"

He turned around, looking slightly hunched and tired, while Duan Xiaolou advised him to protect himself.

"Ever since you got involved with this woman, I knew something was wrong! Everything was going wrong! You think it's the work of villains? Misfortune? Wrong, completely wrong! We've brought ourselves to this point step by step! It's our just deserts! I've already become a useless piece of trash! And you even had Xiang Yu kneeling and begging for forgiveness! How could Peking Opera escape this fate? How could it continue? It's our just deserts!"

Cheng Dieyi was almost insane, roaring as he watched those who wanted to punish him being captured while they were still talking.

He broke free and shouted, "I will continue to be angry! Her?! Who does she think she is? Let me tell you who she is? Scum! She is the number one prostitute at the Flower Brothel! A piece of trash who doesn't understand drama! She has no right to perform on stage!"

At this moment, the flames of conflict spread to Duan Xiaolou. Cheng Dieyi's anger could no longer be contained, and Duan Xiaolou's words ignited a storm within him.

"Duan Xiaolou, is she actually a professional in that industry? Tell me!" Duan Xiaolou avoided everyone's gaze and softly admitted, "Yes."

Do you have feelings for her?

This profession was despised by everyone, and Juxian became the target of everyone's hatred. Duan Xiaolou said in a trembling voice, "No! I don't love her! I really don't love her, I absolutely don't love her, I don't love her!"

Juxian stopped struggling and slowly raised her head. She came from a brothel and longed to spend the rest of her life with Duan Xiaolou. Her feelings even gradually drifted toward Cheng Dieyi, but in the end, she was betrayed by her husband.

Juxian had lost faith in life, and her eyes held a hint of indifference.

At this moment, the audience couldn't help but weep for Juxian, knowing full well that all of this was the cruelty of the times.

"Juxian is so unfortunate! Alas! How pitiful!"

"Juxian did nothing wrong! She was just born in the wrong era and mistook someone else for someone else!"

"To place hope in one's heart and then inflict despair upon the other!"

"In fact, everything was foreshadowed! Juxian's fate was truly tragic! I also feel sorry for Cheng Dieyi!"

"Cheng Dieyi's eyes are heartbreaking!"

"Waaaaah! Juxian! This is so tragic!"

"I really want to cry, it's so heartbreaking to watch."

On the screen, the movie continues. The master is knocked down, and Xiao Si mistakenly believes he will become a hero, but at this moment he suffers retribution.

Eleven years later, the finale of "Farewell My Concubine" began, a play that encapsulated the vicissitudes of an era!
The audience changed again and again, and when they were finally left alone, those long-forgotten memories had already erased most of their lives.

Only Cheng Dieyi remained steadfast, upholding his original aspirations.

Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou performed on the same stage. The lights turned cold and dim, shining on them but casting darkness behind them.

(End of this chapter)