1979: My fiancée is a goddess

Chapter 144: Northern Drama Club
Since winning the award, Cheng Kaiyan has often been surrounded by students who come to her because of her reputation.

Students came to him in the cafeteria, classroom, library, and even in his office to discuss literature.

Cheng Kaiyan was extremely annoyed. He liked quietness the most, so he resorted to "bribery". Bribery here meant using half a bag of White Rabbit milk candy to get a key to the library lounge from Zhang Chun, a quiet girl who worked as a part-time librarian.

This lounge is located in a remote corner on the fourth floor of the library. It is fully equipped and once the door is closed, it is almost isolated from the outside world. It is definitely a great place to read and study.

When you get tired of watching, you can lie on the bed and take a nap. It is really cozy and comfortable.

After seeing the release of "Love Letter" these days, the campus of Beijing Normal University was filled with students holding a copy of "People's Literature" and shouting for freedom of love.

Cheng Kaiyan was even more grateful for her foresight.

But I had only been living in peace for a few days, and today someone was blocked at the door.

The scene of seven or eight people blocking the door also attracted the attention and curiosity of the college students who were reading and studying in the seats not far away.

Many students thought it was a fight.

"Okay, okay, come in, don't block the door."

After hearing their purpose, Cheng Kaiyan thought for a moment, then waved and invited the girls from the drama club to come in.

"Hehe! Teacher Cheng is so easy to talk to."

"Yes! It really wasn't a wasted trip. It's because Zhao Xuemei and Ji Xuemei are so generous."

"As a talented person, my heart is always soft when facing beautiful girls."

Hearing this, Cheng Kaiyan had a blank expression on his face and was speechless. He closed the door with a click, leaving the outside world with endless reverie.

This small room, which is less than ten square meters and is specially provided for faculty and staff to rest and read, was packed with seven or eight lively young female college students.

"Hey, Teacher Cheng is still enjoying it. This table, single bed, kettle and everything else are available."

One or two girls pointed at the single bed and said with surprise, and then sat on it to try it out.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't be so presumptuous!"

A short-haired senior student who was leading the group quickly scolded.

"Got it, Senior Liu."

The two of them shrank their necks in fear and quickly stood up and spoke obediently.

The lounge became quiet, and the girls from the drama club stood quietly by the wall.

"Hello, Teacher Cheng. I'm Liu Zhiyi, the vice president of the Beijing Normal University Drama Club and a junior in the Chinese Department. I've heard of you for a long time. I really like your new work. It's very pure and beautiful."

President Liu, who had short hair, a flat figure and was wearing a gray coat, introduced himself to Cheng Kaiyan in a very capable manner.

After saying this, he extended his hand very formally.

"Hello."

"Teacher Cheng, actually the reason we came to see you this time is mainly because Teacher Huang Huilin is busy with other things and is not in school. So under the emergency, we had no choice but to find you through Zhao Xuemei and the others. I hope you don't mind."

"What exactly is it?"

Cheng Kaiyan asked straight to the point, it is normal for students to ask teachers for help.

As long as it's not something excessive, Cheng Kaiyan is still willing to help. Besides, there are a group of beautiful girls looking at you expectantly, who can remain indifferent?

"In fact, we hope that you can serve as the instructor of our drama club. First of all, you are a teacher in our Chinese department and a great writer. You must have the ability to judge the quality of the script, so..."

President Liu spoke in a sincere tone and even bowed slightly to Cheng Kaiyan at the end.

Cheng Kaiyan was calm and said frankly: "I have never written a play, and I don't know how to write one, but it's no problem for me to help."

Drama is a form of drama that mainly uses dialogue as the main form.

It was introduced into China in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and is distinguished from traditional stage plays and operas.

The main narrative method of a drama is the actors' unaccompanied dialogue or monologue on stage, but a small amount of music, singing, etc. can be used. The creator needs a strong foundation in writing, especially in dialogue.

Cheng Kaiyan is very clear about the difference between writing a drama and a novel, and it is not something that can be created just by talking.

"Do not worry."

The female president patted her chest and made the assurance, but she just winked at a few members when Cheng Kaiyan wasn't noticing.

"Yeah, don't worry, Teacher Cheng."

"I won't embarrass you."

Seeing this, the other people also nodded like chicks pecking at rice, and looked at Cheng Kaiyan with expectation in their eyes.

Ever since we rejected the script donated by Peking University at the last meeting, the drama club has only just reached the stage of selecting scripts. We are struggling to decide which one to choose and have not even had any rehearsals.

It’s already April and the tour is about to start in a few weeks.

They were as anxious as ants on a hot pan and found Cheng Kaiyan for help.

"Where's the script? Did you bring it?"

After understanding the details, Cheng Kaiyan stretched out his hand and asked.

"Hey...hey, did you bring it here, Qinglan?"

President Liu turned around and asked.

"No, no...Senior, I think I forgot to bring it."

Ji Qinglan was suddenly called and scratched her head embarrassedly.

"You even forgot this?! Sorry, Teacher Cheng, we are left behind in the club, can you please go..."

"It's okay. I just plan to go out for a walk and get some fresh air."

So, Cheng Kaiyan was coaxed and deceived into going with them.

The club activity rooms of Beijing Normal University are all located in an old building, seven or eight minutes away from the library.

It is still class time. When everyone arrived at the activity room, there were almost no people in the dark corridor. It was eerily quiet.

On the door that came into view was a sign nailed with iron nails, with four large characters "Northern Country Drama Club" written on it.

Everyone walked into the activity room, and found that the area was much larger than Cheng Kaiyan had imagined.

It’s probably as big as one and a half lecture halls.

What comes into view are wardrobes for clothing, tables and chairs, and even a small stage made of wooden flooring in the front.

"It's really small but has everything!"

Cheng Kaiyan saw it all and said in surprise.

I thought it would be a small shabby house, but I didn't expect it to be quite presentable. Don't compare the drama clubs in universities nowadays with those in later generations. Many schools' drama clubs can't even get the costumes together, and they can only perform by cobbling together what they have, but the performance naturally won't be very good.

"Of course, these are all accumulated little by little by the members and teachers of our club. Other clubs envy our club activity room, which is so big and beautiful."

President Liu puffed out his chest and said proudly.

After touring the activity room, Cheng Kaiyan recalled the deeds of the Northern Theater Society from everyone's words.

Although the Beiguo Drama Society of Beijing Normal University is only an amateur student drama club, it has created two "firsts" in history.

The first college student drama troupe in the new era.

The first contemporary student amateur drama club to be written into the history of Chinese drama.

During the period when campus drama was gradually recovering and booming, the "Northern Drama Society" of Beijing Normal University came into being.

Mr. Huang Huilin, one of the founders of the drama club, succinctly summarized the origin and purpose of the drama club with these ten words: "Admire Mr. Tian Han and follow the example of the Southland Society."

The growth of the Northern Theatre Society is closely linked to some great predecessors in the theatre industry. When the society was first established, veteran artists such as Cao Yu and Ouyang Shanzun personally wrote inscriptions to congratulate it.

Later, Mr. Cao Yu gave the people of the North two lines of poetry: "The great way has no self, and youth is forever with you", which became the motto of every member and the soul of the Northland Drama Society.

In the 1980s and 1990s, under the influence of the Northern Drama Society, a large number of campus drama groups were established or restored, and a large number of plays were created and staged.

The development and growth of the Northern Theater Company set a precedent for large-scale amateur drama performances by students in non-art colleges and universities in the new era, and set off a wave of amateur drama performances by students in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Of course, the current Beiguo Drama Club is still just a small shrimp. Without teacher Huang Huilin, the students are not even sure about the script.

Cheng Kaiyan walked around the drama club and sat down to rest.

President Liu asked someone to boil some water, then handed over two small notebooks, "Teacher Cheng, these are the scripts written by members of our club, two in total."

two?

Are you still struggling with the two? I feel like there's something fishy going on.

Cheng Kaiyan's heart skipped a beat, but she took it calmly and opened it. The first script that came into her sight was "Snow White", and the second was the classic drama "The Merchant of Venice".

After a quick look, my first impression was that it was very rough and the dialogue sentences were very colloquial.

As we all know, the most important thing in a drama is dialogue.

Through the actors' dialogues, themes, emotions, and conflicts are conveyed to the audience.

Cheng Kaiyan flipped through another notebook and found the same problem.

The entire drama club only has these two scripts? I'm afraid I've been fooled.

Cheng Kaiyan shook her head. At this moment, a cold fragrance like orchid and musk lingered in her nose. She turned around and found that it was Zhao Ruixue.

She held a glass in her hand and handed it over, saying calmly, "Have some tea, Teacher Cheng."

"Thank you."

Cheng Kaiyan stared at the girl's eyes for a few seconds, guessing something in his mind.

But no multi-language.

She may have read "Love Letter" or she may not have read it, but it has nothing to do with Cheng Kaiyan.

How to make the decision is up to Zhao Ruixue herself.

"Ah."

Seeing that he didn't react to her unfamiliar address, the girl nodded indifferently.

Then he sat down next to Cheng Kaiyan, with only a seat between them.

But he looked down at the script and seemed not to notice.

After a while, President Liu couldn't sit still anymore and tapped the table gently. "Teacher Cheng, what do you think of these two books? Which one is better?"

"The Merchant of Venice is better. After all, it is a play by Shakespeare. It is much more classic and literary than Snow White. However, it is limited by the author's low level and the dialogue is very stiff. I suggest you rewrite the script."

"But the performance is at the end of the month, and it seems too late to change it now."

"I heard that the play performed by Peking University Drama Club is "Oedipus" adapted by the talented scholars Liu Yuan and Gong Xiaoxia from their history department. They also specially invited Mr. Luo Niansheng to revise it and director Liu Siping to guide it. We have nothing. What should we do?"

One girl said with a frustrated look on her face that she was about to cry.

"Mr. Luo Niansheng, is he the master who studies and translates foreign dramas?"

"Yes."

How does this compare?
Professor Luo Niansheng is the founder of the classical studies lineage in New China, a classicist, and a translator. He has made outstanding contributions to the study of ancient Greek and Roman language and literature.

He has written articles such as "On Ancient Greek Drama", in which he has made insightful discussions and systematic studies on the ideological content and artistic characteristics of ancient Greek drama.

“Who said we have nothing? We have Teacher Xiao Cheng.

Is Teacher Cheng scared?
You are a recognized great talent. How can a self-proclaimed talent from Peking University be compared with you?

Even if it's Professor Luo, I think you can have a chance with him."

Seeing that everyone was in a depressed mood, Yang Mengshan rolled her eyes and tried to provoke them.

"that is!"

"Our teacher Cheng is a great talent, he must have a solution!"

Everyone's eyes lit up and they spoke at once.

"Your provocations can't excite me, and I've already said that I can't write a play script."

Cheng Kaiyan drank tea calmly.

"Junior Ruixue! Go ahead, the organization has entrusted this difficult task to you!"

President Liu quietly poked Zhao Ruixue beside him and whispered in her ear.

Zhao Ruixue shook her head, feeling a little embarrassed.

Although Cheng Kaiyan did not agree, the members of the drama club had no complaints. After all, she had made it clear beforehand and they just wanted to see if she could give some suggestions for revision.

"This is OK, but it can't compare to the book from Peking University. The book of Oedipus was reviewed by that old gentleman, and the dialogue is more appropriate."

The farce came to an end and everyone felt a little bored, after all, the core issue was not resolved.

It was half past five in the afternoon.

Some have to go back to take a shower, some have to go back to collect clothes, and some have to eat...

Everyone scattered like birds and beasts, each flying in all directions.

Beijing Normal University is much more lively after school, and melodious songs are played from the rusty loudspeakers.

It is April now, spring is deep and grass is growing.

The trees in the school are growing luxuriantly, with a few weeds swaying in the wind between the bluestone bricks.

The rich scent of flowers came from afar.

Cheng Kaiyan and Zhao Ruixue walked towards the cafeteria and unknowingly came to the side of a small garden.

"When did you join the drama club?"

Seeing that the atmosphere was awkward, Cheng Kaiyan just found a topic to talk about.

"Well... it was October last year. Although I joined the drama club, I haven't performed on stage yet. I've mostly been doing script writing and editing."

Zhao Ruixue looked straight ahead and answered seriously.

"Hey, who wrote those two scripts?"

"I was responsible for part of it. I'm sorry it's not well written."

"I can't write yet. You are better than me."

"Ha ha……"

This "haha" made Cheng Kaiyan feel a little embarrassed. This girl has learned how to mock people without any instruction.

Drama has a certain format, and it is not difficult to create a script, as long as you have a story in mind.

Huang Huilin, a teacher at Beijing Normal University, once assigned a final exam in her class. The content of the exam was to write scripts. Unexpectedly, every student in the class handed in a script on time, totaling more than 60 scripts.

It can be seen that every writer is a potential good screenwriter.

But writing well is not easy.

The two of them walked forward in silence, step by step, very slowly.

Suddenly Zhao Ruixue stopped and looked up at the flowers above her head.

"what happened?"

"Can you help me pick that flower?"

"flower?"

Cheng Kaiyan raised her head and followed the line of sight and found that it was a crabapple tree.

The flowers in front of me grow on the trees. The pale pink flowers are mixed with dew. They sway gently in the breeze coming from the playground in the distance, drawing arcs in the air.

It seems that there are two crabapple trees in Mr. Ye’s home, and he also holds a crabapple poetry reading.

Cheng Kaiyan didn't say much. He bent his knees and jumped, and with his quick hands, he grabbed a branch.

The movement was clean and neat, but along with the branches fell drops of dew, which landed on Zhao Ruixue's head, face, nose tip, and lips, causing her to frown frequently.

"for you."

Zhao Ruixue took it, silently looked at the flower in her hand, and sniffed it. There was only a very faint fragrance.

"Do you know why crabapple flowers have no fragrance?"

She asked herself and answered: "Because the crabapple has no fragrance, it means..."

"Secret love."

The sound was so faint that it was eventually drowned out by the rustling of leaves in the wind.

(End of this chapter)