Text/Feicun.

Ever since I could remember when I was three or four years old, my grandma loved going to the theater. As soon as she heard that a theater troupe was coming to the village, she would definitely drop all the work she was doing, pull me along, and hurry up and get to the village's grain drying field as soon as possible, and then walk back and forth in the aisles of benches. Pick out the best spots like picking beans and wait for the show to begin.

Before singing, you must first set up a stage. Several thick ocher-red wooden boards were placed on a one-meter-high column to form a ten-meter-square stage. A table is placed on the stage, with a long-backed armchair on each side. Covered with red table and chairs, it becomes a shop, study or bedroom.

Behind the table, separated by a thick curtain, was the backstage of the theater troupe. A small door opened on the left, and people in casual clothes came in and out making various preparations. Some people have already put on makeup, which is red, white and black, and with the expressions of ordinary people, they look a bit weird.

The troupe of players, musicians, and singers are all men, wearing navy blue Chinese tunic suits, sitting on the left side of the stage, hidden in the fluttering yellow curtain. After everyone has tuned their voices, it’s time to warm up. For a moment, the tinkling of percussion instruments and the babbling of string instruments plunged the entire sunbathing field into a lively dream.

Looking at grandma at this time, a bright smile had already appeared on her wrinkled face. Her fingers were in time with the beat, her mouth was humming, and her head slowly turned to the right following the protracted ending. , stopped abruptly somewhere, eyes widened suddenly, then the pitch rose, and a new aria began again.

When the ceremony officially started, grandma became a good student again, sitting upright for fear of missing any detail.

When people are laughing and cursing on the stage, grandma laughs along with them; when misunderstandings are deepened on the stage, grandma also sighs; when good and evil are rewarded on the stage, grandma claps her hands and cheers; on the stage, all the old grudges are cleared up, Grandma finally shed tears of joy...

So even though I couldn't understand Talented Man and Beauty at that time, and I couldn't understand Yue opera lyrics, based on Grandma's reaction, I could guess some of the meaning of the opera.

Usually within half an hour or so, I can’t sit still. At this time, grandma would give me two cents, one cent to buy melon seeds and one cent to buy orchid beans.

There is such a small vendor next to the theater. Use scrap newspapers to fold into triangular bags that can be held with one hand, put melon seeds, peanuts or orchid beans inside. Each bag costs a dime, and you can eat it while watching the show. My ears were mixed with Yue opera arias, gongs, huqin and the crisp sound of cracking melon seeds, which was lively and left a fragrance on my lips and teeth. Years later, when I think of my grandma, this scene still remains clear to me.

Sometimes I would run under the pedestal of the stage, hunkering down and running between the more than twenty columns. I would look up and see my grandma sitting outside looking at it seriously, as if telepathically. Suddenly he lowered his eyebrows and blinked at me, so I pretended to raise my sleeves in time with the music above my head. Grandma smiled like a flower, not sure whether it was to me or to the stage.

Later, the theater troupes came less and less frequently, and grandma began to listen to the opera on the radio. In the evening, when I came back from school, I heard familiar Yue opera arias in the distance. I ran a few steps quickly and passed the corner. I saw my grandma sitting on a wicker chair holding a radio and softly saying, "You're back."

Later, grandma broke her pelvis and could only lie on the bed. The radio is placed beside the bed. After school, I helped her tune in to her favorite channel, and then sat down to do her homework.

Later, on the day before my high school entrance examination, my grandma could no longer speak, so I watched over her while memorizing the text. When I recited one sentence, her throat moved and she made a purring sound. I walked over, leaned down and listened carefully, and there was still the sound of snoring.

The radio on the bedside has a rusty sound port, the knob is stuck, and the sound emitted is high and low. I opened it and was playing my grandma's favorite song "Jasper Hairpin". When Yulin gave Xiuying a phoenix crown, the couple settled their differences and grandma actually shed tears.

After wiping away her tears, I sat in front of the bed and hummed softly, "Alin is the flesh of my palm, my wife, you are the flesh of the back of my hand, the palm of my hand is all flesh, The old woman couldn't bear to part with those two pieces of meat..." When I sang it for the third time, she finally closed her eyes peacefully, and the drama scene she loved so much accompanied her as it drifted away and disappeared over the years. .