Chapter 56: Rice Cooker and Juicer
Near the end of the year, Su Jishi was so busy she felt buoyant.
Invitations for the New Year’s Eve party came like snowflakes, and Fang Xie helped her screen them, finally settling on Channel A and Channel B.
Channel A was an ‘old friend’. The first round of all the dramas Su Jin starred in was broadcasted in the prime slot of Channel A, and the ratings had surpassed other channels in the same period for three consecutive years. Several station chiefs and deputy station chiefs were extraordinarily respectful of her and gave her face outside. Their relationship must be maintained, so when the invitation came, Fang Xie agreed without much thought. Su Jin’s section was a solo —— It was recorded in advance, of course, and then lip-synced on stage.
Channel B was a bit tricky.
Channel B was a veteran variety channel and a provincial satellite TV with endless wealth. They invited the four hottest stars in the entertainment industry in one go. Su Jishi, as the top traffic celebrity, was naturally the first to receive the invitation.
Channel B intended to shoot a ‘Four Beauties’ episode. The four popular girls were dressed as Xi Shi, Zhaojun, Yu Huan and Diao Chan. With graceful appearances, they would take turns to perform, and finally make their final appearance together on stage.
The problem was…The beauty assigned to Su Jishi was ‘Wang Zhaojun’, and it was written in black and white in the script that Su Jin would descend from the sky in a chair, holding a pipa in her arms and playing a song called 《Zhaojun Goes Out of the Frontier》.
Su Jishi: “…”
Su Jishi: “……”
Su Jishi: “………”
Su Jishi: “Who the hell knows how to play the pipa!”
Ashan reminded her: “Cough-cough-cough!”
Fang Xie: “Your sister does.”
Only then did Su Jishi know that Su Su Jinqing had starred in a well-known adaptation of a costume ancient historical drama with a big female lead, about a famous Jiangnan courtesan with both charm and skills who was fought over by a domineering gifted scholar, a domineering general, a domineering prince and other people. For that drama, Su Jinqing specifically learned how to play the pipa. She was quite talented. She willingly worked hard and received unanimous praise from the crew, and later performed on many occasions in public.
It was because of this skill that the screenwriter and director of Channel B decided to assign Zhaojun’s role to her.
Su Jizhi felt a headache: “Can we not take this show…”
“Of course not!” Fang Xie stubbornly cut to the chase: “The other three celebrities have already picked theirs up. If you refuse this role, you will be scolded by anti-fans for playing the prima donna and being unsociable.”
“Then can you give me a new ‘beauty’?”
“How can I do that?” Fang Xie said in exasperation, “Yu Huan will sing 《The Drunken Concubine》((The Drunken Concubine – a chinese opera telling a story that happened in Tang Dynasty around 745-755 AD.)), Diao Chan will perform a sword dance, and Xi Shi’s is a folk dance. Which of the other three do you think you can exchange with?”
Su Jishi: “…”
Unfortunately, Su Jishi neither knew how to sing Peking opera, nor could she dance or perform swordplay; and even if she could, the other three starlets were also popular. If they tear at each other just because of role robbing, everything would end up too ugly.
Seeing the difficulty on her face, Fang Xie let out a long sigh: “Sister Su, if the pipa is too difficult, you can also change the instrument. Have you learned any musical instruments before?”
Su Jishi immediately said, “Does ukulele count?”
Fang Xie: “…”
Su Jishi: “Don’t mind it. It’s at least four-stringed.”
Fang Xie: “…”
Su Jishi: “I can play several songs.”
Fang Xie’s spirits were uplifted, so he asked, “What can you play?”
Su Jishi proudly enumerated, “Happy Birthday, Little Star((the Chinese version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.)), and Two Tigers”
Fang Xie: “…”
Fang Xie had no choice but to ask someone to hire a pipa teacher to teach Su Jishi the basics. There were only twenty days left before the New Year’s Eve party. Although it was a pre-recording, the screenwriter and other actors on stage were not deaf. If Su Jishi’s playing level was too low, rumors would definitely start flowing out by then.
He wasn’t expecting Su Jishi to be able to play the song《Zhaojun Goes Out of the Frontier》 in 20 days, but at least, she should be able to play a minute of Yangchun’s Xiao Diao((a Chinese folk song genre??)). By then, she could get through the rest of the time posing on stage.
However, string music was difficult to begin with. Pipa fingering, in particular, was extremely complex. Su Jishi’s hands could wield a hammer and write theses, but when it came to pushing, pulling, plucking with bumping, sliding, and sweeping; she couldn’t learn it no matter how she tried.
Fang Xie arranged a four-hour class for her in the morning and a four-hour class in the afternoon. Su Jishi’s fingertips bled from the practice, but she couldn’t even play an introductory song.
Su Jishi was by no means a person who gave up halfway, but when faced with such achievement, it was still still inevitable for her to feel frustrated.
She asked Fang Xie, “How long did it take Su Jinqing to get started before?”
Fang Xie thought for a moment and replied, “I can’t say that it took her a while to learn the basics, but after the teacher taught her once, she got the hang of it.”
Su Jishi: “…”
Su Jishi once again realized that she and Su Jinqing might be twins, but they have a huge disparity in many aspects. She concentrated on her studies, and she memorized by heart the technical terminologies that others couldn’t understand. Su Jinqing, on the other hand, was quite talented in the art path. Although she hadn’t received professional training in her career, she was natural at acting, singing, dancing and playing the piano – a hint was all she needed.
Hearing nothing from Su Jishi, Fang Xie feared that she had been struck down and hurriedly tried to calm her down: “Sister Su, don’t be dejected. Everyone has something they specialize in. Look, you can’t learn the pipa, and your sister can’t outrun a volcanic eruption.”
Su Jishi: “…Thank you for your comfort, but she’d better not encounter something like a volcanic eruption.”
Peek-Aboo 
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