100: Chapter 100 A Big Shot from Deyun Society Takes the Initiative to Invite

"But just saying sorry isn't going to cut it!"

Huang Bo waved his hand, looking at Yue Yunpeng in front of him, and said, "I was so scared by that stunt of yours that my heart almost jumped out of my chest. You think two apologies are going to settle this? No way!"

Yue Yunpeng put on a fawning smile, nodding and bowing, "Teacher Huang, whatever you say, we'll do! I'll accept whatever you decide, how about that?"

Huang Bo slapped the table, "Straightforward! Punish yourself with a glass of white liquor, and we'll call it even!"

"That's a must!"

Without another word, Yue Yunpeng poured a full glass of white liquor and downed it in one gulp.

Seeing this, Tong Liya laughed and scolded him coquettishly, "Yueyue, you're being too biased! The tissue you threw didn't just scare Brother Bo, it also almost hit my husband. Why don't you have some kind of gesture for that?"

Upon hearing this, Yue Yunpeng suddenly changed his expression. He straightened his round, chubby face, narrowed his small eyes, and snorted coldly, "When real men are talking business, why are you women interrupting? Don't you know the rules?"

"Screw you!"

"Hahaha!"

Yue Yunpeng had just finished recording Divas Hit the Road with Lin Chen and Tong Liya, and their relationship was excellent, so joking around like this came naturally to them.

Tong Liya played along, deliberately pouting her red lips and shaking Lin Chen's arm as she acted like a spoiled child, "Husband, look! This fatty is bullying me."

Lin Chen tossed the tissue onto the table, picked up an empty porcelain bowl, and tossed it casually in his hand a couple of times.

Seeing this, Yue Yunpeng immediately changed his expression, smiling like a blooming chrysanthemum, "Yo! Isn't this my Teacher Lin! Oh my, and my Teacher's Wife is here too. Look at this mess! I'll toast this glass to Teacher Lin and my Teacher's Wife. Wishing you both a long and happy life together, and may you have a baby soon!"

Yue Yunpeng downed another glass readily. Lin Chen asked him, "Who did you come with? Want to sit down and have a drink with us?"

Yue Yunpeng wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "I definitely want to drink. But I came here with my master today. My master knows Teacher Huang, but hasn't had any dealings with you, and was afraid that coming over abruptly might seem awkward, so he sent me to invite you all over for a seat. How about it, brothers? Would you do us the honor of coming over for a toast?"

Lin Chen turned to look at Huang Bo. Huang Bo waved his large hand, "Let's go! Today, the two of us will go test just how deep the drinking capacity of Deyun Society really is."

Lin Chen stood up as well. Since Guo Degang had spoken, not going would be a slap in the face.

...

The group walked through the corridor and arrived at a larger private room.

When the people in the room saw Lin Chen and the others enter, they all stood up to welcome them. Standing at the very front were the two big Buddhas of Deyun Society, Guo Degang and Yu Qian.

Standing beside them were the young master of the troupe, Guo Qilin, and Yue Yunpeng's partner, Sun Yue.

"Teacher Huang, it's been a while!"

"This must be Teacher Lin, right? I've long heard of your reputation, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Guo Degang walked up to greet them proactively.

Huang Bo quickly waved his hand, "Teacher Guo, you're too kind, just call me Old Huang."

Tong Liya also chimed in obediently, "Teacher Guo, please don't be so formal. We are all friends of Yueyue, and in terms of seniority, we should call you an elder."

Tong Liya had intentionally spoken up first. She knew her man's temperament all too well.

In Lin Chen's eyes, there were only two types of people in the world: those he knew, and those he didn't. As for what status you had in the world or how famous you were, he didn't care at all. If he liked the look of you, he might talk a bit; if he didn't, he wouldn't even bother glancing at you. If he were left to do as he pleased, he might just end up making the room go cold.

"Everyone sit, sit! Don't be so formal!" Guo Degang greeted everyone warmly and had them take their seats.

When the banquet first started, the atmosphere was inevitably a bit dry. Huang Bo and Guo Degang knew each other, but only as nodding acquaintances. Apart from Yue Yunpeng, this was Lin Chen's first time meeting the others.

But that wasn't an issue; feelings, after all, are all in the liquor. After a few glasses of strong spirits, the atmosphere quickly warmed up.

Men's socializing is sometimes much simpler and cruder than women's. Especially after a few glasses of alcohol, one second they were exchanging pleasantries about how long they'd heard of each other, and the next, they were practically ready to kill a rooster and burn yellow paper to become sworn brothers.

Although this group didn't go so far as to become sworn brothers on the spot, after three glasses of wine, they were already putting their arms around each other's shoulders and calling each other brothers.

Guo Degang's attitude toward Lin Chen was very polite, one could even say it carried a hint of respect. He had clearly watched the recorded broadcast of Divas Hit the Road, and while he wasn't interested in anything else about Lin Chen, he was awestruck by his masterful Ventriloquism.

Crosstalk emphasizes speaking, mimicking, teasing, and singing, and Ventriloquism is considered one of the basic skills of Crosstalk. Although few people study it deeply nowadays, it is still related. Using this as a topic, the two chatted about everything under the sun.

"There's an old saying in the trade: ten years of hard work for one year on stage. What does that mean? It means your craft has to be honed through the hottest days of summer and the coldest days of winter; it's truly something ground out through sweat and blood."

"It's not like that anymore. Nowadays, these young kids dare to get on stage and make a fool of themselves after learning for only a year or so. In the old days, they would have been whipped off the stage by their masters long ago."

Guo Degang pointed to Yue Yunpeng and Guo Qilin beside him, sighed, and continued, "When I was young, I met a few old masters who were skilled in Ventriloquism. Once they opened their mouths, good heavens, it would make people break out in a cold sweat! If you closed your eyes and listened, it was exactly like the real thing; you couldn't tell if it was someone mimicking it or the real scene."

"It's a pity, nobody is willing to put in the hard work anymore. They're all chasing money and fame. I scold these two boys every day, fame is a fleeting thing; in two or three years, who will still know you? Only the craft that grows on your own body will ensure you won't starve, no matter where you go!"

Lin Chen raised his glass to clink with Guo Degang's, downed it in one go, wiped the liquor stain from the corner of his mouth, and said, "Teacher Guo, you speak with insight. I used to think that for a craft, as long as you practiced for a long time and had enough experience, that was enough. Later, I realized that was just the surface."

"If you really want to reach the pinnacle, you have to rely on your heart. You have to treat it like your life and pour everything you have into loving it. If you don't revere it, even if you practice yourself to death, you'll only be a craftsman, not a master."

Guo Degang was so excited he slapped his thigh hard, "Right! That's exactly the logic! These little brats nowadays, damn it, what they lack is a sense of reverence for their craft!"

Old Guo's love for Crosstalk was truly in his bones. When he spoke to the point of being moved, his eyes turned red, and his voice trembled. Of course, this was also because he had drunk too much and the alcohol had gone to his head; otherwise, with his shrewdness and experience, he would never have lost control of his emotions in public.

This table of people had indeed drunk quite a lot; five bottles of Feitian Moutai were polished off, and in the end, they even ordered two cases of beer to rinse their mouths. By the time the gathering ended, everyone felt a bit lightheaded.

Even someone with Lin Chen's freakish constitution felt a bit dizzy. If it weren't for Tong Liya and Huang Bo's wife pulling them away by force, this group might have kept drinking until tomorrow morning.

"Lin... Teacher Lin! Don't give me that humble talk... As the old saying goes, the one who is more skilled is the teacher! You are better than me in this craft, so I must call you teacher. Would you do me the honor of coming to Deyun Society tomorrow to hang out?"

At the door of the private room, Guo Degang grabbed Lin Chen's hand tightly, his tongue tied, and said.

Lin Chen also chuckled, "Sure. I'll come over tomorrow and show you a unique skill, let you see what it means to be blessed by the ancestors of the trade."

"Done! Then... then I'll be waiting at the garden for Teacher Lin's arrival!"

The group helped each other walk outside. Tong Liya held Lin Chen's arm. Lin Chen was doing okay; although he was swaying a bit, he was still clear-headed. Old Guo was in a sorry state; he was almost hanging on Guo Qilin, and if he let go, he would collapse directly to the ground.

When the group reached the lobby of the teahouse, the strap of Tong Liya's bag accidentally swept across a Calligraphy scroll hanging on the wall. With a crisp "rip" sound, the piece of Calligraphy was split right down the middle, leaving a large tear.

...

"Oh!" Tong Liya exclaimed and stopped in her tracks. She had been so focused on supporting Lin Chen that she hadn't noticed anything hanging on the wall. "Husband, wait for me a moment."

She let go of Lin Chen and raised her hand to wave at a waiter not far away, "Waiter, excuse me, please come here."

She wasn't the type to cause trouble and run away. Whether it was intentional or not, if she broke someone's things, she would pay whatever was owed; she had at least that much awareness.

The waiter trotted over, and upon seeing the Calligraphy painting on the wall that had been ripped to shreds, his face turned green. He stammered that this was too big a matter for him to decide and that he had to go get the manager.

Huang Bo, Guo Degang, and the others saw this and had no choice but to stop and wait together.

Less than two minutes later, a middle-aged woman in a professional suit came over aggressively. This woman was the teahouse manager, and her man-eating expression made it clear to everyone that today's matter would probably not be so easy to resolve.

"How are you walking? Are your eyes just there to let out air? Can't you see the Calligraphy on the wall? Do you know whose masterpiece this is?"

The female manager walked up to them, pointed at the writing on the wall, and started scolding them like a machine gun, her tone as aggressive as if she had eaten gunpowder.

Tong Liya's anger flared up instantly. In her life, she had only ever been willing to take grievances and be submissive in front of Lin Chen. If it were anyone else, she wouldn't put up with her young lady temper being tested. I broke it, I'll pay for it, who do you think you are to point at my nose and scold me?