Father is the eldest son of the family, with a high seniority, so I have been treated well since I was young. Every year on the second day of the second lunar month, the town would set up a grand stage and invite famous opera troupes to perform, with the sound of drums and boards echoing for a whole day and night. The elders in my family would never miss this opportunity. And I, benefiting from my father's status, was also allowed to go to the town to watch the opera, but most of the time I went to escape from private school.
Although Chixian and Huanzhen are only a few hundred miles apart, they have completely different scenes. Unlike the desolation of Chixian, Huanzhen gathers people from various counties and even from the city. The stone-paved roads in the town are made of transparent blue stones, without a single crack. On both sides of the street are merchants selling rare items from Japan and Korea. I am very interested in learning their shouting, which is loud and crisp, just like the whistle. To the north of the street is the stage, surrounded by clusters of bungalows, as well as teahouses, inns, and even a few gambling houses. Huanzhen was usually lively like this.
But this year, Huanzhen is a bit restless. Since someone in the town died of the plague in January, a strange disease has spread. Those infected with this disease have symptoms similar to tuberculosis, with fever and coughing as if they want to cough out their lungs. This disease has been spreading for over a month, and many people have died. The government posted notices, prohibiting people from moving around, and ordered the doctor from the medical clinic to diagnose people everywhere. These notices did have some effect, but in the hearts of the theater-goers, the actors and actresses were the real cure.
After packing our luggage, I boarded the boat with my father. The boat is usually rowed by a thin old man, but this time it was replaced by a middle-aged man. My father told me that the old man had died of lung disease, and this man is his son. My father and he stood on the shore and each smoked a cigarette. The man coughed heavily, as if his throat was choked by the smoke. My father patted his back, took his smoking pot, and told him to untie the boat rope. Along the way, my father and he chatted at the stern of the boat, and I couldn't join the conversation, so I boiled water to drink. I didn't bring a container for water, so I had to borrow a small bowl from the boatman. The water in the bowl was steaming, and I held the bowl up to my eyes, looking through the steam outside, and found many other boats traveling, presumably filled with people who also longed for the opera.
The boat floated downstream and arrived in Huanzhen in less than half a day. I stepped onto the stone-paved road and felt that the town was no different from previous years, still bustling with crowds, crisp shouts, and crowded teahouses and inns. The opera was scheduled to start the next day, so my father took me to the small shop where we stayed before. The shop is located in an alley, with a pharmacy inside. But when I and my father walked into the alley, we found that the pharmacy's door was tightly closed. My father asked the innkeeper and learned that the doctor from the pharmacy, Li Langzhong, had died of lung disease a few days ago.
After settling down, my father sent me to buy some food. I didn't want to go back so early, so I wandered around the town. The town was very lively, especially the restaurants and taverns, which were filled with guests from all directions. There were many shops selling opera masks on the roadside, colorful and beautiful. The teahouses were crowded with people listening to storytelling, and those who arrived early had their own round stools, while those who came later stood at the entrance, making it lively.
Before long, it started to get dark, so I picked up the food and headed back. On the wall near the alley entrance, there was still half of an old yellowed notice, probably posted by the government, but I didn't know who had torn off half of it. I also saw the tightly closed door of the pharmacy, and a sense of fear arose in my heart, so I hurriedly left.
I lay on the bed with my clothes on, but I kept tossing and turning. On one hand, I was curious about the opera the next day, and on the other hand, I felt that Huanzhen had become unfamiliar to me. But I couldn't explain why.
Father said that each color of the opera masks represents a different character.
Is it the people watching the opera, or the opera watching the people?
The opera in Huanzhen is going to be performed for a whole day and night.