Feature Shows Extravaganza - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Chinese New Year

Translator: Henyee Translations

Editor: Henyee Translations

A week before Chinese New Year, apart from the periodical traffic rush, the collapse of He Yifan’s public persona was the most talked about topic online.

As the saying went, a mother should never look ugly to her son, the way a family never seemed poor to a dog.

He Yifan didn’t do anything wrong. At least from an objective point of view, he should have had the right to decide what show to take or to turn down.

However, from a moral perspective, netizens despised him for his ungrateful behavior.

He looked down on feature shows after gaining his fame because of one such show, and he wouldn’t stop taking advantage of the popularity of that very show. What a double-faced man!

Meng Lang didn’t see this coming…

The sequel of Blazing Teens had been put on the company’s schedule and was going to start shooting this June. The director would be hired from outside, Wang Kui was going to be the producer, and Pengda Pictures the production company.

That was to say, Meng Lang had nothing to do with the preparation of Blazing Teens 2, and didn’t know anything about the incident.

Of course, the actor could choose not to participate in the show. There was nothing wrong with shaking hands and bidding each other farewell on friendly terms.

Take Nagano Hiroshi and Tsuburaya Productions as an example. Johnny’s had also refused to have Nagano Hiroshi, one of its actors, to play a role in Tsburaya’s feature show, fearing that it would negatively affect the actor’s image.

But did anyone lash out at Nagano Hiroshi for that?

The “traffic accident prone quality” meme didn’t count…

Feature shows could easily make an actor or actress popular, but would soon lose them. A lot of actors or actresses had gained their popularity from feature shows, but less than a handful had chosen to keep playing in such shows.

But why were people mad at He Yifan?

Well, he deserved it!

…

With the coming new year, Meng Lang dropped all the work at hand, gave his employees their year-end bonus, and went back home riding his electric scooter.

How shocking! The president of a company only had an electric scooter for his ride!

Please don’t ask, for the man would only tell you that he didn’t have a car.

He could afford it, but didn’t see why he should have had one.

The traffic in the city center was more congested than a blocked nose during rush hour, which was why Meng Lang had no plans to buy a car for the time being. He flew everywhere when he was going to other cities, and he could always borrow his old man’s Mercedes. There was no need for him to buy a car at all.

Mr. Old Meng was learning how to make dumplings.

He gave up before he could make 10, and went to the supermarket to buy some quick-frozen ones.

What about his son? Could Old Meng count on Meng Lang?

Well, a pig would learn to climb a tree first!

Going back five generations, no male member of the Meng Family knew how to cook. Meng Lang was no exception.

Chinese New Year in the Meng Family turned out to be a rather lonely one this year.

Meng Lang’s grandaunt, aka his grandfather’s cousin, fell ill and ended up in ICU. As a result, Li Shufen had to go back to their hometown to check up on the old lady.

She just happened to leave home during the peak travel season, and wouldn’t be back for another 7-10 days.

The father and son wanted to go with her, but simply couldn’t make the time. Meng Lang had to stay because Balala the Fairies would be on air on the first day of the new lunar year, whereas Meng Minghui couldn’t bring himself to leave his factory unsupervised…

Hence, while the other families were all preparing their family reunion dinner for the Chinese New Year’s Eve, the two men and a dog of the Meng Family still had no idea what they would eat that night.

“Quick-frozen dumplings aren’t tasty at all. We should just go out for dinner. That way, we won’t even have to wash dishes…” Meng Lang suggested.

Mr. Old Meng shook his head and objected adamantly. “No way! Today is the Chinese New Year’s Eve, and everyone is having dinner with all of their family members. They’ll laugh at us when they see that we’re all by ourselves.”

“There are private rooms!”

“Still no. The waiters can still see us and laugh at us.” Meng Minghui just wouldn’t go eat in a restaurant.

Having no other choice, Meng Lang had to give in. “Quick-frozen dumplings it is, then. We’ll make do tonight and go out tomorrow. No one will say anything tomorrow.”

“All right…”

Hence, the father and son got down to business.

Meng Lang cooked the dumplings while Meng Minghui prepared the condiments.

That would do the trick for the dinner tonight.

When Meng Lang was ready to eat his dumplings, half a country away in Zhonghai at Pan Da’s home, some dumplings were also ready.

As soon as his mother put some steaming dumplings on the table, Pan Da reached out with his chopsticks, but Pan Qiliang patted the back of Pan Da’s hand.

“The seniors haven’t eaten yet!”

Pouting, Pan Da reluctantly put his chopsticks down.

The adults sat together, chatting about all the things that had happened in the past year, their glossy faces reminded one of prawns that were just out of a frying pan.

Led by the two grandmothers, a team of “chefs” were busy preparing a big dinner. The voices of the hosts of the New Year’s Eve Gala were coming out of the TV…

“Coming up next is a short act brought to us by the Sad Fried Dough Twists, ‘Take a Fancy’…”

After some boring singing and dancing was over, the adults finally turned their attention back to the TV.

“A short act from the Fried Dough Twists? That’s worth watching.”

It was Pan Da’s uncle.

“Crosstalks and short acts are about the only things worth watching in the New Year’s Eve Gala…”

That was from Daddy.

“That so-and-so is a pretty good singer, too, but I can’t believe she’s already that old…”

That was the grandfather.

They were still chatting when the short act started.

Short acts performed on New Year’s Eve Gala were usually satirical at their core, targeted at some current situations. “Take a Fancy” was no exception.

The short act started with Hao Ren, the main character, arriving at a primary level office to go through some formalities, only to be told that he didn’t have all the necessary paperwork and would have to provide them. Since Hao Ren was in a rush, he took advice from the clerk, and was going to give the clerk’s superior some gifts to his fancy…

However, the official was an impartial man and wouldn’t accept any gift. Hence, Hao Ren decided to work on the official’s family members. After learning that the official’s son had a thing for yo-yos, Hao Ren decided to buy one for the son.

“Yo-yo Robber”, a major thief who travelled world-wide to steal children’s toys, climbed into the official’s home through the window, and ran into Hao Ren, who was there to deliver his gift. The two men fought a battle of wits and courage in a silly manner, then the Yo-yo Robber’s ended up leaving his trophies in the official’s house…

The robber fled the scene hastily when the official returned home, leaving Hao Ren outside the door. The official misunderstood Hao Ren when he found the sack of yo-yos that had been left at his house, resulting in a new round of misunderstandings…

Of course, the story had a happy ending.

After many twists and turns, the misunderstanding was rectified, and the official scolded Hao Ren for trying to curry a favor from him. The lecture went on until the Yo-yo Robber came back for his trophies. Hao Ren redeemed himself by catching the robber…

The short act ended with happy laughters and cheerful voices.

Although it was a satirical short act, strangely, both the adults and the kids had enjoyed it.

The lines were quite funny.

The Yo-yo Robber: “What are you here for?”

Hao Ren (who didn’t know the official’s face and was on edge): “I come bearing gifts…”

The Yo-yo Robber: “Show me!”

(The yo-yo was handed over.)

The Yo-yo Robber: “This is good stuff. I’ll take it!”

Hao Ren (in a shocked, dubious tone): “You… are into this as well?”

Haha!

One had to admit that the short acts of the New Year’s Eve Gala had always closely followed the current trends.

For instance, this year, the yo-yo was brought up…

Pan Da was over the moon. Pointing at the TV, he told the adults, “That’s a yo-yo! Dad, look! Yo-yos aren’t just for kids!

“Grownups play with them, too!”

Pan Qiliang laughed, then rubbed his son’s head. “You’re right. Grownups play with them, too…”

“Don’t stop me from playing with yo-yos, then!”

Pan Da said angrily, “That’s so double-standard and out of line!”