Chapter 487: Disparaging Begins!
At the venue.
In the recording studio.
No one knew what had happened. After Zhang Xiao and Liu Yuan's crosstalk ended, there wasn't much applause from the audience.
This was because they did not find Tang Dazhang's disciples' crosstalk funny at all. Maybe it was because their standards had been raised after watching Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai's performance yesterday. It was also possible that Zhang Xiao and Liu Yuan's performance today was indeed bad. There wasn't much laughter from beginning to end. Furthermore, when the two of them were ridiculing Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai, it was extremely jarring to the audience's ears. In their opinion, Zhang Ye's crosstalk was excellent. In some aspects, it had already reached the crest of perfection, exceeding all the crosstalk works that currently existed, but the duo was ridiculing how Zhang Ye engaged in the Three Vulgarities? You ridiculed how they couldn't do crosstalk? What sort of qualifications do you have? Take a look at what crap you are performing!
The audience did not like it.
Bba Bba Bba. There was still applause though.
Why? This was because Tang Dazhang and a group of crosstalk actors and other judges for the preliminaries had entered in droves and sat down. They did not get to listen to it from the beginning, but managed to hear the last segment that the duo did. They found it especially good and clapped while smiling and nodding their heads!
A crosstalk senior commented, "This is what art looks like."
Another Folk Art Association cadre said, "Yes, Zhang Xiao and Liu Yuan are not bad."
"Old Tang took into two good disciples. It makes me green with envy." Another industry peer praised.
Tang Dazhang said modestly, "The two are still young and aren't up to the mark yet."
The judges below the stage were no longer the same three people as there had been a change. The three were all seniors of the crosstalk world. All of them were in their forties or fifties. After listening to the performance, they gave high praises to Zhang Xiao and Liu Yuan's crosstalk performance. "It was very artistic and, compared to the previous work, it is one step higher. The final drive at the topic was very forceful and well done. It also analyzed the current situation of crosstalk very clearly."
Another old judge nodded his head while stroking his beard and said, "Very profound. Not bad."
Audience: "..."
Do you have eyes? This crappy crosstalk wasn't humorous at all. It nearly bored us to sleep, and you f**king said it was not bad? It was art with profoundness? Are we even in the same world? Are we even listening to the same crosstalk performance?!
Zhang Xiao smiled and said, "Thank you to the judges for your affirmation."
Liu Yuan said, "We will continue working hard."
The third judge hesitated and said something fair. "There were a few burdens that were not stirring enough and were relatively weak."
Tang Dazhang frowned and gave that judge a cold glance. It was unknown what he was thinking about.
In a blink of an eye, the two of them disembarked from the stage. While they passed by Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai, Tang Dazhang's two disciples leered at them with a taunting look.
The announcer said, "Next up. Zhang Ye, Yao Jiancai. They will be performing 'I will reject the Three Vulgarities'. May we invite the two contestants on stage."
What?
Reject the Three Vulgarities?
The audience burst into laughter. Compared to the other crosstalk actors, the audience here clearly understood Zhang Ye better. I will reject the Three Vulgarities? They knew that it was possible if it came out from the mouths of others, but if it was said by this fellow, Zhang Ye? Definitely and absolutely impossible! He wanted to reject the Three Vulgarities? Then a female ass can climb up trees! For some reason, the audience immediately felt an overwhelming sense of anticipation as their appetites were whet!
Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai stepped onstage.
The first judge leered at them. "You can begin."
The judge was not interested in speaking to them. On the web, their Folk Arts world had lost all decorum with Zhang Ye. They had boycotted and denounced him. They believed that if they kept this going, Zhang Ye and Yao Jiancai would very likely be disqualified from the competition shortly after. When that happened, so what if their performances were good? So what if you had more votes? You still couldn’t enter the semi-finals!
However, Zhang Ye did not take them seriously at all. Without even looking at them, he chuckled and began. "Hello everybody."
Yao Jiancai smiled. "Hello everyone."
Zhang Ye: "This round, it's our turn."
Yao Jiancai: "Yes."
Zhang Ye stretched out his four fingers. "Crosstalk is an art, and it focuses on four subjects."
Yao Jiancai smiled and said, "Yes."
Zhang Ye said, "Drag, Shoes, Then, Sing."
This kind of burden situations was already considered trite in the crosstalk world, however, the contents of the burden had never been said before in this world, hence the audience burst into laughter upon hearing this!
Audience: "Hahaha!"
Yao Jiancai stared and said, "It's Talk, Learn, Humor, Sing!"
Zhang Ye blinked. "You changed it?"
"You’re the one who changed it!" Yao Jiancai said in a speechless manner, "You even said drag shoes then sing? Won't you suffocate the audience with the smell!?"
Audience: "Pfft hahahahaha!"
When the judges and the twenty crosstalk and Folk Art world people present heard this, their expressions turned ugly. Didn't you f**king say that you want to reject the Three Vulgarities, but what you are saying is still the Three Vulgarities! There's no intention of you sincerely wanting to turn over a new leaf! This work of yours is nonsense once again?
Zhang Ye sighed. "I don't know much about it anyway."
Yao Jiancai: "If you don't know anything, then don't spout rubbish. Don't incur ridicule upon yourself."
Zhang Ye looked at Old Yao and said, "Crosstalk is good. One look at Teacher Yao, and it's obvious that you are a professional crosstalk actor, right?"
Yao Jiancai chuckled and said, "I don't dare to say so, but I did learn it for a few years."
Zhang Ye said with curiosity, "I heard that it hasn’t been very peaceful recently the crosstalk world recently. It seems there's a lot of angst and fighting in it. Is that true?"
An uproar from the audience!
"Yi!"
"Yi!"
"Hahaha!"
The audience laughed. All of them knew Zhang Ye was asking the obvious. It was more than angst and fighting. Those bunch of people are boycotting you! They are against your Three Vulgarities!
Yao Jiancai coughed and said, "It's indeed true."
Zhang Ye: "I heard that everyone wants to reject the Three Vulgarities?"
The audience hissed again. "Hahaha!"
Yao Jiancai said, "I'm not really sure about that?"
Zhang Ye stared and said, "What? You don't even know about rejecting the Three Vulgarities? Hey, you are being abandoned by the era of the horse wagons!"
Yao Jiancai exclaimed, "Horse wagons? Yes, this era sure is going too slow!"
Zhang Ye: "You don't even know about the Three Vulgarities?"
Yao Jiancai: "I heard something about it. Why don't you introduce them?"
Zhang Ye immediately spread out his fingers. "What do the Three Vulgarities mean?"
Yao Jiancai: "Which are the three?"
Zhang Ye counted one by one. "Vulgar...Vulgar...Vulgar!"
Yao Jiancai exclaimed, "Why is it all vulgar!? What about base and philistine?"
Zhang Ye turned his head to look and pointed at Tang Dazhang's disciples, who had just walked offstage. "Didn't two of them go offstage just now?"
When Zhang Xiao heard this, he nearly planted his face into the floor backstage!
When Liu Yuan heard this, he nearly vomited blood. Zhang Ye! Your grandmother!
You are the one who is base!
You are the one who is philistine!
Tang Dazhang's face sank. The surrounding crosstalk actors were also enraged!
However, in contrast to their expressions, be it the live audience or the audience watching the livestream online, they burst out into laughter after a second of pause!
"Pfft!"
"I knew it! I knew it!"
"Hahaha! Zhang Ye's mouth is too disparaging!"
"Aiyah, I'm dying of laughter! Tang Dazhang's disciples just ridiculed Zhang Ye in their performance, and now, they have been struck back by Teacher Zhang! And they were only being sarcastic and did not even name names, but Teacher Zhang is calling them out directly! He named names to disparage them!"
"This will be good!"
"I knew Teacher Zhang would not be willing to let the matter go!"
"Haha, that's right! With so many people questioning and boycotting Zhang Ye collectively, if Teacher Zhang didn’t strike back, then it clearly isn't his style!"
"The articulate Face-smacking Zhang!"
"Compared to Teacher Zhang's disparaging, they are still lacking much!"
***Translator notes:
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