wavenovel Chapter 34 Because he has many wives.
Chapter 34 Because he has many wives.
"It's been so long since I've come out to see a folk performance!"
Ye Kai suddenly realized that he hadn't had this kind of interest for more than ten years, from junior high school through high school and university, and even after he started working.
Although it was already mid-February, the climate in Xinghua City had not changed much, especially at night when it was still a bit cold.
When the night wind blows, it's hard to stand without a thick coat.
Shen Jiayi was wearing a red trench coat, a woolen hat, and a thick scarf, yet she didn't feel the cold at all. Her face was flushed from drinking yellow wine, and her eyes had a slightly dreamy look.
Chen Xiaoyu wasn't dressed warmly, but her youthful energy was even more pronounced. The slightly chilly night made her seem even more lively. As soon as she went out, she bought three skewers of candied hawthorn and gave one to everyone.
The two women followed Ye Kai and resumed their intimate hand-in-hand posture, as if the subtle atmosphere during the meal had never existed.
Have you ever thought about dressing up as a bobblehead doll?
After eating two candied hawthorns, Shen Jiayi suddenly had a whimsical idea.
Chen Xiaoyu brought the glutinous rice balls for tonight's Lantern Festival, and she also bought the candied hawthorns. It seems that she came to Ye Kai's house empty-handed, which made Miss Shen feel like she was just a freeloader, so she had to do something to make herself feel better.
"The big-headed dolls in the folk performance?"
Upon hearing this suggestion, Chen Xiaoyu was clearly tempted and couldn't help but turn her gaze to Ye Kai beside her, looking somewhat eager to try.
"Can?"
Ye Kai looked at Shen Jiayi and tentatively asked a question.
"Watch me!"
Miss Shen's answer was crisp and efficient, and then she started making phone calls.
That's right, she's the mayor's daughter now.
Ye Kai nodded, muttering to himself.
Although Shen Mingsun is currently only a division-level cadre, a minor figure in the domestic bureaucratic system, he is the chief administrative officer of a county-level city, and his power may be unbelievably great.
To put it bluntly, if Shen Mingsun had a dream the night before, as long as he lowered his standards for being a decent person and an official, that dream could come true the next day.
The terms "local official" and "marquis of a hundred miles" were never coined out of thin air.
Therefore, the hidden strength that Shen Jiayi, the mayor's daughter, possesses is actually quite great.
"All done!"
"When we get to the venue, there will be people guiding us to participate in the activities!"
Three minutes later, Shen Jiayi hung up the phone and gave the two of them a look that everything was OK.
The city's folk performances are organized by the Culture and Tourism Bureau, but the municipal government will definitely take the lead and arrange some coordination work.
When the three arrived at the cultural center, a deputy director surnamed Wang came out to greet them warmly, took them inside to have tea and snacks, and then asked them about their thoughts.
"Playing a big-headed doll is actually quite tiring."
"You can try it out first and then make a decision. If there are no problems, you can choose to participate for half an hour and find an opportunity to leave in the middle."
"If you participate in the whole process, it will be quite late, which will affect your classes tomorrow."
Deputy Director Wang knew the three people were students, so he considered things more thoroughly.
So the three of them went to choose the big-headed doll headgear first.
The large-headed doll headgear used in Shehuo performances has an exaggerated design that emphasizes the head's features, such as small braids, a small mouth, big eyes, and rosy cheeks, aiming to give the performers a cute and endearing appearance.
"In a way, this is also part of our ancient cultural tradition."
"Decades ago, we made these helmets using traditional methods. Now, most of them are bought ready-made, and there are not many craftsmen left who know how to make them."
Watching them choose the big-headed doll headgear, Deputy Director Wang suddenly felt a bit emotional and began to tell them about the history of these headgear and masks.
"Aren't these all plastic products?"
"I heard that hoods and masks used to be made of paper?"
Ye Kai was also very interested in these things. After all, Professor Xu had assigned her a photography task, and while he was selecting them, he took many close-up photos of the headgear with his camera.
"Yes, we used to make them ourselves out of paper."
Deputy Director Wang nodded in affirmation.
Actually, the process of making this kind of thing is not complicated. First, plant a thick wooden stake in the ground, not too high, about the height of a person squatting.
Make a human head model on the top of the wooden stake using paper pulp clay. Make the nose high, and exaggerate the eye sockets, ears, and mouth. Then shade it and let it dry for later use.
Then prepare a thick stack of soft waste paper, many sheets, several sheets of white paper, a basin of water, and a small amount of flour.
Soak waste paper in clean water, then stick it to the clay head model in about four layers. Cook flour into a paste, mix it with water in a basin, and stir until it is as thin as possible. Then soak the waste paper in the diluted paste and continue to stick it to the clay head model. Stop when it is about the thickness of a chopstick, and let it dry.
After the paper on the head model dries, paste white paper onto it, again using diluted paste.
After it dries, stick small braids on the top of the head, draw hair, eyebrows, eyes, and lips, and use color to highlight the features of the nose and ears.
Make small holes, about the size of a fingertip, in the eyeballs and nostrils.
These four small holes allow people wearing big-headed doll masks to peek outside and breathe.
Finally, remove the pasted mask. First, cut a vertical slit from bottom to top at the back of the neck. Because the inner three layers of waste paper are pasted with water, they don't stick, so they are easier to remove.
After removing it, sew up the cut with a needle and thread, then cover the inside with white paper, dye it the same skin color as the surrounding area, and trim the neck edge of the mask with scissors before use.
"These big-headed doll headgear were used to be made by ourselves, mainly to save money."
"Otherwise, each Shehuo performance uses hundreds or even more headgear, each costing at least thousands of dollars, which is a considerable expense."
"I've made this myself two or three times before. As long as it's not deliberately damaged and is properly stored, this headgear can last for many years."
Recalling the past, Deputy Director Wang felt a pang of nostalgia.
For organizing a folk performance, these traditional big-headed doll headgear are naturally the most contemporary and more popular than the plastic headgear that was purchased later.
However, this thing was indeed quite heavy; you could say it was something you had to carry on your shoulders. It required some strength, but fortunately, the three young people were very enthusiastic, and they were able to keep going for half an hour.
Shen Jiayi and Chen Xiaoyu both chose pretty fairy-like headpieces, which were probably made of plastic and weren't too heavy.
Ye Kai chose a large-headed doll headgear made using traditional techniques, which looked like it was designed to resemble Wei Xiaobao.
Why did you choose this?
"It doesn't look very good either."
Miss Shen looked at Ye Kai, who had put the hood on his shoulder and started posing, and asked him a question with some curiosity.
"Because he has many wives!"
Ye Kai answered in a muffled voice from inside the hood.