Hm?

Ye Lingchen looked suspiciously at Lin Ao, who eagerly approached him.

"What's the matter?"

"Hehe." Lin Ao laughed dryly before saying, "Brother Ye, the Spring Festival Gala is our country's honor. What do you think of being on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala? "

"Not interested," Ye Lingchen answered curtly and raised his leg to continue walking.

"Brother Ye, you can't retreat at this critical moment, when the dignity of our nation is at stake. When it's time for you to take action, do it!" Lin Ao blocked Ye Lingchen at once. "There are still the Stick Nation's people here. If a cock-up happens, we'll be made the butt of jokes!"

Ye Lingchen thought about it for a moment. Everything happened precisely because of him, and it would be unreasonable if he just patted his butt and left.

"What do you want?" Ye Lingchen looked at Lin Ao.

"That..." Lin Ao rubbed his hands eagerly. "Do you know how to crosstalk?"

"I know a thing or two."

Knowing a thing or two is good enough!

Lin Ao laughed on the spot. "Great! Then I'd have to trouble Brother Ye to do a crosstalk act onstage. Do it for the sake of a fellow comrade. Please. Once the performance is over, I'll have the private jet send you home. "

"Chief Instructor Lin, if I didn't hear wrongly earlier, I think he said he only knew...a thing or two?" Feng Xiaofeng asked hesitantly. He thought his hearing was failing him.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW! Brother Ye's knowledge is different from ordinary people. It's unnecessary to question him. He's definitely going to be phenomenal!" Lin Ao chuckled slightly. "Hurry up and get your men ready."

"Doesn't Sensei Guo Dongshan have an apprentice? Call him over." Ye Lingchen touched his nose and said helplessly.

Soon, a fat man with a slightly chubby figure ran over. His face and body were round and he had small eyes. At a glance, his appearance would give joy to people and he was perfect for a crosstalk performance.

"Hello Director Feng, hello everyone, my name is Yue Yunpeng. You call me Little Yue, Little Peng, Little Yueyue. It's all fine with me," Yue Yunpeng was clearly very reserved and he spoke shyly in a low voice.

"Are you good with stand-up comedy?" Ye Lingchen asked straightforwardly.

"Yes," Yue Yunpeng answered immediately.

"How's your memory? How long have you been with your master?"

"My master took me in because my oratory skills are good and I have a good memory. I've been with him for six years."

"Straight man or fool, which one are you good at?"

"I've been focusing on being the straight man. "

The fool and the straight man were roles of equal importance. Crosstalk required two people to complement each other, echo each other, make jokes with each other, and add comedy to something that was not even funny in the first place.

The fool was the comedian who mainly narrates the plot of the story, now commonly called 'A'.

The straight man who augmented the plot of the story with the fool was now usually called 'B'.

In crosstalk, the fool performs in tandem with the straight man. Through the support and cushion of the straight man, the narrative would gradually build up to a punchline and produce jokes.

In a program, the role of the straight man may seem small and the fool appeared to be the one who spoke most frequently. However, that could not be further from the truth. Good straight men were hard to find, and it was more difficult for the straight man to do a good job as compared to the fool. Skill and precise attention to the atmosphere were key, as well as forming a link between the preceding and proceeding bits. They were like green leaves and red flowers—neither was complete without the other.

To deliver a successful punchline in crosstalk, it was necessary to string it along and build up to it. Neglecting a particular aspect was utterly unacceptable. A tacit understanding between the fool and the straight man was indispensable, and one could not leave the other hanging.

Of course, when a comedian first started learning, he or she had to begin from the basic skills, regardless of whether they studied to be the fool or the straight man. The fool must also be able to play the role of a straight man and vice versa. A person who was proficient in one while having scant knowledge about the other would be regarded as a 'cripple' in the crosstalk world.

Even though some crosstalk comedians focused on being the fool, some were born to be the straight man and therefore focused on that role. However, it did not mean that they only knew how to do one role with ignorance of the other.

There were also certain rules with the position when they stood on stage.

The stage was centered around the table, with the straight man standing behind the table while the fool stood on the table's right side. The fool's entire body would be visible, while the lower half of the straight man would be obscured by the table.

The rationale was not that hard to comprehend if one understood the straight man as being akin to an anchor, allowing the fool free rein to maneuver.

"How long until the performance?" Ye Lingchen asked.

"Less than fifteen minutes," Feng Xiaofeng replied immediately.

"Barely enough time. Come with me!" Ye Lingchen nodded, then led Little Yueyue to a private room. "Bring a paper and pen!"

Ye Lingchen wrote down—on the spot—everything he was going to talk about during the crosstalk.

The contents were considered to be only an approximation. Aside from one's lines, stand-up comedy emphasized the in-the-moment performance, because it was often necessary to adapt to the reactions toward their performance.

Was he...writing the script extempore?

Everyone stared.

Feng Xiaofeng wanted to speak up and express his doubts, but he swallowed it and could only stand aside nervously.

Writing crosstalk on the spot was rather nonsensical. To some extent, crosstalk was more difficult than a song, because crosstalk focused on one's onstage abilities and language skills. The crowd would be cold if one aspect was not up to par, which could make for an extremely embarrassing scene.

Moreover, even if he really could write good crosstalk, the two of them have never cooperated. What were they to do if they suddenly had stage fright after?

At that moment, Feng Xiaofeng had nothing to lose and could only count on a miracle to happen. Anything was fair game in a moment of desperation.

Lin Ao frowned too, but he was very confident in Ye Lingchen's so-called 'I-know-a-thing-or-two' knowledge. His cursory knowledge was very impressive and it was highly likely that nothing untoward would happen.

Chen Xiaoyan and Zhao Liangying watched both nervously and curiously. If Ye Lingchen went onstage and made mistakes, he would definitely be scarred for life. Should that happen, he might even be scolded on the internet, so it was logical for the two ladies to be incredibly worried. At the same time, however, they were also looking forward to a miracle from Ye Lingchen—after all, the stage was that of the Spring Festival Gala.

Little Yueyue had a similar mood, but he was mostly worried. He had a strong feeling that things would go wrong.

In fact, his master Guo Dongshan had earlier called and warned him repeatedly—if there was no performance, he had to bite the bullet and go onstage. At most, he would suffer a slew of criticism online, but that was better than leaving the audience in awkward silence.

He had to carry that burden on his back!

He braced himself and was even prepared to face the fact that it might be the last crosstalk performance he would ever give in his entire life. After all, how could anyone create a good routine in such a short time?

'All I have to do is do my best. If I can go on the Spring Festival Gala's stage, I'll die without regrets even if I'm berated to death.'

"F*ck, what is that guy doing? "

"It looks like he's writing his crosstalk on the spot."

"Writing it on the spot? You can't be serious? Isn't God Ye a sports star? His physique is strong and he even knows crosstalk?"

"Sounds like a crosstalk routine to have sports stars perform crosstalk..."

"There are only ten minutes left, and they have to practice the lines after writing it. Most importantly, Little Yueyue seems to be a newbie."

"They're doing it without any plan whatsoever, aren't they? Just perfect. It'd be much better if I were to go onstage."

...