Autumn in Beijing is dry and a bit chilly. The leaves of the old locust trees in the alley are half yellow but not green. When the wind passes, a layer of rustling leaves falls off and spreads on the blue-grey brick floor. Deep in the alley with twists and turns, in a large courtyard with mottled vermilion paint and a plaque hanging "Guofeng Opera Academy", there are waves of babbling voices, occasionally mixed with the crisp sound of bamboo boards and the teacher's stern scolding.
"Waist! The waist is slumped! Where are your eyes? Where are those eyes of yours? Didn't Chang Laosheng ask you to look at the rafters!" A middle-aged male teacher wearing whitewashed practice clothes and meticulously combed hair walked among a group of half-grown children with his hands behind his back. The cane in his hand was faintly lit, and the air was tense.
The child named was about eleven or twelve years old. His nickname was "Leizi" and his given name was Chen Dalei. He was holding his breath and trying hard to lower his waist, but his waist was as hard as if it was competing with him. His facial features were straight, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a straight nose, but his eyes had a stubbornness that refused to obey discipline, and there was also a hint of... How should I put it, annoyance at the boring and repetitive actions in front of him.
