Opera Trainee

Good news: After being bedridden in his previous life, Shen Mo is reborn at fifteen and becomes a student at an opera academy.

Bad news: For his first role, he is forced to switch from martial-arts performer to young male lead.

Good news: He awakens a System. As long as he trains hard at acting, he can improve his singing, skills, intelligence, stamina, and more.

Bad news: He has a terminal illness and only six months to live.

His real goal is to make money and find a way to avoid kicking the bucket in six months. Shen Mo trains (jia dian), performs, and takes on roles, gradually becoming a qualified young inheritor of intangible cultural heritage.

With the System and the experience of his previous life, he soon stands out in all kinds of performances:

Drawing on the experience of two lifetimes, he can play both male leads and martial-arts roles. He is Zhang Sheng in The Story of the Western Wing and Yang Guifei in The Palace of Eternal Life; Liu Mengmei in The Peony Pavilion, Li Xiangjun in The Peach Blossom Fan, and Chen Miaochang in The Jade Hairpin.

But then strange things begin to happen... The neighbor who plays a young woman in a boudoir drama is always fussing over him, and the girl who plays a refined female role in the opera troupe starts gazing at him with affection. The academy's Western Opera Hall at midnight, costumes from the Republican era, an ancient bone flute, an old ceremonial feather robe, a coin sword, embroidered shoes, a rouge box, a mysterious scroll...

Once subdued, each artifact reveals all sorts of influences and wondrous powers. They weave their way into stories, bringing to life stirring classical romances and dramatic farewells between life and death.

(The opera scenes focus mainly on Kunqu. A few explanations are woven in, so they should be easy to follow.)

[Tags: intangible cultural heritage, Chinese opera, character growth, Kunqu, Peking opera, folk customs]