Chapter Ninety-two The Banquet

  "Oh my two ancestors, you two want to date, wait for the program to finish before going! There are still three programs left, and it's your turn on stage soon. Just now I was preparing and couldn't find anyone, it almost drove me crazy!" The person in charge of the backstage was a young teacher from the music department. When Chen Chufan pulled Han Xiaoxi in through the back door, he was spotted by his sharp eyes, followed by a good scolding."

  Han Xiaoxi stuck out her tongue and pushed Chen Chufan forward, hiding behind him. The young man rubbed his head and revealed a silly smile, "Isn't this rushing to arrive on time? I'm the most punctual person!"

  He can't just say that the parents of this little beauty next to him are also sitting in the audience as special guests invited by the school, and after the party, the little beauty will be taken away by her parents, so it's impossible to ask her out. This is too implicit, he's afraid the young teacher in front of him can't handle it.

  "Alright, alright, I won't bother you two anymore. Hurry up and get ready, there are only ten minutes left before the performance starts." The young teacher waved his hand and let them off. He was still very busy and had to go ask about the next program if it was ready. After all, the school leaders had given a strict order that today's show must not have any mistakes.

  It's the 100th anniversary of the school, not only is there a live TV broadcast, but also several heavyweight provincial and municipal leaders have been invited to attend. The number of successful alumni who have made a name for themselves is countless, and with such a grand lineup, it would be a disaster if they were to lose face at the evening party.

  Chen Chufan led the way, holding hands with Han Xiaoxi, and came to the four people who were already prepared. He casually greeted them with a wave of his hand.

  "Hi, how is everyone feeling? Nervous?"

  "You're the lead, you're not nervous, what do we have to be nervous about!" Ye Siying gave Chen Chufan a white eye and pulled over Han Xiaoxi who was still standing beside Chen Chufan.

  Ye Siyi was indeed not nervous, having participated in countless piano competitions and being accustomed to playing the piano under the gaze of many people. Today's task for her was also just like that, naturally so.

  Lao Da Meng Wei gave Chen Chu Fan a stern look, but didn't say a word. The ancient armor he borrowed really made him exude the aura of an ancient general. As for Meng Wei, he wasn't worried about Chen Chu Fan at all; his old boss was always calm and composed, rarely getting anxious or tense.

  Moreover, Meng Wei and his girlfriend's performance was simple, with no dance, just making some specific actions at certain times, even if they were nervous, it wouldn't be a big deal.

  A few people chatted casually for a couple of sentences, and the teacher in charge of the backstage hurried over again. "You guys come with me quickly, the host is about to go on stage!"

  He was led to the stage by that teacher, the entire stage had been covered with a curtain, the required instruments and background objects had already been placed on the stage by the staff according to requirements. The guqin that Chen Chufan needed to play was placed in the center of the stage, and two microphones were specially prepared for him. One was placed under the sound hole of the guqin, and the other was above it for Chen Chufan's singing. The arrangement was extremely thoughtful. This also shows that the school had put a lot of effort into this evening party.

  Several people sat in their positions during rehearsal, and the host's voice came from the front of the curtain.

  "The next program is brought to you by Chen Chufan from the History Department and his classmates, who will present their original song 'Jasper Night Rain'. This song is said to be inspired by a tragic love story recorded in an ancient unofficial history of Country Z. Let's look forward to the wonderful performance by our History Department classmates."

  Immediately following was the thunderous applause and whistling. Chen Chufan, with his keen senses, even heard some bored young people shouting slogans in unison, "Chen Chufan, jiayou!"

  "Sister, you think this is a 5000-meter race!" The young man muttered under his breath and then focused his mind, starting to pluck the strings of the instrument.

  As the curtain slowly opened, the ancient zither sound slowly echoed. At this time, the stage lights were not yet on, and in the darkness, the crisp and clear solo of the ancient zither seemed to fall from the sky and then entered the ears of the audience below. This gentle and ethereal voice seemed to have some kind of magic power, making the noisy chatter of the audience below gradually quiet down.

  "Who played the guqin? It's quite impressive! Principal Chu, the quality education at Min University is well done. I see that your students' talents are all very refined!" A leader-like elder sitting in the front row of the stage, next to Principal Chu, whispered to him with a tilted head.

  "Haha, Secretary Liao is being too kind, but it's true that our school has always emphasized the cultivation of students' interests. Now we're even required to develop morally, intellectually, physically and aesthetically! " Principal Chu said humbly for half a sentence before launching into a boastful self-praise.

  Liao Secretary smiled faintly and didn't continue the conversation, quietly watching the show.

  At the same time, not far away from them, Han Xiaohei's mother was also whispering to her husband: "I heard Xiaohei say that the guqin in this program is played by that child, it's pretty good! He's quite talented!"

  "Alright, you have talent, so listen up. Are you afraid that your daughter won't be able to get married or something? Always going on and on about how great that young man is!" Secretary Han said irritably.

  Han Xiaoxi's mother also fell silent, and without leaving any trace, she pinched her husband's waist, not paying attention to his reaction, and focused on looking at the stage, where her daughter was about to make an appearance.

  The curtain had fully opened, the prelude of the guqin was about to end, and a beam of light suddenly lit up, shining on the young man who was intently playing the guqin. Due to the effect of the light, it seemed as if there was only one person on stage at this time, but at this moment, the beautiful piano accompaniment sound came from the darkness again. The boy's singing voice also came out from this moment.

  "The windscreen moves, the rain is lingering, who can understand my sorrow. Spring has passed, beauty is fading, how many white hairs have been added. The geese have flown away, the village is desolate, are you still standing outside the village?..." The low and magnetic male voice sang out, amidst the gentle accompaniment, a faint sorrow floated through the entire venue.

  "One layer after another, the mountain stairs are deep, I've heard that you're always alone, the rain is annoying, a night's dream wakes up in a few minutes..." As the song progresses to this point, the stage lights gradually brighten up, the beautiful guzheng sound, the gentle piano sound, the elegant erhu sound and the melodious flute sound all work together with the singer to tell the audience below a poignant ancient love story.

  Of course, the two actors' tacit and simple performance was also indispensable. Although it was just a few simple actions and several helpless glances, they vividly brought out the atmosphere of the song.

  Half of the song was sung, and the instruments began to interlude. The TV station staff responsible for filming on stage whispered: "The lyrics and melody of this song are not bad, I think it sounds pretty good."

  "Right, I'll cut out this segment later and recommend it to those people at the music channel when I get back!"

  But the discussion among students in the audience was not so professional.

  "This song sounds great! Didn't you bring a recorder? Hurry up and record it!"

  "My god, I just got hooked and forgot! Sister, record this, record this!"

  Chen Chufan didn't notice the reaction from under the stage, he had already entered a state of mind. The young man's expression was very focused, singing with all his heart. He was about to leave this familiar campus, leave behind the brothers who accompanied him day and night, leave behind his intimate lover. The sorrow of parting is like a tangled thread that cannot be cut off, and parting means longing. The emotions of longing and yearning in the entire song were performed with great skill by the young man at this moment.

  The audience was quieter than ever before, the lighting effects were gradually fading away, but the emotions brought by the singing voice were fermenting. It seemed that everyone could hear their own story from this slightly sad song. Who hasn't had an unfulfilled longing? Who doesn't have someone they miss while being far apart? Even people with rich emotions had tears welling up in their eyes.

  For example, Han Xiaoxi's mother. Perhaps because they are all infatuated with art, they can easily find resonance in various different forms of art, especially when the performer of this song is her own daughter, which makes this mother feel even more moved. Tears have already been swirling in her eyes, and she tightly wraps her arms around her husband's arm, as if letting go would be like the lyrics of the song, where the mountain gate collapses and breaks off their emotional bond, leaving them to gaze at each other with tears in their eyes.

  Han Xiaoxi's hands on the erhu didn't stop, but her eyes never left the boy sitting in front of the guqin on the stage. Every plucking motion he made, every note he sang, struck a chord in her heart, moving every nerve in her body. Although she had practiced countless times and no longer felt the freshness of hearing the song for the first time, thinking that this program was created by the boy for her, performed for her, still touched the softest part deep within her, and a warm feeling spread from the bottom of her heart, the girl's expression became more and more gentle, and her gaze at the boy became more and more infatuated.

  "Buddha once said that deep affection accumulated over many lifetimes requires bitter waiting, and I can wait alone for a thousand years just to meet you in the next life. If you wish to pass through the gate of the next life, I'll play a melody on the guqin for you, layer by layer, as if entering the mountain temple's deep stairs. I heard that you're still guarding the solitary city, where the crumbling mountain gate cuts off our affectionate bond and bitter waiting. In this life, we have fate but no destiny, outside the Azure Temple, under the eternal night rain. The song has ended, the last note of the guqin also fades away reluctantly, but the emotions it brought to the audience still linger on, the music stops but the people remain, and the silence below the stage remains unchanged."

  A few seconds later, when the first applause sounded, the audience in the whole venue woke up like a dream, and the thunderous applause rose. Many enthusiastic children also shouted, "Come on again!"

  The performers all walked to Chen Chu's side, lined up in a row, bowed and paid their respects, ready to take their final bow. Everything was perfect, the program had reached its climax, it could be said that this was the most impressive part of the whole evening. The lyrics and music were all created by themselves, all the accompaniment was operated by the students themselves, and the singer was also the author of the lyrics and music. For a group of students, it was indeed rare and precious. Principal Chu was very satisfied, at least he was very satisfied at this moment.