"If you have time,
Won't you come and see me,
Watch the snow grow old,
Watch my eyes melt away,
If you see me then,
Turn around and be surprised,
I fear my tears, my white hair, are a shameful joke..."
Unlike the initial acapella.
The chorus section had a more pronounced rhythm.
Qin Feng's singing style also changed slightly.
Adding a hint of mournful cry to the previous delivery.
After this part, there was an interlude of piano accompanied by strings.
As three heavy drum beats fell.
A series of crisp and beautiful piano notes began to play.
The mood gradually shifted from sorrow to urgency.
On the stage, the spotlight suddenly extinguished.
The stage plunged back into darkness.
When the interlude concluded.
The spotlight reignited.
The snow continued to fall, and the dancers remained.
But, what was different was that the previous pair of a man and a woman had now become a single man.
This man, who was once young, now had white hair and a stooped posture.
He danced alone, against the backdrop of falling snow, creating a chillingly eerie atmosphere.
"I've never seen villages where the aurora appears,
...
But you, you angered the gods.
Sent you away, so young.
It's all your fault, the distant mountains are cold.
In Mohe Ballroom, all alone..."
The second chorus.
The rhythm and emotion intensified, the sense of oppression vanished, replaced by a feeling of haste.
As if searching, or perhaps running towards a destination.
Qin Feng maintained his slightly tearful singing style, continuing the performance.
Embodying the reluctance and urgency with all his might.
"But you," "It's all your fault," the lyrics were accusatory, yet to the audience, they conveyed profound love and doting affection for a beloved.
"If you have time,
Won't you come and see me,
Watch the snow grow old,
Watch my eyes melt away,
If you see me then,
Turn around and be surprised,
I fear my tears, my white hair, are a shameful joke..."
After singing this line.
The song's meaning became clear.
The lover had passed away, and the man dancing alone in the snow had been using dance to numb himself.
Even though he danced alone.
In his heart, his dance partner was still present.
Even after a year, two years, ten years, thirty years.
To outsiders, he appeared solitary.
But his inner world was never lonely, for he always believed that one day, he would be reunited with his beloved.
Shame, joke.
These two words.
Pierced the heart of the old man dancing alone in the song like steel needles.
And similarly, they pierced the hearts of all the audience members present.
He wasn't worried about never seeing his beloved again.
He firmly believed he would see her again, even if not in this world.
But would that world also age with time?
When we meet again, if my hair is white while yours is still black, please turn around and show surprise, so that I won't feel my persistence was a joke.
Love in the fast-paced era is also fast-food love.
Everyone seems accustomed to relationships that begin with mutual attraction and end with forgetting it all over a couple of drinks after a breakup.
When experiencing this kind of steadfast yet solitary love spanning decades, from youth to old age, choosing self-imposed isolation, shutting out a world without her, and sinking into an inner world where she still exists.
Everyone couldn't help but shed tears.
Moved and saddened by the old man's devotion.
Loving one person for a lifetime, how romantic, yet how absurd in this era.
"If one day,
My faith suddenly collapses,
The city's gardens have no flowers,
The voices on the radio are hoarse,
If that day truly comes,
Will you run to me,
Be sealed in the sea...
Be sealed in the sea..."
The final lines, sung.
On the stage, the falling snow gradually ceased.
The old man dancing alone swayed precariously.
Much like his faith, on the verge of collapse at any moment.
The last two lines, "sealed in the sea," pushed the song's emotions to their climax.
"Na na na..."
Rhythmic single notes, gradually fading.
Qin Feng opened his eyes, looking straight ahead.
His vision blurred by tears.
In his mind, there was also such a person.
And he was fortunate, for this person was still here.
That's right.
Fortunately, when I finally understood, you were still here!
...
Mohe Town.
After this song concluded.
The mute old man stopped his solitary dance.
The song "Mohe Ballroom" still echoed in his mind.
He stood motionless outside the noodle shop.
Tears streamed down his wrinkled face, falling in large drops along the creases.
Most of the customers in the noodle shop had already left.
The owner came out with a bowl of noodles.
"Eat it," he handed the bowl to the old man.
The old man slowly lowered his head, looked at the bowl of noodles, and slowly shook his head.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a wad of crumpled change.
And walked towards the small shop next to the noodle shop.
Before long, he bought a stack of paper and a bottle of glue.
He then squatted by the roadside, using the paper and glue to make something.
The noodle shop owner sat on a stool by the door, placing the bowl of noodles on a nearby table.
Watching him curiously.
The old man sometimes buried his head in thought, and sometimes used the glue to stick the paper together.
After an unknown amount of time.
The noodle shop owner yawned. As he prepared to close the shop for the night.
The old man finally stopped his work.
The noodle shop owner looked over curiously.
He saw several paper effigies of bodyguards and weapons placed in front of him.
"I didn't realize you had such a skill," the owner chuckled.
The old man ignored him. He gritted his teeth and took out a lighter from his pocket.
He then burned all the paper figures he had made.
"Hey, what are you doing!" the owner exclaimed.
He watched as the old man used crumpled money to buy paper, spent so much time making them, only to burn them in an instant.
The flames grew stronger.
Finally, all the paper figures turned to ash in the inferno.
However, a smile gradually appeared on the old man's face.
"He's truly mad, isn't this a waste of money!" the owner muttered, turning to close the shop door.
"It's not a waste," the old man suddenly spoke, his voice dry.
He stood up from the ground, dusted off his hands, and a bright smile spread across his face, "I dreamed she was being bullied in the underworld."
The owner stared at him, stunned. That smile made his heart clench!
It turned out he had been wandering outside earlier, looking for bodyguard paper effigies in the shops.
When he couldn't find any, he decided to make some himself...