Chapter 146 Party 1
The evening of December 31st.
The long-prepared New Year's Gala is about to begin.
On this day, the entire campus was decorated with lights and colors, especially the auditorium in the office building which was decorated with festive atmosphere.
The auditorium was built in 1926 and was the main building when the school was first established. The Qilin and Danchi in front of the building are relics of the Old Summer Palace, and there is also a pair of Huabiao built in the seventh year of Emperor Qianlong's reign .
The auditorium was magnificent, with seats for a thousand people, but today there were more than a thousand people in the entire auditorium. Not only the original seats, but even the aisles and the corridors on the second floor were packed with students of all grades. Everyone wore their best clothes and had a beaming face, because today was not only a New Year's Eve party, but also an important day to bid farewell to the 1970s and welcome the arrival of the brand new 1980s.
Later, the auditorium was renovated, adding a touch of the times. Now the auditorium has basically maintained its original appearance both inside and outside. When you enter the auditorium, you will see that it is crowded and bustling. Song Yuanchao and his classmates feel a sense of prosperity.
The seats were roughly divided according to grade, but many students did not sit that way. Those who came early sat together with their friends, while those who came late could only squeeze in wherever they could. Those who came later had no place to sit, so they could only stand in the aisle or go up to the second floor, leaning on the long railings to chat with three or five people, and looking at the stage that had been set up and the curtain drawn with great interest.
Song Yuanchao arrived with Lin Yan. Because Song Yuanchao and his group had a performance, their seats were slightly forward to the right. Further in front of them were the seats for school leaders and teachers. Some older teachers with gray hair had already taken their seats, looking at the stage in front of them with smiles, looking forward to the performance beginning.
When the clock struck 7 p.m., the curtain of the stage slowly opened, and the two hosts walked up to the microphone. In a generous and emotional tone, they first reviewed the glory of Imperial University of Peking over the past century, then reviewed the ups and downs of the past years, and then officially announced the start of the evening party.
Without the leader's speech, the whole party was less solemn but added a lively atmosphere.
The first program brought the show to a climax. It was a chorus of "Yanyuan Love" by seniors from various departments of Class 1977. Lin Yan was also on the stage today. She was not the lead singer, but standing on the left side of the second row. Everyone in the crowd wore the same clothes and put on makeup, but Song Yuanchao saw Lin Yan in the crowd at a glance and saw the muse in his mind.
"Snow falls in the Red Mansion, heroes of the moment..."
The music started, and a girl's clear voice began to sing. When she sang the second sentence, the boy who led the singing joined in the lyrical singing: "Remembering the long separation, the Yangguan Pass is thousands of layers away..."
Soon, the chorus sounded at the same time: "We come from the south and north of the Great Wall, and we are attached to the towns and the countryside. We go to the ends of the earth and point to the mountains and peaks. Today we are the peaches and plums of the east wind, and we use our youth to complete our homework. Tomorrow we will become giant trees and make China shock the world..."
As the song echoed in the auditorium , all the students, including the teachers, couldn't help but stand up and sing along with the music: "The love of Yanyuan, a thousand knots, ask the young man about his heart, the Weiming water in his eyes, the Yellow River moon in his heart..."
The song "Yanyuan Love" was sung three times until the music faded away and the whole auditorium fell into silence. Suddenly, warm applause rang out like a volcanic eruption, and countless people's eyes were shining, and everyone's heart was filled with incomparable pride and a firm belief in the future.
After the performance, Lin Yan quickly walked off the stage. She tiptoed through the crowd and squeezed back to her seat.
"You sang so well!" Song Yuanchao looked at Lin Yan, whose face was slightly sweaty, and took out a handkerchief to gently wipe it off for her, and said with deep emotion.
"I'm a member of the chorus. With so many people singing together, can you tell how well I sing?" Lin Yan asked Song Yuanchao with a smile.
"Of course, no matter how many people there are, your voice can't be covered up. I think you actually sing better than the student who is leading the singing. You should be the one to lead the singing." Song Yuanchao whispered to Lin Yan. Lin Yan's face suddenly turned red and she pinched him secretly. Although Song Yuanchao felt a pain on the back of his hand, he didn't care at all. Instead, he looked at Lin Yan happily.
"By the way, where's Xiaoyun? Why can't I see her?" There were too many classmates around, and Lin Yan seemed a little uncomfortable with such affectionate behavior, so she deliberately changed the subject and asked.
"She's sitting in the back. This girl came late and I saw her when you just went up to get ready. I asked her to come and sit over, but she refused. She's sitting with some classmates." Song Yuanchao stretched out his hand and pointed towards the back. Following the direction of Song Yuanchao's finger, Lin Yan quickly found Li Xiaoyun. This girl was huddled together with some female classmates in their class, laughing and talking about something. The strange thing was that Luo Yang was also next to them.
However, it was a bit far away, so Lin Yan couldn't hear what they were talking about, but they looked very excited. At this time, the announcer began to announce the next program, and Lin Yan turned around and watched the performance attentively with Song Yuanchao.
After the chorus, there was a poetry recitation performed by students from the Chinese Department of Class 1978.
This student went on stage and recited Gorky's "The Seagull". His recitation was full of emotion, and it seemed as if we could see the seagull flying through the sky in the majestic poem, and feel the seagull's fearlessness in the face of the storm, just like a black elf flying through the wind and rain, facing the challenges head-on...
When the last high-pitched sentence fell, there was also a warm applause from the audience. Although the applause did not last for several minutes like the chorus just now, it also made the student who was reciting very happy. He bowed solemnly to the teachers and classmates in the audience and then walked backstage.
"The next program is an excerpt from the Greek classical tragedy "Oedipus" , performed jointly by students from the History Department of Class 1977 and Class 1978." When the announcer announced the content of the next program, the scene suddenly became boiling.
The Greek classical tragedy "Oedipus" is a very famous play. Although many students are not familiar with it, there are also many students who know about it. Many people simply can't believe their ears. This tragedy will actually be performed in today's party? Even if it is just an excerpt from one of its parts.
But when the curtain at the back slowly opened, everyone could clearly see several classmates standing in different places on the stage. These classmates were wearing ancient Greek robes and golden wigs on their heads.
The prophet's robe is light red, holding a wooden stick, and his granddaughter in a white robe is leaning on his side. The queen's robe is milky white, and she wears a golden crown on her head. King Oedipus's robe is the most gorgeous, with a dark robe inlaid with gold edges, and a golden scepter in his hand that symbolizes authority...
The appearance of these characters made everyone stare at the stage, looking forward to their wonderful performance.
Many people may not know about Oedipus, but almost everyone knows about the play Thunderstorm. In fact, the plot of the latter is inspired by the former, but Oedipus is more critical than the latter, and its dissection of human nature is more naked.
When the performance began, some of the teachers sitting in the front row watched their students' performances with great interest, but a few showed very unhappy expressions. However, no one paid attention to this. Almost everyone turned their eyes to the stage and gradually immersed themselves in the charm of this great drama.
Twenty minutes later, when this excerpt was finished and the performing students bowed to the audience, thunderous applause suddenly broke out. Many students and teachers couldn't help but stand up and applauded the wonderful performance of the students on the stage with excitement and encouraging smiles.
Lin Yan, who was sitting below, felt her eyes moisten unconsciously, and a tear quietly slid down her cheek.
"What a great performance!" Lin Yan couldn't help but sigh. Actually, the expressions of the students on the stage couldn't be said to be good. Due to insufficient preparation for rehearsal and the fact that they were not drama majors, their performance could only be said to be just barely adequate. However, they brought out the essence and conflicts of the play, making people overlook these shortcomings.
In this era, being able to perform such a play in public is unprecedented, allowing many students to intuitively feel the charm and influence of art for the first time. Lin Yan is one of them.
"It's very good, but it's a pity that there is only one scene." Song Yuanchao also sighed on the side, saying that it would be great if he could watch the entire drama.
"You have to be careful." Suddenly, Lin Yan whispered to Song Yuanchao.
Song Yuanchao showed a puzzled expression.
"Look, the performances are so wonderful. What if you don't stand out when the time comes?" Lin Yan asked deliberately with a smile on her face.
"Oh, this is really difficult. Isn't this embarrassing?" Song Yuanchao patted his forehead and made a sad face, hesitating and asking: "How about Yanzi, I find an excuse to hide? I will run away first, and when people ask me, I will say that I had a stomachache after dinner and can't go on stage?"
Hearing Song Yuanchao say this, Lin Yan's eyes widened with an incredible expression, but she soon realized that Song Yuanchao was deliberately teasing her. Lin Yan was so angry that she twisted his hand without any hesitation, making Song Yuanchao grimace.
"Be gentle, how can I go on stage if it gets broken?" Song Yuanchao complained while rubbing his arm. Seeing Lin Yan rolling her eyes at him, Song Yuanchao leaned close to Lin Yan's ear and said with a smile, "Don't worry, how can I be so useless as your partner? I will definitely not let you down when the time comes."
The show continued. The next few programs were not as amazing as the first ones, but they were still pretty good. Soon it was the turn of Song Yuanchao's class, which was a crosstalk performance by Yang Zhengqing and Sun Yaoliang.
Today, Lao Yang and Sun Yaoliang wore long gowns on purpose. Lao Yang was originally tall and strong, but the long gown did not show his literary elegance but instead revealed his sturdiness. He looked more like a fleshy thug from the old society than a scholar.
As for Sun Yaoliang, he was even funnier. His gown didn't fit him well and looked a size too big. Plus, he was thin and had a pointed face. Everyone's first impression was that he was a lackey in the movies. He stood on the stage with a sly look and looked around, making the classmates who were familiar with them laugh so hard that they fell forward and backward.
