Kara
People often say that love is an eternal topic, but who dares to conclude how long it will last; however, one thing is certain: at least in the foreseeable future, we all have to "suffer and enjoy" with it. All the unclear and inexplicable rights and wrongs are due to two reasons: either they are profound or changeable; relatively speaking, love probably belongs to the latter.
Young people today may find it difficult to accept the idea of spending their lives with someone they have never met, even as a hypothetical scenario. Just like in the past, men and women could not imagine living happily together with their own biological children after marrying halfway through life, let alone making a sitcom out of it that would "corrupt public morals" across the country for four seasons. Similarly, if this logic holds true, perhaps our marriage introduction agencies will be consolidated under a unified management in several decades.
At some point in the past, everything about mainland Chinese people was closely related to the communist ideal that could only be achieved after several generations, dozens of generations, or even hundreds of generations. Of course, love couldn't be kept secret either and had to be brought out and made grand. Many people might reflexively think of those "classic examples" where female members of art troupes were forced to marry their superiors. We communists are not Puritans, we have emotions and desires too, so it's natural that there would be some "deviations and mistakes" at work. These are all things of the past, why bring them up again?
No matter whether these "trivial matters" are rare or common, at least the fact that love and revolution coexisted at that time is undisputed. For example, the "dislike of new things" in "The Song of Youth" seems to be quite majestic. The reactionaries were not all old, weak, sickly, or disabled; even Zhu Shimao, a man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, could have betrayed the revolution. He didn't even bother to put on a gentle and affectionate face. You think of the capitalist roaders as being too simplistic.
Recalling those years, Professor Peng Yong, who is still elegant and refined today, was a focal point in the campus of Northern Normal University in the 1950s, where talented scholars gathered. Her signature "little bird-like" demeanor was unmistakable, combined with the tranquil temperament that had been distilled through generations of her family's scholarly tradition. In short, the pool of potential partners for her was extremely limited, almost to the point of being non-existent. However, in a surprising turn of events, Wu Hong, a classmate who had always been unremarkable and mediocre, emerged as a gem after the tumultuous years. The reason behind this seems laughable and tear-jerking - at that time, being too passionate was considered a bourgeois sentiment, being too profound was seen as a remnant of feudalism, having exceptional talent was deemed a product of the "famous family" mentality, and being politically prominent was feared to be a sign of revolutionary opportunism. In the end, it seems that distance creates beauty, and the philosophy of mediocrity is universally applicable.
It turned out that Teacher Peng was indeed wise, after several movements had rendered the proud sons of heaven useless and the tide of reform had made the mediocre prominent. The "Little Wu" of suitable size and length naturally became "Old Wu", just like how there will always be a lucky star closest to our heads in the sky, among scholars, there will always be a few masters born. Facts have proven that as long as you have a green mountain, you won't have to worry about not having firewood to burn. Of course, any opportunity and luck are based on real ability, the reason is simple, it's not just you who has a bit of talent, "PK" will become a compulsory question at the right time.
According to Freud, in the early stages of a person's consciousness, they go through what is called the "mirror stage", during which children gradually establish behavioral norms and self-awareness by observing adults around them (usually their parents). Just as no one who has not died can be certain about the truth or falsehood of legends about hell, Yanluo, and the Ghost Gate (at least from a logical point of view; political propaganda is another matter altogether), similarly, it's likely that no one remembers how they learned to become human in their infancy. So, up until now, Freud's theory can only be considered a personal opinion. However, the answer to the opposite proposition can be basically confirmed: parents often hope that their children will grow up according to their own design blueprint.
In fact, despite being equally diligent and having also managed to mix into a high-level position with a decent retirement, Professor Peng never stopped "nurturing" that one unique pearl. With an objective and fair Olympic spirit, so far, Wu Yu has basically achieved all the plans and ideas on that original blueprint: a master's degree plus being the leader of the Chinese language department, what more could a beautiful woman in her thirties hope for?
There are two kinds of love in this world, one is to get and the other is to lose, and parental love is a typical representative of the latter. The privatization process in the former Soviet Union was so cruel that it was unbearable, and the reason was the result of letting go. Professor Peng must not be so impulsive, when his daughter was about to leave her old nest, he had already carefully selected a "new home" for her. Practice is the only standard to test truth, and Xiang's smooth career has fully proved that the old man has a unique insight, actively making progress in the midst of complexity, this quality can be compared with all the tigers' dens and dragons' lairs in ancient and modern times, China and foreign countries.
The Western proverb says: "every dog has his day", but the day that finally arrives may not necessarily be a good thing. Peng Mama can't be said to have planned everything out, but she has brought her plans to their limits. However, when all the pieces are in place, everyone suddenly realizes that the final flaw makes everything fall apart.
Actually, this minor flaw of Bai Bixiao is not a regret for many young people today. To put it bluntly, there are three unfilial acts, and having no offspring is the greatest. Why is that? It's like how our party's guns didn't go to defend the rights of the South China Sea by force - it's not that they couldn't, but rather they didn't want to. More accurately, it was that "everything prioritizes the career" Itemu who didn't want to. Since being promoted to department head, this once "very obedient" son-in-law no longer treated his mother-in-law's instructions as golden rules. In order to let our great socialist cause have successors, Teacher Peng truly had the heart to take over, but unfortunately, this matter must be handled by the person involved themselves, and no matter how brilliant your skills are, they just can't be used.
As time went on, the skin disease gradually turned into a major heartache. Professor Peng's subtle hints had long since changed to thorough exposure, just like the phrase "anger from shame" wants to tell us that going all out is always a precursor to being at one's wit's end. Women want to use children to tie down men, but the result is often self-entrapment. The lessons of history are enough to fill one with wounds, yet in the end, they still have to advance wave after wave; no way around it, just like moths flying into fire, it's all due to their nature.
A slap in the face doesn't make a sound, and this matter isn't something that Wu Yu can decide on her own. In fact, the small world of harmony between the two has long been able to bear fruit. However, the maternal instincts inherent in women have become less logical in today's social trends. This new version of Xiao Wu fully inherited his father's gentle and soft personality, never understanding how to stand up for his own "heart" and wait for her to take the initiative to defend his rights. On one side is the husband's grandeur, on the other is the mother's self-righteousness, it's hard to know where to go from here.
"Has the mentor arranged for you to help with something in the office?" That night, Wu Yu was somewhat overwhelmed by the gradually increasing pressure from the old master of the house, and when he heard Meng Da saying that he wanted to go to the classroom to retrieve his fallen jacket, he took advantage of the opportunity to escape together.
"No, she's gone to Nanjing for a meeting and might not be back for a while," Xu Zhongliu naturally enjoyed strolling with Little Wu in the evening breeze, this was still the first time since moving over two or three months ago.
"Is that so? I was going to look for her anyway." Wu Yu seemed to be muttering to himself, shaking his somewhat numb head, and found that tonight's night sky only had two lonely stars hanging at the end of the road. Beijing's "Blue Sky Plan", which has been repeatedly touted in recent years, also seemed to have fallen silent after days of overcast skies before the Olympics arrived.
"Do you know her?" Zhen Liu didn't expect that Zhao Rang, this "old bottle with new wine" who had just returned from the other side of the ocean not long ago, would still be so "wherever there is a well, he can sing willow lyrics".
"Ah...... yes", she seemed to have just come back to her senses: "Originally... acquainted."
Teacher Xiao Wu is the kind of adult who has a high risk of being a calf lover (i.e., someone who makes children develop a crush), and after many years, all the confusion and infatuation of adolescence not only haven't dissipated but have been clarified by time: "You..." Zhen really wanted to use informal language with this pair of ambiguous eyes, but from when she was still an unadulterated young girl, she had already developed a habit of addressing him in a certain way that had become second nature and couldn't be helped. "Do you plan on continuing your Ph.D. studies?" Only after speaking did she realize that the topic that had almost slipped out might not be something she should be asking about, so she hastily changed the subject.
Wu Yuxiang let out a sigh, and for someone as introverted as her, this could already be considered a kind of lament: "It was better when I was studying, I thought..." She smiled slightly, shaking her head, but it seemed like she wasn't responding to the previous question.
"A revolutionary will always be young," Zhen Liu thought to himself, feeling that sometimes his conversations were almost too effortless: "Aren't you still in school, surrounded by children who never grow old?" If it were someone else, he would have seized the opportunity to sing their praises. But at this moment, looking at the elegant and refined woman beside him, who always stood calmly at the podium, speaking with a gentle tone, he couldn't bear to break the peaceful atmosphere.
In recent years, many large cities have been encouraging people who are almost rich to use public transportation more often. For example, Beijing on the Jinshan mountain, perhaps can be understood as a kind of insignificant remorse for those private car industry tycoons after they have eaten their fill. However, the problem is that putting those suit-and-tie wearing individuals who just finished eating KFC's healthy breakfast into those public buses which are already very crowded due to the international commitment to the green Olympics and have become even more cramped, to the point where even the ticket sellers themselves can't squeeze in, is really quite ridiculous. To put it bluntly, the city's basic infrastructure construction still has a long way to go before it can be considered complete. Actually, this debt was left over from the era of the big communal pot, when work units provided everything and people didn't need to own cars. Of course, the followers of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin who once dominated half of the globe are now nowhere to be seen on the horizon, and it seems there is no sign of them making a comeback. The red memories in Beijing have become more and more valuable as historical relics. In today's new century, places like the Language Research Institute which used to be a "small tower that unified everything" have become more and more like living fossils forgotten by the wheels of time. Mr. Lu Xun said that tragedy is "destroying something valuable for people to see", following this logic, what should we make of those old desks under the neon lights?
However, being able to muddle through a lifetime in such a work unit can also be considered a kind of luck, especially in today's precarious environment. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many people fighting tooth and nail for an "iron rice bowl" that only guarantees they won't starve or go bankrupt. It's said that when the real estate project across from the Babaoshan Funeral Home held its opening sale amidst the thick smoke of the crematorium, it was so popular that even acquaintances couldn't get a spot in line. This is perhaps the primary stage of "harmony". Compared to them, being able to snag a two-bedroom apartment next door to the unit isn't bad at all.
No matter how you put it, the less-than-a-hundred-meter "leap" from the family building to the graduate school gate was indeed too short for Xú Chénliú at this moment. He had thought that Wú Yǔ would be willing to go to the "Revolutionary Site" where she used to fight during her graduate studies on this windy and restless night, to pay her respects and reminisce a bit, or at least count the seemingly immobile footsteps, although the November fallen leaves were held back by global warming, they still faithfully recorded every stir on the campus avenue.
It seems Wu Yu didn't plan to take this "romantic journey" all the way, she seemed more like she was afraid of seeing something, although also not wanting to go back and face the lonely lamp at home. It looks like tonight's lucky star really isn't shining on Xu Zhenliu's head, he truly regrets not spending a bit more time with this rare companion in front of the research institute gate, even if it was just two minutes, because that scene could easily lead people to imagine things and almost got caught by Lin Feng who happened to be coming back from outside. Especially when that reasonable guess made Xu Zhenliu secretly happy, he even thought about pulling Wu Yu back to start all over again.
"Hey, you haven't left yet?" It's indeed unexpected to run into each other here at this hour for a first-year graduate student who lives off-campus.
"Stuff fell in the classroom," Qian Liang said with a scowl, too lazy to say more: "How about you?"
"The League Committee has something to do", this European and American contemporary linguistics major Lin Shuai came from Shanxi Pingyao, I'm afraid the word "loss" was never in his dictionary: "Let Master go for a trip."
He nodded, though neither of them could see each other in the darkness, nor would they care. He understood that this kind of "governing with virtue" was not something he should ask too much about as an "non-party democrat". Although it seemed like school had just started yesterday, those who had been traveling around and boasting about their accomplishments had already taken their positions, and now thinking about counterattacking would probably be too late.
There is an Arabic proverb that says the loudest voice in the market belongs to the one selling junk. This principle doesn't need much explanation, and our party has repeatedly emphasized the importance of selecting officials who are both morally upright and talented. However, the problem is that countless wise men who have seen through the world's superficiality will immediately return to their starting point when faced with a critical situation.
In college, I once stayed up all night to memorize the review points for our political theory exam. I remember that the section on "Marxist views of truth" was particularly concise, consisting of only two points: 1) There is no absolute truth in the world; and 2) Marxism is the absolute truth.
The Buddha repeatedly warned his disciple Ananda that he had actually said nothing, and that if Buddhism were to decline in the future, it would be destroyed by those arrogant and self-righteous disciples. I once caught a glimpse of a book titled "Marx's Revenge" in a bookstore, but unfortunately didn't have time to buy it. As far as I can remember, it was about summarizing the historical lessons from the Soviet Union's collapse.
Actually, Lin Feng is still relatively affable overall and doesn't resemble those stereotypical party hacks who exude class struggle profundity and complexity all over their bodies: "You didn't sign up for that..."
"Card K," it seems that for this "big game", the graduate school has mobilized a whole set of people, with "one group of leaders", "two nameplates", "three systems", and "four batches of personnel"... In short, all sorts of "politicians" have probably been deployed.
"Haha," Lin Feng, who majored in business, probably also knew the side effects of over-promotion: "You're from the Lu Yuanhang department..."
"Get ready and go with Gu Shuang from the Foreign Languages Department..."
"That girl suddenly had something come up and said she couldn't make it," Xiao Linjun finally managed to turn the tables: "Didn't you hear her say that?"
Zhen Liu felt that he was becoming more and more like a useless official, not only did he not actively approach the organization, but also had no awareness of being part of the emerging bourgeoisie, and even took away his own power to participate in state affairs: "I don't know."
The new favorite of the League Committee probably heard Xiao Pangzi's discontent: "Yuanhang's accordion is played well, and your class has a lot of talented people," no one dares to make arbitrary decisions without seeing the wind.
But this flattery is not very high-minded, and if the time, place and people were changed, it's likely to hit the nose or even the hoof. Kindergarten aunts all know that some children are born with a sense of territorial awareness, even if they don't like playing with toys, or can't play now, but as long as it's theirs, others can't touch it. Going to praise and be closer in distance to an opposite sex than someone else, even if the other person doesn't have any intention of pursuing, is often not a wise choice, especially in many Asian countries.
"Learn the art of war, sell goods to connoisseurs," Xu Zhènliú didn't have such a strong sense of ownership, but tonight's events still made him feel like there was a lump in his chest. He couldn't miss this last chance to vent: "Looks like you've been 'drumming up the remnants of your waist, soft and weak, with two flowers on your sweaty silk clothes'?"
Although it's a bit of a stretch to switch from business management to language, those two lines of Tang poetry and Song lyrics are indeed easy to understand without requiring any special knowledge. Lin Feng could naturally hear the underlying tone in Jing Liu's words, but he always avoided any possible debate that might lead to trouble: "No, no, originally our research institute had an accordion, it's just been a long time since we tuned it, later Lu Yuanhang himself borrowed one from his classmates at the music academy," The logical development of their conversation was reasonable and left you without any reason to suspect anything: "So this afternoon I helped her carry it back."
Later, Xu Zhongliu saw the legendary "Qin Se You Hao", to be realistic, this old double-reed instrument was indeed impressive, but whether the treatment of the round-trip (graduate students would have this funding) still needs "men and women working together without fatigue" is a matter of opinion. In fact, in many cases, what people emphasize repeatedly when defending themselves is not the reason, but just an excuse.
As the streetlights flickered, a figure emerged from the glare, hurrying along with a stack of books that seemed to have just been through a battle. Xu Zhēnliú glanced at the leaves scattered on the ground, which were slowly drifting towards the depths of the campus, and felt a bit disheartened. He didn't bother to bid farewell and simply walked away alone onto the path, which was even more desolate than during the day. The two people left behind didn't feel like they were missing out on anything and planned to head back to their dorm together after paying their respects to "Officer" Lin Feng. On this matter, Lin Feng had always been able to distinguish between what was important and what wasn't, after all, as a newcomer, he hadn't yet earned the right to prioritize romance over friendship.
Here is the translation:
In our ancestors' "Mao Shi Da Xu", it says: "Emotions arise from within and take shape in words, when words are insufficient, we sigh; when sighs are insufficient, we sing." Objectively speaking, China has never lacked joyful voices and laughter. For example, in today's KTVs, there are countless European, American, Japanese, and Korean songs, and during the eight-year war of resistance, Shanghai's "Ten Miles of Foreign Concessions" was a dazzling spectacle. However, no matter what, they all have a deep mass foundation. But strangely, we seem to like making simple things complicated, often by giving them some far-fetched meanings that are hard to understand. Almost every Chinese person is familiar with the classic "Red May Singing Competition", but when you truly understand the unbearable weight of its origins, how much enthusiasm can you still muster for that increasingly relaxed atmosphere? (The reason why May is called "Red May" is because many tragic events in modern Chinese history, such as the "Jinan Massacre", the "May 20th Bloodshed", the "March 18th Incident", and the "May 30th Massacre", all occurred in May.)
Perhaps it is out of the above consideration that the graduate school's Karaoke contest is often scheduled in the deep autumn season without any additional meaning. However, such a thoughtful arrangement seems to be unnecessary because the small courtyard seems to be stuck in the same dull yellow tone all year round. It seems that no one cares about this, and most people's calm heartstrings are not disturbed by this insignificant ripple. Those who seem to be nostalgic are actually carrying their own thoughts, so there is no reason to pay attention to how this rare return of human nature deviates from the basic doctrine of literature.
We are always good at discovering the various shortcomings of others, but we often overlook the goodness that is right in front of us. Perhaps this can be considered a reason why our fragile blue home has not been completely destroyed by the increasingly evil spirits of all things. Being critical and taking action are not far apart; let's hope we can take this difficult step before the ozone layer disappears completely.
In fact, since the OK competition started with a group of demons dancing wildly, there have been people who have been busy without any self-interest, such as Cheng Yi. Except for being a class organization committee member due to his "long" party age since high school and some trivial work that is hard to find someone willing to take on, he did not participate in any complete party-government-military-civilian institutions in the college. He followed along from start to finish purely as a friendly guest appearance.
Since many leading institutions have already floated on the surface, of course, there is no fat left to share with "volunteers". The only ones who really work hard are those who are not related to "positions" and "tickets", and they are waiting for you to take care of them. Therefore, Cheng Yi, who has always been gentle and polite, was specifically responsible for contacting the contestants, mainly going around to persuade his classmates to participate, such as Lu Yuanhang and Gu Shuang, who temporarily dropped out, were the results of his work. Of course, the declassified files show that there are multiple reasons why the rabbit will eat the grass at the edge of its nest this time, but that's a story for later. It's strange that in such a big competition, there are nearly ten leaders in charge of planning and supervision, but only Cheng Yi is really "promoting" it. To say that Su Yunwen, who is in charge of the deputy director of the activity department, can go to Xiao Xu and Xiyan to pull strings, is already quite thick-skinned.
This errand is indeed troublesome and unprofitable. It's hard to understand what kind of medicine Cheng Yi took wrong, and he actually went to disturb the beehive. The number of contestants has decreased, and the organizing committee will not let it go. After tracing back level by level, the responsibility will fall on someone, and they will definitely not be able to escape; even if you really have the ability to cry in front of Qin Tian like Shen Wansan, bringing in dozens of brainless people who have fallen into the gutter, when the time comes, there will be too many monks and not enough meat, after all the big brothers and sisters have shown off their foreign appearances, they may still not be able to escape the fate of being unable to take care of themselves.
But fortunately, among these dark and absurd stars, there were indeed some crazy people who took popcorn as their staple food. With the addition of some new students from the graduate school who didn't know the depth of the situation, they barely managed to make a complete mess. The elaborate plans for the preliminary and final rounds in the proposal naturally became empty talk. Heaven and earth are witnesses, these dozen or so people, who were barely enough to fill a pot, consumed how many days and nights of Qiang Yi's hard work.
"Today is really exciting," said Zhuo Liu, sitting in the front row at the farthest edge, which was carefully selected as an "observation post" after he discovered a female candidate with some color in the backstage wearing a high-waisted cheongsam. Of course, the prey had to wait patiently: "Our school indeed has hidden dragons and crouching tigers." The whole auditorium was sparsely seated, not many people noticed Xiao Pang's unbridled joy.
"If it weren't for the subtitles, I wouldn't know what this sister is singing," Yuánháng, who was waiting in the wings, seemed to have gained a few more points of confidence, although this was completely unnecessary for her, a seasoned veteran.
It was mentioned earlier that the head of the art department of the research institute was the first to take the stage. Don't underestimate her, she looked like a professional singer at first glance, and after performing, it was even more astonishing. Everyone was surprised to find out that "SuperStar", which is popular all over the Chinese-speaking world, could be performed in such a tragic way. It's probably because the department head was not satisfied with the Sony audio-visual equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars purchased by the school last year, so before going on stage, she glared at the sound engineer who was specially invited from Guangzhou Institute with her pink lips. What a precious work ethic, no wonder her career is so smooth! In fact, she didn't belong to the contestants at all, but she had already started preparing for this "impromptu" guest performance two months ago, just because she "couldn't bear to refuse the enthusiastic invitation of her classmates".
Unlike the Spring Festival Gala and most other performances, this show is sorted in descending order of importance. The reason is simple: statistics from previous competitions have shown that the half-life of audience numbers is around twenty minutes. Therefore, newcomers like Lu Yuanhang, who had no connections whatsoever, could only go on stage second to last when the venue was almost empty.
"By the way," after the initial excitement, Zhen Liu had already gotten used to the ups and downs of life: "I haven't asked you about that 'Accordion Romantic Journey' with Lin Feng yet." After recalling it later, Xiao Pangzi realized that he had indeed sent a text message that noon asking if he was free in the afternoon. Perhaps it was this vague sense of superiority that contributed to the relaxed atmosphere, and he found another interesting way to pass the time.
"What?" Lu Niang was a girl whose eyes wouldn't lie: "Oh, hi... didn't you go to the dorm that time?"
"Haha," Xiang Liu smiled complacently, everything was going as he had expected: "You clearly knew you couldn't make it that day, but still deliberately came to find me first. A classic case of 'covering up one's tracks', as Sun Tzu said: 'Use and show them that you are not using.' As he spoke, several classmates from their class sat down nearby, probably having just eaten dinner outside and rushing over to cheer on the "grand finale" that was unfolding. Of course, at this time, Little Xu's attention was all focused on Yuan Hang, so he only symbolically nodded his head in their direction: "In fact, Japan had already made preparations for a surprise attack on the Pacific Fleet as early as the summer of 1941, but continued to tangle with the United States over the Indochina issue, creating a false impression that the strategic focus was in Asia, until..."
"Alright, alright," the girl sighed with a bitter smile and waved her hand: "I don't have the heart to deal with this now, one is enough trouble."
Actually, Yuan Hang had expressed his fondness for Lin Feng many times before. If it weren't for the fact that several people in the department knew she was already "taken" and "registered", perhaps someone like Yun Wen would have eagerly handed over the broom as an olive branch. On the other hand, maybe it's precisely because someone who has experienced a meteorological phenomenon can't be tripped up by the same stone twice, that Lu Niang is so open and aboveboard. Mencius once taught us with a profound meaning: "When encountering a sister-in-law, offer her your hand, it's a matter of propriety." The reason why the Sage chose this particular relationship as an example was probably because there's an additional layer of moral barrier, making it less likely for people with ulterior motives to "inherit and develop" it.
"Capable people have more work to do," Zhen Liu continued with a hint of unspoken meaning: "As Zengzi said, 'One sheep is also driven, a flock of sheep...'"
"Let's just drop it, shall we?" Lu Yuanhang seemed to have lost his usual cheerful demeanor today. The brief joy brought by the head of the literature department had also dissipated unintentionally: "I guess around 10 am, I called Wei Yicheng and he said..."
"Alright, alright," Xu Zhongliu found the atmosphere was slipping into an abyss that everyone didn't want to see, so he quickly pulled the reins: "Don't keep staring at this, find something else to do." He glanced up at the stage, where the cheongsam sister had appeared at just the right moment: "For example, participating in this competition is a wise choice."
"Hey, that's what I'm saying," Yuanyuan is a girl who is easily affected by others' emotions, just like a rabbit with a short tail, whatever it's stewed in is its flavor: "That day, Cheng Yi was originally persuading Gu Shuang to sign up, and she wanted to drag me along, Yunwen also joined in the teasing, I saw Cheng Yi being very enthusiastic, talking to her for half a day, and finally agreed," Indeed, many of our life's dilemmas start like this: "And then, hey!"
"What's going on with Gu Shan, I was actually looking forward to it," the pair of legs that were supposed to be beautiful looked a bit thick from the angle of looking up, and Zhuo Liubian couldn't help but feel disappointed.
"Who knows," said Yu Hang, not showing any unusual disappointment. When Gu Shuang was about to "elope", she had originally planned to flee together with them, but vaguely felt that she seemed to be expecting to stay behind, so she was happy to send Cheng Yi a favor. Meng Tingwei has a song called "Really or Fake" which says: "I heard that the beginning is always true, and later it will slowly become false..." But sometimes things are just the opposite: the beginning is often fake, but later it unknowingly becomes true.
She carefully moved the accordion under her feet, avoiding making any noise that would attract attention: "To be honest, Guo Shuang may not have a strong musical foundation," of course, this is from Lu's professional perspective, but in fact, singing is all about being willing to take the risk and please the audience, there's no more logic to it: "But you can tell that she's a very determined person, the few times we sang together were particularly serious, I reckon she must have practiced a lot behind the scenes."
More than a decade ago, Xu Zhongliu was still an unadulterated child. At that time, the night sky of Beijing had not yet darkened to the extent it has today, where it seems to have hit rock bottom and bounced back. When his lively companions were still chasing each other on the empty ground, the exhausted little fatty preferred to lie alone on the cool stone steps, gazing at the half of the starry sky that was disappearing day by day. As the whispers around him grew quieter, the boy would involuntarily grab onto a nearby small tree that wasn't very sturdy, as if only this could prevent him from falling into the unfathomable abyss. Later on, he often thought that perhaps the severe acrophobia that has lingered to this day was the root of all evil sown back then.
Indeed, in this vast and endless universe where we cannot see the past or predict the future, all we can do is make every day count. The recent university expansion, which seems to provide more opportunities for young people to move up, actually only delays the contradiction between talent supply and demand by four years. The millions of graduate school applicants are nearly three times the population of Luxembourg, one of the richest countries in the world. Only a small number can truly cross this chasm (although we have every reason to believe that with the diversification of graduate education, the era where everyone can read for a Ph.D. is already beckoning). If those who are lucky enough to escape from this shore and jump into another sea of suffering (like Gu Shuang) still have some advantages, it may be the word "diligence" that is rapidly fading away on their bodies.
Of course, being serious is just an attitude towards life and work, and it doesn't carry any absolute value judgment. For example, the graduate students who are busy running around at this time seem to be quite capable, but upon closer inspection, it's not hard to discover that they're all just serving the esteemed guests and leaders. Among the "uncle-level" doctoral students, there are many who have returned to school after working for a few years, while some young and beautiful long-haired women have mixed in with those who have risen to prominence through their husbands' wealth and status. Judging people's identities based on age is just a noisy spectacle for outsiders like me, but the professionals can distinguish between them simply by smell. The vice president will definitely find the praise and requests he hears tonight more pleasant than music, but the poor things waiting in the wings won't even be able to find someone to accompany them.
It's only by comparison that the gap can be seen. Su Yunwen, who has always been carefree and composed, finally met her match this time. She finally understood that even flattering others requires a ranking order, and those of lower status can only gaze longingly from afar. However, Su, with her short hair standing upright, seemed to not mind at all. The faintly discernible sound of her high heels still appeared light and cheerful. The lazy, scattered stage lights wove together on her white autumn and winter outfit, making it seem a bit surreal.
The ancient Chinese referred to the worm that moves forward with its upper and lower parts wriggling as "chī". By extension, animals that crouch down before jumping, such as cats, leopards, jackals, and sables, often have the character "chī" attached to their names. Similarly, unlike pole vaulters who stand upright, high jumpers usually arch their backs when taking off, which helps them generate force. In fact, people in everyday life are also like this - those who appear humble and modest are not necessarily so, but rather waiting for the right moment to act. Only those from a noble background can afford to be arrogant. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, such as the poet who has high aspirations and no one to rely on, unlike the majority of people who are servile and obsequious. She is always so confident and composed.
