Chapter 59

Following the movements of the performer in the background, Yu Hai, who had been standing straight to one side, raised his microphone: "A fold of the play, sleeves rise and fall" "Singing of joys, sorrows, partings, and reunions—it has nothing to do with me" "Fans open and close, the gongs and drums sound, then fall silent" "Outside the mirror-lake, a cup of tea still holds its warmth" The song Yu Hai was performing was "Red Actor," with lyrics by Qing Yan and music by Li Jianheng. The lyrics told the story of an opera performer. Most of the audience understood this immediately. Their first reaction was that this was a song in the ancient style, though unfortunately not quite Huaxia style. However, most people were not too disappointed, as after so much time of speculation and explanations from major music critics, many knew how difficult it was to write a standard Huaxia-style song. Many even said that not even Whale Fall himself could necessarily write a song like "Dongfeng Po" again.