Inside the Law School of Provincial City University, New Year’s Day was approaching, signaling the start of the holiday break. Suddenly, the usually tranquil campus seemed to be teeming with people, bustling and lively all over.
Of course, the liveliest scene was on the playground. Despite the cold weather, it couldn’t dampen everyone’s enthusiasm!
A small stage drew the attention of thousands of students. Maybe the students’ performances were not particularly outstanding, but the atmosphere on the spot was unprecedentedly enthusiastic.
After every announcement, the performers were greeted with campus-wide applause and cheering; likewise, regardless of the performance, when the performers left the stage, they were still met with thunderous applause.
This was a campus brimming with youthfulness.
Even if some performers made mistakes, everyone kindly supported them with applause to encourage them to continue. After all, everyone has had very limited exposure to entertainment programs, some students hadn’t even watched TV before attending the university!
Most of the programs were focused on singing, with large and small choruses, solo singing; dance programs were quite few. Among the earlier standout performances was an Indian Maiden dance by a female student. Her exotic dance, plus her spirit of fearlessly wearing thin dance clothes in such cold weather, brought the atmosphere on spot to an unprecedented climax.
After several programs self-directed by the students, the female announcer came back on stage. After briefly commenting on and praising the previous program, she announced the next, "The next program was originally a solo dance, but some last-minute changes were made. We have all felt that the original name was no longer suitable, and we haven’t decided on a new one yet."
"Please also forgive me, I have only quickly reviewed it and it’s hard to describe the program in detail. So, please watch it first and then, together, we will come up with a suitable name for this program! Let’s give a round of applause to our freshman representative, Classmate Xu Xing, and to her dance partner!"
The applause was both enthusiastic and enduring, because for the dance, the curtains on both sides needed to be drawn by the two running students. And this time, the curtains were being drawn slower than before, so the applause had to last longer, to avoid the absence of applause when the performers hadn’t appeared yet - how embarrassing would that be!
Finally, the black curtains were drawn, and the lights on the stage were focused on the center.
Upon seeing the two performers in the middle, almost all the students collectively let out a gasp of surprise, forgetting to clap.
What they saw was a girl levitating above the ground, curled into a ball. Her white long dress made it impossible for everyone to see her face due to her positioning. All they could see was a simple garland on her head.
What caused the gasp of surprise was not the girl’s garland, nor was it her simple pose.
Of course, humans can’t levitate in the air, so this performer had a support under her feet - propping her up was a pair of hands.
A boy, dressing like a wild child, wearing a rustic wooden mask, with haphazard ragged decorations on his body, exuded a raw and primitive flavor. At this moment, he was raising his hands and stood still. And the girl performer curled up on his hands.
In the ensuing silence, the sound of strings and winds began to emerge gradually from afar. The dancer, who was originally curled up, slowly lifted her head as if waking up from a dream, revealing a gorgeously delicate face.
Ambiguously perplexed and joyful at the same time, slowly, the girl’s body began to unfold, akin to a sprouting seed.
The sound of strings and winds turned into the drizzling sound of the Guzheng. The dancer’s body gradually opened up with the music. The music suddenly became synchronized, and the dancer’s arms unfolded abruptly, frozen in a wing-flapping pose.
She was like a fairy fluttering in mid-air.
Then the music sounded again, becoming vivid. The dancer’s movements turned lively and she performed unthinkable movements on the palms of a pair of hands. Each motion emitted a sense of calm, elegance, an odd rhythm of beauty.
The audience gasped again, the dancer seemed to be too absorbed, she stretched out her foot and stepped into the empty space in front of her.
Another cry, not a gasp of surprise anymore, but an exclamation of amazement.
Because just when the dancer’s foot was about to land, a palm appeared in time under her foot, stably catching her in mid-air.
One step after another, forwards, backwards, upwards, downwards...
No matter how the dancer stepped, she did not need to look down, as if stepping at will. When her foot was about to hit the ground, there would always be a palm waiting there, as if it had been rehearsed thousands of times.
The sounds of strings and winds, and musical instruments alternated. That dancer, like a fairy, danced with abandonment, her hair flying, clothes fluttering, movements light and graceful, ethereal like an immortal. Sometimes she was like a lotus flower swaying in the wind, sometimes like a bird about to take flight, and sometimes like a peacock spreading its wings. Exuding a celestial, dazzling brilliance.
Gradually, people began to ignore the person beneath the dancer. Many held their breath, quietly watching the elf-like dancer on stage. As if they had also forgotten that this was on a playground, forgot that she was on that little stage.