The Three Pure Ones' Secret: Expressing Spirit

After the acrobatic performance, the host began introducing our program. I was so nervous that I didn't pay attention to what they were saying. Since Lao Fan and I were scheduled to perform last, I just stared blankly at Li Peng and Li Quan. After the stage lights went out, Li Quan and Li Peng came on stage. Then the lights shone on Li Peng, and he twirled around on the stage, looking like a fox spirit wandering in the forest—a truly lifelike imitation.

Yin Yuhong walked around the stage, microphone in hand, explaining as she went, until the stage lights fully illuminated the surroundings, creating a scene of a snow-covered forest on the stage. Li Quan was huddled in the middle of the stage, looking half-dead.

Li Peng looked around, then his gaze fell on Li Quan, who was slumped in the middle of the stage. Li Quan looked at his own outfit, then looked fearfully at Li Peng's fox costume.

Li Peng walked up and his first words made everyone laugh: "Wow! What a big, fat bird! It's gotten so fat, it can't fly anymore, can it?"

Li Quan feigned fear: "Hey, hey, big brother, don't kill me! I have body odor, don't let it bother you!"

Li Peng looked at him, making a very sarcastic expression, and then asked him, "Why are you lying in the snow?"

Following the script, Li Quan answered him fearfully, "I crashed into a tree, my wings broke, I can't fly anymore, can you please not eat me?"

Li Quan grinned lewdly and said, "Fine, I won't eat you!"

Then he pounced on Li Quan. As he lunged at Li Quan, the lights went out instantly, the stage scene changed, and when the stage lit up again, Li Peng and Li Quan were in the fox's den. Li Peng looked at Li Quan beside him: "I won't eat you, don't be afraid!"

Li Peng then circled the stage twice and disappeared backstage, while Li Quan remained on stage, muttering to himself, reciting the inner monologue of a dove filled with fear. We watched Li Peng walk offstage and asked him if he was nervous. He shook his head and said his expression was alright, quite interesting!

After Li Quan finished his monologue, Li Peng took the prop corn and walked out. After returning to the stage, he continued acting according to the script.

After a long time, Li Peng finally finished his fox scene and returned to the backstage area, leaving only Li Quan's obese body spinning around on stage with a pair of fake wings. Yin Yuhong continued to provide commentary from behind.

Then Meng Jiahong came on stage and told him where the dove had gone. Li Quan continued to pretend to be looking for the fox. Then Yin Yuhong and Li Peng came on stage. Yin Yuhong pretended to be teasing Li Peng in the prop cage like a pet: "Suck, suck, little guy, eat quickly."

Then Li Quan flew to a spot not far away, squatted down, and looked at Li Peng, continuing the story.

I hid at the stage exit, and because I was about to go on stage, my hands were covered in sweat.

As the performance continued, my buddy was finally forced to go on stage. I, who was originally nervous, followed the script and cooperated with Fan Biao. Perhaps Old Fan was also a little nervous, because he, who was already stuttering, seemed to have caught his tongue: "Um...um...um, this...this bird and fox are not quite right!"

I watched as Lao Fan hesitated for a while before it was finally my turn to speak to him. Luckily, he spoke in his usual way: "What's up, bro?"

Fan Biao snapped out of his daze and began the dialogue about rescuing the fox. As the plot unfolded, he communicated with Yin Yuhong, who then released the fox played by Li Peng. We left the stage as the stage lights and special effects faded, leaving only Li Quan and Li Peng behind. As Yin Yuhong provided commentary backstage, she too slowly withdrew from the stage.

We didn't even have a curtain call or anything; everyone just left.

Yin Yuhong and I couldn't worry about whether our performance was good or bad, because we still had to prepare for singing next. The teacher who was in charge of the performance rehearsal felt that our song was very close to campus life, so he put our song last.

While we still had a chance, Yin Yuhong and I practiced a bit more. Around 5:30 PM, it was almost our turn. Liu Shiyu did our makeup, and when I looked in the mirror, I was almost stunned. Everyone around me was completely dumbfounded too. Yin Yuhong said somewhat reservedly, "Wow, I didn't expect to look so handsome after dressing up!"

Fan Biao watched me from the side and said, "It seems only I, the 'Louis Koo of Southern Sichuan,' can suppress your brilliance, Lao Pu!"

Several people looked at Fan Biao and were amused by him. Then they cheered us on.

Perhaps because I had already been on stage once, I wasn't so nervous. After the host called our names, we slowly went on stage, bowed to the students and teachers below, and sat down with Yin Yuhong on the stools that had been prepared in the middle of the stage. As the music began, Yin Yuhong unconsciously picked up her guitar. I listened carefully and then slowly began to sing along with the rhythm.

Memory is a photograph with a glow.

Time leaves behind youthful faces

We cannot defy the passage of time; youth never returns.

Still stubbornly guarding the memories

Then Yin Yuhong began to sing slowly while playing her guitar.

They were all by my side back then.

The starry sky was once dazzling.

The lost promise was to move forward together.

Some regrets are all in yesterday.

Then, when the chorus came, I started singing along with her.

Those years, that boy ran wildly through the world

The summer carried away by the wind when I close my eyes

Then I saw that the boy hadn't said goodbye to me.

Every smiling face dances in my heart.

Then the school band members started playing, and I slowly began to sing the second verse.

Occasionally, we'd start talking about the past again.

The grand wishes of the graduates

The fallen leaves outside the dormitory have piled up again, marking the beginning of autumn.

I wanted to wave, but it was so far away.

Then Yin Yuhong slowly followed me and started singing the chorus again.

This is where the young man first met her.

The image of a young boy touching the wind and snow is always a tearjerker.

I want to see those routes my bike traveled over those years again.

Everyone changes me, and I once wrote about forever.

those years

The boy

Not extinguished

flames

The Garden of Eden in the Story

Continue the adventure

Unable to escape the passage of time, bravely head towards the coastline.

Having lived half a lifetime, I am still that young man.

The world is an eternal youth.

We have a declaration of eternal youth.

When the flowers bloom again, the future will be even more vibrant.

Like that boy from that year...

As the music ended, our school life quickly came to a close, and everything remained peaceful until the end of our junior year of college.

Over the past year, Yin Yuhong and I have become exceptionally familiar with each other. Actually, "familiar" isn't quite the right word; we've grown increasingly close. We've gone from occasionally sharing our hobbies and discussing our lives to becoming friends who can talk about anything and care about each other.

Both of them knew that they liked each other, but perhaps he was too cowardly to break down that last barrier.

Everything has been going well over the past year or so. Perhaps it's because after that performance on stage, I found that I've really changed. I've become more talkative, and I can have topics to discuss with people. I will take the initiative to find topics to talk about with people.

Although Li Quan and Li Peng made up for their academic credits after their performance, they did not receive any prize money. However, they were not tripped up by life; they simply found an excuse to ask their families for some living expenses.

Actually, all of this was just a minor episode and a natural progression in life. The person who could change the course of my life, I never imagined, was actually the security guard's younger brother, Peng Guoqiang. This old guy not only appeared in my life but also became an indispensable part of it. And it was because of his existence that I experienced so much in the last ten years of my life.

Actually, none of us paid much attention to the old man who borrowed money from us at first. He wasn't that old; he was just slovenly and didn't like to tidy up. We only found out he was in his early forties after we got to know him better. But for us twenty-year-olds at the time, he was definitely a real old man.

The old man paid us back not long after we participated in the school performance. Not only did he pay us back, but he also got along very well with us.

I never expected that Peng Guoqiang would be sitting in the audience during that campus drama performance.

Speaking of Peng Guoqiang, everyone who knows him shakes their head in disapproval. This old man rides a rickety tricycle all day, the only thing that doesn't ring is the bell; everything else creaks and rattles. He's always covered in dirt, his trousers constantly stained with mud, looking no different from any other poor old man you'd see on the street. But nobody knows that he owns a spacious storefront next to the logistics center on the outskirts of town, a legitimate scrap metal collection station. Nobody knows why he's so poor; he borrows money every few days, only to pay it back again soon after.

Moreover, this old guy is always coming up with all sorts of tricks, and his mind isn't really on collecting scrap metal. Relying on his eloquence and ability to read people's expressions, he also works part-time as a fortune teller and exorcist, spouting all sorts of mystical terms like the Five Elements, the Eight Trigrams, and ominous events, making it sound like the truth.

When I first met him, I was genuinely fooled by his act, thinking that I might have met a kindred spirit who knew some secrets of yin and yang. But after spending more time with him, I finally saw through him. This old man was just a charlatan who talked a lot of nonsense. All his talk was just empty rhetoric to deceive people and swindle money from them.

I remember that day after our play ended, we went to the school's barbecue stand for a get-together, and we bumped into Peng Guoqiang right at the entrance. He had a cigarette in his mouth, squinted at us, and was looking us up and down with a shrewd and cunning smile on his face. His eyes looked like he was looking at a bunch of fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

"You guys are pretty good!" He stepped forward, patted my shoulder, his voice hoarse and calculating. "Your acting on stage, your delivery of lines, your ability to fool people is simply amazing! You're way better at talking than I am!"

I was a little hesitant and didn't reply, but he continued, "How about we work together? You'll be responsible for setting the stage and putting on the show, and I guarantee you'll make money!"

Upon hearing this, we exchanged glances and burst out laughing. Li Quan pursed his lips, took a step back, and said with a look of disdain, "Uh~ we don't have that intention."

Li Peng scratched his head and muttered softly, "We just want to play games and hang out with our friends. We only did the performance for the credits."

Back then, we were basically just a bunch of naive young lads who hadn't experienced much of the world. Besides classes and rehearsals, we spent our days in internet cafes playing games, trying to figure out how to talk more to the girls we liked. Our minds were filled with carefree joy, and we didn't care about making money or earning a living at all. We were completely unaware of the dangers of society and had no concept of the complexities of human nature. Even with money, we only cared about having enough to spend on snacks and internet access; we never considered its importance. We had no idea about making money through performing. And later I realized that Peng Guoqiang's so-called performances weren't real performances at all; they were just deceiving people!

Seeing that we weren't very interested, Peng Guoqiang smiled and said, "Alright, we can cooperate later when you're interested, or when you want to make money!"

He pedaled away on his beat-up tricycle, humming a little tune. We didn't take it to heart, quickly forgetting about it and continuing our carefree campus life.

Back then, I never had a clear concept of money. It wasn't until that weekend, when I was strolling around with Yin Yuhong, that a small incident during our chat gave me a completely new and chilling understanding of money.

We get along very well and love to go shopping together. We don't need to find topics to talk about; we just stroll along the street and feel very comfortable.

The weather was exceptionally nice that day. The warm sunshine bathed us, and the breeze carried a gentle scent. Pedestrians strolled along the street in twos and threes, creating a lively yet peaceful atmosphere. Yin Yuhong and I walked side by side, chatting about interesting things at school. Her eyes crinkled into crescents, and her soft voice made the surrounding atmosphere even more gentle.

As we walked, I noticed she was constantly looking down at her phone, her fingers scrolling up and down with intense focus. She would occasionally furrow her brow, a look of longing on her face. Curious, I quietly leaned closer and saw that she had an online shopping app on her phone, filled with product details for cameras.

"Are you looking at cameras? Planning to buy a new one?" I asked softly, interrupting her concentration.

Yin Yuhong looked up, smiled at me, and handed me her phone. Her tone was tinged with regret: "My old camera broke down. I tried to fix it several times but it was never fixed. I've been wanting to get a new one for a while now. I've been eyeing full-frame cameras. I've been looking for a long time and have narrowed it down to two that are quite suitable in every way. I just don't know which one to choose."

Pointing to two cameras on the screen, she patiently explained the image quality, performance, and handling of different brands. Her eyes shone with genuine passion and enjoyment when she talked about photography and cameras; a slight smile played on her lips, full of anticipation. I listened attentively, discussing with her which brand best captured the essence of a photograph and which offered the best value. Seeing her delighted expression, I quietly memorized everything.

Suddenly, he remembered that her birthday was coming up soon, and a thought popped into his head: he wanted to buy the camera she wanted and give it to her as a birthday present to give her a big surprise.

Suppressing my excitement, I pretended to be nonchalant and told her, "Don't rush to place an order. Take a look around and compare different options. Don't buy it yet."

Yin Yuhong, unaware of my thoughts, obediently nodded and replied with a smile, "Okay, I'll take my time choosing."

But when I inadvertently saw the price of the camera, the number of over seven thousand nine hundred yuan suddenly pierced my eyes and stabbed my heart.

Back then, I was just an ordinary student with only a little pocket money from my parents. I had to tighten my belt to afford internet access, meals, and small purchases. Let alone this huge sum of nearly 8,000 yuan, I couldn't even come up with half of it.

At that moment, my heart was filled with bitterness. The joy that had just ignited was instantly enveloped by a sense of powerlessness. I really wanted to fulfill her wish and present her with the camera she had been longing for, but looking at the exorbitant price, I could only truly understand what it meant to have the will but not the means.

He forced himself to remain calm and continued walking with her, but his heart was in turmoil. Looking at the gentle smile of Yin Yuhong beside him, and then thinking about his own empty pockets, an emotion he had never felt before surged into his heart. It turned out that without money, even giving the person he liked a gift had become a luxury.