The curtain lifted.
Center stage, a miniature opera stage draped in red cloth.
As the venue was vast, the audience naturally couldn't get a clear view of such a small stage.
Therefore, the stage's large screen displayed a real-time feed of the opera stage.
Netizens watching the livestream saw the same picture as the main screen in the venue.
The lights gradually dimmed.
A gust of wind began to blow.
A puppet resembling a young boy appeared center stage.
It was a scene of wind and snow.
The boy walked alone.
Clang, clang clang!
The sound of gongs and drums arose.
The strings attached to the boy puppet were tugged, causing it to tremble slightly.
The puppet boy seemed to come alive, its movements incredibly lifelike.
This lifelikeness wasn't just in its limbs.
Even its mouth and eyes could be controlled to move with the strings.
Faced with such a marvel,
The live audience erupted in cheers!
And the livestream also became lively.
"Is this... a puppet show?"
"Didn't they say it was Ting Yu's new song?"
"Did the program change?"
"This puppet probably has over thirty strings. To control it so smoothly, the puppeteer must be a master!"
"First time seeing a puppet show. One person controls so many strings? And can control them like this? Such an amazing puppet!"
"Last time, 'Chi Ling' had a background story. This time, the puppet show should be the background story for the song. If I'm not mistaken, this song is related to puppet shows."
"What new trick is Ting Yu up to now?"
"I'm suddenly starting to look forward to it!"
"..."
The livestream was filled with a dense barrage of comments.
According to the program list, Ting Yu's new song should be performed now.
And according to online rumors, this song, like 'Chi Ling,' was a song with operatic vocalizations.
But now, a puppet show was being performed, and for a moment, the audience was confused, unsure of Ting Yu's intentions.
On the stage.
The background changed to reveal a dilapidated temple.
The boy, braving the wind and snow, entered the temple.
Inside, an old man with white hair and tattered clothes sat by the fire.
The boy sat down beside the old man.
On a snowy night, with nothing else to do, the boy and the old man began to chat.
When the old man began to recount his experiences, he opened up immediately.
"In my youth, I loved watching string puppet shows, engrossed in the art of string puppets and bells..."
The scene shifted, and the stage began to depict the old man's memories.
Accompanied by the smooth operatic vocals, everyone's interest was piqued.
All eyes in the venue were fixed on the big screen, and the comments in the livestream dwindled.
Everyone was eager to know what story this was.
At this moment, the sound of gongs and drums became more rapid.
The puppets on stage grew more animated.
Following the music, they began to perform.
...
As a child, I was playful and loved listening to puppet shows, so the old man was determined to learn the art of puppetry.
His family opposed it; they beat and scolded him, but he persisted. Eventually, they relented.
With his family's support, he went to the mountains to select a piece of peach wood and returned to carve it, bit by bit, with his carving knife.
He mastered the basics of puppetry, and his puppet was also carved.
From then on, he embarked on a lifelong journey of learning and performing with his puppet.
Most itinerant performers of the older generation wandered the land.
Even if they themselves were in rags, they would meticulously paint their puppets vibrantly.
Even if they were exhausted, as long as the puppets were bright and beautiful, they could still perform.
The puppets were the companions of puppetry artists, and in a way, they were the artists themselves.
They lived in symbiosis with their puppets. Though their lives were free and unrestrained, they had no fixed abode, calling the four seas their home.
Nothing remained with them except the puppets that accompanied them their entire lives.
...
This segment lasted for about twenty minutes.
The old man's life story was largely told.
Childhood, youth, middle age, and old age were depicted by separate puppets.
Even the supporting characters were exquisitely crafted, breathtakingly beautiful.
Even knowing that their every move was guided by strings, the audience was captivated, losing track of time.
The old man's life concluded, and the scene returned to the dilapidated temple.
"Wandering through life, with no fixed abode or companions, the only companion was the puppet."
The old man's words carried the unique operatic resonance of the older generation.
The true power of operatic vocals lay in their distinctive intonation, combined with the sound of gongs and bells, which sent shivers down one's spine.
So, as soon as the old man uttered this sentence, the audience in the venue first jolted, then felt a prickling sensation on their spines.
An inexplicable feeling surged through their minds, and they all felt his profound helplessness, shedding tears for his lifelong wandering and loneliness.
And at this moment,
The sound of gongs and drums suddenly became incredibly rapid.
The old man's emotions surged.
"All my life's misfortunes were caused by this puppet, useless, utterly useless!
"I can barely afford winter clothes, destitute to this extent, better to burn it!"
Clang! Clang clang!
Under the deafening roar of gongs and drums, the old man raised his hand and threw the puppet in his hand into the fire.
Holding the puppet his entire life, wandering his whole life, even in old age, he still had only the puppet in his hands, having gained nothing else, not even an outfit for winter.
How tragic!
How lamentable!
Useless puppet, why learn puppetry? Why even have a puppet!
"Roar!"
The dying embers of the fire, upon the puppet's entry, immediately flared up.
At this moment,
The dramatic gong and drum music of the opera abruptly ceased.
Then, the scene on the stage froze.
The audience, who had been moved by the old man's life story, hadn't yet recovered.
Boom!
Several lines of text suddenly appeared on the big screen.
《Qian Si Xi》
Vocalists: Chen Rong / Lin Yanyu
Lyrics: Ting Yu
Music: Ting Yu
"It's here!"
"Qian Si Xi, Ting Yu's new song is indeed about puppet shows!"
"I actually watched a puppet show for over twenty minutes and almost cried..."
"The old man burning the puppet that accompanied him his entire life, it brought tears to my eyes!"
"I think, according to Ting Yu's usual style, the story isn't over yet, the more tear-jerking part should be yet to come!"
"Have to say, the itinerant performers of the older generation had it truly tough."
"Finally, it's here. This puppet show was incredibly shocking. Even more preposterous is that by controlling the puppet with strings, it could actually pick up a water cup and drink!"
"I saw that just now too, it completely stunned me!"
"How exquisite must the control be!"
The audience snapped back to reality.
In the venue, there were children who came to watch the performance with their parents.
Seeing the lifelike puppets on stage, a child tilted his head and said to his father beside him, "Daddy, let's buy a puppet, and you teach me this!"
The father beside him immediately showed a pained expression.
"Good boy, darling. Daddy will buy you some figurines. We can just watch the puppet show. Puppetry is too difficult, you won't be able to learn it."
As a father who was all-powerful in his child's eyes, he certainly wouldn't admit that he didn't know how.
Otherwise, his fatherly authority would be lost.
After coaxing the child, he wiped a bead of cold sweat.
He secretly thought, how on earth am I supposed to teach this? Dozens of strings, and I only have ten fingers.
Hiss... Just thinking about it feels insane!
...