134 Brother Shanyu (1/2)
In the afternoon.
Light drizzle visited Centurial Beach and chased away quite a bit of the scorching summer heat.
The banner with the words [health inspection] hung on the bus that Yun Hua Hospital had rented. It looked rather disheveled; there were some mud splashes on the vehicle, and it stained the bus when the wheels moved. Naturally, it made the people inside the bus unhappy.
*Thump, thump.*
Three old men held large gongs and knocked on them with force. Right after that, melodious music rang out, and a group of old women clad in colorful and fancy dresses waved their fans and sang as they danced,
”A league of Red Army soldiers are sent down the mountains, the autumn breeze and rain linger in the air, the deer on the mountains cry endlessly...”
There were rarely any major changes to the sanatorium's theatrical performances. There would be similar performances every time there was a festival, or when they were welcoming guests or sending them off. However, there were slightly more people in the audience today.
Even Red Army veterans who did not usually leave the building sat in their wheelchairs and came to the courtyard. They basked comfortably in the sunlight and flashed reminiscing smiles.
Many people sang with the music, ”While thousands of soldiers stand along the Jinsha riverbank, ten thousand commoners are teary-eyed. The Red Army's loving kindness shan't be forgotten. The revolution is successful, the Red Army return to their homes...”
At this moment, the Red Army Veterans sang along with clear voices, even though they had not been able to form coherent sentences for years.
”Return to their homes…
”Return to their homes…”
After the song ended, the whining sound of a solo erhu performance rang out. After only a few moments, it was drowned out by intense guitar music.
”Mister Liu, are you trying to pick a fight with me again?” The old man who played the erhu was hot-tempered. He shot up from his seat and his whole body shook.
The old man who played the guitar was clad in a leather jacket and leather pants. He chuckled a few times. ”What? You were plucking the erhu, and I was plucking the guitar. The others can choose whichever they want to listen to. Do you know what democracy is?”
”You play the erhu by drawing a bow across its strings.”
”Go on and play it with your bow, then. I have paper, you want some?”
”As sweet as honey, your smile is so sweet as honey… just like the way flowers bloom in the spring breeze… in the spring breeze…”
A few old women clad in cheongsams eagerly went forward and started singing, drowning out the music from the guitar and the erhu.
The director of the sanatorium who was originally talking to the group from Yun Hua Hospital slapped his thigh and said in exasperation, ”Damn, they're trying to outdo one another again. I'm sorry, everyone, I need to go and persuade them so that no one faints from anger.”
The directly ran over at lightning speed, and instructed the workers to remove the obstacles blocking the road while persuading the performance team—whose turn had not arrived yet—to leave.
Yun Hua Hospital's managers and doctors remained smiling as they stood in front of the large bus. They waved their arms continuously to thank and bid farewell to the senior citizens around them.
The group from Yun Hua Hospital only boarded the large bus one by one under the arrangement of the sanatorium when the melody of the erhu sounded again. The bus slowly drove off.
The singing and dancing continued in the sanatorium. The group sending off the people from Yun Hua Hospital performed whole-heartedly. Apart from the fact that their range of movement was smaller, their actions were milder and their clothes were more pompous. They looked like they were performing in a school's new year performance. They felt extremely happy as they entertained themselves.
Ling Ran sat in the back the bus with a box of gifts on his lap. He took the time to arrange them one by one. Doctor Zhou and the resident doctor helped him while they sat next to him. They also recorded the gifts for him.
”One ginseng…”
”One bottle of cod-liver oil… Another ginseng...”
”One bottle of grape-seed oil…”
”One more ginseng...”
Doctor Zhou could not help but say in envy, ”Isn't it amazing to be good-looking? Both of us were treating patients, but why are you the only one who received gifts? Wow, such a large ginseng.”