Chapter 39: The Art of Erhu

  After arriving at the hall, Yafeng and others showed their erhu in front of everyone.

  "We've found it," said Yafeng, "This is China's Erhu." Chuiwan said with great pride.

  "Erhu? That's quite special." Not Two was slightly surprised.

  "Heh heh, right? Toribe, Shinso, did they pass the elegant wind test?" Mukamura threw the question at Toribe and Shinso.

  "This, huh?" Rinso paused for a moment on purpose and found that the other three were staring at him tensely while Yafeng was still focusing on the erhu in his hand. He said, "We can count it in too, but you have to use this instrument to play a piece and let us experience the charm of this traditional Chinese instrument."

  "Eh, okay then, Yafeng said she'll do it meow." Kikumaru said with great excitement.

  "Ah, you, an unassuming woman, can play this instrument?" Tsubo asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "Huh?"

  Yahiko jumped out of his reverie with a bewildered expression, looking at Katsuragi. Seeing Yahiko's obvious obliviousness to what he had just said, Katsuragi's mouth twitched violently - this unpretentious woman actually ignored him so thoroughly, ah hmm!?

  "Yafeng, Ninxu and Jibu said that you have to play this erhu for us to consider it a successful trip." Chuiwan explained.

  "Oh, but I haven't played the erhu for a long time. If it doesn't sound good, don't laugh at me."

  Yah Feng finished speaking and sat down, placing the erhu on his thigh. He tried playing it a little, then tightened the strings a bit before trying again. Seeing that the tone was about right, he began to play the familiar tune "Empty Mountain Bird Language".

  In the early morning, in the empty mountain, I heard the birds' language, as if I had heard the divine revelation.

  God said the earth should have poetry, and the earth had a new greenery.

  At dusk, in an empty mountain, I heard the birds' language, as if I had heard a divine melody.

  God said the sky should have peace, and the sky presented a chessboard.

  There is too much chaos in the world, and there is too much emptiness in people's hearts.

  Misread life for many years, today in the empty mountain listening to the bird's language.

  As the music came to an end, everyone remained in a state of enchantment, reluctant to leave the world of empty mountains and bird songs.

  "Wow, it sounds great! Yafeng, you're so amazing, I think I heard the birds singing!" Cilang exclaimed excitedly, rarely staying awake.

  Others were also called out by him from the music just now.

  "Ah, still quite elegant." — Tsuba

  "Hehe, sounds good." — Niji

  "Yafeng, you're so amazing!" chimed in Hisae and Tomoka in unison.

  "Heh heh, Yafeng, what was that tune just now?" Kōmura asked.

  "That's 'Kong Shan Niao Yu' from the top 10 famous Erhu pieces, a masterpiece of Erhu master Liu Tianhua, describing the beautiful scenery of deep mountains and valleys with birds singing. Yafeng explained briefly."

  "Haha, Yafeng is really amazing, playing such a traditional instrument so well." Niji praised sincerely.

  "Hehe, no, actually when everyone was learning piano and dance, I chose to learn the erhu because I thought it could better express our emotions. But after coming to Japan, I didn't have an erhu so I haven't practiced." Yafeng said lightly, then looked at Tsuba and asked: "Tsuba-san, how did your family end up having an erhu?"

  "This family has always been the most luxurious, how could it not have one? However, the origin of this instrument still needs to be asked from Nakamura." After finishing speaking, he let the servant go and call Nakamura.

  "Yahfeng, can you play another tune?" asked Ryūsei.

  Seeing everyone's interest was high, she played another piece "Cold Spring Wind" with elegant and refined tone. Following the rhythm of the music, she spoke in a deep and emotional voice.

  "Let dreams splash towards the sky, transform into surging flesh and blood;"

  Hand over life to reality, willing to admit defeat in gambling.

  The vast universe, is there really a true master?

  Three mountains and five peaks, not all are extraordinary trees.

  Who does not want to make a name for themselves and be busy with official business?

  Past and present generations, how many heroes?

  Those who are favored by fortune become high officials with fat salaries, while those who are out of favor sell themselves into slavery.

  Kings, princes, generals and ministers, are merely fleeting fortunes;

  Upright and honest, unyielding and unbending, have you not seen officials who have been dismissed from office and become monks?

  A thousand pieces of gold scattered and returned, living a life of mediocrity, how many exceptional husbands are there?

  The Milky Way is hard to reunite, can't blame the fairy for being confused;

  Heaven is wonderful, Chang'e rushes to the moon, a moment's mistake, a lifetime of loneliness.

  Zuo Qiuming went blind; Qu Yuan was exiled.

  Two Springs Reflecting the Moon, a desolate and miserable landscape, Blind Abing, a famous stream for thousands of years.

  It took a long time for everyone to walk out of Quzi's sorrow.

  "Miss Ya Feng is so talented, she can actually play this 'Cold Spring Wind' song with such great expression." Nakamura said after a long while, his voice filled with excitement.

  "Does Nakamura-san know that this piece is 'Cold Spring Breeze'?" Yafeng looked at Nakamura in surprise, after all, the erhu wasn't a very popular instrument and it was already impressive that as a Japanese person he knew "Reflections of the Moon", let alone also knowing "Cold Spring Breeze".

  "Ah, I heard it many times over a decade ago, so it's deeply etched in my memory."

  "Oh, Uncle Nakamura doesn't know how there is an erhu with such a good tone here?" Yafeng asked.

  "This was brought by an old Chinese friend of the master more than a decade ago when he came to visit, at that time he often played this erhu for over a month but somehow he didn't bring it back with him when he left."

  "So that's how it is," Yafeng said softly, looking at the erhu in his hand: "Such a good erhu was actually sealed away for over ten years, what a pity."

  Tsuba looked at Yafeng and then said to Nakamura: "Nakamura, this erhu is useless here, isn't it?"

  "Yes, young master." Nakamura naturally understood Tsubo's intention.

  "Alright, you're not a elegant woman, but since your erhu playing is quite elegant, I'll give this erhu to you."

  "Ah." Yafeng was taken aback and said: "It's not good, this erhu after all belongs to someone else, and such a valuable erhu is probably priceless, I shouldn't accept it."

  Hearing Ya Feng's words, Huajie was about to get angry again, "This unglamorous woman, if I said I'd give it to you, I'd give it to you, what's with the nagging?"

  "Yes, Miss Ya Feng, the owner of this erhu is probably long gone and has forgotten about it. Leaving it here would be a waste of such a fine instrument. With someone like you who appreciates its sound, it won't go to waste."

  "Alright, Yafeng, just take it. If you feel like you owe Traces a favor, just compose a few more songs for him in the future, okay, Traces?"

  "Ah!"

  Yafeng picked up this good erhu.

  "Oh, right! That gentleman also left a guqin and something called a sheng or dizi, I wonder if Miss Yafeng can play it?" Nakamura suddenly remembered something and asked.

  "What's wrong?" Yafeng looked at Nakamura with a surprised face.

  "It seems so, I'm not very clear either, I'll go find it out and show you, Miss Yafeng." After that, he went to the warehouse.

  Hearing this, Xie Ya's mood couldn't help but soar.

  "Hehe, Yafeng seems to know a lot about traditional Chinese musical instruments." Nier smiled and asked.

  "No, I can only play the erhu and the dizi. I thought it was fun when I was in China so I learned for a few years," Yafeng said lightly.

  Although Ya Feng said it extremely calmly, others still admired her greatly, especially two of them, who already regarded Ya Feng as a god-like existence.

  "Hehe, Genichiro, you're really something else." Koumura laughed brightly.

  "Hmm." Sanada nodded lightly, he was also full of surprise today, he had never thought that Yafeng would have so many Chinese classical musical instruments.

  When Ya Feng saw the hole flute in Nakamura's hand, his mood was no longer excited. He took the flute from Nakamura and stroked it gently as if holding a rare treasure. What surprised Ya Feng even more was that this was a nine-section purple bamboo flute, which is considered one of the best flutes available. When he put it to his lips and blew softly, he discovered its rich and beautiful timbre, with an ancient charm. Such a flute is now hard to find.

  "What a wonderful zither! It's rarely seen." Yafeng exclaimed.

  "Hehe, if Miss Yafeng likes it, then I'll give this to her too." Nakamura said with a happy tone.

  "This doesn't seem quite right, does it?"

  "It doesn't matter anyway, it's useless here and Miss Yafeng can still make use of it. You think so too, young master?"

  "Ah, give it to you and you'll accept it, if you feel embarrassed just play a tune for us." Tsuba said elegantly.

  "Well, I'd better obey then."

  Ya Feng put the sheng to his lips and played a rendition of "Autumn Thoughts at the Dressing Table".

  "This is a part of an ancient song taken from the story of 'The Lady Zhaojun's Departure' and has a very classical flavor. If you like it, you can search for the full version online, which should have the complete performance, but I only know this one part."

  "Hehe, Yafeng is really talented, isn't he, Genichiro? I'm so envious of you." Kōmura said with a smile, looking at those few people whose eyes were clearly not right.

  "Ah, the Sanada family will not slacken." Sanada said seriously.

  "Yes."

  Yah Feng reflexively responded with a sentence, and as a result, everyone burst out laughing.