Interview and Reading: The Missionary
Author: Yin Baoguo — A senior writer, social commentator, and critic from Shanghai, who has authored a large number of essay collections, interviews, and other works, published in China and the United States.
(one)
In one's lifetime, another sweltering summer has arrived for us living people. Many people are afraid to go out and stay at home, including me!
Just yesterday morning, while I was staying at home, I unexpectedly met someone who was just as cool in his personal life. He had completely forgotten that he was an elderly person and braved the sweltering heat to come all the way from afar to see me. It seems that his coolness of heart is eight degrees higher than the coolness of the weather outside. What do you think?
When he came to my house, I was shocked when I first saw him. I was afraid I had mistaken him for someone else. His face and appearance were almost a combination of two people in society. (One is the Meng leader in Shanghai, and the other is the eldest son of the Jiang leader in Shanghai. They look so alike).
And his hair—I know many people nowadays like to shave their heads or grow their hair long to show off their artistic style, but he uses a wig, which is fine, to stay young forever.
He came through a friend's introduction. He's currently a dedicated musician, a world-class one at that, and recently came back home to visit...
Of course, upon arrival, he introduced himself: his surname was Dong, his given name was Rong Can, and he was currently—
That's how our conversation began.
As we talked, he even started humming an old song in my humble abode, tapping his foot to the beat, and then played me a large-scale musical he had created in a foreign land. A person like that naturally rose in my heart, and I could call him—cool!
It seems I've made another new friend today; I could never have too many people like this.
If he didn't have this cool demeanor, then in this sweltering heat, our meeting would feel superfluous and even boring.
Yes, according to the introducer, he is a musician, and currently at a world-class level. In other words, he's an overseas person, but he doesn't care about the scorching heat in his hometown; he's come! Unexpectedly, he brought his soul with him.
I remember Cao Peng had come to my house before. It was autumn then, and the weather was still cool, so we had a conversation that wasn't very cool.
Lately, I've been staying at home and watching another famous pianist. He's managing to look cool even in this sweltering heat. Yes! Times change, and we need to keep up with the times. Whether the weather is cool or people are cool, let's see who's stronger.
The person who came to my house today—if he hadn't come, I truly wouldn't have known he existed in this world.
Here, I can now write down his life story, which is basically based on what he told me. I memorized it and then wrote it down from memory. You can judge whether he is like me or not based on what he said to me. Let's all judge for ourselves.
Let me make it clear that I'm not involved in music; I know absolutely nothing about it. I'm just an outsider watching the show. But I do know a few people in the music industry, like Niu Niu from the Shanghai Concert Hall—Feng Ye. We practically keep tabs on each other every day.
On the surface, Mr. Dong's self-introduction was very modest, but in reality, he was incredibly impressive. The music industry figures he named were all big names, both domestic and international. His own works, in particular, made my heart race, which is why I found him so cool. (To be continued)