Chapter 74

  Fang Mengnan lay in bed, the room was dark and gloomy, looking out at the snowflakes falling thick and fast outside. The white snow outside shone brightly, suddenly reminding him of some words he had only used when writing essays as a child, which he hadn't seen for ages: "Silver makeup, thousand miles of ice, ten thousand miles of snow fluttering, what a silver world!" Looking out at the tall and short, sparse and lush tree branches all covered in thick snow, the distinction between luxury and tranquility, poverty and wealth was no longer visible after being covered by the accumulated snow. The whole world seemed to have become truly equal, free, and peaceful at this moment. It was as if the thick white snow had covered up everything beautiful and ugly in the world.

  It was a pure white world, and as she looked at it, Fang Mo Nan fell into a dreamland. She didn't have the good physical strength in front of them.

  Everyone lived together for five more days, and after the snow melted, they went back to their respective posts.

  Before the Lunar New Year, Qi Qiu Shi came to visit his aunt and was startled by her big belly. When he mentioned this, his aunt took a pillow and "hit" him hard, making him carefully accompany her while worrying about tiring her out, creating a very comical scene.

  When Qiu Shi found out, everyone in the family knew about it. As a result, Grandma scolded Xiaoyi over the phone, "Ah! Such a big thing, you can really keep it under wraps, not even a word of news was revealed, have your wings grown hard or what? Ah......, how dare you hide this from us." After finally learning that Xiaoyi was pregnant with twins, Grandma couldn't sit still anymore. This is too much, hurry up and find someone to handle the visa.

  On January 29th, 1987, Chinese New Year's Eve, Fang Weizhong and his wife went to Mary's home at the invitation of Andres couple.

  "Today is a traditional holiday in your country, New Year's Eve. A day of reunion, being abroad, we are with you to celebrate." Mary said emotionally.

  At Andres' home. Jerry and his wife Cynthia also came to spend the New Year with this renowned student of theirs. The two families were very familiar friends, and the reason for gathering together this time was because these three students from across the ocean were diligent, hardworking, honest, and kind.

  Lunch was Fang Mornan, Mary, and Cynthia. As housewives, they all liked to cook their own food. After discussion, they decided that each person would make a few dishes they were good at. Everyone exclaimed in unison: "Let's do it!"

  Fang Mernan's simplest, no need to fight for the stove with them, how can there be no dumplings on New Year's Eve! The other housewives still mainly had Western food, and this Chinese-Western fusion menu was set up on the dinner table.

  Everyone sat together in a circle. They were all familiar with each other, and the table manners weren't so formal, chatting while eating. Fang Mo Nan was worried that his side wouldn't be used to Western food, especially since there was a pregnant woman, so he prepared enough dumplings. But it still wasn't enough because after Mary and the others tasted the dumplings, they all exclaimed how delicious they were, unexpectedly finding the small white things to be so tasty. The atmosphere was lively and everyone's mood was high, with almost nothing left on the table.

  Because there was no Spring Festival Gala, Mo Bei thought of the scene when he spent New Year's at home and suggested that they perform themselves, which received a unanimous response from everyone.

  As a family unit. The small concert began, and the Andres couple, needless to say, were music teachers themselves. Naturally, they played music, one playing the violin and the other playing the piano. One after another, lively famous tunes echoed out, truly leaving a lasting impression!

  The show that Jerry and his wife performed was the musical "Phantom of the Opera" which premiered at Her Majesty's Theatre in London last October. Accompanied by Andre and Murray, Cynthia's voice suddenly burst forth, stunning everyone. She sang the overture titled Hannibal. This overture is one of the most famous songs from this musical, with a magnificent melody that is both beautiful and majestic, leaving people wanting to hear it again and again.

  Some songs can be heard for a lifetime, even if all the visual memories about them have faded away. But these melodies will always make us experience those familiar emotions... Fang Mengnan once went to Broadway to watch this opera. It reminded him that the musical "Phantom of the Opera" had achieved an astonishing box office revenue of over $3.2 billion worldwide, enduring for ages.

  When Jerry sang, 'Wow...' his voice was so good that it couldn't be told apart from a professional.

  It wasn't until after Fang Mo Nan asked Ma Rui that he found out the two were in the school choir together, no wonder they're so excellent!

  The song ended, and everyone's palms were red from clapping. Jerry and his wife performed extremely perfectly.

  Fang Mo Nan shook his head, still feeling like something was missing. Ma Rui looked at him curiously and asked: "Nan, what's wrong?"

  Nang Mern pointed at herself, "Me?" Everyone looked at her like that, and Mali encouraged a look at her.

  Fang Mo Nan smiled and said, "I just say it like that, you guys just listen, after all I'm not a professional, based on the scenes depicted in this opera, the melody should be more gorgeous, weird, dark, crazy to the point of hysteria, Gothic style."

  "Like that?" Andres walked up to the piano and replayed it, with a qualitative change from before, more in line with the original atmosphere.

  "Hmm! Master, it's indeed masterful. The prelude with the church organ is even better!" Fang Mo Nan said, stroking his chin. "The grandeur and solemnity, the rich timbre, are more in line with the dark style."

  Andres thought for a moment and said, "That makes sense." He made a mental note of it.

  Next was Fang Mengnan and his family's performance, mainly by the two sisters. The two of them sang folk songs in a foreign land, music has no borders.

  Folk songs originally referred to the traditional songs of each ethnic group, and the ancestors of each ethnic group had their own songs since ancient times. Most of these songs do not know who the author is, and they are spread by word of mouth, passed down from generation to generation until today. However, the folk songs we talk about today mostly refer to the folk songs of the popular song era, which mainly use acoustic guitar as accompaniment instrument, sing in a natural and straightforward way, and express the simple life feelings of everyone.

  Folk song, the people's song. From ancient times to the present, regardless of east, west, south, or north, every era, region, nation, and ethnic group; under the influence of different geography, climate, language, culture, and religion, a type of human entertainment, cultural heritage, or expression of real life will inevitably emerge.

  The Huaxia folk songs are diverse, Shanxi folk songs have beautiful melodies, easy to sing and pass on, with sincere emotions, true feelings, and rich local flavor.

  Mongolian long tune, with few words and a long tone, high-pitched and distant, comfortable and free, suitable for narrative, and good at expressing emotions.

  Listening to a long-tune pastoral song is like standing in the vast grassland, pouring out one's feelings to nature. This artistic realm can be called "the perfect unity of heavenly and earthly music" by musicians, and "the highly free and perfect unity of man and nature" by aesthetes. If there are more people, the continuous low-pitched sound will produce a majestic, grandiose, and magnificent atmosphere; it will have an overwhelming momentum. Both can make people feel a sense of sublime beauty.

  Jiangnan is a land of fish and rice, with beautiful scenery that delights the senses. The enchanting garden landscapes, small bridges, and flowing water are all captivating. The gentle and elegant Jiangnan folk songs are softly sung and lightly swaying.

  "Who would have thought that the distant China also has such beautiful music." Mary said, getting up and sitting in front of the piano, replaying the music that Fang Mengnan and her had performed.

  "Great, better than this half-baked thing I did." Fang Mo Nan said with a smile.

  "If there's a chance, I'd also like to visit Nan's hometown," Mary said.

  "Good! I will warmly welcome." Fang Mo Nan and others said together.

  The afternoon passed quickly in music, and people had new understanding of each other. After returning home, Xiaoyi and Mo Bei didn't let go of Fang Mennai, knowing so many folk songs, the two heard the rural accent, strongly longing for her to sing again, so Fang Mennai sang many folk songs, from all over the world, as a result, the next day she lost her voice and couldn't speak.

  But dinner was only done by my uncle, and the two of us felt a strong 'rustic atmosphere', which greatly satisfied our spirits and filled our hearts.

  On the sixth day of Lunar New Year, before the holiday was even over, Grandma and Old Man Lin hastily flew over after completing their visa application.

  Jenny drove with Fang Mo Nan to pick up the two elderly people. After getting in the car, Grandma hastily asked: "Is your aunt okay? She didn't call to inform you, so you wouldn't secretly report it!" Grandma saw her wanting to explain and said again: "Don't tell me you don't know what pregnancy means."

  "We can't do anything about it, we have to respect the pregnant woman's opinion! Now she's the boss, if we don't listen to her, who should we listen to?" Fang Mo Nan shrugged.

  "She's the eldest now, and this family has to listen to me." Grandma said matter-of-factly. "When I see her, I'll certainly have a good talk with her."

  After arriving home, Grandma scolded Little Aunt severely, but as soon as Little Aunt said that her stomach was hungry, Grandma quickly pulled Fang Mo Nan to cook. Little Aunt escaped with a sly plan and stuck out her tongue in triumph.

  Because she was pregnant with twins, her aunt's belly had been swelling up like a balloon since the fifth month, making Qi Qiu, who was standing beside her, feel anxious.

  "What? You're still going to school?" Grandma shouted in a loud voice, like a big trumpet. "No way, no way, drop out of school immediately. With this unexpected turn of events, how can you face Autumn Truth?"

  "Mom, it's okay, the doctor said I'm fine and I don't feel tired at all!" Xiaoyi swallowed a dumpling and said. She glared at her uncle sitting next to her, blaming him for speaking out of turn.

  Qiu Shi held up both hands, putting on an innocent look, but it seemed to have little effect. His aunt pinched his thigh hard under the table, making him grit his teeth in pain. His grandmother asked what was wrong with him, and he lied, "My back is itching terribly, nothing's wrong."

  "Mom, in two months, with you guys around, I'm really fine. Eating well, sleeping well, except for the scary big belly." Xiaoyi pleaded. Then she pulled Fang Mosou over, "Besides, we have a ready-made doctor at home, what's there to be afraid of?"

  "Hey!" Grandma also knew she couldn't outtalk her younger sister, pointing at her head and saying: "You've really been spoiled by us, okay? We should pay more attention. But if there's anything wrong, you must speak up!"

  "Yes ma'am." Xiaoyi said with a happy smile.

  In the end, of course, the pregnant woman won a complete victory. Qi Qiu was still busy with things, and when his mother arrived, he left with peace of mind, planning to come back when the child was born.