Chapter 199: The Old Erhu Player

A Jin recently hit a creative bottleneck, his state was terrible, teammates suggested he go out for a walk, maybe he'd gain some inspiration, don't be impatient, also don't bear too much pressure, keep your passion for music.

Therefore, when there was no performance, A Jin walked around other places in Chu Hua Shi with his guitar on his back.

During this period, A Jin performed in underground passages and some squares, slept in parks at night, as if returning to his time as a wandering singer; his impatient mood unconsciously gradually calmed.

Today, A Jin originally planned to go to Zhong Xin Guang Chang to sing, but actually many large squares in Chu Hua Shi have talented young performers at night; these past two days A Jin has encountered quite a few at the other two spots, gaining a lot from the exchanges. However, A Jin didn't expect to meet Zheng Tan here.

Regarding Zheng Tan, A Jin feels grateful and also carries a reverence he himself can't explain; sometimes A Jin himself finds it unbelievable that just a cat could have such a great influence on him and the band—if it weren't for this black cat, where would he and his teammates be? He dare not imagine; back then they almost gave up. So, for this cat, A Jin and his teammates have always felt grateful, as shown by their black cat emblem.

As for reverence, perhaps this is the only top-tier cat A Jin has ever encountered—after all, even Ye Hao, the big boss of Ye Lou, dares to show his displeasure directly to this cat.

A Jin doesn't know exactly where Zheng Tan lives; in fact he hasn't figured out the cat's background, only knowing this cat is quite familiar with several 'big shots'. Every time he goes to Ye Lou he's with those big shots. So, when he first saw Zheng Tan, A Jin wasn't sure, but after a second look he matched the black cat before him with that top-tier cat. Perhaps no other cat would dare openly act like that in such a setting, calmly bullying a blind old man.

"Hei Tan!" A Jin called out, seeing Zheng Tan, A Jin was quite happy. This is their band's lucky star.

Zheng Tan had just pulled a long whisker from the old man. He only saw the old man's face twitch. No other reaction, so he prepared to pull two more, to see how long the old man could endure, but unexpectedly he suddenly heard someone call his name.

Damn it! Why call my name?!

Zheng Tan cursed in his heart.

When doing bad things, the biggest taboo is exposing your real information. Originally this place was Zheng Tan's first visit; others didn't know Zheng Tan, they'd stroll around, play a bit, then flick their tail and leave—who could find whom? But now A Jin directly called out his name.

Zheng Tan hesitated. Should he pretend he was mistaken?

While thinking, Zheng Tan looked up at the old man sitting there, only to find the old man had opened his eyes—his eyeballs were cloudy gray-white, and he was looking at where Zheng Tan was, startling Zheng Tan into reflexively jumping back. It wasn't that Zheng Tan was timid; it was just too sudden—earlier he'd been fussing for a long while and the old man hadn't opened his eyes, but now he suddenly did.

But he really is a blind man…

The old man not only opened his eyes, he also moved.

As soon as the old man moved, A Jin hurried over, fearing the old man would swing his white cane at Zheng Tan. Meanwhile the other stallholders nearby wondered how the old man would deal with this cat; usually the old man hardly spoke, didn't interact with people, had no conflicts with anyone—but that was because nobody provoked him. Now the situation is, this cat is asking for trouble.

Even Zheng Tan thought the old man would give him a lesson, with a whisker still caught in his claw. So he prepared to flee.

But unexpectedly, the old man shifted, adjusted his sitting posture, picked up the erhu and started playing.

Zheng Tan had seen Jiao Ba's hometown old lady play erhu; hearing this old man play, he felt it was not inferior to that old lady, especially since the old man is blind—how rare. At the same time, Zheng Tan couldn't help but admit the old man's temper is really good; despite having his whiskers pulled, he still feels like playing erhu.

Although A Jin doesn't know much about erhu, he's sensitive to music; he feels the old man doesn't sound angry, rather his mood seems good. Many people play erhu, and most tunes carry a bleak, cold feeling, but this old man's erhu melody gives a warm feeling like on a sunset dam. Unconsciously, the earlier tension has relaxed considerably.

A Jin judges the old man's mood through the erhu melody, while Zheng Tan senses via intuition whether the old man harbors ill intent; since the old man isn't pursuing the matter, Zheng Tan also shouldn't continue bullying this blind person, especially with A Jin here—stirring up trouble would likely leak more information through A Jin this clueless guy.

Since they don't intend to keep bullying the old man, Zheng Tan simply squatted aside to listen to the old man play erhu; A Jin also doesn't plan to leave immediately, standing beside Zheng Tan leaning on the railing, listening to the old man play erhu.

A Jin can tell the old man's erhu playing is masterful, not inferior to music academy instructors; listening awhile could also benefit his own creation. Moreover, A Jin has heard many erhu pieces, but this old man's tune is unheard of; yet he feels awkward to interrupt and ask, so he just stands quietly aside to appreciate.

The stallholders around are already used to the old man playing erhu; seeing no excitement to watch, they go back to busy with their own stalls; to them a cat has no money-attracting appeal.

Speaking of money, Zheng Tan now understands why the old man's wooden box has so much money: his erhu playing is good, passersby are willing to listen, enjoy listening, plus sympathy for the old man, they give some change. Although most are small coins, the volume adds up—he can earn a decent amount in a day; for an old man, living expenses are more than covered, with extra left for other pleasures.

Actually today more people gave money than usual, and part of that is because of Zheng Tan this cat; this is also why some performers like to bring kids or animals.

Until the sky looked about right, Zheng Tan stood up, preparing to go back to pick up Xiao Youzi.

"Eh? Hei Tan, getting ready to leave?" A Jin was immersed in the erhu melody; when the erhu sound stopped, he came to and realized the black cat that had been squatting nearby had already walked to the edge, ready to go down the Tianqiao.

Shouldering his guitar, he followed. A Jin prepared to follow Zheng Tan all the way—after all, he currently has no absolute destination, and he's curious about Zheng Tan's address: where exactly does this cat live? What kind of place? Why does he come here alone?

Zheng Tan knew A Jin was following behind, but paid no heed.

Passing a snack stall, A Jin called out to Zheng Tan, "Hei Tan, please have some chicken strips." A Jin remembered this cat seems to have a broad diet.

This also counts as expressing gratitude. It's rare to see Zheng Tan alone. Previously whenever A Jin saw Zheng Tan, the cat was always with Wei Leng, Ye Hao and the gang; A Jin didn't dare to interject.

Speaking of meat, Zheng Tan is indeed a bit hungry now. No rush anyway. Xiao Youzi's school ends in half an hour; eating a meal then returning is still fine.

Seeing Zheng Tan stop, A Jin knew the cat must have agreed, so he happily walked up to the stall.

"Two servings…"

Before he could finish speaking, A Jin froze. He fumbled his pockets, patted his trousers, searched for a while, then looked at Zheng Tan with a dejected face.

"Hei Tan, have you seen my wallet and phone?"

Zheng Tan: "……" Idiot! You don't even know your wallet and phone were stolen!

On the other side, on the Tianqiao, after Zheng Tan and A Jin left, the old man also stopped playing erhu, just sat quietly there with eyes closed, returning to his previous state; only when the sun set did he fold his stool, place it into the wooden box holding money—the box isn't big but just fits the folded stool. The old man untied the large black umbrella bound to the rail, slowly packed up everything; each motion wasn't swift but was smooth. The surrounding people weren't surprised—if anyone repeated the same routine day after day, they could do this too.

For a blind person, day or night makes no difference, but the old man follows a strict routine: appearing with the morning sun, disappearing with the evening glow; moreover his spot on the Tianqiao is always fixed, no stallholder who sets up there will take his place, and even around him a space is kept clear—even when stalls are at their busiest elsewhere, the area where the old man stands remains empty.

If a new stallholder arrives, other vendors will tell him not to occupy that spot. Moreover, after the old man leaves, the Tianqiao vendors, even if business is fine, will quickly pack up and leave; to continue business they must change location. If one day they come to the Tianqiao and don't see the old man, they won't set up here either, but will choose another place to sell first, until the old man reappears on the Tianqiao.

This is a rule the Tianqiao stallholders have figured out over time: when this blind old man is present, no one comes to the Tianqiao to chase off or fine people; this is one reason why everyone's attitude toward this blind old man is particularly special.

As for another reason… the stallholders have only heard about it, never seen it themselves, so they can't draw a conclusion. Regardless, they never dare to offend that blind old man; sometimes when selling fruit or other snacks they'll take something out to give him, and when giving it they don't act like it's charity, but rather show careful consideration.

The old man walks the sidewalk with his white cane, unhurried; his cloudy black-and-white eyes remain closed—if they opened they'd probably scare some people.

The sky quickly darkened, neon lights flickered; people preparing for nightlife chatted as they walked past the old man, their gazes toward him holding both sympathy and contempt—not aimed at the old man himself, but at blind people like him.

Suddenly someone rushed from behind, snatched the old man's wooden box and fled. That person had passed the Tianqiao in the evening, seen the money inside the old man's box, but back then the crowd was too thick to act, and he didn't pay attention—he had a fatter target. Now seeing it, he wouldn't pass up the chance; after all, there are several hundred bucks inside.

People around the old man witnessed this; most didn't want to get involved, though some hot-blooded youths wanted to intervene—but in the blink of an eye the snatcher vanished into the crowd. They could only feel sympathy for this blind old man.

Unlike the people around him, the old man's face stayed very calm, showing no anger or sorrow over the stolen box; he merely paused briefly when the box was taken, then continued walking forward, as if he hadn't heard the bystanders' chatter.

He walked another stretch, turned into a narrow, long lane with hardly any light; the city's nocturnal clamor seemed to suddenly retreat, making the lane and the bustling street outside feel like two worlds.

The old man continued unhurriedly forward; not far ahead, someone sat at the side, and upon seeing the old man, that person sprang up and rushed over, plopping down on his knees before the old man.

This person is exactly the one who had snatched the old man's wooden box earlier; now he looks disheveled, beaten black and blue, with likely other wounds. After kneeling before the old man, he raised the wooden box with both hands, trembling like a sieve, his words shaking badly.

"Little… little… newcomer… have… eyes don't recognize…"

The old man didn't stop his steps because of the person before him; his face remained calm, he uttered no word, reached out and lifted the box, continuing forward, leaving the kneeling person whose words weren't finished still trembling there alone.

At this point, having finished dinner, Zheng Tan—ordered not to go out at night—lay on the sofa accompanying Jiao Ma watching a soap opera, wondering whether tomorrow he should go back to the Tianqiao to pluck a couple of whiskers from that blind old man to test the old man's tolerance limit… (to be continued…)

PS: (3.21) Weekend no overtime, not going out, sleep in, then try to catch up on updates.