Chapter 22

After returning home and having dinner, Cheng Xiaoyu didn’t take this matter to heart. To him, it was just a trivial episode. If it weren’t for Ji Yunyun being related to Teacher Ji, he wouldn’t have bothered at all.

Everyone has their own life path, and to a large extent, the kind of path one takes is determined by their personality. Even if today he had seen and prevented the possible harm to Ji Yunyun, he felt he had no right to do so, as he wasn’t related to her in any way. Besides, what was destined to happen would eventually happen, and he might just be a small obstacle in someone else’s life, unable to change the direction of their path.

Although Ji Yunyun could be considered a charming and attractive girl, for someone with over forty years of experience, she wasn’t particularly alluring. He also didn’t particularly like female literary youths, and most girls of this age were romantic and idealistic, not understanding the complexity of love, which was far from the captivating and moving stories in poems and novels.

Cheng Xiaoyu returned to his study and continued the work he hadn’t finished the night before, with a large amount of intricate tasks such as arranging music, inputting melodies, and editing sounds waiting for him to complete. When a complete piece of music is presented to everyone, it might only be a few minutes, but for the creators, it requires countless efforts.

A song goes through numerous processes from being written to being recorded, and arranging music is especially complex. Modern music arrangement not only requires the creator to have rich experience and a solid foundation in music theory but also a broad perspective and a unique understanding of instruments. One could say that the singer only completes the last and easiest part of the entire song, but in the entire music chain, they are the ones who benefit the most.

In the previous life, music producers were increasingly valued in the music industry, but at present, it was still a world dominated by performers. Cheng Xiaoyu didn’t know if he still wanted to be a star, but now he wanted to be a producer. He genuinely enjoyed the continuous pleasure of being immersed in something and the peace of mind that came with it. After finishing the arrangement of this song, he immediately had a new idea and started writing new scores. If the previous songs could be smoothly arranged and achieve the expected effect, he wanted to add something extra to make the performance more diverse.

The next day, Cheng Xiaoyu went to school with dark circles under his eyes, making it seem like the nickname "Panda" was here to stay, but it was better than being called "Creepy Guy," he thought to himself for comfort.

Su Yuxi and Cheng Xiaoyu still lived in two different worlds, like two parallel lines that approached each other infinitely but never intersected. Despite being so close, they were infinitely far apart, and unless life was folded like a piece of paper, there would be no possibility of intersection.

Su Yuxi knew about Cheng Xiaoyu’s bet with Li Liwei, but she didn’t have much faith in her brother. Although she liked the song "Castle in the Sky" very much, the difficulty of playing it was too low. She had also looked up the sheet music for the song online but found no information. She had considered whether Cheng Xiaoyu might have written the song, but she thought it was unlikely. After all, her brother, who seemed to have no talent, left a very poor impression on her, and without a deep love for music and a profound understanding of life, it was impossible to write such a song. She always disliked people who used music as a stepping stone or a tool, as to her, music was a faith, not a means to make money. Music was about sharing and expressing, not showing off or suffering.

Cheng Xiaoyu didn’t deliberately try to change his cold and distant sister’s perception of him. "The true nature of a person is revealed over time," he thought. He just let things take their natural course.

Time passed quickly when one was busy. Cheng Xiaoyu, like a tightly wound clock, went through his routine: classes, breaks, exercises, lunch, dinner, classes, after-school activities, and home. His life was strict and regular, with no deviation. The results of the rehearsals were unexpectedly satisfactory, and the three of them became more and more默契 (in sync), and their performance became more mature.

Huang Yong, who worked at the Forest of Lights, initially went to the basement to add water occasionally, but later stayed to listen to Cheng Xiaoyu and his band practice, and couldn’t be driven away. He was already their first fan and didn’t get tired of listening to the same song for days.

Later, even the owner of the Forest of Lights, Chen Jinglong, came to watch their rehearsals after Huang Yong’s enthusiastic recommendation. Chen Jinglong, who was Chen Haoran’s brother, praised Xia Shamo’s singing and loved the song, hoping that Cheng Xiaoyu and his band could perform at the bar. However, Cheng Xiaoyu refused, as studying was still their top priority. Chen Jinglong didn’t ask about the songwriter, as he never thought it was the work of a high school student, and to some extent, his assumption was correct.

Cheng Xiaoyu was also troubled by this issue. For him, the song was a non-existent work in his memory, and if he didn’t write it, it might never appear in this world. Logically, he should be the author of the song, but these songs weren’t entirely his creation and shouldn’t belong to him. He was extremely conflicted and couldn’t tell others that the song was his work. When he was confused, he could only comfort himself by thinking that he was just plagiarizing God’s music to share with the world, which was a very elegant thing and shouldn’t be morally condemned.

When their small band could perfectly perform this difficult song, adding another song to the performance was also on Cheng Xiaoyu’s rehearsal schedule. The school selection was the next day, but he wasn’t nervous. To him, he only cared about the impact of the New Year’s performance, and the selection was just a trivial matter. His band members were the same, seemingly indifferent to the selection, and the three of them, with their thick nerves, went home on time without discussing it further.

During this period, a small incident occurred in Class 3, Grade 12. Ji Yunyun, the class beauty and the school beauty, came to the class to look for a fat boy named Lei Feng, but no one knew him. At that time, Cheng Xiaoyu and Wang Ou were in the toilet, so they didn’t meet. Ji Yunyun went to other classes but still couldn’t find Lei Feng. She couldn’t ask her aunt, fearing that she would know about the incident. After several breaks, the interesting fat boy seemed to have disappeared, and Ji Yunyun had to give up temporarily. Thinking that they would eventually meet in the same school, she felt a subtle sense of anticipation, though she couldn’t believe this subtle emotion and subconsciously thought she just wanted to return the money for the CD to the fat boy.

On the 25th, for some people, the day seemed long, like the class president Li Liwei. For others, it was a normal day, like Cheng Xiaoyu. For others, it passed too quickly, like Wang Ou.

At this time, China didn’t celebrate Christmas as crazily and grandly as some countries in the previous life, and most people didn’t even know who Jesus was. In the previous life, Cheng Xiaoyu found it absurd that people celebrated the birthday of a foreigner who had nothing to do with them, but that world was irrational, and people without religious beliefs were enthusiastic about a religious holiday. Some might argue that they were just wishing for peace and blessings for their families and friends on Christmas Eve, but in reality, they were just joining the crowd, a tradition in China with a long history, and this China was no exception.

The small auditorium of Fudan High School, where the New Year’s performance selection was held, was packed with people. Even the strict discipline committee members couldn’t handle the enthusiasm.

Cheng Xiaoyu, Xia Shamo, and Chen Haoran sat in the performers’ area, watching the performances on stage. A segment of the Peking Opera "Changbanpo" (also known as "Single Ride to Save the Master") was being performed, with the role of Zhao Yun played by the school heartthrob, Sun Zihao from Class 3, Grade 11. The audience below erupted in cheers for Sun Zihao, who performed decently but not outstandingly.

The three of them, with high artistic standards, found the high school performances quite boring and started doing their own things. Chen Haoran listened to jazz drum performances with headphones, Xia Shamo studied math problems, and Cheng Xiaoyu slept in his chair. In a crowd of elaborately dressed and made-up girls, these three stood out like aliens, drawing much attention. Most people thought they were just there to complete a task and be eliminated, assuming they hadn’t even practiced. Although it was just a selection, the other participants were serious, wearing costumes and makeup, determined to show their best even if they were eliminated.

Most of the performances were dances, with occasional operas, skits, and crosstalk. Instrumental performances were rare, mostly solos, and singing was even rarer, with only two folk singers. Cheng Xiaoyu and his band were scheduled to perform third to last, so they continued to do their own things, completely unaffected by the tense atmosphere around them.

When Ji Yunyun’s class performed, the audience erupted in cheers again. The girls performed a Xinjiang dance, showing off their slender waists, wearing bright sequined hats, red veils, and metal bracelets, with red lace tops and long Xinjiang skirts. Their performance was full of charm, and especially when Ji Yunyun was in the front, the audience went wild, creating a small climax. After that, there were no more performances that excited the audience. As the number of performances decreased, the audience in the auditorium also thinned out. Since the results weren’t announced immediately, many people left after their performances, and few stayed until the end.

Finally, when Ji Xin announced that Class 2, Grade 12, was up, the three of them casually walked onto the stage. Once they were on stage, they could only look at each other in confusion. Cheng Xiaoyu, seeing the empty stage, was flustered and asked, "Teacher Ji, where are the instruments?" The few people in the audience burst into laughter.

Ji Xin, annoyed, said, "You want to perform, and you expect the teacher to prepare the instruments for you? Go down and see if you can borrow any. The next group, Class 5, Grade 10, is up."

Cheng Xiaoyu thought the school would have everything, so he came without instruments, and Chen Haoran hadn’t even considered bringing instruments. To their surprise, the school didn’t have a jazz drum or even an electronic keyboard. Cheng Xiaoyu frantically searched the auditorium but found nothing useful. Even the organ he used to accompany the choir in the small auditorium was gone.

When the last group finished, everyone said goodbye to Ji Xin. Cheng Xiaoyu could only sigh, "The heavens are against me."

Ji Xin, while organizing the performance materials, asked, "What happened? You didn’t prepare at all?"

Cheng Xiaoyu, knowing that another teacher might have kicked them out, said softly, "It’s all my fault. I didn’t know the school didn’t have instruments."

Ji Xin, who genuinely liked this unremarkable fat boy, didn’t blame him much. "What did you prepare?"

"Xia Shamo sings, and I and Chen Haoran accompany her."

"Then let Xia Shamo sing a cappella," Ji Xin said, looking at Xia Shamo.

Xia Shamo didn’t start singing but looked at Cheng Xiaoyu. Seeing that Ji Xin wasn’t angry, Cheng Xiaoyu became bold. "Singing a cappella might not have the desired effect. How about you spend some time at our rehearsal place? It’s not far, just at Fudan University."

Ji Xin, seeing his expression, was both angry and amused. "Only you would dare to make such a request."

Cheng Xiaoyu, unbothered, said, "Teacher Ji, it’s because you have high standards for music that we dare to say this. We wouldn’t dare to be careless, but if you come, we guarantee you’ll be satisfied, or we’ll refund you."

Ji Xin pointed at Cheng Xiaoyu, "You, if I’m not satisfied, I’ll see how you’ll handle it."

Cheng Xiaoyu, seeing that Ji Xin was willing to go, was overjoyed. "Teacher Ji, although we’re not very reliable, we take music seriously and never take it lightly. Otherwise, Xia Shamo and Chen Haoran wouldn’t be in my band."

Ji Xin looked at Xia Shamo and Chen Haoran and saw that they had a high level of trust in Cheng Xiaoyu, especially Xia Shamo, who looked at him with admiration. Ji Xin suddenly had high expectations for their performance, wondering what these three oddballs could create together.