Chapter 60

Li Qian's senior year of high school began.

In Class 5 of Grade 3, a new Chinese teacher arrived. He was an old friend of Li Qian's father, around forty years old, not tall, and very thin, but his classes were very lively, with the demeanor of a traditional scholar. The students in the class quickly adapted to his style.

Wang Jinglu had transferred to another school, and Ran Xiaoli got married during the summer, and it was said she wouldn't return to take the college entrance exam. This left two empty seats in the class, but on the first day, two transfer students took them.

Some people left, and some people came.

Senior year started with a bang.

According to the teachers, the new school year would use half a semester to finish a year's worth of new courses, and the second half would be entirely for review. Thus, the class schedule became much tighter.

People's hearts seemed to tighten up as well.

But Li Qian had no intention of changing his established routine.

He still woke up early every day to exercise, then had breakfast and went to school. At noon, he returned to Shengshi Garden for lunch and a half-hour nap. After school, he went back to his rented house, skipped dinner, and went straight to the restaurant with his guitar. After finishing his performance, he would find a small shop on the street, eating whatever was available—noodles, dumplings, wontons, rice noodles, or rice vermicelli—anything to fill his stomach.

This pace of life was busy but fulfilling.

They were dismissed at 5:40 PM. He would go home to get his guitar, then ride his bike to "Love or Nothing Western Restaurant," arriving around 6:20 to 6:30. After a brief rest, it would be 7:00, and the performance would begin.

Today, he arrived at the restaurant at 6:24.

The girl playing the piano was performing "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair."

Seeing him enter with his guitar, Chu Bingbing smiled and came over.

A few days ago, after Li Qian and Cao Zhan got to know each other, they found many of their views aligned, and their personalities matched well. As Cao Zhan's third wife, Chu Bingbing learned about this from Cao Zhan right away, so she treated Li Qian even more warmly, not seeing him as just a regular singer.

Even if Li Qian and Cao Zhan weren't close, a person who could be praised by a figure like Cao Zhan's husband for his exceptional talent, and who could easily make a newcomer like Liao Liao a star, was not to be underestimated.

However, despite her warm attitude, Li Qian didn't feel he had any special privileges just because he knew the restaurant owner. Seeing Chu Bingbing, he bowed slightly and said, "Manager Chu, hello!"

Chu Bingbing rolled her eyes, looking alluring, and said, "Are you trying to make me feel bad? Is it so hard to call me sister-in-law? Do you look down on being a concubine?"

When they were not familiar, she seemed like a warm and shrewd manager. After a few days, he realized she was not only shrewd but also as sharp-tongued as Cao Zhan, her words cutting like a knife.

With her saying that, Li Qian had no choice but to obediently call her "sister-in-law."

Chu Bingbing smiled and nodded, then pointed to a corner by the window, saying, "There, our old Cao is looking for you, waiting for you there!"

Li Qian turned and saw Cao Zhan waving at him.

He went over and sat opposite Cao Zhan. Cao Zhan casually asked if he had eaten, and upon learning he hadn't, he called a waiter and ordered a steak for him.

Li Qian placed his guitar beside him and watched Cao Zhan slowly cut and chew his steak, unable to resist saying, "Brother Cao, you have a unique hobby... do you like eating alone? What about the two sisters-in-law?"

Cao Zhan slowly swallowed the steak in his mouth and said, "I like the steak here, but my son and daughter prefer 'Old Three Fried Chicken,' so we all eat separately."

Li Qian smiled. That was Cao Zhan for you.

The first few times they met, Li Qian was puzzled by Cao Zhan's T-shirts, all with the same portrait. Later, he realized the portrait was of Cao Zhan himself, slightly tilting his head and holding a pipe, puffing on it.

As the boss, Cao Zhan probably had the privilege of skipping the queue for ordering. Anyway, Li Qian had just sat down and said a few words when the steak arrived.

Li Qian ate his steak much faster than Cao Zhan.

When his food arrived, Cao Zhan had already eaten more than half, but Li Qian finished first.

After finishing, he wiped his mouth and was about to drink water when Cao Zhan also finished. Li Qian was about to go prepare for his performance, but Cao Zhan suddenly said, "This is your salary for today!"

Li Qian almost spat out his water, "Do you really have to be like that?"

Cao Zhan ignored him, took a sip of water, and then called the waiter over, saying, "Go get the thing I gave Bingbing." When the waiter left, he said, "I have something for you."

Soon, Chu Bingbing came over with a large box, which looked like a guitar.

Cao Zhan took it and handed it to Li Qian, saying, "I've been thinking about getting you something. I found this item, a friend made it by hand and gave it to me. I have dozens of guitars and don't use this one, so I'll pass it on to you!"

Li Qian thanked him, took the box, and opened it. He couldn't help but exclaim and took it out, holding it and tuning a few strings, playing a couple of chords—indeed, it was a great guitar!

But he couldn't help asking, "Why are you giving me something?"

Cao Zhan, as usual, had no expression, glanced at the guitar beside Li Qian, and said, "The guitar you used before was too low-class!"

Li Qian smiled, looking at Chu Bingbing with some confusion.

Chu Bingbing also smiled and looked at Cao Zhan.

Cao Zhan said, "You're not short of money, but you still ride a bike, which I think is very cool. Your songs became huge hits with just five songs, and you have a higher price in the industry than me, but you still attend high school, which I think is even cooler. But a guitar is not a car; it's part of the music. You love music, and your music is so cool, but you play a hundred-dollar broken guitar, which I think is too low-class!"

Well, if you think about it, Cao Zhan's words weren't entirely unreasonable. Li Qian could understand and empathize with a music lover's desire for others to love music as much as they do, and a guitar lover's inability to tolerate a broken guitar. But... this was definitely a twisted logic!

Li Qian smiled and said, "Is a hundred-dollar guitar not capable of making music? Can't a hundred dollars make a good guitar? Brother Cao, you're losing your way! You called Yu Ge a nouveau riche, but I think you're a musical nouveau riche! Yu Ge thinks a good car is necessary to look cool, and you think a musician needs a good guitar to look cool. You're both nouveau riches!"

Cao Zhan thought about it, took a sip of water, put it down, thought again, and looked at Li Qian, saying, "Then give it back to me!"

"Nice try!"

Li Qian smiled, put the guitar back in the case, and said, "You can't take back what you've given. Are you serious?"

Both of them laughed.

Anyway, you say your part, I say mine. We're both being unreasonable.

Chu Bingbing hadn't left since she brought the guitar over. She stood by Cao Zhan, leaning on his shoulder, her eyes bright, watching the two of them bicker. She smiled and said to Li Qian, "Don't put it away, it's your turn to perform! Try the new guitar!"

Cao Zhan added, "Sing a Russian song!"

Li Qian ignored them, putting the guitar away and taking his old one, handing it to Cao Zhan, "Are you rusty? Want to try and see if a hundred-dollar guitar can look cool?"

Chu Bingbing looked at Li Qian in surprise—this was a sharp counterattack.

Cao Zhan was also surprised. But after looking at Li Qian, he thought about it and nodded, taking the guitar and walking to the performance area.

After he left, Chu Bingbing sat in his seat, looking at Li Qian and said, "Old Cao is really giving you face. If someone else dared to talk to him like that and hand him a broken guitar to perform, he would have walked out long ago! But today, he actually..."

Before she could finish, Li Qian said, "I went back and listened to Brother Cao's works. I can tell he's been getting more artistic in the past two years, so his songs are getting harder to become hits!"

Chu Bingbing looked at him in surprise.

At that moment, Cao Zhan walked to the high stool where Li Qian usually sang, sat down, tried a few strings, and started playing the intro to "Persistence."

His voice was similar to his speaking voice, a deep baritone with a hint of sexy rasp.

"Every night when it comes, loneliness is always by my side, every evening the flickering lights of the heart are my infinite tenderness..."

Indeed, he brought a different flavor to the song.

When he finished, the restaurant erupted in applause.

He nodded to the audience and walked back.

Chu Bingbing stood up to let him sit, and Li Qian asked with a smile, "How was the music from the broken guitar?"

Cao Zhan sniffed, handed the guitar back, and said proudly, "A broken guitar is a broken guitar, what can it do?"

Li Qian laughed.

Then he asked, somewhat surprised, "I'm surprised you like this song so much? When did you come up with the chords?"

This time, it was Cao Zhan's turn to be surprised.

He looked at Li Qian seriously, took a sip of water, and said, "Not just me, but the entire domestic music industry is studying your songs, especially those three light rock songs!"

Li Qian was somewhat surprised but quickly understood: just like in any industry, the music industry always has its followers. His three light rock songs for Liao Liao became hits, so naturally, people would study them carefully, trying to find a way to replicate success, trying to ride the wave of light rock that Liao Liao started.

So, he nodded, took the guitar, and stood up, smiling at Chu Bingbing, "Sister-in-law, I'll leave the guitar Brother Cao gave me here. I won't bring my guitar tomorrow!"

After saying that, he nodded to Cao Zhan and prepared to start his performance.

After he left, Cao Zhan took another sip of water and said softly, "It seems you don't know that your few songs have brought a new era to the music industry!"

...

As usual, the performance ended at 8:00 PM. Cao Zhan had already left, and Li Qian said goodbye to Chu Bingbing, then rode his bike back to his rented house.

When he arrived at his building, he saw a figure standing at the entrance, thinking it was someone waiting for someone else, so he didn't pay much attention. But when he locked his bike and was about to go upstairs, he turned back and was startled.

"Sister Jingxue?"

In the shadows in front of the building, Wang Jingxue, with her long hair flowing, nodded slightly and said, "Li Qian, hello!"

"Uh... It's so late... Why are you here? Looking for someone?" he asked.

Wang Jingxue nodded again, "I'm looking for you!"

Li Qian was taken aback, "Looking for me?... Is there something?"

Wang Jingxue nodded again, "Yes, there is something!"

Li Qian was taken aback again, then said, "Then... let's... go upstairs? Come in for a bit?"

Wang Jingxue nodded without hesitation, "Sure!"

So, Li Qian, suppressing his curiosity, led the way.

Once inside, Li Qian invited Wang Jingxue to sit on the sofa, then took out a thermos and poured her a cup of water, saying, "Sorry, I don't have any drinks..."

Wang Jingxue nodded but didn't speak.

Under the light, he noticed she looked a bit tired.

Indeed, if you looked closely, you could see her expression was tense, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, and her fists tightly clenched, as if she was nervous—so Li Qian knew that she must have something important to discuss.

After putting down the thermos, Li Qian moved a small stool to sit opposite the sofa and said, "Sister Jingxue, what's the matter?"

Wang Jingxue nodded.

Then, she took a deep breath and finally looked up.

She was indeed very nervous!

Heaven help him, they had known each other for over ten years, and this was the first time Li Qian had seen her nervous!

Then, she said, "Li Qian, I know my relationship with my sister is a bit special, but I hope that what I'm about to say has nothing to do with Xiaolu, okay?"

"Uh... Of course, it's fine!" Li Qian was puzzled but nodded.

Wang Jingxue nodded and then stood up.

As soon as she stood up, Li Qian had to stand up as well.

Then, Wang Jingxue said, "Can you sit on this sofa?"

Her actions left Li Qian completely baffled, so he just said, "Okay," and sat down.

Wang Jingxue stood opposite him.

Yes, she was standing.

Then, she lowered her head and said, "Li Qian, I know I beat you up when we were kids, and I know you've never had a good impression of me. I also didn't have a good impression of you, but today I decided to come see you. The group I'm in is currently facing some issues. The producer and the company have set a sexy image for us, but the girls in the group are all against it. The producer said that if I can get a song from you, we don't have to go the sexy route. He even said he can set our development direction based on the songs you write..."

Her tone was always calm, as if she was reciting a text or reading a speech or a confession.

Only at this point did she finally look up, her eyes meeting Li Qian's, and continued, "I know you have no obligation to write songs for us, and I have no right to ask you for a song. I also don't want Xiaolu to be involved in this, so I came to see you to sing a few songs, to invite a song from you as a singer. Is that okay?"

"Uh..." Li Qian looked at her hesitantly, surprised by her attitude, "To invite a song as a singer?"

Wang Jingxue nodded and said, "Hello, Teacher Li Qian! I am singer Wang Jingxue! Can I sing a song for you?"