Chapter 8

Just as they were about to reach the entrance of the residential area, Li Shuwen stopped again.

The "Old Liu Audio and Video Store" by the roadside had placed a large speaker at the door, and inside, the passionate cries of love and affection were heard—Li Dad suddenly remembered the song Li Qian had sung that day.

Of course, he wasn't there to appreciate the song; he was there to appreciate the lyrics.

In his view, the songs that young people liked these days, with their constant cries of love and affection, were actually quite hollow and boring, and didn't get to the point at all! Not to mention this, even the works published in literary magazines were becoming increasingly restless, and it seemed that apart from money and nudity, nothing else was considered to come from real life—economic development was getting better, but the spirit was becoming more and more impoverished.

Good literary works were few and far between.

In this era, it was rare to find someone who could write lyrics so carefully, which piqued Li Dad's interest.

He parked his bike at the store entrance and pushed the door open.

A young man sitting behind the counter looked up at Li Dad as he entered, "What would you like to buy?"

Li Dad said, "Recently, a friend told me that there's a song called 'Dark Fragrance' that's quite good. Do you have it here?"

"Dark Fragrance?" The young man was a bit confused, paused, and asked, "Who sings it?"

"Uh... I really don't know."

The young man lowered his head, frowned, and tapped his forehead, shaking his head. "I can't think of anyone who sang a song called 'Dark Fragrance.' I spend all day in this store, and I can say without exaggeration that I've heard all the songs on the tapes and CDs sold here, but I've never heard of 'Dark Fragrance.'"

Li Dad was taken aback, "Oh," he said, and it took him a while to come to his senses. He turned and walked out the door.

But after a few steps, he stopped and muttered to himself, "A song like this, the audio store doesn't sell? No one likes to listen to it? That's strange, it shouldn't be like that? These young people nowadays, they really... are hard to understand!"

He turned his head and saw another audio store not far away on the opposite side of the street.

So he pushed his bike and headed straight for it.

He went in and asked, "Do you know the song 'Dark Fragrance'? Do you have the tape?"

The answer: "No, I've never heard of it."

He came out, puzzled.

Could it be that no one listens to this song, no one likes it? So these audio stores all agreed not to stock it?

But he clearly felt that this song was quite good, both in lyrics and melody, and should be considered a good song. How could no one like to listen to it?

He refused to believe it!

With determination, he didn't go home but got back on his bike and rode back.

From the school to the residential area, and from the residential area to the school, Li had been riding this route for nearly twenty years, countless times. He knew what shops were on both sides of the road with his eyes closed.

So, he quickly found another store.

He asked: "Do you know the song 'Dark Fragrance'? Do you have the tape?"

The answer: "No, I've never heard of it."

This was really strange!

He got back on his bike and went to another store.

He asked: "Do you know the song 'Dark Fragrance'? Do you have the tape?"

The answer: "No, I've never heard of it."

This time, Li was a bit discouraged.

He couldn't help but be discouraged, one store didn't know, two stores didn't know, and the third store still didn't know...

Fortunately, there was another store next to the one he just left.

He asked: "..."

The answer: "..."

Li Dad walked out of the Nth audio store, his face stern and his mind full of worry.

He felt helpless.

At the same time, he felt relieved.

Because he was now certain that the song 'Dark Fragrance,' which he thought had excellent lyrics, was really not listened to or sold by anyone! It was completely unknown!

This made him sigh that the young people nowadays were really restless: such a good song, such good lyrics, and no young person was willing to sit down and listen to it, to feel the meaning in the lyrics?

Fortunately, fortunately... Fortunately, his son had been influenced by him since childhood, though a bit mischievous, his aesthetic taste was still on track—look, a song that so many audio stores had never heard of, this kid could dig up and even prepare to sing it to his girlfriend, which showed that his taste was indeed unique.

Unconsciously, Li Dad thought about his education of his son, began to summarize its success, and at the same time, began to deeply reflect on the current education system...

Well, this was purely the subconscious reaction of an old educator.

Riding his Changjiang brand bicycle, he thought deeply all the way home. Just as he entered the residential area, a car came towards him. Li Dad instinctively moved to the side of the road to avoid it, but he didn't expect the car to slow down and stop.

"Uncle Li, are you off work?"

Li Dad was taken aback, looked up, and saw Wang Jingsnow in the red sports car. He came to his senses, got off his bike, and said with a smile, "Xiaoxue, are you going out?"

Wang Jingsnow said, "I'm going back to Shuntianfu. Uncle Li, my dad has been busy with business and is often not at home, and I've been so busy that I can't stay at home. If there's anything my mom can't do, please help her out. When I come back for the New Year, I'll invite you and Aunt Geng to have a drink, okay?"

Li Dad laughed and waved his hand, "We've been neighbors for so many years, do you need to tell me? Go ahead and do your work! Make more good songs, our little Qian really likes your songs, he plays them at home all the time!"

Wang Jingsnow's face showed a hint of a strange expression, but she quickly smiled and nodded, "I'll go, Uncle Li, thank you!" She raised her hand to shift gears and was about to start the car.

But Li Dad suddenly remembered something and said, "Xiaoxue, I just remembered, I have a question for you."

Wang Jingsnow stopped her hand and said, "What is it?"

Li Dad said, "There seems to be a song called 'Dark Fragrance' recently. I asked several audio stores, and they all said they've never heard of it. You're in the music industry, so you should be familiar with it, right? I'm sure you've heard of it?"

Wang Jingsnow frowned and shook her head, "Whose song? Just called 'Dark Fragrance'?"

Li Dad said, "Ah, just called 'Dark Fragrance.' As for who sings it... well, I really don't know."

Wang Jingsnow thought for a moment, thought seriously for a while, and shook her head again, "The audio store people are probably right. I haven't heard of this song... Uncle Li, you don't know, we in the music industry, no matter whether we like it or not, we listen to all the new songs that come out on the market, so I can confidently say that I've heard most of the songs from the past few years, but the one you mentioned... I really haven't heard of it."

Li Dad was taken aback, "You haven't heard of it?"

Wang Jingsnow said seriously, "No." She added, "Maybe it's an old song? That would be normal for me not to know. Uncle, don't worry, I'll look it up for you when I get back. If there really is such a song, I'll find the tape and send it to you, okay?"

Li Dad, who was slightly dazed, nodded subconsciously, "Oh, oh, that's good, that's good, thank you for helping me look..."

Wang Jingsnow smiled at him, shifted gears, and said, "I'll go first, Uncle Li. I'll call you when I find out. Goodbye."

"Okay, okay, goodbye, goodbye."

The red sports car's engine roared, and the car sped away.

Li Dad's brows were furrowed like terraced fields, and he stood there holding his bike for a long time.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered the conversation he had with his son that day. He vaguely remembered that... maybe... possibly... at the time, Li Qian said something?

The song 'Dark Fragrance' was written by him?

...

Li Dad had been out for quite some time and returned home when Li Mom was already busy picking vegetables.

Hearing the door open, Li Mom saw Li Dad come in and started to complain, "The price of pork has gone up again! This time it's up by thirty cents per pound! When I was buying vegetables, I heard a lot of people talking about it, saying that the price of pork in our area has already reached the level of developed countries."

"Ah!" Li Dad had no interest in this, and he just responded with an "ah" to Li Mom's complaints.

Sitting in the living room, he lit a cigarette and was somewhat distracted.

Li Mom scolded him, "Smoking in the living room again, I can tolerate it, but our son is only seventeen and still growing. Don't let him stop growing because of the smoke!"

Li Dad retorted, "What does a little smoke have to do with growing? What kind of logic is that! Besides, he's already six feet tall, so it's fine if he doesn't grow anymore!"

Li Mom glared, "What do you mean 'it's fine if he doesn't grow anymore'!"

...

The two were happily arguing when the sound of a key turning in the lock came from outside the door.

Li Dad suddenly perked up, put out his cigarette, and stood up.

Li Qian, carrying his guitar, just came in, and Li Dad said, "Xiao Qian, come to the study, Dad has something to ask you."

Li Mom gave Li Dad a disdainful look, as if he was a king, and said, "I don't want to argue with you!" Then she turned and went back to the kitchen.

Li Qian, confused, entered the study.

Li Dad asked, "Xiao Qian, I remember you said that the song you sang... the one called 'Dark Fragrance,' was written by you?"

After the painful reflection that night, Li Qian's face had become much thicker, and he nodded without hesitation, "Yeah, I wrote it!"

"Then the lyrics and the melody are both...?"

"Both are mine."

"Oh..."

Li Dad let out a long "oh" and fell silent.

Li Qian asked, "What's going on? Why are you asking about this again?"

Li Dad took out another cigarette and glanced at the door—Li Qian, understanding, went over and closed the door for him.

Li Dad lit the cigarette, took a deep puff, and said, "I just went to several audio stores and asked, and they all said they've never heard of the song called 'Dark Fragrance.' On my way back, I ran into Xiaoxue from next door. Since she's a singer, I casually asked her, and she also said... she's never heard of it. This song... really written by you?"

Li Qian was speechless and nodded.

"Both the lyrics and the melody?"

Li Qian nodded again and said firmly, "Both the lyrics and the melody."

Li Dad suddenly fell silent again.